Design Wall Monday - April 30th

We've reached the end of April.  Unfortunately, the end of April isn't going to mean the end of the showers we've been getting this weekend.  We spent about 40 minutes in the tornado shelter last night, though I don't think we were in any danger, the worst of the storm was to the north of us.  The news this morning is that 9 inches fell over night just north of us. Definitely spring time in Oklahoma. 

The design wall isn't empty.  After finishing up a quilt and a top last week, I pulled out a WIP that got put on hold when the computer crashed.  I had worked up the last block for the Moose on the Porch Fat Quarter Stars Quilt Along in EQ just before the lap top screen died.  Since I didn't print off a copy of my changes or even a copy of the pattern, the project got put to the side.  Last night I finished up block 12 finally.

Here's the whole set. 

After playing around with the set last night, this is the final layout I liked best.  Hopefully I'll start framing the blocks tonight. This top should get done sometime in May, just a couple of months behind schedule.  Better late than never. At any rate, it should stay off the UFO list. 

That's it for my design wall this week.  Check out all the other design walls posted at Patchwork Times. 

Stash Report - April 29th

Only one day left in April.  Hard to believe it's almost midyear.  April has been a fairly good month on the sewing front.  I've finished one quilt and one UFO is ready to go out for quilting.  Plus I actually managed to use some fabric this week, without buying any to offset what went out.  Here's this week's report:

Used last week: 6.08 yards
Added last week: 0 yards

Used for 2012:  13.34 yards
Added for 2012:  142 yards

Net stashed for 2012:  128.66 yards

I'm still way in the red, but at least the amount going out almost doubled.  Too bad I don't have more quilts that are almost finished and will need backing soon.  I finished most of those last year.  Of the three projects left on the UFO list, two of them need most of the blocks made before they will be done.   Unfortunately only one of the current WIPs is even close to having all the blocks done before it can be set together.   So I have a lot of work to do before there be any more backing yardage added to the out count. 

That's it for the stash report.  I do have one other stash related project that I'm working on this year.  Stash organization.  Last year, I moved most of my fabric out of totes and onto shelves where it was visible.  That has helped me see what is there.  My project this month has been to iron all the fabric that I've washed over the last few months.  I really hate ironing, I'd rather sew instead.  So my freshly washed fabric gets smoothed and folded and tossed into totes.  I'd reached the point where there were two totes overflowing with fabric which needed pressing and folding.  I keep tripping over the totes, so decided the fabric really needed to get moved to the shelves.  After 9 days of pressing at least one piece every time I was in my sewing room, I've almost emptied one tote.  Here's the before and after pictures. 

The goal is to have all this pressed and folded neatly on the shelves by the end of May.  That should be doable if I keep to the pace of pressing at least one piece before starting to sew. 

Have a wonderful Sunday.  If you haven't yet, check out all the other stash reports over at Patchwork Times. 



Foto Finish - Warm

Another weekend, another volleyball tournament.  The last of the club ball season.  It's actually not going to be too bad today, we don't have to be out of the house till late this morning, so I don't have to rush around madly gulping my coffee while making turkey sandwiches and stuffing the ice chest.  I may even get the chance to run upstairs and sew for a bit before we start the day's madness. 

Saturday also means it's Foto Finish over at Cat Patches.  Barbara has proposed "warm" as this week's optional theme.  One thing that became clear as I looked through the photo files for an image, warm is not something that happens much in Oklahoma.  The winters are cold and the summers are hot.  Spring, which normally lasts for a week in this state is warm, but there wasn't really any photo in the spring ones that said warm.  Then there was this shot.  

This image almost makes me feel warm just looking at it.  Why?   Though I have a wonderful corner office with a decent view to the south, all the windows make it hard to heat in the winter.  The office temperature might be in the high 50's to low 60's if it was freezing outside.  So when I was really feeling cold, I'd fire up the single cup espresso machine in my office and make myself a cappuccino.  The cup would warm up my hands and who doesn't appreciate a good caffeine rush to warm up the rest of you.

That's it for me today.  Have a wonderful weekend.  Check out all the other warm photos over at Cat Patches. 

