Getting Back on Track, Sort Of...

I guess I've been a bad blogger again this week. But I do have excuses - more about that later.

One thing I have been trying to work on this past week was my machine quilting skills. So like they say in the classes I've taken and the books that I've read, it takes practice, practice, practice. I've been practicing. Beamer has claimed my stack of practice "quilt sandwiches" as his new bed so all is not lost! I'm not sure when I'll master the art of stippling or shadowing or any other free-motion machine quilting skill but I've made some attempts and I'll continue to practice - but later this week! In the meantime, any advice from friendly quilters is requested. I finished piecing this table topper and started some straight line quilting. It sits in the waiting pile, until I decide if I'm brave enough to free-motion the center or borders.
One day last week, B came over to sew with me. It was nice of her share her day off with me and fun to share her new hobby! I was going to work on the above mentioned practicing but instead decided to use my charm pack of Pumpkins Gone Wild and use the pattern she brought to make the same wall hanging. It sits in the same waiting pile for a quilting decision. On Friday and Saturday, D and I hit the road to pick up our new trailer. It was manufactured near Champaign, IL by American Legend Motorcycle Trailers and painted to match our Harley. It is really nice! They did a great job matching the paint and design. We've got plenty of room to travel in style now and even room for me to actually do some serious fabric shopping while indulging DH's desire to ride! This isn't the greatest photo of yours truly but a good photo of the trailer. So just to make sure the trip was not only about the motorcycle and trailer, I just "happened" to remember the cute quilt shop that Sharon had blogged about in Greenwood, IN. The Back Door Quilt Shop certainly did not disappoint! I did my best to fill up the trailer but I knew how much stuff I had in the waiting pile at home. This shop is great and I will certainly be back! Looks like another road trip will be required.

Now that we have the trailer we will have to plan another extended trip. There will be one over to see Grandbaby #1 (and J & J too!) soon but other than that we're not sure where we might head.

We are expecting our K-State cousins this week but hope they will be understanding as to the state of this house. Because - now here is the excuse, though probably kind of lame - we were without power for about 24 hours. It finally came on late this morning but we were victims of remnants of Ike. This part of Southern Indiana and Kentucky survived about 3 hours of wind with speeds of over 50 mph and gusts up to 80 mph. Luckily, we had no damage here, but there are many, many trees down and lots of folks did have roof damage. Still, we are all thankful that we didn't have to suffer the full hurricane as the people in Southern Texas did. So now, I must get back to a little housekeeping and laundry (the washer was a victim of the lightning the week before, so B and N have let me use them as a laundromat!) and try to get back on track.

Hope everyone else survived our share of the storm okay. I've been tagged by Jo but I'll save those random facts about me for another post!

Thanks for stopping by!