Sick Day

I don't take very many of them, but today I'm feeling very weak, short of breath, and my head is full of yuck. I feel like I have a cold on top of my cold.  I'll be resting, drinking plenty of fluids and just being quiet. Running around the long arm machine is not in the cards nor is being out in the studio.

Here's some more quilting that Janices top is receiving...

Another feather border version

Good thing I have a lot of books downloaded onto my iPad because I'll be reading and sleeping most of the day. 

Starting a Quilt is the Hardest

When I first start a quilt for a customer it's the hardest part. I have to think through how all the motifs will flow. How the quilt is constructed. What's the fabric in the quilt? How does the pattern work throughout the quilt? 

Once I get started, it's a much quicker situation. Here's some of the quilting going into Janice's quilt...

Getting things rolling

Since this quilt is basically a "border" quilt, I still have a lot of thinking to do, but at least I'm started.

After working on DW, I moved over to Foster to do another pass on Timber. Only one more to go. After working on that pass I then completed the grapefruit in Produce Section...

Pucker power with grapefruits!

More on Janices quilt today. 

Difficult Blocks

Some quilts have more difficult blocks than others. The Produce Section is one of those quilt tops which has a few blocks and then some pretty difficult ones come into the picture. These are not paper pieced so the accuracy is even more crucial when stitching them together. 

I have the grapefruits about half-way complete...

They look easy enough, right?

At any case, I hope to finish those this evening. It's going to be a wet and very dark day today. Rain expected all day as our temps rose during the night (high 30's). Most of our snow will be gone by days end I'm afraid. Not very Christmas-y. 

I'll be working on Janice's quilt on DW most of today. I'm still frame ironing the back on Bernie for Anns next top and will keep working on that throughout my time in the studio. 

Cooking and Piecing

That's about all I did yesterday was cook in the morning. I spent the afternoon working on the lemons. I also decorated the gingerbread house while waiting for Jim to come home from work. I did get a little long arming in on Foster, but not much. 

When life gives you lemons...

A happy place

Today I'm going to work on the Produce Section blocks while Jim is out working on Christmas gifts. 

Already Busy

Jim's birthday is next week and his present (combined with Christmas) was a new iPad. I had to get that set up first thing this morning all while making rice, doing regular morning chores, and ordering some Christmas gifts (along with a new iPad case). I'm now browning turkey for chili and enchiladas for this weekend. 

Here's what's on DW for next week...

Janice's huge beautiful top

I'm frame ironing for Bernie right now so no pics there. Not much else going on. Jim came home early from work and we did all the running around things we needed to do. He's working today, and obviously, I'm in the kitchen most of the morning so don't know if I'll get into the studio until much later today. 

Last Christmas Quilt

I worked past business hours yesterday to get Dianes quilt finished. Here's some of the quilting that went into it...

Lines everywhere

I still need to trim and call her, but it's finished nonetheless. Janice's batting arrived late yesterday afternoon so I'll be loading and starting that one once I return from nails this morning. I haven't been over to Pieces in a while, so maybe I'll take a trip over there?

But my cold is now in full force: Snotty nose, coughing, sneezing, etc. All the fun traits of a winter cold that try to pull ya down. I don't want to share this lovely event with [older] other customers/staff. 

Advil Cold and Sinus will be my friend today.

I cut and started to piece the next batch of fruit in Produce Section, but this one is pretty intense so didn't get it finished before running out of steam. 

No customers expected today. It'll be quiet and now that the last Christmas quilt is completed, less stressful. Happy Friday. 

Wild Night

The wind and snow last night was just crazy. Jim and I were up and down through most of the night. I remember coming downstairs at 3:45 to see if the door out to the deck had opened up because the furnace just kept running. Jim slept downstairs since he doesn't want to get my sickies and he was awake when I came down.

Thankfully, the winds have subsided a bit, but they are still pretty stiff.

Diane's quilt did not get done yesterday. I had a customer call and want to come and pick up her quilt. She brought a friend and we chatted the better part of an hour. Or more.

Hopefully today it'll be completed. Meanwhile, while the furnace runs in the studio I cut for the next Produce Section block and took off the short backed quilt on Foster to fix that situation. It's back on the machine now and the plums are complete... 

Do you see anything wrong here?

One of the plums are in the incorrect orientation. I'm going to leave it because who wants to follow the rules? If, when it's put into the quilt it's a problem, I may fix it then. 

Customer already here this morning (which is why I'm blogging late) to drop off, but nobody else expected so I should be able to focus a little bit more on Dianes piece. Maybe. I'm pretty foggy/tired from the lack of sleep and with this darn cold I have but I'll just take my time and enjoy the process.