A Thread-aholic in Colorado

Happy Halloween!

I have to admit, I'm not a big Halloween fan.  But it's fun watching everyone dress up and pretend to be someone or something else for a day.  And I do miss the annual collection of candy stashes my kids would possess (and yes, I did go through theirs on occasion and "borrow" some of the sweet stuff I deemed "too sugary" for them.)

So while the rest of the quilting world seems to be at Quilt Market in Houston this weekend, it was not possible for us to attend this year. So Randy and I decided to take the bikes out for what will probably be our last "overnighter" weekend of the year. We met this interesting gentleman at a restaurant in Gunnison, Saturday night.  His name was Don, and was not all that talkative... but the food was delicious!

And Sunday, starting off at a brisk 32 degrees, we rode over North Cochetopa Pass between Gunnison and Saguache, on our way back home to Cañon.

It was a great ride and we took advantage of our unusually warm Colorado October weather. But I'm actually looking forward to those cold snowy days, when all there is to do is... QUILT!

Still have a ways to go....

We've had our Baby Lock Crown Jewel for over a year now.  It's just wonderful to be able to start a quilt from the very beginning cuts, and see it through to the very end, including the quilting.  But there has been a learning curve. 

Because Randy is the Tech guy in my life, every time something "hiccups" with the Jewel, I'm begging him to come and fix it.  9 times out of 10, it turns out to be operator error.  So... I have a ways to go in learning this awesome machine.

But my, oh my, what an adventure I'm having!

Reflections on Reflections

Ms. Rhonda, one of our wonderful sales staff her at First Stitches, created this "Reflections" quilt pattern from some of the most beautiful fabric.  I just love the colors she picked out to compliment the soft toned wildlife printed panels. Excellent job, Rhonda!

Well, Ricky Tims is just plain cool!!

Ricky arrived in Cañon City on Sunday afternoon. His "outside the box" artistic and creative mentality can't help but instill a renewed passion for quilting and creating in everyone's heart.

One message stood out the strongest in my mind, however.  TIME.  Time is a precious gift that has been given to us, and we need to value it.  His favorite saying is "Carpe Diem" which means "seize the day".  It made me think how I should "seize" each day and live it, cherish it, and NEVER BE AFRAID to do just that. I hope I remember his words for a long time.

While Ricky was at the store Sunday evening for our Meet and Greet, he autographed his name on the threshold to our new classroom. I hope his will be the first of many excellent and talented teachers, lecturers, and guests who will bless us with their presence over the course of time.

I think everyone had a wonderful time and I hope someday we'll have him back! 

Carpe Diem, people!

(pictured, L to R:  Randy, Kim, and Ricky)

Want some professional hooping help?

Do you have hooping phobia? Do you just need some plain help?  Then don't miss our Software and Hooping Clinics on Friday or Saturday, October 21st or 22nd.  We'll be bringing in an expert who will give you valuable tips and tricks, and demo some great hoop helping tools!

Oh what fun we had.... Southern Colorado Embroidery Extravaganza 2016

Wow!  What an event.  We made new friends, we made cool projects, we ate excellent food, and we laughed and laughed!  It was just great!!!