Saw The Doc

Saw the doc today and we went over the x-ray results.  I have a curvature in the spine and a small one in the neck.  I also have a vertebre twisted funny in my neck.  Ummm..how come no one has picked that up over the years?  It's really obvious from the x-ray. However; I went for 23 years not knowing I was having seizures so anything is possible.  If you aren't looking for it, you won't find it.

Now I'm kind of lost as this chiropractor said this has happened over the past 8-10 years.  I've been working with one chiropractor since April and he never said anything about it.  He just keeps adjusting my hips.  A week later, I'm in pain again.  I've given him so much money.  When I've seen a regular doc, I'm just given muscle relaxers and told to come back if I'm still in pain.  When I do physical therapy it seems like they check my lower back (where the pain is) and I'm given the same set of exercises that I did the last time I was there.

I went to a chiropractor out of frustration with regular doctors.  I went to this one to get a second opinion since nothing has worked since April.  He's the first doc ever to even do x-rays.  He wants to see me twice a week for the next month to see if he can help and then go from there.  I'm not sure I want too.  I'm tired of forking out 20 bucks a visit and getting nothing in return.

From reading on the web, it sounds like there's nothing you can do and if it's happened in adulthood, there's an underlying cause.  All I know is that I'm tired of hurting and my lower back muscles locking up every week.  I've made it a week and a half without having any problems but I figure my back will go out again soon.

I hate doctors.  And "specialists" are even worse.


    

Design Wall Monday

I decided to get brave and start my log cabin quilt I starteded almost a year ago before I hurt my back.  I got a couple of blocks done to finish up the pattern and decided to call it quits.  My back is aching again.  I shouldn't have laid this out on the floor to arrange the design or try to cut too many strips.

I've decided to get a second opinion on my back.  I have an appt. with another doc tomorrow and hopefully get some answers.

I finally got out my Go! cutter to do some strips instead of bending over but to no avail.  I like that my strips are straight but it's slow going this way.  Anyone want to make a bet on how long it will take before I "push the limitations" of this cutter?  If this one Go!es out, I'm done with it forever.

Off to ice my back and take some Aleve.

Rinsing My Mouth Out

Blech (still rinsing out my mouth a day later)  The casino buffet was disgusting and they wanted an absolute fortune for it.  Even school cafeteria food is better.  People eat this stuff while gambling?  The entire building looked like it would collapse at any moment.  My friend lied when she said it was good food.

I have no desire to go to a casino ever again.  Why people give these places their money is beyond my comprehension.  I think I need another shower.

On the positive side, I got two new toys for Christmas; a portable hard drive and a real copy of Snow Leopard.

I didn't realize my brother pirated a copy when he let me borrow it.  I don't believe in shareware, but I lowered my standards for this one and I'm guessing this "copy" completely messed with my computer.  Don't bother doing shareware.  Just buy it.  It will save you a huge headache and at least you have a warranty if something blows up in your face.  

I'm not sure if I should do a clean install or downgrade back to Leopard.  I backed up all my files on my hard drive just in case I do something crazy like that.  I'm just sick of my computer freezing up.  It's been pretty good the two days so maybe it's working.

I hope everyone had a good Christmas.  I really forgot the whole reason we celebrate thanks to being manic and didn't truly appreciate this time of year.  Hopefully next year it will be better.  

  

It's A DVR'd Christmas

It's Christmas Eve and what am I doing?  Watching DVR recordings of the "The Walking Dead".  It's like watching a train wreck. You want to look away but you can't.  The story keeps getting worse and worse.  Who wrote this series?

I couldn't take it anymore, grabbed my son and started wrapping presents in the bedroom.  They aren't very pretty, but they are done.  It was just fun spending time with my son.  I should just give up, tie the Wally World bags shut and call it done.

Later tonight DH and will wrap the other presents.

Ohhh..now we get to watch "Decoded" as "Warehouse 13" is done.

Yup.  We need a better Christmas tradition other than catching up on DVR'd shows.

Tomorrow we are cheating and going up to a casino to eat.  We don't gamble but with my back we just decided that would be the easiest way.

Whatever your Christmas traditions are, enjoy your evening!

I'm getting to know the head manager at the Apple place very well.  He very kindly spent another 45 minutes going through my computer to figure out why it freezes.  Part of it is the "finder" program and that it wants to go to sleep/wake up and then sleep but freezes instead.

Right now to get it to work I have to manually make the "force quit" window come up and click on "finder" when it freezes.  I've been keeping an eye on the "console" to see what shows up and it appears there are other issues when I did a google search.  Apparently Snow Leopard doesn't always play nicely.

The question is do I uninstall Snow Leopard and reinstall the old program.  I don't even know if I could do that w/o totally wrecking my warranties or the computer.  At least it works.

If any of you are Mac geniuses let me know.  I love my iMac.

I spent the first part of this week reorganizing all my sewing crap into bins and drawers.  In the process I lost my diamond ring.  I've been sick looking for it.  With my back being funky I had several teenage boys move out all the bins and and help look under the couches to no avail.

I finally said "Screw my back" and made an appt. for Wednesday since I knew it would go out and I didn't want to spend the entire weekend hunched over in pain.

I cleaned out under my bed.  I moved furniture.  I went through trash cans.  I went through bins for three days and finally found it in an empty bin that had held fabric.

I even built a bookcase to clean up the clutter around my computer desk:

The only damage?

I crushed my thumb with  my hammer while building the bookcase.  My back has been fine the entire time.

I did see the doc yesterday and everything was fine.  He adjusted a couple of things and I'm hoping to make it through the weekend w/o issues.

Go figure.

Computer Problems

My iMac is possessed.  And not by the stupid Ghosts of Christmas.  Apple Care is worth every expensive penny despite them not finding out the problem yet.  One tech spent 45 minutes going through several troubleshooting issues and then it went to his boss who tried several things to no avail as I found out today when it froze up.  Before you think, "Well they didn't fix your problem so why aren't you upset?" the techs speak ENGLISH and know what they are doing.  No 1-800-CALL-INDIA crap with some idiot reading off a card.

I think it's because I installed Snow Leopard and it's messed up my system.  From talking with the Apple techs, my hard drive is just fine and some other troubleshooting problems with the hard drive and programs are working.  I'm up to date on my software.  

The tech had me set up a new user account and to see what happens.  

