The Quilters Come Marching Two by Two Hurrah, Hurrah

The quilters come marching two by two, hurrah, hurrah...some far, some near, but all here on Saturday for the quarterly gathering of the Bayshore Longarm Quilters.

This is an informal guild made up of quilters who have a longarm, shortarm, midarm, quilt with their home sewing machine on a frame or just wanta'bees...the one thing we have in common is our love of quilting and finishing a quilt on a machine, either hand guided or computer guided. We recognize and celebrate it all, including hand quilting, quilted purses, wall quilts, bed quilts, show quilts, charity quilts.... just any thing quilts!

Our group is made up of many members at various stages in their quilting passion. Generally our gatherings are just an organized show and tell, although at times we have had guest speakers or a general topic of discussion. But mainly...we love show and tell and the opportunity to ask questions.

We go around the room, introduce ourselves (always new members, and due to distance some aren't able to come all the time). As a way of introduction we usually share what type of machine we have (or if we are still in the research and planning stage), whether we quilt for hire, or for just ourselves and perhaps a few friends and family.

Members are encourage to bring show and tell and sometimes will share a quilting tip or a new gadget they have found as we go around the room with our "introductions".

The talents of our group is amazing. I love seeing different colors, different styles of not only piecing but how something was quilted.

It's so much fun to get to exam the quilts up close and personal.

To be amazed at the custom work, to see a new panto design and ask "where'd ya get that?" And always the request "we want to see the back!" Yes, after we have admired the visual impact of a quit, longarm quilters really want to see the quilting and generally the back is where that shines!

Sometimes we don't all have show and tell, but we still share the laughter, the ohhs and ahhs, and the community spirit. I always love having my quilt-ie friends over, many I only see at the gatherings or our annual pilgrimage to the Houston International Quilt Show.

As mentioned, many of our members drive an hour or more to join us. Several make a day of it, some planning lunches together afterwards and more times than not, a shop hop to this area's fine quilting establishments.

We are blessed to have several award winning quilters in our group who share their talents and wealth of knowledge with us, as well as our "resident celebrity," Tom Russell. Tom is the most down to earth celebrity I know (and he's going to fuss at me for calling him a celebrity), we all just love him. He speaks words of wisdom encouraging us to all be the best we can be, to take time for our own quilting (and not just focusing on our customers for those of us with customers). And he amazes us with his creative mind. His quilts are simply amazing, many having won awards in national shows, and one that will be published in an upcoming book on Texas Quilters...

In the above two photos Tom was sharing an inherited family heirloom that he will one day quilt. Then he surprised us with blocks from a current project...one that he has shared photos on his blog...if you aren't already subscribed to his blog, then you need to be! What inspiration! Tom Russell Quilts

Nothing like see works of art in person and still on the "design board" - Tom, we can't wait to see the finished quilt - but as you have taught us, the process is the true journey.

After everyone had their turn it was my turn, and my show and tell was my newly remodeled studio...

It was sooo much fun to share my joy! My only regret is that I didn't have personal one on one time with all the attendees. Ah, but as they say, the road to a quilting friend's studio isn't long....

After everyone had headed out to lunch or the area quilt shops I asked Tom if I could pick his brain...I had a project that needed help...

I'm putting together a sampler quilt using the Block of the Month patterns from AccuQuilt for an upcoming class...I knew I wanted batiks, but other than that I just pieced, didn't really take into consideration the color flow, etc.. Tom is a master of color...

And he matched my room! Don't you think he just belongs here? Oh I can only wonder what creations would come out of my studio if I had Tom as an in-house mentor (grin).

I pulled out my stash of batiks and then we started playing. I am sooo glad I listened to him and my friend Dianne Anderson of The Quilter's Cabin about adding a design wall to my newly remodeled studio...even if it's a design DOOR to my laundry room ...

This is my 8 blocks before Tom came...I knew something just didn't feel right...and I needed a little help from my quilting buddy...

He suggested that I take out the lower block in the 6 o'clock position and helped me pick out new colors to replace it...

Then I asked him to help me with the center blocks colors...I wanted to try my hand at applique, not something I do, and something Tom is a master of...Okay, so I'm "cheating" I am doing all my blocks with the AccuCut Go!Cutter, but it's a start... Armed with instructions I pulled out the fabric and Go!Cutter after everyone left and had that machine a humming..

Taking advantage of my new design wall I auditioned the background fabric we had picked out..

Hum...

