Adventures in Longarm Quilting

Oh my goodness.  I am SO excited!  For the past 6 years (ever since I found out there was such a wondrous thing), I've been obsessing over longarm quilting machines.  For awhile, I made do with a "hobby" frame system, a 10' Grace quilting frame with a mid-arm Pfaff set on it for quilting.  I found that I love the Pfaff sewing machine - the frame, not so much.

My old quilting frame.

After trying out a few different models at a local quilt show, I set my sights on a Gammill.   Every 3 months or so, I would go on an all night binge of searching the web for a used longarm in my part of the world.  After flirting with a couple of machines, I have finally found the one for me!  A Gammill Classic with a 14' long table and no stitch regulator.  She absolutely purred when her former owner let me play on her for the afternoon.  (Thanks, Carol!)  Ah, love.

Introducing my new baby!

She sews such nice curves.

Moving it was quite an ordeal, mostly due to the fact that I had to drive a 20' U-Haul across California.  Dis-assembling and re-assembling the behemoth wasn't too hard, unless I put it together completely backwards, which is possible.

As you can see, I no longer have a living room that can be "lived in" by anyone other than me and my new baby.  And, like many new parent/child relationships, we're having a few issues. So, for the near future, I will probably be a little more stressed out than usual, and I'll probably be tearing my hair out just a little bit...but I'm confident that we'll be purring along again soon!

Doodles and the quest for the perfect circle.

Learning: Hawaiian Quilts

I love Hawaiian quilts.  I've been flirting with the idea of making one for ages.  I've collected tons of books on the subject.  I even took a class from the amazing Jean Brown.  But, alas, the block I started in her class lies buried in one of my cabinets - a sad study in poor applique.  I'll keep trying, but I'm just not sure that it's my thing.  Oh, how I wish it was!

Recently, my family celebrated spring break in Maui.  It was a great vacation.  So many wonderful surprises.

Humpback whales...

...sea turtles (That large round "rock" to the right of me!)...

...teensy, weensy frogs...

...and quilts!

We stayed the last couple of nights in Makena, and instead of having boring resort art on the walls, they chose to decorate with Hawaiian quilts!  There was no information about the makers or the patterns, which was a shame, but the quilts themselves made me very happy.   I ran through the hotel snapping photos (sorry for the glare, they were mostly behind glass).  I spied one gorgeous, huge pineapple quilt inside a conference room that had the door cracked, but was too shy to interrupt the ongoing meeting and ask if I could take a picture.  It made me wonder what was behind all the other closed doors!

Shopping: Gingham Napkins are Hot!

I  know it's almost summer because I keep getting these wonderful magazines featuring my Peppermint Pinwheels gingham napkins!  My red gingham napkins are in the cutest table setting in this month's Southern Lady Magazine (May/June 2012). 

Red Gingham Napkins by me!

And, being a transplanted southern lady myself, I'm lovin' it!

Learning: Field trip!

A couple of weeks ago, my son, mom and I went on an outing to Cornerstone Gardens in Sonoma. The gardens are set up like an art gallery, showcasing different landscape architects and designers.  Here are a couple of my favorite pieces.

Trees with crystal leaves.

These crystal and metal mesh trees were so
lovely in person.  The photo doesn't do it justice!

Garden Play

Ah, winter in California.  If it makes you feel any better, it will be horribly rainy and wet here for the next week!

Making: Free Bee - February

Another month gone, another Free Bee block turned in late.  I think I have a hard time following the rules when it comes to quilting.  The instruction for the block (given by Mari Haak, herself a VERY inspiration quilter herself!) was to base your inspiration on an urban photograph and use neutral, darker tones.  Her suggestion was to study the work of Elizabeth Barton, to see how she interprets landscape in fabric.  I think that's where I went astray...instead of focusing on a photograph, I decided to take my inspiration from another textile artist, Karen Goetzinger and a piece of Marimeko fabric.

Free Bee Block for Mari

Here is what I came up with.  You can see how others interpreted the challenge over on Flickr.  I'm not crazy about mine and wish I had more time to play with it, but even though February gave me an extra day, I've run out of time and must send it off!

Shopping: I'm blushing like a...

...girl who's napkins have been spotted in a bridal magazine!  Yep, those are Peppermint Pinwheels napkins sitting at the table of honor with the Kate Spade dinnerware!

Thanks to Rachel Hollis of Chic Events, my gingham napkins were featured in a story for California Wedding Day magazine.  Her idea for the design is Modern English Garden, and I think it looks gorgeous!

String Thing Along

My Collaboration Quilt is on the String Thing Along blog today.  Head over there and check out the wonderful things quilters are doing with their scraps!  My favorite so far is the Spider Web and Stars post.





Thank you, Brenda, for coordinating such an inspiring site!