CREATING THE PERFECT ENABLER: LESSON ONE

A must for every quilting addict is a copy of the Quilters’ Travel Companion. Published by Chalet Publishing from Colorado Springs, Colorado, the Quilters Travel Companion is a state by state directory of almost every quilt shop in America.  Information on many of the quilt shops in America can be found in this wonderful book.

 

Before every trip that you take, carefully plot out your route according to where the quilt shops are. In addition to the statewide maps that show which towns have quilt shops, there are often little location maps that show you how to get to the shops once you get into town. Then do a little research on each town.

As you are driving along and nearing one of your quilt shop destinations, suggest to your husband that he may want to pull off at the next exit. As he eyes you suspiciously, just look at him lovingly and say “I saw a sign that says there is a Cabela’s at this exit. I thought you might want to stop and check it out.”  Hang on tight while he races up the exit ramp and breathlessly pulls into the parking lot, and then,  just as he is getting frustrated in not being able to find a parking spot that doesn’t require a taxi to get to the front door, you come up with a great idea. “Dear, I think there is a quilt shop just down the street. Why don’t I drop you off at the door so you can go in and browse at your leisure and in the meantime I will go check out the quilt shop? I will pick you up later. Say in three or four hours?”

And as your husband wanders off to absorb the wonders of Cabela’s, you now have hours of leisure time to explore a new quilt shop. It doesn’t have to be Cabela’s. A Harley Shop, Hooters or Bass Pro Shop work just as well.  Just find a store that he would be interested in. And, in the end, you have just gone up a notch on your way to the top of the pedestal. Your husband has now started down that path of enabler hood!

I have used this technique with so much success that now my wonderful, adorable, handsome husband actually maps out our trips using the Quilters Travel Companion. He even researches the various towns looking for places that will interest him while I spend hours in quilt shops throughout America.

 

We have visited many out of the way places and seen many historic sights, all thanks to this wonderful book. Plus, I have learned a lot about the history of our country, including the stories of lost Indian tribes, famous generals, Buffalo Bill’s lesser known brother Western Art, and much more.

Happy Sewing!

                                                           Purging and cleaning-

Hello everyone! What a productive weekend I had! 

I decided I needed to install a new vacuum belt as someone (who shall remain nameless) drove it over the edge of the rug and burned the belt to heck. For some reason, I have the worst time with this damn vacuum belt. I am using the excuse that I just don’t have enough strength in my hands to put all the parts together anymore. I get so mad when pieces don’t fit. Last time I tried to change the belt I had to take the whole vacuum back in parts to the shop to fix it. When I dropped it off they let me borrow a loaner until the repair guy could look at it. Well, that night I got a phone call from said repairman. He told me in no uncertain terms that I was not to touch the underside of the loaner vacuum, and asked me how in the hell I got my vacuum into so many parts. Of course he was kidding but the point was made.  I was instructed by Lance to NEVER attempt to replace a belt again and just to bring it to him. LOL. So- what did I do Saturday? This cannot be that hard, I thought. I got online, and downloaded the crappiest manual ever with horrible pics that I couldn’t even see. Who designs these manuals??? Well, after ½ hour, and some extremely loud cussing (just ask my son who I woke up – sorry Sean) I had to step away for a bit or the whole damn thing would have ended up in the dumpster. Finally after leaving it sit for a minute, I had a cup of.... tea and went back to it. Hubby and I were finally able to get the bottom of the vacuum back on. With much trepidation I turned the thing on and lo and behold- it worked! And all of this happened before 9am. Again, sorry Sean!

 

Then I decided to change my ironing board cover out. Mine was all covered with 45 gazillion layers of starch, and had about 4 layers of fabric underneath it. When I took off all of the layers to start fresh the old cover could stand by itself and this is what it looked like-

Then, as I was plotting a trip to the fabric store to get new fabric to cover the board (any excuse will do you know), I realized I surely had something in my stash that would work. I found this!

I then proceeded to pull out all of my tubs of fabric into the living room and started to sort.  I started 1 donation bag but then it turned into 2. How on earth I didn’t end up with at least one empty tub I have no idea. I think the fabric spread! It was sure fun watching the dogs chase the cats over the piles of fabric, though.

