When Snowflakes Fly...

It's early Sunday morning as I type up this post.  The house is still mostly quiet and the sun is sloooowly making its appearance.  I'm not fooled! It may be clear & sunny today but it will be cold again today! We've been enjoying warmer than normal temps this month but it all changed late Friday into  yesterday morning. There was a dusting of snow on the rooftops and cars when we rolled out of bed!  It didn't stay around long and it didn't accumulate on the grass because the ground is still too warm.  It was, however, a sign of things to come.

Those things we don't talk about!

So what does this quilter do when the sky is heavy with low, grey, lumpy clouds and the west wind is gusting like crazy?  

If you've been following this blog for any length of time, you know very little stops me from hitting the road and having some kind of adventure - usually involving shopping, quilting, fabric, shopping, eating, fabric, and did I mention quilting? Oh sure there's sometimes DH stuff in there, or maybe horse stuff for balance.

This time is was definitely quilt related, fabric was discussed, there was eating (omg, PIE!) and DH did come along!

Yesterday's trip was the third attempt on taking it!  We've been dealing with some health of Drake's so the original two weekends we tried this trip just didn't work.  Of course, those weekends were warm, sunny autumn days that would have been perfect for a road trip.  

We're not out of the woods yet on Drake's medical adventure so if you could send some positive thoughts his way, it would be greatly appreciated! We head back to the vet today for his 6th visit in under a month.  

Saturday, with Drake medicated and safely tucked into his crate for some needed rest, DH and I headed out.  Good thing this quilt was in the truck!

Flying Over Hawaii

It was so windy, my legs were cold, even with the heat on my feet. This is 'Flying Over Hawaii' and it's always in my truck!

Our destination was our friend's, M & M, three hours away. Okay - rant here for a minute.  The stupid GPS/Maps/Navigator says its 2 and a half hours. It's NOT and this same system puts their house in the middle of a harvested corn field. NOT! 

We were there to visit, of course.  Unfortunately it had to be a short visit. DH & M spent some time out in M's wood working shop. M has been a working wood for quite some time now, while DH is just starting out.  A future visit is planned just for some special wood talk/shopping. 

Meanwhile, I got to visit with M in her weaving studio, among other things - admiring her new, very rare,  vintage loom. It's gorgeous! M & the loom-not-yet-named are having a bit of a "love/hate, getting to know you, earn my respect, I'm not going to make this easy on you" kind of honeymoon period.  

I can respect a vintage machine for that. It takes time to get to know their little quirks and personalities.  While we chatted and M cussed about some of this loom's challenges, she had a revelation on what is causing the hard treadling.  One quick test adjustment revealed the treadles were tied a little too short.  WooHoo!  One issue resolved. Of course, it will take M about an hour of crawling on the floor to retie all the treadle cords but that's just a minor detail - LOL!  And yes, M, I can hear you cussing me about that comment all the way up here.

Another reason we went down for the visit was to bring some things home.  M wanted to re-home some old treadle irons somewhere they would be loved and put to good use and definitely NOT on the scrap metal guy's pile.  So this base came home.

I'm hoping a piece of the live edge black walnut DH & I got in Michigan will fit the top & make a great bench.

And these Singer treadle end irons with back panel came home.  

They will join with the other Singer end irons I have to make some new studio furniture.  The vintage sewing machines, along with Workhorse, will no longer be relegated to the corner cabinet or the closet but will have their own dedicated shelf unit.  All the better to keep them at hand so I can rotate them into use on various projects. 

There is something else, something really quite special, also came home from this trip but it deserves a post all it's own.