Guild Challenge blocks and Jamaica

I got home from the Texas & Arkansas TOGA trip Sunday evening (Oct 4th).  On Monday, Oct 5th, my little quilt guild met.  We turned in our challenge blocks.  The blocks had to be 12.5" square, and, had to be either a witch or a scarecrow.

here are all the blocks, pinned up

I took pictures of each block, so you can see them better (not the best pictures, sorry).

Marilyn's 'mini' blocks (it still needs to grow to the correct size ;)

my block

We have a new challenge, now.  We are to take our blocks, and turn them into something (tote bag, wall hanging, table runner, etc).  I left early, so, I don't know what the deadline is.

I left the meeting early, since we had to be up at 3am, so that we could get to the airport.  Hubby won a trip to Jamaica, thru work.  (Don't worry, I'm only showing a few pictures).

The trip was at an all inclusive resort.  It was great having lots of people wait on us, hand and foot.  The food was great, as was the service.  We got to meet several great people on our trip (locals).

private pool for the few rooms below our deck

 We took one tour, to a plantation.  It was a great tour!  Our tour guides were so knowledgeable and fun to be with.

plantation we visited

Winston and tour guide in training, Norbert

Alecia, who was a fount of plant and herb knowledge

 The tour bus stopped on the mountain road where a lady had set up her wares to sell.  She had made bags herself, and was also selling touristy items.

me, shopping on the side of the road

bag made in Jamaica by the lady in the picture above

We also took a picture with Sarah, who worked at the resort.  Sarah was great, and we saw her at meals every day.  She went out of her way, to take care of us.

Me, Sarah & Hubby

 Of course, we did see some fun sights.

Montego Bay

falls, on the mountain

plantation

Montego Bay Harley-Davidson shop

There was also a Harley-Davidson Jamaica shop in the airport. 

Do you remember the movie, Cool Runnings?  Well, in the airport, they have a replica bar, just like in the movie, that plays the movie on screens.

airport cafe

airport cafe (Cool Runnings on the screens)

airport cafe

It was a fun trip.  By the end of this trip, I'd been gone almost 3 full weeks.  I'm ready to be home for a bit.

Arkansas TOGA!

On the way home from Texas, I went to the first ever Arkansas TOGA (Treadle On Gathering and Academy), in Mena, Arkansas.  After the crazy car week I'd just had, I needed some time with vintage sewing machines.

Several of us rented a cabin outside of Mena.  While searching for some cookie sheets (never found any of those), I found 3 tiaras.  Well, we had to have some pictures, of course.

me, Margaret and Lisa

 On Friday and Saturday, we played with lots of lovely vintage sewing machines.
First up, is the sewing machine my SIL found for me in New Mexico, earlier this summer.  It was waiting for me at my inlaws house.  Since the bentwood cover said 'Singer' on the outside, we all thought it was a Singer machine.  Nope!  When I got to the TOGA, Lisa put her Gritzner next to my new (to me) machine, and, we found out that it was a Gritzner hand crank.  This is my first original hand crank.  All my other hand cranks have been converted from electric machines or treadles.  Woohoo!

Lisa's Gritzner (you can see the edge of mine on the right)

my Gritzner hand crank

There were several demo's over the weekend. Missy of Missy's Homemaking Adventures showed us how to use a ruffler.

ruffler attachment

people gathered around Missy for the demo

Missy, showing how to use the ruffler attachment

ruffling a skirt

Missy has two posts about the TOGA on her blog, here and here.

Lisa made everyone a cute nametag.

nametags

Lisa did a demo on re-wiring an electric sewing machine, using one of my vintage blue machines.

Lisa, re-wiring my machine

Lisa also re-wired another of my machines.  Now I have 2 more working machines.  Thanks Lisa!  It was fun watching and helping her.  I hope I can do it myself next time.

re-wired blue machine

Lisa working on the 2nd machine

Margaret offered to teach everyone about tension on machines.  Well, guess what, I had the perfect machine for this demo.  The Gritzner needed work on the top tension (put together incorrectly) and also on the bobbin (no replacements for this machine, we had to take it apart, and 're-shape' the spring.

Margaret, working on the shuttle spring

using a folded dollar bill to clean between the tension disks

taking apart the tension assembly

lay out the pieces, in the order you took them off, so you can get it back together, correctly, again

you can see that the #4 piece should NOT be between the tension disks (#3 & #5)  This was corrected.

The Gritzner now makes a nice stitch.  Thanks Margaret!

Stephanie, the lady who organized this TOGA, also did a demo.  She showed us a different way to make Crazy Quilt blocks. The tension wasn't working yet on my machines, so, I didn't get a block made.

Stephanie, with a stack of Crazy Quilt blocks, doing her demo

front of a crazy quilt block

back of a crazy quilt block

front of that same crazy quilt block

muslin fabric drawing, showing how to cut, and put together the block (you can draw each block differently)  The bias lines are stitched over, to prevent distortion.  After stitching those lines, cut apart, and start piecing on the muslin, then put it back together again.  

On Saturday, we had even more fun.  I did a demo on the Hexie tape measure, that I showed a few weeks ago here.

Hexie tape measure

We checked out everyone's machines.

Kay's hand crank

Sue's Wilcox & Gibbs chain stitch hand crank (I covet this machine!!!!)

Margaret's pink (bad picture, sorry) Atlas hand crank

Pfaff 130 I gave to Lisa, to give to her friend (Lisa wired it up and added a motor and foot control that I brought from another Treadle On member.  Thanks Katie F)

Missy sold a Singer 15 to Dannie

Dannie

machines for sale

Missy's hand crank

Missy found a new pincushion in one of the local shops.  Isn't the mouse cute!

