Light as a feather

Look what the postman left me whilst I was at the quilt shop.

I got home and found a big box on the kitchen table.  I was

not expecting it till Saturday, and all I could do was try not to think about it.

I got it on Ebay.

So now the PeacedGoods Studio

has become the PeacedGoods singer repair shop.

I didn't get her up and running until this morning. 

Thankfully, everything you need to know about these little girls in on the web.

And I needed to know how to take the bobbin case apart to

dislodge a piece of thread that was stopping her from sewing.

I got up at 5 am to do this.

Here she is all dismantled,

and the offending thread removed and properly disposed of.

And here she is sewing merrily along. 

Tomorrow, instead of going to the studio to sew in my

jammies with a cup of coffee,

I'm going to curl my hair,

put on some lipstick and my best frock and pearls and grab

a bouquet of fresh flowers.

This could change the way I sew, forever.

Daisy

I  posted a pic of my beloved Barney the Wonder Dog (yes, that is is registered name) and have a request to give Daisy equal time so here is my special girl.

You can't tell from this pic, but she has been under the weather.

After a second visit to the vet, ($$$$)and three meds($$$$$$$),

she is getting better.

The pink pig in the picture had rubber hands and feet for about five

minutes.  We are just not happy till we dismember

our toys.

And here is Barney (the secret agent dog)

spying on me from behind the bushes.  When you have a dog,

you are under constant surveylance, just in

case you are carrying a concealed buscuit.

Do you remember several years ago when everyone

was making the underground railroad quilt?

I did it as a block of the month at a local quilt shop.  The instructor was a
fabric historian and her lectures were on constucting the block and
how it was used in the underground railroad to send messages to the slaves, based on the book "In Plain Sight".  It was all very fascinating since I live not far from  Henderson Hall which  "literally was on the dividing line between the free North and slave owning South.."
I made all the the blocks, except the last one, and never did anything with them.  I decided a while back that I would put them together and practice

free motion quilting, but since I kept the blocks hidden (not in plain sight) in a closet in an unmarked pizza box, I forgot about them.

So,  I picked out my six favorites, made sashing and corner stones,

and will start quilting soon.  It feels good to have something on my design wall, again. 

I'm also going to start cutting a layer cake of
doggy fabric, to quilt next.

and I will leave you with this little doggy picture of Barney in Daisy's bed.

Could you ask for anything better in your bed?

TA DAAAAA!

I have worked exclusively on this for the last couple of weeks, and especially hard since I ordered a kit for the "Sandcastles" quilt using Pat Bravo fabric.  I saw the quilt on Hawthorne Threads blog, and was smitten.  The fabric is here and waiting patiently for some attention.

But, first things, first. I wanted to get an outside pic of this quilt, but my batteries died and are recharging.  I, too, am recharging.

Here she is.

Seams like the harder I worked, the slower the progress. 

The closer I got to the end, the more I had left to do.

And, while I wasn't looking, someone

put a few fabric scraps on the floor.  After I noticed them, I scooted them out of

the way (just across the floor, not into the trash can) but the post clean up shots weren't very good.

Now, let the quilting begin.  I was going to spray baste, but the 505 Spray that I would

normally use has gotten pretty expensive (the same as 2 yards of fabric for a six ounce can). 

When I was working and had less time, this is what I would have done.  But, now that I'm retired and have plenty of time, I'm gonna have a go at pin basting. 

Just trying to be economically and ecologically responsible.

 My chief concern is how heavy the pins will make the quilt,

and it will be heavy enough as it is.  It is 60" by 70" and will be the biggest

quilt I have attempted to machine quilt.   Maybe I'll give this basting decision a little more consideration.

Do you know anyone who would trade me a can or two of spray for 2 or four

yards of fabric????

One more pic.

This is my sweet Barney.

Daisy, my other sweet pet, is the pile of sleeping

fur next to the fence.

Makes my heart melt to look at these critters.

Every girl needs a dog (unless, of course, she has a cat).

Piece!