Stitch & Grip Quilting Disks

I tried out a wonderful new product today that I wanted to share with you- the Stitch & Grip Quilting Disks by Clever Craft Tools.   Here is a picture of what these quilting disks look like:

Carla’s Review:  The Grip & Stitch Quilting Disks makes quilting with your home sewing machine so much easier to do!    This is a must buy item for all machine quilters who use a sewing machine to quilt.  Why?  When I tried them out on my Bernina, the Grip & Stitch Quilting Disks really improved my quilting control without putting lots of stress on your arms, shoulders and neck muscles.  These disks really do grip the quilt sandwich and improves your control!

I found them much easier to use than quilting with the white quilting gloves, plus I was able to gain more control of my quilt sandwich without stressing out my neck and back muscles.  It is a simple, yet brilliant idea and product from Clever Craft Tools.

Google the product for a list of online retailers.  If you are a shop owner, I am sure you may contact the company directly for wholesale information.

I hope you have enjoyed hearing about the Grip & Stitch Quilting Disks.  I always love to try new products out and give my opinion.  :-)     Hugs, Carla

Blog Disclosure: I was provided this product to try out and provide feedback to the company.  My review of this product reflects my honest opinion and I am not affiliated with the company, nor have been paid for this review.

 

 

 

Having tried machine quilting on my sewing machine with other products (like the quilting gloves, hoops, etc.), I was happy to discover that the Grip & Stitch

Trip to Kauai

Aloha!  Just got back from a vacation to Kauai.  I figured I wouldn’t mention that I was going before I went- no sense in advertising that my house is empty, y’know?  LOL

I did visit Kapaia Stitchery, the local quilt store, plus I purchased 2 new books on Hawaiian Quilting.  I was inspired to design my own Hawaiian Quilt design:

We stayed in the same Kuhio Shores condo we did on our last visit.  I initially found this rental at Vacation Rental By Owner (vrbo.com) owned by Mike Galvin and we love staying in #415.  The room is on the 4th floor, overlooking the waves, sunrise, sunset,  surfers, and Hawaiian green sea turtles (honu).  Click below to see how close to the waves we were in this video by Mike. (Note: If you dislike Hawaiian music, be sure to mute your computer):

Speaking of honu, one of my trip highlights was snorkeling off the shores seen in the above video and running into a very large green sea turtle.  I am talking about a full adult turtle about 5 feet tall!  It swam right next to me, so I stayed still so I wouldn’t scare it off.   I also saw many slipper lobsters, sea cucumbers, octopus, moray eel, and so many colorful reef fish to name!

Joe was near this same area the day before and had to cut his snorkel time because a 6 foot Mako shark had been spotted by a spear fisherman.  Swimming with turtles- great!  Swimming with a Mako shark- that might ruin your day!

Of course, I visited Glass Beach at low tide, satisfying my need to hunt for sea glass.  Joe was patient while I climbed on the rocks, hunting in all the nooks and crannies.  I did find an unusual glass pipe section that looks very old and interesting.  I find I am a beach comber at heart.

Check out what the sand looks like close up:

Love vacations…. but it is great to be home again!  Hugs, Carla

Bead Score!

A recent trip to visit family allowed me to hit a few bead stores along the way!  I was able to obtain some lovely new beads for my bead stash.  Here are some examples:

Won’t the sea colored glass beads look great in a bracelet?  Here is a lovely mix of seed beads:

I fell in love with this glass bead:

I bought lots more, but thought I would share just a sample of what I purchased along the way.

What have you all been up to?  Hugs, Carla

Happy 4th!

To all the US blog readers, a happy 4th of July to you.  We are spending time with family, barbequing, fireworks, a very traditional 4th for my family.  What are you doing if you celebrate the 4th of July?

Grandson Jack spent the night last night!  Jack is now 3, and fun to be around.  He is very funny, and love all the toys I have saved or bought for the grandkids.

Ok, I will admit that I go a little crazy getting toys for the grandchildren room….  Being the bargain shopper that I am, I would say that most of it I picked up at the thrift store.  My local thrift store has a lot of Little Tikes toys, and other name brand toys.  Of course, you have to wash off the Thrift Store cooties first, before letting the kids play.

Any other bargain toy shoppers out there?

PS: if you are looking for the Class Registration info for the class starting next week, just scroll down.  Thanks!  I look forward to a wonderful class!

