Janet Was Very Nervous!

Janet made an appointment to meet with the "Longarm Quilt Lady" aka Arlene, who lives quite some distance away.  Friday evening, she worked ironing the top for 1 1/2 hours and then started on the backing.  Janet felt she had f*%# screwed up the backing and emailed Arlene to tell her she was out of her depth and had to wait for her Private Quilt Instructor Karen to return from vacation before she could go further.

I did my best to give a paw where needed.

Arlene emailed Janet back and told her to get a grip on herself and bring everything with her.  Arlene is super!  In the end, Arlene prefers people just bring the backing intact and she will deal with it.  They had a doggie who died a month ago, so she and Janet were able to commiserate.

Turns out Arlene lives a longer drive than Janet is comfortable with (her comfort level has just been elevated to the Oak Bay Dump!), but Phil is busy with work, so she was prepared to suck it up.  Phil very kindly offered to drive Janet, and it was a good thing.

 Janet was so nervous about her piecing the top that she had a big stomach  ache all the way to Arlene's.  She was afraid she would be told it wasn't up to par, but Arlene said "well done".

Here is Janet's lap size quilt on the longarm quilter.  Arlene offered several stitching patterns and they decided on a "square within a square" pattern.   

Janet's quilt will be ready mid July.  Arlene is going to Sisters, Oregon for an outdoor quilt show, which is famous.  Janet first heard about it at the Quilt Show and looked it up online.  Sisters, Oregon (Quilt Show aside) looks like a really cool, old fashioned Western town.

Now, Janet knows how to go to Arlenes on all the back roads and can avoid the Pat Bay Highway.  Sure, it might add an hour or two onto travel time, but Janet's so insane, she is OK with that.  On the way back they stopped in Brentwood Bay and had their first patio lunch of the season.

View from lunch.

Don and Rose were just in PDX and were kind enough to bring back some packages Janet had sent to Mike and Bronwyn's.

Lady Sybil....Downton Abbey fabric - Janet says what's not to love!

This one - a problem!  Janet said when she pieced the top, it was perfect.  During quilting, all the seams have shifted and she couldn't square it up properly.  This did not come to light until Cruella Little Miss Sunshine started to hand sew on the binding.  Bummer!  She said more bad words last night than we have heard in a month of Sundays!

Dinner this week:

Gyoza...who doesn't love gyoza?

Ginger Butter Pasta with Salmon.

I am going to end the evening by relaxing with a small collection of my balls.  Good night!

I always like to have a ball or toy under my chin whilst I relax.  Is there some kind of award or hall of fame for the doggie that can collect the most balls?  I need to know!