I managed to finish the quilt with the difficult thread. It worked out much better for me to turn off the stitch regulator. I didn't get quite as many skipped stitches with it off.

This is the quilt.



A close up of the sashing.

A close up of the block done with line dancing.

A close up of the piano key border.

I added this to the corner for her. I try to add a little special surprise item to all her quilts because she is such a good friend.

Whew! It's been such a hard week for me. I try to keep myself working on the machine so I can get caught up...... BUT LIFE KEEPS GETTING IN THE WAY. Just when I think I'm making progress there is something to come along to take me away from my goal.

August is always the hardest month of the year for me. Many things happen in August that seem to take all my strength to get done. I'm usually gone a week this month so its a short work month. The big junk day happens in August which means I can finally get some broken things out of the house. I can't get any of the lazy men around here to help carry stuff to the alley. I must do it myself.

The fair starts this month which mean all my own entries must be finished this week. I have a couple that still need binding and sleeve attached and one isn't quilted yet. It won't get entered. The customer fair quilts were finished a couple of weeks ago.

I have an energy audit scheduled for Monday which means I have several things to do before it can be done. The weekend was going to be my time for getting ready for the audit. But.... my daughter needs me to babysit Saturday so she can work. Daycare is closed on the weekend. Looks like Sunday is going to be a rush... rush.... rush kind of day.

In all this rush to get life things done; I don't know when I will find time for quilting. Yet.... it must be done if the bills are going to get paid. I usually don't schedule many quilts during August because I know its a busy month. I'm still working on June and July quilts.

For a long time I've thought about how nice it would be to clone mayself so there would be two of me working. Two people get soooo much more work done than just one. Well, the alternative would be to have an apprentice. Looks like my wish is coming true!

I had a call a couple of days ago from a very nice young lady that wants to learn the business of machine quilting in exchange for helping me with things I can't seem to get done. I met her a few years ago on a bus trip to Nashville.... or was it Paducah.... no matter.... we got along great.

I didn't have time to call her yesterday to tell her I'm ready.... if she is. I was too busy finishing the quilt to make a phone call. I'm going to call her later today to talk more about it.

She wants to come over one day a week to help with whatever I need in exchange for watching and learning. Neither of us know if it will work out but I'm certainly willing to give it a try if she is. I'm excited at the prospect of having someone help. I kind of see the light at the end of the tunnel for getting caught up around here.

I know she doesn't have the experience to do machine quilting yet. She will learn that over time. It's the other things that she can help with that mean the most. For example sewing while I'm pressing and pinning. Or helping sort fabric donations. Or cutting and organizing fabric ready for piecing into charity quilts. I can think of lots of stuff I need help doing.

I may not get back onto the computer again until Tuesday. Computer time and tv time sure can eat up work time. I try to stay off the computer and away from the tv when I'm in a rush. Time for me to get started.... the work won't get finished as long as I sit here type-talking.