What I did on Sunday all day and most of the night!

Talk about a non productive day! Well, it is if your unit of measurement is tangible items. Sunday I worked all day on creating labels. I think I may have a keeper! It is such a complicated software to use. There's so much to learn and most of it is by trial and error.

I will admit that I had a phobia regarding embroidery mainly due to the plethora of stabilizers, which explains why I've barely explored my machine's capabilities. There's so much out there and how do you know what you should be using. So I decided to use explosive therapy on myself and get into it. I tested three types of stabilizers: easy tear, water soluble (that I bought for machine applique, they don't give that stuff away!) and sticky stabilizer. I will say that sticky stabilizer changed my life! I have conquered my fears and I may be looking to embellish my life with embroidery!

In the first label, I played with various designs. I thought it would be nice to add a border to embellish the label. It took me quite a while to actually design this label. So many tools and so little knowledge! Although a tad dense for what I wanted, I will say that it is cute. Did you notice that I even copied and pasted a Gecko in the writing portion? (gleaming with pride) The font used is called Quilting Text. I need to bring the letters closer together. They are too spaced out! The spacing is automatically set by the software, therefore I need to make manual adjustments and test things out. The label measures 6" x 6", which is acceptable for a lap size quilt onward. Oh I did come up with a name for Carolyn's quilt "Funky Horse Pasture".

This label uses a different font and as you can see, the letter are much larger. The label measures 8" X 5.24", which is a tab big for my Old Friends wall hanging. This size wouldn't be so bad for a queen size quilt but not a small wall hanging. The flower embellishment could be brought down or placed on the top. By the way, I took a crooked picture! One of the problems with the fonts are the minimum size that can be used. You can only reduce them so much before they become unreadable.

This label measures 6" x 6". The font is Comic Sans MS at .17 with a spacing adjustment. I didn't cut the connecting threads as it's quite tedious and since I haven't decided if I shall use the label, I want to wait and devote my time to doing more testing. The label size isn't bad for the lap size quilt. This is one of my favorites for the time being. I may experiment with a longer flower and see how it comes out.

This last one measures 4" x 4 3/4". I used water soluble stabilizer and did cut the connecting threads. What I like about the water soluble stabilizer is that it has no stiffness. This would work best for baby and lap quilts. The label actually looks better in real life than in imaginary cyber life. It is the same font as the first label but with a spacing adjustment and less dense embellishment. This size would work for a wall hanging label.

As you can see, I've been quite productive but not in a tangible way. I did learn quite a bit about the software. I have barely explored the numerous possibilities! I'm figuring a little bit at a time.

Thanks for taking the time to read through this rather long label process. I'm off to experiment a bit more. I want to perfect this label project. Tips, suggestions and opinions are most welcomed!

My thread & notion cabinet!

Stephen has finally finished my custom cabinet. Please excuse my messy sewing area. I'm in the middle of re-arranging my closets and didn't want to take the time to clean the room before taking a picture. I know you quilters understand!

What is neat about this cabinet is that it's built out of old barn wood. When our friend down the street tore down an old dilapidated horse and carriage barn, my husband had the opportunity to salvage some of the wood. The majority of the houses on my street were built more than 150 years ago. Of course with time the street did acquire more modern houses but none the less, there are quite a few older homes, mine being one of them. Perhaps one day I will take a picture of my dream home. It would be marvelous for quilt retreats!

There are four (4) drawers built specifically for my spools of thread. Although I only have two (2) and 2/9th of the thread drawers filled, with time I can expand my thread collection. For the moment, the top drawer is used for bobbin thread and notions related to embroidery. I have two 45 mm rotary cutters and I never seem to remember which one has a "bad" blade, without scrutinizing the blade despite a sticker on one cutter, for cutting non fabric items. I decided that I would now place it in the notion drawer and keep my other ones in my tool basket.

The three (3) larger drawers will be used for miscellaneous items such as my hoops etc. One drawer will house my embroidery unit. It will be nice to have everything organized in one place. Another bonus is that it's on wheels so that I can bring the cabinet close to my work area.

