Do you remember the angel food cake mentioned in Ruined: The Angel Food Cake Saga? While much like its maker the aforementioned cake was tasty and somewhat dense. No, no the maker isn’t dense so much as sometimes in a hurry and takes shortcuts that lead to ruinous results. Ah well. Meanwhile I made the cake again, and you can see by this photo that I posted on Instagram the other day that the second attempt worked. The cake stayed where it was this time. When the time arrived to remove it no trouble was had and the color a beautiful caramel. And, dun dun dun I didn’t take more photos. And No, you’re not the first one to express sheer and utter disappointment in this failure on my part. Trust me when I say it was beautiful, and delicious, an utterly intoxicating combination. No no there was no drunkenness from this beautiful food item.
Let’s Get Moxie With it
Yesterday afternoon I temporarily took Gramma’s 90th birthday quilt off the frame so that a friend could come over and try out the Handi Quilter Moxie #quiltwithmoxie. My personal goal was to get the quilt back on the frame and the quilt loaded so that after a bit of instruction she would be able to quilt. Well. We, and by we I mean me, had a minor mishap while loading the backing – I loaded it the wrong way. When I realized it I stared for a few moments for a couple of reasons 1) I was taking video which I will share on my YouTube channel very soon; and 2) I was stuck because dinner needed making and the dinner maker wondered how she would get this done prior to the quilter showing up. I didn’t. The quilter was kind of happy with this because she got some of the experience loading the quilt onto the frame. I set the machine into Precision mode, set the stitches per inch and “mph” and I ran the first pass for her to see, then she got stitching. For the next space I showed her how to stitch ribbon candy, she finished the row. The next space I did a ribbon candy variation (that included loops). Then the next pass I showed her how to do the loops and outlined one car, she did the rest. What was really interesting was that the more I talked the easier the quilting became because she wasn’t thinking about the fact that she’s a beginner longarm quilter. At one point we had a lengthy discussion on eye/hand coordination and doing a repetitive task on brain autopilot. Whew! that was a big conversation and got her through the next row of quilting. In two hours we had the quilt completely quilted and she was happy. I was happier because she was finished and happy. Swoon!
Of Planners; Beginning Again
Do you have a deep love of pens and pins? Me too! Who knew.
I don’t know about you but I’m always on the lookout for just the perfect planner and just the perfect pens. I do have a love for fountain pens, oh they make writing by hand delightful. There’s also this thing for fine line pens. Looking about the room I have pens, markers and pencils in a variety of weights and sizes that are perfect for practicing free motion quilting on paper. The order for a planner that runs from July to June rather than January to December arrived. I started with this style of planner while working as a sales rep a couple of summers ago as it made bridging the end of and beginning of the year easier. While the planner I’ve been using is perfectly good, and in some ways better suited the the work I need to do quilting has taught me that having the right for me tools means that I engage in my work in a way that propels me forward.
After our Cohort meeting I had a friend (who publishes video on a regular basis) look at my already recorded, not yet edited, content for something specific. As a direct result the video will be recorded again with some changes in the background including having my own quilted pieces in the background rather than my prized teaching badges. While these badges mean something to me they look sloppy in the background of the video. Honestly I knew this but those badges hold special meaning to me. I share this because while there is a bit of a “perfectionism” feel to this, making a simple change in what I’m doing will make me happier with my work, and as a machine quilting teacher I encourage and promote practice. One of the things that Jenny points out in her machine quilting class is the “visible learning curve” which we all see in our video content. We will always see this learning curve as we become both more comfortable and confident in the work.
And with that I’m going to go load a quilt on the long arm, video the content and get it posted as soon as possible. You all are awesome sauce.
And the great Picture Show
And the place we engage in so many characters
And the place where we chat each other up
And the great big bulletin board and idea wall
Happy Stitching,
Teri
1 thought on “Of Planners, Cakes, and Conversations”