Computers: Joy or Curse?

My computer crashed on Jan 1. Happy New Year. I was very glad that I had backed up my info just before Chrirstmas but I did lose all my email and address book. I also lost hours....

 -Hours I lost trying to reset my computer.
- Hours reloading programs.
- Hours reloading data.
 -Hours fiddling with programs and having to go to the online help.
- Hours sending the computer to the computer store to help restore what I could not get working and it taking 6 days.
 -And it is still going to take me hours to re do what I thought was not important to back up.

Now I have learned. Back up everything you can and take it to the computer store right away.

Think of the hours I could have spent sewing?

Oh well ... instead of surfing blogs I spent the time getting Dear Jane block kits ready for our trip to Florida in Feb. I figure I will get some done in the 40 hours spent in a vehicle.

Never will I travel during Presidents Week to the US. The flights from Toronto to Orlando go up, up, up.
Still the drive will be an experience.

Tonight I hope to take some pictures of my Dear Jane blocks done so that I can show a few of my favorite ones and keep a visual record of what I have done. I will share my favorite ones.

It's fun to work on something that you would not really do....

It is fun to work on something that you would not really do...

My DD wanted to get a laptop skin for her computer to protect it while in her backpack on the way back and to campus.  She priced them out at $40. So she knew Mom would know how to make one for a better price.

So  off to the sewing room we went. Her dream and my knowledge.

We or should I say she picked out some fabrics from her private stash. We do not have the same colour palate taste and it does take some wisdom to not make comments. I do not what to squash her dreams and choices. It is a joy to have your only daughter to be interested in what your passion is!

We cut out a piece of the material you use to make fabric bowls and was fusible on both sides. We fused her fabric choices on both sides. She wanted different fabrics on different sides of the envelope like piece we were making.

I then did some quilting using a serpintine stitch from my machine every inch across the surface.

Then we satin stitched the envelope sides and flap.

Here is some pictures of the final project.

We used velcro to close it and it was ready to go to school!

One happy DD. And it didn't cost her anything. (Well she did realize that it did cost mom something.)

Not a quilt but a fun project non the less.

TTFN

Jo

New Year - New Goals!

2010 is a new year. This is the obvious but it is . It is a great time to have an new outlook. This year is going to be a different year. I am searching for the happy. Sewing makes me happy. Saturday I was happy. I got to sew for 4 whole hours! (I lost interest in sewing last year. Too emotionally tired.)

In my four hours I 

1. Made quilt sandwiches to practice machine quilting. This is something I have always wanted to learn. It is going to take some practice. I do not have an extension table so it was kind of hard to contro. So a new goal is to save for one. Meanwhile I can play.

2. I made one prenatal quilt. Yeah!

3. And I got to work on my "Turtle Party" quilt. It is a pattern by Elise Wilson from Elise BackPorch. I am making for a very dear friend.

The material was picked out especially for him by his wife. She was very ill at the time and passed away in March of 09. It was to hard to work on it this past year. I miss her greatly but now I want to finish it for her and for him. I have all the turtles done and am now sewing the outside blocks. They are all done with 2 inch finished 1/2 square triangles in a 6 inch block.

I found this pattern by watching Elise Wilson on QNN tv and QTV online.

Don't you just love watching all the quilt shows on line? I used to subscribe to QNN but I need to cut back on expenses for awhile and I just wasn't watching it as much because I find I am not home as much.

So blog world it is my goal to write a few times a week about what I am doing sewing wise and what is inspiring me.

TTFN