-3 This Morning

And the furnace just keeps on running. Wait until I open the other studio door, then it probably won't ever shut off. 

Started both Pat and Barbs second quilts yesterday. I tried to get a pic of Pats, and here it is...

The sun was a welcome addition

It's supposed to be mostly sunny today too. But it messes with the eyes. The thread I'm using is very blending so it's hard to see what/where I'm at while quilting this out. 

I didn't grab a pic of Barbs quilting so far. It was dark out and this next one is dark thread on dark fabric and the pics were not coming out at all. I'll continue to work two these through today. I've put on my warmest, fleece-lined leggings and my warmest fleece top to stay warm out there in the window-lined studio. BRRRR!

Happy Monday Morning

And what a beautiful view I have to work with all the new fallen snow. Here's what's on DW today...

Pats second quilt top

I still don't know what I'm going to put into this one. I went to sleep last night thinking about it and have come up with a few ideas.

Here's what's on Bernie this morning...

Barbs second of four

I do have an idea about what's going into this one. But things can change once I start laying down thread.

I did this block in the FGV2 top yesterday...

Watermelon and Fork

I have the next block cut out and ready to piece maybe later tonight. And, in case there's any interest, here's the new kitchen floor. 

Partially completed at this point

Happy Monday!

We Got Our Snow

About seven inches of the fluffy stuff. It's so pretty out there. This is my Farm Girl Vintage block for yesterday...

Pretty Tulips

I was able to get Pats first quilt off and then I loaded this...

What's going on here?

This ended up turning into this...

Dog slobber catcher for our new floor

Then I started frame ironing Pat and Barbs second back while cutting out for today's FGV2 block. 

Winter Storm Warning

We get these winter storm warnings and then nothing ever happens. We have one beginning at 7:00 tonight through tomorrow morning. We'll see. 

Pat and Barbs first quilts are done. They are still on the frames but now that we have hair cuts out of the way I can get those unloaded, trimmed, and billed and then re-load for Monday morning. I did get another FGV2 block done last night...

I'll quilt some bees in here when I long arm it

Bee happy quilting!

Self Care

Had to take some time out this morning to color my hair. It was looking pretty dull. 

Pat's quilt is not quite half done. But now that I know what I'm putting into it, it'll go quicker. Sometimes half the battle is trying to figure out a quilting plan and what each block/border/sashing strip should get. And they should be cohesive, not just some random pattern that doesn't work with the others.

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

Three borders/sashing strips to decide on 

Barbs blocks are all done. I just need to get the final borders completed and then I can load her second top. My visiting customers yesterday ended up rescheduling partly due to colds, partly due to the roads. I was looking forward to having some socialization this week, but this gave me ample time to throw down some thread. 

I cut out for the next FGV2 block but didn't have enough energy to get it together last night. Maybe tonight?

Threads Matter

The thread I was using in Terry's quilt yesterday was a Superior Thread. An Omni-V (V is for variegated). Superior threads have never disappointed me. Neither have Fil-Tec threads (Glide and Premosoft). For piecing I prefer Aurofil. But I've been told YLI makes a very nice piecing thread, so next time I send in a long arm thread order, I'm going to throw one of those into the order as well and give it a try.

Why do threads matter other than not having the headaches of pulling threads out that perform poorly? How about the lint factor? I see the lint build-up when I use a lesser quality thread in my long arm. I can only imagine what it does in a domestic machine. Breakage. Pulling off the spool. Lasting over the long run. Just a tip of the iceberg when choosing a thread. 

I'll stick to what works, what has less lint, what I know is long lasting, what is backed by company standards. 

Here's what's on DW this morning...

Pat's first of two

I've been planning this one out in my head since loading last night. I have so many things I want to do in here, but since it's going to be a utility quilt and she doesn't want heavy thread in there, I've had to check myself. 

Here is a little of what I put into Terry's quilt yesterday...

