Bittersweet

I said goodbye to an old friend Saturday. My trusty APQS Millennium now belongs to my friend, Lisa C.

Lisa and I went to Ely last weekend and traded my 14 foot table for a 12 foot table. What a difference that two feet makes! I am glad I decided to go with the 12 foot table on my new machine.

We put new M & M wheels on the Millie and set her up. It was a long day, but by the end of the day, Lisa C was quilting. And she is thrilled! The Millie moves so smoothly now with her new wheels. Even Joe noticed...and I didn't think he noticed anything related to quilting! He helped me change out the wheels twice in the time I had the Millie, so I guess maybe he did notice. I was amazed, too. Almost to the point of wishing I hadn't sold her to Lisa C...but not really! I will have my new Freedom SR in a few weeks. The Freedom SR is almost the same as the Millie. It doesn't have the vertical channel lock or the thread cutter. I rarely used either of those features. By not getting them, it enabled me to have the new Bliss drive system. I think I'm going to be in heaven!

Remodeled...

Well, it's not done yet, but we are getting there! Ever since we moved into our house ten years ago, we have hated the white berber carpet that was throughout the house. So we decided to replace it...but with what? I wasn't crazy about Pergo, but the family room is on a concrete slab, so hardwood was out, or so we thought. Turns out, there is a new click-lock hardwood that can be installed as a floating floor. So...out with the crappy carpet....

(Let me mention right here and now that good help is hard to find in Elmo! This guy was cheap but really, really slow...in fact, he hasn't left yet! )

And in with gunstock oak hardwood!

Joe has decided we need to replace all the stair treads with oak. There are about 22 stairs...I will be staining and varnishing stair treads for a long, long time. We'll replace the carpet in the upstairs hallway and the master bedroom with oak hardwood, too. There will not be one scrap of carpet in the house when we are done!

We (well, I) had to paint, too. I love the new wall color "Spice Cake". You can see it on the walls in the following picture. The accent is dark chocolate brown.

We also had lighting installed. There was no lighting in the living room, and the bar area of the kitchen has always been dark. Not any more!

And here's a shot of my new window bench...isn't it cute??

We'll get a new sofa (RED!!) and flat screen TV to round out the furniture in the living room.

And of course, a new longarm in the family quilt room!



It Happens Every Year

SNOW!!! This is what we woke up to this morning...

and why are we surprised? It looks so pretty now, but we will be pretty sick of it by May!

Little Miss Tippi Toes did not know what to think of the snow. She took a couple of steps then started back pedaling and shaking her paws off. Cute! It didn't take her long to get used to it.

Tippi's First Snow!

Of course, Petey is an old pro and had to go make yellow snow right away....no pictures necessary...

I'm Back!

Well it's been a while, and now I have a new blog title...how do you like it? The beautiful Ruby Mountains near Elko, NV are the picture behind my title.

We are still in the middle of our remodeling. The floors are down in the living room and family room. The walls are all painted and the new lighting installed. It is the little stuff that takes time! It will be so worth it when it is all done.

The exciting news is that I will soon have a new longarm! One of my friends bought my Millie, so I will be getting a new APQS Freedom SR! Even though my Millie is wonderful, there are a few new features that I'd like to have...like Quilt Glide and Bliss. For you non-quilters...never mind....it's a longarm thing!

In closing, here's a photo of a quilt I quilted for my friend, Lisa. This quilt won best of show at the Winnemucca Quilt Show in 2009, and Viewer's Choice at the Great Basin Quilt Festival in 2010. I think we make a great team!