Favorite Thing Friday - Spring, Mostly

Wow, Friday already.  Of course it's not surprising since the revolt of my sinuses earlier this week left me in a fevered daze for about 2 days.  I was back at work yesterday, which might have proved to be a mistake, except for the fact that the whole day was taken up with one meeting after another, so I didn't really have to think too much.  That was actually a very good thing since I was under the influence of sinus medicine, which though it clears up the drainage for a while, always makes me feel like my brain is full of cotton.  However, I am able to maintain semi-automatic functions like stare at a computer or sit in a meeting, so Benadryl is one of this week's favorite things. 

The other favorite thing, surprisingly enough, is spring.  In spite of my annual spring sinus revolt, I do love the warmer weather and watching all the flowers in our garden bloom.  The Katie Roses got a jump on most everything else.  They've been blooming for a few weeks now.

Then the Clematis started to open it's petals.

The yellow roses were slow starters this year, only really beginning to bloom in the last week or so. 

So at the moment, the front garden is in full bloom and is a wonderful thing to come home to in the evenings after a day stuck inside the office.  

That's my favorite thing for this week.  If you want to share your favorite thing or check out other cool favorites, click on over to Quilting in my Pyjamas. 

Wordless Wednesday - Another Sign of Spring

15 Minute Challenge - April 24th

This is going to be a short post today.  Unfortunately the spring weather has finally caught up with me.  I'm not sure what's blooming (as everything seems to be at the moment), but whatever it is, my sinus know it.  I woke up with a headache, the kind where your whole face hurts and a sore throat.  When My Guy said "Good Morning Froggy" back to me after my mumbled morning greeting, I was pretty sure this wasn't going to be a good day. 

However, last week was really good from the sewing perspective.

Some days it was only 15 minutes, but I managed some time 7 out of the last 7 days.  The Geisha quilt is finished (posted here).  I finished piecing the back for the purple and yellow scrap quilt last night.  So now I just need to press the top and the back, then package them up to ship to Trudy for quilting.  So last week was a good one.  Unless I get to feeling better quickly, this week may not be so good. 

How did you do last week?  Were you able to find some time to sew one day, all seven days?  Link up and share how the week went or didn't go as the case may be. 

1. libbyQ 2. Shay 3. Amanda

4. Heather/NewHouseNewHomeNewLife 5. PJ - off Avondale Rd 6. Thea

7. June @ QuiltQuest 8. Kate

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Design Wall Monday - April 23rd

For the second weekend in a row, some sewing happened both days.  That's a rare thing these days it seems.  Saturday morning was spent with Drama Teen and the rest of her school's speech team at a competition in Tulsa.  She attends a small school, so there were only 5 of them on the team.  Every one of them placed in their respective events.  Not bad for a small school.  This was DT's first speech competition.  She was hoping for a third place finish and was absolutely stunned to get first in her division.  Getting team pictures was easy, for a change there were no arguments from the kids when asked to smile for the camera.  They couldn't keep the silly grins off their faces.  It was nice to see those smiles, as they had all been really nervous during the competition.

OK, I'm done with the "proud mom" stuff, on to the quilting stuff.    As of this morning there is nothing up on the design wall as I finished up the binding for the Geisha quilt on Friday.

The label was made on Saturday and sewn onto the quilt on Sunday. 

It's hard to get a good picture of the whole quilt, but I made an attempt.  The outer border print is gold Chinese characters printed in columns.  It just doesn't photograph well. 

Trudy quilted a fan type design in blue across most of the quilt, but she put in a few gold ones here and there as accents.  

She custom quilted around the Geisha in the main panel and filled in the blue background with swirls. 

I'm happy with how it came out.  My niece has already seen the top as it was a Christmas gift that didn't make it to the quilted stage in time for the holiday.  She loved the top when she opened it.  This one is a little hard to part with, even the Drama Teen will be sorry to see this one go.  But as I reminded her, we'll be able to see it when we visit.   It's going to a good home.  

To see what's up on design walls else where, check out Patchwork Times. 
   

Stash Report - April 22nd

Life has been a bit slower the last couple of weeks.  I've been able to spend more time in my sewing room, though the fabric usage isn't going to show that.  The only fabric going out was the binding for the Geisha quilt. 

Used last week: 0.5 yards
Added last week: 0 yards

Used for 2012: 7.26 yards
Added for 2012:  142 yards

Net Stashed for 2012:  134.74

At least there is nothing in this week, so I made a little progress on evening the scales.  Making the back for the purple/yellow quilt should happen this afternoon and that should be about 8 yards out.  So the out column will get a big boost. 

