My Life in a Box (or a Zillion Boxes!)

     WooHoo, it's Moving Time! Yep, the time has come for Grammy and Papa to get closer to 2 of our 4 grandbabes...and to get some shorter winters than Central Oregon provides. We've been thinking about it for a couple years and when several factors seemed to be aligning, we decided to see if we could make it happen. We listed our home for sale in April. As soon as it was listed (and in the pristine "No One Really Lives Here" state of clean), we drove to Canada to visit our daughter and her family...that's one way to keep a house Picture Perfect!  When it sold 12 days later we knew we had to quickly find a house and begin the nightmare of packing! Off we went to Northern California to spend 3 days searching for a place to land.

     We decided to look around the area in the Sierra Foothills, east of Sacramento. We'd raised our family there before Papa Toad accepted a job in Ohio in 1997. By the week's end, we found a house that I love...in Cameron Park, same place where we'd lived before. Except that I didn't take any pictures of it when we previewed it and since Papa Toad didn't think he liked it, I really don't remember all the details of some important rooms! Like where will The Ark be?????? Oh my, the adventure of it all!!!

     The movers arrive Monday...so here's what The Ark looks like now:

Oh look, I can still see a drawer on my sewing cabinet!

     

The machines have been packed in their original Bernina boxes for a few weeks and I've had serious withdrawals ever since!

         Tomorrow we'll load the RV with all the "I don't want to pack that, let's just take it with us" stuff and tape up the final boxes. Those are the ones that are such fun to unpack! You know, those final boxes that hold all the last minute stuff you need to the bitter end. The Mystery Boxes....the ones you forget to label, or you're so DONE with the moving process that you don't care whether it's labeled or not! So there it is, the box that has everything from the sprinkler can you almost forgot to pack along with the bath mat and His favorite coffee mug to that stack of quilting/cooking magazines that you were going to go through and purge!
     This last stage of packing is soooooooooooooooo different than the beginning. In the beginning I vowed to really do a good job of labeling each box. I even thought that if I was very specific about where the contents had come from in the house that I'd really be able to have a photographic memory about what exactly I'd find in that box. I've never had a photographic memory in my life so why did I think I'd be zapped with that gift now? Instead, as I sit here typing, I'm looking at a box that is labeled "Middle Shelf of Entertainment Ctr." Really? Could I really be that blonde? 4 weeks later and I don't have any idea what was on that shelf! Papa Toad and I have moved 12 times, bought and sold 8 houses...you'd really think we'd have it down to a science! I have a friend who is a meticulous packer! She has a cross reference system...each box has a # that corresponds to a list that tells exactly what's in that box...and each box has a list on its top that tells what's in it. Now, I ask you, where's the fun in that? No mysteries, no surprises, no Christmas feeling in June, no searching, no Yahoos, no feeling of reward when you finally find those pots and pans. (When we moved to Ohio I could not find those pots and pans...after 4 weeks I went and bought a new set!) I bet my friend is still stuck with her original wedding pots and pans because she labels those boxes....and she probably isn't moving 22,000 lbs....and she's not a quilter!
     So, the movers load up all the stuff Monday and the cleaners will come Tuesday. Wednesday, Papa Toad will drive the RV and the "Toad" (towed Escape) and Mom and I will follow behind as our little caravan heads south. We should arrive in Cameron Park late afternoon. I'll try to keep you posted on the rest of this adventure and let you know as soon as I decide where to put The Ark! Meanwhile, I think I need to do a little Stitchin' for the Soul! (Yes, that's not packed...it'll go in my cosmetic bag!)

4 more sleeps......
Nadine
   

Let's Try This Again!!!

Let's see what I don't remember about all this bloggin' stuff....that will be quite a lot! So, let this just be a little test post and see if I can start up again!

Lavender Ridge's Give-A-Way and Anne's back!

Go there.....go to Lavender Ridge and just take a look at what you could win! You'll have to go and see what.....but trust me, I think you'll want it for sure! I'd never really thought much about it before but having seen what it can do....WOW! So Miss Linda, -er, Mr. Random Number Chooser, please pick me!
My other news is that Anne's back! Yahoo!
I, too, had a bit of a holiday. Papa Toad and I were basically "on the lamb"....well, really only on "holiday" for 2 months, but "on the lamb" just has a more mysterious and daring sound. We celebrated our 40th anniversary by spending 28 wonderful days in the Mediterranean. We took our 3rd cruise on Holland America, 12 days that began in Barcelona and took us to Monaco, 3 ports in Italy, 3 in Greece, Dubrovnik Croatia and ended in Venice. Then our land journey began in Italy which included Florence, Perugia, Assisi, Tuscany/Chianti/Umbria regions, Rome and its surroundings. I tell ya....it was truly an awe inspiring, once in a lifetime journey. We'd never been to Europe before and now we're ready to go again! But, my or my it's a long trip from Oregon! (made even longer when you're stuck on the tarmac in Rome for 2 hours before you even start the 10 hr. flight to Washington, DC!
I'll post some photos soon....................first I'll need to choose just a few from the 1016 I took!
Meanwhile, happy stitchin' for the soul..............
Nadine

Am I Back?

