Happy New Year!!

 2013 here I come!  I have been looking forward to the New Year for months now- It has always been a favorite holiday of mine.  I love a new beginning, a fresh outlook, a chance to start over, make changes, take stock and reflect on my progress.  This of course really applies to my sewing and quilting.  I have made lots of resoulutions- but being a girl who believes in luck I am inclined to think it might be unlucky to tell anyone what they are- that somehow I might not achieve these lofty goals if I tell you all what my plans are.  So I will keep my lips zipped and hope some of these resolutions might become obvious throughout the year instead of me having to confess them on the very first beautiful new day of 2013.  I have decided instead to share with you all the quilty gifts I have been so fortunate to receive for Christmas- so you can see what new toys I will be playing with in the coming months.  I am not one to buy for myself- I wait until holidays or birthdays to ask for what I want- which seems to be so much more fun then feeling guilty about spending money on myself.  So here are some of the great gifts that came my way- and boy I can't wait to figure out what I am going to do with all this beauty. 

a charm pack of Joel Dewberry's new line Notting Hill

a double charm pack (2 of each print) of Amy Butler's new line Alchemy

a magnetic super bright LED light for my new Juki 2000QI which I am using on my new quilting frame

the Quick Curve Ruler which is from Sew Kind of Wonderful- I am super excited to jump feet first into piecing curves!

Anyone who knows me Knows I am a huge fan of Angela Walters and I was beyond excited to finally receive  a signed copy of her book- and it is as wonderful as I had hoped it would be!

even more joy- a gift certificate to take her class Machine Quilting Negative Space on Craftsy.com

Oh I know you are jealous now- yup that is a Fat Quarter bundle of Tula Pink's new line Saltwater!  I was beyond excited to receive this- and can't stop dreaming of different things to do with it- oh the endless possibilities!

My new Juki really doesn't like my typical Serger thread- it just isn't strong enough to do the job without breaking in my new set up, so I have been exploring new options with thread and have found Isacord to be a really great and cost effective option- so I was very pleased to have received some!

and finally an Isacord thread chart so I can always be sure to order the right shade for the job

Lastly I wanted to share a few progress shots on the annual Christmas quilt I make us every year- my darling BF started this tradition 3 years ago- he buys me his favorite holiday collection in precuts and I design and make us a quilt with it in December and January- only to put it away until the next holiday season when all the previous quilts come out to decorate our little home for the holidays.  I love this tradition and look forward to making my quilt and seeing the past quilts every Holiday season.  This year I got a layer cake and a charm pack of Dear Mr Claus- which I ADORE and decided to try to utilize as much of it as possible- here are some shots of what I have done with it so far- you will have to stay tuned to see how it all comes together.

part of a block- yes there will be more- but it gives you an idea of what I am doing with it.

40 + more block components all pieced, ironed and ready to go

88 sets of tiny 2" half square triangles- oh so tedious and not yet pressed- but I am so glad to be this far!

Much more Christmas quilt to go- stay tuned to see what it turns into!  Happy New Year everyone- can't wait to see what 2013 brings for us all- hopefully lots of love, laughter and fun sewing!
I am linking up to WIP Wednesday at freshly pieced

New Toys!

