Barudan Training

Today I had the most fun! Kent from Daines Sewing in SLC came down to train us on the new embroidery machine. Emilie had several hours between classes, so she even dropped by to learn how to make Frog Belly run. Here are a few pictures from today's fun:


Emilie and I threading the machines. 15 spools per head. We would stick the end of the thread into a black tube, then give it a shot of canned air. If all went well, the thread would be blown thru the tube & come out the front of the machine.


Now you can see the black tubes the thread goes down.


If it looks like we were having fun, it's because we were! Threading the front of the machines was a bit more tricky. It was possible to tie the new thread ends to the old thread ends that had been cut off (left in the machine at the factory after the test run) and just pull them thru, but it did not always work that smooth.


Ben, (a TTOD employee) threading a needle.


It took quite a while to get 90 spools of thread, threaded thru the machine. But there were many hands helping.


Two of our first learning test runs. We tried to use all the different colors to make sure the machine was threaded right. There were a few problems that Kent had to fix along the way.


Next lesson: How to load and embroider on a hat.
Anybody want a Callaway Golf hat?


At about 5:30, Kent left for the day. He left his CF card with us that had all his test designs on it so we could practice some more. We did this one all by ourselves.


Closeup. The colors are a little strange, but hey! Not bad for a couple of rookies.

Our New Cabin in the Woods

If we were to get a cabin in the woods, it wouldn't need to be big & fancy. I think the first picture on the left is a cute cabin. Heck... I'd even be happy with a cabin that looked like the second picture.

Not that we've been saving for a cabin in the woods, but this past week we had something delivered that probably could have been that cabin in the woods for what it cost.

Here's what the delivery looked like after it was taken off the truck:


The past two weeks Terrell has been as excited as a a kid on Christmas eve:


Any guesses what it is?


How about now?


Kimball was even there for the big unveiling - It's a Barudan 6 head embroidery machine!!


Moving it into the shop:


Ready to go:




I missed all the excitement as it was happening, but I did get to go over to the shop that night with Kimball for my own private viewing:

Next Tuesday the salesman (from Daines in SLC) is coming back to train Terrell, Kimball and I on how to run the machine. It will be exciting!
The next adventure for Textile Team Outlet is ready to begin.

My name for it is Frog Belly Designs. Emilie drew me this picture several months ago:


Many thanks also to Gary (aka Dr. Carp) as he has given us invaluable help on the technical side - getting the new computers that will run the embroidery software up & running!

What I've Been Up To

The past week or so I have been working on some paper piecing blocks for my "Block Party 2009" class. (Mormon Handicraft at Orem's Deseret Book) This month the technique we learned was paper piecing. My first paper piecing flower took me a week to finish because I only picked it up and worked on it when I felt like it. I really did not enjoy making it, and when it was finally finished, I made the comment "paper piecing is not my thing". I wasn't too excited to start the next one, but it is my goal to finish all 4 blocks every month (2 required, 2 extra's) to keep from falling behind.

Last week I spent a large chunk of two days paper piecing, and I finished two more blocks. I decided not to use the first flower I finished, because it had too many raw edges hanging out - something that I figured how to avoid on the 2nd & 3rd blocks I made. After finishing the 2nd flower, I decided that I do like paper piecing, even though it is pretty labor intensive.

What is paper piecing you may ask? Here are some photo's I took of the progress:

First you cut out little templates (cardstock in this case) and cut a piece of fabric that is 1/4 inch larger than the template. Then you hand baste the fabric to the template.


After you have all the pieces basted, it is just a matter of whip-stitching the little pieces together.



When everything is sewn together, you pull out the basting stitches, take out the templates and press well.


Press well, and applique (hand stitch) to block. Here is the finished block!


Here's the finished block in the other fabric line:


Next project? I saw a tutorial on a blog last week for this cool paper pieced block that I just had to make. I used left over scraps of fabric from my stash to make this block. (4 smaller blocks sewn together to make one large block)

I LOVE paper piecing. It is mind challenging. You sew on the backside, following the lines on the pattern. This results are exact. Sharp points & very straight lines. Here is the back of a finished block before trimming off the excess:


The front of the block before trimming off the excess:


Block after the excess fabric has been trimmed:


Now, complete four of these sections, sew them together, and this is what you get:


Kimball asked me several months ago if I would make a quilt for him. After thinking, he said he wanted the colors to be green & black. After making this pinwheel block, I decided on this pattern for his quilt.

Last week the Cotton Shop had a Moonlight Madness sale. Anisha, Emilie and I went down to it. I grabbed every fat quarter & green bolt of fabric that I could find that matched the green I wanted.

The triangles will be green, the background will be black for this quilt. I think the end result will be striking!

Lastly, Saturday morning I went out and picked these:

I have been juicing out back on the camp chef all day. So far I have nine 1/2 gallon jars of white grape juice.
Tonite I hope to spend time with the green/black pinwheel blocks. I will keep you posted on the progress.

Giveaway!!!

A couple weeks ago I requested tickets to the Freedoms Foundation Concert being held at the Tabernacle at Temple Square on September 18th.


