Christmas Haul

We were finally able to have our family Christmas. My mom knows me so well! Look at what she found at an estate sale earlier this summer...

About 33 yards of batiks

While I really dislike quilting batiks, I LOVE sewing with them. These will make a lovely something-or-another when I run across the right pattern for them. The B's got me a titanium rotary cutter blade and my dad got me a gift certificate for Quilters Joy quilt shop. Oh, the happiness. 

Here are a few pics of the whole gang (minus one DIL)...

The B's plus one (on the far left)

After the gifts were opened

Tristan and Lucy really hit it off

Playing Mr. Rice with Ben

And the whole enchilada

I just noticed we took this pic after my mom had already left. That's not cool. But she left as soon as 4:00 rolled around since driving in the dark isn't her thing.

The hole into the new studio was a hit. The kids were able to go out there and play, play, play and it was nice to be able to visit with the adults while the kids were wearing off their sugar induced energies. 

I'm prepping for a New Years virtual quilt-along today. It's being hosted by Stichen' Heaven with Rob Appell and I can't wait! Rob is so fun to quilt with. His energy and mine parallel and I so get him. 

Getting Things Done

Yesterday morning and part of the afternoon was spent working on Anns quilt. I made another set of Metro Rings sections, and then I pulled out the BOM from Pieces and decided I needed to get that into a top. Too many WIP's around here.

Getting the long sashings in

This is today's feat. All the vertical sashings are in. Today...the long ones (UGH). 

We [hopefully] have an HVAC guy coming today to get the heater hooked up in the new studio. Meanwhile, Jim worked on the bathroom...

Getting there

He needs more drywall to finish that project. He worked on more sub flooring...

One last piece to get in

And he started removing needed things to get this window out to be able to get the hole cut for the door into the main house...

Readying for joining the main house

Caleb and Lia are coming up tonight and maybe the four of us can somehow get that accomplished, IF the HVAC guy shows today. Otherwise, we don't want to heat an empty room for 24 hours. 

I have a house to clean and cookies to bake today, as well as preparations for our Christmas tomorrow. The only foreseeable sewing for the next two days are getting the horizontal sashings in. Yep. That's about it. 

Potpourri Day

Getting ready for the holidays is actually fun. The house gets a good cleaning and everything starts looking very festive. The tree now has gifts under it making this seem more like Christmas even though it's pouring outside.

I worked on Ann's quilt in the morning yesterday and then right after lunch, mom stopped by to drop off her first gift load. After she left a few hours later, working on wrapping what few gifts we had ensued. We didn't have enough gifts for people, so I made a few more.

Ornaments

The Metro Rings happened for a bit after I finished and wrapped the ornaments and in between all of this, Jim and I attempted to install the new heater for the new studio. The directions are miles long and decided this wasn't a job for us and needs to be hired out. They'll be here tomorrow to do that. 

He moved on to getting the odd sections of drywall in. 

Today I'm working on Ann's quilt some more and making a gingerbread house this afternoon. 

A Little Bit of This and That

The DeGroot Christmas is actually this coming Friday. Yesterday seemed like just another Sunday where we go visit mom, eat something and catch up with each other. We did celebrate Jim's belated birthday and he opened a few gifts for that. 

Mom identified that we didn't get a Christmas this morning and gave a few little gifts to us. But the weather was not Christmas-like and the empty tree here just cemented the non-Christmas feeling. 

So, this week holiday preparations will be happening; making cookies, a gingerbread house, wrapping gifts, and cleaning since the kids/grandkids will be up Friday. I'll still get some quilting in there though. And, since yesterday (and the day before) were just "normal" days for us, I played in the [old] studio a bit. These are ready to start assembling...

Metro Rings

This will be my first attempt at a full-size wedding ring-type of quilt. Should be interesting since precise curves are fairly new to me. 

Mom is supposed to stop by today to drop off her first load of gifts, and while I am officially closed this week, I'm going to check the phone in case anybody wants to drop something off next week. Squeaking in big machine time will definitely be in there because I can't go that long without actually working. 😉

Computer Issues and Merry Christmas Eve Eve

I didn't blog yesterday because I think my Mac is end the end of its life. It's showing signs of distress and it is nearly seven years old. They just don't make things to last do they?

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

Tulips

Sunny Days

The mighty Mac

After working on Anns quilt and after having customers come and share some holiday cheer, I started back in on Stars and Shadows. 

