New Review--Tutto Luggage for Transporting Your Sewing Machine

Right up front, I’d like to say that I am not reimbursed in any way for my review of any product, and I am not affiliated with any company. This review covers Tutto luggage for transporting sewing machines. I own the large-sized Tutto for use with my Janome 6500. (My Bernina 1260 will fit in it too.) I LOVE this bag. I had previously purchased a bag to transport my machine, but I wasn’t very happy with it. It was hard to pull and hard to maneuver through doors and around objects. The Tutto is a different story. It is very easy to pull (even when loaded down with a heavy machine). For transporting a sewing machine, I like the Tutto for the following reasons:
1. four wheels make the bag easier to maneuver and cause less stress on my back and arms
2. the padded U-shaped pull bar (which is attached to both sides of the luggage’s metal frame) and the location of the wheels make the bag more stable when moving it
3. it is light weight
4. there is ample storage space for the machine’s knee lift, foot pedal, power cords, extension cords, and a book or two
5. it folds to about 3” in width for easy storage when not in use
6. there are extra pockets on every side of the bag for carrying miscellaneous items
7. there is an “accessory” bag (I think they may call it a serger bag.) available that can be strapped to this bag providing all the space needed for the “stuff” necessary for a weekend retreat
The “accessory” bag can be attached to the Tutto luggage. This bag can hold a tremendous amount of quilting-related “stuff.” Before I had my Tutto, I had boxes and bags of retreat supplies; it took many trips to unload my car. With the Tutto and the accessory bag, I make one trip. Everything I need will fit into these two pieces of luggage.

I purchased my Tutto luggage at a quilt show (and received a show-special price). The outlay of money is fairly large, but the luggage is SO worth it. I should get a commission…I like mine so much that I have recommended it to all my friends, and many have made the purchase.

You can get more information on Tutto luggage at http://www.tutto.com/. I did check on Amazon.com to see how the prices were running. As of the time of this review, a large Tutto bag could be purchased for $160 and up. The accessory/serger bag was available for $40 and up.

Embroiderers' Guild of America LAFTA Exhibit and the Carnegie Center

I went to Louisville today and got to check out the LAFTA (Louisville Area Fiber and Textile Artists) juried exhibition at the Embroidery Museum and Resource Center of the Embroiderers' Guild of America. The show hadn't officially opened, so I really appreciated that the staff went ahead and let me and a friend in. Description tags were not yet on the pieces (since we were there before the "official" opening). The show has a nice variety of fabric and textile art. There is everything from a beaded rock to dolls, jackets, quilts, felted wool, silk pieces, collages, and knitted rope. The colors and textures of the pieces were wonderful to experience. If you get a chance to go, you should. The exhibit will last from June 7-August 22, 2009. It is located at 426 West Jefferson Street in Louisville, KY. Call (502-589-6956) or check the website (http://www.egausa.org/) for more information.

I also visited the Carnegie Center for Art & History in New Albany, IN, to see an exhibit called Faces of Faith: the Search for the Divine. It is made up of art quilts made by Penny Sisto. Penny Sisto is an internationally recognized artist who has exhibited throughout the US and abroad. She was born in the Orkney Islands off the northern tip of Scotland, but lives in Floyds Knobs, Indiana, today. She says of this exhibit, "My desire was to illustrate those paths which unite us...to show through these quilted images the whispers and inner prompting which guide us ever deeper into our individual Search for the Divine." She uses many different textiles in her art quilts--drapery, sleeping bags, lace, placemats, vintage evening dresses, t-shirts, shower curtains, upholstery, Chinese embroidery, etc. She makes good use of Goodwill store finds, Unique Thrift store finds, and gifts and cast-offs of friends. She combines these many diverse fabrics to make quilts that make us look a bit more closely at our own religious beliefs.

I'm Baaaaaack; Very Little Quilting Getting Done; Visit to a "Haunted" Mansion

I'm back from my visit with my son in Fort Smith, AR. My husband and son were nice enough to try to take me to a quilt shop while we were there. I was excited to find one on my GPS right in Fort Smith--Heirloom Quilt II at 1415 N 38th Street. As we were getting closer to the address I could feel my heart beating faster--I was anticipating the quilt store shopping experience. We drove right to that address to find a residential area and a house at that location. It didn't look like it had ever been a quilt shop. Whaaaaaa! I was really disappointed.

While I was at my son's, I did begin to read Melanie Testa's new book, "Inspired to Quilt, Creative Experiments in Art Quilt Imagery." Wow, what a great resource! This is a great book both for inspiration and a great resource for art quilting. I want to try it all. I AM behind on my "art" quilt quota for the year. I vowed to get twelve art pieces done by the end of the year...so far, I have two!