Right after requesting the tickets, I realized that on September 18th, I will be at the Tuacahn in St. George watching a performance of Annie.

Sooooo... I have 4 tickets to the Freedom Foundation Concert up for grabs. Any one out there interested in them? Let me know. If there are a lot of people interested, perhaps I will have a drawing with one lucky winner. Or, I can always be bribed with chocolate.

Swine Flu & Other Ailments

When we entered the airport in Athens last June, they handed each one of us a pamphlet that looked like this:


I figured it was something to do with the Swine Flu, because we also had to fill out some sort of form regarding our health. I made some wise-crack comment about not being able to read the pamphlet. The lady motioned to some pamphlets sitting on a table behind her and told me I could pick up one printed in English:


Thankfully the Swine Flu has escaped us. Unfortunately, there is another ailment that has hit my home.


My DD finished up with her summer term at BYU this week. She is now enjoying 2 weeks of vacation before fall semester starts. The quilt pox has hit hard at her house also. I've been pretty impressed with what she has accomplished. Maybe she will share some pictures over on her blog. About all I have accomplished recently are the blocks for my 2 separate 'quilt block of the month' clubs. Between the two of them, it's been 8 blocks a month. But I am keeping up! Four of the blocks are finished. I am starting on the other four. They will take some time, because the technique we are learning is English paper piecing.

New Menu Items?

Last Wednesday, Terrell, Kimball and I left for Long Beach, California. The purpose of the trip was to attend a trade show held at the Long Beach Convention Center. Friday night we went to In-N-Out for a burger.

This guy was sitting at the table across from us. Look closely, and see if you think there is something wrong with the following pictures:




Why would anyone choose to eat noodles & chicken when you can have a double, double animal style?

Day 10 - Return to Athens & Kimball's 18th Birthday!

We said our goodbye's to the M/v Cristal thing this morning and were taken by bus to our last hotel in Athens, the Hotel Austria. It's location was a short walking distance from the Acropolis & Agora.


Our room had a fantastic view of the Acropolis from its balcony.

After we got settled in, Iris took us on a walking tour down by the Acropolis (10 minute walk) to an area where there were lots of outdoor cafe's & coffee shops. Next, we walked over to the Plaka where she turned us loose for the next couple of hours to eat & shop.

The Plaka is the oldest section of Athens. Most of the streets have been closed to traffic, and it is now an area of restaurants, jewelry stores tourist shops, and cafes. Debbie, Rebecca, Kimball and I all decided to go to the same little outdoor cafe to get some lunch.

My lunch was very yummy, I had a sampler plate of sorts. It came on an oblong plate and was full of greek salad, potato salad, cheese pie, stuffed grape leaves, and came with a basket sliced French bread. I also ordered lemon sorbet and it came in a huge tall glass. It was tart & refreshing. The others had to help me eat it, because I was so full.


Kimball, Debbie & Rebecca - waiting for lunch in Athens.

After lunch we wandered up & down some of the streets with shops. Rebecca & Kimball found some of the others in our group & left with them. Debbie was tired & walking, and I was tired of shopping so we went back to the central area where we were to meet up with the rest of the group. On the way we passed a gelato shop. Debbie wanted to get some. I was still full from lunch, but had some euro's that needed to be spent, so I decided to get a cone also. I am SO glad I did. It was amazing! I picked the black forest flavor.



I'd never seen gelato displayed like this before. It was so beautifully decorated.
They would scoop the gelato from the back of the mound, so as to not ruin it's artistic beauty.

This guy was playing some sort of instrument. I put some coins in his hat as I walked by and snapped a photo of him.



At 3:30 we re-grouped and walked over to the Agora, ancient Athens' political, economic and commercial center. This is also where the remains of the Temple of Hephaistos (greek god of metalworking) is located.


Kimball at the Agora, with the Temple of Hephaistos in the back ground.


Looking up at the Temple of Hephaistos. The best preserved ancient Greek temple. It is the only Greek temple that still has the roof on it.


The 'Utah' students. Front (L-R): Valerie & Marlyse. Back (L-R): Rebecca, Cameron, Marin, Thomas, Kimball, Megan & Jonathan.

Iris gave us all a bus ticket, so we didn't have to walk back to the hotel. We walked up a hill to the bus stop. Across the street, was the Parliament building where the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is located. Iris asked if we wanted to go across and watch the changing of the guard since it was nearing the top of the hour.


That night at the motel, we were served a simple meal of chicken, cole slaw , rice & corn, rolls & orange slices. After the meal, Jonathan Crampton stood and made an announcement that it was Kimball's birthday. We all sang to him and presented him with a gift (journal w/evil eye on front & an evil eye key chain) that we had all chipped in to buy for him.


After dinner we went out on a roof top terrace and enjoyed the view of Athens. At 8:45 p.m. a group of us walked back down by the Acropolis where all the cafe's are located to see the Acropolis lit up at night. We had 45 minutes to walk around. Some of the group went to get ice cream, but since there were some that didn't have any money left, we just found a place to sit & watched the locals as they wandered around. The place was a-buzz with all the thousands of conversations going on. It was a fun end to a great trip.