David gave me the best Valentine's present ever! A brand spanking new computer. It is love. This is the first new computer in a long time so the improvement over the laptop I was using is amazing. Who would have known back in the "old" days that I would become such a computer geek. I adore technology.

I won't bore you with details but it is everything I wanted it to be. Big hard drive, a decent amount of RAM and faster than the laptop. Now to get everything loaded on it. tested, working and I can start to strip things off the old one. Now I can have everything on one drive and find things. I will be getting used to the new Windows 7 but so far I am liking it. All my older software seems to be liking it too, which is the best thing.

I have the best husband IMHO.

I had so much fun on Saturday playing with glue, epoxy, paint and a bunch of junk. Who knew it was going to be THAT fun.

David and I have gotten to the point where this project is almost done. He finished up some beading on his and I just have to do some color work on mine. The biggest issue with mine is that it seems to have shrunk from the massive stitching and the washing I did to get the "wash out pens" washed out. I used the pillowcase method of finishing it and I did not allow enough extra in my measurements to make up for the shrinkage. The exhibit requirements are:

BLACK AND WHITE WITH A TWIST is a themed exhibit to be shown at the Long Beach International Quilt Festival in July 2012.  The quilts should be 30” wide x 54” long in a portrait format.  The quilt shall be all black and white, with no grayscale, unless it is used as the 10% color.  The “Twist” of color shall not exceed 10% of the total area or the equivalent of a 13” x 13: square, cut up and spread anywhere onto the quilt.

My only option at this point is to try to block it to recover some of the width and length. It is still a great piece. I am very happy with it and will use it for some other exhibit if it doesn't work out for this one. I will be bummed if it is unable to be in this exhibit as I am out of time to do a second piece. Wish me luck and send up some prayers.

I cannot believe that a week sped by since David and I visited my family in Arizona. We had a great time and the weather was wonderful. Tubac, as usual, was inspiring and fun. Of course we went to the leather shop that makes the most incredible purses, belts, wallets and other leather products. David purchased two belts. Next year, it is a purse for me. I will start saving now.

Bonita also took us to a local quilt shop, Quilter's Desert Patch, that is in a mobile home. She has an amazing amount of fabric in it. She also has a fabulous eye for selecting fabrics. David and I were not going to purchase any but alas, we could not resist.
If you are any where near the area, it is definitely worth a visit.
Quilters Desert Patch
16121 S Country Club Rd, Sahuarita, AZ 85629
520-399-2877

Just before we took off on our dash over to AZ, my sewing machine decided to go on the fritz. Seems the timing went out. David dropped it off at Paradise Sewing in Poway (where they have the BEST Pfaff mechanic in my humble opinion) and they had it fixed by the time we got back into town. I sewed on it today for the first time and it is back in tip top condition. I am still in love with my +25 year old machine.

Somewhere along the line I picked up a touch of the "mung". One of those things that you can't really identify as an actual disease but a sore throat for a day and some fatigue lets me know that things are not quite right. Got on the bike today to try to blow it out of my system. I do feel better after the exercise.

My "Black and White with a Twist" quilt for the Quilts on the Wall exhibit is coming along great. I am very happy with the way it is shaping up. It goes back to work with me so I can stare at it and plan my next design feature. David is working on his. If they are selected for the exhibit they will debut at the Long Beach Festival in July. Hope to see you there!

David and I are included in the latest issue (Feb/Mar 2012) of Quilting Arts magazine. We are really excited to make the big time. Pokey Bolton approached us last year at the Long Beach show during the SAQA reception. We had our "Noble Seasons: Winter" quilts with us. Those two quilts and a picture of our "messy" studio are included in the article.

Ellen Seeburger did a fabulous job on the article. We are both very pleased with the write up. Quilting Arts even sent us some additional copies. (Jane LaFazio and Jamie Fingal must have a boat load!) I know David's dad will be very anxious to read the article.

It is fun to hear comments on the article from our friends. Even my sister's art group sent their congrats. They are an extremely talented group and I was happy that they liked it

David and I are busy, as I am sure you all are at this time of year. We are trying to get ready for the holidays and also get some projects finished and others started for deadlines next year.

The Textures show has closed and we have our quilts back. The members will be reviewing the input from that at our last formal meeting of the year today. We have one more gathering for a Christmas party but that is just pure fun, no work. We will also be deciding on our challenge topic for next years show. Our "Wings N Things" topic for this year was very well received by the public. There was lots of positive feedback from everyone that attended the opening. I  have not seen the comments from our attendance book yet, but am looking forward to seeing those remarks.