Trim, trim, trim, trim, trim, trim...x256!

Yesterday, the machines weren't turned on at all. I had a busy appointment morning, Jim came home for lunch, I worked some more on Stars and Shadows, and then once he came home from work we ran in to get more wood for the west end of the new studio. Here's what we did last night...

West wall bottom portion complete

Not a great pic because it's not a great weather day outside-37 degrees and raining; not very Christmas-y.

Today I'm going to be going in and out helping with drywall and trim (I think). Jim works on whatever strikes his fancy that day and I never know when I'm going to be needed. I'll be on standby in the old studio. 

While I'm waiting for him, and since Stars and Shadows are all ready to head to retreat next month, I'm going to start something else this morning. Or, at least read through the directions and see if this is something I should be starting right now. Don't you love starting new projects?

Chore Day

I was off and running first thing this morning cleaning bathrooms, dealing with trash, laundry, etc. I can finally do something fun.

Here's what's on DW for the unforeseeable future...

Take a Closer Look

There is no pattern for this quilt. Take a closer look at it! It's all about our great state of Michigan. I'll take pics as I add quilting into it, but Ann made this pattern up herself and it's a stunner!

Speaking of making up their own patterns, here's what is on Bernie for the unforeseeable future...

Vrooommm, vroom

A Harley Davidson quilt for her brother that was also a self-designed pattern. I have the most talented quilt makers right here in central and eastern Michigan. 

These two quilts will be done at leisure (to some degree). I'm basically on holiday from now until the new year. All the Christmas quilts have been completed and now I can slow down a bit and enjoy the process instead of cranking under pressure. 

While I was getting Anns quilt started last night, Jim ran to Mt. Pleasant to pick up the rest of the sub floor material and the door for the west end of the studio. Here's where he left off last night...

Getting the people door in

The handle and lock still need to be installed but it's starting to look pretty great! After long arming for the day I started making [stupid] HST's. Not my favorite. 256 are needed for the Stars and Shadows quilt top. If I would have even realized that this kit would not have come home with me. I'll trim these up while I'm talking on the phone. It's a quiet activity and makes it go faster.

Got some trimming to do!

Almost Empty

The boys are almost empty this morning. Still frame ironing both backings so here's what's on the machines today...

Bernie

DW

It'll be a mystery on what I load later this morning. Meanwhile, I shall do some long arm and studio cleaning while I'm waiting for these guys to dry. 

In the outside world, I noticed all the wonderful quilting sales going on right now. Have you taken advantage of any of those? Unfortunately, I can not this year due to the huge project out there on the south side of the house. But that's okay. It would be fun to hear if any of you are taking advantage of the amazing sales!

Taxes

The last thing most anybody wants to think about during the holiday are taxes. Seriously...not an uplifting subject. Unfortunately, the saying is true that the only things guaranteed in life are death and taxes. Today I have a 1:00 to meet with my tax preparer. Wheee.  

Meanwhile, I'm half-way done with Kathy's Tilda Lanterns...

Lots of texture here!

Even with the 1:00 appointment, I'm aiming to have this done by days end. I had to knock off early last night to get all my paperwork around for today. 

And, I like to compile end of the year information (just for fun), like what's the percentage of custom versus edge-to-edge work I do. (That would be 80% custom btw). I haven't fashioned other figures yet but a report on a year-end review will be forthcoming later next week. 

Family Time

The holidays for me anyway, is spending time with family and friends. We did just that yesterday and continue on throughout the next two weeks because you just never know. Luann's death made that very clear to me. 

After our errands on Saturday, and while Jim was watching the basketball game, I made 128 four-patches for the new project I'm working on. I just looked and it's called Stars and Shadows. I'm planning on getting all the pieces together before retreat next month and then I'll put it together there. 

The beginning

One customer coming sometime today to drop off. I'll be working on Kathy's Tilda Lanterns most of today and probably tomorrow too. It has a tight fill going in and may take a while, not to mention all those horizontal straight lines. 

Running Errands

We have to take some particle board back, get groceries, and run to dumb-dumb mart to get fusible. Here's what's on DW for this next week... 

Kathy's Tilda Lanterns

I really, really, really wanted to load this so the lanterns were running vertically. But the back is pieced and the seam needs to run parallel with the belly bar, so this is how the top needed to be loaded. Why did I want to run it vertically? All those lanterns get a 1/2"-spaced straight line in them. Running straight lines is easier going up and down rather than across. But, I'll deal with it.

Virginia's quilt is done, although still on the frame. I finished it later last night. Since we are out and about here shortly, it'll probably hang out until later today or even Monday (we're going to be gone all day tomorrow).

While I was working in the old studio, Jim was working in the new. Here's what he worked on last night...

Isn't that tongue and groove pretty? 

We've changed our mind so many times on how the east/west and south wall were going to be finished. We're leaving the south wall all into drywall. This gives me a blank canvas to hang quilts on. And the east/west walls are getting the cedar tongue and groove. He doesn't have enough cedar to complete the west wall so we'll price that while we're out and about. 

RIP Luann!

The issue I have sometimes in my studio are interruptions. Quilting mojo if you will. Yesterday was a very unproductive quilting day. Customers in and out. Neighbors, appointments, and upsetting phone calls all interfering with my work day.

By the time I got home with my eyes dilated from the eye doctor, long arm quilting was not going to happen. Meaning, I still have this much to work on the Flea Market quilt... 

Still not finished

While I didn't feel safe working on customer things because the artistic side wasn't going to happen, the production side of me felt safe in cutting out fabric for my next project...

I love black, red, and grey quilts

The whole time I was "working" last night, I could not get Luann off my brain. Luann and I became acquainted about five years ago. Hazel was just a mere puppy and she said she'd watch her (she owned 2Canns Dog Kennel) while we went to our sons military graduation. We've been fast friends since because we both love dogs and we both quilt. 

Luann is no longer with us. After a year and a half battling cancer, the lord took her home two days ago. Now you see why my head wasn't really in the game even if my eyes had been working. I kept tearing up (which is very unusual for me as I view death as part of the life cycle) when thinking of her. I'll miss her dearly. 

Chicago Prices and Turn Around

I was recently told by a shop owner about a customer who lives in Chicago. The Chicago lady is a professional long armer, just like me. The Chicago long armer is eight to nine months out, is booked solid, and gets $0.08 per square inch on an edge-to-edge and beginning at $0.095 and upwards for custom quilting. 

Be thankful you don't live in Chicago. I'd have had the studio complete already with those prices. 

It was a busy phone/visitor day yesterday. First, mom stopped by. I was on the phone with Virginia about the shorted backing on her quilt when she showed up. After mom left, I was able to get a little long arming in and then the rush customer called and asked if he could stop by and pick up his quilt. While he was on his way over I received a call from a new lady asking about my services and expectations for dropping off a quilt top. Right after I hung up with her, Reta called and asked if she could come and get her quilts tomorrow (today) morning. I'm expecting her around 10:00.

The north neighbors came up for the night and we spent the late afternoon/evening with them to check out their house renovations and catch up on the last two months worth of noteworthy news.

I didn't get much long arming done on DW, but I did get Virginia's quilt off, added the extra backing, and put back onto Bernie while talking to customers on the phone. It's hard to long arm when I'm talking to customers. Balancing the phone and the noise is pretty phone prohibitive.

I have people coming shortly to check out the new studio, Reta is coming to get her quilts and I have appointments all afternoon; eye, screen printer, accountant. Blech.

And, yesterday would have went better if I didn't have to deal with these...

Gotta love unmeasured borders

Each roll after the first two are now requiring starch to bring in these seriously pleated borders. There's going to be some changes when the new studio is in place when I'm informed the person is a fairly new quilter. We'll have more room to spread the tops out, measure them, and identify whether there's going to be border issues. 

It's harder to explain why there are pleats after the quilt is finished rather than warning them beforehand there may (probably) will be issues during quilting due to the irregular measurements. I'm not a magician after all. 

Uh Oh

Worked on both DW and Bernie yesterday. I'm at about the 1/3 mark on Kathy's quilt on DW...

Borders

Isn't this texture AWESOME?

After working on her quilt for about six hours I moved over to Virginia's quilt on Bernie. I'm about 2/3's done there. 

Some of the texture in Virginia's quilt

And then I took the second to the last roll, and ummm...

This isn't right

I'm going to have to give her a call and see what I'm supposed to do with this. 

Meanwhile, while I was working on Bernie, Jim was out in the studio finishing the drywall on the south wall, getting the last pieces in the roof to tie in the insulation we got last weekend, and working on the bathroom...

Getting the bathroom dry walled

South end is drywall finished

Jim has Friday scheduled for an off day, so I think he wants to take advantage of natural lighting instead of trying to do this by one work light. 

Mom just texted me and she's on her way over so I may not get much done today on the quilts. I do have to call Virginia first thing about that shorted backing though before I get tied up into other things. 

Windy and Repeat

It's pretty windy here this morning. Not enough to keep me off the machines, but the furnace seems to be getting a workout. 

Here's some of the quilting that went into yesterdays quilt on DW...

ProStitcher hard at work

Once that was completed, it was immediately removed from the machine so the next backing could get loaded and frame ironed.

While the quilt on DW was stitching out I was working on Bernie and completed about 1/3 of Virginias wooly snowmen. I'll mix that one with the one now on DW over the next few days. Oh, here's what's on DW this morning...

Kathy's Flea Market

Yep, another Flea Market. I love these quilts. I don't have to think about much while working on them anymore because I've done so many already. And while they are the same, each one gets a little different quilting put into it. 

Jim worked in the [new] studio last night and it was a typical Monday kind of situation. He felt a little defeated when he came in indicating things did not go well and replacement pieces need to be purchased. We all have those days don't we? 

Solitary

Jim likes to watch that program called Alone. I see these people living out in the wild with no human contact for up to 100 days. Just the land, the animals, and their video equipment to play with. I often feel just like them.

While Jim is here during the evening hours, he's out hunting or working in the studio. Not a real conversational moment. I try to get him to let me help so that we can at least have some interaction, but he's kind of at a solo point (at least for a while) and doesn't need me getting in the way. And I get that. 

I'm not feeling sorry for myself. In all actuality, it's rather peaceful. But the upcoming holidays will be a welcome change and I'm going to relish all the chaos when it does finally get here. 

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

This is the Christmas rush

I'm going to let the ProStitcher run this one. I know I could probably run through it faster, but I'm going to work on Virginia's while this is stitching out. Two birds/one stone. Happy Monday. 

Studio Progress

After finishing Reta's quilt yesterday (although it's still hanging out on the frame), the next order of business was heading out to start working on the north wall.

We discovered the previous owner, when the house was built, had this wide wood siding put on prior to the next owner having it vinyl sided...

A hidden gem under the Tyvek

We discovered this after removing said vinyl siding and a tear occurred in the Tyvek wrap underneath. The Tyvek was then stripped off to reveal this dark grey wall...

Removing the Tyvek

We shifted the drywall Jim was putting up to across the room and then we removed the rest of the Tyvek. Jim had to help remove some of the stubborn siding nails and staples underneath. But here's Jim's other project he was doing while I was working on mine...

Getting the drywall up on the south wall

While the gray siding looked okay, it was way too dark for my tastes. After lunch, we ran to town and picked up some trim for the cathedral north end, more insulation, and a few painting supplies. Have you priced a gallon of paint lately? STICKER SHOCK!

This is what the south end now looks like...

I LOVE THIS!

I need to go check it out in the daylight hours because as you can tell, it was very dark when we finally finished out there last night. 

Ran into town already this morning to pick up lunch stuff and some hinges for the west door. Jim is going to try to get that hung up this coming week and the hinges we found previously weren't the correct ones. 

Not sure what (if any) small project I'm going to get to today. I have to get Reta's quilt off and the backing prepared for tomorrow morning. I have that rush piece that came in last week and need to get to it. 

No Pics Today

Because yesterday was much of the same as the previous day. Reta's quilt is nearly finished but as I was working on the last hours' worth of work, Jim arrived home and suggested we head to The Depot to pick up drywall and particle board for the rest of the flooring and to begin the walls. 

It was a nice (weather-wise) night and I agreed we should do it while we have the time/weather on our side. 

So this morning I'm going to start in the old studio and work on Reta's quilt and once that's complete, move into the new studio to start removing the Tyvek on the existing house side to expose the original board and batten siding. It's a dark gray and runs vertical on the wall. I'm thinking if I paint the wide fore-facing portion and leave the channels darker gray, it would look really cool. AND, that's inside the closet anyway so I'm going with it.

It's better than purchasing new wall board to cover whatever is already there, only to be encased in a closet later. 

My ear is still popping and has pressure in it. I thought I had a handle on this thing, but apparently it's going to fight me. This is a residual from when I was sick week before last and have been trying to work through it all week. Darn winter bugs anyway!

Innocence

Ya know, I like to feel like the magic of Christmas still lives in this mature mind/body. To be innocent again and just...believe! Belief for goodness, kindness, caring, and most of all, laughter isn't a crime so I'll continue to be just a little naive and believe in the holiday.

I'm at the half-way point on Reta's monster quilt. With any luck and very few interruptions I should be able to get 'er done today. 

Some of the quilting going in

After getting a call from my eldest and shutting down the machine for the night, and while Jim was puttering out in the new studio, I was finishing up the bowl cozies for the kids for Christmas. Those are now done. 

It looks like I may scathe sweat shop Santa this year. I'm not finding anything else the kid(s) would like or find of use so I feel like our sewing for Christmas days are officially finished for the year. WHAT???? Is that possible? Maybe the other shoe will drop here in a few days when something else comes across my IG/YouTube feeds but for now all is clear. 

Unexpected

I received a phone call yesterday from a gentleman whose mother passed away last year, but left behind some unfinished quilt tops. He asked if I could get the last one quilted for him by Christmas, and since I'm almost caught up on holiday quilts, accepted the quilt. 

Since he's not a quilter, I need to run to Pieces this morning to obtain a backing for it, as well as some binding material should the backing not suit for the binding. I'll take the top with me to make sure we can get the most out of the shopping trip. 

Meanwhile, I'm working on Reta's second quilt on DW today and here's what's on Bernie this morning...

Virginia's Wooly Snowmen

Since I have this new rush that came in yesterday, and since Reta's quilt that's on DW is HUGE, it'll be a while before I get to Virginia's. But it's so darn cute to look at isn't it?

Let's talk about backings. I've had two backs, back to back (lol), that have been so short I've had to pin baste in front of my red snappers. This takes a lot of time, and since I don't needle well, a lot of pokes in the finger. Here's what I mean...

See all the pins?

And yesterday I had to use safety pins because the leaders on Bernie are so thick, the flower-headed pins won't flex enough to get them back through to the front. UGH. Please, please, please, give me enough backing material to at least get the top and bottom on without having to pin to the canvas leaders.

Lightly Falling Flakes

That's the backdrop of this morning as I arose. And it's still lightly coming down.

Worked on Reta's All Hallows Eve intermittently yesterday between getting Tina's quilt off, getting the backing ready for the next one on DW and dealing with customers. I'm going to continue on with what's on Bernie today as it needs to get done. 

Here's what's on DW for when I am done with the one on Bernie... 

Another big one

Each border will be treated differently and the center will get a free motion wandering feather/swirl. But not until I get Reta's first quilt done as this one on DW is her second. 

While Jim was putting the new door in on the east side of the new studio...

The permanent door

I was making bowl cozies. I have three nearly completed; they just need to be pressed and the edge stitching done. I found another gift I wanted to make all the family members (a State of Michigan pillow), but I'm not sure that's going to happen (again) this year. Purchasing supplies for such an undertaking may not be the wisest decision right now. 

Oblique Fracture of the 5th Metatarsal

That's the diagnosis for Hazel. She is to remain quiet for the next three to four weeks. Yeah, right. 

This means she'll be in the house when clients come to visit. The way she hangs out on the bench when she's outside when they come will do her foot zero favors. 

Meanwhile, I did get some quilting done in the late morning hours and the late afternoon hours. I was on the phone with dad during the early morning hours. We don't talk a whole bunch of times, so when we do, it's usually a rather long phone call. 

Tina's quilt should be finished today...

Loving all the texture in the panel portion!

I received a call from my youngest and his wife earlier this weekend and he generally doesn't ask for a whole lot of "sewing" things from me. But, they are loving their bowl cozies from last year and requested another set for this year. I'm making them six so they can alternate with holidays and the like...

Sitting in wait

Cloudy and cold today but no snow is expected. The tree has its ornaments (which is what we were doing between the long arming and making bowl cozies) and so I think getting that Christmas music on during work time sounds like a great idea.

I have one customer who's been trying to pick up her quilt now for a few days and I think she may be by today to grab it, but other than that, it should be a fairly quiet day. Good for Hazel. Bummer for me.