Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (and CityLink Buses, and Caledonian Ferries and Scottish Taxi Drivers)!

     Today I want to praise public transportation!  Most specifically Scottish Public Transportation!  We just returned from an eight-day trip to Scotland.  For the first time (ever, I think) we didn't rent a car, even for a portion of the trip.  And we probably had one of the most stress-free trips ever.  Even the disruptions on our two flights out of the US didn't bother us very much. 
     When we got to BWI to catch our connection flight to Philadelphia, there was a slight problem--no plane!  Interestingly enough, we got hustled back to the check-in counter, and herded into a five-passenger taxi for an incredible 90-minute DRIVE to Philadelphia.  That was one happy taxi driver!  All courtesy of US Airways, thank you.  When we finally borded our plane to Scotland (booked to the gills with passengers who had been trying to get out of Philly for two days due to "ash closures" in the UK), our plane "broke".  Five hours later we ended up leaving at midnight, with "dinner" served to us at 1:00 a.m.
 
Needless to say, we were late arriving to Glasgow and in danger of missing the 12:30 train to Oban.  No worries.....our intrepid Scottish taxi driver (unfortunately, I could only understand every third word he spoke in a Scottish accent so thick I thought maybe I had landed somewhere else) ferried us AHEAD of the train to the next station so we could catch it!  Plus, he locked his cab and carried our bags into the station for us, and introduced us to the station master.

     
The rest of our trip was like that--buses ran on time, people made sure we got "concessions" for being seniors, even though we weren't UK residents, train conductors rescued me from what I was sure was the fatal mistake of getting locked back on the train while Guy watched in horror as I sped away down the track to the next station (that's another story).  Did you know that being left on the train after missing your stop just means that you have been "overcarried."  I LOVE that word!  Isn't the train station below just adorable.  It's the one at Pitlochry, but almost all of them look like this.

Our taxi drivers to and from our hotels and our Bed and Breakfast were knowledgeable, friendly, and determined that we would see the best that their cities could offer.  For about $250 we had an incredible transportation experience for an entire week.  And stress-free!  We never worried about driving on the "wrong side of the road," we didn't have to puzzle out roundabouts, we never had to find a parking space, and we didn't have to fuel up with "petrol".  And mostly, we didn't argue about anything having to do with highways, best routes, incorrect maps, or incompetent driving.(you all know what I am talking about, don't you?)

       I never thought I could fall in love with buses and trains, but I've been converted.  Here's to ScotRail and CityLink!  And I haven't even started on the Caledonian MacBrayne Ferry to the Isle of Mull and our awesome tour guide to Duart Castle.  His take on life on the Isle of Mull - "nobody died of stress last year, and only six people died of boredom!"
     We didn't "die of boredom" on our trip; we just sat back and enjoyed the ride........

Weekend of Enjoyment

I got a full dose of "Momism" this Mother's Day weekend.  Guy and I went into NoVa to visit with Patrick and Blanton.  Blanton gifted me with a full manicure and pedicure Friday evening before our dinner at Present, a wonderful Vietnamese restaurant in Falls Church.  We ate our way through "Autumn Shawl", incredible "spring rolls" made from rolled rice crusts, and I had the "beef special" which was shredded beef mixed with vegetables, scallions, ginger, smoked in a bamboo shaft.  It was awesome.  Duck, calamari, and soft-shelled crabs also got shared with everyone.

Moving Forward, One "Stitch" at a Time...

It's been a busy and productive week; finished up lot's of stuff for Masterworks Chorus, played piano a little, sang a little, went to two book clubs and exercised my mind, finished three quilts and mailed one off to Susan for Baby Kirsten.  I found some great gifts for my daughters-in-law for their birthdays and Laura's wedding shower, and am excited to be seeing both of them (and our sons) within the next two days.  We bought a new camera for our trip to Scotland; now we will just have to wait and see if that little Icelandic volcano causes any more air travel excitement.

Business plans are taking shape.  We will be taking our training classes on our Gammill the first week of July and the machine will be delivered shortly afterward.  I should be up and running by August, I think.  I've even reserved my domain name, and will start planning my web site soon.  Guy is busy reading the 265-page computer manual that we will have to become familiar with.  Shown above are a few pictures of the machine we are buying, for those of you who don't know what a long-arm stitcher looks like.  This one comes with a computerized module that is pretty incredible.  The picture below shows the size of the machine.  It's a 14-ft table with about a 4-ft bed.  I'm finishing up quilt tops like crazy so I will have lot's to experiment with.  It's going to be a beautiful Mother's Day Weekend.....happy Mom's Day to all my friends, grandma's, aunts, etc.

