Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Twiddling thumbs

Sometimes life takes over and before you know it is months since you wrote anything. The past nine months has been so hectic. Every month has seen a quilt finished!No UFOs! Now that is an achievement. Of course there are UFO's from other crafts stuffed into the closet. Crochet yarn tumbling out every time I open my cupboard, cross-stitch patterns waiting their turn patiently but not a single unfinished quilt project. That is really something to talk cheer about. And many of these quilts have found homes with friends who are there right behind encouraging and buying! As they say there can be no star without the audience and no creator without someone to appreciate.
October has been a lean month. My sewing machine has gone for a long needed service and I am twiddling my thumbs. No quilt in the making. Not that I am idle. There is the baby blanket being crocheted for 'The Hundred Hands' project. And a cross-stitch UFO that I am determined to finish this month. And the monthly challenge for the Desi quilter's group. Flower power. Without the machine it may not get done but the challenge gives me reason to start something that is long overdue!
The challenge. Which brings me to the not so new group that I am a member of - Desi quilters. A bunch of Indian origin quilters who live all over the world  and a bunch of quilters who live in India. The only two qualifiacations are a desi connection and a quilting connection even if it is just tenuous. Led by admins who keep everyone crafting, challenging their limits, the group dynamics keeps one addicted, leaving little time for crafting. Now that is ironical but still true. I am looking for detox so if anyone knows of a good place......
Two days to finish the month and a lot to show for it inspite of the lack of machine. I'll share all the unfinished and the finished in the next post as the challenge is supposed to be through anonymous entries.
Oh and I am shifting all my photos to Flickr. The new google+ has played havoc with my albums and I am not going there until some sanity returns. Let me know if there are any glitches in my Flickr album. And you can find all my finished quilts either on flickr or on Quiltbug on FB.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Wanted - A new machine

A quilt a month with all that free-motion quilting seems to have sent my Juki into a tizzy. It started suffering from burn-out syndrome. I mean that really. One could smell that strong smell of something burning. So off it went for a well-needed servicing. Been a month and some days and I am still twiddling my thumbs waiting for the return of my beloved machine. The talk is that the motor has become weak and may need a transplant! And we all know transplants are expensive. Like heart surgery the original was inexpensive while the replacement is going to cost the earth. I need a new machine.
And one that will let me quilt to my heart's content. I would like to have some extras - fonts to add my initials to my quilts or put a child's name onto its' wearable instead of my scrawl. And so my heart beat a little faster when I saw Amy's offer on Amy's creative for a Baby Lock Melody sewing machine. Gosh that would be something! Time for my luck to change and win something. I hope the gods are smiling down at me. Let me win that beauty!