Wow, I guess I have been absent for some time dear readers. I have been doing some quilting, but not nearly enough these past months. I will be posting pictures of quilts that have managed to be completed and some projects I have been working on.
Let's see what all has been going on since my last post...
Hmm, I think I've managed to get three or four baby quilts completed before I finally got busted for stitching at work and pretty much forced to stop doing the one thing that keeps me sane at my job. Another reason for my long absence and short trip to the funny farm. I did manage to complete my EPIC first quilt, "The Zoo." I will be documenting that whole odyssey in a series of posts in the coming year. I am now working on a second Stig quilt, repairing a Double Wedding Ring, waiting for the details of an order to be completed and am currently working on christmas gifts. This year they are fleece throws with braided edges. I am starting to think I might have to take up crochet...stop me before I craft again!
2013 is going to be dedicated to continuing my quest to get my Sewing Dungeon organised. The work that was completed earlier in the process is holding steady and is proving to make projects easier to start and finish. This is a great reinforcement for the groundwork that has already been started.
A few weeks ago I was out with my partner in quilted crime and we stopped by a new quilt shop in Sioux Falls. At first I looked around at the expensive pattern/idea books, drooled over the many bolts of cotton, commented about the lovely selection of batiks, asked about jelly rolls, lollypops, cakes, charms and then I saw it...
THE LONG ARM QUILTING MACHINE!
I was drawn like a shy moth to an irresistable flame. I stood and watched, mesmerised by the rhythmic staccato of the needle as it propelled itself across the cotton field with a "look ma, no hands" carefree motion. I looked like one of the lobotomised patients in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I couldn't look away. Finally my friend wrested me from my haze and I was able to ask the machine's handler all manner of questions. While do not recall the name of the machine, just that it was fully computerised and with very little interaction - only to change the bobbin and make sure it didn't experience any problems with the quilting process. Seventeen five and it too could come to live at your house. Holy crap! I didn't spend that much on my first (only) mobile home or my car! That's almost what I make a year! After I recovered from the price tag shell shock I realised I was hooked. This would be something I could do when I grew up. Something I could do and enjoy and even potentially make some money at...hmmm. The wheels in my head started to turn.
Since that day I have asked other people who operated Long Arm Quilting Machines and looked into various priced machines, read reviews and have started to look at what's out there. While I like the idea of a computerised machine so I can still hand quilt while the Beast is knocking out a quilt, I may not be able to afford that much luxury. No matter, I will teach myself machine quilting and will (ab)use any and all domestic machines at my disposal to this end. I can MacGyver that which I need, done it before, will do it again (and again and again!).
So many things to quilt, so little time.
Peach out, Apricots.
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