 

Busy Busy Day!

Well, I am moving forward on our thoughts for a business.  Registered our name in Virginia today, "Quilted Solutions."  Got an EIN number from your friend and mine, the Internal Revenue Service.  Registered our name as DBA in Shenandoah County.  Got a Home Occupation business permit from the Planning and Zoning Board in Shenandoah County.  Almost made it through the Virginia Department of Taxation Website when something went "flooey" and couldn't finish getting my number.  We are making progress.  I am setting up a business spreadsheet.  I am reading books; Guy is reading computer manuals.  Research on marketing, advertising, good business practices, and the like.  I'm having fun; now I just want to get my longarm quilter and start making lovely things.  Have to wait a while, though.  Off to Scotland on the 17th and back the next week; no sense planning training sessions right now.  But, a thoroughly satisfying (and only slightly frustrating) day.  Posted some new pictures.  Enjoy!  Enough of Winter; spring is almost over, too, given the temperature tonight.

Where does time go?

It's been a month since I published anything.  What have I done?  Well, I finished a bunch of quilts, with the help of Jane Moll.  I also revisited my "wishes and desires" list and decided my life had to take a new direction.  So, Guy and I are thinking seriously about investing in a long-arm quilter (big bucks) and starting a home-based business.  I want to take my quilting to another level.  I want to finish what I've started (myself) and help others turn their notions and ideas into a finished product.  I want my husband to be integrally involved in my day-to-day hobby.  A computer-aided quilting machine is right up his alley (I know lots about graphics, but CADD design is not in my vocabulary).  Anyway, more to come soon.  Life is a changing for my whole family.  New daughters-in-law, new expectations for life---these are good.  I want to participate and not fall behind.  Wish me well.  More to come later.

The Value of Friendship

I watch, read, and listen to my friends in their blogs, and on Facebook, and it reminds me that even though we can express our thoughts every day, in every way (doesn't that rhyme nice), none of it matters much without feedback from our friends.  Friends are wonderful in so many ways:  they give us sustenance and support through difficult times, they give us confidence to face up to our weaknesses and fears, and they give us comfort when it seems that nothing else is available to us.  We may rely on our husbands and children for love and affection, but we rely on our friends for truth, honesty, and sometimes, just being there when everyone else doesn't seem to care.  So this post is all about.....friends....thanks.....you know who you are.....more than that.....you know who you could be....go out and be a friend today to someone who just might ask you a question and need a real honest answer....

The benefits of work.......

What a wonderful day--sunshine, 65 degrees, snow almost melted, and what did I do?  I sat in front of the computer working on budget spreadsheets.  But, as it happens, I feel really good about that.  I've been spending quite a bit of time this month (and last) working on paperwork for the Chorus I belong too.  When I got started at it, there was a tinge of resentment associated with it, but now that I am well into getting a (whole) lot of things organized, I have a different feeling.

I am accomplishing something concrete.  I am writing, thinking, computing, planning, strategizing, and organizing.  I have put a plan in motion, and I am following through.  Four hours of paperwork is translating into something I feel proud about.  Since I retired almost 12 years ago, I have had periods of intense activity, joining groups, spreading my "enthusiasm" around, and certainly taking things seriously.  But often those bursts of activity would give way to long periods of semi-activity.  I gave up quite a few things because I didn't feel the end result justified the amount of time I was spending on them.  But with that abandonment, there was also a relinquishing of the sheer pride in "work."

Of course, I have my quilting, and that is a creative activity that continues to bring me a lot of joy.  But I must admit that I am not so singularly dedicated to quilting that it can occupy me "24/7" as it were.  I need to exercise my mind, too, and not by just reading books and magazines.  Anyway, it's just nice to rediscover the joy in a few hours spent in contemplation, thinking through problems and postulating potential solutions, and just "staying in the box" for a while.  There was much I was more than happy to give up about work when I retired--the constant stress of worrying about jobs for people, contracts to be negotiated, personnel problems to solve, but I did miss the way that work flexed my "mental muscles."

