Scrappy Dreams

Lola 1 year

Lola 6 months

Good Morning quilting friends. My little girl is growing up, I am growing old. This is one high energy dog, her Mother is a low energy Mum. If you wonder why I don't get much sewing/quilting done...this right here is the reason. My Lola. One of the sweetest dogs I have ever known, one the most stubborn dogs I have ever known as well as one of the most intelligent. We are teaching her sign language with the usual commands because my dogs live long into old age and all fall deaf. I want to get ahead of the game with this one. We still have some major training to complete but we are well on our way. Soon I hope she will be able to go to the studio with me without carrying everything off and retrieving everything that is not tied down! Yes, she is a grooming nightmare! Happy Birthday Lola. 

Adjustable free pattern.............4 inch blocks and 1 1/2 inch strips are all that is needed!

Is this quilt cute or what? Scrappy quilts are my favorites. How can you not just want to cuddle under that quilt? I am thinking charm cuts at 5 inches square might work. I have a few sitting around the studio and for the frames, well no problem there.

As I venture back into some garment sewing I was getting very frustrated switching my serger into cover stitch mode. Sew a bit, switch the threading and the needles, cover stitch a bit, switch it all back. My sewing time is so, so limited that this was just not acceptable.

Lots of research and comparison shopping led me to this decision. The Janome 1000  CPX. She is a stand-alone cover stitch machine, that is her only function, cover stitch.

I hear some mumbling from the peanut gallery....how many machines do you need? Dear friends it has nothing to do with need at this point. I love machines, always have. Remember my story about how at graduation my class mates when out and bought cars and clothes. I bought kitchenware and a new sewing machine. There you go!

The pro's and con's of such a machine are well documented. It does one thing, 4 ways. That's it. This little panel right on the machine clearly shows what it does and how you do it. It is mechanical, not computerized. I have looked at it for a couple years and finally decided to do it. It is all about time for me right now. I will test it this week some time when you know who sleeps in the afternoon.

She is a sleek little girl, 5 1/2 inch x 4 inch harp. Sufficient for working larger pieces. She converts to a free arm. I will update a review when I have had sufficient time to play, OK? Now, please know this is mostly used for clothing but there is opportunity to add embellished stitching to quilt projects as well. We will see.

• As the sun smiles upon us this morning I am fortunate that my flowers were not blighted with the cool air. The constant changes in barometric pressure and temperature are not good for arthritic bones. Every joint is screaming to day. 
• As we enter a week of Memorials dedicated to D Day I am reminded of photo's I recently uncovered of my Father. One of him and my Mother right before he left for England. They decided not to marry in case he didn't return. The next one is of him with his group of friends in England, right before the D Day landing. He is the youngest and the smallest of the group.  Then there are none for 5 years. The next one was when the war was over and he was the proud owner of a local jewelry store. Standing in front of the store, smiling, very thin, in his new suit (that came with two pairs of pants he often bragged,) overcoat and fedora.  He rarely ever mentioned the war and only recounted three stories. One, his foot became entangled in the mooring ropes of the landing craft at Omaha beach. He was pulled out of the boat, under the boat and nearly drowned before freeing himself. Then he made it to the beach and survived. Second, he and his company had gone for days without food during the Battle of the Bulge. He stole a chicken from a farmer to feed his comrades. A single scrawny chicken fed many. He apologized to the farmer, he wanted to repay him. He never did. That bothered him his entire life. And last he distinctly remembered finding his cousins in a concentration camp and freeing them to return to their farms in Germany. What was left of their farms. What devastating circumstances our parents lived. Their fathers often did not return from WW I. Then The Great Depression accompanied them through childhood. Then WWII, I cannot imagine living through these times. 
• On that note, I hope to have something good to share soon. I will be with quilting friends and they have been busy bees!