A nice hook swirl to soften the piece up a bit

I did get another row in on Barbs quilt last night (once again, while Jim was laying kitchen flooring), so only one more to go on her first quilt, and I managed to get another block done in FGV2...

Cute Zinnia

I have customers coming over sometime today to drop off and it's going to be hard to concentrate on quilting since the snow we received all of yesterday is so darn pretty. And the sun is occasionally showing itself making it all even prettier. 

Con Ed

Like anything one is passionate about, there is always continuous education, or learning that happens with the craft. Yesterday, while working on Terry's quilt, I found myself needing less and less markings to make what I was doing happen. Light bulb. It was like taking off the training wheels. 

I have a tendency to over mark things, which is good, because I don't miss my end points, but it takes a lot of time to get the marks laid down, and then to removing them is another time consuming task. I still watch a lot of videos, subscribe to many other long arm quilting blogs/IG's/YouTube channels so I try to learn every day, but nobody has eluded to marking an octagon. I can't imagine why. 

Here's what's on DW today...

Terry B's second quilt top

This is going to be getting an E2E treatment, but I'm driving. I'm using (once again) a weird thread, and I want to be in control this time in case we have any thread mishaps (like the QOV last week). 

I didn't get anything done on Bernie last night. Jim was laying more flooring in the kitchen (YAY) and I was in and out of there seeing if he needed help, cleaning under the stove (ewww), and the dogs were in a dither about all the noise. They kept circling in and out of the studio and getting under my feet.

I did manage to get a FGV2 block done though in between frame ironing Terry's back for today and helping Jim out...

Barn Kitty. She'll get eyes and whiskers when it's long armed. 

Here's where Lucy hangs out in the morning. She looks so delighted...

What a life

We are finally getting a little snow this morning and I'm not expecting any visitors today, so it should be a productive day despite my poor sleep last night. Hot flashes a-mundo. 

Tunes

I've probably talked about this before, but it's that important to me. Music. Jams. Tunes. Especially when I'm working in the studio. It just gets into my being; my whole soul. It depends on what I'm working on as to what I listen to. Country, jazz, rock, easy listening, classical, or a combination thereof. You can probably find me dancing a time or two in there too. 

Here's some quilting detail on Terry's quilt...

Terry's snowball quilt

I'm almost to the half-way point on this one. 

Here's some quilting detail on Barbs first quilt...

Diamond crosshatches

I'm going to "theme" each one of her four quilts. This one is diamonds. I'm not sure what I'll theme the others. I'll have to wait and see what they need once I get them loaded. But that won't be for a bit. It takes me about three hours to do one row on these. And since Bernie gets my evening time, I'm not as quick on him as I am DW. 

We have a tree (or two) being taken down across the lake at what we call the "Hurley's" house. That may be distracting today, but I'll try not to watch too much. 

SPS Continued...

...and my aspirations were met. Which is unusual. Oftentimes I'll get sidetracked and not complete what was spinning around in my head, but alas, a Spartan basketball game captured the husbands attention and I was able to more easily focus. 

Here's the Call Me Crazy block #3...

Number three

Here's the Farm Girl Vintage Block #2...

Pie anyone?

And the binding is on Jill's granddaughters quilt so I'll be calling her in just a few minutes to deliver the good news. 

After I finished the FGV block last night I cut out the next block for later today (this week) which is half the battle. Picking out the fabrics and then starching them takes as much time as the construction I think.

Terry's quilt is the main focus today with a little of Barbs quilt thrown in later tonight. If I don't get too wrapped up in that, maybe some FGV piecing. 

Small Project Sunday

I have three small-ish projects to do today. Normally, Sunday afternoon is lay around time, but we did that most of yesterday afternoon, so I've already got that covered. Today's projects include some binding, Call Me Crazy block #3, and another Farm Girl Vintage 2 block. 

I started on the Farm Girl Vintage 2 last night. Here's the pumpkin block I made...

Farm Girl Vintage 2...1st block

The pic is making it look a lot darker than it really is for some reason. Probably because it's very overcast and snowing this morning.