I'm linking up with Patchwork Times today.  Check over there to see who has been good and who has been shopping rather than blogging.   

Foto Finish - Flowering Trees

I enjoyed my mental health day yesterday, though it didn't go exactly as planned.  I had to venture out of my sewing room during the afternoon to pick up the Drama Teen from school.  She was supposed to go to swim practice, but between her allergies and nerves due to an impending speech competition, she wasn't feeling well.  She went to her room for a nap when we got home, so I was able to finish my planned fabric therapy for the day.  I managed to finish a quilt and make some headway on organizing the stash.  It was a good day.

Moving on to the Foto Finish topic of flowering trees.  Oklahoma is known for it's red buds and our community has a large number of Bradford Pear trees.  It's quite pretty in the spring.  However, my favorite flowering tree doesn't grow well around here.  I've been told it's too sunny and warm.  Thankfully, a large number grow on My Guy's family farm, which we visited at Easter.  It was a bit past prime flowering for the Dogwoods, but there were still a few nice shoots to be had.

Usually we have to walk into the woods to find a tree in bloom as the Dogwoods do like their shade.  But we found this one growing along side the road. 

Check out all the other signs of spring over at Cat Patches.  I'm hoping to do some of that before we head out for the day.  Enjoy your weekend. 

Favorite Thing Friday - Taking a Mental Health Day

I'm usually a very responsible person.  I'm a wife, a mother, hold down a full time job, pay my taxes on time, etc.  The very model of responsibility (well maybe not a model, maybe just a good imitation of responsibility).  I've been restless all week.  Work and home schedules have been crazy (will be crazy for the forseeable future).  Last night as I was getting ready for bed, it became clear what was needed.  A Mental Health Day.  So this morning I put in a vacation request for Friday and now can look forward to being on my own from about 7:30 AM until 6:00 PM tomorrow.   Not quite 12 hours.  But in that time, there will be just me at home, in the sewing room, playing with fabric.  Maybe not sewing, but I have a lot of fabric to play with.  That should do wonders for my sanity. 

Enjoy your Friday, I'm looking forward to mine.  Hook up with Shay over at Quilting in My Pyjamas to see what other wonderful favorites are out there just waiting to be discovered. 

Wordless Wednesday - Signs of Spring

15 Minute Challenge - April 17th

What a difference a week can make.  Work is still busy, but not quite as frantic as it has been, the reports that had to get in are in.  Taxes are done and filed.  So life has slowed down a bit.  It helped that we didn't have to dash off to somewhere this weekend and I got the chance to sew.  This week was more productive than last week. 

I managed to find some time to sew 4 out of the last 7 days.  Not stellar, but I got in quite a bit of time on Saturday and Sunday.  One UFO is to the finished top stage and I'm working on the binding for the Geisha quilt.  I'm hoping for a finish this week.  My first of 2012.  I had three finishes by this time last year.  That may have more to do with where my projects were than with how much time I spent sewing.  So though I feel really behind, I'm probably not. 

So how was your week?   How many days did you find 15 minutes to sew, knit, embroider, or indulge your need make something?   Write up a post and share how your crafty week went. 
 

1. libbyQ 2. Amanda

3. Kate 4. June @ QuiltQuest

5. PJ off Avondale Rd.

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Design Wall Monday - April 16th

It's Monday, so it's back to work for me.  At least we had this weekend at home, which was really nice.  It will be the last one for a few weeks since Drama Teen has a speech competition next weekend, followed by a volleyball tournament the following weekend and then we start the long course swim meet season.  Oh well, looking on the bright side, no housework. 

I did get the rare opportunity to sew both Saturday and Sunday this weekend. Boy did that feel strange.  I can't remember the last time that happened.  In spite of that, the design wall didn't change much.  I finally got around to making the binding for the Geisha quilt and hope to finish that quilt this week.  The purple and yellow scrap quilt top was also finished this weekend.  The final borders went on Saturday.  I like how it came out. 

Pattern by Judy Turner and Margaret Rolf
found in the book "Successful Scrap Quilts"

Now I have to piece the back.  The backing fabric is all pressed, it just needs to be cut and sewn together.  Then it will be sent out for quilting.  So it won't get done this month, but just getting the top done is an accomplishment.  This UFO has been around since 2005.  It's the second oldest on my list, so it really feels good to get it this far. 

