It's All About Jen

Busy weekend in Maryland attending Jenny's last doctoral recital.  Here's the stage set for her first piece, Sonata for Horn and Piano by Carol Bernett.  Jen was focusing on modern women composers for the horn. (French horn to the rest of us...)  One thing doctoral candidates are encouraged to do is to add to the horn literature.  Jenny decided to do this by commissioning a piece by Elisabeth Mehl Greene, a graduate student at Univ. of Maryland.  The piece, called Arbor, was for horn and harp.  Wow!  Ms. Greene did a fabulous job as did Elizabeth Ciavolino, who played the harp, and Jenny.  It was a beautiful piece played with great skill.  (hey, everyone said that after the recital! It's not just the mom talking!) I am looking forward to receiving the recording of the recital.  Jen's last piece was for horn, viola, piano and percussion.  I'm proud to have shared a few of my knitting needles with Lee, the percussionist, to play during the recital.  That was a very difficult piece played beautifully.  (Lee, I like the sound of the knitting needles!)  

Here's Jen after the recital -- all done.  On Tuesday she will need to defend all of her recitals for the last three years.  And, then, it's Dr. Jenny.  She graduates over Memorial Day weekend and we will be going down for that.  

Jen is also a quilter so I thought I'd share what was on her design wall.  She's been working on it for a while.  It will be a baby quilt but there is no baby assigned to it.  I like how bright and happy it looks. 

I should be able to get back to more piecing and general quilt stuff soon.  Today I need to prepare for the next block of the month for my guild.  I was planning on doing it on my new EQ6 but the blasted windows computer has gone hay wire.  We are definitely not pleased.  And, if you have EQ6 you know you only can install it 4 times.  I've used 1 and the computer went crazy and removed it when it went through the restore cycle.  It also removed the internet explorer and firefox so no internet access.  But how screwy is this ... it still connects and gets email.  That is a problem for another day.  

I'm off to get everything ready for guild tonight including making more of the Mar bom's that will be drawn tonight.  I lost the 3 I already had. Where, oh where, did I put them... probably with Sharon's green fabric I can't find! 

Happy Quilting All!  Bonnie 

Lint Bowl Challenge

I was reading Threads of Mine blog this morning.  Besides showing off a darling hat and onesie for her granddaughter, Ruthie talked about how much lint her thread was leaving in her machine.  Which brings me to the question . . . how do you evaluate thread lint?  Ruthie mentioned it had been 2 weeks since she had cleaned her bobbin area and decided she didn't like the thread she was using because of excess linting.   She uses Essential thread from Connecting Thread.  

Essential Threads is what I use most often and I like it.  I don't find it lints all that much. It is reasonably priced and is extra long staple, Egyptian cotton. So, I go back to the question -- how to determine linting.  I keep a little paint brush next to my machines.  So, every time I change bobbins I give a little swish and swirl in the bobbin area.  Every once in a while I take the bobbin mechanism apart, really clean out the lint and oil it.  I also pop off the needle plate to clean it and wipe down the needle shank.  

Has anyone done a time sewn versus amount of lint produced evaluation?  I'm thinking I should probably do one, but how is the question.  So quilters, what do you think of this methodology? Starting with a clean machine, sew for 2 hours.  Take pictures of the lint gathering places -- bobbin, under needle plate and needle shank.  Continuing sewing and take more pictures after 4 and 6 total hours.  Try it with a couple of different threads.  Make sure the bobbin and the top thread are the same.   I feel a Lint Bowl Challenge coming on. 

I will give this method a try beginning next week.  I am sure there are threads that lint less and some that lint more.  I also have a huge cone of cotton that probably will "win" the lint bowl, so to speak.  But, I think I'll keep an open mind about all these threads until I do an actual lint test.  It won't be happening right away, but I could start it next week.  Do you suppose different color threads lint differently? (Is lint a verb???)  

I challenge all of my readers to evaluate their thread using the methodology listed above.  And, report back so we can share the information.  (you can email me at brsinstitches@gmail.com) or add a comment to this post. 

Let me know what you think of my Lint Bowl Challenge? And, more importantly, report back in with your Lint Bowl Challenge results. 

Happy Quilting All!  Bonnie 

Slow Week

Some weeks I get a lot of quilting done and some weeks I don't.   This is a "I don't" week.  Oh well.  I thought I would share a couple of blocks I'm taking down to Maryland with me.  First is the block of the month.  I really like this use of the Disappearing 9 Patch.  I would be very happy to win this group of blocks!  

The end of our quilt year is coming for Faithful Circle Quilters in Columbia, MD.  We make blocks to thank those ladies who are coming off the board.  This year only our President, Peg is stepping down.  I was happy to make this churn dash in yellow and white for her.  It's hard to get a decent picture of this yellow.  It really is brighter with more depth of color in it.  

I continue to work on the wonky 9 patch.  I've got about 10 blocks done so far. This block doesn't come out square. (scroll down to the bottom to see it.)  That will make it interesting when I get to planning borders and setting the blocks.  Each block fits only a certain way which will make this all the more challenging.  I am looking for a few more light batiks to go with what I already have.  It will be fun to do a little shopping at Seminole Sampler, in Catonsville.  I worked at this store when I first moved to Maryland, about 15 years ago.  They have a wonderful selection of fabric.  If you are ever in the area this is a must see fabric shop! 

Happy Quilting All!  Bonnie 

Happy Tuesday

Finished last night-- Streak of Lightning quilt.  It's been a top for years until used as a practice piece on the long arm in February.   Then it aged a bit more. Finally decided it needed to be put to use so I put the binding on.  I had planned to do it all by machine and be done with it but there was no brain engaged that day.  So I had to hand stitch the other side.  It sat around a few days before I finally did it.  This will eventually go to Project Linus. 

