I totally sympathize with you on the boxes, Teen! At the moment I'm having a hard time prioritizing what needs to be packed now and what we will need for the next few weeks. (ALL Fabric actually ended up in a box at last!:)) Best of luck on your first load up. I'm sure that will help take care of a few boxes that are in your way! I lived up by Couer d'Alene, ID, for a year as a teacher in a private girls school and I absolutely loved the scenery! Idaho is a beautiful state.

NZ, time flies........even when you're alone and waiting to be reunited with your husband!
Good luck with the packing and moving!

Teen, I'll help you if needed. Did you google gothic? Dresses like this one:
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Oh wow....that is cool and looks way too complicated for me..... When I attempt a garment, I'll be chatting with you for sure...

got a little bit of quilting done last evening, but I'm still a ways from the half way mark. So far I'm pretty happy with how it's turning out except one outline. I was attempting to do a line of stitching along the edge of the narrow inner border, like a line of topstitching. But I was lazy and didn't change to the ruler foot, and trying to free hand it ended up with a messy line. I'll remove it and then go with STID along the light side, and that will hide the imperfections.

Lots of fellow former garment sewers here, I see. I never sold any, but have made scads of Easter dresses, Halloween costumes, costumes for school plays, etc., over the years. No longer do any of that, but it was a good basis for quilting.

Wishing both of our movers the best over the next few days & weeks. It is a very unsettling time, and all you can do is grit your teeth & get through it. I've moved a lot over the years, and there is something exciting about all the new possibilities that lie ahead. NZquilter, getting back to Sylvia can be a nice reward for you to look forward to after all your hard work.

Just 2 new blocks today. I have my gd again for part of the week while the rest of the family travels to Atlanta for her dad's graduation ceremony from his physical rehabilitation program. It has done wonders for him in learning to compensate for the effects of the traumatic brain injury he suffered in Iraq.

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Way, way back I was making and selling custom lingerie. After a few years of working with tricot, quilting cotton is a breeze, and biases are a non-event.

I also did several bridal parties, and have made three wedding gowns, though my own was the only super full, all satin one.

I bought several yards of satin at the shop going out of business. I'll be making a quilt out of it, for fun. At least this stuff is way easier to work with than what was available 35 years ago!

OH Donna.....these are so beautiful...wonderful fuzzy cutting on the rose. That is an eye catcher. Wow....awesome! Thanks for the encouraging words and wisdom. I've been in this house for 30 years....and all its glorious accumulation of stuff....this will be our first move...My yard sale pile is in a 40ft container. Lol!! Trying not to get stressed...My best to your family hero and congrats on his program graduation. So appreciate his service! Enjoy your GD....

Macybaby....wedding gowns? OMG!!! I can't imagine the detail and skill in making one. Yowza...

Wow so much in common - at least those of us left here. I sewed all my oldest daughter's clothes when she was little & still wore dresses. But then I'd been sewing all my own clothes since jr. hi

Nice projects auntjo!
Another ex seamstress here...used to make most of my clothes. Made a couple of wool coats, too. Sewed for my kids...could save money then as fabric was cheaper. I even made blue jeans for our daughter and three sons. They were all skinny and long legged and slim jeans didn't even fit them. Kwik Sew had a great multisize slim jean pattern that was my go to pattern. My grands are the same way, but they have this neat elastic with buttons to keep their pants up. I spoiled my daughter because she learned to have clothes fit her and now she's very particular about quality workmanship as well as fit...LOL she used to sew for herself as well and her daughter never knew Mom could sew!

Wow..........Donna, beautiful blocks!!! The rose is just gorgeous!
Congrats on the program graduation!

Auntjo, what a beautiful quilt is growing there !!

Funny how most of us used to sew :) Mace and auntjo, you both are pro's!! Wedding gowns......wow!!
I only made clothes for the kids, late hubby, myself and like I said, gothic stuff;) Now the fabric and the notions are too expensive (or the store stuff is too cheap!!) so I don't anymore and I have to say I even don't like it anymore. I rather quilt!!

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Here is the one and only wedding party dresses I'll ever do. My daughter is the bride in the middle, surrounded by bridesmaids & flower fairies. I made all the Renaissance gowns, the groom (who made Renaissance clothes for sale) made all the groomsmen's tunics in the same fabric as the bridesmaids' gowns. I sewed every available spare minute in the summer leading up to the fall wedding. It was a beautiful wedding, but the marriage didn't last. She's much happier with husband #2.

OH my goodness!!!!!! That's stunning!! The flower fairies are adorable!!

Love that pattern. Thinking about getting it. (Backyard Birds)

OH my goodness, Donna!!! Those dresses are fabulous. What a beautiful wedding party theme. So fun...

auntjo......I love you WIP. Beautiful colors. I like the pattern and color placement.