I recently celebrated my 10 year anniversary with my darling BF and he wanted to make it a memorable one.  I am not the kind of gal who craves jewelry or things like that... to make me really happy a gift really needs to be quilting or cooking related.  He always has been an excellent gift giver- and he often times will hand craft my gifts which make them extra special.  This year he surely didn't disappoint.  I got a few nice little gifts - including a charm pack and layer cake of Dear Mr Claus fabric- for my annual Christmas quilt- which I love to pieces.  But then it was time for the big gift.  So after about 15 minutes of hiding in the bedroom so he could get it all set up and then being blindfolded and led out to our dining room, I opened my eyes- saw what was before me, and promptly fell to my knees as I was so thrilled and excited I was feeling weak.  My beloved boy made me a quilting frame with a rolling carriage for my sewing machine.  He did an absolutely beautiful job too.  I couldn't believe all the love and work that went into this 8 ft frame- and my dreams of quilting professionally became a little more real with that gift.  Unbelievable.  As if it weren't enough.... He mentioned that the only problem he saw was that my Bernina has a very small throat- and it would only give me a few inches to quilt at a time before I had to stop and roll the quilt forward- and to him that just wouldn't do.  So he brings out a huge box.... time to kneel down again...  The box had a beautiful almost brand new and just serviced Juki 2000QI with a huge 11" throat.  The Juki is a semi industrial machine- designed to work in frames like he built.  It goes super fast- like 5 times faster then my Berni- and comes with a great free motion quilting foot- and let me tell you it is AWESOME.   Screaming and jumping up and down ensued for a good while, then we loaded up some fabric and batting and I started having fun with my new toy.
I actually got this gift at the end of November- but wanted to play with it for a while before sharing it on blog land- as I felt this might be a good option for other FMQ addicts like myself and there just isn't a whole lot of info out there about people actually using these frames.  I would like to change that by offering you all a chance to learn about this setup as I do.  I will be honest with you all about the ups and downs, advantages and disadvantages of FMQ on a frame vs. using a domestic machine.  Over the next few months as I have more to report I will keep you all updated. 
So far I have quilted a big practice piece and am now just about finished with a quilt top I have had lying around for a while.  I have been practicing stippling as I feel it is the best way to get used to the really moving the carriage.  I am still not stippling as well as I do on my Berni- But it is looking pretty darned good so far- I had to work through some tension issues and realized that my new Juki really doesn't like serger thread which I typically quilt with- so I will be trying out new threads on my next project- but overall I am seeing lots of improvements as I practice and feel it will only be a matter of time and practice until I am just as good on my frame as I am on my domestic set up.  For now I am having fun and trying not to pressure myself too much.  As I expand my design ability on the frame I will have more interesting things to show off soon. 

Please let me know if you have any questions or thoughts about this type of set up- my BF bought plans off of the internet and would be happy to share his sources for building your own quilt frame- so don't hesitate to ask!

Backpacking Vacation

I just got back from an interesting little mini vacation a few days ago.  We went backpacking and camping in Jennie Lake Wilderness in the Kings/Sequoia National Park.  The trail to Jennie lake is 5 grueling miles where you gain 3000+ feet in elevation.  I say grueling when you are wearing a 40lb pack- not so much when you aren't.  We meant to go for 4 days but as you will see from the pictures below we had an unexpected surprise that meant we had to leave a day early.  Alas it was the dog's first backpacking trip and they did wonderfully- so it was well worth the almost 8 hrs it took us to drive to and from the park.  I will let the pictures do the talking- and must confess the awesome photos were taken by my BF- I am not nearly as talented a photographer as he is.  Hope you enjoy the shots and sorry for no quilty talk in this post.

taking in a nice view on our hike

hiking along

still on the trail taking a rest

Moosey Boy decides he needs a real rest!

first view of the lake

the sun is going down

first thing the next morning filtering water so I can warm up with some tea- brrr it was cold!

King and Queen of the big rock!

Juki girl getting some sun

Moosey is taking in the beauty of the lake

mid morning fishing, what's up with the weather?

Fish On!!!  beautiful wild Rainbow Trout- released safely and still residing in one of the worlds most beautiful lakes!

Why yes, that is hail on Juki's back, seriously what's up with the weather??

Oh my- that is quite a hail storm- ground completely covered!

getting some fishing time- didn't get one this time, but sure had fun trying

Next Morning.... holy cow- 6 inches of snow covering the ground- we better hi-tail it out of here- any more snow and we will never find the trail!

hiking back down- too bad to leave a day early :(

beautiful forest blanketed in snow- so lovely...

Yes, we were expecting the cold weather- but weren't expecting a fire ban in the back country due to a very dry year- it sure didn't mention it on the NPS website, and we definitely weren't expecting snow!  It was a bit difficult to find the trail and stay on it, and yes I did slip on a rock and fall on my bum, but it was sure an adventure and the doggies loved every second of it.  So nice to get away and lots of time to think about sewing.... better get to it!