2018 Stats and 2019 Challenge

2018 wasn't a great year...I lost my sister, Karen on October 26th. It was sudden. I was in Austin, Texas working and event when I got the call from my sister, Marian. I changed my flight and flew home on Saturday the 27th. The next week was rough. I miss her so much.

I also had to retire from my job at UT. I was passed over for my supervisor's job. I wasn't even allowed to apply for it. They just put a young white male in the position.  Equity and Diversity said it was wrong, but they couldn't do anything about it. So after 37 years, I retired from UT. I was lucky. A friend, Karen Pharr saw I was retiring and asked me to work for her as an educator. I started working for her in August and have had a blast so far.

Marian and I took a trip of a lifetime. We flew to Portland and then traveled to Seattle and then back to Portland and on to Sisters, Oregon. I always wanted to visit the quilt show there and we did. It was wonderful!

Here are my stats for 2018:
Books read - 206 (all time high)
Movies watched at the theater - 30
Classes - 4 basket classes, 4 quilting classes, 1 crochet class and a wet felting class
Trips - Sisters, Oregon
Plays - 9
Concerts - 1

My goal for 2018 was to visit a small town once a month. I only did it 5 months, but I did start traveling with my job so I visited a lot of new places which is what I wanted to do.

My 2019 goal - Marian got me a book for my birthday. It is a 52 week quilter's year book. 52 weeks to explore your inner quilt genius and have some fabric fun.

Further book stats:
Shortest book - 84 pages "When Birdie Babysat Spider" by Kristen Painter
Longest book - 608 pages "Exodus" by Leon Uris
Most Popular - "Animal Farm" by George Orwell
Least Popular - "Makin' Miracles" by Lin Stepp
My Average rating - 4.1

Thursday Bee project

Thursday Bee is a bee of my quilt guild. They made Marian and me honorary members. This year they decided to do a challenge. Each participant would make an 8 1/2 x 11 inch block using the theme picked by the other participants. Here are the themes:

Me - your favorite artist
Darlene Roby - Self Portrait
Gloria Felter - Keys
Melissa Carter - At the Cabin
Patty Ashworth - Chessmen or game pieces
Candace Tucker - Paint brushes
Mary Siegfreid - Rabbits, hares, bunnies
Sandy Kambic - flowers
Diane Rhea - American West
Marian Sykes - shoes

Here are mine:

I really like how most of them turned out. I'll post all the ones I get after the Thursday Bee party on Thursday.

2019 Christmas Cookie Weekend

Taylor and I had our annual Christmas Cookie weekend. We were joined by Marian and Jessica this year. It was so much fun. We arrived Thursday night and the cookie making began Friday morning. Jessica joined us on Saturday. It was a record year this time. We made the following cookies:

Decorator cookies - 5 badges
Gingerbread Men
Gingersnaps
Fudge
Santa Cookies
Pretzel rods - 3 bags
Snickerdoodles
Buckeyes
No Bake Cookies
Pinwheel cookies
Lumps of Coal
Candy Bars
Lemon Grinch cookies
Thumbprint cookies
Cookie Dough fudge
Red Velvet Christmas cookies

We made 2 batches of everything except the ones I noted. The decorator cookies, of course, took the longest. We worked all day Friday and Saturday. We had fun. Lots of laughing and bad Lifetime Christmas movies. Taylor took all the pictures so she isn't in any of them. :(

Table of ingredients.

 Marian and I mixing cookies.

Jess and me decorating cookies.

Some of the decorator cookies

The many containers of cookies.

I love this tradition. It is so special to spend time with my sweet girl.

Teachers in my classrooms

I want to keep a list of the teachers who are in my classrooms:

Fall Paducah  September 2018:
Diane Henry - Threadology, Welcome to Domestic Machine Quilting
Susie Monday - From Ipad to Journal Quilt
Kate Galleran - Martini Bag: Paper Piecing w/Style

OSQE Cincinnati September 2018:
Heather Kogan: Chic Diamonds, Pineapple Perfection
Helene Weber: Walking Foot Machine Quilting, Sunnyside Up: A Scrappy Quilt &
        Quilt First Then Construct
Kaye Koler: Tshirt Quilts