Sue z q.......pattern is adorable. I'm thinking of making that after I finish my current project. Bird quilt has been on my bucket list. Have you selected a Baltimore Album pattern yet?

Anael...it seems that everything is expensive now. It use to be less expensive to make your own garments. Not anymore, it seems. Both my sisters were seamstresses. My sister made my prom dress, which I still have (why, I have no idea...lol!!) . Even buttons are pricey if you want quality. It gets very discouraging. I may not have made garments but I do reupholstering...lol! Does that count?

Yes that counts!! Even owning a sewing pattern counts :D :D :D
Really, zippers and buttons are so expensive, the garments in the store are cheaper than those. I was shocked when I found out the buttons I liked were over one dollar each........really!!!!!!

This is one of my favorite projects. I had done a wedding party with pink satin overskirt and full lace underskirts. Had some left over so made a Halloween costume for my DD. I so loved having a "living doll" to sew for.

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Stunning, and way too nice for just a Halloween costume! What a beautiful child in a beautiful gown.

She does look like a doll, Cathy! What a cutie pie. And the dress is absolutely beautiful! How old was she at the time? She looks like a little princess bride! (The last royal wedding should have hired you for the dress designer! The bride would have looked a lot nicer, in my opinion.)

You're so right NZ!! Cathy should have been the dress designer and seamstress!!
What a doll.......dress and daughter!! She didn't wear the dress only at Halloween did she? My granddaughter would kill for a dress like that. And no, I won't sew it for her. My DDIL doesn't want anything homemade except one or two quilts.

Cathy, your dress and your daughter are just darling. What a lucky little girl to have such a talented mommy.

DonnaPea, Your daughter is just glowing. What a fun wedding that must have been.

Cathy....adorable and a beautiful costume, though I'm hesitant to call it that. It's gorgeous as is your little princess..

I'm almost to the halfway point quilting on the SBS. I'm using a thread I've never used before, and for the first time experienced backlashing. I had a little bit, so I messed with the spring in the bobbin case and pulled a rather large mass of lint out from behind it. That made things much worse as it loosened the pressure it was putting on the bobbin. So I had to lift it and give it a bit more bend (it's spring steel) and then I had to readjust the tension . . . I think I have it worked out now, but I've also gotten to the part I'm FMQ and I was having the problems more with the robotics.

The trip to the quilt show was fun. DH and I stopped at the "mother store" to our local one that is going out of business. That one was twice as big and I found a lot of fabric that our store had already sold out of. And at half price, I walked out with a couple of large bags of fabric. The bad part, after getting fabric for under $5 a yard, it was very hard to feel like paying the quilt show sale prices of $10 a yard!

I only bought a few yards at the show, but there was almost no specialty fabric sellers. It was mostly the LQS stores so mostly what I see routinely. I did get a couple of Creative Grids rulers at 20% off, that is my favorite brand.

DH tried a few of the other LA's. He was not impressed with any of them, but he was super impressed with the industrial straight stitch Juki. I've not sewn on one with a servo motor (use to the older style) and was impressed with how well it did at very slow speed.

I also got rather depressed looking at the quilts. Made me feel like I should go home and toss mine into the burning barrel lol!! Didn't help that I ended up looking at the "best of show" quilts first without realizing that was were I was. After I got around to the unjudged section, then I felt better about my own ability. I think I'm not too bad with peicing, but my quilting is very much in the amature arena. And to be truthful, I'm not sure I want to slow down and take the time to do better. The quilts that won best of show were all very intensly quilted and I don't like doing that on quilts meant to be used. Maybe I'll do one quilt a year to try for show quality, and just enjoy making the rest.

I didn't take pictures of the quilts. I saw many wonderful quilts, but very few that were something that I felt I'd want to replicate and figured I'd only take pictures if I wanted it for inspireation. I really don't need to collect more ideas! And right now I"m attracted to sampler style quilts anyway. Don't recall seeing any SBS quilts.

Glad you're not so depressed anymore :) I know the feeling, when I see wonderful FMQing and realize I will never be that good. On the other hand, like you said, I don't like heavy quilting on quilts which need to keep me (or others) warm. So.....I don't think about it anymore.

I was at the LQS this afternoon, was looking for a FQ, white with black/dark grey writing on it. Found one, would have to pay over $5 for it so it's still in the shop!!

Sounds like you had a great time and made quite a haul, Cathy. Good for you! Shows are great places to test machines...I do that too. And, I always leave feeling inspired to improve in skill level though I really don't have any desire to show my work and compete. That may change... FMQ'ing is an area I hope to build on when I get my LA. You do beautiful work, Cathy, in piecing and quilting. Send me any of your quilts you destined for the burn pile. :D It's on my bucket list to do a whole quilt or a doodle quilt. Right now, I'd just like to learn and build more skills on filler stitches around applique. I'm not a dense quilting stitch lover either...I like my quilts mushy and cuddly...