One thing that is left to do is insert the dowels for holding the spools of thread. Until the inserts are done I will use a cardboard divider. No sense not using the cabinet until he gets it done!

Off to embroider my label! Wish me luck!

Saturday Morning plans!

Today I have decided that I *MUST* figure out how to work with my Bernina Designer Plus software. It has been sitting idle on my desktop for longer than I would like to admit. I originally bought this to facilitate quilt label making. I figured I would design and embroider a label for my quilts and it would certainly last longer than a Pigma pen one. Talk about fading!

Well, I did spend two (2) hours one Sunday morning and gave up. I'm one of these individuals that likes to just get in there and play. Reading instructions are a last resort! But alas, it is something I will have to do. Not that it's a bad thing, imagine the possibilities once I've figured this baby out!

What doesn't help the situation is that the manual is 600 and some odd pages. I had my husband print it as paper manuals seem to be going out the way side. You'd think with the price of the software ....... Oh well. PDF files are the way to go I guess. I'm old fashion and like paper. It's easier for me to mark pages for quick reference. The Bernina dealer does offer mastery classes but they are far and few in between.

I shall leave you to get my morning started.

Snow Day! Who ordered this?

Is this for real? Snow in the middle of April? Who is responsible for this? Have you checked out the size of the snowflakes? They appear to be clumps of snow, something right out of a Charlie Brown episode. I will admit it is quite beautiful!

Hum..... I was going to make a trip to Montreal this afternoon for an award ceremony at university, and a dinner date with a school friend, but no thanks I'll pass. The weather forecast predicts more snow and sleet. This is not the type of weather that you want to find yourself driving at night on autoroute 15 - white out territory! Have you ever been in a situation where you cannot see two (2) feet in front of you and the only thing you can do is take your foot off the gaz peddle and pray that you will come out of this soon and that no one has stopped in the middle of the highway? That's the 15 for you. In these conditions, it's an accident waiting to happen.

Looks like today is a perfect day to finish Carolyn's quilt. I did manage to use my original border choice, despite errors in cutting. The machine quilting is finished on it, it's a matter of putting the binding on and hand sewing. I will have to make an effort to get my Bernina Designer Plus V software to work for me. I need a label!

Off to get some quilting done before I get sucked into cyberspace blog reading. Being a stalker is hard work! ;o)

Happy quilting!

The Thinking blogger award! Tag, you're it!

I have been officially tagged by three wonderful ladies, Darlene, Leigh and Wendy as well as mentioned by others for the The Thinking Blogger Award. I am truly honored! As I read their comment regarding my blog, I was touched. As I perused the nominees from these individuals, which lead me to other wonderful blogs to add to my already long list of "must read", it dawned on me how astounding this cyberspace world is. I have connected and made friends with some truly talented and inspirational individuals. As Leigh's husband would call them, "imaginary friends."

As imaginary as these friends may be, for me they are real, as I do think of them often. On my last quilting therapy at Candlelite Quilts I couldn't help but think of Darlene when I came upon a section of "charm squares". My first thought was, Darlene would know what to do with these. She is an individual that can do so much with so little. Oh, and we won't talk about the speed in which she puts out quilts! Her creations are magnificent. I then proceeded to look for the pattern of an exquisite embroidered quilt I had seen on Wendy's blog. When I entered The Quilted Crow I thought of Connie Lu and how she would enjoy taking pictures of the shop and reporting on it's content and atmosphere. As I continued to peruse the shop, Pam came to mind and her desire to pursuit wool applique. I have never met these individuals in person, yet feel a connection.

Having to provide five (5) blogs for The Thinking Blogger Award is no easy task. Many that I would have nominated have been mentioned in prior blogs. Perhaps that is due in part to our connectedness and our similarities as women who create. I will say that this is a great way to make connections with blogs that, under different circumstances, you would not have discovered. I have added quite a few sites to my already long list of must read as part of my morning ritual.

So I will leave you as I ponder in my sleep on the wonderful individuals that I would like to add to the already long list of The Thinking Blogger Award.

Keep well and happy quilting!