Done and Done

Bernadettes second quilt is done. I have yet to remove it from the frame, but can you see the sparkly thread I put in?

Can you see the sparkle?

Ready to come off

I moved over to Foster once hers was finished since it was nearly 4:00 and I've been running some long hours this week. Jim was weed whacking while I was working on him and before he was finished, I finished the last border/cornerstones.

He's off the frame. The Red Snappers are into his leaders that arrived while the quilt was already loaded and I'm ready to bind...

Ready to bind

We have several errands to run this morning. I never went to Pieces yesterday and we need to head to Bittersweet; both for new brochure drop-offs. We need to get some groceries in amongst all of that running around but we are going to treat ourselves out to breakfast first. 

C'mon Apple!

Still waiting to hear back from Apple on my mothers phone. Today is day four. 

I neared the half-way point on Bernadettes quilt on DW. Here's some of the quilting going into it...

Pebbling in this block

I don't normally quilt the wool part of quilts, but this one is going to a local show and the judge will ding Bernadette for not getting enough quilting in there. 

Nails first thing this morning and then over to Pieces to drop off the new, updated brochures. I may wander down to Pinconning to drop off over at Bittersweet but I'll have to wait and see if Gail is going to show this morning. Hopefully she'll call first.

She was sketchy on whether she'd be able to come yesterday as she had some personal stuff to do downstate and didn't know if coming back last night was going to happen. Apparently not. 

Jim mowed last night as I was working on Foster. The last border and cornerstones are left yet to do but my feet were starting to hurt; I'd been on them for over 11 hours so that's understandable. Happy quilting weekend!

Both Arrived

Whoever bet UPS would beat USPS lost. Both were actually delivered USPS and they both arrived yesterday to my very happy self. 

I added this into my order for new brochures... 

Isn't this cool?

Mom saw this when she stopped by yesterday and wants one with all the stuff on the back. Okay, her birthday is covered.

Here is a little of the quilting that went into Bernadettes quilt yesterday...

Flowers and swirls

This was done free motion, hand-guided by me and was finished before a later lunch. While I was working on this I was frame ironing the back on DW for Bernadettes next quilt. This is what I'll be working on today...

Today (and maybe tomorrows) project

This is for a local show so I'm going to have to be especially vigilant on my ditching and tie offs. I have one customer coming today to pick up and the north neighbors are coming up later this afternoon; today may be cut short.

Moms phone is still dead as we are still waiting for a response from Apple. Don't ever forget your log-in ID creating a lock-out situation. Because of scammers and thieves we are learning it's hard to get the darn thing unlocked again. 

The Eagle

While mom was here on Monday, we heard the Eagle out by our floating dock. We couldn't see him, but the neighboring birds were in a dither and complaining loudly about his presence. After mom left a few hours later, the little birds were still chattering. I snuck down around the neighboring yard and was able to capture this...

Isn't he beautiful?

From the looks of his beak/talons, he's not very old but it's just breathtaking to watch him fly around the area. 

Gails quilt was finished just before quitting time yesterday. I'm going to be working on this one on Bernie today...

Bernadettes Tula Pink blocks

The lights aren't on in the studio yet, so the pic came out rather dark. Sorry about that. This is getting a free motion edge-to-edge treatment while I'm frame ironing the next back on DW.

After working on DW I switched over to Foster. I had a little left on the bobbin from Gails quilt and a little left over in the cone to wind another partial bobbin. I'm on to the last row but fear the bobbins aren't going to hold out much longer. 

The thread order, as well as the new brochures are due this week. Two different suppliers; two different shipping methods. I bet the brochures (shipping UPS) will beat the thread order (shipping USPS). Any takers on the bet?

Phone Issues

My work phone is a piece of crap. Moms phone has her locked out. She spent over two hours at Best Buy with the Geek Squad trying to get it unlocked. I'm taking up the back end of this here at the house; mom doesn't have a computer.

Most of yesterday afternoon was spent working on it and I'm still waiting to hear back from Apple to reset everything. Technology will cripple us if we let it.

Meanwhile, I worked on Gails quilt until mom arrived and still don't have it done. We have thunderstorms this morning so not sure how much I'll get done it until they pass later today.  

I did get the borders on the yellow/orange quilt...

The black finishes it nicely

Then I found more blocks hanging out down there in the table and put this together...

Cute kids quilt

I think I'm through all the orphan blocks. I remembered, later last night, I haven't worked my BOM with Sew Very Easy in a few months and that'll be the next task on the sewing machine; I'm at least two months behind.

I updated my hours for the month of July. I'll be closed July 4th and 5th as well as the following Thursday and Friday (DeGroot Family Reunion); July 11th and 12th. 

Yellow and Orange

The next WIP I found in the pile were a lot of 74 crumb blocks in yellow and orange. I took out two and made this...

If you're into small schnibble scraps

I'm going to put a black and gold border around it I think. While I was working on this, Jim was hanging more quilt hanging boards in the bathroom, trim boards around the flooring, and he finished all the shelving in the batting closet...

This will be for customer pick ups

We took a late lunch and then had a relaxing afternoon watching movies; getting recharged. 

I'll be working on Gails quilt all of today on DW. Not expecting any customers and I get to finally open the windows back up since our temps are supposed to be pretty nice. The humidity seems to have fallen a bit which will keep the A/C off for most of the day. 