We thought it might be my stupid Bamboo tablet and updated the driver.  Apparently the tablets have had issues working with Mac computers.  The tablet did work better but this morning while not using the tablet my computer froze.

I wonder if my cat has messed up some settings as he stomps all over my keyboard.  It froze when he stomped on it this morning but I wasn't on the test user.

I'd really like to uninstall and go back to the old program but that would be a huge nightmare of backing up files (yeah, you should do that anyway) and installing everything over.  Add in that I've partitioned my hard drive to run Windows because ahem..the quilting/embroidery software idiots refuse to make their products work with a Mac.   Some of those programs are fixed to only be installed a couple of times (jerks) before you have to buy it again.  I don't shareware, but I'm not about to spend a fortune replacing programs as I've had to fix my computer.

Anyway..gripe gripe gripe gripe

Pug Quilt Is On It's Way!

The pug quilt is on it's way to it's new home.  I wish I could be there to see her face when she opens it.

I discovered a neato tool for cutting wrapping paper!  It's a gift wrap cutter and it saved so much time.  I still can't wrap gifts to save my life and tape is my nemesis, but it should work.

I am officially an invalid.  I bought a chair that sits in your tub.  Sigh.  Just like quilting, put a "home health care" label on and you can charge twice as much for it.  I've learned to swallow more pride this past year with this stupid back.  Maybe I should put a bow on and sit it under the tree.

Now to put two teenagers to work dragging bins downstairs to the basement.  I can't take my living room looking like a storage unit with furniture.  DH probably won't be happy with his precious Blu-rays downstairs, but he'll have to live with it.

That Note To Self..

It won't get done done but I got the two motifs done on each side.  Close enough.  I hate this project.  It's cost me a fortune and I should have just bought a cheap tree skirt.  I had such grand plans for it as well.  Decorative stitching and embroidery motifs all around the skirt.  I even bought navy blue rope to finish it off.

I finally said "Screw it" and spray basted the backing and velvet together.  I won't be wearing it and it will have a backing.

You can see the curve around the bottom.  The tree skirt has a diameter of 44 inches.  I have two more blue birds sitting on a branch on each side and then roses going around.  If I get that far.

No.  It's not Christmas themed but I loved the design so much that I had to use it.  It looked so luxerious with the velvet.

Now I need to get embroidery needles since size 75 shreds this thread.  Those have to be specially ordered via the net since my stores don't carry them.  Told you I hate having to special order simple things.  Gripe. Gripe.  No wonder quilt store owners duck when I come in..LOL.

I bought black Kona Cotton fabric for the Fiesta quilt today.  I'll go through my stash and see what I have for the other colors.  I love Kona fabric.

Ditch this project or keep going?

Note To Self

I'll post this note so I can't walk away and toss it out.  This project has been so frustrating but I plan on getting it done today if it kills me.

Will show pictures later.

Blog Readers

*Bangs Head*  All I want is a way to read my blogs in a simple easy step.  Bloglines went out and then came back.  Then they changed their format leaving me stranded with over 100 blogs that didn't make it.  I have to manually move them over.  The last time I lost several blogs that I read and now I'll lose more.  Now they've made take several steps to read the blog instead of just clicking on it.  Now I have mark as "unread" or face scrolling down all 1200 posts of one blog.  The old Bloglines you just clicked on the blog and if I didn't want to read all the way down, I didn't have to make an extra click or scroll.

I hate Google reader and now I hate Bloglines.

The Quilterblogs site..you rock.

I'll add a splitting headache to my nasty cold now.

If you have a better reader site, let me know.  

Venting

Went back to the doc yesterday about my back.  He adjusted the rotated hip and we talked about what's causing it.  It's been almost a year and the answer is, we don't know.

It's not chronic since I can go for a couple of weeks without the hip rotating.  There doesn't seem to be an exact movement that rotates the hip other than I know when it's happened.  It can be as simple as rolling over in bed to another position.  Bending down to get something.  Lifting a gallon of milk off the counter to put it back in the fridge.  Walking a couple of blocks.  Getting in/out of the car.  Standing and talking to a friend.  Coughing/sneezing.  

What doesn't help is that all the muscles around the hip and back are connected so if the hip rotates, it takes several muscles with it causing a domino reaction.

I wonder if I need some deep physical therapy that my crappy county hospital can't give to strengthen the muscles.

Now that I have a cold, I know I'll have to be back in a couple of days to fix the hip.

It just sucks having to pay 20 bucks to put my hip back to where it should every couple of weeks.

Independent Quilt Shops

If you are a store owner, please note that I admire what you do.  I've worked retail as a manager for a couple of years.  I know it's hard.  It's grueling.  The overhead costs are obscene.  Keeping track of everything means having 4 brains.  I know you don't make a huge profit over all your products and if you decide to carry a line of something, it's a huge risk.

You have to buy in bulk or meet minimum items for an order.  Shipping costs alone, even for me, the average shopper, is outrageous.  I paid 13 dollars for UPS shipping for a 12.50 thread case.  I ordered two just to make it worthwile.  DH spends a fortune in shipping for his books/blu-rays.  It makes you sick.  Running a small business shouldn't be this hard.  You are the ones that fuel our economy.

I know you can't cater my every desire and just to my needs alone.  What is frustrating to me is going into a local store down the block and having to leave because the owner doesn't carry a basic need. It's the same thing every time I go in and I get the same dirty look of "you aren't buying anything, leave now". I came to you first hoping you'd have it and now I have to "cheat" on you.

You get to the point where you don't bother and find another store that does 50-80 miles away.  Now that I can drive, I feel bad that can't support the two local stores in town a half mile away in either direction.

I know you can't compete prices with JoAnn Fabric and other chain stores.  By the time I drive 80 miles up to a JoAnn Fabric store or paid shipping from another site, I would have paid that much for the item.  I'd rather give that money to you upfront.

The hard part is knowing that I want the color pallette of the quilt shown for the Fiesta BOM and the two stores in town don't have them.  Once again, I have to scour the internet or drive 50+ miles to get those colors instead of supporting my two LQS.  And truthfully; I dont' think any of the stores that far don't carry those colors either.

It's also frustrating when I go to a website hoping to order a product and being told to shop your local independent quilt shop for this item but all the LQS in a 80 mile radius don't carry it.  I have to scour the internet for the product hoping another store does.