OSQE Fredericksburg, VA September 2018:
Jill McCloy - Kennewick Jacket
Alicia Welcher - 5 zipper bags
Kathy McMakin - Knit Tee-Top
Kathy Ruddy - Serger 911

ASQ Virginia Beach: October 2018
Stephanie Farrell - Quilting with templates
Cindy Grisdela - Drunkard's Path, Free Motion Quilting
Linda J. Hahn - New York Beauty Crab quilt
Heather Kogan - Improv Log Cabin

Houston Quilt Show: November 2018

Greg Barner & Ruth Ann Berry: Simplified 3-D Quilts

Peggy Martin - Serendipity, Sailor's Delight, New York Beauty in a Minute, New Feathered Star

Carolyn Forster - Turkey Tracks Quilt, Flying Swallows Quilt Block, Rose Star One Patch, Jelly Roll Star Quilt

Judith Baker Montano - Victorian Crazy Quilt Ladies

Barbara Olson - Jump Start Your Creativity

Paula Nadelstern - Detangling Angles

Martha DeLeonardis - T-Shirts Made Easy

Kathie Beltz - Stella, Around the Pond

Linda Ballard - Bellanova, Curved Log Cabin

OSQE Novi - November 2018

Kathy McMakin - Inspiring Serger Confidence

Karen Pharr - French Braid Table Runner

(the rest of the classes were manned by our Sales Rep)

QuiltCon - February 2019
                 Sherry Lynn Wood, Ginny Robinson, Denyse Schmidt, Season Evans

OSQE Cleveland - March 2019
                                                Swing Jacket with Nick Coman

Violets in a Blue Vase with Jill McCloy

The Bubbles Quilt with Debby Kratovil

Easy Piecey Lone Star with Helene Weber

Quilt First, Then Construct: Blocks, Sashing and Borders by Helene Weber

10 Degree Ruler Workshop with Connie Spurlock

Paducah - April 2019

Victoria Finley Wolfe - Mini Star Storm

Kaye England - Martha's Table Runner, Piecing with Scraps, Fun With Scraps & History, Summer Garden Quilt

Pamela Pandolfi - Painted Ballerina and Painted Tree

Marti Michell - Kaleidoscope Quilt

Stitches United - Atlanta 2019

Jennifer Stern-Hasemann - Learn to Sew Knit Garments using your sewing machine

Rick Mondragon - Quilt-as-you-Go Sampler

Catherine Redford - Walking Foot Quilting: Beyond the Ditch

Cindy Grisdela: Focus on the Improve Block, Free Motion Quilting with Style

Cal Patch - Studio Apron

OSQE Arlington 2019

Thursday: Debby Kratovil - Modern Vortex

Pam Damour - A Bag o' Zippers

Friday: Pam Damour - Finishing School

Debby Kratovil - The Gretchen Quilt

Lorraine Henry - There's More to Sleeves Than Meets the "EYE"

Saturday: Nick Coman - Swing Jacket

Connie Palmer - Peek A Boo Portfolio

AQS Paducah Fall 2019

Wednesday Crazy Quilt Basics with Judith Baker Montano (Ginny did this one)

Happy Scrappy Improv Quilt - Catherine Redford

Thursday Hex Star Quilt: Bust Your Stash with Victoria Findlay Wolfe (me)

Wrapped in Scraps: Make A Fabric Bowl - Catherine Redford

Friday Neighborhood Quilt: Fuse & Thread Sketch houses with Trish Stuart (Ginny)

Free Motion Quilting Confidence Catherine Redford

Saturday Introduction to Freezer Paper Foundation Piecing - Gail Garber (me)

Houston 2019 -
QUILT FESTIVAL Quilt Festival classes are 9 AM-noon (unless specifically indicated as starting at 8 AM.) Afternoon sessions are 2-5 PM. Monday, October 28 (Monday night classes are 6-9 PM.) Rm351B 8 AM-5 PM #104—Fire and Ice Bargello, Cindy Grisdela       cpgrisdela@gmail.com       1/4" foot  6-9 PM No class in this room on Monday evening. Rm351C 9 AM-5 PM #123—Kitchen Sink Quilting—The Art of Making Do, Maria Shell       mariashell4@gmail.com       quarter inch foot    6-9 PM #177—Winged Star, Peggy Martin       peggymartinquilts@gmail.com       Quarter-inch foot  

