Some time off...

Finally! I'll be having some time off. 48 hours of nightshift is plenty. :-)

During that time I hope to find some "me" time, and get into the sewing room. I'd really like to practice the machine quilting lesson I took with Sue. As I said in previous post, I'd like to unlearn some bad habits.

Something I've done on my evening shift while relaxing a bit was to take a pencil and paper and practice the micro stipple she showed us. It's a really nice accent to machine quilting feathers. If you stipple right up to the feather outline, it pops those feathers out, almost like trapunto. I've gotten a bit jerkey in my stippling over the years. Not smooth and round like she teaches. This pencil on paper practice has helped me a lot to learn new designs. Seems to train my brain! lol Once I practice this a bit, I'll work on the lovely project she sent home with us. It'll be a small wholecloth quilt done with feathers and stippling. Perhaps once I get it done, I'll figure out how to include some photos. lol

I'd also like to work on another block on my heirloom quilt. This is the one I am doing by machine, using a lot of Martha Pullen's techniques. It's what those fancy stitches are for on your sewing machines!!! lol

If the weather holds, I'd also like to work in some flower beds. With all the rain we've had, the weeds are running rampant. Up until the time I had to work all of the overtime for 2 months, I had gotten 3 beds completely tore out and replanted. They're all perennial beds. I've been doing some rearranging of my perennials, and dividing them too. So while I'm tearing out one bed, I'm robbing out others to make them a tiny bit more organized. It would be nice to get a couple more beds done.

You know, I should just retire!!! lol Then I'd have lots of time to garden, and sew, and whatnot.

Take care, and remember to look around you for the beauty in this world. Till next time, take care...