Jamie Wallen and One Loose Thread

Imagine, 3 full days of classes with the 'Amazing' Jamie Wallen..............Yep, that's what I did last weekend.. Karen Kendo, Margaret Caughman, Liz Florum and I traveled to Taylorsville, N.C. to the home of Quilting Solutions (Jennifer Kay). Jamie walked us through over 30 hours of longarm design work. He is one of the best teachers that I have had on this subject.

Me with my "Quilting Hero".
The classes were awesome. I learned more in those 3 days than I had in the last 3 years.

Karen picked up a lot of pointers and I know that we will see lots of new designs on her custom work.



Margaret took a much needed rest from house moving and learned a lot too.

For some reason I don't have a 'face' shot of Liz............she will have to send me one.

August 2, 2013: And Liz did send me a picture so here it is. Thanks Liz.

She was always busy at the machine and on the drawing pad. We did LOTS of drawing.

 This is the 'set-up' that Liz and I played with all weekend. The two 'Homesteader' machine performed flawlessly with all of the abuse they received. We quilt fast and they kept up. Thanks Jennifer for bringing Jamie to the Southeast and supplying us with a great learning environment. Oh by the way, the food was fantastic too!!!!

I came home and went back to work on my Lone Star for the Devine Exhibit at the Library. I have about 3 1/2 days of work in the quilting and probably at least that much more to do. I am using some of the designs that I learned over the weekend on this, so I am getting plenty of practice.

Guess I better get back to work. Lots to do between now and 'Sewin' in the Summer' Camp in just 7 days. OH MY-------------ONLY 7 DAYS!!!!! So much to do, so little time.

Have a great week,

LIFE IS GOOD!! WHEN YOU ARE A LONGARM QUILTER!!!

I know, I haven't been a good blogger lately. Times passes so fast and really tends to get a way from me... Let's see now, what has been going on??

1) You know I went to Manchester for MQX. that was in April........seems like yesterday. Oh yes, did I mention that Jane Gold and I won a Second place at MQX??????

2)  You have seen the beautiful garden that we have had this summer:

As off today it is much fuller than it appears in this picture. However, Columbia and much of South Carolina has received copious amounts of rain this summer. All of the rain has caused the garden to basically drown.

We did manage to get a dozen or so ears of corn, a really good crop of potatoes, and some really good green beans before all of the rains came,

South Carolina has been in drought mode for a couple of years. After this summer.......that should be over.

3)  Pat and I spent a few days with other members of QSC at a "Summer Sew-in". Pat was pretty sick, but, she hung in there for the 4 days. Other than her being so sick, we had a blast. That was actually the first sewing I was able to do since Quilt Camp in February.

4)  June (the month) sent me to the beach to spend a few days and 'Just sew'. Pat and I took a couple days and did nothing but sew and eat. It was great! I finished 3 projects.......now to only find time to quilt them,

5)  July has been vacation time. I did give Olivia a week off and I went to the beach to spend time with my children and grandchildren. The weather did not co-operate to well, but we did manage to have a little fun. The night of the 4th I watched 3 hours of constant fireworks at the beach. In one direction I could see the show from Surfside. In another I saw them from Garden City. In between the houses I could watch the shows from Murrells Inlet. It was amazing!!
             My Knight Bee buddies and I had a Pineapple party at Judy's house at the lake one Friday. What fun!! Dee gave us a class on how to use the Pineapple Trim tool. Alexis has asked for this for Christmas.

I don't know if this will stop with 9 and be a wall hanging or if I will continue on and make her a full size quilt.  She really could use the wall hanging. We'll see.
              Now this week............Classes with the Machine Quilter of the year, Jamie Wallen. I am so looking forward to these. This has become the year of continuing education for this longarm quilter. My head is about to explode with all that I have learned.
              Next up will be the One Loose Thread's 'Sewin in the Summer 2013'. This session features CI Karen Conley teaching several of Judy Niemeyer's patterns. We always look forward to our retreats and this one promises to be extra special.
               I'll finish up the summer by taking a large group to see 'Lion King' in Charlotte. Personally, I am looking forward to that.
                In the meantime, I am still quilting for customers. It has been a wonderful summer and I am looking forward to a fantastic fall.  I'll try to do better and not let Facebook take up so much of my interest.

Hope you day is filled with fabric,

The Gardens May 30, 2013

Just wanted to share how the gardens are doing so far this year. We have had a wonderful spring with cooler temps and plenty of rain. We added an additional container so that I could try some asparagus over the next few years. I also convinced Mr OLT to try raised beds in the big garden to try to cut down on his weeding time. He did build them, but, he wasn't convinced that they would work. He is now.

I hope to be digging a few potatoes within the next 2 weeks. We should also have tomatoes by that time too. I have been harvesting lettuce for weeks and finally pulled up the chard 2 weeks ago.

This is such a fun time of the year watching everything grow.

A free slideshow design by Smilebox

Hope you have a great day. I'm going back to the studio and load a Christmas quilt top (Tree Skirt actually).  See ya later!!

T-Shirt quilts

I delivered this beautiful t-shirt quilt last night. Congratulations Megan!!!!

I have done several of these for this graduation season and still have several more to go. Thankfully, they don't have to be done until early summer.

Have a great day.

Sally's Wedding Gift

I completed this quilt several weeks ago. Sally presented it last night, so now I can show it to you.

Another free picture slideshow by Smilebox

Thank you Sally,

Let's go SEW on SEABROOK ISLAND!!!!

Yes, the much awaited registration information is now available. We will be staying at St. Christopher Camp and Conference Center on beautiful Seabrook Island. Information is available on that page of the blog and the registration information is posted on the registration page. There is only a limited number of rooms available for this event, so, you really need to register early. You don't have a space until I have the deposit and a registration form.

I still need to get back to my New Hampshire trip stories, but, that will have to wait just a little longer.Until then:
Keep on sewin',

SEWIN' IN THE SUMMER 2013 - SOLD OUT!!!

I am so excited to announce that our Judy Niemeyer weekend with CI Karen Conley has sold out. There are no remaining seats available. I have started a waiting list, so, if you are interested, let me know and I will add you to that.

Stay tuned!! Registration for our weekend at St. Christopher will open within the next 2 weeks. I will have a limited number of rooms available so, first come first served and that must include a deposit and a completed registration form. NO THEY ARE NOT POSTED TO THE BLOG - YET.

I am also behind on my story about my trip to New Hampshire. I am trying to catch up with some customer quilts and that is taking some time. I will get back to the blog very soon.

Olivia is calling me, so, have to get back to work.