Day One at AQS

Wow, what a day!!!  It was so exciting, here is a little bit of what I did today.  First I was hanging out in the Elna booth.  My friend Sue was working there, so I decided to hang out with her.  I'm looking at this machine because it is so pretty, I like that green screen.  Such a pretty shade of blue, don't you think?
  

 It was a little cold in the booth, so I thought I would warm myself up inside her Press, it's so people can iron really fast.  It was toasty.

Here is a quilt she made.  I like it.

Look, I'm learning to embroider!  I like the flowers, maybe she'll add some berries for me.

Here's another quilt that Sue made.  

Veronica was working on half square triangles,  she needs 5,884 for a quilt that she is working on. They are waste triangles that she's been collecting for years. 

 Somebody loves me, no really there were a lots of ladies for me to pose with.

These 2 ladies are from Houston, my hometown.  Howdy Padner.

 See you tomorrow...

We're at AQS Charlotte

Jaggie, here.  I'm In Charlotte at the AQS show.  I'm having so much fun.

This is my seat on Southwest Airlines, I love Southwest!!!

I was reading my magazine and then the flight attendant came by and asked if I wanted some snacks.

well, of course I wanted snacks...Honey graham crackers, yummmmmmmmy,

 here's my drink... Hot Chocolate!!!  Yippeeeeee.

 Here is my flight attendant.  She's cool.

Here is my pilot.  

And my bed.  What more does a bear need.

Flying off to Charlotte

Veronica and I are flying off to Charlotte, North Carolina.  We're going to AQS's first show there. We're going to work in the Janome booth with Scott from Citrus Sew and Vac.  Sam is flying in from New York to be with us as well.  We're gonna have fun, fun, fun.  I'm gonna share a room with Sue.  I'm so excited.  I really like Sue.  I get to wear my Janome "bling" shirt that Scott made for me.  I gotta go, gotta get in the suitcase.

Ok, I'm in.....See you soon.

   

What did I do???????????? Jaggie interviews a UFOaholic

Investigative Reporter:  Jaggie the Bear

So Sunday morning I woke I feeling great.  I was going to get a UFO done, finished, quilted and put on the bed.  I had most of my blocks done and sewn into strips, but I wanted it a little bit bigger.  I was so excited. Today was the day!  I pulled out the pattern, pulled out the fabric, started cutting and sat down to sew.  I sewed and sewed and sewed.  I got up and pressed my blocks.

I went downstairs to lay these new blocks down and realized I had made 9 blocks too many.  So now the dilemma is do I make more and make it bigger or do I just use the 9 I needed and keep the other 9 that I "over" made.  Decision made, I set my 9 blocks down on the ends of my row and then, OH NO, the new blocks are too big.  Poooop!  I grab the pattern, check the sizes on the blocks, yep, they're perfect,hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, must have made the original blocks smaller.

Yes, they are 7 1/2 finished.  Great, now I've added another UFO to my list with 18 new Ohio Star blocks that finish at 9".

So have any of you ever done anything like this.  I think I was just over excited and so eager to get it done, that I never even thought to look at the blocks to check the size.  This is what happens when you're "sure" you know what you did before. You think I'd learn, I did this when I started working on my UFO's 2 years ago as well.  (But I only did it once.)

What happened to those UFO's anyway?  Well, I did get 25 of those UFO's done and then I gave up.                

So here it is, I ripped 8 of the blocks and here they lay.  Then of course, the next thing I wanted to do is put those other blocks into something, but now I don't have enough.  In my brain, I had 8 left, not 10.  So I made one more of the "bigger" size so I could put 9 together.  Then I counted and I had 11, geez, let me go make one more...

I know we're supposed to measure twice, cut once, but who says count first and cut second.  I think my sugar levels are out of whack.  I need a cookie.    

Actually, I tell all of my students that they can ask any question, none of them are dumb questions. If something can be done wrong, I've done it and they should learn form my mistakes.  I actually do learn from my mistakes, maybe not the first time, but I do eventually get it.  Sometimes I come up with something great after I've made a mistake, so they're not all bad and sometimes I get a great laugh at what I've done.  Laughing is good, right?

Veronica Cox, as told to

It's Like Eating Potato Chips...you can't stop with just one, one day , that is...

Yes, it's true.  I think Veronica has lost her mind.  I heard her mumbling something about gotta keep going, gotta keep cleaning.  She got up Saturday morning and went straight to the sewing room.  I heard her mumbling that she wanted her table with the cutting mat back, I wasn't aware that it was gone.  Then I remembered, yesterday this cutting mat was underwater, I mean fabric, but seriously, it was drowning.   So now, it's cleaned off and she's ready to sew again.  

Here is her sewing machine, it's ready to go as well.  She says shes feels great and is ready to get going on her "stars" again.












So here's what she has done.  She actually worked on a star between the plastic tub packing.  She says that was her "reward".  I like berries as my "reward" for working, but not everyone likes the same things.  Oh, well, more berries for me.

A Little Bit Neater

From this mess to 

this.  A little neater.  Veronica bought tons of plastic tubs and pulled all that mess out.  Much better.  She's still working on the room, but it is looking better.    

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
Check out this corner.  Scarrrry.


















Bunny likes this better.  No more fear of being swallowed up by all that stuff!

And from this 

to this.

She still has a little bit to go, but she's been working hard and getting it done.  She's got a class this weekend and the we're off to Charlotte, so stay tuned, she should get it finished in a week and half. We'll be checking in from Charlotte.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Really mom, I'm cleaning up my room

I am really, I am.  I'm not playing, ok, maybe a little.  I saw this little pile of fabrics and I had to do something.  Ok, so they were going to go into my scrap bin, but they didn't make it.  Soooooooo, I decided to try a little paper piecing project.  

Ok, I've got 4 put together, so I'm putting it into one star.

Here's my little block.  Isn't it cute?













The unfinished size is 5", finished size is 4 1/2".  I'm not sure why it is, but it is.  That's what the
pattern says, so I'm going with it.

Back to cleaning up the sewing room.  See you Monday.

Where do you sew?

As I sit here sewing, I look over to my left and YIKES!, yes that is my cutting station over there.  I think I've neglected my sewing room and just thrown in the towel trying to keep it all organized.  Hmmmmmmm, I see stuff from my Panama Canal cruise still in the Holland America bag.  And there is one of my 11000SE on the floor under the plastic box with the blue lid.

There are my Rubbermaid tubs from retreat.  Wow, I can't even see the shelf behind the plastic tubs.  Maybe I should stop stuffing "stuff" under the table.  Ok, I'm gonna tackle that real soon. My rulers are in place, so that's good.  Hmmmm, what else do I need to pick up?

Ok, so my sewing table is a little messy, I'll work on that too.  Hmmmmmmmm, what else?

I guess the rest of that corner has gotten messy as well.  Oh, look, there's that lampshade.  We bought lampshades for a doll class that we had, yes, I'm in the Material Girls doll club in Houston as well.  I do have shelves, lots of them as a matter of fact.  Ok, this will be my weekend project.  

   
                                                  Veronica-Jaggie is snoozing