We need our independent quilt shops and we are loyal and faithful shoppers.  You fuel our addiction and  our lusts for fabric and other items.  You give us complete and instant gratification when we buy from you.  Please know you are needed and cherished.  I hate "cheating" on my LQS for something as simple as a decent pair of scissors, several packages of needles, pins, and some thread or in one case some basic brown flannel backing for my pug quilt.

I Am An Addict

CJ over at Created By CJ  had an interesting post about the costs of fabric and where the industry is headed and the responses posted had me thinking.  Check out her blog.

I don't think quilters will ever stop quilting or stop paying for good quality fabric.  We are addicts and nothing will change that.  We may slow down but we can't stop.  It's not in our nature.  Fabric/notions call to us.  Most of us can find a quilt store in any town just by scent.

I do think LQS will have change how they do business.  They have to compete with the internet and with the decrease in some spending.  You now have to "sell" your fabric and notions you buy instead of letting sit on the shelf for years.  One of LQS has fabric that I bought 8 years ago and still hasn't moved off of the shelf.

Here's what I would like to see in LQS:

1.  The ability for you to order supplies for me if you can't carry them and not wait 3 weeks for when you put your large order in.  As much I want to support your store, I need that item in a couple of days.  I'll pay for my shipping/handling and guard your store until it gets here.

2.  I know it takes time to cut up kits, but they are a lifesaver to people.  If I can grab it and go, even better for some projects.  It's a great way to sell books, speciality notions and your fabric.  I don't have a problem buying the book/specific notion if you have a kit to go with it.  Having a set of rulers that I have no clue how to use hanging up will just sit there forever unless you have a project ready to go with them.

3.  Please have lots of notions and not just the fad ones.  I don't care about an XYZ celebrity notion. I also don't want cheap pins/scissors/needles that don't work.  I'll pay for quality.  If I want cheap, I'll go to a Hobby Lobby type place.  So many stores don't have a variety of thread, needles, scissors, and other notions that are necessary. I hate having to order something simple like needles via the internet because a local store doesn't carry it.

4.  Show how something works.  If you have a fad notion that is actually worth it, show me how it works.  Have one on hand for demo purposes.  If I know you are willing to teach me, that beats an internet deal anytime.

5.  Classes for more experienced quilters.  I haven't taken a class in eons because I can do most of the simple things.  I see more classes for experienced via all of your blogs then I've ever seen in a store.  I recognize space is a premium, but if we can do mystery quilts and other sew-ins via the net, surely a store could do something similar.

6.  I despise BOM quilts.  If you can sell me the entire pattern, I'll buy all my fabric right then and there.  I'm not about to pay 20 bucks a month for 12 mos.  The only BOM I'm looking forward too is "Fiesta"   by Fat Cat Patterns.  I'd still rather buy the pattern up front despite it being free every month.  I'm going to go bonkers waiting each month.

7.  Order Matchbox car plastic cases.  You won't be able to keep them in stock if you can do it under 10 bucks.
  
There are other things, but those are basics.

I am a quilt addict.  There is no hope for me and I know it.  I may slow down my spending, but I can't resist the perfect kit and the bread/butter notions I need.  I don't want any LQS to go out of business, but if everything I need is online via another quilt store/warehouse, that's where I go.

Hibernating

I must be coming back down from being manic.  Bah Humbug.  I'm crawling back into bed until spring. I'm even sick of eggnog and I down that stuff by the gallons come this time of year.  I hurt my back on Friday and so much for trying to make the perfect tree skirt.  

My tree has been decimated by a cat.  I can't put lights up around my windows because my back hurts and I don't need a fried cat because he tried to eat the lights.

I have two bins full of Christmas crap that I don't even want to mess with downstairs.

My house is being overrun with Blu-rays in bins and yes, behind the tree there are Blu-rays in shelves.  Hardback comic books are the next thing to take over.


And yes, that's the front door to the right.

I no longer have a house.  It's a storage unit with a bent tree and furniture.  See you in the Spring.

Ohhh Nooo!

Oh Noooo!  Somehow I lowered the design on my tree skirt!!  Sniff.  It stitched out beautifully but too close to the edge.  It took me three hours to stitch this out and I'm desperately trying to figure out how to fix the designs around it to work.  There is a rope trim that will take out nearly an inch making the design sit awkardly at the bottom.

This has been such a disaster.  I thought it would be easy to just buy the fabric and stitch out the pattern instead of buying a cheap tree skirt.  Then I realized the ribbon tree is too small and I spent all that money on the thread for it.  The roses on either side of the center are too big and it would cost me more to buy the smaller set.  The flannel I bought for the back fits the ribbon tree and not this design.  

Yes, I know birds aren't exactly Christmas motifs but it was going to look so elegantly done with the plans I had in mind.

It will get done and fixed soon.  It has just been a long day and now I can't sleep.  I keep planning designs in my head instead of sleeping.

If any of you have some ideas let me know!

Storing Mini King Cones

The whole mini king spool storage has driven me crazy.  I don't want a peg stand and I don't want to buy tons of little boxes.  I did another google search and found this: Thread Organizer  idea.  WOW!!!  That's IT.  Exactly what I want!!!

So I pulled apart my wooden peg stand and put the peg rows in my drawer.  My only problem is that the wooden rows are at an angle and they fall over.  Will fix that problem later.  But here is the prototype:

Oh yeah.  Once I get this set up and working, it will be perfect!

Thank you Brighterfusion!  You are my hero!

Madeira And Matchbox Cases are the Same

My box with my thread cases came!  My excitement ended when I realized there was no difference between the 12.50 an the 6 dollar matchbox car case.  Another site had the same box for 19.99.  Add in 14 bucks for UPS ground shipping and I feel sort of duped.   (I can't get the pictures to rotate..sorry)

Just get the Matchbox car case and save yourselves a lot of money.  It really peeves me when those of us with hobbies get ripped off just with the word "quilting" on it.

At least I have boxes to put my thread in.  Now to figure out the mini king spool issue.

Tree Skirts

My embroidery bug hit in and I decided I wanted to make a tree skirt.  I figured it can't be that hard.  Cut out a circle and a slit and then embroider on it.

I went out looking for fabric.  I wanted something that draped nicely and would be easy to embroider on.  Somehow I ended up coming home with two yards of navy blue velvet.  It's soft, luxerious and the owner gave me a 50% discount since it had a hole in the fabric.

