No Internet This Morning

Which is why I'm blogging late today. Here's what's on the frame this morning... 

Ila's Picnic Top

I've already got it started since technology wasn't cooperating. I get to do some traditional quilting, some modern quilting, and some filler quilting all in one quilt. I'm having a blast!

While I was working away this morning around the studio, I noticed our beater pontoon is sinking. One of the pontoons, last week, sprung a leak and was filling with water, and now the other is doing the same. I think we're in the market for a new boat.

[Another] Ice Storm

And the lake is partially iced over as well. A great day to stay inside to quilt and play with dogs. 

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

Linda H.'s Barn Raising

This is a HUGE top and will take two days to complete. I'm driving a swirled feather edge to edge over it. I can't let the computer drive because once it's started, I like to keep it going. That's hard to do with a puppy running around.

And when was the last time I did sit-down quilting? I'm not even sure now that I think about it. 

Routine

Lucy and Hazel are getting along well and are getting into a routine, of sorts. This is allowing me to get a little long arming in during the day. Yet, I was in the studio last night until after 9:00...I think it was closer to 10 actually.

Speaking of the "girls", here they are all zonked out ready for bed last night after I finally came into the living room.

Zzzz

The puppy is getting bigger already and I can't imagine our lives without either one of these two.

Lucy at 9 weeks, 3 days old

Paulette's quilt will be finished today. I guess we have a bad storm coming tonight so I shouldn't have any customers stopping by tomorrow. I had one yesterday picking up, and another this morning dropping off; another grad t-shirt quilt. 

Well, the girls are settling down for their morning siesta so I better get to it. 

Keeping it Simple

Sometimes, a quilt top requires simple, yet custom work. This quilt is completely being done using my BFF ruler by Linda Hrshka from the Quilted Pineapple.  

Paulette's top is turning out very nice!

It's time consuming but the results are splendid when one looks at the overall effect it has on the quilt. It adds curves which softens the blocks up a bit.

I'll continue on with this all of today. I've had a few customer calls over the weekend I need to address (two of them on Sunday????) in between getting to work. The puppy seems to want to take her nap early this morning, so I'm going to have to take advantage of that. 

Winter's Back

The winds and snow outside are reminding us that it is, after all, only the end of March...not May. 

Despite puppy antics yesterday, and having a new customer drop off a top, I was able to finish Linda M.'s quilt. 

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

Paulettes quilt going to the Bay City show

I'm going to work on this as much as possible today. Since the weather outside isn't nice, it shouldn't be too hard. Jim is going to work out in his workshop while Lucy sleeps this morning. But Lucy is a trooper about the machine and all the noise that goes with it, and it doesn't seem to bother her at all. In fact, when I stop, she'll crack an eye at me to make sure I'm still in here with her. 

Where Did The Week Go?

I thought today was Thursday. Jim informed me last night that yesterday was Thursday. What??? 

Lindas quilt is still not finished. This could be one of the reasons why...

14 Thread Changes

This could be another reason why...

My short morning snooze while mom works

This usually only lasts about 45 minutes. At best. The last reason is probably because of my age. I'm not 25 any more and working past 9:00 is getting harder when you've been chasing dogs and messes all over the house/yard. 

Hopefully, maybe today, I'll get the quilt done. The north neighbors said something about coming up this weekend, but there's no sign of them yet. They'll want to go out to dinner this evening, which I don't really want to do. But we need to catch up with them since we haven't seen them in almost six weeks. 

And I have a new customer coming this morning sometime between now and 11:00. Which, of course, is the puppy nap time (work time), so I don't know if I'll get to fit any quilting in today because puppy naps in the afternoon rarely last longer than 20 minutes. 

The Lake Is Up!

Unfortunately, it's only temporary because the dams are still wide open. Here's what's really weird. The lake is only up about five feet. It's looking kinda scary (reminders of two years ago), but the reality is that the lake, when it does come up, needs to come up 18 feet. Not just five. We've adjusted to it being down like it is for almost two years now and when it rises a little bit, I get a little nervous. How am I going to be next year when it comes back to its original levels?  

The puppy is settling well. She and Hazel are still working out sharing issues with a few toys and getting her on a schedule is not as hard as I thought it would be, so that's a plus. 

Back to quilting...

Can you see the quilting?

Sometimes good quilting is quilting you can't see. This is a very (very) busy quilt. I love, love, love all the colors and am a huge fan of Laurel Burch's work. Even though I've never made one of her quilts. And because she puts so much detail into her fabric designs, enhancing her work is the best option within the quilting design.

This is at about the half-way point and if I can get Lucy to settle down for her morning nap I'll continue on  this morning as much as possible. More will get done tonight when Jim gets home from work. 

