Fabric Purchase

Today was the dad move from the assisted living back to his condo. It went smoothly and we got him settled as best as possible. They had an estate sale in March and sold everything except what they took to the assisted living apartment. They had three meals a day there, so all kitchen/cooking stuff was sold, as well as other "housekeeping" items. He said he went out tonight and got some basic things. We don't know how long he will be there, or how long mom is at the nursing home/rehab. He seemed very happy, though, to be back "home". I didn't get any sewing done today. After the move we went to Menards to buy a million switches, switch plate covers, plugs, etc. Those little things really add up! On the way home I stopped at Joann's to have Carl look at the fabric I liked for the master bedroom bath shower curtain. Yay! He liked it! Unfortunately, it was a bit pricey, $35.00 a yard. BUT, I had a coupon for another store that was for 60% off and they honored that coupon. So, a designer shower curtain for a pretty good price. It is called Oslo by KAS. I call it very fun. Jerilynn

I Will Take You on a Tee Shirt Quilt Journey

Our oldest grandchild, Courtney, is graduating from high school this year. She was informed a few years ago to collect memorable tee shirts that she would like to keep as a quilt keepsake. I received several shirts (top photo), with instructions if the preferred image was just on the front, the back, or both sides. I decided to cut them out using a 13.5" measurement. Courtney requested a 4 x 6 layout, which should yield a 52" x 78" quilt. What I am going to do is show you step by step how I am going to do this. The first picture is the stack of shirts that Courtney sent me. Some of her shirts were a bit small, but we made it work. Then I laid them out, wonky style, on the floor. I will check color placement tomorrow, then serge them together with differential feed to prevent puckering. I will tell you the next step in another post. Tomorrow I move my dad from the assisted living back to their condo. I will be a bit busy and stressed. Good luck to me on having a good blog post tomorrow. Jerilynn

Cute, No?

Cute, Yes! Are you sitting down? I am...in The Red Chair, of course. I got to do some sewing today!!! I got home late last night from the three day seminar and was d-e-a-d tired. Today was spent going through piles of mail and paper that have been ignored for a bit, doing three loads of laundry, and getting organized for the parent move on Tuesday. I was relaxing watching tv this evening and decided a better use of my time would be to tidy up the sewing room. Once there, I spied a Sweetwater label sewing kit! I thought it would be a fast project to lift my spirits and re-introduce myself to my sewing machine. Well, the project took a bit longer than I had thought it would, but it is done and ready to use. Maybe not very practical, but cute. If you go to the Sweetwater site, not only check out their Label Crew and their Etsy store, but scroll down and look at the adorable charms that are coming out. Might have to add some of them to the glass tile collection of mine. Carl is still putting up pine car siding. He is working WAY to hard. This cabin project was supposed to be fun, but he wants to get it done enough that our kids can come to enjoy it soon. Once I get my folks settled again I will go up and help. I can handle a nail gun with the best of them! Jerilynn

Never a Dull

I am back! Blogger was down for a while and I could see the blog, just not post anything new. Then, tonight when I went to post something, I noticed that the comments I got on the pattern reveal blog were all gone. Bummer. I think that was the record number I got. So, anyway, for those of you who were so kind to comment, thank you very much. I haven't heard how they are going yet, but I looked on Indygo Junction's Facebook page and someone said that they liked the Permission Purse and the Cleverly Stitched Accessories. It is fun when someone you don't know says they like something. Also fun when people you DO know say that, too. Anyway, I am back on the blog again. For the past two days I have been at the Ricky Timms quilt seminar in Eau Claire, WI. Wow. Over 400 people have enjoyed mini lectures by Ricky Timms, Alex Anderson and Libby Lehmen. Very inspirational and very entertaining. Lots of laughs and wonderful to be surrounded by so many sewers and quilters. In between the talks I have been working in the Bernina booth and had an opportunity to talk to many sewers about the wonderful machines. I saw lots of current students and former students and had a great time catching up. Starting at 7:30 a.m. and getting back at 9:30 p.m. is tiring, but my head is swirling with new ideas. The last day is tomorrow. Tonight was a concert put on by Ricky Timms. Not only can the guy make fabulous quilts, but he can really sing and play the piano. Quite a wonderful show. While all this was going on, my parents are leaving the assisted living they moved to in January. My mom has gone into a rehab facility to try to get some strength back, and my dad is temporarily moving back to their condo until the sale closes in August. It turned out to be not a great fit for them. Mom took some falls and needs to be in a different place eventually. We are not sure where this new direction is going, but we are certain things will be okay. What a few days...an exciting pattern debut, new quilting ideas and friends, renewing old friends, difficult family decisions. Add the whole cabin addition in the equation and you understand why I am sitting in The Red Chair sipping a glass of wine. I suppose it isn't such a great idea to borrow the AA saying of "one day at a time" while sipping such wine, but I think that I need to keep that in mind. Each day brings highs and lows. A beautiful quilt needs darks and lights to be interesting. Jerilynn P.S. I forgot to tell you about the picture! I made these a few days ago from a kit I picked up at Bead Monkey in St. Paul. I like this style of earrings and I thought once I learned how to make them from the kit I could make them on my own. I was right. They were fun and easy. Sorry for the bad picture!

Salt Lake City Quilt Market!!

I am not attending the Spring Quilt Market in Salt Lake City, but I am going to be there, in a way. My patterns are printed!!! If you look reaaalllly closely at the bottom right of each pattern you will see my name! It has been a bit of a long road, but the models are made, the patterns are printed, and they are for sale starting tomorrow! I probably won't get any feedback for a couple of weeks, but I am crossing my fingers that these aren't the worst patterns at the show. I have already started thinking of some ideas for Fall Market patterns. So far nothing too great has popped into mind. Maybe one of these patterns will be good and I can build on that concept. How many dozen do you want to order???? Jerilynn

Coaster in Red

New coaster idea. I made a log cabin-look out of straight stitches and then filled in each "log" with a row of decorative stitches. It's kinda cute, but I wouldn't pick it up and go "wow, this is awesome!" The color is good, of course. I have sketched out a couple more coaster ideas that might be a bit more fun. I had the second half of a clothesline bag class today and the students' bags, once again, we really good! They said they loved making the bags and would definitely make more. I decided the next bag I make will be in blacks and whites, or blacks and creams. Once you make once of those bags, you just want to make more and more. Jerilynn

Bernina and Bracelet

Ever since my bead stuff has been organized, I have found myself putting together a little this and a little that while watching HGTV from The Red Chair. Carl is back up to the cabin to do more walls and I am in town doing parent stuff and helping Sew Complete with the Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson quilt show this weekend. Yes, they are going to be in town along with Libby Lehman. Three days of learning lots of fun things. I agreed to help in the Bernina booth during lunches and breaks. I needed to get up to speed on the new Bernina 830 so I went in for a few hours today to play. I had previously watched a few webinars on the 830, so I wasn't totally in the dark, but it is different being "in the driver's seat". Wow. Quite an awesome machine. Does most everything you could ever want in a machine...but at a serious price. Had I not bought the big Pfaff Creative Vision a few years ago, I might have been tempted to sell one of our remaining two cars to afford one. It was fun learning about it, though. This is the machine that the teachers are going to be using, so I am sure I will learn even more about it. Sewing a bit today on a fabulous machine, beading a bit today in a cozy chair...I would say it was a good day. I think I will wear the bracelet during one of the days of the show. Maybe someone will offer me a whole bunch of money for it! (BTW, the bracelet can also be a necklace. Cool) Jerilynn