Blogging Late

 Mom called first thing this morning. She was back in the hospital. Apparently she fractured her pelvis (upper and lower trochanter actually) and so off I went first thing. 

I just came home while she's napping to try to do some work. Here's a little of what's going into Deb's quilt yesterday and this afternoon...

A little of the quilting detail

My Cotton Cuts mystery block came in the mail today (of course it did). Jim is going to take the second shift with mom (which will be about when she wakes up from her nap). She insists she doesn't need a baby sitter and is not wanting to come out here and rest for the next six to eight weeks. Not sure what to do at this point because she's being very obstinate about all of this. 

The Christmas Season

The season has officially begun. Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and now Cyber Monday. It's great if you have lists from kids/grandkids and even the tiniest clue about what their needs are. But we have yet to receive only one list this year so far. Ahhh...gotta love 'em.

The grandkids wore Hazel out this weekend for our Thanksgiving celebration; she was pretty lifeless yesterday. 

"I'm so tired"

Hopefully it will spill over into today since I have a LOT of work to complete. Working on Debs top today and calling a few customers to come fetch their quilts this week (or whenever). 

And...hopefully the mouse who has decided to take up residence in my bedroom wall will find the peanut butter on the trap today/tonight because he's starting to become a sleep problem. Why do they always have the need to chew all night long? 

Happy Black Friday

Here's what's on the frame this morning...

Debs beautiful and really large top

This quilt won't be worked on until at least Monday. I'm just loading and getting her ready for quilting since we have family showing up this afternoon and all weekend for the Thanksgiving celebration. I just wanted to get something on the frame since Diane's quilt was finished yesterday evening and leaving the frame empty is just not right.

I have plenty of baking/food prep to do this morning and afternoon to get ready, and I've cleaned as much of the house as I'm going to because the grandkids do a bang-up job of rearranging it. I'm going to enjoy some Christmas Jazz in the background and having the doors to the studio open until they arrive.

Does anybody out there actually do Black Friday shopping? It sounds like the traffic on M-30 and M-61 is pretty light which makes me wonder if anybody does that kind of thing anymore? 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Gobble, gobble. But for us, Thanksgiving is going to be Saturday due to family obligations and schedules. 

Here is a little detail of what I'm putting into the beautifully stitched top I'm currently working...

Cathie's hand embroidered top

I had my hair cut this morning and now I'm in the studio. It's just going to be another work day for me (mostly) in here. I have to move all the pending quilt tops and completed quilts into the studio to keep them away from the grandkids...which will be here tomorrow.

I also need to do some spare bedroom re-arranging. The nicer children's books rescued from my teacher totes are where little Eli can get to them and I'd like them to stay nice. They will need to get put up from the bottom shelf and away from his exploring fingers. And mouth.

I need to get all other knick knacks up off the floor as well since he's kind of in that "grab everything" stage. 

And then there is our Christmas decorations we need to get into the house. The grandkids love to help decorate and we'll do that Saturday after our big dinner. And they said something about going out and cutting our tree at the tree farm as too but will have to wait and see what kind of daylight is left afterwards. 

An Early Good Morning

Because today is another "mom" day with PT and a plethora of errands to run (for her, not me), quilting won't commence until later. Thanksgiving in this family is parked to Saturday since the "B's" are just getting over the sicks. We don't need another present like last year (Covid at Christmas).

The Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas panel was quilted for Cathie yesterday and then this quilt was completed for Melissa as well with just a large scale meander (per her request). 

The Beaverton Beavers...how original

After those two were done, this top was loaded for later today...

Absolutely beautiful handwork in here!

This top is going to be interesting in that I'm going to be running invisible thread throughout the handwork sections. It can be a little finicky to run through the long arm, but not impossible. 

I was able to get the binding onto Jill's top after Diane's was loaded and then two more pineapples joined the ranks on the wall. Total thus far: 27. The pineapples have slowed considerably since I have this Christmas rush on quilt tops to complete. I'll probably be long arming most of tomorrow, but hope to get some Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade watching in because every year it gets missed with food preparations. 

I'm also trying to figure out where I'm going to relocate all the completed quilts/tops in waiting since Ben and Alisha stay in the room they are currently residing in. I don't like sunlight to touch the customer fabrics and may have to pull the blinds in the studio to move them to the sewing table and onto the long arm bed. I'll think about that today while I'm on the road with mom. 