Little did I know that you can't machine wash velvet and you can't really iron it.  You aren't supposed to hoop it or you'll leave imprints that don't come out..aka hoop burn.  Also my tree is white with blueish green ornaments.  I'm not sure how navy fits in, but I didn't think about that when I bought the fabric.

The designs are trees that look like ribbons.  They are beautiful but the reds/greens don't work with navy.  And the colors I have aren't the same as the design making it look more off.  I figured I'd see how silver/white worked.

First thing is a test sample.  I cut up a section, put two layers of stabilizer, placed the velvet on top of the hoop and put WSS over that.  Surprise!  Velvet is easy to embroider on and my Topaz did it with ease.   The colors..well, it makes you want to gag:

But..no hoop burn, no puckering and I managed to get the WSS off cutting very close to the design with small sharp scissors and carefully patting with warm water.  If you get sticky, it peels right off the velvet.

Now to get some templates printed out and marked on the skirt to embroider.

Thread Organization Part Two

wqqqqSomeone was kind enough to mention getting Matchbox car cases from Wally World.  I have heard of getting them, but have never found one until tonight.  Five bucks.  I should have picked up a couple but wasn't sure if they would fit my spools.

They fit my Madeira spools!  Too bad I already ordered "official" ones the other night.  Would have saved me a few bucks plus outrageous UPS shipping costs.

I fit in all my Mettler embroidery spools, my DMC quilting threads, and my Aurifil small spools.  Wow!

Even better, they fit in my drawer!

If they only made snap cases to fit the mini king spools.

You know what kills me?  The fact that JoAnn Fabric stores want an absolute fortune for plastic bins. Twenty dollars plus for crappy bins. They had a bin set for 72 bucks on sale.  I did a scan of it to see what Amazon wants and came up with 60 bucks.  Still outrageous.  Five bucks work just fine for me.

I also found a straight silverware box (no outlines) for organizing my pens/pencils/rotary cutters and other notions:

It may still look like a disaster, but it was far worse with 4 plastic skinny bins that never really fit in and made a huge mess.  I got this idea from the log cabin quilt book as the author said to get one for keeping the strips together.

My OCD part of being manic has been soothed and I feel tons better.

Thread Organization

Oh man.  I knew I had A LOT of thread, but didn't realize I had so much until I tried to organize it.   I'm one that wants all my brands kept together and then by the thread color chart.  Having them tossed into a drawer drives me insane.  They come undone, you can't find the exact number you need, and it makes a huge mess.

Here's my stash that I've dumped out all over:

And this:

Yes (gulp) I have tossed some into the bin.  Some of it is 8 years old and some I've only needed for a particular project and will never use it again.  It breaks my heart to toss out stuff.

And this:

I don't have space to put up the wooden racks like the one in the picture.  The one here has fallen apart on me.

What I want is a set of drawers/bins that I can put thread in horizontally w/adjustable slots for various brands.  Madeira does make a thread chest with drawers, but I have no room for it.  I just want it on wheels, adjustable slots and bin sizes and priced right.  I'm not really asking for much right?  LOL.

The closest I found was that Madeira does make a case for 48 spools like the slimline Sulky ones.  I ordered two since the company only ships UPS and it cost almost as much as one case to ship it.

Believe me, I've looked at all the options out there like bead cases, Matchbox car cases, cases made for thread and nothing has fit my needs.  I don't want to have to stack bins that only open from the top either.      I had a couple of those and went bonkers.

Fingers crossed that cases I bought work.

And, I don't want the wooden holders with the pegs.  They aren't Bandit proof and take up way to much space.  Those seem to be the most popular when I do a check.

Organizing Patterns

Since I haven't been quilting, I got my patterns all organized.  I found some floating around my bins and decided to do a full inventory.  I had no idea I'd end up with SIX 2 inch binders.

Two of them are QuiltUniversity classes that I've taken over the years.

Two and 1/4 of a 3rd are full of embroidery design templates giving thread lists.

And one is for quilt patterns.

Now to figure out where to put them all.  You think you have everything organized until you realize you have to find a place to put all the stuff you've organized.

My house is exploding with Blu-rays/hardback comic books and quilting supplies.  Between bookshelves and plastic drawers/bins is a living area.  Now that would be one heck of a picture if I was brave enough to put one up.

I've heard IKEA is the place for organizing stuff but there isn't one nearby.  Oh well.

I need to organize my threads, but there isn't room on my walls for hanging thread racks or for setting them up.  Yeah, I have that much thread.

Ornament Thief

I found my real camera and caught Bandit stealing ornaments off of the tree:

True to his nature, I'm sure I'll find his stash of ornaments after I take the tree down.  He has a stash of bobbins in the back corner behind my quilting bins.  I'll have to check and see if he's put them there.

Sorry Bandit, you don't even come close to blending in but nice try. 

All things considered, he's done really well.  However; I don't think a 38 dollar tree can truly stand up to a 10lb cat climbing on it for very long.

Thanksgiving/Christmas

I set out my nativity set and it looks wonderful:

BTW, if you have seen my "real" camera, let me know.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  My parents and two sisters came out for the weekend and we had a wonderful time.

I can't tell you how enough how grateful I am this Thanksgiving for my mom.  She deep cleaned my entire house while here.  When you can't bend down, scrub or get down on your knees my house has needed her care.  It's not that my family doesn't help.  They do great, but there's something about moms that do the trick.

She introduced me to Exedrin Back And Body Pain medication which has saved my sanity.  Don't know what they put in it, but I have been pain free all weekend until it wears off.  I'm still taking it easy as I know I'm not healed and don't want to fall into the "I feel great and can do anything now" trap of feeling better.

She made curtains for my daughter's room with ease.  She wasn't impressed with the Horizon as it starts out slow.  It drove her nuts as her old Bernina takes off when starting.  I despise this feature as well, but most machines do it now.  I wish there was a way to disable it.  Anyone know how to hack a sewing machine program?

She even went with me to Wally World at midnight to see what the fuss is about "Black Friday".  Meh.  I don't see what the fuss is all about.  

We set up the tree to Bandit's great delight.  He's had a great time redoing the decorations.  I keep waiting to hear a crash in the middle of night after he knocks it over.

