How to Fit a Road Bike

Favorite Walking Trail in Anchorage, Kentucky

A short drive from our house is the 2 mile trail in Anchorage, Kentucky. It was built by Papa Johns. It's so great it even has a quilt barn. There is also a boardwalk over the wetland area.

Tips and Tricks you might enjoy and use.

Who needs an expensive light box? Maybe someone doing very precision work. If you need to transfer a pattern onto paper, then make sure you are working in the reverse of the direction you want your work to face (real quilters will understand that statement). Attach the original to window with tape. Then tape paper over the pattern and outline. Use parchment paper so you can iron directly onto the paper. You can also use an applique pressing sheet to lay out and iron on all your fabric pieces for your work.

Next tip: go to your hardware store and get sticky backed sandpaper. The original use is for on an orbital sander. Cut pieces off and stick to the backs of your rulers to avoid slippage when cutting out material. It is especially useful on the Table Topper class we just taught at our quilt group, Northeast Quilting Friends.

A Day Trip to Indianapolis

Well, our 30 year anniversary trip to Italy has been canceled. Life gets in the way of our fun but, there are always priorities. We can always go to Italy next year.

My husband had a meeting in Indianapolis yesterday, actually it was Carmel a northern suburb of Indianapolis. I came along for the day. We left at about 6:45 for the 2 hour drive through the beautiful flat farmland of Indiana. The sunrise and the mist and the barns and white steepled churches made it all so pleasant.

I had 4 hours to kill so I spent my time trying out new bicycles. I've decided I need a road bike which is a lot faster than a regular bike, but, comes with a hefty price tag. More on that later, I'm still trying to decide which bike to get. The best bicycle shop in Carmel is Bike Line. They were the most helpful, if you go there ask for Marlin. He took all the time to fit me and get to know what I needed.

Quilt shops, well of course. One of my all time favorite shops, I discovered at the Bloomington Heritage Quilt Show, is Quilts Plus. They had a booth their and I had to check out their shop. Quilt Quarters was in the area also, it's massive. I was on a mission to find a raffle quilt to make for my geologist daughter...fund raiser is my middle name.

Then we ate at Shapiro's. Bagels, Rubens and chocolate cheese cake, yum!

I began the day with barns and I ended the day with barns. This is a quilt barn on my favorite walking trail in Anchorage, courtesy of Papa Johns. I don't care for his pizza, but he made one fine trail for bikers and walkers to enjoy.

Table Topper Done

Our quilt group will be teaching another free class. It's a Table Topper, which will be taught by Loyce on September 21st. I can't make it that day, so I got the scoop on the pattern and instructions. It's pretty large, probably 2 feet across. I don't know what I'll do with it yet, but, I'm sure there is a table in need of a top, somewhere.

Recipe for feeling simply quilty...smile

You know for some reason I was dragging a little bit today. From my dusty piled high book case of quilt books, I pulled out an old, old quilt book I bought on the internet and went shopping at my favorite LQS. First I started in my backyard, more or less, at the Gathering Room, and to their credit they took one look at my pattern and suggested I go to Forget Me Knot Quilt Shop, where I found a huge selection of light medium and dark blues in dusty to clear colors. Fabric selection done I headed home.

At home I had to crank up my favorite radio station, 91.9. Yes, deep down, I never grew up and I have to say I like what the kids like. In this town, this station, plays the unique tunes I am partial to. When songs come on from a past Waterfront Wednesday concert I might have attended, it's icing on the cake to listen to. Because when all things line up and the live performance is magic it is so great to hear, again and again.

Happy Heart Happiness!

Our quilt group, Northeast Quilting Friends, went on a day trip yesterday to Blackstone's Home Decor, for a Fleur Di lis quilt show, then to lunch at Puerto Vallarta, then last but not least, went to Happy Heart Quilt shop. We did our usual sight seeing adventure, thanks to yours truly that can't talk and watch for the exit at the same time. But, thanks to our Kentucky borns in one of the car pool cars, we were able to find our way to Happy Heart after the other two places.

These are my purchases yesterday:

1. Fabric for a purse-I got the tool and pattern in Arkansas while visiting my folks.

2. Aurifil Thread-the best in my opinion. It looks like it costs a lot, but, there is about 3 times as much thread on these spools than on most others, so it's real value for the money.

3. More fabric for my Christmas in July project, log cabin is the theme.

4. 4 yards of white on white muslin for a dresden plate embroidery pattern.

5. The cutest leather straps for a purse.

6. Fabric for a Table Topper-a class we are teaching in our quilt group.

7. Fabric for several Snappy Totes which I will be teaching in Northeast Quilting Friends. I plan to give them away as gifts-the go together pretty fast, once everything is cut out.

And so there you have it, purchases for old UFO's and some new ones. Today, I think they are called WISP's-Work In Slow Progress. Maybe that sounds better than Un-Finished Objects.