After we did lay around time, and before I dug into the FGV2, I put Terry's quilt on my iPad and started doodling in Sketches. I needed to find a cohesive way to move throughout the quilt without breaking a bunch of thread and to find motifs that I thought would work in the quilt. This provides me with a plan for Monday morning and I'm not struggling (and wasting work time) to get something that looks great. 

Here's what's on Bernie this weekend... 

All hand embroidered

I have four of these that are similar to do over the next month. These will take a lot of time and patience to complete; all that embroidery and the backfill behind it means slow free motion stitching and ruler work. 

Here's what's on DW for the next few days...

Terry's Dots and Snowballs

No long arming today (yet). We headed off to West Branch this morning to do a little grocery shopping. I'm going to sketch this Dots and Snowballs out on my iPad to see of I can come up with something cool. I have an idea but want to give it a "trial" quilting first.  

Part of the Job

So this is what I did all yesterday afternoon...

Pulling threads

This is the quilt these came out of...

Paulette's Quilt of Valor

I found some red, white, and blue thread in my thread drawer and thought it would look pretty good in here. I actually found two cones, but used the one that had the most thread on it. They were two different manufacturers. 

After doing a tension check (different weight) felt like it was okay to get the Prostitcher going. While it was stitching out, I fired up Bernie to work on Tina's quilt. Then I heard a weird noise and knew something was amiss with DW. 

Thread break. Tried again. Same thing. Changed needle. Same thing. Did a tension adjustment. Bad juju. And then I looked at the back of the quilt to see what (if anything) was happening there. What. A. Mess! The 20 minutes it stitched took me (and then Jim too after he got home) four hours to get out. 

I'm switching thread and starting over today. I was so over this quilt after pulling all those threads. I shut DW down and worked on Tina's quilt instead. I managed to get it done while Jim was watching his basketball game. I still have to offload and things that go with it, but Bernie will get a new quilt top later today. Maybe the new thread I've selected will work better today. Here's crossing our fingers (and toes). 

Barnyard Animal Day

Here's what's on DW this morning...

Adorable Goats!

This is Paulettes third of four. 

Here's what's on Bernie this morning...

Tina's Shop Sample

All these animals are so darn cute. The goats are receiving an undulated wave treatment and the farm animals are receiving a variety of treatments depending on their "coats". 

Here's some quilting detail of one of Paulette's quilts from the past two days. 

Sorry for the sideways pic

I quilted each of them differently (too boring to do otherwise), and this is number two. A bleary weather day so another great day to spend in the studio. 

Happy 1st Birthday Lucy

Lucy turns one today! I can't believe she's already that old. She's still a [small] puppy to us but time marches on.

Here's what's on DW today...

Not the same, but it is the same

Paulette did two duplicate tops. Well, same pattern, different fabric placement. This is number two. Number one was finished yesterday. 

Here's Terry's quilt all done and drying...

Vrooommmm....

I love/hate Harley's. I love their muscle, their looks, they're made in the U.S. But I don't like their noise. I'm super sensitive to loud noises and most Harley's are very (very) loud. 

Bernie isn't reloaded yet. I'm debating on what needs to go on next because I had seven quilts come in on the same day and I'm deciding who needs channel locks/larger throat and who I can be a little more free with. 

Meanwhile, my 1:00 just postponed and so I'm free all day to play, which is good because it's rather gloomy out there. 

Is this March?

This weather is weird. I'm glad it's mild because work on our dam can be accomplished. But seriously, the mud the girls are dragging in is about to make me pull what hair I have out. 

Terry's quilt is still on Bernie. These panel quilts require a lot of starts/stops and slow detail work so it's taking me a while to get it finished. 

Here's what's on DW today...

Paulettes first of four (I think)

I'll be mixing in Paulettes quilts amongst the others. She's not in any hurry and she gives me nearly full rein on them. Jill's quilt is quilted, but I still have a lot of work to do on it. Trimming, making the binding and then binding it.