Later, as I went out on the patio to put the donated bags there to get them out of my way, I noticed our squirrel across the way( She is the one we have been feeding to make up for the bunny I killed). As soon as Penny- yes we named her- heard our patio door, her head flew around and she sat right up. I laughed, came back in and got her peanuts. I came back to the door, and the little shit was standing right by the door! I was rolling- sure didn’t take her long to figure out the routine!

Back to fabric sorting. I also ended up finding fabrics that would work for other projects that I have in mind.  I am making some more of those little pleated bags and found another pattern for some little bags that use a metal measuring tape in the top. I feel good that all of the fabric for these came out of my stash and the only thing I had to buy was the measuring tape.  Here are the parts ready to go-

I got all parts cut and ready to sew, but at this point it was 7 pm and thought it would probably be best if I didn’t start any new projects. I got out a table runner and a small quilt that needed binding hand stitched down and put on a repeat of a Game of Thrones episode.  2 more projects done- finito-out of my hair. YIPPEE! Oops- just realized I better make a few labels for them.  Dammit-not finito!!

 

Then I was planning on sewing Sunday but my hubby decided we needed to go for a ride. I am still like a little kid-I love to go for rides! After a brief stop for the necessary Oreo Cheesecake Blizzard, we headed to the mountains. We are fortunate to live close to Rocky Mountain National Park and saw these guys yesterday, along with elk, deer and plenty of hawks looking for lunch!

Once we got home it was getting close to tv time- Walking Dead, Shameless and True Detective. Boy do I love Sunday nights. I am still on the fence regarding True Detective. I did get a few things ready to go before the craziness started, and one bag got it’s zipper installed. After that the dogs and I hunkered down for a night o’ fun!

 

Hope you all had a great weekend !

                                                    QUILT SHOP REVIEW

I thought when we started this blog I would review some quilt shops for you.  When I am lucky enough to travel I will stop by some shops and review those as well. For now I will review several in Colorado. I have been to many out of state but it has been so long I may not remember pertinent information! Hopefully next month I can add one or 2 from southern Louisiana, though I may not have much time for quilt shops. There are hurricanes to drink there!

 

Anyway, the first shop I would like to review is B-Right-On located at 5 S. First St. in Brighton, Colorado. It is a wonderful shop owned by Lance and Debi- who are siblings. They work so hard. If I worked with my family I would be goofing off and laughing so much I would never get anything done! Though there is a lot of laughing that goes on in there, they seem to get more than their fair share of work done!

 

The shop carries over 8,000- yes- 8,000 bolts of fabric with more coming in every day. They have a wonderful selection of batiks, reproductions, flannels, juvenile prints and about anything else you could want. If you can’t find a fabric that will work for your project you haven’t looked hard enough! The shop also carries many Moda fabrics as well as the pre-cuts we are all loving now- charm packs, layer cakes etc. All fabric is $10 a yard (other than the extra wide backings of course). And with fabric being sold at over $12 a yard these days, this is a deal! Also, they run sales every now and then and it gets even cheaper! For example, Lance recently ran a sale and fabric was only $8 a yard! YOWZA!

 

They also sell sewing machines and sergers – Brother, Janome and Juki. If you need a Horn cabinet they would be happy to get one for you! They have several models on display for you to drool over! They repair and service machines as well. Lance has had all of my machines at one point or another and they all come back in fine working order. (and usually along with a  gentle scolding to oil my machines more often)

 

B-Right-On is also a great stop for thread and notions! They have walls of notions, and many racks of different threads. They even have one whole display of ric rac and trims!
 

You may also take classes at the shop. They have many different classes available that would be appropriate for the beginning quilter as well as for the experienced quilter. An Accu Cut event is scheduled on March 8^th- be sure to call the shop and sign up-this event is almost full! The store carries an extensive selection of dies.

 

So- next time you are in the area (or need a road trip) please stop by! Lance and Debi would be so happy to see you! They are open Monday and Tuesday 9-8, Wednesday-Friday 9-6, Saturday 8-4. The shop is closed on Sunday.