Well Hello Thar!

It's been over a week, but since mom seems to be on the mend somewhat, I'm free to work in here a few days this week. Today is one of those days. I did manage to get a little quilting in here and there throughout the week but not enough to really report on a daily basis.

The Heart top is quilted and being picked up today. What. A. Mess!

Getting things straight

I did get some good news while mom was convalescing; Pieces of Thyme got their occupancy permit and were moving on Sunday. This was a great opportunity for Jim to deal with mom issues because I needed a break. Here are a few photos of all of the fabric and shelves we painstakingly moved. 

The shelves starting to come in

Yummy fabric!

The day started out well enough, but then Mother Nature decided to intervene and throw some rain at us. At that point, we were just hustling to get all the fabric in the new store before we got thoroughly drenched. I wish I could assist in setting up the new shop but I'm so buried here. 

Here's what I'm working on this morning...

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

This is a panel Diane said "No Hurries" to, but obviously it needs to be done for the holidays. We finally have some sunshine in our day and no appointments outside the house, just one drop off and one pick up here is all. 

Cramming

I feel a little like it's exam week where cramming for finals is a large part of college life. Cramming for Christmas quilts is kind of the same thing. Today Jim is downstate hunting and I don't expect him home until later tonight. I need to get as much done in here that I can because I have a week of ridiculousness coming up; moms surgery tomorrow, dentist/mom Wednesday, vet/mom Thursday, and then it's Friday already.

I have a  couple of customer quilts to prep and repair before they are able to get on the long arm and will work on those while the currently loaded top is stitching out. But people, honestly? 

The amount of batt given to me on each side

If this pieces shifts AT ALL, I'm going to be in trouble. I had to select a rather angular motif JUST for that reason...less shifting while quilting. I even put on my glide foot to make sure it stayed put while being worked. 

And away we go!!!!! 😄

What Happened to Saturday?

I thought today was Saturday because we were so busy yesterday getting groceries, yarn (for something to do at moms while she's convalescing) and flannel fabric for a new pair of PJ pants for Jim. 

I was going to "whip" those pants out toot sweet, but if any of you know me at all...I DON'T SEW! And now I remember why. It took the entire football game to get these pants made for this guy. 

Looks easy enough, right?

I had to do something "quilty" after these were completed. It was already 8:00 so long arming wasn't in the cards. I found a new drawstring bag pattern that was not so labor intensive as the ones I've previously made and thought I would try that. I needed to make a new bag for Lilo's foot pedal and power cords and this would be the perfect opportunity to try out the new pattern.

New drawstring bag

Love, love, love it! Easy. Fast. Had it done in under an hour and that included finding/pressing/cutting and prepping fabrics. I'd like to start making these larger to put client quilts in when they're finished, but I need to devise a newer client tracking system to know who I've given one to. Maybe that can be a New Years Resolution?

Meanwhile, the bag was supposed to be my small project Sunday project. Now what? I have this on the frame to quilt...

What's on the frame today

But, I worked last Sunday and felt like I didn't get the battery recharge I need to have my head in the game for the rest of the week. BUT, next week is pretty much a long arming wash since I'll be at moms most of the week helping her post surgery. BUT, I'm not feeling like I want to listen to DW today. The weather is poopy. I'm not really that energetic, and quite honestly, don't want to half ass myself into customer quilts. Hmmm....????

Post Veterans Day

I saw this yesterday on my IG feed after I had already blogged and ya know what? I think I have to make an art quilt with this one.  

So Moving!

Cruising along on Stephanie's top with about the half-way point reached before shutting down for the night. 12 hours into it so far but it's looking pretty cool...

So much work. So worth it!

I'll try to get a pic of the whole thing when I finish. However, two customer visits are scheduled for today. One at 9:30 (originally set for 9:00 but she's running late) and another at noon, and it depends on what we discuss on how much quilting I'll actually get done at least this morning.

No pineapples yesterday because I long armed until about 8:00 last night. I was too tired to do much else and I needed to get some admin stuff taken care of before I could even think about having any of my own fabric fun. 

Happy Veterans Day to all my Fellow Veterans

I take my military experience pretty serious. I grew up (a little) being in the service. I relinquished all prejudices I may have had (although I don't think I really had all that many), I was honored to have achieved the promotions and commendations I received. And most recently, the recipient of a Quilt of Valor. Remember the sacrifices your service members put forth so that YOU can live a safer life. 

