learning new tricks

I haven’t posted in a while. I actually wrote one post and deleted it because it didn’t make sense, not even to me but I wanted to put my thoughts and feelings down on paper…or computer and try to sort them out. I focused too much on the explanations instead of the feelings and just scrapped the whole idea.

I found a really cute quilt shop in town. I knew and had visited one already and while it had lots of fabric and nick knacks it never felt like a place I could take a class from. It just seemed too business oriented not necessarily the love of fabric and the love of quilting. I am sure that passion and love is there but I don’t feel it the instant I walk in the doors. I found a new place that has that love, warmth and passion. I visited there two weeks ago and had such a wonderful time I sent a thank you card, signed up for the mailer, and a block of the month class. They also have a sit-n-sew on Wednesdays that if I don’t have to watch R, I will go to! I bought a bag to haul things to and from with…a little feminine briefcase/purse. I am missing the first class, but told the gal I would be back. She is going to cute me a kit and when I have a sitter, call her and she will go over it with me! Here’s the info on the class:

Block of the Month Seams Like Murder
Created to accompany the book written by Arlene Sanchez, this quilt has a scene of Flathead Lake in the middle and pieced blocks as the outer border. The (fiction) story is about a murder at a lodge on Flathead Lake in Montana and each month includes the quilt block kit and a chapter from Arlene's book. Monthly as an evening class or a Saturday class in the store or you can participate with the mail order program if you live out of town. $35 includes kit.
Such a nifty idea.

I am currently working on that Christmas project, but I had to set it aside because I don’t know how to follow patterns and reached a frustrated point! I set it aside and started cutting the fabric for Aunt J’s quilt that she bought the fabric for. I am really excited to get started on that. I am also working on a block of the month thing through JoAnn’s (its all available I just need to buy blocks 5-12 and the setting kit…and maybe the backing kit if I don’t find my own backing) that I am trying to hand sew. Add that to this new block of the month kit and I have four project in the works. I don’t think that it what I meant when I said I wasn’t going to stick to my resolution of finishing a project before moving onto the next. I am JUST CUTTING J’s quilt since I started but I can’t sew until the project on the machine is cleared off. I am not changing the tread on the machine =) I also am hand sewing that block of the month and so I can do it when we need to be quiet or I can take it with me…so that doesn’t count really but I do need to make sure I don’t open the next block before I finish the one I am on.

Speaking of that, I realized while working on this first block…I don’t know how to hand sew. I don’t know how to make the stitches even, what the stitch should look like or the basics like how long the stitches should be…I need practice and I wish I could see how someone does it! I am half tempted to just throw it on the machine because I KNOW how to do that but then where would the learning curve be?

I need to clean before sewing today, hopefully I can make some progress on both during naptime! The kichen is getting clean slowly but steadily, R’s room is going to take a little bit but not as bad as it was a week ago, and the living room is good until it comes to my desk and quilting area! Ahh, progress