Empty?

Well, the long arm still has the tree skirts on the actual frame, but they are done as of 8:30 last night. There are no more customer quilt tops in the queue!!! I was hoping upon hope it would be a day or so before new ones snuck in. But, after the carousel of phone calls yesterday, that hope quickly faded.

When a customer brings me a top, rarely do we spread the whole thing out. Generally we just open it up part way and work through the blocks in that fashion. Often I will find things within the top as I'm quilting it that probably should have been addressed; missed seams, holes, cuts, or, like this top, stains and/or smudges.

That's not thread

And that's not thread either

Even if we did open the whole top up, we wouldn't be able to find the imperfections because we'd be looking for them. I see every millimeter of the top while I'm quilting it and that's when these little issues rear their heads. Which is okay. I know how to compensate for the problems. But I take a picture of each and every issue I come across to cover myself should there be a need for it later. You know, CYA?

A litany of people are expected today. Six at the last count not including any friends they may be bringing with them. I've got the comfy boots on and am at the ready.