Tuesday, October 29 Rm351B 8-11 AM #244—Angled Stripe Table Runner, Cindy Grisdela       cpgrisdela@gmail.com       1/4" foot    2-5 PM #284—Improv Log Cabin, Cindy Grisdela       cpgrisdela@gmail.com       1/4" foot  Rm351C 9 AM-Noon #255—Cactus Tree—Positive/Negative Palm Leaf, Peggy Martin       peggymartinquilts@gmail.com       Open-toe foot (first), quarter-inch foot (needed later in class)    2-5 PM #288—Crazy Love, Peggy Martin       peggymartinquilts@gmail.com       Quarter-inch foot  

Wednesday, October 30 Rm351B 9 AM-Noon #358—Seminole Banded Tote Bag, Reeze Hanson       reezehanson@hotmail.com       1/4" foot and walking foot, machine for teacher demo is needed 2-5 PM #319—Mixed-Media Dumpling Bag, Lisa Chin    (9AM-5 PM class, room 342B in morning) lisa.chin@hotmail.com       Walking foot, zipper foot Rm351C 9 AM-5 PM #330—The New Feathered Star, Peggy Martin       peggymartinquilts@gmail.com       Open-toe foot (first), quarter-inch foot (needed later in class)  

  
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Thursday, October 31 Rm351B  9AM-Noon #420—The Basics of Crazy Quilting, Judith Baker Montano    (9AM-5 PM class, room 381B in afternoon) judithbakermontano@me.com       Regular foot - straight stitching only 2-5 PM #414—Indian Blanket—60 Degree Diamonds, Reeze Hanson    (9AM-5 PM class, room 360F in morning) reezehanson@hotmail.com       1/4" foot  Rm351C 9 AM-5 PM #418—New York Beauty in a New York Minute, Peggy Martin       peggymartinquilts@gmail.com       Open-toe foot (first), quarter-inch foot (needed later in class)  

Friday, November 1 (Friday night classes are 6-9 PM.) Rm351B 9 AM-5 PM #516—Seminole Sampler—Classic Strip Piecing with a Modern (Mini) Twist,  Reeze Hanson       reezehanson@hotmail.com       1/4" foot, I will need a demo machine. 6-9 PM No class in this room on Friday evening. Rm351C 9 AM-Noon #550—Jelly Roll Jive, Peggy Martin       peggymartinquilts@gmail.com       Quarter-inch foot    2-9 PM #577—Something Fishy, Gail Garber       gaillgarber@gmail.com ; gail@hawksaloft.org       1/4" foot - without guide  

Saturday, November 2 Rm351B 9 AM-5 PM #707—Simplified 3-D Quilts, Ruth Ann Berry       quiltersclinic@gmail.com       ¼ inch foot  Rm351C 9 AM-5 PM #721—Wedges & Stripes, Marilyn Rose       MRose1251@aol.com 


Sunday, November 3 There are no Quilt Festival classes in Juki rooms 351C today. Rm351B 9 AM-Noon #804—Button Box Lap Quilt, Nancy Goldsworthy       ninepatchquilting@comcast.net   

Yearly football trip with Jonas

Jonas and I decided to attend the UT vs. West Virginia football game this year. It was being planned in Charlotte at the home of the Carolina Panthers. We drove over on Saturday and came back on Sunday. We couldn't check into our rental until after the game so we drove around and found a great parking spot for only $30. Then we walked around until we found Taylor and Josh, who were also at the game. We walked some more. Jonas leaned over once and said, "Mom, you know we walk a lot at these games." :) After some lunch we headed over to the stadium.
 Our seats were on the 50 yard line! They were fantastic.

Right as half time began we got this message:

It was a fun trip, as always. Love spending time with my son. We have so much fun and it is wonderful to spend so many hours just talking. I have the best son!

Juki

My adventure with Juki sewing machines began in August 2018. On August 7th, I traveled to Atlanta, Georgia. I spent Wednesday through Saturday at Sewing Machine.com learning all about the QVP sewing machines. I met my new colleagues - Jinny Storm and Sue James. Both are super nice and I think we will have lots of fun together. We had to evacuate our room one night due to a fire alarm.

My second trip was to Long Beach, California. It was Jinny, Karen (our leader) and me. We were training on the new Tajima embroidery machine. We flew in on Monday, trained Tuesday and Wednesday and flew back out Thursday. Two highlights - had my first In 'n Out burger (not as good as Red Robin) and walked around the Queen Mary.

