Wherein the Bacon Falls on the Floor

The clatter of the metal tray on the floor indicated the loss of bacon. The bacon prepared for BLT sandwiches fell on the floor. I just stood there and stared at the bacon. On the floor. Bacon grease splattered a good three feet away from the pan, bacon, in that delightfully crisp state, crumbled. Bacon. Did I mention this was bacon? Before the clean up could begin the Meyer Lemon curd had to be taken off the stove. Please remind me to use a bowl with higher sides when making lemon curd as it’s easier to whisk without the risk of splashing all over the stove. Thankfully I picked up extra bacon at the grocery store and got a new batch going pretty quickly, got the lemon tart in the oven and continued with dinner prep. Bacon.

Before Winter Storm Week Event, complete with snow, ice, and near freezing temps I’d been in the habit of having doing IGTV on Friday afternoon. Friday of storm week I had a conversation with C&T and am joining a cohort of authors every other Friday afternoon this week was the first meeting with the group. The IGTV will move to Thursdays starting next week. Johnny Barfuss of Handi Quilter recommended this really cool Manfrotto friction arm that is super bendy and allows the phone to get close to the quilting really well. I’m trying to figure out how I can see the live on another device so I can answer questions and see comments.

Quilting on a long arm is different from quilting on a home sewing machine. One of the things I love about it is no basting. I used to not mind crawling all over the floor pin basting. As long as I put the quilt on the frame properly then things work well. And by properly I mean making sure my backing is straight and is smoothed as I roll it up on the take-up poles. And further by properly I’ve taken the time to make sure the quilt itself is straight, attached to the take-up pole well, and basted down so it doesn’t shift. I do like that there is a defined space to quilt in, and while I had a great time quilting in UT, and sorta had it down, I’m finding here that I’m struggling a big. THIS is good, it means I have to not only think about what I’m doing but that I have to act on that thought process. I like that I can start quilting at the top and work my way down, and that I can move the quilt from pole to pole as needed. I also love that I’m not carrying the weight of the quilt on my person. I’m thinking through a small version of a really big quilt I want to make, how to use the long arm effectively to manage this. Time, all of this takes time. Once the quilt that I have on the frame is done the next one will get loaded and I will work through the process of doing what I want to do. By the way Handi Quilter has really good videos on YouTube where they’ve offered all the foundational information a quilter needs. I am, however, a fly by the seat of my pants kind of quilter.

Oh! I just saw this – Handi Quilter posted this blog featuring Kitty Wilkin @nightquilter, Vanessa Vargas Wilson @craftygemini and me.

Live video alert!

A box arrived from Handi Quilter just before the big storm with some really cool items that I’ll share on YouTube Live Tuesday at 4 Central. This will be a first so I’ll appreciate your patience. Today I’m going to load a yard of orange fabric on the frame that is part of an experiment for a much larger quilt I want to do down the road. Once I choose the back and get the quilt loaded on the frame I’ll post on Instagram.

Have a great day friends!

Teri