"No Thru Traffic" Please

Remember the semi truck picture from the other day?  While walking by the other day, my dad noticed the "no thru traffic" sign sitting down the sidewalk and put it on top of the table.  Then we watched the reactions of people when they walked by.  Everyone burst out laughing when they saw the sign.

The Droid takes pretty good pictures.  Now to figure out the zoom in/out function.

BTW, my Droid saved me 60 bucks on a Christmas present today.  I have two bar code readers; one for Amazon.com and another for checking the surrounding areas.  Local Wally World had the item for 179, Amazon.com had it for 159.  Then when I checked the surrounding areas, Best Buy had it for 119.  Sold for 119.  Sorry Wally World, you wouldn't price match and 60 bucks is a lot of money.

The stores have to hate this feature.  I'm surprised I didn't get chased out of the store.  If your smartphone has this feature, use it over the holidays.  This app is invaluable.

  

Nativity Sets

Well, yesterday's post was useless..LOL.

I have always wanted an heirloom nativity set.  I've looked for years, but nothing has ever stood out.  I have a cheap one as an ornament, but not anything gloriously fancy to keep as an heirloom.

I was in the local pharmacy waiting for my lamictal to get filled when I walked by the Christmas displays.  The store also sells beautiful gifts/figurines and always has something wonderful to gaze at.  As I walked by, I saw a nativity set.  It was gorgeous.  Each figurine was gloriously detailed and done with care.  As I held one in my hand I realized the designs were (gasp) quilting blocks!  All of the figurines have different quilting blocks!  Who would do figurines etched with quilting designs?  The set said "Jim Shore".  

Then my heart sank.  Surely something this detailed will cost a fortune or at least several hundred dollars.  It's probably one of those sets that you buy each figurine separately at 50 dollars a piece.    Once again, I'll have to walk away.  But the set called to me.  It was too stunning to look at.  

Stop.  You are manic, idiot.  You came in for meds.  That's all.   I had to at least know the price so I asked. When she told me, I fell over in shock.  It's affordable!  No way!  I could do this!  

Once again, I had to stop and pause.  How badly do you need/want this?  If you buy it, will you regret it a few days from now?  What if I can get this cheaper online?   Probably, but I do believe in supporting small town stores.  I didn't try to justify the purchase, just went over the usual logical questions I know to ask myself.    

Needless to say, I bought it.  It will be treasured forever.  I know that even while manic.  15 years of searching for the perfect nativity set is over.

The tradition at my house while growing up is that each day a piece is laid out with Jesus being the last one done Christmas Eve.  I don't know if I can wait that long..LOL.  I hate to have Christmas done and over with now and have nothing to look forward to during December.  

I checked out his website.  Wow.  Double Wow.  Now, here's where I use self-control despite the mania.  I have what I have always wanted with this nativity set.  His pieces aren't going anywhere nor am I a "must collect" everything a designer makes.  I have his nativity set.  There won't be any crazy spending frenzy on his site despite how beautiful his pieces are.  If I find something that strikes me later, maybe.

Mania Sucks

It hit me yesterday that I am going through a manic phase.  If I am also excited about Christmas, something is really up.  Usually I want to crawl into bed and hibernate.

Damage done while manic:

*Bought a new fake Christmas tree.  Not because we needed one, because I wanted it.

*Bought ornanments for it..beautiful ones.

* A Droid phone.  Love it.

* A right hand diamond ring and new wedding band w/o hubby being there to help pick it out.  Feel bad about that one, but love the rings.

* A bluetooth thing for my car and a headset.  Truthfully; it's really helped when talking to my kids, but they aren't cheap.

* Clothing (I hate shopping for clothing)

* Several pairs of boots and tennis shoes

*Gasp..I want to do Black Friday.. *falls over in shock*

On the plus side I haven't:

*purchased a new iPod touch that will allow you to use Face Time

*purchased a video camera

*purchased a wireless mouse and keyboard and various other electronics that I managed to walk away from.

*tried to start up several quilt projects.  My back will protest and knowing that helps.

*and whatever else will come up during the next few days/weeks that I manage to walk away from.


In all seriousness, if you are bipolar like me, make a plan to keep yourself from doing stupid things this season.  You can do this w/o compromising yourself, your finances and your family.  

I'll need to hand over my debit card to DH today. Stay out of stores/sites that tempt me.  Put less gas in the car so I can't really get that far w/o thinking about it.  Really force myself to say, "I don't need it"."It's okay to walk away."  "Once you are over this, will you regret it?"

And, believe in yourself.  This disease sucks. While my back may really hurt, knowing my mind is constantly being attacked on a phsyical and mental level is the worst pain to deal with.  Meds help, but even that ravishes your body.  

Mania is not true happiness.  While I feel absolutely wonderful, on top of the world and feel like I can do anything, I know I will crash.  Reality will sink in and I'd like to make that transistion smoothly and w/o damaging my pocketbook.

Now to tell myself I'm not really able to do some serious cleaning because of my back.    

How Has Your Day Been?

"Frank, do you think they'll notice?"

"Hey Frank, this is Bob.  Is my truck ready?"

"Frank, I think we no long have jobs now"

"Frank, you don't just LOSE a truck nor do they drive off on their own"

"Frank, not again!  This is the 3rd truck this week"

(this complex usually has old people pushing the accelerator instead of the brakes to go through the store)

"Frank, we do have insurance right?"

"Frank, you said to pull the lever, not push it"

"You idiot, I told you to press the black button, NOT the red one.  Everyone knows not to press the red one"

"Frank, I was only joking about what would happen if the truck rolled away.  I didn't expect it to happen"

What actually happened is that there is a tire place across the street.  The truck rolled out of the lot, across the highway, down the grassy embankment, through the parking lot (totaling a car) and hitting the store.  The car was wrapped around the Subway sign when I drove up.  Thankfully no one was in the car nor were there vehicles going down the highway. 

And yes, this complex truly has old people pushing the accelerator instead of the brakes to hit the store.

Smartphone Quilting Apps

If you could have any quilting apps on your iPad, Touch, Droid, iPhone and other smartphones, what would you want?

I'd want:

1.  A library of all my quilting books w/pictures of the cover.

2.  A companion program to the EQ software.  Can you imagine using a touchscreen to do some stuff?

3.  A thread database of all the threads I own

4.  Projects I am working on

I'm sure there are others out there.  But what would make my day is a quilting site like Ravelry.com.  That way you could store your books and see who else is doing the same projects as you are.  You could see finished projects from the books and read people's blogs.

