Quilt Challenge: Week 18- Home Again, Home Again!

Well, one way to confirm that you have gotten off the “posting” track, is to forget your login name for WordPress!  Haha!  I hope you didn’t think I was lost in the Maine woods.  Life just got busy…  And instead of fighting it, I just decided to give in and enjoy what came my way.  Since Maine is home for me, and I only get summer there, I always have a short list of must-do things.  These are the things that I miss the most and appreciate the most.  These are the things that help me stay grounded and remind me that although I don’t live in Maine right now, I am still a Mainer.  Last week in particular was a race for time.  I had to get to Bar Harbor!  Acadia National Park is my happy place.  My girls really wanted to experience the Bangor State Fair, and while we were in the fair mood, why not go to the Lobster Festival too?   I also had some family members that I hadn’t had a chance to catch up with.  For the Grand Finale, I got to attend my 20th Class Reunion!  It was a blast.  But seriously?  How can I be that old already??

If you think that I didn’t have time to work in some quilting, you would be wrong!  My girls put in some time on their projects, I went on a mini shop hop in Central Maine, I attended the Maine quilt show and I also quilted 7 tops on my Mom’s long arm machine!

First let me tell you about the kids…  I actually had to tell my 11-year-old that she had to shower and put on shoes before she could sew!  She woke up one morning ready to get going.  My mom’s treadle machine was just her style.  She liked the rocking action of the foot pedal.  She worked on adding sashing to the sun prints she finished.  I think she is off to a great start!  My oldest daughter, the 13-year-old, liked my Viking Topaz machine.  She liked the speed and accuracy of the new machine.  (Funny how their choice in machines reflects their personalities)  She worked on a quilt pattern using a layer cake.  What a great pattern she choose!  There were no points to match and using precuts, it went together fairly quickly.  She finished the top and now needs to add borders!  I’m really proud of both girls!  They are well on their way to each finishing a quilt!

My Central Maine shop hop was super fun.  I needed to collect some fabric for my class at the Maine Quilt Show.  Mom and I decided to venture to Madison, ME and visit the Fabric Garden.  This shop has been featured in a couple of magazines and only about an hour and 1/2 from where I was in Bangor.  When we pulled up to the store, there was a big rental truck parked in front of the store and they were loading it with fabric!  They were packing to vend at the quilt show!  Grrr….  I had no idea that was going to be happening!  All was not lost though as the sale section was left intact and full of great finds!  That is where we found the layer cake for the quilt Gena is making.  I also found lost of other precuts and patterns.  The batiks on sale were great too.  I purchased several 1 yard cuts.  After The Fabric Garden we had lunch and then traveled across the bridge to Skowhegan.  There we visited Pinwheels Quilt shop.  This store had a great selection of civil war reproduction fabrics, lots of Jo Morton and some great kits.  I found a nice travel ironing board / cutting mat for my class there.  The last store we visited was in Newport, called Stitches Fabric and Yarn.  This cute store had lots of fun whimsical patterns and fabrics.  I found a nice pocket guide for embroidery there.  This store was also packing to vend at the quilt show, so much of her product was packed.  There was only one pattern I wanted and couldn’t find, she tried to help me, but she had already sold out.  Overall, I was really pleased with my finds for the day!

The day after the shop hop, one day before The Maine Quilt Show, I received a call that my class at the show was cancelled!  Needless to say I was stunned.  The cost of the class along with the extended supply list had set me back a fair amount of time and money.  The person that I spoke with said I could attend another class or get a refund.  Looking over the list of classes, I decided I wanted a refund.  I just couldn’t get excited about something new and racing around to fill another supply list left me feeling drained.  I sent an e-mail request for a refund and asked for my registration to also be refunded, since I only had signed up for the one class.  I figured with the short notice, plus the fact that I purchased an entire supply list for the class, it seemed reasonable.  Would you believe they refused to refund the registration??  I am still dumbfounded at their flippant attitude about what happened.  My impression was that they could have cared less about my experience.  I was  told more than once that I was not the only one affected and that other people were out too.

The next day I decided to go to the show and at least see the quilts and visit the vendors.  I had already paid my admission!  There were some nice quilts there.  There were also several traveling mini shows on display.  Several smaller guilds put challenge quilts into this state show.  One thing I didn’t care for, was the guilds all did the same patterns in slightly different colors.  I wasn’t a fan of seeing the same quilt 6 or 8 different times…  It made the quilts seem less special.  My preference is the guilds that quilted around a theme or style.  I enjoyed visiting the vendors.  Pro Chemical and Dye has become a great resource!  I spent most of my money there, replacing the Setacolor Paints my girls used for sun printing.  I think my review of this Quilt Show is jaded because of my class being cancelled.  I wish I could say that it didn’t affect my experience, but I would be lying if I told you otherwise.

I had a wonderful time in Maine.  Working with my Mom on her long arm machine was such a great experience.  I was able to quilt 7 quilt tops and get comfortable with using pantographs.  Spending time on the machine was a goal I had, which I accomplished!  My mom has said several times that she would like to gift me the Gammill, if I wanted it.  Although I can’t take it now, when we move back to Maine in a few years, I think it might happen 🙂  Next time I visit I would love to try experimenting with the more creative side of using the long arm machine.

On a personal note, it looks like my husband is going to be deployed this fall.  We don’t have the actual date yet but the initial paperwork has been disseminated.  He looks forward to serving his country.  I am so proud of all he does.  It will be hard for those of us left behind, but I think it will be alright.  We had planned a vacation to Ireland at the end of September, just the two of us.  (I want to see the sheep in their native habitat!)  It hasn’t officially been cancelled yet.  Hopefully the window of time between training and deployment will fall within the travel dates that we had planned.  We knew this might happen, so we purchased travel insurance.  I will keep you all posted on how things evolve.  I am so thankful to have a hobby that will help keep me busy in the times when I might get lonely.

Thanks for your patience with me!  I should be back on track with the blog and quilting now!  I can’t wait to get started on a new project.  I will let you know on Monday what it will be 🙂  (That is after I go buy another rotary cutter, my mom called to say I had left mine in Maine!)  Happy Sewing, Erin