I have 4 sewing machines, a regular one, a computerized sewing machine that sews and embroiders, an overlock sewing machines and an industrial plain sewing machine.  I gave my daughter a sewing machine; this is it I don't need anymore.  The computerized and the industrial sewing machines are a gift from the love of my life my husband.

 

I taught myself how to quilt using books and the internet, and the first book I used went into detail about the quilting part.  So I just assumed everyone quilted their own quilts. I had been quilting for two years before I even heard of a long arm quilter!  I ended up buying a frame for my domestic machine, but there wasn't enough space, so I bought a larger machine with a wider throat space.  The thing is, I'm so used to quilting sitting at the machine and I just can't get used to using the frame.  In a way I wish I'd have never bought it.  The loading part is the hardest for me.

Thanks so much for writing; I'm enjoying getting to know you better! 

You are so lucky you belong to a guild!!!!  I'm in a really small town without any guilds, quilting groups or classes, so it's kind of depressing.  I don't know any other quilters in real life, but I recently met a woman I met on this site.  She lives over 2 hours away from me, but she has a beach house that's not too far from here, so that was really exciting for me.  I always feel like I'm missing out by not having a guild to belong to, so when I found this site I was really excited.  I'm having so much fun meeting other quilters.  I guess it's the next best thing to having a guild.

I too am hooked on quilting magazines.  I subscribe to every one except Quilting World, and I buy the seasonal ones as well.  I can't believe how many I've accumulated in 6 years.  I have too many books as well, and now I'm giving some of them away...ones I know I'll never use.  McCalls Quilting always has good series quilts.  They had a mystery quilt last year that looks really fun.  Just another one on my long list.  I usually design my own, but lately I've been thinking about using all of those books and magazines I have.  That's why I bought them in the first place!  I like making my own because I plan them around my stash so I don't have to go out any buy more fabric.  I also have way more fabric than I should...I could see if I'd been quilting for years and years, but since I've only been at it for 6 years I know I went overboard.  Everyone said I needed a stash, so that's exactly what I did.  I had everything neatly organized in cabinets, but then I eventually had to start using bins, which I hate because you don't know what all you have.  I don't have any more cabinet space, so I figure it's time to go on a fabric diet.

The new friend I was talking about has her quilts quilted professionally, but they don't do the binding.  She pays someone else $15 to do it.  I've always quilted my own because I thought that's the way it was done. 

I think it would be a great idea to take your FW to work...it's your lunch break, so I don't see why you shouldn't be able to.  What kind of work do you do?  I was a bookkeeper for many years until I injured my back and had to take an early retirement.  I liked working better than being home because I had a lot more spending money than I do now.  So long as I can keep buying fabric I'm happy!  Of course I do plan on going on a fabric diet in a few days.  I have way too much and don't need anymore, so I thought I'd see how it would go to intentionally not buy any.  Maybe a year is overdoing it, but I'm going to try.  Today I'm doing some on-line shopping to stock up on some Kona Solids.  That's what I usually use for binding.

So, are you working on anything in particular right now?  I'm working on a few things, but I'm really itching to start something new.  In the beginning I wouldn't start a new quilt until I was finished with the one I was working on.  That lasted a couple of years.  Now I enjoy the designing and choosing fabrics the most, so I usually have at least 3 quilts going that are in different phases of construction.

It's raining again today.  Sometimes we have really nice weather during September and October and we can always count on a full week of sun in January.  It's been like that since I moved here.  One thing I do like is being close to the beach.  When I lived in Dallas it was kind of a weird thought that I was so far away from one.  I had always been close to the ocean.  I should be enjoying it while I can just in case I really do get to move to Santa Fe someday!

Well, I suppose I'll go for now.  Hope you have a good day!

Oh, you asked what brought us to Oregon...kind of a long story. We're both from southern California and my parents had moved the family to Vancouver, WA in my senior year of high school. Brian was living in Hawaii with his mom during high school and after his parents divorced he moved to Oregon where his dad and many of his relatives lived. Brian worked for his dad and I ended up getting at job there doing scrimshaw. We ended up getting married and living in Vancouver, but then his mom asked us to move to Hawaii and help her out; by then she was a single mom to a 2 year old and worked a lot of hours. I was glad to move there, but ended up hating it. I felt trapped. His mom moved away and were were stuck there until I got a job offer in Dallas with an all-expense paid move. I loved it there, but eventually Brian's dad called and wanted us to move to Oregon. His grandfather had alzheimer's and he thought we should live closer to family. Brian couldn't say no; it's hard for him to do so. I was so against it and I did not want to go in the least, but I finally gave in. I've hated it here since day one, and once we bought our house we were just kind of stuck. The next opportunity we have to move it's my choice, so I've decided on Santa Fe, NM. I absolutely love it there!!! So, that's how I got to Oregon!

Hello! Well, today we're back to the usual rain. I never thought I'd get used to it, but I guess it just doesn't bother me as much as it used to. The only real problem is that the grass grows way too fast. And waiting for a sunny day to mow it is a pain because by then it's really long and has to be mowed twice. I have a dog and it's hard for her to be in the yard with grass up to her belly! She's a small beagle.
It's no wonder you're tired! Everyone is having so much heat and they sound miserable. I think I liked the weather in Texas the best. We lived in Dallas, so we'd sometimes have snow in the winters and relatively mild summers; but that's when I was younger and the heat didn't bother me. I wonder if that's normal; it seems like a lot of women especially have problems with the heat as they get older. I've heard it a lot.
I always practice my quilting on paper before really doing it. And then I make a sample sandwich using the same fabrics and batting as the real thing and practice on that. I've done it that way since I first started quilting. I must have read it somewhere. I learned how to do all phases of quilting by using books and the internet. There are not any classes in my area, so I didn't have much of a choice. But I think I've done OK. I know I could start challenging myself a bit more though. Right now I'm making a quilt to donate to Quilts for Kids, one to donate to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative and one that's a scrappy quilt just for the heck of it. The thing is, my favorite part is designing and selecting fabrics, so I'm itching to start something new!
Well, I suppose I should go...if you write too much you get cut off at 2000 characters. Hope to hear from you again soon!

Hi Pam; thanks for writing! I too haven't been in much of a quilting mood. I don't know what the problem is because I used to spend time every day in my sewing room and although I have a couple of quilts in progress I've not been in the mood to work on them. I used to be an avid gardener until a back injury came along. That was a few years ago. My gardens were immaculate and I loved being out there. The first year that I couldn't garden I actually cried. It was my therapy, but that's about when quilting came along. I'd never quilted before then. So it was actually good timing, although I still really miss my gardens.
We've had a week of rain and yesterday it was supposed to be cloudy and cool, but we had a fread sun day instead. It was even warm (warm for here is 70). I've always lived in the southern half of the US (California, Hawaii, Texas) and it's really hard living where it rains all the time. Especially on the coast; it'll be warm and sunny in the valley, but on the coast it'll be drizzly all day long. The city people come over to cool off and then our town is swamped with tourists. Well, it's summer, and this is a tourist town, so I just have to live with it.
Well, thanks so much for writing back! Hope you have a great weekend!

Happy Birthday!