Gotta Be A Little Flexible

I was working on the quilt on Bernie yesterday morning. I took my lunch and while chowing down [another] rice bowl, received a text from Ann V. and she asked if she could come up today or tomorrow and drop off a few more quilts. 

Well, the previous one I did on Marty (Shop Hop) was for her and I was done frame ironing the backing for her QOV and asked if she could come Friday since that would give me today to quilt her quilt and get it ready for pick up.

I decided to flex a bit and just dive right into it yesterday. 

QOV

I didn't know what I was going to do in here and one never knows how long it's going to take to complete a project. It always seems like it should take less time and then before ya know it, hours have passed and you're only half-way through the project.

Here's what I decided to put into it...

Loopy Stars

Remember, my encoder is down in DW so I could not do any digital work on him and had to drive myself. Honestly, I'm twice as fast as the computer and I don't have to fiddle with realignment with every roll. It turned out beautifully and I was completely done just before 4:30 and frame ironing for the next one on Marty. I moved back over to Bernie and worked that quilt until I reached the half-way point and I was getting pretty fuzzy-eyed since I'd already been up for 13 hours. 

I have a short day today; guild meeting up in Hale and I need to attend because I have a block to turn in as well as getting information regarding our retreat in two weeks. 

I worked on my second BOM block for the second 'month' and finished that. I dove into starting the stand mixer cover and am pleased with patterns by Annie. Very complete. Very visual. 

Happy Autumn day today! Hasn't the weather here been beautiful? Summer-like temps in the day. Fall-like temps in the evening. Great campfire weather. Low bug level. Lots of sun since our rains have yet to show themselves. It's almost like we're living back in AZ. 

Ya Never Know

I hadn't expected anybody over yesterday, but lo and behold, a customer called right before lunch and asked if she could come get her quilts. Well, of course! 

Good thing I don't dress in my "play" clothes during the week while I'm open.

Wow, am I tired this morning. It's that time of the year. The time when all the rodents think our house is open for their wintering over. I had one scrabbling/chewing in the wall at the foot of my bed since about 4:15 this morning. For some reason they always end up there. 

I mentioned to Jim a few weeks back that traps had probably get set because they were going to start infiltrating the house. See how that went?

I'm going to try to function today. I'm so fuzzy headed and lethargic and I'm not a napper. If I nap, it's going to be for a few hours, not just 10 or 15 minutes or I feel worse. Actually, I feel worse no matter the length of the nap I take. 

Here's some of the quilting going into the one on Bernie...

All straight lines

After I got done working for the day, I headed outside to talk to the neighbors. Joe came down and welded the angle iron back onto the end of the dock to keep those boards in. Wayne came down and visited for a bit while they were working. Jim ended up grinding down the rough spots after a short lesson on how to weld from Joe. They also inserted some weep holes into the two main pipes holding up the dock since ice likes to form in there and push up and then break our dock boards. Which is what started all of this in the first place. 

Once that was finished and we gave generous hugs all around for the efforts, I headed back in to start on my next set of BOM's (month two). Here is the first one. That took a lot longer than I had anticipated. I'll work on the second one maybe tonight. 

OMG, that mouse is in that wall right now just chewing away having his own little party. Meanwhile, he's in there pooping and peeing all over in my house. UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Something New

I was removing the quilt from Marty's bed yesterday and I kind of hit my thread scissors moving from the back to the front. Maybe cedar wood wasn't a good idea?

I probably couldn't ever do this again

They must have went flying for them to stand there so upright. 

I decided, since I had already started it, to finish Ann's quilt on Marty. It wasn't as big of a pain as I had experienced in the past moving a quilt from one machine to the next. Maybe I'm getting better at it? The reason I was going to do this quilt on DW was for some digitized work in the big squares, but I think I got it covered....

In the main panel

Sashing and the first big block

The second big block

I didn't get a pic of the third big block, but I simply did some water meander like I did in the Tilda swimming girl. 

I was pretty tired yesterday (???) so I knocked off long arming around 4:45 and moved over to working on a new kit I picked up on Saturday for the new baby we're expecting. It's pretty easy and I've added it to the tote going to retreat; all cut up and ready to assemble. 