For all of you Diners’ Drive Ins and Dives lovers there is a place in Brighton that was featured on that show. It is called Lauer-Krauts and it is very close to the shop.  The link to their website is below. It is VERY good- you will not be disappointed. And you must try a dessert- it is not an option J. I got a brownie that was as big as my head.

http://www.lauer-krauts.com/

Travel well my friends- and if you ever get up that way let me know. I would love to meet you!

Courtenay

                                                Which is better? Number 1 or number 2?

I  bet you don’t know where this post is going! I am referring to the questions you are asked at the eye doctor’s office. Boy you guys have dirty minds! I HATE that question and always have. I even hated it  when I was little and the 500 year old eye doctor would ask me those same questions. IS THIS THE BETTER? OR IS THIS THE BETTER? For crying out loud they look the same! I disliked the burning drops, the questions, and most notably the coca cola bottle thick glasses I came out of there with.

 Thank god for the 80’s and contacts! And now Lasik!

 

Anyway, this past weekend I decided I needed something for driving-my one eye is quite a bit worse than the other. I think it needs re-lasered, but for some reason the upgraded package I bought does not include another adjustment. BASTARDS!  Anywhoo,  when I go to the counter at the discount eye place- remember I am cheap- the gal hands me a form to fill out. Immediately my husband started laughing and as I looked down at the type on the page I realize no one , and I mean no one, could read this tiny writing without glasses. Could they not use a bigger type? All of the people entering that building are there because their eyesight sucks. HELP US OUT HERE!

After I dig out one of my 18 pairs of reading glasses and fill out their form I am asked to go wait in the back. So, like a good customer I do. Shortly after that I get called into the screening room. I get to have the oh so fun Glaucoma test- you know the one-it is a blast of 200 MPH wind in your eye. You know it’s coming, but you still jump! Then, for an additional $15 I can do a test that checks my eye health. Ok- let’s do that.  Now I get to press a button when I see squiggles in my peripheral vision. I think I clicked when I shouldn’t have- but I seem to have passed the test fine. I think this test was just to see how much caffeine I had before going to the appointment. And it was a lot!

 

Finally, I get to see the eye doctor. As I was sitting in the chair, dreading said questions, I thought I would get asked about what I filled out on the form- I won’t go into details but there are a few issues I would like to be addressed by someone who knows more about eyeballs than I do. NOPE.  He could have cared less. He never asked me if I had any questions, concerns, etc. I certainly could have asked him but I felt I was an inconvenience and he did not want to waste any more time on me.  I did get asked the better or worse questions, but frankly I didn’t care which one was better. I should have reversed all of my answers-might have freaked him out.   I just kind of wanted to smack him. He looked about 15 years old- these damn doctors get younger every year.

I did order 2 pairs of glasses for a good price. Of course they try to upsell you to non-scratch coating, etc but I didn’t fall for that. NOPE- not me the cheapskate.  Looking back, maybe I should have just bought a monocle. I could look like the Monopoly man! But with boobs.

 

Lesson learned- when it comes to vision centers it seems you get what you pay for. Maybe next year I will be able to go back to my other eye doc. Until then, look out for me if you are driving in Colorado. I just may not see you J

 

Stay safe my friends-

THANK YOU!!!!

 

 

Thank you to the 200+ people who signed up this past weekend for my Luminous Lone Star online quilting class from Craftsy. 

 

Receive a 25% discount on my Luminous Lone Star on line quilting class.
www.craftsy.com/ext/lonestar25

QUILT SHOP REVIEWS

A regular feature of this blog will be reviews of the various quilt shops that I have visited. My husband will tell you that this is just about every single quilt shop in the United States. My desire to visit quilt shops corresponds with my husband’s bucket list desire to visit all fifty states. And this goes hand in hand with my bucket list desire to visit each and every single quilt shop in America – at least once!

Some of the criteria that I use to rate a quilt shop includes fabric selection – both styles and quantity – patterns, notions, sewing machines, magazines and complimentary chocolate. I look at their displays. Are there patterns available that correspond to the displayed samples? I look for cleanliness and orderliness.   But most of all, I look for friendliness and customer service.

I enjoy being greeted as soon as I walk through the door, especially if they greet me by name - which my husband says happens in about half of the quilt shops in America. If I receive friendly and courteous treatment, I will almost always purchase something – whether I need it or not.