I didn't care for it as much with the cutouts on it as I had thought I would. If I'm going to try my hand at applique it's going to show up by golly!

I liked this much better, so now the little parts are all fused down and I don't know what to do with them (grin)... but look Tom! I've actually almost made an applique block!

So here's the design wall by the end of the day....the 6 0'clock block position has been reworked and I have a new center block...Stay tuned for the finishing setting solution!

I plan on having it ready for the next Bayshore Longarm Quilter's gathering!

Freight Trucks, Friends, Family & Furniture!

So, what's the deal here? Freight trucks? I'm kidding, right?

Friends and Family is easy to figure, but Furniture?

What's the common denominator here? It had better be quilt related you say...

Well....get comfy at your computer, pour yourself that second cup of coffee, perhaps nibble on a (healthy) snack for a bit - sit back, relax, and reflect with me on the happenin's in the life of this Quilt Rambler...

Okay, so you saw the truck..but you'll have to wait a tad to see what was inside. The above photo is the friends part and you'll have to wait on that part too if I'm going to tell this tale in chronological order..

And before anyone wonders, here's Pixxie - my blog/life wouldn't be complete without including a photo of my favorite pup preforming her job as a Professional Quilt Model (thanks Dot for understanding that she's just got to pose, I hope there wasn't any Pixxie dust on your beautiful quilt)...but this too is out of order...so let's move on to FAMILY!

Here's my girls, and my guys --- I just love it when we can all get together and enjoy our favorite local establishment...A night out at LaBrisa is always a night to remember! We started the month of April off in style!

Yeah, yeah, that's part of the family part, but the big news this month was getting all of us together ( my guys and gals) along with my sister, brother-in-law, nephew, nephew's girlfriend to celebrate my mother's 75th birthday.

And yes, I can publicly declare that mom's a cute 75 - in our family we've always been proud of our age, counting each year as a special blessing from the Lord. No one denying all those years of His grace. Mom loves the Astros - when she and dad lived in the Houston area they would go to a lot of the home games, especially around her birthday...so it was only fitting.....

Now you have to know, we are known for being cheap dates and don't mind at all sitting in the nose bleed section...hate to admit the stairs took a little longer to navigate, but exercise keeps one young, right?! Up until this date the Astros were on a losing streak...they must have got the memo that it was mom's birthday celebration and they rewarded her with a fine win! It was truly a good birthday celebration (love those Super Pretzels!)

Adding to an already busy month, on Tuesday April 12th we celebrated our 31st Anniversary with a lunch date at Joe's Crab Shack in Kemah on the boardwalk. My how time flies when you are having fun!

And yes, that's my hubby cleaning the carpet in my studio....what a guy! The story behind this photo had to do with some clean up due to my precious pup's few rough days of tummy upset....Nuff said (and yes, she's back to normal, thank you for asking). Of course, if furniture gets moved for any reason it's my excuse to move more!

You guessed it, this is where the furniture part of this ramble comes in.

Time to re-arrange the studio...below is just one of many messed up studio photos. My youngest never understood why I messed up to clean up...but that's how I operate. Move everything to the center of the room, find a new place for it and before you put it up sort through to organize, discard, rearrange, etc. Spring cleaning at it's best...

Ah, but I'm not telling the whole story behind the rearranging...that's where the freight truck enters back in....This is one of several rather large crates that arrived this past week...can you guess what's inside this 10+ foot crate???

My new longarm! Actually my Second A1 - yep, I love my machine so much that I bought a second one (grin). This one is 10 feet whereas the first one is 12 feet... And how convenient that my studio is right off the carport....

My fellows must love me.

My youngest has been wanting to go on a set up with us to learn how we put together the longarm tables...well, he got his training this week by being his dad's helper. I got the day off (yea, right - that studio was all tore up remember?)

Oh, and did I mention that I have guests coming so the machine has to be put together AND the studio all put back together...by the next day!! ah, but I'm getting ahead of myself again (grin)

Normally the Professional Favorites package with A1 comes with our patented Eurgo-Lift hydrolic system already installed on the table - since I special ordered a 10 foot table instead of a 12 foot and since the company just happened to have one already crated without the Eurgo-Lift installed and since we are dealers......well, we had a extra step, a good learning experience on how to install the Eurgo-Lift to the table, something that is normally done at the factory....It wasn't hard, but took more time that normal so it made for a long day...

Oh! I neglected to mention why a second machine....

drum roll please....