Did I tell you I got a new phone too? The Arizona number is now my work phone. It's strictly for work. And, it will be shut off after 4:00 every day and not turned on again until 10:00 the next morning. Since we've gotten the new phone, I've received six calls/texts out of normal business hours identifying this was the right move. It's only been four days. 

I wasn't getting any quilting done with the constant out-of-business-hour interruptions. Everybody is important to me, but my main goal is to quilt the quilts, right? When an artist is in their Zen place, interruptions are like a pick ax hitting a chunk of clay. You can put the clay back together, but some of the littler chunks are missing and it doesn't go back quite the same way. My head is that clay. 😆

Passwords

When you get a new phone, or device, or change something on your account, a password is usually required. I tried to change my email password last night and it kept telling me to choose something different because it was too close to previous passwords. How do you keep them all straight? Geesh!

Here's what I worked on this weekend...

Call Me Crazy Blocks 1 and 2

I'm going to do the main (focus) block in black and white and the remaining blocks in a different color way for each block. I'm planning on sashing these and there will be two borders around the whole thing, so I'm only going to need to make one (plus six more) of each block each week to get a 7 x 8 layout. 

I tidied up the studio yesterday and fiddled with our new Verizon account for a while but that's about all we did. Jim and I have been running pretty fast lately and we needed to movie-veg for a while. 

Forgot to Blog this Morning

Because we were off and running first thing. First stop, the UPS store to get Mary's quilt on its way. We were supposed to do that last night, but we ended up at the Verizon store for a new phone for Jim. That took WAY longer than we anticipated.

Second stop was to Pieces of Thyme for a Dream Bigger panel for a quilt my brother commissioned me to make/quilt for his "step-daughters" wedding this coming summer. Once we got home it was nearly lunch time and then Jim went into the bathroom upstairs to continue laying flooring. I started on my "Call Me Crazy" paper pieced blocks. Week two came through and I hadn't even started week one yet. 

Here's what's on DW today...

Jill's granddaughters birthday quilt

This will be getting an edge-to-edge on Monday. I'm going to drive. DW is acting odd and I'd be more comfortable doing the driving this time around until he goes down this spring for his spa day.

Here's what's on Bernie today...

Terry's Wall Hanging for her husband

I've already started on this one. Did all the ditching and started putting in the word/motorcycle detail. 

Before I can load a quilt (which I spent most of yesterday doing), these things need to be done to the machines:

Cleaning all the gunk off the trolley rails

Changing and aligning the needles

Cleaning the gunk off the rail wheels

And I also dust the machines and the long arm beds. I also vacuum under and around the floor of the machines. I feel like people often think you just throw the layers on the machine and then go. There's a lot more to quilting than just that...as you can see. 

Oh, and my long arm log is up to date. In 10 years I've quilted over three million square inches of quilts. 

Stipple versus All Over

I detest stippling. It's actually one of the hardest edge-to-edge designs to do, which I CAN do but I'm puzzled why beginners are told to start there. And...I don't think it does much for the quilt. To me, it makes it look old. Did you know I charge the same for All Over designs that would be much more esthetically pleasing? Swirls, loops with flowers (or stars, or clovers), wandering flowers, wandering feathers, waves, waves with fillers, etc. They are all the same price. PLEASE do not make me do a stipple. 

Mary and Terry's quilts are done. I was in the studio until almost 9:00 finishing Terry's so I did not get to updating the long arm log like I'd hoped. Mary's quilt is off the frame and ready to pack up and send out to its new home. Terry's is still on the frame. That's first up on the list today. 

What happens when a border does this?

This is a problem

You gently guide it back into place as much as you possibly can. But there's only so much I can do; I still haven't received my magic wand in the mail. 

Fighting with me to straighten out

Loading two new tops today (Terry's second and Jills 'rush' top). Pics tomorrow since the one machine is still occupied. 