Show Quilt Season

More like rainy, show quilt season. Hazels paddock is a swimming pool. The lake has risen, despite the dam being wide open, and I have all the lights in the house on like it was evening because it's so dark outside. A great day to play with the dogs and to quilt. 

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

Linda's second show quilt

This one is getting A LOT of custom work so will take a few days with the puppy running around my legs; and everywhere else she's not supposed to be.

Since I'm working second shift in here, I'm not getting any time on the sit down machine work. But, that's okay. It's not like I'm on a deadline. It's supposed to be an enjoyable, not a stress-me-out project. 

Here's something disconcerting. I had a customer call last night about a quilt I did for her that was not my best work. At all. And she felt it wasn't either. Everything needs to be ripped out and I am going to have to redo the quilt. Which is fine. I'd rather have something she's proud of and happy to give as a gift rather than cringing every time she looks at it when she's visiting. 

I'm not perfect. Nobody is. And I'll be the first to say "Hey, let's make YOU happy and fix this." Just give me the chance to take care of it and see how things can improve. 

What I learned from that quilt is that a thick top (wool) and a thick batt (wool again) can get a little (actually a lot) weird. Things kept shifting and once getting to one end or the other, puckering occurred. I'm going to put a lower loft batt in the second go around to see if that helps. I just want to make it all better and get it right for her. 

Plenty of Activity with a Puppy

And I'm actually getting some quilting done. Fitting time in during her naps and after Jim gets home. Talk about cuteness overload!

Hazel in the background watching her every move

Here's some more detail going into Lindas cats...

A show-worthy quilt!

This IS actually going to the Midland show in April or May. Not sure exactly when it is but I know I have a mid-April deadline.

I'll finish this one up today (fingers crossed) and load the next show quilt. A customer has already came and went this morning and my house wasn't yet cleaned for the day (puppy detail and all that) so I need to do chores before I can dig in to anything. 

Happy 36th birthday to my eldest son! Seems like he was just a little guy reasoning with mom and dad why he couldn't do things. How the time flies!

Second Shift

Jim works during the day. He's on puppy detail in the afternoon/evening. I'm on puppy detail during the day. Although, Lucy and I are trying to come to an understanding this morning about long arming within her nap time.

Here's what I've been chipping away at for the past couple of days...

Not a very good pic of the beginning of Linda's top

This is an awful pic, but my phone is charging, the puppy has started to snooze and I don't dare go get it until she gets into a more restful sleep. 

I'll work on this more today and hopefully get it finished tonight once Jim gets home from work. 

Hazel and Lucy are starting to get along a little better. It's a work in progress. And, as always with a new pet, it takes time to settle in and establish boundaries/routines. 

Cutenesss Overload!

A new "boss" has arrived to our home. Her name is Lucy and she's a mini Golden Doodle. 

What a face!

Hazel isn't too sure about this bouncing ball of fluff. I hope they bond and become fast friends, which is the whole reason we got Lucy. 

On the quilting front, it's been lax. Not because I haven't wanted to quilt, but have had my hands full of potty training and keeping a very careful eye on the puppy. And puppy won't sleep unless she has skin-to-skin contact...meaning I can't put her down for even a nap without her being with me. It's hard to quilt with an arm full of fluff.

Jim and I talked about this last night and basically, he's going to have to be the dog dad after he gets home from work so I can actually work in here. We did a "trial" run of this last night and would have gotten more done had I not been running on fumes from lack of sleep the night before with puppy feet in my face, puppy dreams, and puppy wiggles. 

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

Bunny's large quilt gift

This is going to get an edge to edge today (or more like tonight) with a due date of the 20th. 

Customers coming today to pick up and drop off both. Have had a batting delivery today and the Ring keeps firing off as it seems we have a set of birds trying to make a nest on the light just to the right of the Ring. Can't have that so I'm out there every few hours to deter their nest making ambitions. 

Robins, Red Wing Blackbirds, and...Snow?

Seems like all the wildlife is returning, yet it's snowing to beat the band out there this morning. A new 1" already on the ground and still going. I hope the birds like frozen dinners.

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

Laura's beautiful Barn Raising

This will get an E2E with me driving doing feather and hook swirls. 

I have a customer coming later this morning to drop off. I have to get the spare bedroom emptied out for Jim to sleep so he can let our new pup out during the night. It's easier for him to go right back to sleep than it is for me. But we'll take shifts if we have to. 

Tomorrow is a lost day because we have to head to Ohio to pick up CiCi. Hazel is going over to Luann's later this afternoon to spend tonight and tomorrow night with her while we make the over 12 hour trip. I hate it when Hazel is gone during the evening. It's too quiet around here without her. 

Thursday should prove to be interesting. I'll have to run over and pick up Hazel first thing. Once we get home she will get to interact with CiCi for a bit and then I have to run to appointments. Not sure how I'm going to handle this. Meh...I'll cross that bridge when I to it I guess. Off to the long arm. 

Sunday Funday

More like relax day, but that's fun too. Spent the morning debating on whether to head to Lansing, which we did not do. Jim headed out to work on the Beller deck and I did these...

Six more blocks done yesterday

And who said long arm rulers were just for long arms?

This is my most often used long arm ruler

We spent the rest of the afternoon watching movies and eating junk food. And contacting a new doodle breeder about pups. In Ohio.

This is Cici (which is her current name...it may change). 

New addition coming soon!

This is Hazel when I told her we were getting her a new doggy...

What? A new friend?

Wednesday is the day we go get our new little girl. I don't know if Jim is going to go with me, but it's a five and a half hour drive...one way. The weather is supposed to be stellar and I feel like all the stars are aligning for this decision. Cici was born on the 14th of January. I was born on the 14th too. Hazel has a four in her birthday and after sleeping on this big decision, decided if she was still available this morning, she would be ours. 

Well, she is still available (other buyers concerned about the shipping costs), and so we are heading to the Buckeye state on Wednesday. I think I have a screw loose to add one more thing for me to do around here, but you only live once...so live it grand I guess. 

Was Not Supposed to be Here Today

Jim and I were supposed to go downstate today. For a variety of reasons we are forgoing the trip. The B's have been sick with the stomach flu. The weather is not very stellar. Jim isn't feeling the greatest. Gas is ridiculous in price. And my mom radar is telling us not to go. I'll have to mail the bridal shower gift tomorrow. 

Yesterday I bound four quilts. This one...

Jill's baby quilt

and the three others of Emilys. It took the whole basketball game for me to get the four of them done.

Today is going to be sit-down day. I need a day off of customer stuff and had already planned on not doing any "work" today anyway since we weren't going to be here. So, I'll play in the studio for me for a change.

Truly, I'm Here.

Just a reversal day where I do things in not the normal order. 

Here's what was on the frame yesterday...

Numbers 1 and 2

Here's Number three...

Already off the frame

Here's what went on after Emily's three...

Jill's baby top

So after running to Pieces this morning, and having our Sunday on Saturday (for lunch and a movie) I'm in the studio working now on binding for these four quilts. These are the two of three customers I'll actually bind for. Well...there's another one out there I'll bind for if she asks...but she doesn't often.

No sit down sewing for two days now and after working all these bindings, there may not be any tonight either. Tomorrow we have a wedding shower downstate to attend and since it's my actual day off, we'll take it. 

Happy Friday

Here's a little of what's going into the Tula top for Tina...

Feathers and Circles

This is what is on the frame this morning...

Little pieces for my little mama

These are two of three that need to be completed quickly since this customer is due for her baby in a month and I want to get them done for her beforehand. Once quilted, these will need to be bound. She doesn't know how to do that yet, nor does she have the time since the baby she's due for is #3.

I'll load her third table runner after lunch (hopefully). Expecting customers soon and since I haven't seen these two in a while, it'll probably be a longer-ish visit with them. 

Rush Jobs

I had a rush job come in late yesterday afternoon. It doesn't look like much at first, but then when we discussed what to put into the top, it's going to be an all day project today. Feathers. Circles. Ditching. Motif replication. The works. 

Tula fabrics

Virginias piece was completed in the late afternoon and this new rush job was immediately loaded. I've been designing it in my head, on the iPad, and with the customer so now it's time to get the thread in there. 

I finished three blocks on the sit-down last night. I had to construct the next 9-patch and get it layered and basted before I could move along. By that time it was already 8:30 and I was suddenly very ready to call it a night. 

No customers expected today so I can focus on the top above. 

Backing Struggles

When a back is this short on the sides, there's no way for me to even pin a temporary leader to it. This is one of those situations... 

Look at the upper left corner of the top

Once I basted everything down, I had less than a 1/4" to pin to and my machine is not going to risk possibly hitting one of those pins. I just got it retimed. 

People, please, for my sanity, give me a couple of inches on the sides. And at least four extra inches on the top/bottom of your backing. I can not tension correctly on the frame nor can I use any kind of rulers if I don't have any extra back. You're going to be stuck with edge-to-edge and I can not guarantee wrinkles and puckers won't occur on the back side since I can not tension. 

Okay...enough about that. Here's what's on the frame this morning...

Virginias painstakingly put together tiny nine patches

This top is going to be all ruler work. Notice the extra on the sides! Yay! Since there is so much to work ruler work on this it'll be on the frame at least one full day...probably two. 

I was able to sit-down quilt six blocks last night and my skills are starting to already coming back. I can see it in my backtracking and my line work. My sit-down machine and I were not getting along well to start with, but after rethreading we came to an understanding and all was well in the end.  

Productive Monday

Lindas quilt was finished and two more quilts hit the frame yesterday...

Sues Shop Hop Christmas

Monicas Christmas Trees

Isn't it funny that I'm doing Christmas quilts (received them in January so I'm not THAT far behind) in March. But with all that new snow outside, it kinda feels like Christmas. 

Monica's was just loaded and not started, but Sues was completed yesterday. I also got four more blocks done on my sit-down project so I'm at 18 now. I want to get ahead of the date about a month so this can be done before Christmas (again with the Christmas reference) this year. 

Will work Monica's quilt today. I'm not expecting any visitors/customers (had one actually come yesterday in that storm to pick hers up) so I should mosey along pretty well.

Happy Snowy Monday

We have a brand new five inches of snow on the ground and it's still coming down. It's so pretty since it's a wet, heavy snow so it's sticking to all the trees and bushes.  

No studio work yesterday. At all. Wind gusts up to 60 mph and that's too risky with the long arm. But Saturday I did end up working part of Linda's top and did some sit down sewing of my own. We did errands in the afternoon so the work day was shortened a bit. 

I'm hoping to finish Lindas top today and get another loaded/started hopefully before the day rounds out. 

A much different pic from my logo

Happy Saturday

Well, in my world every day is a Saturday. Or a Monday, depending on how the day is going. 😀

Sally's quilt was completed and this is what's on the frame this morning... 

Linda's SIL memory quilt-complete with pockets

I may or may not work this today. I'll see where the morning goes. Prior to loading this top I hopped on over the Pieces to get the fabric for my new (365) project. Once Linda's quilt was loaded (work before play), cutting began.

Here's kind of where I'm going with this...

New Project

I was nervous about starting this because I've gotten kind of rusty with my sit-down skills. And, I'm doing these dark colors in white thread! I mean, if I can put it on my long arm, I'm certainly going to, so sit-down skills have waned a bit. This is going to provide me with skill building, new motifs to put into customer quilts (because if I can do it on the sit-down, long arming is a piece of cake), and something other than building yet another quilt top I probably don't need to add to my already huge pile of flimsies. 

I took a deep breath and jumped right in once the first quadrant was pieced, backing was cut, batting was found, and the sandwich was made. Here's the first five blocks...

Just getting started

I'm not going to use JUST Leah Day's book. I have another book that Natalia Bonner published with another set of 365 blocks. The difference is free motion work (Leah) versus ruler work (Natalia).

Natalia's book

If I feel like I don't want to incorporate something from Leah's book, I'll put a motif in from Natalia's book. I've already installed the ruler foot onto my sit-down, so bouncing between the two isn't going to be a problem. I hope. I've never used rulers on the sit-down so this should be fun (or interesting, or absolutely maddening). 

New Things

New projects can be both exciting a little scary at the same time. Will I have enough fabric, thread, knowledge, etc.? Questions we all ask at some point. 

I don't have anything to piece right now since I completed my Cotton Cuts BOM last night. There is something I've wanted to do for some time now and I think this may be the right time to tackle another 365-type of project.

I worked on graph paper last night, did some calculations (math...eeek!), and did some coloring. I think I have the "rough" idea of where I need to go and will share as the project progresses. It's a self design, a needed skill enhancement, and a way to enjoy the studio at night after working all day on customer quilts.

Speaking of which, Debs quilt is done! Here's what's on the frame this morning...

Sally's wonderful star top

This is going to get a large swirl edge to edge in most of it. I'm going to do some echoing in the middle-most star but she didn't want a lot of custom and this is what she has instructed me to do. 

Now that I have an idea of what to do in my after hours, I need supplies to work on it. First, fabric! This is going to be a darker pallet of fabrics because the thread going into it will all be very light. During lunch I'll do some more calculating to see what I'm going to need and then I think a trip over to Pieces will follow. 

Same Quilt, Same Ear Thing

Yesterday was kind of productive...until my ear started filling up again and a killer headache set in. It was probably a good thing my new customer rescheduled for next week because it was about the time she would have arrived that I started going down hill.

Today is starting out the same as yesterday...sunny in the studio and Debs quilt still on the rack. Hopefully it will end better. 

We haven't seen Hazel in a while...so here she is before getting her hair cut on Wednesday. She loves dads chair. 

Floofy snoozy

Moseying Along

I'm having a little difficulty with my inner ears, causing a balance problem. Monday was the worst and I didn't even work in the studio. I tried. It wasn't successful. 

Yesterday was better and I made some headway on Debs quilt top. I'm past the half-way point and will continue to mosey along on it as much as possible. Here are the threads I'm putting into it...

Gotta love threads

While I was out playing ball with Hazel this morning, I heard, and then saw, a Robin. It's hard seeing them here with the snow on the ground, but apparently they know better than we do. 

New customer coming later this afternoon. More muddy weather in store today and then snow on top of it. Isn't spring great?