My new sewing chair

I saw the perfect sewing chair at a quilt show years ago. I never should have sat in it, no other chair could compare. My husband tried to get me one last Christmas but the manufacturer had gone out of business. I was surprised to see the same folks at the Quilt Odyssey this year. They changed manufacturers and still offer it as the Perfect Sewing Chair. It's expensive but well worth it. I got the premium version because my butt is quite a bit wider than the average person.

This chair is especially for people with short legs; it’s adjustable 6 ways. The seat position (distance from back of chair) is adjustable and you can of course change the height of the chair and the height of the back. And the tilt and the slant of the back of the chair are adjustable too. And if you want to pay a little more you can get adjustable lumbar support.

It comes with this tilting thing to put your sewing machine at an angle (I didn't get that, I got a custom color instead) and it comes with this foot thing that you put your sewing machine foot pedal goes on and it has another wedge shape and if you put both your feet on those it's supposed to keep your hips square and stop back pain. I did get that and I hope it works. It's supposed to make it so you can sit and sew longer. I like that idea.

It took me 3 years of sitting in it once a year at the show to convince me it was worth spending the money. I’m so glad I finally did. It’s great. Very comfy. And in case you didn’t notice, it’s ORANGE!!! You can read all about it on their web site: http://www.ergonomicadvantage.com/

Mystery Solved

On my favorite online quilting group, we were challenged to complete a mystery quilt. At first we had to pick one multicolored print, one dark for the background and then a light, medium and dark warm and light and medium cool fabric. Then we were told how to cut the pieces. And then every now and then we got a block design and directions on how many to make in what color combination. Just three simple blocks made the quilt you see. It was my first mystery but won't be my last. It is currently my favorite quilt made to date -- the colors are very ME!

5000 Member Celebration Block

I belong to this fantastic Yahoo quilting group. We just celebrated our third birthday and a week later are up to 5,000 members. To celebrate our birthday/anniversary our leader, Carol Doak, designed a mystery quilt. I'll post pictures once it's done. But for our 5,000 members she designed a block for us for that too. Mom was visiting and I had a day off and Carol was nice enough to let mom and I be the first to see and try out the block design. I liked it so much I made four of the block and added a border. I love it!

Luke's Baby Quilt

When I saw these fabric panels in Texas I fell in love with them, had to have them. So .... I bought the panels and the coordinating fabric. Then I saw this adorable blue fabric that says "mommy loves you, daddy loves you, grandma loves you, poppa loves you," and a bunch of other loves you. It was so cute. So I put it all together and made a second quilt for my second grandson. Then later I found out the designer of this fabric is the same designer of the fabric I made for my first grandson's first quilt. How cool is that? Hope he likes it.

I started a quilt for my newest grandson in March. Had anticipated getting it done by April. Well I just finished it this weekend. My daughter bought most of the fabric and we picked out the design together. Luke's room is blue and brown with lots of circles all over the walls and linens. This should go perfectly with his room. His big brother, Lliam, and mommy LOVE the Disney movie, Cars, so it should be loved by all. I was pretty happy with the quilting job around the border this time. That's usually the hardest part for me.

Class-to-be

I'm going to be teaching my first paper piecing class. My guild offers a class once a month and they asked if I would do one. It's scheduled for May 4. They asked me to make some samples to show people what we'll be making. I made four and I tried to make them very different color combinations so one is two-color, one has a black background, one a white background and one a print background. I still have to make step-by-step samples. That's next on the list. I hope it goes well. Carol Doak offers the pattern free on her web site as long as you use it to train others. She loves to share the joy of paper piecing. Me too. I hope we get a lot of participation.

More F8 Blocks

I finished the last two F8 groups. I had fun with this one. Most of the fabric was in colors I would never use. But luckily I had fabric to match in my stash. I can't decide which is my favorite -- I kind of like them all. I hate to have to send the blocks home.
This has been a really slow swap. By the time the deadline came and all the blocks should have been going home, I only had one group finished. The blocks have been coming in slowly. But hopefully I'll have them all by the end of the month.