Third trip was my first Quilt Show. Karen and I went to Madison, Wisconsin for Quilt Expo. It went well. Karen was pleased with me. Still have a lot to learn, but the more I work, the more I'll learn. Cathy was our sales rep and we worked with the gang from Ana's. She owns 3 shops. Didn't sell any big machines, but several of the Mini's.

Second show was Fall Paducah. This was the first time we had a classroom. It was Karen, Jinny and me. We put our DX2000QVP in the classroom. We worked with the SewingMachines.com group from Florida. Love that group of people.

My next show was a OSQE show in Cincinnati, Ohio. We didn't see much of the dealer. We had two classrooms - a serger and a DX20000QVP. Karen and I had to stay downstairs most of the time. I went upstairs one afternoon when my class got cancelled, but there wasn't a lot of people around. I did sell two classroom machines and sold a mini to another woman. One of my classroom ladies also purchased a serger.

Up next is a long trip that includes two venues: Fredericksburg and then Virginia Beach, Virginia. One is an AQS show, the other an OSQE. It was a great trip! We had one serger classroom in Fredericksburg. Our dealer was wonderful - Charlie. I learned so much in the serger classes. Then Karen and I spent the night in Richmond. She flew to Charleston and I drove on the Virginia Beach. The Neptune Festival was happening that day. Lots of wonderful artists and vendors. The next day I picked Ginny up at the airport and we spent some time at the beach which was right outside our balcony. Driving back after dinner we found two lighthouses on an army base. Then we picked up Karen at the airport. The show wasn't well attended but I had a great time. We sold 11 classroom machines. My classrooms were great.

View from my balcony

Sunrise at Virginia Beach

One lighthouse @ Fort Story

Other lighthouse @ Fort Story

After Virginia Beach, I had a week and a half off. I was able to finish a wall hanging and purse for Karen to use in the booth as samples. 

Now it was time for my first trip alone. I went to Puyallup, Washington. I was nervous about the trip and I really do hate traveling to the West Coast. Makes it so hard to talk to everyone back home plus Jonas and his family would be at my house while I was gone and I have not seen them in so long and I miss them so much. 

I got to Seattle on Wednesday, got my rental car and drove to Puyallup. It was an easy drive right by Mt. Ranier,  which was beautiful! I went to the facility and spent a little time driving around trying to get on the fair grounds and then finding which building they were in. Finally found them and the troubles began. The tech wasn't finished putting up the two big machines. The sit down with stitch regulation and the J150. He ended up putting the J150 together incorrectly. I had to call Karen and then we had to call Brian, the tech. He had the foot peddle on incorrectly. Finally got it to work. Then off to my hotel. Not the best hotel and it was about 7 miles away but it worked out okay. Thursday, I had to find the parking lot and the entrance, but I made it to the sales training the owner Paul had each morning. The show was successful. We sold the J150, the sitdown, 2 minis, a DX2000 and and HZL. I enjoyed working with Lynette and Jo. Our booth was half Juki and half Handi Quilter with no Juki signage so I think we were lucky to sell what we did. I left Puyallup on Saturday after the show and drove to Seattle to spend the night. The hotel was huge and I almost never found my room. I order room service because I was starving and the area wasn't that great. Cost me $30 for a wedge salad with steak, but I was safe. Left early the next morning to get to Austin for consumer training. 

The Austin consumer training was fun and very educational for me. Mike and Robin were the host dealers at Austin Sewing Machines in Round Rock, Texas. We had set up on Monday and Tuesday. Classes were Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. We had 15 students and had a great time. We ate a group dinner at a Brazilian Steak House. We also ate at the first Chuy's! That was fun. 

Next up - HOUSTON!

Houston was quite the experience. I got to met lots of people, had some great teachers in our classrooms (DX2000 and the new Haruka) and worked my butt off. I sold several machines which was thrilling. It was exhausting though. Hours were long, but it was still worth it. Loved Houston!

OSQE - Novi

Karen and I did my final show of the year in Novi, Michigan. The venue was nice. I only had to stay in the classroom a couple of times. Most of my time was spent on the floor. Got a free spool of thread from Eric at Sulky. We shopped at a two story JoAnn's. Didn't sell much though. But we did sell a Sai! (well Karen did.)

