Puttin' feet up & How the frame works.

Little Caitlyn didn't allow us (ME) to get much sleep last night. She woke up around 1:00, crying and whining about how her ear hurts; she is a bit of a drama-queen to begin with, but this time it was legit. After a night of tossing and turning, even after some medicine, she still was in tears and running a 102 fever. Therefore, she was able to spend the day at home with Dad; too bad for me though! I was dragging butt a little bit, and it didn't help that I was testing all day, so I had to sit in a comfy chair, grading paper after paper. GOSH---it was sheer discipline to keep my eyes open.

I did pick up a new iron after school though, right before heading to the grocery store for the first food-trip in MONTHS! Seriously---we've only been doing the little "lets-buy-a-couple-of-meal's-worth" trips, but it was TIME to do a full-fledge shopping spree!!! It's nice having a stocked cupboard and fridge again :0)
I don't like having posts without pictures, so ... have a gander...


I don't know if you can see all those egg cartons?!??? Yeah, the chickens are definitely earning their keep; we simply aren't keeping up with them!

So, I'm putting my feet up right now, watching some TV and surfing the net.

On the quilting front....
Amanda was curious as to how the quilting frame worked with a pantograph......
While I was waiting for my frame and machine to arrive, I spent quite a few evenings "researching" on YouTube. How to load a backing, top, how to set up the frame, etc....You name it!
I found a jackpot (in my opinion)! Penny Bubar's channel has everything from loading a back and top, stitching a panto, lining up a panto, and the list goes on and on....
Anyway, the run-down...... there is a table below the machine's carriage that can hold a pantograph (plastic, wood or paper showing a quilting design.) The quilter moves the machine in any direction to follow the design on the panto using a stylus or laser-light. {{Yeah, I'm still using my jimmied-up-thing-a-ma-gig. It works great, so why should I cough up anything for something that quilting companies call "nice"???}}

I travel left to right; I find it easier because it mimics reading.....ya know----left to right.....

As the quilter moves along the design, it gets transferred effortlessly to the quilt top :0)

To actually watch this happen, follow the Penny Bubar link....it's the direct link to how she quilts a Panto.
I tell ya, this lady is HA-Larious! I enjoyed watching each of her videos for both the knowledge AND the humor. And a tidbit of information...I use Penny's "unique" style of quilting the panto (only on the left side). It really does give more control. I've also seen a version of this style when watching an air-brush artist----he locked his arms (elbows) at his sides and moved his entire torso when painting. It looked weird, but the art was amazing.


So...there ya have it. I'm loving the frame! I can see the 8-9" throat limitation of the Juki98Q getting old real soon, but I'll manage. ;0)

Happy Day-Before-Friday.