I'm linking up over at Judy's Patchwork Times.  Check out all the other design walls.  There are some amazingly creative people out there. 

Stash Report - April 15

Another round of severe weather this morning had us heading to the storm shelter when the weather radio blasted out a tornado warning for our county.   That was at about 6 AM.  No confirmation that there was actually a tornado on the ground yet, but there is reported damage about 20 miles to the south of us.  It's definitely spring in Oklahoma.  Storms should move to the East and out of here today.  Take care if you live in Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Wisconsin, or Iowa.  These storms have been nasty. 


Now for the stash report.  Apparently my ability to resist the lure of fabric was short lived.  I did so well last year in terms of not buying fabric. I'm not doing so hot this year as this week's report will show.

Used last week:  0.54 yards
Added last week:  26 yards

Used for 2012: 6.76  yards
Added for 2012: 142 yards

Net stashed for 2012: 135.24 yards

We took the Monday after Easter off.  I spent a very happy morning raiding browsing a couple of quilt shops and found a few things I couldn't resist.  First, Drama Teen wanted to pick out a few more batiks for a quilt she's wants me to make. 

I love these rich purples greens and yellows.  It's definitely going to be a bright quilt.

I also found some gorgeous basics and a very nice blue and green blender that just had to come home with me.

No plan for these but, I just loved the blue and the green.  That's on the "to do" list, a green and blue quilt.  Finally, I just had to have a bit of this bright floral. 

No clue what I'll do with this one either, but I had to have a little for my stash. 

I don't think there is any hope of me getting into the black this year, but it would be nice to get a little more going out.  My sewing mojo came back briefly yesterday, I'm hoping that it hasn't left and that I'll get more done today.  I need to make the back for the purple and yellow quilt.  That should mean I have a bunch going out later this week. 

Check out more stash reports over at Judy's Patchwork Times. 

Foto Finish - Blue

The alarm didn't wake us this morning, it was the weather radio going off at about 3:30 AM with a tornado warning for a county 2 over from ours.  About that time there was a huge crash of thunder, then the lightening started followed by the rain and more rain.  The neighbors front yard looked like a swimming pool by 6:00 AM.  Foto Finish wasn't forgotten, I just didn't dare plug in the Internet in the middle of all of that this morning.  We are likely in for more of the same tonight.  Spring in Oklahoma is never boring. 

So here is this week's Foto Finish, a little late. 

The optional theme this week is blue.  This is another shot from our Spring Break trip to Eureka Springs, AR.  I'm not sure what these are, but they were gorgeous planted in amongst all the red tulips.  I've posted a couple of other shots from this rainy day.  Some days you don't find any inspiration and others you find way too much.   At least it seems to work that way for me.  Though, if I'm honest, it's probably more about being willing to look for that inspiration.  Even photographs of mundane items can be compelling when shot in a different light from a different perspective, but the person holding the camera has to look for those difference approaches.  Some days I'm open to that. Others,  I'm too busy to take the time.   We almost didn't brave the rain that day, we even discussed coming back another time.  I'm glad we decided to to drag the cameras out anyway. 

Check out what's posted over at Cat Patches to see what's new in the world of blue. 

 

Wordless Wednesday - Still Life

15 Minute Challenge - April 10th

Our Easter weekend was a four day one since Drama Teen gets Easter Monday off school.  As much as I enjoy those type of holidays, there is this time warp feeling that makes the Tuesday back to work morning just feel weird.  Easter was lovely, the rest of the weekend was a bit busy.  DT had a volleyball tournament on Saturday, after which she and I drove 4 hours to join My Guy in Missouri to celebrate Easter with his family.  We drove home yesterday, but as taxes are due next weekend, that was the main item on the agenda once we got home. 

So how much sewing got done?  Some, but not much.

The new computer showed up Wednesday and it took a couple of days to get the software and back up files loaded.  So in total, only 3 days of sewing over the last 7.  I've done worse.  Unfortunately, this week is not likely to be much improved.  The swim team banquet is this evening, taxes still need to be finished and deadlines at work are going to mean overtime the rest of the week.  So I don't have a lot of hope that much sewing will happen this week.  It will slow down at some point, I'm just not sure when. 

How are you doing in finding a few minutes here and there to sew?   Write up a post and link up using Mr. Linky.  Since no sewing is going on here, I'm looking forward to seeing what you are up too. 

