You can still follow me on Bloglovin

As some of you know Google Reader is going away as of July 1st, 2013. I am moving to BlogLovin. There is a widget on the right that will take you to my blog there. I will eventually be transitioning to a Word Press blog. I have been taking classes through my local community college on how to do this so I can be more informative and productive with my blog.
I am on Facebook as Janet McNamara Houck. (https://www.facebook.com/JMHouck).

I recently started a Facebook page called A Quilty Pleasure. Please feel free to join me at either Facebook site. I will warn you, my personal page contains posts that are meaningful/personal to me. You may or may not like some of the posts. I am passionate about gun control, my Constitutional rights and dislike extremists of any political party. If you don't like a post, please just pass it by. I like animal posts, cartoons, funny or inspirational posts, They are more prevalent than heavier posts. 

My Facebook page, A Quilty Pleasure, is devoted to all quilty/embroidery things that bring me pleasure. The plan is to corral these types of posts on this page. Personal posts probably won't appear here. This page will evolve over time as I fine tune what I want. I have "liked" numerous professional and commercial quilting pages. I hope you will enjoy the cornucopia that will evolve.

I look forward to seeing you on Bloglovin or Facebook.

Jan

A little one's birthday

We traveled to Hope Mills, NC this weekend to enjoy family and to celebrate our niece's 1st birthday. It has been a warm and wonderful day. Avery was not sure what to do with the presents but certainly enjoyed all the attention and food.
we have met so many wonderful people today, hope some of us will stay in touch.
When we arrived we had a great surprise, my FIL was already here. It is wonderful to see him, it's been to long. He is down sizing a bit and we were offered a treadle sewing machine! My husband learned to sew on it. It will soon have a new and loving home in NC. Can't wait to get the beauty. It belonged to my FIL's mother. What a great way to have a remembrance of her.
Till next time... happy sewing.
Jan

It has been a cold, rainy weekend. You would think I would have hunkered down and spent the weekend in my quilting studio but noooooo. I have foolishly spent the weekend playing some new games on facebook (a real time waster) but have also spent quality time on Craftsy.com with classes I bought in the past or recently added. Yesterday I watched part of my class with Jane Dunnewold; The Art of Cloth Dyeing.  I haven't dyed any cloth in quite awhile and thought I would take a class from one of the giants in the field.
I originally learned from Marjie Mc Williams on Quilt University.com. That was a awesome series of classes and learned so much. Unfortunately, Quilt University will be shutting down at the end of the year after Carol Miller died earlier this year. Her husband reported to all of the followers that his heart just wasn't in it and so it would close.
I am now thinking about using my own dyed fabrics to get the colors I want when making quilts from my favorite designer Judy Niemeyer.
I just finished a free mini class by Steffani Lincecum; Sewing Machine Feet from A to Z. It was a great mini class, especially since it was free. It covered basic feet, some quilting feet and speciality feet like roller feet, how to make hems, including rolled hems, couching and gathering feet. Didn't take to long and got some good information.
I started the free mini class on making Pixelated quilts and I think I may try this. 
I have no stock in Craftsy but have found the classes excellent, enjoyable and so informative. You might take a look at what they have, and it's not just for quilting. Craftsy.com.
Jan

The weekend is in full swing and started off with a great day. I got to spend most of the day on Friday sewing with my quilting buddies Cathy and Kathryn. I started a Judy Niemeyer paper pieced pattern (http://www.quiltworx.com/) as a quilt for my son and DIL. If I can get it down for their 5 yr wedding anniversary it would be great. Have several other Judy patterns in the works as well. I love to have numerous projects going so I can pick and chose whatever strikes my fancy when I want to sew. Can you guess I am hooked on Judy's patterns. Just love them.
Off to sew some more.

It has been a long and hard week for those in the Boston area and the USA. It's time to be creative and help heal. I am going to work on Judy Niemeyer patterns that make me happy and take my concentration to do so. What you are working on?