  

Have You Seen This Bear?

I found this bear at my local hardware store and had to bring him home:

There are no tags to identify him.  I'm sure he's made to look old, not actually antique.  If you know who made him or where to find out more about identifying him, let me know.

Finished Quilt!

You learn a lot about how well you quilt when you wash it.  I realized that part of my satin stitching hadn't made it and will have to fix it:

Can you see down by the dog's left ear where it's rippled?

Here's the quilt:

And the finished quilted centers now that the blue pen is out:

I'm SO excited to have this done!

Malls Are Torture

Stupid Horizon.  I'm just going to have to take it in for a good check-up since I can't solve the problems of not FMQ.  If you have problems w/your machine that won't reproduce at your dealer, video tape it and show it to him.  Learned that from the CR-Z forum.

The pug quilt is DONE!  I finished the binding today.  I went through "The Last Airbender", WWE wrestling and the first episode of "Being Human"on Blu-ray to finish it.  Once I get the marker washed out and clip the threads I'll post it.

For the most part, I am done quilting for the year.  I really need to strengthen my back and piecing a quilt is torture right now.  I have loved doing the pug quilt and it looks fabulous.  I only put my back out earlier this week from overdoing it at the mall.  Malls do not have seats anymore.  Standing around waiting for my kids has proved torturous to my back.  

I asked my doc sort of jokingly, if I could have a script for a wheelchair just for going to the stores.  Nothing fancy, just one that works.  He said I wasn't that bad and even a walker was pushing it.   I was in Wally World today and had DH push me in one their courtesy chairs as walking using the cart hurts.  Right now there's no way I can put items in/out of a cart.  It's been hard to watch people go by with sympathy looks.  I can walk, I just can't do it for very long right now.  I get weird looks when I stand up and walk out (stiffly) of the store on my own as well.

I'm not sure what to do.  Stores do not have chairs since they don't want people hanging around and carrying around a folding chair won't help my back either.

I'm done whining now.  I feel better.  Sort of.







 

Straight Pin Covers

I wish I could find the link or post that someone put up about covers that go over straight pins for basting.  I thought I saved the site but I can't find it.  It was a neat idea and I meant to buy the covers.  If you know of the site, please let me know.

Shredding Thread Issues

Anyone want to buy a Janome Horizon??  I've been cursing mine for two days now.  I KNOW it works and I KNOW it's user error, but I can't figure out what is messing everything up.

First off, I ran out of bobbin thread and went around 3/4 of the way not realizing it since it's dark thread on dark fabric. *bangs head*  Really; for a 3000 dollar machine, it should have something.  This is the second time it's happened and while I know to check, this is a big flaw if you are doing large quilts.  Then the walking foot started throwing fits and not moving the fabric evenly.

I gave up, went to the Topaz that doesn't need a walking foot to fight and will let me know the bobbin is out and finished up the borders.

Next, the Horizon won't FMQ to save it's life.  I'm using 50wt brown thread and all it does it shred it.  Now, normally that's a needle issue but I've tried different sizes and it's still shredding thread.  I changed the tension.  Same problem.  I switched off the single needle hole to the zigzag.  Nope.  Still shredding.

Okay..test the thread on a different machine to see if it's the thread.  Nope.  The thread works beautifully on the Topaz and finished the design in a couple of minutes.    

  
I wonder if the Topaz will shred the 40wt thread.  The design almosts look to lightweight with the 50wt and maybe a heavier thread would stand out more.

Pre-order Now!

It's not Wordless Wednesday but this left me speechless and laughing really hard

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Marking A Quilt Design

Spent part of the day in Wally World getting a refund on my Droid.  Nope..still keeping it.  It turns out the other day the priced dropped and I asked for the difference.  Wally World was great and very helpful.

While going through the apps section on my Droid in B&N I found an Amazon barcode scanner.  You can scan the book and see if it's cheaper via Amazon.  Of course it is.  We all know B&N is incompetent with their prices but it was great to download an e-book from Amazon.com right to my iPad from the store to get the book cheaper.  One book was 50 dollars cheaper via Amazon when I showed DH.  He about fell over as he thought about buying it.  I bet stores HATE these kinds of apps.

I have all of the outline quilting done on my quilt.  I have the first part of the border done and have spent the evening working on a design for the eight plain squares:

Umm..Can the feathers go backwards as I just realized I did that?  Oh..wait, I have the paper backwards.
 LOL.


Making a quilting stencil can be quite easy or a giant pain.  Here's what I do:

First; if I can get lucky like the above, I already had some stencils that fit in an 8x8 inch square.  If not, draw out the size square you need filled on a separate paper(s).  I draw lines diagonally, horizontally and vertically to have a defined area.  You can easily fold over the paper as well to get those lines.

I then draw what I want and refine as I go.  If what I have looks terrible, I draw another square and work with it again.  This is about having fun, not about perfection.  If you do a half design, fold over the paper and trace the other half to keep it symetrical.  You can do this in all four corners or on the diagonal.

This is where I KISS it.  I know there are specialty papers that let you "sew" the design and then pounce the chalk.  Meh.  I'm cheap.  I use regular typing paper, a pin and a water soluble pen.  I push the pin through the paper all around the design making small holes and then mark through the holes.

I put the design on the block, pin in place and where the holes are, put the pen in to mark the design.  I only had a fine pen to demonstrate so it's hard to see, but you'll get the idea:

Here's the corner design w/the dots.  I'll connect the dots with my marker and sew along the line.

  
If I had my thicker pen that I couldn't find, the dots would be much more visible.  I've never had a problem with a WS pen in the eight years I've used them.  Chalk drives me nuts and makes me sneeze like crazy.  

The last two pics were taking with my Droid camera.  I think it's just easier to use my own but I had to try it.

Then the question becomes, dark thread or light thread for the quilting?  Dark will show up mistakes (shhh..don't tell anyone I make mistakes) and the light will give a softer look to it.  

Quilting Around The Pugs?

I'm almost done quilting the pug quilt.  I've outlined the pugs:

and SITD most of the stars:

but the pugs need something else.  Do I just do a simple stipple?  I don't want a stiff quilt but I think the open areas need something.