For several reasons....one because my husband would like to join me in the quilting adventure (above is his "training" on how to load a quilt)...other reasons include work load - having one longarm for all over/edge to edge quilting and the other one for custom quilting - this allows me to have two waiting lists - since all over quilting is typically faster that line will move faster, where as custom quilts can sometimes tie up the frame for weeks....my idea of working more efficiently which will reflect in a better turn around time for my customers...

AND! One of the exciting reasons - to be able to offer more open studio days for demos to those inquiring about longarms and offering longarm classes here in the studio! Two machines means more hands on time for students. Plans are to begin this summer. (If you are interested in either a demo or classes please visit my website www.quiltsnkaboodle.com and let me know of your interest).

So, back to my narration... by the time the machine was together, the studio cleaned it was well into the night. But there was still a little time to train on using the panto (edge to edge) side of the machine...other lessons will follow. By the way, he was a good student (grin).

Here's a look at the new studio red0....less than 24 hours old as of this writing - and subject to rearranging as I live, work, and settle into a new layout....

The above view is at the doorway coming from the kitchen entering the studio. The first machine is the 10 footer with the 12 footer behind.

If you were to look directly right as you entered the room you'd be at the sewing side of the room...this is a temporary arrangement as the wall behind the tables will "come tumbling down" soon as we enlarge the room to take in the laundry room behind it. For now, a little crowded, but it will do (grin).

Standing at the edge of the sewing side (by the laundry room door) you have the view above of the larger longarm - again, still some work to do - I've got to rearrange the quilts on the wall too!

The photo below shows what's behind the machine...my "tunes", necessary fan (this is hot humid Houston remember), and plenty of fun fabrics to encourage me to finish up my work so I can take time to sew!

Here's another view from the laundry room vantage point that shows both my machines. There's a love seat/sleeper sofa at the window which is fondly called "Pixxie's perch" - she loves to look out the window, so when shopping for a new couch we had to audition the back to make sure it was wide enough for my precious pup.

Here's a peek behind the new longarm - the top shelf is loaded with my personal quilts (and batting) with part of the lower shelf housing finished quilts as well as my personal "quilts in waiting" - again, a visual reminder that I want to finish what I've started...don't want my kids inheriting unquilted tops...but then again, they'd at least inherit the machines to finish them (grin). The drawers behind are my thread drawers - the same ones that used to be behind the original longarm (see photo where the carpet is being cleaned for reference).

Okay, here's a look at the unfinished area. The door to the right with the lilac trim leads into the kitchen and the door to the back is the wall that will come "tumbling down" (I keep thinking about Jericho and the song I learned back in vacation Bible school as a kid). Needless to say, this is a work in progress. But hey, never let it be said I hold anything back! I show the good, the bad, and the ugly - er - potential!!

Whew, if you've hung on this long through my ramble you are to be commended! Now comes the friends part....getting the studio back together last night was well worth is as the Bayshore Longarm Quilters joined me this morning for our quarterly gathering.

Not everyone that came is in the photo....a couple of gals had to leave early and if you'll refer back to the photo above you'll notice that two of us "switched places" to take the photo (grin).

A little history...I founded this group as a gathering of like minded folks who wanted to be "community instead of competition" And we are true to our motto! We gather, share, encourage, laugh, talk, breath quilts! My favorite part is show and tell....I'll let the photos speak for themselves of the many talents of our group - many driving well over an hour to attend!

Show and tell includes "how would you quilt this? (above)

(This pattern of Texas above is an original of Mary pictured below - if you are interested email me karen@quiltsnkaboodle . com and I'll put you in touch with Mary to purchase the pattern)

Some of us really get into sharing our show and tell (grin)

After show and tell we moved to the studio and several were able to play on my new machine...yes, my mom taught me, "it's nice to share".

I realized today, and not for the first time, how truly blessed I am. I'm blessed with a fabulous network of friends and family who love me, support me, encourage me, and sometimes "set me straight" (grin). It's truly amazing how many things have come together just recently for me to see a light on the path I'm on. Sometimes things haven't been as clear...but all God asks is for us to trust Him one step at a time. It's my goal to continue to grow - in my skills as a quilter, as a quilting teacher, as a person, and in my faith. I like the way Paul put it in Philippians 3:12-13.

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected, Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended BUT RATHER - I forget those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.

Truly the days ahead are full of unending joy - because I walk with the Lord and am grateful for the precious gifts He's given me. The gift of life and enjoying His creation!