Maybe.... My website is having issues with Malware and I don't know how to deal with it. Frustrating! I moved my blog there over a year ago and now I can't get there. Arghhhhhhh. So until I decide how to get it fixed I'll hang out here for awhile. I think I miss the journaling part of this adventure. The sharing. The airing of my brain, thinking aloud, getting feedback. And winter seems to be getting closer which means more indoors time and for me that equals more playroom time.
For now let me share my latest pattern release...."Winter Pillow Trio" pattern, #3 in the series.

Kind of fun, eh?

Labor Day weekend...time to "Labor". Time to get some summer garden cleanup done. Gardening was really tough this year in Central Oregon. I finally got my first squash blossom on August 20th and then we had our first frost the next night....no more leaves left on the plant! I ended up with 3 peppers, 3 cherry tomatoes, lettuce, about 3 dozen carrots and 3 dinners of green beans. Obviously the high desert pioneers had more success than I did! I'm glad I can run to Whole Foods and Costco!

Time to go play for a bit.....Have a wonderful weekend and travel/play safely!

And do take some time to do some "stitchin' for the soul"!

Nadine

New Blog Address

Ok Bloglanders...It's official! My Blog has just joined the Mother Ship and has a new address. Here's the link. Come on over for a visit...See y'all soon!

Nadine

It's Coming Soon!

Yahoo! The living and breathing Willow Creek Quilts website is about to launch in just a few days. My apologies to you if the link from here is temporarily down. It's all part of the birthing process! Once the site is up the link will work again and hopefully we won't have too many labor and delivery issues! Thank you in advance for your patience.

This is exciting!

Chat with y'all soon!

Nadine

A Binding Tutorial with "The Binding Gizmo"

Someone suggested I share one of my favorite tools, "The Binding Gizmo" by writing a Tutorial. This tool was shown to me a few years ago by Thea Jirak, the gal who designed it. I was in strong like with it from the moment she demo-ed it. WOW! The idea of having a binding turn out perfect everytime with no scrunched or gaping closures was ever so appealing to me. Now many, many, many quilts, table runners, placemats and demonstrations later it is still my favorite tool...well, really my Bernina is first and then my rotary cutter,mat, ruler & thimble are next...but then "The Binding Gizmo" is Primo!

So, here we go. "The Binding Gizmo" tool is the clear acrylic piece that comes with the spiral booklet you see next to the tool. Thea did a fantastic job giving you 26 pages of great information about binding fabric requirements & how to cut straight & bias binding in a way that gives you the longest strips. The booklet is filled with step-by-step instructions that gives you a fantastic visual presentation.

Once you've prepped your binding (I usually use 2 1/2" wide bias strips that are pressed to 1 1/4" and then roll them "jelly roll" fashion and stick the roll in a sandwich bag to keep it from unrolling), lay it on your quilt edge, matching its raw edges with the quilt's raw edges. Next, lay the Gizmo on top, lining up its dark line with the end of the binding. Put a pin through the binding and the quilt at the end of the Gizmo....notice the purple flower pin at the left side of the Gizmo. The pin marks where you'll start sewing the binding to the quilt. Now with a pencil, mark the binding in the slot that corresponds to the width of your binding. (She has several slots for different sizes)

Next, using the Gizmo ruler, measure 3" above the end of the binding and put another pin to mark the spot where you'll stop sewing after you've attached the binding all the way around the quilt.

Here's the "jelly roll" of binding all rolled up and kept under control in a sandwich bag.

Time to sew! Begin stitching at the first purple flower pin. (I like a 3/8" seam allowance so that my binded edge is full and not hollow feeling)

Here's my bagged binding on the floor coming out of the little zip locked opening.

Here I've sewn all around the quilt and I've arrived at that second purple flower pin...the stopping spot.

Time to take the quilt away from the machine and re-measure & mark for the closure. Lay the binding you just were sewing on top of the beginning section. By pulling the starting end out a little from the edge of the quilt you can once again lay the Gizmo on top, lining up the dark line with that sticking out end. Now mark the top binding section in the correct slot.

Now, open up the ending section, right side up. I've put a pin on the line I made through the slot.

Open up the beginning section of the binding and place it face down to the right of your last drawn line...or on the side closest to the quilt using a right angle. (Sorry I used batiks in the photo!) You'll sew a diagonal seam joining these 2 sections together...the seam will be parallel to the edge of the quilt...the same direction as the white marking pencil.

Another view:

Once sewn I like to let it lie back in position to make sure everything rests where it should. Time to trim the seam. I trim it to 1/2" so that the bulk is distributed nicely.

Press open the seam.

Voila! Time to finish attaching the perfectly closed binding. You too will love this tool!

One other helpful hint: Whether I'm doing square or rounded corners, I always press my binding open on the front side to help it turn nicely to the back. I also always "make-up" all the corners, press them and then pop some binding clips on them before I ever start hand stitching the binding in place. I find that when I do this, the corners are nicely "pressed" in position when I get to them to sew and it makes fiddling with the corners effortless.

Hope someone finds this helpful.

Now I really do have to go clear some flat surfaces!! Happy stitchin' for the soul!

Nadine