 

Bead Box Therapy

I decided I needed to reward myself with a visit to the Bead Store once I finished Barb’s quilt on time.  So yesterday afternoon, I visited my favorite neighborhood  bead shop, Basically Beads to pick up beads and supplies for my freeform beading piece I am planning to do while recovering from my upcoming surgery.  Also, I was long overdue to hunt through their very large bead box they have for customers- Bead Box Therapy!  What is Bead Box Therapy, you might ask?

Picture a huge rubbermaid bin filled with a million beads- literally.  You hunt through this bin looking for just the right color of bead or beads.  You fill a small plastic ziplock bag and pay a mere $3 per bead bag. What a bargain!!  But this bead box is so much more.

The first time I discovered this bead box, I noticed how therapeutic it was.  I would come in stressed, then after hunting and digging through the bead box, my mind would become relaxed and calm.   I mentioned this finding to the store owners- and they told me that they hear this every day.  Turns out, they have other customers who come in to de-stress by digging in this bead box, too!  LOL

Hmmm…. I thought about this, and my theory is that sensory, tactile stimulation  is calming to the brain for some people.  Any other theories out in blog-land?  (be nice!)

After my zen-bead experience, here is what I came home with yesterday… to distract my mind from my pending surgery, I filed 5 bags yesterday, which looks like this:

I started off hunting for white and clear beads, then got sidetracked by the pretty colors.  LOL

So, who needs pre-op stress medication when  Bead Box Therapy  is available?  LOL    Cheers, Carla

Thank You, Santa!

I received an early Christmas present this past weekend from my DH, Joe.  Next month, I will be taking some time off from my creative work to have an artificial disc replacement (ADR) spine surgery, so my dear husband wanted me to be as comfortable as possible during the recovery period.  Sweet, huh?   Here is what he bought me, a zero gravity “Perfect Chair:“

 

This chair is so comfy!!!    If you push the silver knob on the left arm, the chair reclines back into a zero gravity position, similar to NASA astronaut positions on flights.  It has a quiet motor that does this.  Now I have to be patient and wait for it to be delivered.

I am a firm believer in buying things to make your life more comfortable.  Same goes for post surgery recovery.  To this end, here are some things I have on hand:

Overbed Table: This table will work next to, and over my bed as well as with the Perfect Chair, above.

It is very functional for eating, using your laptop computer, and perhaps as a beading or drawing surface.

Grabber Thingy:

OK, laugh if you want!  This is one of those stupid things you see on TV infomercials.  However, when you cannot bend easily for a period of time, it will be a helpful item.

iPad – During my recovery, I can watch TV and Movies on demand with my Netflix App.  Read a book?  Click on my Kindle App.  Play any number of games- including Angry Bird?  Yes, Apps again.  Listen to Music? Read my Emails?  Surf the Web?  Yes, yes and yes- all with my lightweight iPad, shown here:

I could stop here, but will mention a few other favorite comfort recovery items:

Thermophore Large Heating Pad- This is the BEST, most comfortable  heating pad you can buy!  Trust me on this!   Buy the one with the non-digital control button.

Last, I still need to buy some products from Brookstone, including some NAP material slippers, another blanket since I gave my last one away, and and a new lumbar pillow for the car ride home. Oh yes, I plan to have lots of small creative projects on hand, too.  I will organize them ahead of time, so when I feel better, I don’t have to search for supplies.

Oh course, the best Christmas present is spending quality time with loved ones, especially grandkids!  What are you doing for the Holidays?

Hugs, Carla

 

 

Carla’s Etsy Find!

On my facebook account, which is listed by my name, Carla Barrett, I had a recent request to be friends from another artist, Puteri Noor.  I accepted, then went to view her work.

Puteri live in Malaysia and does wonderful, stunning silk and batik fabric paintings!  I will admit I loved them so much, I bought 4 pieces from her Etsy shop.   Here is a sampling:

and another:

The colors are so rich!  Here is another silk art:

I visited Puteri’s  Etsy store this morning and noticed that she is currently sold out.  However, be sure to look at her listing of textile art and you can contact her to make a custom piece to add to your quilting.

If you do this, tell her Carla sent you.     I love to showcase other artists and let my readers see such a rich variety of women creating art in our world.

Retail Therapy etc.