1. Barb H 2. Amanda

3. June @ QuiltQuest 4. Kate

5. libbyQ

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Design Wall Monday - April 9th

How was your Easter?  Ours was pretty relaxing.  There was a lot of hanging out with family, a nice long walk along the back country roads, good food, and just a little bit of sewing.  A good time was had by all, even though this is the first year in the more than 20 I've been included in My Guy's family gathering that we didn't do an Easter egg hunt.  Drama Teen was the youngest one there this year.  My Mother-In-Law made a very brief bid to get the youngest few to hunt eggs, unfortunately the 13, 14, and 15 year olds would have nothing to do with the idea.  The idea to bribe them with chocolate didn't work very well since two of the aunts had already given them a giant chocolate rabbit and a good size chocolate egg.  Everyone did give the kite flying a go, but there was no wind.  Still it was a good excuse to stand out in the sun and just enjoy the nice weather.     

With all the Easter excitement going on, I forgot to get a picture of what's up on the main design wall.  To be honest, there's not much change on the design wall from last week.  I did pull out my Grandmother's Flower Garden blocks to stitch on while we were all visiting yesterday evening. 

This is block 11.  Looking back, I'm not making a lot of progress on this project.  I was partially finished with block 10 the last time this project was covered in a post (here) from last July.  Not that I'm in a hurry to finish this project, my goal is to have it done by the time DT goes off to college, so I still have about 5 years.  Plenty of time. 

That's it for my design wall.  I'm linking up with Judy over at Patchwork Times and hope to have some time this morning to see what's going on with other design walls. 

Stash Report - April 8th

We'll spend today with family.  Not sure if we'll do an egg hunt or not, the little ones have all become teenagers and are all much too cool to hunt eggs.  The next generation of little ones is stuck at home due to car trouble.  Hopefully the weather will allow for the annual kite flying out in the field that usually happens in the afternoon.  Actually, it's more like kite crashing than flying.  There is usually either not enough wind or too much.  At any rate, the whole family usually has a good time no matter what the conditions are. 

On to the stash report.  I spent more time in the sewing room this week and tripled the amount of fabric usage this week. 

Used last week:  0.60 yards
Added last week:  0 yards

Used for 2012:  6.22 yards
Added for 2012:  116 yards

Net stashed for 2012:  109.78

Unfortunately, I've only been using about 0.2 yards the last few weeks, so tripling that number doesn't make for a really large impact on the stash.  At this point, I'll take what I can get. 

I'm linking up with Judy over at Patchwork Times.  Check out all the other stash reports there. 

Foto Finish-Animals

It's Saturday, already?   Not that I'm complaining, but it sure seemed like a short week. 

The one good thing that came out of not having a lap top, is that I've been forced to rely on the pictures that are on the card that's in my camera.   With no historical files to pull from, something new was going to be needed for this week's post.  So I was on the look out for critters this week since Barbara over at Cat Patches proposed "animals" as this week's optional theme.  I got lucky on Monday and happen to spy this guy scurrying around. 

He scampered up a tree as I walked by, but seemed to be willing to pose for me once he reached his perch.  It's been really pretty here in the evenings, though a little cool.  The company I work for has a fitness challenge for all of April and May to walk 10,000 steps a day.  So far, so good on meeting that goal and I've really been enjoying the evening walks. 

To see more critters, check out all the posts over at Cat Patches. 

Favorite Thing Friday - April 6th

It's Good Friday, which for me is a day off work.  That's a pretty favorite thing.  However, my most favorite thing today is the fact that I'm no longer computer-less.  My new quilting partner showed up last Wednesday.

After two days of figuring out where all the buttons are, where the USB ports are, installing computer programs and transferring files, I'm pretty much back in business.  I still need to upload a few print drivers and a driver for the scanner, but I'll do that when I need to use those devices. 

I do have a third favorite thing this week.

Back up drives.  My Guy gave me the gray terabyte (I also think of a dinosaur when I hear that term) drive and I had purchased a smaller Iomega external hard drive when I bought the last computer.  I've actually used both of them.  The terabyte drive holds a complete back up of the lap top computer. The Iomega drive, just those files I use frequently.  Unfortunately when the old lap top died, the last back up on either drive was from November.  Thankfully the PC place that tried to repair the old computer was able to download all my files to a second external drive and those files are all now on the new computer.  I will be backing up much more frequently, weekly on the quilting stuff, monthly on the whole drive.   

