I've Been a Ditch Rider

 Just along the edge of our property line

there's a dirt ditch which

is 2-3 feet deep.

It's a small part of an intricate irrigation

system that weaves it's way

across the prairie just east of the 

foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

The ditch rider controls when and where

water flows and how much.

It's not my water to use. 

Others have the water rights.

This week, though, I have 

been spending a lot of time in the ditch.

No, not cleaning out sticks

or weeds, but instead,

right in my sewing studio.

Although, I wish I had a picture

of me sitting in the ditch

stitching!

Sometimes, if the ditch rider

doesn't get things just right

the water can jump the banks.

 Guess, sometimes the same 

thing happens to me.

 Oops!

Things happen!

Just a couple of pictures of spring
around here
because today there's snow predicted.

Until Next Time-

Almost Done

This week has flown by.

I've started some holiday shopping,

I've cooked up the Halloween pumpkins for holiday pies,

and I've spent many hours in my sewing room

machine quilting a holiday quilt.

Over the past couple of weeks

I've been debating with myself

about how I should finish my

Home For the Holidays quilt.

Should I do

big stitches with perel cotton?

It would fit the style of the quilt because of

the wool appliques,

But it might take more time

than I wanted to spend.

This is my "put your $ where 

your mouth is" quilt.
 It's my WIP project

that I pledged to finish and

because it's a holiday quilt,
it made sense to me

 to finish it now so I could actually use it

in the next couple weeks.

So that meant no big stitching.

 I needed to

machine quilt it.

My hesitancy was because

it had been awhile since I had 

machine quilted and

my skills were a bit rusty.

It also meant I needed to mark the quilt.

I'm pretty finicky about how I do that.

I use either a mechanical pencil or

chalk,  when I'm marking a design.

I don't use markers that need to be washed out because

I don't wash most of my quilts when I'm done.

This one, with the wool applique, 

wasn't going to be washable.

So I was left with the option of

either machine quilting freestyle or

using stencils and chalk and

pouncing the designs.

The good part about pouncing is

that the marks aren't permanent.

The bad part about pouncing is

that the marks rub off easily.

The designs have to be marked in

small bits at a time,

and it's good to dust your machine often.

I'm just about finished,

and I like how it's turning out.

I used three different snowflake designs,
 

although all the patterns weren't specifically snowflakes.

There's some free-styling around the appliques,

and it will be a combo in the borders.

With the holidays fast approaching

it will be fun to have this quilt finished.

The good thing is
my confidence with my machine quilting

has been restored.

For me,

there's a time and place for different finishing styles.

No one way is right,

it's just what fits the project and you.

Until Next Time-

Quilting With One of The Big Girls

Yesterday I had the chance to

do some machine quilting with 

one of the Big Girls and

trying something new.

We're fortunate

to have a Gammill dealership in town

called, Jukebox Quilts and

Kelly rents time and instruction on her incredible machines.

I've always wanted to try 

using one of the big computerized machines

with the Statler Stitcher.

I had a simple top done

that I wanted quilted with just an

edge to edge design and

plan to donate it to some worthy cause.

It was the perfect top to

experiment on.

And I have to say,

it was an awesome experience.

The set up took the most time, but

once that was done,
 I just pushed the little black button and 

off she went.

A couple of times

 across the surface of the quilt

 and then

slam, bang, thank you mam,

 

 it was done!

I could see where this could become a very fun and 

 creative thing to do.

And I'd like to try it again sometime,

but yesterday I walked away with a 

top freshly quilted and 

money still in my wallet.

Until Next Time-
.