I still need to raid the basement for a stencil to quilt the 8 open brown squares and the border.

To Dumb To Use A Smart Phone?

Ahh..the joys of being manic.  It's a wonderful high but it left me buying a Droid Incredible the other day.  Now the question is, "Did I just kill my phone bill?"  Yeah..but how much? as my account doesn't make any sense.  If you know anything about smartphones, data plan billing and what is a "fee" even though it's included, let me know.

Here's what happened:

Since I've had a car I realized I needed a phone to keep in touch w/my kids.  DH has my old one and we got unlimited calling for 70 bucks a month instead of the basic plan I've been using for about 3 years.   We talk every night while he's on the way home.  He uses the Bluetooth feature on the CR-Z which is amazing.

On Sunday, we are at best buy and I ask about family plans.  The guy told me for the same price DH and I can share 700 minutes.  Cool.  I add him to the plan with his own "dumb" phone. While the BB guy is ineptly trying to set up the phone, I take a look at the other phones and debate whether or not to upgrade to a Droid and choke up 30 extra bucks a month..70+30 is a hundred bucks and figured that was feasible.  It would be more adding in taxes and crap.  I can upgrade any time I want and was tempted.  I figured if I have to have a data plan, I might as well get a real phone that uses it.

Wednesday I had to run to Lincoln to get the oil changed on the Santa Fe and stopped in at Wally World to look at a purse.  My "hooker" bag just was way to big and I couldn't find anything.  My kids and DH call it a hooker bag because it's that shiny cheap leather vinyl and is huge.  I found what I wanted, basic black boring bag and went over to the electronics.

Sigh.  Wally World has a Droid Incredible and I bought it.  After a few days I LOVE the phone but I'm terrified at what is included but is actually an extra fee and what Verizon will do to sneak in billing charges because of it.  DH didn't get mad I bought it and said I could keep it.  Wow..I thought he'd be really upset.

When I checked my account, it said I had used 589 of my 700 minutes.  Huh?  I know I switched over 3 days ago, but did Verizon pull a fast one and had my 700 family plan start from the last billing cycle instead of on Sunday?  I'm glad I checked so I don't call people outside of Verizon right now.

Then of course there are the activation fees.  I thought we paid for DH's fee at BB and the guy at Wally World who had me set up within a few minutes said Verizon would bill me for activating my Droid.  I don't see them on there.  I never thought Wally World would get something done so much faster than BB.

When I looked at the account under "plan details" for my phone it says monthly access charge 60 bucks and under DH's it says 9.99.  So what gives?  Is that the 70 bucks for the family plan?

I'm unclear about the data plan.  If I leave the phone on all day (in sleep mode) am I using data?  Or is it counted when I actually open the web or do stuff?  Unlimited is actually limited to a certain Gigabyte..I think it's like 5.

Since I can't itemize my bill..ie see where I'm at right now for a number, I don't want a huge surprise when I get my bill other than activation charge(s) and all the tax crap you pay.  The "Oh..I'm sorry, you used this feature and it's 2.99 a minute and you were on for an hour" crap.

My only problem with Verizon is that they are so expensive and nickel/dime you to death.  The problem with the other carriers is that they don't cover where I live.

But..I adore my Droid.  I think it's so much better than an iPhone.  Using the web is so much faster than my home computer.  Until I get my first bill, I'm almost scared to use the data part of it not knowing what is an "extra" and what is included.  I did have to put a passcode on it so my kids don't play with it.

Ohh..I figured out how to get songs on it and made "Jump" by Van Halen my ringtone.  Sweet!

Using the Circle FMQ foot On The Horizon

I put on the FMQ foot with the guide and worked around the star block.  I was impressed as the red marks are accurate and the foot glided over the quilt despite the bulkiness at the corners.

The biggest flaw?  No diagonal lines.  Do I dare use a Sharpie pen and mark the lines in there?  Worst that happens is I have to buy another foot.

I was doing pretty good and then realized something was "off" and the machine was fighting the thread.  This is why I despise Mettler thread:

This stuff is the WORST for FMQ and I should have remembered.  That's what I get for not quilting for while.  I'll just use the walking foot for this quilt now.  I've used too much of the thread to start over.

Oh..to the Janome company..PLEASE make it so the machine knows when the bobbin thread runs out so I don't sew for the entire length of the quilt w/o knowing it.  Maybe Viking has a patent on this as none of the other companies have this feature.

Horizon FMQ Test

I was getting dizzy using my walking foot to get around the star blocks so I thought I'd see how well this baby FMQ through flannel and if I can keep a relatively straight line doing it.

The lines going around the star points are the walking foot.  The horizontal line is mine using the FMQ foot.  Not bad for a first time.  Tension is great and I only had that slight wobble..sort of.

I haven't done any quilting (only piecing) for almost a year now so seeing that the Horizon does really well is inspiring.  I used the APC setting and the open toe foot.  I'm not sure I like the open toe as I don't really have a reference point to guide me.  I should try out the marked foot and see how that goes.

I didn't have to fight the quilt too much for control either and that's a good sign.

The true question is do I use the walking foot and keep turing all the corners or go for the FMQ and get it done sooner.  I still need practice doing FMQ straight lines.    

Beta Tester For Honda?

Betsy (my CR-Z) gave me a scare last night..LOL.  All my cars are named "Betsy".  Don't know why, I just do.  I figured I'd head to Wally World 20 miles away and try the cruise control in economy mode.

I'm cruising along doing 64 mpg about halfway there and all of a sudden the battery level falls down two bars (halfway) and stays there.  Being hybrid retarded I completely panic.  I have visions of the car completely losing battery power leaving me stranded or the car limping along while a semi truck runs me over.  Betsy stayed at that level all the way to Wally World doing a beautiful job of going up/down hills.  If I understand the 4 trip mpg setting (3 previous trips and the one you are doing) I was doing about 45 mpg on this trip.  I drove it in economy all the way home and only managed under the 40 mile bar.

I didn't tell DH about the battery thing.  This morning I went to drive it and the battery was back where it normally sits so I figure all is good.  There are days when I wish I was mechanically inclined and knew what I was doing.  At the same time, given my record, I'd ruin the warranty.