Well, just some observations on the "retired" life and how it adapts and changes as we come to view things differently with age.  Having said that, and having finished a good day of "problem solving", I think I'll go have a glass of wine and plan dinner....

Just a Few More..........It was a Great Sewing Day!!

Well, since I can't seem to do this all at once, here are two more quilts that I finished up and are ready to be quilted today:

The first one is my "Spring in January" or "How I Fought the January Blahs" quilt--made with some gorgeous fabric samples that I got from my friend Peg Gorman:

The next quilt has been in the works for quite some time.  It's made with Civil War Reproduction fabrics, done in an old pattern called "Churn Dash" or "Hole in the Barn Door" or "Monkey Wrench."  It's made of indigos and cheddars, and the stripes in the sashing gave me fits.  (Note to friends:  please do not let me start working with stripes; having to cut out 84-inch sashing without deviating from the pattern is a pain in the "you-know-where.":

Here are four of the quilts I finished the tops on today:  My red/black/taupe star; my Dazzling Red and Green Dresden (still have two more borders to add); a contemporary quilt top I'm naming "Argyle" 'cause it reminds me of an argyle sweater pattern, and a Delectable Mountains table-topper.  There's two more to show, but I'm still struggling with getting everything into one post.  I have more work to do learning how to "blog"--at least I sort of know how to quilt.....

The "Border Wars"

Time to get back into "blog" mode, I think.  Where have the last few weeks gone---oh, I remember, I was mesmerized by snow for several weeks.  That prompted a continuous round of cooking, and then BK took over my life for a few days doing grant proposals.  But I've kept on working on my quilt projects, and have made a lot of progress.

My green and red dresden has evolved from unfinished blocks to an entire quilt set on point, with an alternating block of diamonds and focus fabric, and setting squares of diamonds and background fabric.  One border is one, and I finally broke down and ordered 3 yards of a beautiful tone on tone green to finish the bordering. (I had vowed I was going to only use fabric I had here, but artistic necessity overtook frugality on this one.)

I have made an interesting discovery in this process over the last few days--many of my quilts are languishing in a state of "disinterest" because I had no idea what I was going to do for either borders or sashing.  I really like to piece quilts.  I tend to find fabric I like, buy it, then find or think of a design, and then start creating the block.  Some people find a design, and then get the fabric to go with it, but I think I almost always am caught by the fabric.  However, since I start with fabric, and not a design, I often have no idea if I have enough of anything to finish what I start.  Or, I have to take it in stages.  Sometimes, just finding the right fabric can be a real battle.  However, today was "border wars" day.  I spent a lot of time with my friends over the last week or so discussing options; then decided it was now or never. I've shown some of my results below.  You can look over my following post and see how far I've come.

However, now I have to go make chili...........

Progress Is Being Made.....

Okay; it's February 3rd and time to report on the progress I've made with my UFOs. I have actually taken this whole thing to heart, and am determined to improve my "finish rate." Not that I'm lazy, actually, but my quilting is sort of like having an endless array of great snacks in front of you when you're watching the Super Bowl. First you try some onion dip, then the wings look pretty good, oh, how about some chili con queso, gosh, who made this guacamole? You get the picture. A little bit of everything, and then you wonder why you're hungry when the whole thing is over....but now, who wants dinner?