Yesterday was a testament to the hard work I further learned (because farming is pretty hard work as well) in my formative early 20's while in the military. Two baby quilts done in the morning. A large queen loaded in the afternoon and I'm already into the blocks after setting in the border last night. 

Jill's baby quilt

Penny's baby quilt

Border detail

Stephanie's top I'm working today 

This is a pretty intense top to work so it will probably be on the frame a couple of days. Jim is on-call this weekend so we aren't planning on going anywhere too far and should be able to concentrate on this one fairly easily. 

And, I. AM. MAJORLY. BUMMED! I'm going to join the Quirky Quilters Quilt Guild and their meeting is next Tuesday...moms surgery day. And chances of her staying overnight in the hospital is pretty slim, meaning I won't be able to sneak away and attend the meeting. The chance of weather holding out another month is probably pretty slim since we've been playing nice-weather-roulette over the last few weeks. 

What Happened?

I wasn't expecting anybody yesterday and was I completely out of the ball park on that one. Customers one and two dropped off one top each. Fed Ex came and delivered my new long arm bobbins. Customers three and four picked up a quilt, yet, and even though I had to work late, got Diane's first top complete!

Here's what's on the frame this morning...

An Urgent Project

This and another top are pushing all the others a little in that they need to be done quickly. With moms upcoming surgery, I can't afford to miss deadlines with customers, so these two that came in yesterday are going to quickly get the long arming done. They both need binding attached (two of the three I'll actually bind for), so I need to get them stitched out to be able to work on them later. 

While this is stitching out I'll be working on another customers table toppers on the domestic machine. And making binding. And babysitting Hazel who doesn't seem to be feeling all that well this morning. 

I Wasn't Going to Blog Today

Because the past two days have been filled with long arming the same top (for way too long now) and spending time with family, I wasn't going to blog today. 

I worked almost eight hours on Sunday. Yesterday was an early start and non-stop until well after Jim came home from work. It was a beautiful weather day yesterday; perfect for shopping downtown Midland and visiting the tridge. 

The Tridge in downtown Midland

Despite being nearly right on Material Marts doorstep, the shopping activities of my mother and my brother were time prohibitive for stopping in to this rarely visited quilt shop. 😞

Today will be spent trying to get Diane's flannel top done. I have no scheduled client visits and even though it is moms birthday today, we celebrated yesterday and she's spending the day with all her art friends today, so that's not even a consideration.

By the time Jim and I finished yard work last night (still trying to get all the summer things put away for the winter), I was not in a long arming frame of mind. I put two pineapple blocks together bringing my total to 21 thus far. Only 60 more to go. 

Good Sunny Sunday Morning

These time changes are horrible. We've already gotten so much done this morning and it's not even 10:00...on a Sunday no less. 

Because I have to attend a pre-op appointment with my mom tomorrow for her hip replacement surgery the following week, I will not be in the studio at all tomorrow. This means I have to work today. 

I started working yesterday and then I had customers come to drop off. By the time they left it was lunch time and I had errands to run and after errands were finished, an art thing to attend to support mom and her art league. I never got home until it was almost dark. No more long arming yesterday.

But I did manage to at least get the borders set in and some of the HST's started before the customers came...

Bead board in the borders

This isn't a huge quilt, but it is very detailed (see previous day) and will require considerable time for feet and ruler changes, as well as a few thread changes throughout. It probably won't get finished today, but I'm hoping to make some good headway on it at least so I can go to moms appointment without feeling so stressed. 

One of the errands I did accomplish yesterday was stopping by Pieces to pick up a few fat quarters for the light parts of the pineapple blocks. The owner of the shop couldn't believe I had just came in when I did because they were just talking about me. 

She received GIANT (like wide-backed size) Dream Big panels in one of her latest shipments and wants me to do some custom work in one to hang in the new shop. That, my friends, will be a fun (fun, fun, fun) project! I almost want to load it next but know I have "needs by Christmas" tops that take precedence. 

Lunch at 2:30 Yesterday

😄This is my face after yesterday's revolving door. Nine new tops came in and I'm unable to see the top of the bed in the "waiting" room. The kids were thinking about coming up this weekend and I kinda expressed my concern with having move all of these tops into the studio before they could even sleep. They passed on the visit knowing they'll be up in a couple of weeks for Thanksgiving (weather dependent).  