Once I finished that I cut out for the next BOM block in the kit I received at Creative Escapes retreat last January. I was going to sew it together but at that point it was nearly 7:30 and I was just too tired. 

I have the last panel and border/sashings to do on Anns quilt and I'll move over to Bernie while I'm frame ironing for Anns second quilt which is a QOV. DW should be stitching this one out honestly, but I don't have a new encoder yet, so I'll just have to put something in there myself. 

To Redo, or Not To Redo, That is the Question

While Jim was out giving the girls their haircuts, I was working on cutting out and making the next block in our BOW. 

I turned it 90 degrees

I'm debating on whether to redo this block, or maybe just rip out the center and reinstall it? It's been on my mind, which means it bugs me, so maybe today at lunch, I'll have to take it out. I don't know. Is it going to matter to anybody except me? Probably not.

Trimming up Cindy's quilt this morning and getting it ready to be picked up. I have to move Anns quilt over from DW to Marty since DW is down for the foreseeable future. I may continue on with Anns quilt or work on the one on Bernie. 

Don't ya love how indecisive I am this morning? I'm not usually like this, but I just found out my dads cancer has returned and I guess I'm preoccupied with that right now in my head space. Happy Monday. 

Not Much Studio Work Yesterday

I mentioned in a previous post the permanent dock situation and how the ice and weather have beaten it up. Jim pulled the boards a few weeks ago and we finally picked up the new boards yesterday. Prior to that we headed over to Pieces to pick up the background and frame/sashing fabrics for the Alaskan BOM. 

Here are the fabrics I picked up from Alaska to compliment...

Blues, green, turquoise, and a little red for a pop of color

I had every intention of working in the studio while he was down there getting those new boards in, but I ended up at the lake helping him out. The bugs were practically non-existent and it was a gorgeous weather day (mid 80's) so we took advantage before the crappy (but I love) weather hits in a few weeks. 

Here's the new dock...

20' of new lumber

Per the usual, the pic doesn't do it justice. I was taking it from the top of the hill on our deck. We had our struggles and also per the usual, it took us to get half-way through the project to figure out how to make things go a bit more smooth. 

Even though today is supposed to be a repeat of yesterday (weather wise) we are only planning on working around the place in the morning. We need a day of rest. I will be in the studio this morning working this weeks BOW (Santa's belly) and still need to cut everything out while Jim is doing Pestie, giving the dogs a trim, and hopefully, replacing the water filter under the house. 

A BOM x 2?

I have several projects (five) cut out for upcoming retreats. We picked up a retreat tote last night so I could put everybody in there along with all the extra fabric and directions. Now I can work on something here a little more complex. I have one BOM I started...

A little more traditional than my usual

I picked up this kit at a white elephant auction at The Springs last January and decided I could start this. I have my BOW to work today and then should I start another BOM? I have a book and fabric I picked up in Alaska just for that purpose. I probably need background fabric though? 

I'll also be starting to get together the stand mixer. But first, we have to run to the lumber yard to get boards for that dock Jim tore out last weekend and I have to at least pick up background fabric for the Alaskan BOM even if I don't start it today.

A New Encoder

We got Jason on the phone yesterday and he talked us through some things we could check for the encoder issue DW is having. Hey, the machine is nearing 109 million stitches. I'm frankly surprised it's lasted this long given the trips back and forth to Lansing (and Grand Rapids, and Utah) jarring the thing. 

As it turns out, we need a new one. Everything we tried wasn't working and it's still stuttering going from up to down. So, he's down until that arrives from Handi Quilter, in Utah, because Jason doesn't have one in stock. A few weeks probably.

Moving on. I starting Cindy's Grandmothers Flower Garden yesterday and will continue on with that today. Here's some the quilting going in...

The "flowers"

The border

I should be able to finish this one today and I'll have to move over to Bernie. I'm going to end up taking Anns quilt off DW and moving it over to Marty I'm afraid, which is a pain with the Minky on the back. 

Jim is home today and I reminded him I have to work today. He has a bunch of projects he wants to do (?????) but isn't conveying to me exactly what those are. I didn't even know he was staying home until I got up. Why do men not communicate????????? So frustrating!