Sunday, January 20, 2013

Sunday Salon 1/20

Blah. Not too much going on this week. I was under the weather for a few days but I'm back now. Nothing got done- nothing much anyway- around the house except I made a dent in the chocolate supply!

Yesterday I took my first machine-quilting lesson at my favorite quilt shop. They have a big computerized longarm quilter and offer lessons with the idea that I'll be able to rent time on it and quilt on my own after a few hours of tutorials. The class lasted three hours and it felt like information overload but I'm looking forward to my next lesson. I have a lot of unfinished quilts that are unsuitable for hand quilting for one reason or another, and I hope to be able to finish those as well as expand the range of quilting projects I can take on in the future. Between UFOs- UnFinished Objects, what we quilters call our not-done projects- and the TBR pile, sometimes I feel like life is just a lot of things I haven't caught up with yet!

Speaking of reading, I've decided my goal for the 2013 Europa Challenge will be to read 24 books- two per month- to make significant inroads in that pile of unread books. It's ambitious but I think I can do it. And then I'm not taking on any more challenges per se but it might be interesting to see, at the end of the year, what challenges are out there that I've fulfilled unintentionally!

Today I've got work in the morning and then cleaning up this afternoon. Being sick kept me from doing more to take down Christmas and right now my house is pretty sad.

What are you up to today? I hope you have a great Sunday. More Sunday Salon on Facebook.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad you're feeling better! We've kind of had an up and down week at our house, and I'm looking forward to a quiet afternoon with some reading. And maybe watching some of the playoff games, but maybe not, since my team got knocked out last week. Have a great week, Marie!

Ali said...

I'm glad you felt well enough to attend your class. Good luck with the quilting projects!

Alex in Leeds said...

Two Europas a month sounds like a lovely challenge. :)

Sandy Nawrot said...

Until I get that tree down, I am completely discombobulated. It took me longer than usual this year. We were gone for a couple weeks over the holidays too and that just put everything in a spin at home. I'm still not caught up. Glad you are feeling better! No challenges for me this year. I find I get so much more done if I just blindly do my thing.

bermudaonion said...

I'm glad you're feeling better. I try not to bring much chocolate in our house just so I won't make a dent in it.

As the Crowe Flies and Reads said...

Never underestimate the importance of putting a dent in the chocolate supply. This is essential.

Also, machine quilting? That sounds so futuristic but also quite cool.

Allison Vaughn said...

I am glad you are feeling better. It seems a lot of book bloggers (Sunday Salon participants) were feeling under the weather this past week.

So, why exactly would machine quilting be necessary with a long arm? I am very into sewing and have a few machines myself but haven't ventured into the art of quilting, yet. :)

Allison
Book Reviews

Marie Cloutier said...

Allison, if the quilt is too large to comfortably quilt by machine on my own sewing machine, a longarm is a nice option because you can do those larger sizes more easily and in more complex patterns than I'd be able to do with free-motion quilting. I'm not good at free-motion and I'm interested to learn this technique.

Jenners said...

Well, the key thing is that you made a dent in the chocolate pile!

Booksnyc said...

I know what you mean by the house looking sad when the decorations come down - I think mine looks so bare!

Glad you are feeling better - have a good week!