How Do You Paint Around a Longarm?

VERY CAREFULLY!!!

I decided I can no longer stand the overwhelmingly purple room...so I am painting this weekend. Here are a few before shots. Yes, even the ceiling is purple! Not to offend the purple lovers out there...

I have chosen a shade of white named "Ballet White". It is white with just a hint of peachy/pink. should brighten things up tremendously. I will post pictures of my progress.

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday weekend!

 

What a Wonderful Life

Pretty quiet in our little corner of paradise, and I like it that way! This is the Nevada you don't see from the freeway. Thank goodness, or we'd be overrun with relatives people! Both of these photos were taken from our back deck.

Yes, it is a little longer drive than I had before. But it is so beautiful and we have so much more room than we did in town. I wouldn't trade it for anything right now. I think I have finally found my home.

Little Miss Hal is in Salt Lake City with her mom & dad today getting her heart murmur checked out. Hopefully it is nothing major.

A little bit of applique last night. I finished removing the templates from my Poppy quilt. It is ready for the final borders and quilting! Finally! This one has taken me seven years to finish. I have a pretty good idea of how I will quilt it. Now if I wasn't painting this weekend, I'd be quilting! Always something...

Hugs & Stitches

A Finish!

Lots of stuff going on here...we have another new granddaughter! Her name is Halleigh Jo and she is one month old today! She is a cutie, especially since she has red hair!

I finished her quilt shortly after she came home. It was a quick quilt to make but it turned out so cute. I quilted baby butt hearts in the blocks and a small feather meander in the center birdie block. The pattern is available from Connecting Threads. It really felt good to be quilting again and to finish something!



I am also working on Faith's quilt. I want to have it done by the time we go visit in September. The top is complete. I intended to quilt it yesterday, but we ended up going into town instead. We got a really cool pegboard system for my quilt room. The units are 16x16 and you can add as many as you want. I got two but I really needed six! I will hang my rotary cutters and rulers and stencils and even a little basket with ironing stuff. It is so cool to finally start getting organized. Of course, it occurred to me that I should paint at least that wall in the quilt room before hanging everything. So, back to the dreaded p-word! Oh no!

Hugs & Stitches,

Back in the Saddle....

I know it's been a while since I've posted...no excuses other than lots has been going on and I haven't made it a priority.

Exciting news is we have a new granddaughter! Faith Ann was born May 31. Here's a picture..I think she is just beautiful!

Everything is going well on the home front. We are very close to putting the Elko house on the market. Hopefully it will sell quickly and we can get on with our lives. It is very difficult to split your time between the two houses and get anything done. We are really enjoying Spring Creek. We have a beautiful home with the most incredible view of the Rubies. It is well worth the extra few miles every day.

Speaking of miles, I have started walking/running and riding my bike again. We have a program at work that helps you track your steps. The goal is to get in 10,000 steps a day. That is much more difficult than it sounds! I have a buddy (another Lisa, go figure) to keep me accountable on the steps and the pounds. The funny thing is I feel SO good when I exercise..not sure why I ever stop. Once I stop, it is so hard to get started again!

My friend, Cathy over at Pine Freckled Blog is hosting a UFO challenge. In quilt-speak, a UFO is an Un Finished Object. I have decided to join the challenge! I have a LOT of UFOs, but I think Cathy has me beat! Anyone else want to join the fun?

The weather is finally getting nice here in Northern Nevada. I am planning on spending some time outside, looking at those gorgeous mountains this weekend.

Sneak Peek!

Here are some pictures of a quilt I finished over the weekend. It is a surprise gift, so I can't show you the entire thing. I didn't piece the quilt, just quilted it. It is a happy quilt, and I had a lot of fun with it! The coolest thing for me is that I used a heavy top thread and Magna-Glide Delights bobbins. Absolutely NO tension issues. For a machine quilter, that is quilting heaven!

Hugs & Stitches,

It's A...

GIRL!!!!

We are so excited! Her name is Halleigh Jo. Kelcey and Ryan found out yesterday. I was on my way home from Salt Lake, and she wouldn't tell me what "it" was. So I didn't even stop in Wendover, I was so excited to get home. Kelcey wasn't home when I got here. I had to pee so bad when I got home. I ran upstairs to do that real quick, came back down and Kelcey had all these little girl clothes on the kitchen counter, with a little photo holder that says "It's a Girl". The ultrasound picture was in the photo holder. So cute! I cried and cried. Kelcey and Ryan came home shortly after I got home and we cried together.

 

So now we are on a mission to make all kinds of pink, frilly stuff! I ordered yarn for hats and booties this morning. She is changing direction on decorating. I think I will hold off on making her quilt until she decides. Somehow now I think sock monkeys aren't going to work.

Hugs & Pink Frilly Stitches!

Retreat Project!

The annual Windy Moon Retreat is coming up in three weeks. It is my birthday treat to myself. We go to Virginia City and stay at the St. Mary's Art Center for five days of quilting, eating and friendship. The Art Center is reported to be haunted, but the nuns must enjoy the company of quilters because we haven't had too many issues. Of course, I wouldn't set foot in the basement at night alone!

This year we get to choose our own project from Glad Creations Quilts. I chose "Auntie's Choice" in traditional colors. I love the way the blocks give the optical illusion of curves on the diagonal. And the fabrics are gorgeous. This quilt will go in the guest room at our new house. Won't it look gorgeous?

 

Hugs & Stitches,

The Doors

No, not Jim Morrison's band, although I do love their music. This is far more mundane.

There are 18 doors in my house. Each side of a door takes about 30 minutes to paint, give or take. And each door needs two coats of paint to look really nice. See where I am going with this?  That is 2,140 minutes of painting or 36 HOURS!!! I don't even want to think about the trim. And now you know why I am going crazy. Or maybe I'm already there and just don't know it!

"When you're strange
Faces come out of the rain
When you're strange
No one remembers your name..."

Um, yeah.

Hello...My Name is Lisa, and I am a PAINTER!

It is 8 a.m. and I am already painting...what is wrong with me???  I certainly feel like I need a 12 step program. Or I am going to end up in one because of all this painting! The good news is we are making progress. Yesterday, in addition to me painting all day, we got the new shower door in the master bath installed. We should be a lot closer to having this house done by the end of the weekend.

And then, I get to paint this room at the new house:

Yep, definitely gonna need that 12 step program.

Hugs & Stitches,

What I'm Working On...

Not much besides packing....LOL! I am participating in a Block of the Month by Jan Patek Quilts. It is her "Bible Quilt" which is a quilt I have always loved. It is very folk artsy, with applique and a little bit of embroidery. So far I have received the first block but I have not started it yet.

Here's a picture of the completed quilt:



Also working on the blocks for our next raffle quilt. I totally screwed one up the other night. It was a no sharp object day and I dared to pick up scissors. Sigh.

Hugs & Stitches!

New House and Other News!

I know it's been a long while since I've posted...life has been a bit crazy at the 'Berger house! We found out the day after Thanksgiving that Kelcey and Ryan are expecting. It is pretty exciting, because we will have two new grandbabies within two months! The kids will live with us until they get on their feet. We knew we were going to need a bigger house and had intended to start looking in the "spring". Well, Joe got transferred to another minesite (same company) which is the opposite direction of our current house. Fast forward the move! We actually bought the very first house we toured. Here is a link to the virtual tour:

http://vt.realbiz360.com/Listing-327440.html

It is a beautiful home on some acreage. We have wanted some space for a while now. The views are phenomenal. The very best thing is that there is very little home improvement to be done. Maybe I will actually have time to make baby quilts!