Quilting: Quilt As You Go!

My favorite QAYG tutorials … sashing 2 inches on the front and 1 3/4 to 1 7/8 on the back. Finished sashing looks like railroad tracks after sewing.

Quilting: How to Bind a Quilt

Click on the image to go to “jaybirdquilts” tutorial on creating the perfect quilt binding!

Grandma’s First Quilt!!!

Grandma’s First Quilt!!!, originally uploaded by hljscj.

… was a black and white baby quilt which was a Christmas gift for Baby J who is due in January. The quilt was machine quilted so I only sewed together the top and put on the binding. I wanted to keep my first quilt simple enough that I knew I would finish it … ye olde KISS principle! Original design by my good friend and quilting guru Biddy Jean!!!

Quilting: How to Applique

Quilting: Sashing Tutorial

Creative use of Elmer’s glue as well! Check it out … Sharon Schamber Network!!!

BTW … excellent site with lots of free quilting tutorials.

Quilting: How to Make a Pressing Board

Dear hubbie … do you have time for a small project?!?

Golf SA: Hyatt Hill Country

What a steal! Every time we play, we are looking over our shoulders waiting for them to come tell us it was a mistake and we really can’t play there any longer!?! Beautiful courses, well manicured and a real challenge!!! My five star golf course!!!!!

Golf SA: Cedar Creek

Need to write this post sometime! Bottom line … great course and challenging!!!

Golf SA: Alamo Golf Club

SCJ Rating: 1 star out of 5

Greens Fees: $$ out of $$$$$

Men’s White Tees: 65 Slope 112

Women’s Tees: (Don’t think it was even rated for women?)

The Alamo Golf Club is a hacker’s paradise!!! Jake and I drove by last year … note I said drove by! We didn’t stop even though it is the absolute closest course to our home. Of course, last year San Antonio was in the midst of an awful drought. With the recent rains, we were hoping that the course might be in a little better condition. It was greener but better condition … sad to say … no. There are parts of the course which look like they will never recover. Jake and I had to move our balls as much as 12 feet sometimes to find a blade of grass on which to set our balls. I didn’t mind because Mondays are ladies’ day and we only paid $13 for me to play and lease a cart, but … cannot say that it was even worth that much.

So, as I started to say … it is a hacker’s paradise!!! No need to feel conspicuous about whether you are wearing the right clothing, how nice your swing is or where you hit the ball. If you just want to give golf a try, this is the course to play! I should warn players about the safety concerns on the course though. The holes frequently cross back near each other squarely putting players in danger of being hit by errant tee shots. Golfer … beware!!!

I do have to say that the 16th hole on the course was one of the finest holes I have ever played! Hard to believe, but I thought it was fantastic!!! Placement of the drive and the second shot were critical with out of bounds all along the length of the hole to the left. Not having played the course before, we were hitting blind off the tee. There was a pole in the center of the fairway and yardages to said pole. If you missed this target, your second shot was even more difficult. About 100 yards from the green, there was a huge gulley which obviously swallowed balls by the dozens. Then there was a tree in the middle of the fairway protecting the green. I couldn’t get my ball high enough to clear this tree so had to play the hole out to the right. As with the rest of the course, the fairway was in terrible condition. However, I could easily imagine the hole with a lush fairway and I loved its design and challenge.

Since the club’s driving range is the closest one to our home and one can hit off grass at all times, we will probably find ourselves hitting balls here a little more often. But can’t say that we will ever be playing 18 holes here again. Bottom line … after we walked off the 18th hole, we just wanted to go find a real golf course to play!!!

Golf: New Groove Rules

Here’s a good article about the new groove rules going into effect in professional golf next January 2010. I won’t have to worry about them for a long time. Wouldn’t affect my game anyways! Can you stop a ball on a dime? Neither can I!?!