Well, I am now officially a long arm quilter!  I bought a very heavily used HQ 16 this summer.  It was filthy when I got her and I took her for a thorough cleaning at my local HQ Dealer, Quilter's Haven in Olathe, KS.  They are WONDERFUL people and have gone above and beyond to help me get my baby back in great working order!  I have taken 3 classes.  I learned a lot and practice quite a bit.  I have done a lot of quilting on her.  We had to modify the carriage as my frame was larger than the span for the wheels on the carriage.  We are still tweaking that so I can use the stitch regulator.  By the time that happens, I may not need/want it.  We can only hope.   I currently have a t-shirt quilt on the frame a friend of mine asked me to make and quilt.  It was fun, I actually did 2 for her. 

I have been busy since my last post.  I just finished up my term as president for the Missouri State Teachers Association.  MSTA represents approximately 44,000 educators in the state of Missouri.  That was a blast and I would definitely do it all over again.  As part of the convention, I made and quilted 30 center pieces for decorations at the president's reception, made 4 wall hangings for my officers, and 2 quilts for the CEO and the Executive Assistant.  Somewhere in my free time,  also made 40 fabric coasters for various other people.  It was a lot of fun and time consuming.  I'll have to post pictures of what I did remember to take pictures of.  I am so bad about not documenting my work.

One piece I quickly did was a wall hanging for my grandfather.   I made this string quilt in honor of his Honor Flight in October.  It was during the government shut down and luckily, the contingent from Texas made sure they got to see their memorial, rightfully so!

Ummm.....better late than never!

I guess once a year isn't too bad for a blogger right?  I definitely don't call myself a blogger.  Life is crazy with 20 days of school left.  The BIG state test is next week.  I am looking forward to summer and the time to complete the projects I have floating around in my mind.

So what projects do I have floating around? 

*I have been asked to complete 2 t-shirt quilts so I need to start planning those.
*I joined a block exchange at my quilt guild.  The theme is pumpkins.  You can do anything pumpkin as long as it isn't Halloween.

*I am finishing up my term as Missouri State Teachers Association so I have several gift to make as thank you's for the help and support of my officers and some of the staff members.
*I'm making - I think - the center pieces for the convention.  I picked up some really neat patriotic fabric off Craigslist really cheap. 
* I also have my plethora of UFO's to complete. 

One of my UFO's

I am currently painting our spare bedroom so I can set up a longarm quilt frame.  It's the ONLY space in the house large enough for it to go.  I don't have a longarm machine, but will use my Janome 6600p in it.  I am excited about that one.

As for the scrapbooking I mentioned in previous posts, I think I may be giving that one up.  I'm not quite ready to let go of all the stuff.  I'm planning on doing some switching around in my craft room and get the quilting stuff out and more accessible.  It's a mess in there right now.  I also need to paint that room.  Man, it seems like I spend my summers painting!!

Until next time!
Misy