Maybe I should be a beta tester for Honda and see how fast it takes me to"push the limits" of the car battery before the warranty runs out.  I bet Honda pays more than the AccuQuilt company does..LOL.   No..I don't get paid and I'm probably Accuquilt's worst nighmare.  It's a running joke because I'm too hard on stuff and "push the limits" of whatever item I've got in my hands.  My replacement Go! Cutter is still in it's box unopened as I figure they don't need to replace my replacement.  I don't think the new baby Go! cutter would make it past the first day in my hands either.

As it turns out, I have the only black CR-Z in the state of NE when I talked to the dealer.  He bought a silver one, there is still a TOL silver in the lot and it appears none of the other Honda dealers have sold a CR-Z yet when he checked the stats.

Maybe it's a good thing DH thinks the car is his.  That way if I manage to wreck something, I can play dumb and have him think he did it.  I'm not sure I should drive the car in cruise now.  Truthfully; car dealers (and sewing machine dealers) aren't that sympathetic when it comes to warranties.

This car rocks though.  Once I get the hang of how to drive it, I'll be more sure of myself.  

Almost Ready To Go!

Apparently no one close by does quilt basting so I'm going to disobey doc orders and do it myself.  I'll see if I can get my kids and a couple of friends to help as well.  Once it's basted, it's ready to quilt.

Here's the quilt with borders:

I managed to get the borders done without having to piece them and have enough for binding.  Not bad for guessing my yardage.  LOL.

I found some gorgeous brown flannel the other day.  What I didn't think about was that it was a plaid.  You know you are good when you get the fabric to align up with the design.  If I was awesome, I'd be able to make the backing completely look like one piece, but I'm not that good.

Here's the backing.  I used the flash so the color appears lighter than it is:

Once I get it all pinned/spray basted I'll be ready to go!

Pug Quilt

I discovered that my car has bluetooth.  I have no clue what that is, but it appears that I can connect my phone to it and then talk without having to use the speakerphone or hold on to it.  Since DH drives an hour and 20 minutes to work, this will really help him.

I got the sashing strips done on the pug quilt yesterday.  My back gave out this morning due to all the errands I ran and sitting in movie theater seats to see RED so I wasn't able to sew the top together.

Here's a pic with the sashing strips and the border fabric:

I haven't cut the border fabric, just laid out the fabric and folded it a couple of times.

Here's a pic of the entire quilt minus the bottom row:

Once I get the rows and borders sewn on, I'll be able to baste and quilt it.

My Baby Came!

Nope.  Not another machine and I didn't have a baby without knowing I was pregnant..although I would love that kind of addition.

Here she is:

A Honda CR-Z Hybrid.

She already averages at 32 mph which sure beats 20mph on my Santa Fe.  DH gets to drive the CR-Z while I get the Santa Fe during the day, but I've had a blast using it today to run some errands.  Single ladies, if you get one of these, guys gravitate to it like crazy.  They can't resist shiny metal objects with wheels.  I've had several guys come up to take a look while I was paying my cable bill.

We haven't needed a second car in 14 years so this is really nice to have since DH has had the car during the day since June.  We've never owned such a nice car before.

I'm just wondering how soon it will be before the cops pull me over..not for speeding, but because they want to check out the car.  LOL.  I figure I'll give it a few days to a week.

Does It Have Heated Seats?

No..it's not about the sewing machine.

I won't get my new car until next week, but was happily telling my mom about it and here's what she asks:


Mom:  Does it have heated seats?  Or a heated steering wheel?

Me:  No.  Why would I need heated seats or a wheel?  That's crazy!

Mom:  It keeps you warm.

Me:  So does a coat.

Mom:  Does it have a nagivation system/GPS?

Me:  No.  I use what's called a map.  It's cheaper.

Mom:  Oh.  Well, do the seats adjust electronically?

Me:  No.  I can do manual labor.

Mom: Well, as long as you like it.  That's all that matters.  But I couldn't live without those features.

I have to ask; Are people so dependent on these kinds of features that they can't comprehend those of us who could care less?

Now it sounds like I have a bare bones car coming next week, but it's a pretty sweet little car.  I feel envious that DH gets to drive it back/forth to Lincoln everyday, but it's exactly what we need and want.  I'll post a pic and tell you what we got next week when it gets here.

Now when it comes to sewing, she has the simple barebone machine and I have the machines with bells/whistles on them.  Could I live without them?  Yes.  The only thing that would kill me would to lose the auto scissors.  That has me spoiled big time.

As I thought about our differences it comes down to what you use the most.  My mom is busy taking teenagers and grandkids everywhere.  I don't drive unless I have too and DH only drives to work.  I use my sewing machines all day and use almost all the features so I guess it's the same difference.

I did do some sewing today.  I sewed up the strips I still had laying on the table and left it at that.  No need to over do it, but I had to get it out of my system.

Making Decisions

You know your day is going better when you can:

*get out of bed by yourself and it didn't take you 5 minutes to do it

*get dressed with some difficulty but manage

*only need one wall to use for support as you walk

I was hoping to have Tracy's quilt done and it won't happen for some time now.  Does anyone know if long arm quilters can baste a quilt?  Is there a setting on the computerized ones for this?  There is NO way I can baste this quilt on my living room floor.  Even if I put a couple of tables together, I don't think I could do it that way either.

I may even have to have it sent out for quilting and that scares the daylights out of me.  I've heard horror stories about some quilts being ruined this way.  Given that it's closer to Christmas, they are probably backed up anyway.

All I was going to do was a SITD around all the squares, go around the dogs, outline the stars, do a design in the plain squares and maybe feathers in the border.  Or FMQ dog footprints.  If I just quilt the borders in straight lines, I may be able to pull it off.  

I'm not panicking, just frustrated. 

Taking A Break

Sigh.  I put my back out big time yesterday.  I think walking DS up to the doc on Tues and walking 2 miles down to the car dealer was the last straw on my back.  I don't know when I'll be posting.  Just sitting here is almost agony.

The good part about this?  DH got us a 2nd vehicle last night so I won't have to walk around town.  It won't be ready for a week or so, but I feel SO much better after last night.  DH is quite smug with himself since he got what he wanted.

Crawling back onto the couch with an ice pack now.  I wish docs could just fix my back.

Pug Quilt

Woo Hoo!  I still have the horizontal sashing between the strip sections to do, but this is the layout before borders:

There's still the bottom row that didn't make it into the photo, but you get the idea.  All the pugs are done and have beautiful buttons on them: