Wow!

I woke yesterday thinking I didn't have any customers coming over and that I would be able to get Diane's quilt finished.

Four customers and five quilt drop-offs later, I was able to get only one roll done in her quilt. We needed to get groceries after Jim got home leaving very little time to actually work. 

Today is starting out much of the same. I have a new customer coming this morning first thing. Maybe that will be the only one since the weather isn't very pretty out there. 

Did I show you this the other day? I don't think I did. While I was working on the Dream Bigger panel I was finishing up the second darkest thread-needed area. After I tied off and went to change to the darkest thread next, I saw this...

Talk about thread chicken

That was close.

Hoping to finish Dianes quilt and get another loaded for next week. I'll work on Bernie the remainder of the day/evening since our weekend is all taken up. We have to run to TC tomorrow (weather permitting) to visit Jim's [dying] mom, and Sunday is Elijah's 3rd birthday party so that puts us in the opposite direction going to Lansing. 

Oh, and next week, I start jury duty for the whole month of April. I'll be working in the studio during the night I think on days they may actually need me. 

Keep on Truckin'

Remember that saying from the 70's? I was listening to some old country music yesterday and got kind of nostalgic since this "death" thing is hanging over our heads and remembered some of those old sayings from back then. 

Let's be positive today. The sun is shining and I have two quilt tops to quilt with machines that are humming along beautifully. There is a slight hitch in my day though. I need to run over to Pieces to fetch some binding fabric for the Dream Bigger quilt. I'll work on that and the other quilt-along binding maybe Saturday.

I tell my customers that I literally see every millimeter of their quilts. I sometimes think the new ones don't believe me. Here's proof of how close and intimate to the top I get...

Find the problem

What's wrong here?

Ummmm?????

See anything wrong here?

This is just the first half of the quilt. Today should bring more fun since only half of it is done. 

I'm not the most perfect piecer so I understand these issues. But that's what a professional long armer does. Recognizes these problems and rectifies them to the best of their ability. I know several long armers who would ignore these and just keep on quilting. If this quilt had had an edge-to-edge done, these would, in all reality, not been spotted, let alone fixed. 

I did get a bit of the Cotton Cuts top worked last evening. Today will be much of the same, but with the sun to assist in lighting the studio. 

Bad News

So Jim's mom is being admitted to Palliative care effective immediately. He spent most of yesterday in Traverse City with her. We'll probably make another trip up on Sunday. When Jim contacted the boys about the bad news, my eldest commented, "Death is the winner each and every time." It makes you take stock in what you're doing today and it's a reminder we should NOT take each day for granted. Do what you want to do. Do what makes you happy. Because in the end, that's all that matters.

Having said that, I'll continue to stay in my studio. That's my passion. That's my happy place. That's where I can watch nature (despite the weather...which is currently back to winter mode with all the snow we've gotten this morning), I can hear construction, the children's laughter, the dogs happily barking, the smell of campfire smoke or a bacon breakfast. It's lake life with quilting thrown in for an extra happy measure. 

I finished long arming the Dream Bigger yesterday! Fist pump! Here's what's on DW this morning...

This pattern is called Gypsy Wife by Jen Kingwell

I've done one of Jen's patterns before and loved working on it. She makes traditional blocks in weird settings and they turn out beautiful. This one, unfortunately, is not mine but a customers. I may have to rethink calling her when it's completed. 😉

I did get a little quilting in on Bernie yesterday afternoon while frame ironing the backing for the quilt above. I was stumbling over the BOM on the table so shut Bernie down to finish my next two blocks before all my little pieces were in places they shouldn't be. 

Construction

Our neighbors to the north of us are getting a whole new deck on their house. The construction crew started working yesterday and the dogs are having a tizzy that somebody is next door. It would be more helpful if the leaves were out on those Ash trees already, but until then, constant growling and barking; which is very disruptive to my work flow!

Still working on the Dream Bigger panel. Here's some more eye candy on what's going into it...

I probably have another day, maybe even two on this piece. They usually take about 4 1/2 days to work. 

New customer visit yesterday and she stayed for quite a while. We got along very well. All my customers are so very friendly!

I didn't get on Bernie last night. I think I'm fighting some kind of cold bug. Headache-o-rama and scratchy throat. Sneezing. Slight nasal stuffiness. I took my temp this morning to make sure we weren't dealing with [another] round of my covid friend and it's normal. Thank goodness!

I did do some more piecing on the BOM from Pieces, but didn't finish before my head said that was enough. Stupid headaches. There is a weather change coming around so maybe that's all this is?

More Dream Bigger today. No customers expected. Maybe some Bernie work. Jim is in Traverse City today as we received some very bad news about his mothers health last night. And, it's her birthday today. She was hospitalized last night so Jim gets to spend a day off in not such a good way. He may spend the night so if he does I'll work later tonight. If my head agrees that is. 

BOM's

I love block of the months! Do you? I know not everybody does, but for me, with the attention span of a flea, I like only working a partial part of the quilt at a time and don't feel pressured to get the project done before starting another. 

Here's the one I'm working on for Pieces right now...

Isn't it pretty?

The nice thing about this gorgeous piece is that it is NOT batiks. I love piecing with batiks. I don't particularly like quilting with them. Because they are so tightly woven, any picking shows holes that are rather hard to get out. 

I already have the first two blocks done and started working on the next two yesterday. I didn't get through them before we decided to have a relaxing day and enjoy not having to be somewhere or do something for somebody. 

Beautiful sunny day today to work on the Dream Bigger on DW. Better get to it. 

Committed

When I start quilting a quilt everything is beer and skittles; it's new. I haven't gotten bored yet. And all the fabrics are fun to look at. Then, after doing the first roll, I realize just how labor intensive the work is going to be for the next day (or three). I have committed to what I started and sometimes my decisions are questionable. 

I have learned over the years to start with a framework and see how the basic motif goes. From there, I may (or may not) add additional pieces into the framework depending on how the quilt is pieced and how much time commitment I want to put into it. At some point, I have to keep things relatively under control as I have other quilts waiting for me to work.

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

Cotton Cuts BOM 2022 made with Tula Pink fabric

Here's the bonus quilt top I pieced yesterday from the play quilt I just took off Bernie. 

Bonus Quilt

This came with a bonus quilting motif as well but since I added the upper/lower borders, I may do my own thing in here. 

After I pieced this top, and while Jim was giving Lucy a groom, I made this new spring banner for the studio... 

Using as many of the scraps I can

I deleted out the background but while I was making this yesterday, we were in the middle of a snowstorm. Yet, today, it's supposed to be near 50. Ahhh...March in Michigan. 

I'm going to be binding this morning on the little coffee table in the living room, which should prove interesting. Jim needs the backroom table to groom Hazel today so I have to make do with what I have available. Thank goodness quilters are flexible people. 

Routine Interruption

Apparently, the older I get, the more I can not have my routine altered or I forget things. Like blogging.

Thursday I worked on the Dream Bigger panel in between customers. I had three pick ups...and three drop offs. I also worked on my "play" piece and got another row completed in it. MSU lost in the sweet 16.

Friday I worked on the Dream Bigger panel in between a customer who picked up and visiting my mom, getting my nails done, and trying to contact the Bay Area Surgical Center in Midland about my upcoming procedure. I very much dislike phone trees. 

Here's some work in the Dream Bigger piece...

Climbing Feathers

I finished quilting the "play" piece last night and Jim finished picking out threads from the back of the t-shirt quilt. A very productive day. 

I'm not sure where today is going to go. I have another "play" piece to stick onto Bernie, but I was planning on getting a specific backing for it. Unfortunately, we have extremely crappy weather right now with advisories in force. Jim decided to forgo his volunteer Saturday so I'm not heading over to the fabric store. 

I want to make a new SPRING banner because the current one isn't very spring-y. But I have to get something else onto Bernie at one point or another. Speaking of Bernie, last night while I was quilting, the button that I use to start and stop the machine decided to not respond. Eventually the machine gave an error on the screen and told me to restart the machine. Huh? I hope this is a one-time thing. 

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

 Now this looks familiar...

Dream Bigger

This is for a guy who is giving this to his suedo step-daughter for her upcoming wedding in June. I'm double batting this one with cotton on the bottom and wool on the top. I've already basted in and have started the background. One or two petals on the top portion are already done too. Here's one of them...

Ahhh...who can resist a clamshell?

I really, really want to backfill and add interior designs on some of these, but this is a bed quilt...not a wall hanging and I think for the purpose it's going to be used, doing so would just result in a very time consuming situation all for people who don't get the time consuming aspect of it. That's not coming out right. What I mean is this is going to a customer who is not a quilter, a young couple just beginning their lives who are also not quilters, and anything I put in here will be equally received. 

I worked one more row in my "play" quilt yesterday while I was frame ironing the backing for the Dream Bigger quilt. I couldn't work on Bernie while DW was stitching yesterday because I was picking threads from the threads Jim pulled from it last week. He didn't get them all, and I am frankly surprised he got as many as he did since he worked on it at night when the lighting was the worst. 

I have two customers (or maybe three) coming over today. I know two of them are picking up, but I think I have somebody coming to drop off as well. I have the wrong phone to check my calendar. 

And good luck to those Spartans today at Madison Square Garden!!! Go Green! Go White!

NEVER, EVER Dry Clean Your Quilts

I had a customer debating on whether to put wool or bamboo into her quilt. When wool was mentioned she commented that she'd then have to have it dry cleaned. 

Jim used to work for Barayames in Lansing. They are a HUGE dry cleaning firm. If people only knew what dry cleaners did to their stuff. AND...they wash the quilts just like we do at home. But, they use very harsh chemicals to make it smell like they did something else to your item and treat them very poorly.

You can do a better job at home. Just wash the quilt in cold water and if you don't take it out in the yard and lay it flat between two sheets, then just put the quilt on fluff or low heat when drying in the dryer. I have a  couple of wool quilts here that handle that kind of laundering just fine. 

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

The Helms' t-shirt from h&*l

I have a customer on her way over and while this t-shirt quilt does its edge to edge thing, I'll be working on the "play" quilt some more. I got the center section done last night, but the cloudy day today itsn't providing very good photo ops for it. 

Happy 37th birthday to my oldest son! Wow...he just entered into his late thirties. What does that say for me?

Noodles

After the dentist and after all the chores were done, it was lunch time. After lunch, my limbs still felt like noodles after Sunday's work day. I was sore, my head was pounding, and I wasn't my usual perky self. I knew long arming was probably not a good idea since I'm on my feet for all of what I do. I spent the afternoon reading. 

Once Jim got home, I felt a little more like myself (sure wish I could take naps). I first worked on a BOM from Pieces. Here's what I got done on that...

We actually build two blocks each month

I've noticed my piecing is getting a little better now that Ellie and I have come to an understanding. 

It was still daylight out and decided rather than messing up a customer quilt I would mess up my own quilt instead. And I did. I hadn't really understood the instructions Amanda was giving in the row I was working on a did this...

That's not right

It should have looked like this...

Much better

Not that the second pic is perfect, but that's how one learns. 

I caught the sun briefly shining in the studio windows this morning while running around doing chores, and thought I would share some of the tools of my trade...

About half of my rulers

Snow expected this morning and mostly cloudy the rest of the day. Will Bunny's quilt get finished today?

No Small Project

Yesterday was spent on the road and up and down a rickety, falling-apart chair. We headed down to Lansing to help the kids prep the new house for moving day, which is Friday. My job was to finish trimming out one room and cutting in another. Caleb, Lia, and I were on that detail. Jim and Ben were laying flooring in the living room and part of the dining room. 

I. am. sore! 

But today is a work day and after my 10:00 dentist appointment, sore muscles be damned I have to work. Here's some of the quilting I got into the "play" top on Saturday...

Each block has a different channel fill

Love the texture

Despite my putting in a relatively low-loft batt, I'm still getting some texture with the quilting I'm doing. 

I'll be working on the rest of Bunny's quilt once I return from town. Happy Monday. Oh, and happy advancing to the sweet 16 round MSU!

Play Time

Today is going to be a play day for me. We were supposed to be heading downstate to help the kids with their new house, but the weather last night resulted in Ben having to work, and we are getting intermittent snow squalls too. We are going to try for tomorrow instead.

And as many snow squalls as we are getting, we are also getting sunshine. But it's very cold and very windy out there; a good day to stay in the house and play in the studio.

Once I got the backing frame ironed (while working on Bunny's quilt) I loaded the quilt-along top and am working on row two this morning. Row 1 turned out just okay. The reason for a quilt-along is to learn and get a feel for new things. In my case, it's a new set of rulers. The thread and fabric chosen wouldn't let me get a pic of row one, but here's row two so far...

Starting the second row

My quilting day planned is just playing and staying warm. 

Happy St. Patty's Day

Don't forget to wear your green. MSU is playing their first game in the "dance" today so I'm already good on the green front.

Lynette's quilt is done! I was able to piece the remaining rows together for the quilt-along and here it is "on" Bernie.

The quilt-along top

This top is not actually loaded, because yesterday, while I was at Pieces, forgot to pick up a backing. UGH! So, after Pat & friend leave later this afternoon, I'll buzz over there, again, to grab something so I can load for the weekend. 

After Jim re-seeded the girls' pen last night, he started back in on pulling stitches from the downstate t-shirt quilt. I trimmed up the bonus HST's from the quilt-along top and then moved over to DW to start working on Bunny's quilt. Here's what's going in it...

Something simple per the customer

I'm going to work this most of the morning and see how far I can get on it. I have to make some rice and some brownies first, but then I'll get right on the machine.

Cloudy, somewhat rainy, and a very windy day today. A good day to enjoy the studio with some soothing music. 

One Year Anniversary

I worked diligently on Lynette's quilt yesterday with very few interruptions. Until Jim got home from work. Then we needed to run to Midland for errands/groceries. Today is the day I'm hoping it will be done. I have one more row and the final border to do. 

Since I don't have any quilting pics to share, how about a few of Lucy, who as of today, has been with us a full year. 

One year ago in Wooster, Ohio

This is the day we picked her up. 

This was last month, but she looks the same

And here she is a year later. My how our little girl has grown. She's such a happy little girl and she is very respectful of the quilts floating on the long arms and doesn't get into them as I work. She doesn't, however, contain herself around customers. She's so happy to see people she jumps incessantly and pees all over. Until we learn self-control, she's banished outside when they come by. 

Cloudy today. Rain expected later. And I heard a Kildeer when I was out in the girls' pen this morning. Spring is officially here. 

I received an email from Pieces of Thyme that my BOM is ready to be picked up, so I'm going to head over there after lunch to grab that. And, if Paulette is there today, I can run her quilt over too. 

Better Day

Yesterday was a much better day only having to pick out one small section of quilting. The wall hangings are done and I've rolled on Lynette's quilt. Here's what's on DW today...

A quilt for a granddaughter

The timeless classic Irish Chain. I know what I'm going to put into this already, but I'm working solely on Bernie today until Lynette's quilt is done. It's a gorgeous sunny day out there and it gives me ample lighting to work the black on black.

I had a big helper in the studio last night. Here's my quilting elf helping to pick out stitches on the t-shirt quilt I need to redo for my friends downstate...

HUGE helper

It means so much to me to have a  partner who supports my passion. Who cheers me on when I need it. To be present in my life. He's not adverse to picking up a seam ripper and scissors to get the threads out of a quilt. I love him so much! Thank you my big elf for your help!

Let's Try Again

Have you ever had one of those days where you probably shouldn't have even gotten out of bed? My work day yesterday was like that. I literally spent more time ripping stitches out then I did putting them in. 

Jan Z. stopped by a little after lunch and picked up her quilt (which she seemed to like) and that help break up the thread-ripping frenzy. 

Here's some of the quilting going into the three tops I'm working on currently...

Crosshatching in Lynette's top

Pebbles and swirls in Carla's top

I love it when people say, "Just crosshatch in there." Cross hatching takes a very long time. Every time you run into the appliqué/motif/embroidery you have to cut threads and start again elsewhere in the block. 

And if you get off, even by a little bit, out comes the thread you just put in. Thus, my day yesterday. 

It's sunny today. Maybe that'll help. I'm starting out today with a little trepidation but I'll change my music selection to something a little more upbeat (jazz yesterday) and with the sun, that'll make everything better, right? 

Small Project Sunday

I thought the quilt top I was making for the Amanda Murphy quilt-along would be a quick and easy top to make. I should have known, when I was cutting 7 1/2" squares, that while simple in construction, the time to piece would be long. And...there are a lot of "bonus" HST's I'm making along the way to make another quilt. 

Here's the pattern I'm working on...

The upper right hand corner is the pattern

I have selected slightly different fabric to go into this (since this pattern was over six months old, those exact fabrics are hard to come by now). 

I have all but the middle row constructed and will plug away at it throughout the week after long arm time. Since Jim is back home now, it's easier to work on piecing while he's here. Life interrupts the long arming and, getting out of my zen place on the big machines, gets frustrating to me. So piecing is the next option.

And who out there likes this daylight savings thing? I know it has messed me and the girls up.

Debating

I found a quilt-along with Amanda Murphy available on-line through Bernina. I usually take the project directions and put them aside for a day or so and think on it. It's been on the table for two days and I can't get this project out of my head, which means I need to do it. 

Now to decide with or not to head over to Pieces to get the fabric or to order it on-line is another question. I think I'm going to run to Pieces to see if I can support local before trying on-line. I need to order the special ruler for it so it won't be here for a few days anyway, but I could piece the top over the next couple of small project Sundays. 

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

Two quilts at once

These are for two different customers but they are nearly identical so I loaded them together. I don't know if I'll get to these at all today because Jim should be home by [late] lunchtime. 

Here's some of the quilting that went into Jan's quilt yesterday...

Linear quilting with rulers yesterday

I did work on Lynette's quilt while frame ironing the backings for the ones above. I actually got a roll in and all the ditching done around the blocks on the next section. 

Yep, as I'm talking to Jim I think I'll run out and see what fabric I can find locally. It's a nice sunny morning and I'd like to get out of the house for a bit. What a perfect way to spend a Saturday morning. 

Nuts

We received about two to three inches of wet, heavy snow last night, and it's still coming down. I have a customer that is actually coming by to pick up a quilt I did for her earlier this week. It's nuts for me to go out in this stuff (despite my finding a new quilt pattern/quilt along) and want to go out and pick up fabrics for it. I'll wait until tomorrow. Or, maybe later today depending on what the temps do.

Jeffs quilt is done, bound, packaged and ready to be delivered. Paulettes quilt is quilted, trimmed, invoiced, packaged and once I call her that one can go. Here's what's on DW today...

Jan Z.'s first quilt with me

This is a custom piece and although not very big, may take some time to work. Upon a quick inspection last night while I was basting in, all seams appear to be pressed open, including the borders. This leaves me zero ditch to stabilize things before the actual quilt process. Could be interesting. 

I received two new rulers yesterday. Both from Natalia Bonner. The Inside-Out regular size (I already had the mini) and the Trailer ruler for ditching and wide channel work. I said to Jim I'm about done buying rulers and then a Bernina Quilt-Along came in my email last night and I need a set of speciality heart rulers from Amanda Murphy to do the quilt-along. Plus, there is a lot of other motifs one can do with her rulers. Hmmm???🤔

Errands First

I have to make at least one stop this morning over to Pieces to deliver a quilt and pick up another. I need to talk to Paulette, if she's there, about the one I loaded last night. Here's what's on DW today...

Roscoe

I usually go on-line to research how other similar quilts were quilted and springboard from there. I pull in several ideas and scramble them up to my liking and how I think the quilt reads. The only thing I found on this quilt was an E2E, which I really don't want to do. 

I worked on Lynette's quilt last night while I was frame ironing the backing for Paulettes. 

Fancy enough?

Lynette said she wanted a fancy feather put in each corner. I think this works. Cloudy day today and snow expected tomorrow. I better get my to-do's done this morning, which backs me up a little in the studio, but better than having to go out in snow. I miss Jim! So do the girls. 

Time Gets Away

Completely lost track of time so much so last night I missed The Voice. Good thing Jim taught me how to record it. I don't revolve my nights around TV. I have better things to do. Like quilt! 

Linda and Jeff's quilts are quilted. Both are trimmed, and Jeffs only needs to have the binding attached. Here's what's on Bernie today...

Lynette's gorgeous autumn top

I've already basted and ditched in what I could on this one. 

While beginning Lynettes quilt I was (of course) frame ironing Gail's quilt top. She's using flannel on the back. When I'm frame ironing I also pick any erroneous threads off the fabric. I don't want anything to show through light colors on the front so I'm pretty diligent about this. I thought this was a thread...

A slice in the backing

The slice is about 15 inches into the left side. I'm going to load so I can miss this entirely as she gave me plenty of backing to [hopefully] make this work. There may be a few hand stitches that need to go in if I can't avoid it. This is the top that's going onto DW today...

A Musical quilt for her grandson

Gails quilt wasn't the next one in the queue however. I have a partially finished T-Shirt quilt that was sent to me when the previous long armers long arm quit. I was trying to duplicate the motif and just continue on as they were doing. But it has a lot of curves and points into it and it just wasn't happening. I called the customer and they gave me permission to rip out the three rows already into it and start over. 

Unsewing

Jim loves to do this kind of stuff. Even though I started it, we talked last night and he said he'd work on it after he returned back home. So this is put away for now. 

Perplexed

I get many requests for people who need their tops quilted by yesterday. Or, I'm given a deadline (which, knock on wood, have never missed) and when I meet their expectations, whether it's the immediate quilt request or the deadline request, I'm met with some resistance for pick up. Sometimes these sit in waiting for weeks. How do I remedy this situation? And moreover, it's not fair to those customers who patiently wait for their quilts to get done while I park them behind this new immediate/deadline situation. 

I'll have to think about this today while I'm working. Here's some quilting detail of one of the tractor tires in Jeffs quilt...

Tread

I know it doesn't look like much in the pic, but when you look at the tire as a whole, it looks exactly like the tread in the tractor drawings next to the tire. Anyway, I'm a little over half-way through this top and should be able to finish today. 

I'm not going to re-load DW until Linda's quilt is done on Bernie. It's been on that frame way too long and I want to deliver it to her on Thursday or Friday. 

We are starting out with sunshine this morning, and according to the liar-man, we should be sunny all day today. We'll see, but I'll take advantage of the sparkling water down at the lake shining at me while I work. 

[Another] Working Sunday

Elleen's quilt is done. I'll need to call her in a little bit to let her know. After Jim left yesterday to go work downstate, I immediately did some house cleaning, and then got onto the frame. Here's what's on DW this morning...

There's a tractor there if you look hard

While I was frame ironing the backing I made the binding for this quilt so it can be done by the time Jim gets home. It's for his mechanic in exchange for work on his truck. 

Didn't do much of anything else in the studio this weekend except long arm. No small projects this week. 

First Robin

I was out playing ball with the girls and I heard a familiar peep, peep, peep and then I saw it. The first Robin of the year. I don't think he was one of our residents since I didn't hear it later in the day, but the winter is coming to an end.  

I love winter. I really do. I don't mind the cold and the snow. Only when I have to drive in it. I mind it much less than the bugs we are sure to have later this year. 

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

Come Sail Away

The sun is shining in the studio this morning and gave a great opportunity to show more of what is going into Linda's quilt...

Love those straight lines

The storm missed us yesterday. We received a total of 12 snowflakes and with the temps being above 32 when they fell, there's not a lick of evidence they even fell at all. 

Jim's truck is ill. It's at the mechanics right now needing almost $500 worth of repairs. I bartered with his mechanic to trade the John Deere top I made for him last year at retreat for the repair fee. Since Jim is going downstate tomorrow to work for the week, I have to get this done. 

When Jim returns, he'll need to pick up the truck and give Jeff the finished quilt. As I mentioned above, it's only a top right now. And, Jeff needs a king-size. The top will need a top and bottom border added to make the additional amount needed so I'm heading over to Pieces today to get the border, binding, and backing fabric for it. 

The Spartans play today which will give me time to work on Eleens quilt and get Jeff's ready to get onto the frame.

New Customers

I love meeting new people! I had a new customer stop by yesterday to drop off two quilts to do. Marg and Bill were delightful to talk to and we shared so many common interests; skating, horses, cars, and quilts. Over an hour later they departed and I was sad when they left. 

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

Eleen's top for her brother

This is getting some free motion, computer, and ruler work so it'll be fun to quilt out. I worked on Linda's top a little more last night and Jim brought from the mail, this months Cotton Cuts BOM. I worked on that (had to pull quite a few seams since I was looking a pictures and not paying attention to the actual directions), but I have month eight done and only two more months to go.

Kim called from Pieces of Thyme and asked if I'd rather pay one lump sum for the BOM they are hosting instead of paying each month. That probably works out better since the card I gave them to charge each month to was compromised and we had to get a new one. 

Speaking of compromised, the encrypted message my dad sent two days ago was actually a hack. Seems like technology just isn't as safe as we all hoped it would be. I can safely say my blog isn't worthy of hacking (I hope they have better things to do) so good news on that front I suppose.

Nail appointment this morning and then I'm coming right back home. There was supposed to be some sort of storm coming but I think it's going to end up all south of us. 

No Pics Today

I really don't have any pics to share today. I'll slip one in here of the girls or something. Anyway, Tina's quilt is done, but still on the frame. I had to wait for markings to go away before unloading. No work on Linda's quilt last night because I wanted to get Tina's done. 

Eleen's quilt top goes on next. I have a quick deadline on this one to deal with and a border I'll need to mark out before even loading. I'll do that while frame ironing the backing. 

Have a great quilting day!

What the girls do while I'm working. 

Encrypted Messages

Technology is a wonderful thing. Until there's so much of it that it's hard to keep track of who saw what on which app. I rarely do Facebook or TikTok. Or Twitter. Or Snapchat. It's making my head hurt on just how many choices there are out there to keep in touch. I'll just keep blogging and keep my web site up to date. That's enough I think.

Here's some quilting detail going into Tina's quilt...

See what wool batting does?

Tina's quilt is double batted...it has a layer of cotton on the bottom and wool on top. Look at that texture!

I think my bobbin winder for DW is crapping out. Not good. Jim has to take it downstate to let Jason (my dealer) take a look at it and see if it's salvageable. If not, there's another expense I'm going to have to eat. They aren't cheap!  I'm going to have to order some prewounds or [try to] get bobbins wound (this is going to take a lot of planning) before he leaves with it.

And I think my new SE phone is a lemon as well. I charged it fully yesterday and this morning it was completely (and I mean, it wouldn't even turn on) dead.

It's starting to snow here this morning so it'll be pretty to watch as I work today.