That's all my trips for 2018. Time to rest and recoop. 

Seattle and Portland trip

Friday, my last day at work, Marian and I drove to Murfreesboro to spend the night at Taylor's. We all rose early Saturday morning so Taylor could drive us to the airport at 3:30 for our flight out west. We started the trip off by going to the wrong airlines. We were convinced we were flying Delta and couldn't understand why our number wouldn't work. Turns out we were on United. So after finding the correct flight, off we went to San Francisco. We were fortunate that we were the only two people in our row. Our flight attendants were older ladies, one of who was horribly rude. The other was very nice. It was a good flight. Once in San Fran, we had lunch and then after discovering our flight had been delayed an hour and moved to a different gate, we were off to Portland. Once in Portland, we caught the train to the Amtrack station. Our train was delayed an hour because a bridge was stuck in the up position so our train couldn't get to us. We arrived in Seattle after midnight. We weren't certain where the apartment was we had rented so we called Uber. After driving around the block twice, we discovered we were across the street. Lol  The apartment was nice. Right on the edge of Chinatown, close to the mission so we didn't go out at night. The only thing we didn't like was that it didn't have cable, so we only got 5 stations, none of which were great.

The weather in Seattle was fantastic. On Sunday, we got up and walked down to the Sound. (That's when we discovered how close the mission was.) We had purchased a City Pass and one thing we got to do was take a boat ride around the Sound. Turns out we were very lucky. Only 90 days of the year is the weather clear enough to see Mount Rainier and Sunday was one of those days.

Isn't it beautiful? The trip around the Sound was so much fun, we decided to take a longer boat ride that included going through a lock. That was really cool. We also got to see the house from Sleepless in Seattle. We also visited the aquarium. It was right on the dock. It was an old port warehouse. Nicely done and fun. We got to see an octopus. It was UGLY!

On Monday, we started our day at the Museum of Pop Culture. It wasn't as great as we hoped. There was a great exhibit on Marvel Comics. We learned so much. There was also a good Jimmy Hindrix exhibit. The best part of the exhibit was the playground outside. Then we went up into the Space Needle. The view was amazing. They are working on it, so the restaurant wasn't open. 

Next was my favorite part of our day in Seattle...the Chuhily Museum. I love his blown glass.

Each room inside the museum is dedicate to a period of his work plus they had a garden. I could have stayed there all day. Then we went to the market. I was disappointed. It was mostly junk. We did get to see a fish being thrown, but everything else was disappointing. Then we went to a quilt shop. I bought a piece of fabric designed by a local artist. I hope to use it for my Healing Quilt Project.

On Tuesday, we got back on Amtrack and headed back to Portland. The train was delayed, of course. Our hotel in downtown Portland was very nice. We were right across the street from VooDoo Doughnuts. We went over after our Welcome Meeting with our tour group and got a couple of doughnuts. I wore the chocolate the rest of the week since I spilled on my PJs. lol

Our tour began the next day with visits to a couple of quilt shops. The first, Fiddlesticks, was great! We discovered Ann Shaw, a designer, who we later saw in person in Sisters. Loved her patterns and I'm looking forward to completing the patterns. The next shop was Fabric Depot, which was not that great. That night we visited Powell Book Store. This large bookstore takes up a whole city block and is 3 stories high. It was fabulous! They give you a map when you enter. Then we walked across the street and found the Doc Marten store. I got some cute shoes. 

On Thursday, we went to the Lattimore Quilt and Textile Museum. It is in the middle of nowhere, but it is very nice. Author, Ann Hazelwood was at the museum. She lives nearby. She signed a book for us. The museum staff did a bed turning for us. It was nicely done. After the museum, we traveled to Cannon Beach. This is the beach where Haystack Rock is located on the Pacific Ocean. Beautiful city! There is a wonderful quilt shop there. 

Our toes in the Pacific.

On Friday, we drop to Sisters, Oregon and spent the afternoon in town visiting the Stitching Post. We followed this up by dinner at the High School. Then we listened to the founders of the quilt show as they showed their quilts. On Saturday we spent the day at the Quilt Show. I got to get a signed book from Marie Bostwick. 

On Sunday, we traveled back to Portland through the Mount Hood area of Oregon through the orchards. It was beautiful. 