If I am ignored when I walk in the door or if the clerks are too busy gossiping to ask if I need anything, then I usually decide right then and there to not make a purchase. Instead I like to have a little fun at the clerk’s expense.

“Pardon me for interrupting your little cat session, but do you have any scented thread?” Or maybe something like “Do you have any left-handed thimbles? These are all for righties and I am a leftie.” I love seeing the puzzled looks that they give me.

If they are downright rude, I leave and send my husband in. He occasionally has to wear those little surgical face masks to help with his breathing problems, so I send him back into the store with his little mask on. “Hello, I am with the Center for Disease Control. We are looking for a lady that recently escaped from the Highly Contagious Disease Facility, and we think she may have just been in this store!” He gives them a description of what I was wearing and then explains something weird like “She has a  highly contagious form of brain worms. You may have been exposed. If you start feeling light headed or dizzy, you should go to your doctor immediately and tell him that you have been exposed. Hopefully he will be able to treat you in time.”

 

We then sit in the car and make a little wager on how soon it will be before some of the clerks come rushing out the door.

 

Quilt shops can be so much fun!

Happy Sewing!

                                                                Productive Weekend

I had such a great day teaching Saturday!! I was invited to teach a Mystery Quilt to a group of quilters in Fort Collins. What a lovely group of women! They were so much fun and welcomed me with open arms. It made me realize how much I love teaching- thank you ladies!

Then, to top it off, hubby took me to one of my favorite seafood places for dinner- Yorkshire Fish and Chips. This ain’t your button up/dress up place folks. It is a place your order, go sit down and they yell your order out when it’s ready. Let me tell you-it is not heart healthy, but oh dear lord is it good. And this is from a person that grew up back east with access to fresh seafood. The fried oysters are my favorite- but the scallops rock, too. The fried oysters are THE best I have ever had. EVER.  But maybe I was too drunk when I lived back east to remember what they tasted like then.

  

This also reminds me of a story of long ago.  I was probably 16 or so, and I was peeling shrimp in the kitchen with my brother. I wasn’t paying too much attention to what I was doing, and then I looked down. I was holding a fricking shrimp head!!! They were supposed be all tails! What the hell!  I freaked out- and threw the damn shrimp head across the kitchen. I guess it was quite the sight. It is still one of my brother’s favorite stories. And he laughs every time he reminds me about it. EVERY TIME. I am so glad I am here to amuse my family. To this day I pretty much refuse to peel shrimp tails, or any other crustacean.  God love my friends’ hubby that lives in Louisiana. He peels all of our crawfish when we are there visiting. And that is a heck of a lot of crawfish! Hugs to Jeff!

And here I am off topic again- GEEZ . Look there’s a squirrel-

Anyway, Sunday was filled with sewing. I was able to get my little bags done. The video was wonderful- you can find it here-

http://www.pattydoo.de/2013/06/sewing-tutorial-pouch-susie/

I did change the zipper a bit. I love the way Terry Atkinson of Atkinson Designs inserts her zippers so I used her method instead of the way it is shown in the video. It worked beautifully.

 

Then I moved on to my Little Houses quilt. This is going to be a bridal shower present so I am just showing you a sneak peak in case the recipient follows my blog.

 

 I am going to add an embroidered letter to one of the doors reflecting her new last name. I used the new collection by Moda called Little Black Dress 2. You can purchase that from the Fat Quarter Shop-

http://www.fatquartershop.com/catalogsearch/result/index/no_cache/1/?p=1&q=little+black+dress+2

If you live in the Denver area B-Right-On in Brighton also carries this line as well as Holly’s Quilt Cabin. Of course other shops in town may carry it as well- these are just the 2 places I have been recently.  Thank you Bob for taking me to Holly’s- and damn you Steak and Shake for being too packed to eat there! The background fabric is not from that collection but I thought it worked well.

You can find the pattern for the Little Houses quilt here-

http://www.camilleroskelley.typepad.com/

I am also going to give the bride-to-be this little stand to hang the quilt on.

 You can find one at B-Right-On. It is made by Ackfeld Manufacturing.