I would no sooner get the needle down into the quilt I was working on and another set of ladies would come to visit and either pick up and/or drop off. A few of them brought friends and they gave me tops to do. It was nice meeting Cathie and Monica for the first time and it was wonderful seeing their new piecing styles. I am so excited to get into these in the upcoming weeks.

Sorry to be so wordy this morning, but I'm feeling so honored to be able to work from home and enjoy all the ladies (and any men that come along) with their stories, their tops, and their passions. I do live the dream...TRULY!

Today I'll be working on this flannel piece until another customer comes at noon-ish to drop off another set of tops. 

Diane's snuggly flannel top

I've already basted this in and have drawn the design(s) onto the iPad so I'm way ahead of the game in not having to stand there and read the quilt top for what I need to do today.

Along with the several customers in and out yesterday I had several deliveries as well. The Dream Orient arrived and am excited one of the customers wants bamboo into her quilt. It's a wonderful batting to quilt and wow, does it drape so nicely. It's my personal favorite right behind that wool I so love. 

Customer Pick Up Day

Three customer pick ups yesterday totaling five quilts. Two more pick ups this morning and just got a call for one more drop off. I have another drop off tomorrow morning so it seems like two steps forward and all that jazz.

Will be working on Becky's (well, her mom really) top this morning until people begin to arrive. I've almost reached the half-way point and may (big may there) get this one done today.

Here's some of the quilting detail going in...

Making windows into the world

Despite all the long arming I'm doing, I cut off standing in front of the machine after six to eight hours (my back tells me when enough is enough) and switch to other things. Yesterday was sit-down quilting another customers' table toppers. Two were done yesterday with two more yet to go. 

Once those were done I actually got the two unfinished pineapple blocks completed and another two sets cut out and pieced together. And, to add to all that, another two sets cut for today. 

Today is going to be much of the same as yesterday except instead of three customers here, I'll have four plus. Time to get to work!

Early Start Today

A pick up at 9:30 this morning so I had to get right on the chores first thing and then another pick up at 10:00 so no time to dally.

Here's what we (finally) got on the frame this morning...

Not a great pic with the sun shining in this morning

Thank you to Jill and Penny for helping me figure out what to put into those absolutely adorable panel pieces!

A little slower afternoon in store so I'll work on the top above and maybe get some pineapple blocks done. I did get two started late yesterday, but ran out of steam and didn't get them nearly finished. 

I also have to order more brochures as Pieces said they were running low...and they're having their moving sale this weekend so I'm sure they may need more. Jim will be dropping off a batch to them later today (if he hasn't already and isn't he a doll for doing that for me?) but I'm down to the dregs and need to get some more on order. 

At Home Business

I've been wanting to open a brick and mortar for some time now. A presence downtown with easier access for customers. And to let my family know I really do have a job and I really do work every day possible. However, the disadvantages far (far, far) outweigh the advantages and so I'll keep on keeping on here, looking over my "lake" and watching the wildlife as I put needle and thread through fabric. 

Mom stopped by yesterday. It turned into an almost five hour visit. No quilting while she's here; she can't handle the noise from the machine. I had five text threads going at once in the morning hours, so not much progress in the morning either. I did work until after 8:00 last night to make up for some of the lost time.

Here's some quilting detail going into Lois' third top...

Love how the feathers soften the sharp angles

And if a customer calls and wants the quilt done by Christmas, well...

All the quilt tops sitting in wait

I only opened the blinds to get more light for the photo. Don't panic everybody, your quilt tops are safe and don't see any light while in the "waiting room".

Lois wants to pick up all three of her quilts tomorrow morning first thing, so I'll be on the long arm for as long as I need to get finished. I may be long arming well into the evening to make it happen.

Because customers are a priority, no pineapple blocks happened yesterday. 

It's November Already?

Last years holiday season seems like just a few weeks ago, and here we are, back to it again. 

Here's what's on the frame today...

Such a clean and non-imposing quilt design

I started long arming this yesterday [late] afternoon but sometimes you just don't have good long arming days and it was apparent all the days' interruptions were the result of just shutting the machine down after a few blocks. 

My Cotton Cuts BOM showed up in the mail so I pieced those (there were two this month), and then moved along to two more pineapple blocks.

Long arming most of today. The sun is shining here and the frost we received last night is sparkling in its rays. What a beautiful setting for me to spend the day with DW!