Saturday, April 28, 2018

Today’s free-motion class was a lot of fun. I’m not sure that I learned any new techniques because I already knew that it involved practice practice practice!

The first question from the instructor was “Do you doodle?” I don’t, but she went on to explain that free-motion quilting is really all about doodling on our machines. I had a lot of fun with my own particular version of doodling – I can’t wait to try some of them on some real projects.

I was happy to have a chance to try some pebble work; my leaves were rather sad but I could get used to those curly stems. The designs inside the flower petals in the middle were fun and I even practiced my ABC’s. Some of the things I tried will never see the light of day again!

Friday, April 27, 2018

I started the morning with the baking I need to do for the Hall’s AGM on Sunday. At the Retreat weekend someone brought some brown sugar fudge; Deloise gave me a microwave version of Aunt Ethel’s Fudge so I decided I’d make a pan of that. It isn’t exactly a square but I didn’t see any reason it couldn’t be part of the sweet tray. I also had a new recipe I wanted to try – Lemon Bars. Once the fudge was made and cut I was able to reuse the pan for the Lemon Bars. I tried one after they had cooled; they were tasty but a bit sticky to be served as finger food. I put them in the fridge and I’ll see if they get any better. If they don’t I might make something else, or I might buy something, or I might make some cookies.

The next thing I needed to get done was my quilt sandwich for my class tomorrow. I spray basted the baby quilt on the back step but I don’t have the right-coloured thread so I might just take some muslin blocks that are sandwiched. I have some that will need to be resprayed but I think they will be better for a class than the baby quilt.

I have always used my SUV for any away-from-home quilting – either straight-line or free motion. At the Retreat we needed to quilt the fabric we were using for our bags and I only had Pearl with me. I was able to attach my walking foot to Pearl and it worked like a charm. That got me wondering about whether or not I’d also be able to attach my free-motion foot. I spent some time this afternoon trying to find out if I could lower the feed dogs on Pearl and, although I haven’t done it before, I found out they can be lowered. That saves me some time as I won’t have to clean the SUV (which has been waiting for a cleaning all month).

Our trip to the Island yesterday was a lot of fun; the three of us get along well. The place where they have their sewing machines serviced is actually a beautiful quilt shop. I picked up a couple of pieces of fabric and a pattern (all at 50% off); I also found two books on techniques that I’ve never seen before. One is full of walking foot designs and the other is full of instructions about the different ways to Quilt As You Go. The quilt shop was very close to Michael’s so I was able to get all the floss I needed. We also made a stop at FabricLand but I didn’t see anything I needed to bring home (I think I was shopped out by then). We were back in Comox in plenty of time for the last ferry; it was a long day and I was tired when I got home.

I still have my report to write for the Hall’s AGM and I need to finish preparing some of the freebies we are giving out as door prizes to our members. Other than packing things up and picking up some cream, coffee and tea I think I have everything else done. Hopefully I will have time and energy to take care of than tomorrow after class.

Pat arrived home late this afternoon and we’ll go out for dinner since there is almost nothing but Lemon Bars and Brown Sugar Fudge in the fridge!