Christmas in July

I suppose there are people who actually do start on their Christmas sewing in July. I belong to a Yahoo Group which has an alert on the 25th of each month to encourage you to work on your Christmas projects once a month. Maybe next year...

I went to a Christmas in July show at Tiny Stitches this morning. The staff was in full costume, from Halloween to Christmas. The projects were inspiring. I had my eye on a couple things but remembered that 1) my sewing room is in a mess and unusable, and 2) anything I buy will have to be moved to the studio when it is completed. So, restraint kicked in (yes, it does happen) and I only bought a couple pieces to audition for Cooper's quilt (more about Cooper later).

Practice & Patience

One thing that I know about myself is that I don't have a lot of patience. It is a virtue that I constantly work to develop. Before I spent so many years in the Corporate world, I think I used to be more patient than I am now. I used to write letters and now I get impatient with the slow pace and want to type everything.

I spent three days last week learning long-arm quilting techniques. My key take-away is that I need to develop more patience.

I think my long-arm quilter (Ethel) is so fast that I should be able to quilt in no time. What I realized last week is that I have a lot of practice in front of me before I am proficient. The practice designs are pretty good for two days on the machine, but I want to be able to do it now!

Retirement Life

Sunday will mark my third month of retirement. I can't believe a quarter of a year has passed since I left work. My dream was to create a quilt room and buy a long arm quilter. Well, the later dream has been realized and the former dream is under construction.

The exterior is almost finished -- gutters, porch and a filling in the foundation are remaining. The electrical, HVAC, and plumbing rough-in are complete and sheetrocking will begin tomorrow. Another three weeks and the long-arm quilter can come to her new home. In the meantime, I need to think of a name for her...