David and I will be working on our "Black and White with a Twist" quilts that will be for next years Quilts on the Wall exhibit. David has his designed, mine is about half done but I have it well defined in my mind what I want to do. David has even started picking fabrics.

We are now back in the studio! This is a huge relief. I am so happy to be able to walk in there, pick up a project and actually start working on it right then. The new sewing machine cabinet is great. I love the fact that it has the power lift for the machines so we can raise and lower them as needed. We are currently waiting on our custom inserts so that everything will be flush to the surface while sewing.

I am now in the process or starting my savings plan for a new computer. I am in the market for a desktop (a little more bang for the buck) so if anyone has a PC brand that they love please let me know. I am going to try to get one in about 6 months.

New Coastal quilt series   

David and I had a wonderful time when we were in Morro Bay for a week. It was cool on the coast and mostly overcast, but when we drove inland to do some wine tasting, it was warm and beautiful. Warm, of course, is a relative term. If you have ever been in Arizona, 90 is warm, if you grew up in San Diego, 90 degrees is hot.

We did some sightseeing while we were there, rode our bikes, and visited some of the local galleries and shops. We are not really "beach" people but were inspired while there. It must have been the slower pace of the town and the trees. Because of the wonderful time we had there we have decided to start a new series of art quilts to honor our trip.

We will be calling the series "Coastal Impressions". While in the area, we purchased some wonderful hand dyed ribbons, trims, shells, beach glass, fabric and other items that we will use when creating our pieces. We frame our smaller pieces in a shadow box for easy hanging and display.

Pictured is a preliminary piece that I am working on. I still intend to add some beading, hand stitching, and a few more shells. This is not an actual view where we stayed but an impression of the area from our travels around the bay and the coast.

Forgive the photo, I took this picture as it was hanging on my wall, hence the little "clippie" things at the top and the background.

Let me know what you think. I would love your comments.

David and I have been working on getting the studio put back together. Most of the items that we lugged out of the studio have returned to their home. We are in the process of reorganizing some of the supplies. Last weekend we even got to work on some new pieces of art.

 We purchased the Koala DualMate Plus IV for our new sewing cabinet. It is fabulous. We now have a nice "clean" looking area that gives both of us a great sewing surface. Sewing Machines Plus in San Marcos had a floor model that we were able to get for a price that made us happy. We purchased the white version of the cabinet. I had money I was saving for a new computer and dual monitors, but maybe next year. I will be posting pictures later when I take some that show it nicely.

My goal is to get everything cleaned and put away by the end of this weekend. Life will return to a semi normal state, except did I mention the microwave died yesterday? It is back to the teapot for us…

I spent most of the day on the computer. I THOUGHT I was only going to spend a couple of hours, but one thing lead to another. I am sure you know how that goes. I got the domain pointed in the right direction, I THINK I have the mail pointed to the right place but if you comment on something and don't hear from me,... Give me some time, I have emails to two different support groups.

I did get out and get 2 errands done so it wasn't a total "sit hunched over the keyboard" day. Tomorrow will be better. Out for a bike ride in the morning and I am going to get some studio work done. (But that will be on the computer.) I am still in the design phase on the Quilts on the Wall challenge "Black and White with a Twist"....

I am so happy to report that the studio is nearing completion. The painting is complete, most of the shelving is back on the walls (except for the one that came crashing down yesterday) but that is another story. Note to self: Use different bracket system for storing six large containers of thread.

The unfortunate thing is, now that the freshly painted room (except for the ceiling and I am not looking up until a cobweb hits me in the nose) the hodge-podge of furniture that we had for our sewing tables looks lame. I have been saving my pennies for an upgrade on the computer, but now I am thinking a new sewing cabinet system for our machines might be a better idea.

David and I sold two pieces out of the Acorn Gallery in Idyllwild and that money will in the future move out to stimulate that ol' economy when I get enough collected. We did stop and look at one system in person and I did some internet research and spied another that might work. One is a dual set up, both machines in one cabinet, and the other is separate cabinets for each machine. The dual cabinet would give the studio a very clean look and the other would allow some different positioning options.  The problem with that is there are not a lot of options in the studio because of the cabinets hanging on the wall, the window and design board positions. Both types would most likely end up in the same area.

The two we are considering are the Koala Dual Mate IV or the Kangaroo and Joey. (Are you spotting a theme here?) They both turn out to be about the same cost even though from different companies. We saw the Dual Mate in person and it seems very well constructed and is a USA company. I have not done all the research on the Kangaroo but it is also at a local shop.  David and I will check out the materials on the Kangaroo before the big decision.