More Round-Up pictures....

Round-Up is now officially over, but I thought I'd share a few pictures of the actual rodeo that we went to on Thursday, and the "Westward Ho" Parade on Friday. Thursday was "Tough Enough to Wear Pink" day, in support of breast cancer, and the Westward Ho Parade is an all non-motorized parade. We all really enjoyed our first Round-Up!

Pendleton Round-Up 2010

This year is the centennial of the Pendleton Round-Up Rodeo. It's our first September here in Pendleton, and like-wise, our first Round-Up, so I don't have a lot to say, but thought I'd share some pictures both of the "Dress-up Parade" that kicks off each year's week-long festivities, and some pictures I took last night on Main Street. Enjoy!

Finished!!

I'm on a roll ("Let 'er roll!")! After finishing my last top, I finally drug out the quilt that's mostly been sitting on top of our piano since Spring. I pieced it last winter, and did all of the quilting myself, free-motion, after taking my class in late winter / early spring. The binding got cut, sewn together and ironed before the kids got out of school, but then... well, the kids got out of school.

Now that they're back, I finally got the binding sewn on! First though I had to get all the cat hair off of it. I don't know what it is about any type of fabric and cats, but mine finds it utterly irresistible to nap on top of any extra item of clothing or fabric laying around, including my almost-finished quilt. It was also on a piece of furniture that had an excellent view of the dining room, living room, and yard, AND it was out of reach from the dog! Put a soft quilt on top, and it was her spot, 23.5 / 7.

After getting all the hair and dust off, I put on my walking foot and started sewing the binding on. When I first started quilting, I'd never heard of a walking foot, or long-arm quilters who, for a price, do the quilting for you. After getting really exasperated with my first quilt, I went to the local sew and vac shop and explained my problems with tension, nests of thread on the back and just a general lack of ability for my machine to sew through 2 layers of fabric and a layer of batting. They sold me this walking foot, much to my delight!

A co-worker and fellow quilter told me about long arm quilters when I asked her how to do a queen-sized quilt on my home machine. This was a quilt I made for my parents, after they returned to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. I just slept under it myself a few weeks ago when visiting my mom in Dallas.

After quitting my job to stay at home with the kids, and moving to Michigan, I suddenly couldn't afford to pay someone else to quilt it for me, and my friend Lois Gorton at Pine Tree Quilt Shop in Lewiston, Michigan sold me a darning foot and gave me a few pointers to get started.

But it wasn't until recently that I took a class from Collen Blackwood, and started reading Leah Day's blog, 365 day of free-style quilting that I got the confidence to tackle something bigger than a baby quilt or a place mat. I must admit that I feel like a klutz, but also realize that just like anything else, it's going to take some serious practice to get good at it. I'm also trying really hard not to get intimidated by the beautiful quilts that I see in quilt shows and shops.

Because I have felt discouraged from time to time when my hands and machine won't do what I want them to do, I thought I'd show my beginning projects in free-motion. Maybe some other free-motion novice will see this and feel a bit better! All in all though, I'm pretty proud and excited about this first big project. The pattern is "BQ" by Maple Island Quilt Patterns. It was perfect for showing off some of the Oriental fabric that I had in my stash.The kids have the next week off for the Pendleton Round Up Rodeo. This is the 100th anniversary of one of the largest rodeos in the country. Let 'er buck! It may be a week or more before I get another project finished!

Pathway to the Stars

Now that the kids are back in school, I've had a bit more time to sew! More importantly, I've been able to clean and it STAYS clean, at least for a few hours until the kids get home! Since my "quilt studio" is also our dining room table, that's really important. I can wipe up the sticky watermelon juice and odd bit of breakfast cereal that some how escaped the bowl, and it stays clean enough to sew on without being concerned that the fabric gets dirty.

I took a class back in June from Colleen Blackwood called "Pathway to the Stars". With the kids now back in school, I've been able to pull it out again. I finally got it to an "almost-finished-with-the-top" phase, and wanted to share! It's my 2nd class with Colleen (I also took a free-motion quilting class). Actually, it's only my 2nd class ever. But I have a feeling there may be more to come. Colleen is a very talented quilter / artist and has designed quite a few quilt patterns. She teaches these classes locally and not-so-locally. You can see some of her patterns at laughinglizzies.com. We're really lucky to have her here in our neck of the woods!

As usual, I learned a lot while making this quilt. I'm not sure I'd use the blue background again, but I already had a lot of this fabric and wanted to use it to save a bit of money. Colleen's patterns certainly are challenging for me as a beginner, but WOW, what an amazing result for my efforts! I really want to do her "salmon Run", but I think I need a quick and easy pattern to do next!

I also need to figure out a border. Her pattern uses a pieced border, which I may attempt, but I'm also thinking about a solid border. Here's a picture of the fabric I have a yard or more of that I'm auditioning. Tell me what you think!
Colleen works at the local quilt shop, Pendleton Quiltworks. I can't wait to show her my (almost) finished quilt!!

Thanks

Just wanted to let you know that I wasn't the winner, but did come in 5th place! Thanks to all who voted and rooted for me! I may try the 4th and final challenge as well. I'll keep you posted!

Shameless self-promotion....

It's totally against my nature to ask a favor like this, but I decided to enter a national sewing contest, sponsored by Better Homes and Gardens, "All People Quilt", to try to win a very nice ($2000-3000) sewing machine. I think a work station also comes with it. There are 4 quarterly contests, and the winner of each competes at the end for the final prize.

Well, the bag I made for the 3rd quarter made it to the top 10, and the winner is selected by public vote. So if you feel comfortable registering and revealing your info, please vote for my bag at this link: http://my.allpeoplequilt.com/app/voting/index.jsp?id=/templatedata/apq/voting/data/1282588730058.xml&mediaItemID=/sharemy/08162010/23128073

It's called "Becky's Bag", and it's blue and yellow. It's the only one shown sideways (not the picture I would have picked), but there's 5 more pictures in the "gallery section" that you can look at: http://my.allpeoplequilt.com/photos/quilts-and-more-quarterly-challenge-10/3/2145700019/?photoId=2142100045

You can vote one time per day until Aug 31st (tomorrow). Sorry for such late notice. I was on vacation and just found out over the week-end. I was frankly shocked that it was selected for the top 10, but also very excited!

Thanks for your help!!!

watchful waiting

I want an ebook reader.... I REALLY want an ebook reader... I want an ebook reader because lately I've been spending a large amount of time with my kids at the local pool. Not only are they taking lessons 4 days a week, at the same time, but I also go for fun at least a few times a week. Since my kids are now good swimmers and there's tons of life guards around, it leaves me with precious "alone" time. But since I'm at the pool, there's little there to do while my kids swim. Occasionally I can find a person to chat with, but mostly I do not. As of yet, I don't own any "smart phone, ipad, ipod, or blackberry".

My husband, who is NOT a reader, asked me "Why would you want to ruin perfectly good kid-free time with a book?".

That got me thinking..... In this day and age of all sorts of electronic gadgets that can let you read a book, surf the internet, play a game, talk or text, have we forgotten how to relax, meditate, and truly enjoy our "alone" time? Hubby pointed out that with an ebook that time would be gone in a flash. I hate to admit it, but he may be right.

So for now, I'll continue watching and living in the moment. I won't miss the young girl carrying a dozen colorful noodles to her classmates, or the proud parents lined up to take pictures of their children as they jump off the diving board for the first time. I'll watch as the young adult life guards flirt with each other and notice the perfectly still water of the pool early in the morning before anyone jumps in. I'll watch my boys grow stronger and more graceful, and hopefully catch that moment when my youngest jumps off the high dive for the first time.