We got to see the Olympic Summer Camp. We stopped by a fruit and vegetable store. On Monday,our last day we did a tour Portland and then off to the airport. We took the red eye home and it was a long flight. 

This was a great trip. Once in a lifetime!

SMQ Quilt Show 2018

Here are my entries into this year's quilt show.

My Challenge quilt got an honorable mention. Second year in a row for an honorable mention. 

My Halloween quilt. I love this quilt. I had someone come up and offer to buy it from me. They loved it and wanted to take it home. This was the guild row by row challenge and I love it, so I couldn't sell it.

 This is a close up of the ribbon I made. It was for surface design and was one by my friend, Tone on her Challenge quilt which also won first place. So glad a friend won it.

And finally my quilt from the Lisa Ellis class.

Retirement

 This was the cake made for my retirement party on June 22. It was held in the Pratt Pavilion in the recruiting lounge. I feel very fortunate that so many people came. I felt very loved and appreciated.

Lisa Ellis classes

On Friday night my quilt guild brought Lisa Ellis to speak and teach classes. She spoke on Healing Quilts. It was a great lecture. She helped start a program where art quilters used the plants and animals who scientist use to make cancer drugs as inspiration for art quilts. These quilts were donated to a hospital and used to decorate the walls of the treatment rooms of the cancer treatment facility. They started at Walter Reed and have done installations in Michigan and Alabama. They have been asked to make quilts for many areas in Michigan including the morgue. One group of quilts were based on microscope pictures. Fascinating. I was so inspired by her. I want to do this for some of the hospitals here in town.
On Saturday she taught two classes. The first class was her technique on the cathedral window block. I really like the cathedral window but never like how it was made. I LOVED THIS CLASS! The technique was so easy and the quilts she made were beautiful. Here is my finished block and I cannot wait to make more.

I was able to finish most of this in the 3 hour class. 

The next class was an art quilt. It was called Graceful Trees and we were allowed to buy a kit. We had four choices: Fall, Winter, Spring or Summer. I picked summer. We took several strips of fabric and sewed them to a stablizer and then we added our tree. The technique to make the tree was so easy once she showed it to us. You take slender strips of fabric and build the tree. The fabric has Misty Fuse on the back so as you build the tree you use an iron to put it into place. Here is mine with the tree built.

We quilted the background before we added the tree. Now we quilted the tree. I added my leaves after I quilted the tree. Then I quilted them. Here is my finished project.

I'm so proud of how it turned out. I'm going to enter it into our quilt show. The classes was stress free and fun. I finished most of both pieces in the classes. I put the finishing touches on Sunday. Usually you never finish class projects once you get home, but these were practically done when I left class. After the classes, we took Lisa on a tour of Knoxville and then out to dinner at Not Watson's. It was so fun getting to know her. Hopefully we will see her again at next year's Quilt Con in Nashville. Sounds like a lot of people are going to be there.If you ever get a chance to take a class from Lisa, do it. She is one of the best teachers I have ever taken a class from.

Quilt Show Ribbon

I was asked to make the ribbon for our Quilt Show. We give away several special ribbons and for those we make special ribbons. Mine was for surface design. I spent a lot of time on it, so I hope they liked it.

Here are all the finished ribbons:

Missouri/Vandy game

My friend, Marco Harris, is working at Missouri now. They came to Nashville to play Vanderbilt so we came over to the game. It was so nice to see him. After the game we played board games at Taylor's house.

March trip to Tazwell - Mountain Hollow Farm

So my March trip was to Mountain Hollow Farm in Tazwell. I  have been there before on a yarn crawl. I really liked the yarn shop there.

It is a great yarn shop which also carries some fiber. 

The shop is on the Mountain Hollow Farm and every Thursday and Saturday in March, they comb the goats to get their cashmere fiber. Since Marian likes goats so much, it looked like a perfect trip for us. She had a great time. I'm not as big a fan of goats, but I did comb one. 

This is the cashmere you comb off the goats.

This is how they restrain the goats so you can comb.

The big goat was trying to get to the food. She is a milking goat.

Marian being silly.

I hate this picture was so dark, but this is Marian combing her goat.

Afterward we went to a local fabric shop. Didn't buy anything. :( Then we found a local diner and had a great burger and fries. It was a fun day!