It feels so good to have something finished

No name for it yet and no sleeve or label.  Just finished hand sewing down the facing.  With no destination in mind for it, It will live in the closet for now.

One thing I did learn as I was quilting this piece; I do not like using two layers of batting instead of my usual one layer of Warm and Natural and layer of wool blend felt.  I had to move up a needle size from my usual size 11 embroidery needle to a 14 because the thread kept shredding.  Using the 14 solved the problem but before I decided that it was the needle size that was the problem I changed needles several times,  re threaded the machine many times and said a few unpleasant words more than a few times.

I am getting used to the non-hopping foot on the Janome Horizon and decided to add the supplimental thread holder to the back of the machine( making the back of the machine look like the back of a janome 6500 or 6600.  This thread holder makes using the Isacord thread spools I prefer easier.

Need to get to some housekeeping chores done today and begin assembling supplies for my upcoming workshop over in the Tampa area on May 2. So more stitching is not on the agenda for today. 

Beginning a few days ago, for the first time in a long time I am missing Kentucky and the festivities that surround the "Run for the Roses" the Kentucky Derby.  If I didn't have this May 2 class scheduled I would have giving some thought to going.  But I know too that the air fare in and out of Louisville because of the Derby is way too much just to quiet my longing to be there.  Some of this restlessness I know is due to the fact that my son Myke who lives in RI is in Louisville and Lyn having vacation time is going to be there visiting with her soriety sisters who are gathering there during the first week in May.  Rene back from her business trip will be there too.  So all three of my kids will be there and I will be here. 

  Sigh....

A little of this...

and a whole lot of that is what my life has been about for the last two weeks or so.  The image above is what the last of the three painting looks like with the flowers added.  I didn't get to the other two I had planned to paint before something else intervened.  And what that was I can not remember.

Here is a look at a piece of fabric I was playing with, testing the paints and brushes, even an artist dipping pen used with ink to test my hand writing on fabric.  Words seem to be everywhere, incorporated in all forms of art, but I am not sure if I want everywhere to include in my work.

Guess what has come to live at my house a week ago.  Yes... The larger harp Janome 7700 Horizon and the table made to hold it that I had been contemplating purchasing for about a year.  Do I know all that it does yet?  No!  What I do know is that I love the additional inches in the harp area.  I know that I love that it is quieter. The lighting is better, but I know that supplemental light is still needed.   I know that I love that it starts to stitch immediately without hesitation like the 6500 and 6600 does; a characteristic that drove me crazy for a time after I brought both the 6500 and the 6600 until I got used to it and accepted that that was just the nature of the machine.  I never liked the non hopping foot developed for the 6600.  Instead I used a generic 12mm open toe foot. So to my dismay I know that a hopping foot of any kind did not come with the Horizon.  I know that I didn't like that fact.  I thought that was an issue easily solved. I went online and brought one. 

I knew that the 7700 was a short shank machine and that  my favorite hopping foot used on the 6600 would not fit the Horizon.  I ow know that when my favorite style hopping foot that I  ordered for a short shank machine came in the mail that it did not fit the 7700. 

 SO.... with no other option  I am getting used to the free motion foot that does not hop.  I am still not so sure why that is a plus because the eye still sees the part that holds the needle and the screw going up and down.

I am not a collector of sewing machine.  After all you can only use one at a time has always been my thinking, but I didn't get rid of my 6600 or the cabinet it is in. Insurance, just in case.  The last time I thought that way was when I kept my New Home 7500 just in case the Janome 6500 didn't work out.  The 7500 lived in the closet for years.  The closet it not an option for the 6660 and a A little rearrangement was necessary to keep the machine and cabinet for now. 

I keep getting close to the city of Tampa,(you can see it off in the distance)  but not into the city.  Last Saturday I was over on the gulf side of the state a little north of Tampa teaching a one day class.  It was held a community room of a library.  There were 15 present.  My daughter Rene' who is in town on business and for the Easter Holiday. She along with Lyn who drove, accompanied me to that side of the state.  While I taught they went shopping.  On the way home we stopped at this restaurant that Rene' likes that specializes in home style southern cooking.  It was great and worth the little detour off Interstate 4. 

This is a view of the class and the spacious room we used. 

For the nest day or two will be assembling supplies and getting myself packed for a two day class I will be teaching in the Sarasota, FL area this weekend.