Anael....$5+ for a FQ? Good grief...it's getting ridiculous, isn't it? Talk about depressing.

It is ridiculous, that shop was quite expensive but $5+ for one FQ?

Noooooooooooo, no burn pile!!!!!!!!!! That can't be!!!!! :D :D

I'm getting so frustrated with this thread and trying to get my SBS quilted - I'm ready to take it off the frame and put it in the back of the closet. I know it's not the quilt's fault but I am getting so sick of thread breaks and backlash, and I've got a lot of places on the back side where the upper thread pulled a loop and didn't break. I don't think I'll ever buy this type of thread again.

I am seriously thinking of switching bobbin thread even though that will show on the back. Problems like this is why I don't have the courage to quilt for someone else!

What an ensemble, DonnaPea! Nicely done.
Macybaby you are one talented seamstress! Now what thread are you using that's frustrating you at the LA? Yes problems at the machine sure turn you off on a quilt.
I have sewn a couple of prom type dresses for my daughter 25 years ago, but was tickled pink when she did not ask me to sew her wedding dress!
Love seeing everyone's blocks...can't wait to get to the machine and sew. Had my 12 yo GD here for 2 nights while she sewed outdoor cushions for a 4-H project...did a great job until she got in a hurry...then frog stitching, not too much. It was all straight line stitching plus an overcast on the seam edges. Looks very nice.

Back to work for me...

So sorry Mace! I so understand your frustration!
When do you see the back of the quilt? Only when you want to. So if the bobbin thread is giving you a head ache change it and move on.

Oh no, Cathy.... Ugh!! Anyway you can match thread color to a different thread maker? You can always pull it off and set it aside but I don't know how easy or difficult it would be to re-rack it. Hang in there...

Things are going better this morning. I'm past the center with the intense quilting. And I have a lot less problems as long as I only fill the bobbin 3/4 full. I'm using Isacord thread, and it's rather nice except for the problems. I'm not having any tension problems with it, so that is a plus. I've got 2 rows of 12 blocks and then the border to finish. If I don't start having problems again, I may get it finished today.

I was planning on doing something else today, but since I can see the finish line I think I'll work on the SBS quilt instead.

Good luck Macebaby!!!! Hopefully you won't have any more problems. Can't wait to see your quilting!

I totally understand your frustration you had yesterday, Cathy. I'm so glad you decided to keep trying and today is going better! Determination always wins!

Only one week before the big move! I hope to set up my sewing corner a couple of days after the move and then I'll celebrate with a SBS block or two!

Good luck with the move NZ!! Hopefully it all goes without any problems!

NZ quilter, good luck with your big move.

Good luck with the move! I've not moved for 15 years, and that is the longest I've stayed in one spot since moving out of the house I grew up in at 18.

Last move from was WI to SD, and we had the house stuff, shop stuff, barn stuff, three horses, a skid steer and a tractor to move. We hired someone to move the horses and Tractor, and rented a trailer to move the skidsteer ourselves, which turned out to be a mistake as our truck could only pull it at 40 mph and we had about 500 miles to go.

DH says next time we move we're having an auction first!

I remember way, way back when we could fit everything we owned in a couple of pickup trucks!

Good luck on your move NZ. We are on the Nevada/Oregon border with our first load. Having good weather and driving a different route this time so seeing new views of our country. We arrive tomorrow..

great news, Cathy....fingers crossed that all continues to go well.

Thinking of our moving friends today, hope all goes well for both of you. My husband flew out to Texas a few weeks ago to help our daughter & hubby drive a U-Haul & trailer from there as they moved to the Washington DC area. It's a huge project to move, both physically & emotionally, but I'm sure it will all be worth it for each of you & your families.

Macybaby - no more talk of burn piles please!!! Glad your quilting is a little less problematic now & I am eager to see the finished product.

Here are 3 blocks I finished over another busy weekend. I only have Saturdays now to sew for any big blocks of time. We have church on Sunday mornings, then head out to a children's camp for lunch & volunteering as they register new campers for the week in the afternoon. I love it and all the people there, but I'm pretty wiped out by the time we get home in the early evening. All dark blocks this time; that's just the way they worked out[ATTACH=CONFIG]596111[/ATTACH], but I'm planning brighter fabrics for the next few blocks.
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Some days are darker than others and the same goes for blocks :) Lovely as usual DonnaPea!!

Nice job Donna Pea, I especially like the Maple Leaf block.

Teen, good luck with your move also. I didn't know you were at the stage of moving things.

I know you will both be glad when you are settled.