I have never been sure how the days of the calendar flips so quickly by.  I keep thinking that I will add to the blog and then I realize another week has passed me by.  I can promise to be more timely in the future but I have learned that tigers don't change their stripes so don't plan your schedule around a weekly entry by me....

At any rate I have been busy since my last posting.  Migration by Night is complete with an added border of flying geese to make it a better fit for a queen size bed.  I have taken it to The Quilting Page to have it quilted on the long-arm. I will post a photo when I get it back.

I had taken my big feathered star to Page for show level quilting and got talked into giving her some time putting zippers on quilts, trimming quilts and the like in exchange for her time to quilt this large quilt.  One thing has led to another and now I am helping with getting quilts loaded on the machines and learning how to setup the computer patterns for the machines.

Page can see in her mind's eye what will enhance a quilt top and works with the customers to select a complementing design.  It is fascinating to watch her take a computerize design and reconfigure it so that it is the right scale for the quilt, or edit the design to better nest together and reduce the ridges that often happen when the designs do not fit together quite right.  I have been amazed at how much hands on work there is with the computer guided quilting.  The notion of set-it-up and let it run seriously under estimates the time needed to get even a lap size quilt done.

As a spin off to my many questions about the computer side of the machine (I am a geek after all) have led to my working with Page to digitize the designs she has doodled on a gazillion pieces of paper.  I have been learning to use the Art and Stitch program to convert from doodles to stitching lines for the Statler Stitcher and other computer long-arm programs.  It is fairly simple but very putsy work to get the lines to flow well in the program and then stitch smoothly on the machine.  It is going to take time to get this process down to where I don't have to think about each step.

This is a Page turner that Page designed and we have been editing to see how it can be applied to a multitude of different uses from sashing to all over design where the curved curls actually intertwine.  It is all a learning process.