Yes, it is a gem

I had a really fun afternoon Sunday with my friend Donna. We went to Mainely Sewing in Nobleboro, Maine. What a fantastic quilt shop! I have been there a couple of times and am always impressed with their fabrics. Many really interesting fabrics I have never seen anywhere else. Lots of cool contemporary fabrics and a big line of Kaffe Fasset, too. Lots of kits and quilts made up that are so inspiring. Highly recommended!

I bought a Janome Little Gem at Mainely Sewing! It weighs eleven pounds and will be perfect for taking to classes. I've always taken my Pfaff with me, but it is heavy and I have been concerned that something will get damaged in transit. This Little Gem stitches very nicely. I bought the quarter inch foot so I am good to go.

I think I will set up this machine downstairs this winter so I can get some sewing time in during the evening. My other really big news is that I have a new job. I will be leaving the library where I have worked for almost ten years. My new job is assistant town clerk in Lisbon. I will be working full time instead of part time. I am sad to be leaving the library where I have met so many wonderful and interesting people over the years. But, I am also excited to begin this new career, this new chapter in my life.

One big change will be that I won't be able to be part of my Tacoma Lakes quilt group. We meet Wednesday mornings, so that is not an option. Do you think I should discuss that with my new boss? Well, a closes and a new one opens. I will join another chapter, either Back Road or Kaleidoscope. Both meet a fair distance from me and I feel a tug to join each group. Many of my Tacoma Lakes friends are also in Back Road, but I know people in Kaleidoscope, too and it is a bit closer.

I am really looking forward to having Saturdays free to take quilting classes, go on retreats, or go to guild meetings. I've worked Saturdays for years and now I will get to see what I have been missing.

I will leave you with a quote from John Muir and a photo from Baxter State Park......
Here is calm so deep, grasses cease waving. . . . Wonderful how completely everything in wild nature fits into us, as if truly part and parent of us. The sun shines not on us but in us. The rivers flow not past, but through us, thrilling, tingling, vibrating every fiber and cell of the substance of our bodies, making them glide and sing. The trees wave and the flowers bloom in our bodies as well as our souls, and every bird song, wind song, and; tremendous storm song of the rocks in the heart of the mountains is our song, our very own, and sings our love.
Note: "Mountain Thoughts", written by Muir during the 1870s, were collected by Linnie Marsh Wolfe and published in John of the Mountains (1938).