In between downloads and uploads I've been working to get caught up with email and blog reading.  I'm getting there.  For more Favorite Things, check out all the posts over at Quilting in My Pyjamas. 

Wordless Wednesday - Spring Rain

15 Minute Challenge - April 3rd

How did it get to be April?  I feel like I'm missing a couple of months.  Between the changes going on at work and Drama Teen's activities, it's been a busy 2012.  The next big deadline is taxes, I'm working on those in small bites.  I'm still trying to figure out where it says in our marriage vows that I'm responsible for taking care of that yearly chore.  I'm assured every year by My Guy, that it's there. 

Moving on.   I've not been very motivated to make the trek up the stairs to work in my sewing room the last couple of months.  I'm hoping that with the longer days, I won't feel so tired in the evenings and can get in at least 15 minutes.  I didn't do real well this week, only 2 days out of the last 7 where any sewing was accomplished. 

I am hoping to finish up the purple and yellow scrap quilt this month.  The last issue of McCall's Quilting showed up late last week with the third installment of the mystery quilt.  I love the final quilt and think my fabric choices are going to work well.  There's a lot of yellow in this quilt and I was really beginning to worry that it was going to be just yucky.  The Rainbow Scrap challenge color for April is neutrals.  Not sure how what I'm going to do with the coffee cup blocks for this month.  Maybe use neutrals as accents in with some brighter colors?  I need to go paw through my stash to see what I have.  I may end up skipping this month because I really wanted all the cups to be made from brights.  Any other suggestions? 

That's it for me this week.  How did you do last week?  Write up a post and let us know.

1. Amanda, Seabreeze Quilts 2. June @ QuiltQuest

3. libbyQ 4. Thea

5. Kate 6. Hueisei

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Design Wall Monday - April 2nd

This post is a bit later in the day than it typically is, I just couldn't get this posted before I had to be at work today.  Not much going on in the sewing room.  But I do have 6 coffee cup blocks finished, one more than last week.

Block patterns by Karen F. Sebro and Janet McCarroll
published in the books "Block Magic" and "Block Magic Too!"
by Nancy Johnson-Srebro. 

I played around with the UFO numbers for last month so that the purple and yellow quilt was the one I worked on.  I didn't get it finished, but I did get 2 of the 3 borders attached. 



Pattern by Judy Turner and Margaret Rolf
published in "Successful Scrap Quilts"

I have the border pieces for the last round cut, but not sewn together yet.  That's on tap for tonight. 

Fried Computer Update:  Dropped the external hard drive off at the computer repair place this morning.  Picked it up after work and all my files are on it!   So I'm at least whole in terms of where I was when the computer died (the EQ files are there too)! So a happy ending to a 3 week long saga.  I have ordered a new computer and hope that it shows up later this week or early next week.  Until then, I have to share My Guy's. 

If you haven't yet, check out all the cool design walls over at Judy's Patchwork Times.   

Stash Report - April 1st

I'm a bit late posting the stash report this weekend due to spending most the day nursing a sick headache.  It's down to a dull ache this evening.  Between the headache and a vain attempt to get caught up on some work stuff, not much sewing happened over the weekend.  Most of the evenings last week were spent on catching up on  work reports, so there's not a whole lot to report on the stash, but there is a bit. 

Used last week: 0.21 yards
Added last week: 0 yards

Used for 2012:  5.62 yards
Added for 2012: 116 yards

Net stashed for 2012:  110.38 yards

I've not had a lot of enthusiasm for sewing the last couple of months, consequently, not much progress is being made on eating up stash or on finishing up projects.   I'm not going to fret about the sewing, too much other stuff is going on.  Things will line out soon and hopefully my desire to spend quality time in my sewing room will come back. 

An update on the computer issues (proceed with caution, ranting and whining ahead, you may want to stop reading now).  I noted earlier that the lap top has been officially declared dead due to mother board issues which have fried the monitor function.  Hard to use the computer when you have no screen.  No problem with the hard drive, so the PC repair place downloaded all of my files to an external hard drive.  However, when I tried to download my files from that hard drive yesterday, I found the drive was completely empty, no files stored on it at all.  So you can guess who I'm calling in the morning when they open.  So at the moment I'm still computer-less and still have not been able to recover all my EQ files and spreadsheets I use for quilting.  Please learn from my mistake, back up your high use files weekly, or at least monthly.