Bookkeeping

I closed out my books last night for 2022. Many things to consider if wanting to own a small business is the many hats one wears. I'm used to this as a previous farm girl, teacher, etc. so it's not a problem for me. It just takes time away from whatever it is you'd rather be doing. 

Here's some interesting statistics from 2022: I quilted 155 quilts and put over 6 million stitches on the machine. I haven't figured the square inches I've quilted yet...that's tonights bookkeeping task. 

Did I mention I got new anti-fatigue mats for the studio? The puzzle pieces were causing me some serious stumble issues and I knew, given my lack of grace, it would just be a matter of time before I fell. Here's the new mats in front of Bernie...

Less trip-y

They aren't nearly as colorful as my other mats and I miss that, but I don't miss my having to watch my feet placement at all times. 

Still working on Mary and Terry's quilts. I'm going to be starting their last rows today. Getting a late start as I had to call my father this morning and check in to see how he's doing. All is well in Monroe. 

Consideration

Have we forgotten manners? Are people so self-centered that they think themselves as more important than others? I've had a rash of inconsiderate phone calls/visits with people who don't realize, if this was a brick-and-mortar shop, I wouldn't be open? And in all actuality, it is a brick and mortar; it just also happens to be my home. 

The boys counseled me over the holiday about setting parameters and this year, and I'm going to be sticking to those parameters. Charging rush fees (which I normally do not do but still take them in) and sticking to my hours (unless an appointment is made prior) for visits AND phone calls. I'm not a door mat and my business is just that...a business. I have to have time to actually quilt the quilts coming in and fielding out of parameter situations isn't getting the quilting done. 

Soap box finished. 

Here's some of the quilting going into Mary's quilt...

Lots of thread changes

Here's some of the quilting going into Terry's quilt...

Wool batting makes the quilting pop

I'll be working on these (again) today. Yesterday the day was cut short as we needed to run into Midland for an errand. And I decided to bash my face into one of the studio doors, leaving me with a killer headache and a sliced lip. 

Groggy

Despite my being extremely groggy yesterday, I accomplished a lot in the studio. The Amish with a Twist was taken off of DW. This quilt for Mary was its replacement...

Stunning!

I love the jewel tones in this quilt. After I loaded, basted in, and started the ditching on this quilt, I loaded this top onto Bernie...

Terry's Log Cabin in Grays/Blacks and Reds

I love, love, love theses colors in Terry's quilt. I didn't get it basted in until after working Mary's quilt for most of the daytime hours. 

I'll be working these two for another couple of days. The weather is gloomy outside, but with my new lights and the music in the background, it's the perfect time to quilt!

Not All Play

The retreat I attend at the end of the holiday season is a time for me to relax, laugh, enjoy fellowship with folks who quilt, and to get some piecing in; since I don't really get to do much otherwise. But, like last year, I was also "working". I had four (or five?) tops added to the quilting queue. So, not all of it was play time but a little work time too.

Here are the four quilts I was able to get bound...

Needles

Spools

No explanation needed

Fun for summer time

I started another top, but then lost interest after putting the blocks together. And, I forgot to cut the setting triangles anyway so I'll finish that at the February retreat. I made this baby quilt.... 

All flannels

I also started a new puff quilt. I love making these. Honestly I do. A lot of people want to make one and after their first, don't pursue making any more...

Some of the "raviolis" lined up waiting to go

Here's where I was at before we had to pack up and say goodbye to everybody...

So pretty!

Actually, now that I look at this pic, that's not true. This was Saturday night. When I came in Sunday I placed the rest of the indigo and violet blocks in and then started filling the first three columns. Meh...it's going to have to wait until February also.

Now that the holidays (for us anyway) are officially over, it's back to our regularly scheduled programming. I'm excited to get back on the big machines, but will have to offload the Amish with a Twist of mine first. I have customer tops piling up and my personal quilting time is over. I even had a customer call me while at retreat about where her quilt was. So, back at it.