Missy's mouse pincushion

Another demo was how to cut an apron from a man's shirt.  Lisa showed us how, and, Kay modeled it.

front of apron (still needs fabric decorations added)

back of apron (still needs strings for tying)

Now that you have seen the back of our TOGA t-shirts, here is the front.

Missy and me, in our TOGA t-shirts.

There are always raffles at TOGA's.  Here are some pictures of the raffle items.

I won the quilt in the bottom of the picture

raffle items

more raffle items

even more raffle items

raffle items

last of the raffle items (box was full of scraps of fabric)

It was a fun TOGA! 

If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all

Gloom, despair, and agony on me
Deep, dark depression, excessive misery
If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all
Gloom, despair, and agony on me

Remember that old song from Hee Haw?  Well, it fits my car problems on my trip to Texas/Arkansas the past 2 weeks.

I've been gone for 2 weeks.  I've had more car problems on this trip than I've ever had (and I travel back and forth to Texas frequently).

I was 80 miles from my mother's house in San Angelo, Texas, when the transmission went out AGAIN on my Chevy Trailblazer.  The transmission went out the first time, when I was almost home from the Michigan TOGA in July.  This time, it was exactly 2 months from when I got it back from Aurora Transmission.  Thank goodness I could limp into town this time (last time it only went 3 miles an hour).

I had stopped in Abilene, TX to look at vehicles, only 10 miles before the transmission went out.  I'd already had my Trailblazer checked out for trade in value.  My trade in value went to ZERO.

Well, the transmission company reluctantly decided that I should take the Trailblazer in to a transmission place, to see if it was really the transmission (he was trying to say that it wasn't the transmission).  Well, after 1 1/2 days, they discovered that one of the parts that was replaced in my transmission had exploded, and caused even more damage.  Aurora Transmission refused to do anything for me, other than send me the replacement part.  They wouldn't cover any of the costs AT ALL!  I went to talk with the owner this morning, and, he said he didn't care that I had been stuck in Texas, and, that he'd bought the part, so, it wasn't his fault.  He REFUSED to do ANYTHING to help me out, unless I brought him the busted part, and then, only to see if the maker would give me any refund on the part only.  When the transmission company in Texas tried to get him to help me, he said I should just figure out how to get it to the car dealer, and dump it on them, and not tell them.  So much for standing behind your service.

Well. 6 days after my transmission went out (and several days of rental car costs), I finally got back to Abilene to pick up my new 2009 Toyota Highlander Sport.

my new ride

My friend at the dealer, had it inspected, to make sure it was in good shape, and that the tires would last until I got back to Illinois.  Well..........  another person who didn't do their job (the inspector this time).  I picked up the Highlander on Monday.  I left my mother's house, to travel south of Dallas on Wednesday morning.  40 miles later, total sidewall tire failure on one of the tires that the inspector said was good for several thousand miles.

several splits, all around the sidewall of the tire

Did I mention that I was 1 mile from a small town in west Texas?  Roadside assistance couldn't find anyone to help me with the tire.  I hadn't changed a tire in almoat 20 years, and didn't have a clue in this new car.  Oh yea, I'd downsized from a full sized Trailblazer (slightly smaller than a Suburban) to a car based SUV, and I had 4 machines, 2 sewing machine card tables (one for a Featherweight, and one for a 301), along with TONS of stuff for a sewing machine event, and traveling for 2 weeks in the back of my new SUV. 

4 different trucks stopped to help me out (thanks Herbert, owner of Harrell Truck and Tractor in Ballinger).  I'll be sending him a Thank You note very soon! (I'm not on Facebook, so, I can't post anything on his page).  By the time Herbert started changing the tire, my mother drove up.  We loaded everything from the back of my car into her van.  As soon as Herbert was done, Roadside Assistance FINALLY called back. 

While all of this was going on, my friend, the car salesman, had found out that I have a more rare tire size, and there weren't any in Ballinger, so, Mom and I drove to Abilene.  David (my friend, the car salesman) was waiting for me with an invoice for a brand new tire and a loaner car.  David was very upset about what had happened, and wanted to do all he could to take care of me (thank goodness for old friends).  I finally got to my uncles house, 6.5 hours late. 

I drove (no problems, thank goodness) to Arkansas for a TOGA (post on that coming soon), then home yesterday afternoon.  I like my new SUV (now that it has new tires).  The transmission place in Texas is going to buy my old Trailblazer as soon as I get the title to them.  I trust them, since my daddy and my brother have done business with them in the past.  Thank goodness for great people in TEXAS who have helped me along the way.  Poor hubby was at home, and couldn't do much to help me, other than listen. 

Sorry there isn't any stitching in this post, but, I didn't have any spare time to stitch.  Other than the car problems, I did have a great trip, and got to see lots of family and old friends, across several states.

A fun, non-quilty day!

Back in March, we adopted an Alaskan Malamute.  This is our 2nd Malamute.  We found Ratchet thru IAMRA (Illinois Alaskan Malamute Rescue Assoc).  Today they had their annual Malwalk fundraiser.  We attended with Ratchet.

Ratchet and John

The shaved patch on Ratchet's back is from heartworm treatments.  You can read about it here.   Ratchet has had all of his treatments, and, is waiting for his last test, the end of December.

We got to meet Ratchet's daughter, Callie.

Ratchet and his daughter, Callie

There were lots of Malamutes and their owners.  They had raffles, food, and fun for everyone.  The dogs even got to 'bob for hot dogs'.  They all lined up for their turn.

Ratchet, bobbing for frozen hot dogs

I Got It!

Malamutes, all lined up, waiting for their turn to bob for hot dogs

It was fun to meet some new friends, and some old ones of Ratchets (he has been to these things in the past). 

Have a Great Weekend!