We got our new cell phone today.  Blasted cell phones.  I somehow broke the connector on the last one.  So, we were able to change carriers in hopes of getting better coverage at home.  New phone in different state means new phone number  too.  Oh well.  Hopefully it really will offer better coverage.  Won't know until tomorrow though. 

Last week I finished all of the items on my quilty to do list.  Amazing. Perhaps I am getting more realistic on what I want to do.  Won't have a really long one this week as it's already Tuesday and I'm just now thinking about it and we'll be down in Maryland over the weekend.  The (future) Dr. Jen has her last recital for her doctoral program.  Wow! Next month we will be down again for her graduation and becoming Dr. Jen for real!  Who would have thought that she would continue her interest in the french horn from 6th grade through a doctorate!  

Happy Quilting All!  Bonnie 

Happy Easter

What a Meal! 

if I do say so myself! 

Long time readers might remember I was sick as a dog at Christmas, so today, we had  our Christmas dinner. And it was yummy! 

We had bought a standing rib roast in December because I had found a recipe on All Recipes.  The recipe was pretty strange but we decided to go for it. Basically it said cook the meat for 30 minutes at 375.  Then turn the oven off for 3 hours or so.  Then turn the oven on again to 375 for 20 minutes or so.  And the most important step -- don't open the oven at all! It worked wonderfully. If you'd like to try it here's the site: Foolproof Rib Roast from All Recipes.  The one thing we did that really enhanced the flavor was use McCormick's packaged spice called Montreal Steak seasoning. I put that on the meat before it went in the oven. And, to go with the meat  I made red smashed potatoes and fresh cauliflower.  Dessert will be lemon cake although we are too stuffed to have any now!  

Today would have been a great day to quilt but I wasn't in the mood.  I lazed around after singing at church this morning.  Every time I laid on the couch to read I fell asleep.  Hopefully tomorrow I will get some more blocks done on the wonky 9 patch.  

For those who celebrate I hope your day was wonderful.  

Happy quilting all!  Bonnie 

Animals -- Real and Not

Pat and I were sitting in the former eat in kitchen that is now a nook with a couple of comfy chairs in it. We were probably surfing the net on our laptops when we heard a strange noise.  On the side window a squirrel was hanging around!  Dumb squirrel.  He came back again and we were able to snap his picture.  I can't tell if this is my nemesis or not.  Pat caught one on the bird feeder and went out to scare him off the feeder.  (He did the same thing I did but didn't slam the door behind him hard enough to lock himself out -- plus I was on the inside watching.)  It scared the heck out of him (squirrel, not Pat.)  All the squirrels on the ground scampered off.  The one on the feeder pretty much jumped off the feeder all the way to the ground (from the second story deck!) A couple of the ground feeders are finally back again.  

I've been promising pictures of my bunny for a while.  This bunny has been sitting naked in the studio for many years. (Even did a couple of months in storage when we moved.) How could I have done this to her?  She obviously trusted me way too much!  

Here she is in all her glory with the tulips I bought cause we have NO flowers in the yard.  I have to laugh at this photo because I spread a piece of white paper down, tried to get a neutral background (didn't work... the great room is in the back).  I'm staging a bunny picture?  Have I lost my mind?  Evidently the answer is yes because I am going to buy a foam core presentation board so I can have a backdrop. 5 bucks or so at Staples.  Bigger question is when I will be going to the big city again.  Give me a week or so and then you can see if I have succeeded with the background!  

Here's my next project.  This was shown in McCall's Quilting magazine, I think the February issue. I thought it was interesting and a bit different. After finishing a few things I thought I could start something new. I plan to give this to a friend for her birthday. We'll see if that happens or not!  I am happy the block lies flat.  I wasn't sure it would once I got it all together.  It won't be a fast project like I thought because each corner of the individual pieces need a cross hatch at 1/4".  More stuff to do in front of the tv.  (and I am such a hugh tv watcher, NOT!)  

 I've got a baby quilt ready to sew the binding down by hand.  I had planned to do both front and back by machine but zoned out when I sewed the first side on the wrong side of the quilt.  Oh well. 

That's it from the studio and the decks here in the Poconos.  Dinner is out -- no cooking sounds good to me.  

Happy quilting all!  Bonnie  

Luck Is in My Pocket

Are you lucky?  

Do you think lucky thoughts?  

Do you enter things so you can be lucky? 

I AM LUCKY!

There is no doubt that I am one lucky person.  I have won in the past 10 or so years the following things:

Quilter's Unlimited Opportunity Quilt, 

An American Girl Doll, clothes, quilts, chair and trunk (most were hand made not the purchased stuff!) 

A Janome Jem (yes, a sewing machine!) 

And today, I found out I had won the drawing from Amanda's Busy Little Quilter! Here's what I won.  It's a Moda Jelly Roll.  All more exciting cause I am not buying all that much and rarely buy jelly rolls. 

Check out her blog sometime... she has some wonderful springy looking things hanging around.  She's my BFF right now! (LOL)  So Amanda, thank you from the bottom of my heart --- well include the top, front, back and insides too.  These strips are singing my name ... my bonnie lies over the ocean.... oops.. sorry carried away there. 

Did I do one quilty thing today.  Er, um, no.  But there are groceries in the house, I've done some vacuuming, emptied the dishwasher and I'm running the washing machine through the clean cycle. (what a pain, to have to CLEAN your washer!) And I have a load of laundry that will be going in as soon as that clean cycle finishes.  

Tomorrow's another day. A new quilt is beckoning me... and the sun is shining. What more can you ask for?  

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie