Cranking Thursday

Despite having two sets of customers come for pick-ups yesterday, I was able to get Marcia's first quilt done. And her second one. And then a third loaded and started.

Beth G.'s Giant Linear Circle...the third project

Marcia's second quilt top

A little quilting detail

And more detail

And what is this?

This is me having to pin an extra leader on to the bottom because there wasn't enough backing fabric provided to finish the top. This takes extra time, pin sticks, and a whole lot of frustration. But, it was handled and I was off and running after a half hour or so. 

Although, if I could ask one thing of my customers; make sure there is plenty of backing fabric all around. So much extra time is taken to have to pin leaders to the sides/bottom when enough backing isn't provided. Especially if the piece requires ruler work. My ruler base takes an extra six inches on the sides without having to bang into my side clamps. 

Oh, and another wish. Measure. Those. Borders! Just slapping them on is going to cause ruffles/ripples when it's long armed and trying to get away with doing it will catch up to you. 

Sun=Cleaning

What is it about the sunshine that makes me want to clean? And, cleaning ranks right up there with getting my teeth worked on...so not very high. But there's something about the sun shining that makes me want to make things nice I guess. But, I'm going to resist the urge. 😇

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

Marcia's First Top

This is one of two for Marcia and while it's simple in structure, it's comforting as well. 

I hope to hop over to Pieces later today but that will be totally customer dependent. I have two coming today at various times to pick up so I can't slink away until they've both arrived. Pieces is having their "official" grand opening this weekend and I need to see what's new since I haven't been over there in over a month!

And what's with this photo problem I'm having? That's why the blog is so late. Had to restart the Mac, fiddle with the new phone, and I'm still having Google Photo problems. 

Getting Ready

We have the three (of the six) grandkids coming up this weekend. I'm not sure their idea of good cereal is the boring stuff grandma and grandpa eat. And we haven't bought bread since September. Foods high in fat (peanut butter, cheese, etc) do not exist in this house. So, we have to run to Midland tonight to get groceries.

Meanwhile, I have all day today to work (dogs dependent). Here's what's on the frame this morning...

Donna's Baby Woodland Creatures

I just spent 20 minutes trying to get this pic into the blog. Not sure what's going on with my photos, but I have a hunch it has something to do with the new phone. Still working on it.

Lucy's Social Schedule

It's pretty bad when the 13 week-old pup has a better social life than me. She has a groom today at noon and a vet appointment at 4:00. The groom is to introduce her to the grooming noises/process (since she will be getting groomed throughout her life) and the vet visit is for her final puppy boosters.  

Meanwhile, back at the lake, here's what's on the frame this morning...

Kathy's Ribbon top for her granddaughter

This, of course, is one of those hurry-up tops in the queue. The ribbons are being ditched with invisible thread, which is a fun little beast to deal with in of itself. Especially on the long arm. Here's some of the detail of the quilt I finished yesterday...

Some quilting detail

And what's this thing?

What the heck?

This is an echo foot. This particular one is for echoing exactly 1/2" around what I want to echo. It came in very handy for all the work around Ila's quilt and thank you Handi Quilter for coming up with these!

I'm going to be slipping bits and pieces of Kathy's quilt into Lucy's social schedule today and hopefully get it done tonight after Jim returns home from work. 

I'm One Person

And I only have the same amount of hours in a day as the next person. I'm not a machine and can not run 24 hours. Not to mention, I'm an artist and rushing art is not cool.  

Had another inquiry this weekend about rushing a (another) job. Due by the middle of May. I already have three with similar deadlines, so my "regular" tops keep getting pushed. I'm having a problem doing that. Yet, I want to make everybody happy.

Here's our newest grandson: Zechariah Immanuel DeGroot. 

He's a chunk!

Welcome to the world little man!

The temps are supposed to get cold again, so no outside work will be forthcoming. We did enough this weekend for a month I think. Now I can concentrate on these quick deadlines and get some progress made. Isn't it sad that my new grandson doesn't have a quilt made for him because I just don't have the time to do one?

No Studio Work Yesterday

Over 80 degrees with sun and a light breeze. Time for the invisible dog fence to get installed. What. A. Job!We started before 10:00 and didn't finish until nearly 7:00 last night and only took a little over an hour for lunch. We are sunburned. Sore. Blistered. But the wire is all in. Jim is installing the garage components this morning while I clean the house. 

Here's what's on the frame today (for tomorrow)...

Ila's challenge piece 

While this is a small-ish top, it's going to take some time to quilt since she has a specific way she wants it quilted; and it's not the easiest of ways. 

I think, if Jim gets the electrical portion of the fencing installed, we may have to run to West Branch, or Midland, to pick up supplies. Lucy needs a collar for the fence (we only have one for Hazel) and we need a few groceries. 

Waking Up

The flowers and all the bugs are waking up with the warmer temps yesterday. I prefer the cold over the bugs. Definitely.

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

Jills second top

This was started last night after I finished the first baby quilt. Here's some of what's going into it...

A little of the quilting detail

Depending on how the girls are I hope to have this finished today. They were NOT cooperative yesterday and required a lot of outside time to expend their high energy. 

Everybody is Busy

We have landscaping going on to our north, we have a complete property renovation going on to our south, and DW was on for 10 hours yesterday without even a lunch break. 

This is this mornings project...

Jill's cute baby quilt

Requested "barns and tractors"

Going into this quilt

After stitching out the barns and tractors, I decided there was too much negative space between each row and placed some cows into the areas that were lacking. I hope Janice likes what I did. 

Jill's little baby quilt (above) was actually started last evening, but I hit a wall and called it a night half-way through. 

Got the new phone set up. Thought my music library transferred okay. NOPE!!!! Apparently, Apple is only recognizing the songs I've actually purchased and not the ones transferred from CD's years ago. UGH!

Seven New Tops

Between the (new) guild and a customer this morning, I have seven new tops to work. While I was waiting for Janes top to dry (from the markings) and while waiting for Hazel to get picked up from the groomers, I was able to finish my "Summer" banner... 

Is it ever going to get here?

It was fun driving along Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron yesterday afternoon heading up to Oscoda. Fun, but kind of lonely since the summer folks haven't arrived yet. It was spitting snow at me on the way there so it's no wonder the places haven't opened yet. 

I have a new retreat I'll be attending in May. So excited! Meanwhile, Janice's backing is being washed and I'll load that on today and get it started since it has an immediate deadline.

I also noticed on my log that I have a couple of needs-by-the-end-of-April tops I'm going to have to slip in after Janices is done. Whew! When it rains and all that happy jazz. 

Lucy Loves Sunbeams

The sun peeked out briefly yesterday and Lucy took advantage of it while I was eating lunch... 

I think I'm part cat

Janes quilt is done but I have to remove it from the frame, remove the marks, and get it trimmed up for her. She'll be by tomorrow to pick all three up. 

Hazel had a groom appointment this morning and after I go get her (around 1-1:30), I'm heading north to Oscoda to the Quirky Quilters Quilt Guild for my first meeting. So excited. I also have two quilts to take up with me that are done and a few more tops to pick up while I'm there. Which is probably a good thing I'm not quilting today because the winds (once again) are nasty. 

Snowy Day?

Apparently it's supposed to snow all day today? This is spring, right? Ah well, a good day to quilt. 

Customers are expected today sometime to pick up. Here's some of what I have into Janes quilt...

Janes third top

Here is as far as I got with my summer banner...

Summer!?

I have three of the letters stitched down. Three more to do tonight after long arming. 

Small Project Saturday AND Sunday. Oh, and Hoppy Easter!

Since we spent most of yesterday morning doing haircuts and playing in Midland with Mom, long arming yesterday afternoon wasn't in the cards. I did want to do something in the studio while the huge lunch we had still had me full. This is what I made last night...

Spring!

While there are trees still bare in the background and a light dusting of snow on the ground, it's hard to fathom it's already spring. 

I'm hoping to make a summer banner today, but the weather is clear (although very cold) and we need to start doing outside work. Jim is going to try to move Rosie out of the lake since her pontoon(s) are leaking and get her up to the barn. I think we have her sold so he needs to get the boat out with the hard ground this morning. I'm not sure if he's going to need my help???

Happy Easter everyone!

A Day With Mom and Jim

Our anniversary was Wednesday, but we never really did much. Today we're going into "the big town" and have a nice lunch and do some shopping. It's the longest we've ever left Lucy since we got her over a month ago. Jim is out wearing the girls out now.

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

Jane B.'s Spring Top

I've already started setting in borders and ditching what I could. Depending on when we return later, I may get some more done yet today. But, I'm not counting on it. 

Some Project Just Take Longer

The detail and painstakingly slow process to do a custom t-shirt quilt can almost guarantee a longer time to finish. Here's some (more) detail going into Paula's quilt...

WOW!

The result is going to be spectacular. I just hope her grand kiddo appreciates all the work that's going into this quilt.

High winds have also caused some delay in the quilting. The dogs are unsettled and won't allow me much quilt time during yesterday and today. 

On another note...my iPad ate my iTunes personal library. This morning I tried to copy it back off the Mac and instead ended up deleting it from there too! Now the only copy I have is on my phone, which I'm hesitant to mess with. Looks like I'll be rebuilding the library from my base files. UGH!

Is it Already Thursday?

These weeks are flying by at a pace that makes my head almost spin. Lucy has been with us a month already and it seems like we just got her. 37 years for Jim and I and it seems like the kids were just...well...kids.  

I got a lot of long arming in yesterday morning, but not so much yesterday afternoon until Jim got home. I'm almost at the half-way point on the t-shirt quilt. Here's a little of what's going into some of the blocks...

Better than a meander in my book!

I'll continue on with this as much as I can today. Again, hit and miss in the daytime with the dogs. 

Happy 37th Anniversary

Jim and I celebrate 37 years today. That's more than 2/3rds of my life. I can't imagine my life without him! And, while I'm thinking about it, Lucy has been with us a whole month as of today. WOW!

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

Paula's t-shirt top

This isn't the usual (meander please) quilting request on this one; each block will be custom quilted and the sashings/borders will hold the unity.

Here's a little bit of what I put into yesterdays quilt...

Janes Table Topper 

I'll be working the t-shirt quilt as long as I can before storms later this afternoon head our way. Lightning and long arms do not mix. Not sure what I'll do when I can't long arm...maybe get some sit-down sewing in? But do I want to risk my sewing machines? Probably not. Hmmm??? Something to think about while working this morning. 

A Spring Morning

It's hard to stay in the studio and work when the sun is (finally) shining and the temps are starting to warm. I noticed the frogs starting to sing yesterday after a booming thunderstorm came through yesterday morning. But I have a customer coming to pick up today, discuss another top she left and has changed her direction with it, and another pick up (possibly) later. 

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

Jane B.'s table topper

See all that sun?

Here's some more detail of what went into Janes last quilt...

Some more quilting detail

The dogs don't seem very cooperative this morning so I have already taken them out for a quick run to maybe settle them down a bit. I think they want to enjoy the spring weather as well. 

Mixed Up

I said on my Thursday post that we needed to go downstate tomorrow . I thought Thursday was Friday. Oops. We actually spent yesterday on the road doing a plethora of errands and enjoying family at our grandsons 2nd birthday party. 

On Friday night, this was put onto the frame...

Jane B.'s beautiful top

I've already started putting the first border in and will continue tomorrow. Sunday (reminder) is a non-customer quilting day. 

First border in

One of the stops we had to hit yesterday was to Gall Sewing. I needed to return a cone of thread and a bobbin that was left on/in DW last time he went down for service. Jason was not there but I did talk to Virginia about some new leaders for DW and the purchase of the second long arm. She wasn't aware of anything Jason and I had discussed so we'll leave that for another day. I did get two additional marking tools while we were there. 

The weather today is gorgeous and Jim and I (after picking up the girls and going to pancake breakfast with Luann and Everett) have spent the remainder of the day cleaning up flower beds and getting ready for spring. We were going to move one of our little trees into a new area in the yard, but found the ground where the tree is located still frozen. That too, will be left for another day.

Piecing? What's That?

Because the girls were pretty sedate yesterday, I was able to long arm a full eight hours and had some time left in the day to actually put together my latest Cotton Cuts BOM...

Month #9

While I was on the phone yesterday afternoon with a customer, I rolled the quilt forward on the frame I'm currently working and noticed this...

Hmmm????

Well, after further inspection, realized there was a large amount of stiffness and perhaps some glue(?) holding this seam together. 

I'll ditch what I can, but there is a slight possibility this part of the bead board won't get quilted. I'm not going to risk (again) throwing my machine out of time. It's too costly and puts me behind another 2-4 days. 

I understand having to repair tops. I have done the same in the past. But I hope anybody who looks at this quilt later is told what the situation is on why the quilting isn't consistent (if that's what it comes down to). 

Music

I listen to music (mostly) in the studio every day when I'm working. I almost can't quilt without it. But there is other music in my life; music just as sweet to my ears. The hum of the long arm, the birds singing outside the studio windows, the geese coming back and resting on the lake in their travels, or the sound of Jim's ring tone when he texts me to tell me he'll be home for lunch today. 

When did you last listen to the music surrounding you?

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

Onita's "cheater" top

And somebody commented on a recent IG post I had about showing the quilting I've put into the quilts on the previous day. I thought I was pretty good at that, but apparently I need to get better. Here's a little of what Donna's quilt received yesterday...

Got Feathers?

We have a birthday party to attend down in Lansing so there will be no quilting tomorrow. Unfortunately. I'll have to make up for it maybe Sunday? Just when I thought I was getting caught up I had three more tops come in this week so I need to keep at it full steam while I can. 

Little "Helper"

While I was trimming Donna's quilt last night, my little "helper" decided to join in. 

"I'm trying to nap Mom!"

I moved her three times and she kept returning to her spot. Jim had to rescue me from her persistence. 

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

Donna's second top

This is getting special border treatments, but an E2E on the main body inside. It's pouring outside making this a great day to work inside. Except, I have to wander next door to open up the house since it's also Orkin day. That'll be fun. 😡

Interesting Story

I don't like to bash those who are in the same industry as I am. Here's what's on the frame today...

Donna's Quilt

Notice I didn't say quilt top in the caption? About a quarter of this quilt is completed. And the previous long armer took over a year to get that far. I wasn't sure why since what she started putting into it isn't all that time consuming or difficult. 

Then Jim and I loaded it onto the frame and figured out why the previous quilter didn't want to work any further on it. Again, I'm not going to pass judgement, so we just fixed the issue(s) the previous quilter created and I'm on my way to successfully completing this for a very patient new client.

There is much more to the story than what I'm sharing here, but if you really want to learn all about how to select the correct long armer and how to deal with long armers that seem rather difficult, let me know. I'll share this story with you and you can make your own decisions. 

Meanwhile, I had planned on working on my Cotton Cuts BOM (that came in the mail last Friday) last night because the dogs seemed rather sleepy yesterday and actually let me long arm during the day, but it just wasn't to be. Maybe tonight? 

Spring Cleaning

I've started removing extraneous items from the studio. Slowly though. This is to prepare for what I hope will be a second long arm at the end of the summer. 

Jim and I had errands to do on Saturday morning. Customers were in and out in the early afternoon and then we basically vegged the remainder of the day. But Friday afternoon I was able to get past the half-way point on Ila's Picnic top and here is some [more] quilting...

More quilting detail

I'll work on this all day today. We have more snow coming down, so it's a peaceful Monday to work. If I could just convince Lucy of that I'd have it made!

A Quick Check-In

I have appointments all morning. The first one is out of the house, and the remaining appointments are here with customers. 

Here's some of what Ila's quilt is getting put into it...

Top, left corner

Along the top

This is so much fun to work on because I get to use motifs and rulers a normal bed quilt would not be getting put into it. This is going to take two more days to complete because of the intense planning. 

And a miracle solution of puppy accident removal: Vinegar, water, and baking soda. Gets most of the stain out of the first time and all of the smell!