Next weekend I am going to try out the Quick Curves Ruler by Sew Kind of Wonderful. You can get yours here-

http://sewkindofwonderful.blogspot.com/

B-Right-On also carries this ruler, and I have also seen the ruler and pattern  at the new little quilt shop in Loveland called Cotton Candy Sewing Shop

http://cottoncandysewingshop.com/

 I am going to start with the table runner pattern that comes with the ruler. I am going to use the Little Black Dress 2 line again. I really want to do her Metro Rings pattern but thought I should start with a smaller project. I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks!

Sew on-

Courtenay

                                       THE TRUE TALE OF THE FUKAWI INDIANS

Well, sit down with your favorite beverage while I tell you a story. First, let me tell you to never act like you are smarter than you are because it will bite you in the ass. BIG TIME. It also may make you wreck the car if you are driving. Not good. Anyway, here we go.

When I first met my husband, one of the many things I admired about him was his intelligence. He is one of those people- you know who you are and I hate you- that can read a 900 page book and actually remember what was in it several days/years later.  Hell, I can’t remember what happened in the last damn chapter I read a half hour ago! Did Edward bite Bella? Did Jacob get naked?   But I digress-

My husband traveled quite a bit when we first got together, and sometimes I was able to go with him. On this occasion, we were driving through some remote stretch of Nebraska and passed a historical marker called The Indian Massacre Sight. 

So my husband sweetly asks-“Here is where they found the lost Fukawi Indian tribe- do you know about them?” So, as not to look stupid, I reply “Well,  I do remember reading something about them in high school”. So, off Bob goes telling me this wonderful story about this little Indian tribe called the Fukawi that one day just up and disappeared. The story went on for about 10 minutes. I will shorten it here as I know you all have a life you need to get back to. He explains that the Pawnee and the Sioux searched for months and months looking for this little lost tribe. And as they stood in the middle of this part of the prairie they would look around and yell “WHERE THE FUCKAWI?” Now, as I realize I have been totally busted, I am laughing so hard that I am crying while driving the car doing 65 MPH- well maybe 80- down the highway. Not Good.

Fast forward a few hundred miles down the road  to Pulaski, Iowa. Boy we know how to travel! My smart ass husband starts telling me about  how this town was named after some general in some war. (He told me all the specifics of course but I don’t remember them!) Yeah, right honey. Fool me once. Have you heard the phrase liar liar pants on fire? We get to our destination where we meet up with a friend of his who is a high school history teacher. Bob tells me to go ahead and ask him about Pulaski. And guess what? The damn town is indeed named after said General. SHIT.

 

And this, my friends, is why I never believe a damn thing my husband tells me.

Have a wonderful day- and don’t believe anything my husband ever tells you if you ever meet him-unless he tells you I am smart and pretty. :)

Courtenay

                                     Half Square Triangle Mania!

Well, now that I am done with my Swoon quilt I can move on to other things. In this quilt pattern there were quite a few flying geese blocks. Usually when I trim away the corners I just whack them off with a scissors. But, in this case, I actually used my rotary cutter so all of my trimmings were consistent. I then sewed them all up and made a big pile of half square triangles.

 

They all had to be squared up, so I got out my favorite squaring-up tools.

 

 My Brooklyn revolver mat- you can find one of those here:

https://shop.americanquilter.com/8743-9-brooklyn-revolver.html

and my bloc-loc ruler. You can find those here:

http://blocloc.com/

The rulers come in all sizes. They have a groove on the backside so the ruler nestles beautifully in the seam allowance which makes trimming a breeze. Nothing moves! I have several- and have used every one! They now have flying geese rulers as well. I have had my eye on them for a while. Maybe one of these days!

 

So- what am I going to make with all of these half square triangles? Camille at Simplify has a great half square triangle sheet showing several layouts. You can find that here-

http://camilleroskelley.typepad.com/25HST.pdf

 I decided to make a small wallhanging/table topper. I used every single one of my leftover half square triangles! I can’t wait to start quilting this. I so enjoy working on smaller pieces as it is easier for me to practice my machine quilting on the smaller size quilts. I may use a variegated thread in the border- what do you think?

 

 

Sew on!

Courtenay