Thursday Thoughts

Handmade for Newtown wrapped up last week and raised over $5,000! My Super Bright Strings quilt was auctioned off for $143. I gave it a last once-over with the lint roller, wrapped it up in tissue paper with a bow made of selvages and mailed it off yesterday to a very kind-hearted new owner.

I've had these cute bags from Debbie from A Quilter's Table on my Make Someday List and was excited to read about the Triple Zip Along which is getting underway on Monday, January 28th. I've got my fabric picked out and zippers ordered!  It's not too late in join the fun.

                                                  

Beth who blogs at Quilting Hottie Haven is launching a month long UFO event called Drop and Give me Twenty (DaGMT 2013) complete with prizes. Click HERE to read all about it.  First, you must make a pledge...

I, Deb who is the not-so-proud owner of a Fab UFO Collection, am joining Quilting Hottie Haven's second annual DaGMT event, and pledge to quilt for 2 hours every day of the month of February, 2013. In doing so I hope to finish 10 UFOs (to be listed on my sidebar Feb. 1st but you can get a sneak peak at my selection pool HERE) and I think Beth Helfter is brilliant for coming up with this concept and inspiring me to join.
Did you notice how I added my January Goals to my sidebar as a constant guilt inducing tactic gentle reminder? Considering I had company for the 1st week followed by a week of a sick son and problems with new sewing machine deliveries I'm not doing so bad. I'm heading down the homestretch on the binding for Shabby Roses (goal 3) and I'll be quilting my Valentine's Day table runner today (goal 7).  FMQ practice sessions (goal 9) are ongoing and I'll be heading back to Christmas over the weekend to work on goals 1 & 2.
We braved our absolutely frigid weather to see Life of Pi on Monday night. I love a movie that really makes you think after leaving the theater, which Life of Pi certainly did, but the thing I enjoyed the most about the movie was the amazing cinematography. I found myself gasping several times at the sheer beauty on the screen. I'm starting to think I should go see it again! Tucker is getting tired of being called "Richard Parker" by all of us.
I have my Juki set up on my sewing table and my Pfaff set up on my spare folding table which are both out in the middle of my quilting room right now. When I walked in yesterday I could not stop looking at the insane difference in height of these machines! Check this out.

I'm using my 6.5" square ruler in these pics. See the peek of my Valentines Day runner ready to be sandwiched back there? With no more wavy edges thanks to the IDF on my Pfaff!

Isn't it amazing? Just a few well placed inches makes all the difference in the world!  Not to mention the design for quilting... see the presser foot on the Juki completely behind the machine? On the Pfaff it's harder to see behind the 6" vertical line on the right. When you raise it goes sideways up into the arm space. I can't tell you how many times I've caught it on the quilt and had it slam down.