My husband and I stopped at the Lemp Mansion in St. Louis (a restaurant & inn) for lunch on our way back from AR. The food was VERY mediocre and the place needed some repairs, but it was quite an experience. The story goes something like this...the mansion belonged to the Lemp family. John Adam Lemp started out as a grocer offering "an item sold by none of his competitors, lager beer." The beer was made by the Lemp family and aged in the natural cave system under St. Louis. Eventually, they left the grocery business and built a brewery. The brewery was a great success and John Adam Lemp died a millionaire. William J. Lemp took over after his father died. He build the business into the largest brewery in St. Louis. His daughter, Hilda, married Gustav Pabst (remember Pabst beer?).

Now, you should know, some say the mansion is haunted. It is rated by Life Magazine as one of the 10 most haunted houses in America. The family is surrounded by numerous tragedies...
Williams' favorite son died under mysterious circumstances in 1901. Three years later, William shot himself in the head in a bedroom at the mansion. Prohibition (1919) permanently closed the brewery. Williams' sister, Elsa, considered the wealthiest heiress in St. Louis, died by suicide in 1920. The magnificent Lemp brewery once valued at $7 million and covering 10 city blocks was sold at auction to International Shoe Co. for $588,500. After presiding over the sale of the brewery, William Lemp, Jr. shot himself in the same building where his father died eighteen years earlier. His son William Lemp III, was 42 when he died of a heart attack in 1943. William Jr's brother, Charles, continued to live in the mansion after his brother's suicide. Charles was said to be a recluse and he too died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Nate and I like to stay at bed and breakfast establishments, but this is one I don't think I would be comfortable staying in. If you are interested in hauntings and ghosts, you might want to check it out. The mansion has seen much better days; but during its heyday, it had to be a sight to see.

Messy, messy, messy sewing room! New studio!

Okay, I'm sure some of you have sewing rooms that could be a bit more organized. Maybe some of you are feeling a little overwhelmed with the mess. I'm going to make you feel better!

As some of you know, I have had some work done on my house (remodeling). While that was going on, lots of "junk" was shoved into my sewing room. During the time that I couldn't physically get into my sewing room, and I came across sewing paraphernalia that needed to be put somewhere, I kind of stacked and threw the stuff into the room. Now, it is the biggest mess it has ever been. Take a look at these pictures--they will make you feel better. You'll be able to say, "Gosh, someone has a bigger mess in their sewing room than I do!" I do want you all to know I will be working to create some calm in the chaos as soon as I'm home long enough to do that.

Now...I'm sure there will be a collective gasp...and you'll say, "I can't believe she actually took pictures of that mess," but here goes. This is a view from the door. I know you can hardly see it, but my sewing machine is at the bottom left. I cannot work in a mess like this! That is one of the reasons I have started hand quilting on my whole cloth quilt again--I don't have to be in this room! You can kind of see a path if you'll look towards the bottom right by my purple Tutto.
This is a view of my cutting table (under the window). Of course, I couldn't cut anything on it because it is covered with "stuff!"Here's a better view of my sewing table. I might be able to sit down if I moved all the "stuff" off the chair. Then, I might be able to sew if I cleaned off the sewing table. The problem is...there is nowhere to move it!So, after seeing this mess, I'm excited to pass along that I'm getting an honest-to-goodness "quilting studio." My son-in-law is converting the entire finished part of the basement minus a bathroom and bedroom into a space for me. I'm in the process of researching layouts, colors, furniture, etc. If you have any ideas you'd like to share, PLEASE leave a comment. Let me know what you think I just can't do without. Any help you can give me is much appreciated.

The demolition and construction work is being done on some weekends and evenings, so it will take awhile to get finished. I will keep you up to date with posts and photos. Here is what it looks like now...(It has a long way to go to get to be called a "quilting studio!")

This is the largest part of the basement. I actually get a window!!!!!!The framed-in part you see is the bedroom (that also has to be redone). To the far left is the bathroom. All the rest is mine, mine, mine!

New Marie Bostwick Book!!!!

I'm really excited about today's publication of Marie Bostwick's new book (her fifth), A Thread of Truth. I have been waiting for it since reading (and reviewing) her book A Single Thread. If you haven't already checked out my review of that book, check it out here...http://quilterbeth.blogspot.com/2009/02/new-review-this-time-it-is-book.html. The information on Marie's website says A Thread of Truth "picks up where A Single Thread left off, telling you more about Evelyn, Abigail, Margot, Liza, and the rest of the residents of New Bern, including Ivy Peterman, whose story was just beginning to unfold as the last Cobbled Court novel drew to a close." I really fell in love with the characters in A Single Thread. I'm glad to have a chance to "get to know" them better in her new book.

Oh the Strange Sights You'll See at a Quilt Show!

These strange and interesting sights come from the Paducah Quilt Show (2009).

This first strange sight is me with "Quilt Man!" I don't know if you can tell, but he had on a quilted cape, quilted cuffs, a quilted mask, and quilted boots. He was too funny! Now, that was a site to see! He entertained everyone. This lady was outside the convention center sitting on a bench. I love the hat!

I'm not quite sure what to say about this...