First off, here's what I've done.
1. I opened just about every drawer and container that had a partial project in it. I got a big, clean Sterlite container from the basement (they used to hold the grapes after we pressed them, but that's a whole other story). Into that container I put every project I could find that had some real chance of being finished (by me!). I found the matching fabric for borders, or backs, or took note of what I needed so I could shop for it.
2. I put the blocks, partially finished wallhanging, you name it, on the wall, and took a picture of it. Since just about everything I've actually started had some hope of seeing the light of day at some time (I loved the pattern, I loved the fabric, I liked the challenge, or I liked how easy it was), these are the ones I decided to start with to try to complete.
3. Meanwhile, I kept organizing my fabric shelves so that I could more easily find things that I wanted; I put all my scissors together, all my color pens and paints together, all my rulers together, and reorganized my sewing threads. I really do operate better when I know where everything is and I have a clean surface to work with.
4. So, as of today I have done the following:
----I found the perfect sashing for the indigo and cheddar churn dash blocks on my road trip to Pennsylvania with Margaret. That is what had kept me from finishing the top. Plus, I got enough for the borders, too. The blocks are completely finished with the sashing in place, and I just need to cut and sew on the borders. I've had the backing fabric forever, so this will be RTQ (ready to quilt) in no time.
----I unearthed my Dazzling Dresden green/red blocks, cut out the fabric for the circles, MADE the circles, and appliqued all of them on ('cept one, 'cause it's some weird size, how did I do that?). I sat down with my pencil, my graph paper, and my brain engaged and drew out the alternate blocks that I had been thinking about for 8 months or so. I put a sample together, liked it, and have all the fabric cut out for these 12 blocks. Still a lot to do, but I'm enthusiastic again because I passed another milestone.
-----The contemporary fabric top that is only half-finished startled me; when I took a photo of it, I realized I like it just the way it is. It's getting some borders, and that will be a lap quilt in no time.
-----So far, my only disappointment has been my black/brown and red wallhanging. I finally forced myself to cut the borders, sewed two sides on, and realized "I Hate these borders!" Maybe now I know why I couldn't get this done. They overwhelmed the center, didn't have a good "finish" or join point at the corners, and just looked double-ugly. So, today, I did the "frog" stitch - rip it, rip it, rip it (say it fast three times and you'll see why it's the frog stitch!) Anyway, back to the drawing board, this looks pretty good so far, but it's incomplete. I know it; just don't quite know what to do with it.

Anyway, I've been having a great time; feeling good about myself (smug, actually), and then today I opened three drawers where I keep some of my "scraps to big to throw away" but what to do with them. Oh, goodness; I just unearthed a whole new series of "what do I do with these." We'll decide on that in the next "issue."

Got to go; my last series of explorations have left me with a fine mess on my cutting table........I'll post some new pix so we can do the "before" and "after" comparison.

UFO Sightings and How to Deal with Them

There are so many UFOs in my sewing room that I've decided to take a structured approach to dealing with them. These are NOT Unidentified Flying Objects, but Un-Finished Objects--quilt projects that for one reason or another have languished, hidden or in plain sight, for far too long.

Some projects got started because I wanted to learn a new technique, some got started because I loved the fabric and just had to "make" something. Some fabric was bought with enthusiasm for a quilt class, and one or two blocks got made, and then the reality of the project just got a little overwhelming. A few are just hanging around waiting for the "right" fabric for sashing, backing, or the like. Despite the reason, I have decided to quit messing around and either finish them up, or donate them to someone else, or actually Throw Them Away!!!

So, this is the beginning (it's January, right, New Year, right), for my use it or lose it approach to my UFOs. I'm making a "deal" with myself--I can't start anything new until I finish or deal with something already begun. It's a one-to-one ratio. If I can't muster the enthusiasm to finish something, stashing it in a drawer is probably NOT going to change my attitude. Besides, new projects sometimes have a tendency to become UFOs, too.

OK- here's the list of things I need to finish or send on to some other quilter's safe haven:

1. Green and Red Dazzling Dresden. I have to applique the centers, make the setting squares, and put the thing together. I have all the fabric; I just need to start cutting out circles.

2. Cheddar and Indigo Monkey Wrench Blocks. I finally have the sashing/setting fabric I like. Cut it out, sew it up, and move on.

3. Russian Sage - this was started with all the funky, retro decorative fabrics about two years ago. It's easy to piece, and will look great finished. Make a decision on final square colors, finish the cutting, and just do it.

4. Tracey's Bed Quilt. These plaids are just what she wants. I just don't like the pattern I was using. Need to find a similar pattern that's not so "fussy" and get going on this. Try to finish by April for her birthday.

5. 1930's Reproduction Sampler. This is really a "pick up and do a few squares" project. Try to plan on two to four squares per month and it will be finished by June.

6. Black Toile Medallion Wall hanging. I let this languish because I just couldn't decide on the borders. Really, who cares. Cut the borders out, sew them on, and put it away for quilting.

7. Vegetable Garden Applique. I started this to have a "garden" in the winter. Get the next block pieces ready to sew and put everything in a bag for a take-along applique project.

OK - breathe deeply and start attacking these things. Believe it or not, sometimes I avoid going into my sewing room because I feel "guilty" about what I haven't finished. Spinning my wheels and submitting to the "inaction is better than any action" is stifling my creativity. I'll report back in two weeks on my progress.