My shopping mission today involves finding just the right dress to wear to a wedding later this month.  I will admit that I rarely wear dresses,  so looking in my closet revealed some summer dresses, rarely worn, and lots of comfortable clothing- including a whole wardrobe for those times when I need to speak in front of a crowd.

No dress appropriate for a fall wedding though.  None.  So off I go hunting for a new dress today.  Any dress shopping advice is welcome though.

Other News…  Now that my class is finished, I am busy working on future class developments, plus working on my book, plus a new booklet.   I also plan to design some fiber/bead wearable art, maybe if I find just the right dress, I can design a cool art piece to match.

Also, I am making a new freeform  crochet scarf  using a wide variety of yarn.  Here are the colors I am using:

Of course, Oscar saw yarn and just had to get in my way:

Silly kitty!  What is it about cats and yarn?  Or cats and quilts?

Enjoy your day!!  Carla

 

Mountain Democrat article

This is the second time I made the local paper this year for my quilting work.  If you want to read it, just click HERE.  Note that the published version had a picture with me and the designer standing by the quilt.

The reason I am in the article is because I quilted the Opportunity Quilt for the local guild:

and here is another view from the archive:

Anyway, I missed the article, but later heard about it from friends and family members.

The quilt show was this weekend and they also picked the ticket for the raffle.  When I find out who won, I will post it here.  I hope it was one of my blog readers who purchased raffle tickets that won.  I am rooting for you!

Other News:

Boat News: Today, we are taking our new boat, S/V Sea Glass, out on the lake.  No wind is predicted, so we will just enjoy the sun, water and practice anchoring, docking, etc. with the motor.  Hmmm…. I wonder why the wind doesn’t blow on Joe’s day off?  I guess Murphy’s Law is happening here.  Anyhow, I will pack a nice lunch,  cold drinks,  and a good book to read.

Retail Therapy: I was shopping for a new comforter for my king bed, and decided to look on Overstock.com.  Oh my!!  I splurged on not only a luxurious comforter and matching pillows, and a bed skirt, but then added a feather bed and feather bed cover.  We put them on the bed  last night,  then jumped in to test it out.  Very comfy!  I woke up this morning feeling very rested and no aches and pains.  It was so worth the price.

What spurges have you made lately?

Carla

Cool Finds for Mixed Media Artists!

I have long been a fan of metal artist, Susan Lenart Kazmer.  Her work with metal, resin and found objects are simply unique with a high “cool” factor!  Here is a picture of a classic SLK charm bracelet from the cover of her book, which I own:

Now, you can create her look yourself with many charms, pendants and findings found at your local Michaels Craft Store under the label, Industrial Chic.  Here is a sampling of products:

If you are into this look, now it can be yours for a low price!  I bought about 20 pieces from the collection at 50% off last week, so look for when Michaels runs another sale.  I paid $4 per charm pack or pendant.

Other News:  The countdown has started for my next sailing adventure.  This time, Joe and I are bareboat chartering with talented mixed media artist, Lori Seavey-Christian and her husband, Larry Christian.  Lori and I have been close friends for several decades.  You might recall my past “Carla & Lori’s Creative Adventure Weeks” where Lori and I get together, take over her Living Room, and just create!

Lori & Larry do not sail, so Joe and I are planning to make sailors out of them.  We thought heading back to the BVI would be an excellent place to introduce them to chartering.  Besides, I love the snorkeling there, and visiting all our favorite places again.

I will make a report after we come back.  For obvious reasons, I do not want to advertise the dates we will be gone, even though I have someone to come house sit and babysit the pets when we do this.

Knowing that I needed to find my 1)snorkeling gear, 2)sailing gloves, 3)swimsuits, and other gear;  I decided to clean out my closet.  I don’t know about you, but my house is really clean, EXCEPT for my closets.  You know it becomes bad when your master walk-in closet is no longer a walk-in.  So, fueled with coffee, I decided to tackle it.

Hours later, I had about 6 bags of giveaway or throwaways.  I did find all the items on my list above.  Now my closet is a clean and tidy again, just waiting to slowly revert into its former state.  It is inevitable, so I just learn to appreciate order while it lasts.

I challenge all my readers to think about cleaning out a pantry, drawer or closet.  Nah…. on second hand, I challenge you to just create something.  It’s a lot more fun!  Cheers, Carla