Owl-ness

A few days ago I received an email that was sent out to the members of my old quilt guild. I've remained on their distribution list, even though I am no longer a card carrying member. The email was about the need for help in making donation quilts. On a whim, I wrote back and volunteered to quilt a couple quilts for them. Why did I do this? I don't know. Maybe because I know it is hard to get folks to volunteer for stuff.

Anyway, I had just about finished the My Tweets quilt's quilting and thought it would be a nice break, to just do some simple quilts for a good cause. I contacted the person who had the tops, backings, and batting and arranged to meet up in a small town about a half hour's drive from my home.
I arrived to the meeting place a bit early. The meeting was at a new-to-the-area quilt store. This little shop is also a Pfaff dealership. My favorite machine is a Pfaff. I had been considering having my Pfaff taken in for a good deep cleaning and possible repair. I have used my machine a LOT and it was showing its age at times.

Instead of waiting in the car, I went into the store and browsed a bit. It was so terribly busy!!! I then noticed a little poster that said there was a quilt show in the area. The dates coincided with this day's date! The show was less than a block from this little store. No wonder they were so busy.

I ran into people I knew from both my old quilt guilds. It was good seeing old friends. I inquired of the store clerk about the cost to have my machine looked at, ($90) and on a whim decided I would override my frugal self and spend the $5 to go to the little quilt show.

I meet up with the person to get the donation quilts from and then went over to the show. It was little but it was fun. I looked at quilts and took note of how some of the appliquéd quilts were quilted. A few quilts caught my eye:

I'm a sucker for anything owlish

Adorable!

And of course it had an owl too - several of them!

I always admire hexagon quilts

This was so bright, in person

The colors were more vibrant than my camera shows

Oh look! An owl followed me home!

I purchased this little owl that opens up to reveal a teeny pin cushion inside. I also bought a yard of an owl print fabric. I then went back to the store after viewing the show and hesitantly left my Pfaff with them to be worked on. I was concerned and hoped that this was a good shop to do business with. I had had previous experiences with other shops that were not so good.

Later last week, I finished quilting the My Tweets quilt top. All that is left is the binding and label. I can't do that yet, because the Pfaff is still in the shop.

I am not happy with the quilting. Only the kids will see this quilt and at least it is done. I had taken note at the quilt show as to how others did their appliqué quilting. Most of them were not quilted on or over the top of the applique pieces but were quilted around each piece. I don't trust my stitches to hold if I don't nail them down with more thread, but maybe they will and I am just too worried they won't.

During the quilting of this quilt, I had a needle break, early on. That was replaced and I used mostly one needle for the whole quilt. The Mister took the old needle and a new one to work and photographed them. If you have ever wondered if it is true that a needle will get dull, just by going through cotton fabrics, here is proof that it does happen:

The older needle is on top

Isn't that amazing! I was actually just as surprised at how sharp the new needles are too.

(Several Days Later) I got my Pfaff back and she's running great! The little quilt shop came through for me. I am glad to find a local Pfaff dealership. The shop is called "The Bed-Warmer Quilt and Sew Shop" and is located in Benton, Arkansas. I hope they stay in business a good long time.

That's it for this posting. Phew it got kind of long!!! My next posting will be talking about getting back into the swing of things and actually getting some projects done with the FAL group. Till then, happy sewing y'all!