Thanksgiving travel

We were out of town for a couple days but back home now. Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. When we got home Istarted quilting one of the nursing home tops and was able to get it finished. There is light at the endof the tunnel!

Tonight's progress

 I brought this sewing machine into the kitchen and cleaned and oiled it.  Then I thought it probably should be sewn on for a while.  I'm going to give it to my friend, Mary.  She wants to learn to quilt!  I will be seeing her on Friday and will give it to her then.

This is what I pieced together on the machine tonight.  It's the center for the final nursing home quilt.  It does need borders, but that's a lot closer to finished than it was last night. 

I called Nolting today and they are sending me a box for Gemma.

Preparing for shipment

I have Gemma off the carriage, and the front and back handles removed.  She is ready to be shipped.  Except the box I thought was the box she came in and that I have been saving all this time isn't the right box.  It's too small.  Sigh.  So now I have to call Nolting in the morning and have them ship me a box.

I am kind of proud of myself for getting her all ready to ship though.  It was a bit intimidating when I started, but I have to say the design of this machine is really user friendly.

Since I still have to get the nursing home tops done if I have time, I went ahead and pieced together some backings for the tops that are done.  Still need to make one more top.  Will go ahead and pin baste them, I guess and just run some straight lines down them for the quilting on my domestic machine.

A screeching halt

That's what I've come to.  A screeching halt.  Just got off the phone with Nolting and Dan said it sounds like the motor is giving out.  Sigh.  Well, I have to pack her up and send Miss Gemma to Hiawatha, Iowa to have her motor replaced.  I'm half tempted to go home and pack her up right this minute and get her sent immediately so I can get her back real soon!  The turn around time is only a day for the repairs, but the travel time for the machine is going to be a few days.  I'm thinking if I can get it packed up and sent off tomorrow they will have her on Monday of next week.  Will just have to get it done.

I'm not even going to attempt to do any more sewing on it because if the motor is dying, it may mess up the intellestitch, so that's just the way it is.  I'm done.  I'll see what I can do on the nursing home quilts on my domestic machine, but honestly, if I don't get them done before the 8th of December, they will be ready for next year.  It may even be a relief to not have to worry about them at this point.

A bit of trouble

I know Nolting will be able to fix me up, probably with a five minute phone call, so I'm not really complaining, but it is a bit of an aggravation to have the machine acting up.  Not it seems like the motor speeds up and slows down, even in non stitch regulated mode. 

I was able to finish up the two tops that were embroidery blocks, so at least I got something accomplished this weekend.  Really wanted to finish three total, but I'm pretty tired and probably wouldn't have gotten a third one done anyway.  Might go up to the sewing room later tonight and piece a couple backs if I feel like it.  Hey, worse comes to worse I will quilt the rest of the tops on the domestic machine if I have to.  But I sincerely doubt it will come to that.

I have some clam chowder simmering on the stove.  Today the temperature didn't even get above freezing, so it was a good day for soup.    Ev and I went with a few people to Edwardsville to the Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant to watch the Bears and Rams game.  Ugh.  Bears lost.  I have a few wings left over that are calling my name...

Times two

This morning I pieced a large piece of material together so that it would be big enough for two tops.  Loaded it up on Gemma and quilted away!  I finished one top and have it still rolled up on the take up roller and started a second top.  These two are the ones I was apprehensive about.  They are the embroidery blocks.  So far, though, quilting them has gone well. 

I am having a bit of an issue with Gemma.  The machine is doing some funky things in stitch regulated mode.  Not sure what's going on but also not going to worry about it.  Nolting is such a fantastic company, I know that I can call them and get a lot of help over the phone if necessary. 

It's really getting cold here.  Down into the teens tonight.  Winter is on it's way!

A quilting we will go

Came home from work and started right away quilting the third nursing home top.  Got it all quilted tonight!  That made me feel pretty good.  Only ten more to go...

Got my hair cut tonight after work.  Feels good to have it cut a little different. 

Really foggy here.  Supposed to get colder.

A finish and a start

I finished quilting the first green nine patch quilt and started loading the second one tonight.  Have to keep moving on these puppies!  It's crunch time!

The Mom thing

That's what I have been doing - the Mom thing.  Darling daughter tells me she has to get her wisdom teeth out.  She tells me this at the end of last year.  Now, she is an adult (at least she keeps telling me she is, with all of her 23 years of wisdom) so I give her information about who to call and all that good stuff and tell her it would be a good idea to get it done over Spring Break.  Hmm.  Spring Break comes, Spring Break goes, and she still has wisdom teeth.  Then I gently suggest she get it done over the Summer Break from college.  Summer comes, Summer goes, but the wisdom teeth remain.  Now, I tell this lovely young woman the facts are this - dental coverage from Dad's plan ends when you graduate college - in December.  Get the appointments made and get it done.  Hmmmm. 

What do you suppose happens over the past couple days?  The wisdom teeth flair up and she is in pain.  So now it's a scramble to get an appointment before the end of the year so she will be covered by insurance (do you know it's around $500 a tooth for an extraction without insurance?  yikes!).  Her extractions are scheduled for December 30th.  Cutting it close?  Yes.  Am I happy it's the day before New Year's Eve and she won't be able to party?  Take a guess...

Nothing new

Didn't have anything new to post yesterday, really.  When I got off of work I went to the grocery store and picked up a small beef roast and some hamburger.  I made beef roast and gravy, mashed potatoes, and a pea casserole for dinner.  I also made a huge pot of chili.  It was funny because while the chili was cooking I kept thinking I had forgotten an ingredient.  And I had - the peppers!  It wasn't a big deal because it still had a long time to cook.

I also picked up a turkey while I was at the grocery store because they were dirt cheap if you spent $25, and with buying the beef and hamburger, spending that much was a given.  I put the bird in the freezer where he will just have to mellow out until it's time for a big ol' turkey dinner!