Rainy Day

Because it was so rainy I spent all of yesterday in the studio working on stuff. I started with Foster until I ran out of bobbin thread. The color I need is the same color I need for the customer quilt I'm working on DW. And the thread cone is looking pretty low. I need to wait until the thread order arrives in the next week, or, when I get done with the customer quilt, if there's still some left, I'll wind more for Foster.

The next project was tackling the three sets of blocks I found on Friday night. I started the smallest pile first. 

A nice size baby or dolly quilt

The next project was the next smallest pile. Here's what I got out of those...

A nice-sized baby or small child quilt

I'll work the last pile today since we can't seem to find anything to do today.

Much Needed

We have finally received a measurable amount of rainfall since yesterday afternoon. More is expected today. Jim is happy since he won't have to bring water to his garden. I'm happy because I don't have to be outside working and can play in the studio.

Here's a little of what's going into Gails Chevron quilt...

The marks have been erased since quilting

She wanted peace signs in all the setting triangles which is why those are there. 

I'm not "working" today, but instead working on Foster for more Amish with a Twist quilting. There are a LOT of thread changes and also a lot of ruler work and stops and starts for the way I'm quilting this.

Jim and I had to lower Foster down one notch on his frame. With me quilting barefoot, and his 24-inch throat span, I felt like I was at the big dinner table as a five-year old because he was up just a little too high. I was reaching too far with the rulers and that's a big no-no. Happy Saturday!

Appeal Denied!

There's been a group formed trying to appeal the special assessment of our dam reconstruction. Until the appeal ruling came in, the dams were going to cease construction soon. We just received the ruling yesterday that the appeal was denied. Maybe the construction will continue now that we're past that?

Meanwhile, I had a new customer drop off yesterday morning. She was very nice and her previous long armer is out of the picture and therefore looking for another. She gave me her first (maybe a trial of sorts) to see how I do (I think). Another customer came and picked up in the mid-afternoon. 

Despite all the customer work, I was able to get Deb B's quilt finished. I'm loading a back now for the next one on Bernie. DW is all loaded and basted in and I'll be working on this today...

Another big one

Sorry about the pic. I didn't have the lights on when I was buzzing through shutting down the studio for the night.

After finishing Debs quilt, Jim was home and we needed to run over to get his truck. When we returned home I had every intention of working on Foster while Jim was mowing the lawn. Our eldest called and we were on the phone for over an hour. I did some quiet work while we chatted and ended up getting all the remaining pieces cut for the green scrappy quilt.

I was going to go and mow the girls' pen but Jim waved me off and so went in and put all the blocks together. They are all pieced and just waiting for me to set them into rows.

Ready for a retreat

I squirreled after looking down into my ruler area and found these...

Crumb blocks and a few 25-patches

I'll get some sashing around these and make them into smaller kids or dolly quilts. It was almost 9:00 before I left the studio and I never did get to the flag block I had intended to make. Maybe tonight? 

Donating

I have't donated in a while. To anything really. Shame on me. I saw an IG post this morning from a quilter in Missouri (I think) who is collecting blocks to create some QOV's for her area. She's trying to get a block from every state. Count Michigan in!

Of course, the blocks are easy (a simple flag) and I'll be making one of those for her tonight to get into tomorrows mail. It's a small donation, but at least it's something.

Easy Peasy

More on Deb B's quilt today. I had one customer pick up and another customer came to drop off. That always takes up a little time out of long arming.

After I was done working for the day, I went to Foster to work more on the Amish with a Twist III and am now ready to roll. 

Once that was done I moved over to cutting more green pieces for the scrap quilt. While I was pressing the fabrics I ran across this piece...

My very first fabric purchase

This was the focus fabric in Calebs baby quilt; my first quilt EVER! This is the original fabric and after 30 years, it's still in pristine condition. It came from Country Stitches down in Lansing. I sent a pic to him to see if he recognized it and he quickly replied back that yes, he did know this fabric and was pleased I still had a piece.

More on Debs quilt today. I should be able to finish it up as I only have two more rows to do but the first of those is partially done. 

I have a customer coming to pick up this morning and a brand new customer coming around 11:00 to meet me and discuss what she has going on in her quilt top world. Not sure what time the other customer is coming; she wasn't very specific on when she'd be here. 

Guild Meeting

Yesterday's work day was cut short to head up to Oscoda for our monthly guild meeting. Yeah, it's a haul, but this is an amazing group of women who are friendly, helpful, and giving. Even though I don't see them often, we connect as soon as we see each other. 

We had a guest speaker last night. She is from Saginaw and she's pretty nationally known. Her name is Beth Ferrier and her appliqué techniques are dy-no-mite! No plastic glue (fusible). No hand sewing. My kind of appliqué. She was kind enough to provide us each with a few patterns to try on our own...

This quilt is spectacular

Not only did we get this free pattern book, but she gave a very long trunk show identifying how she has improved over the years; how her growth has pushed her into discovering new ways to do piecing, appliqué, and quilting. 

Jim and I didn't get home until after 10:00 last night.

Today I have one coming to pick up. Laura's quilt is done and I'm frame ironing Gails next up on DW. I'll be working on Deb B's quilt today while frame ironing the rest of the back for Gail...

Back on Bernie

This was loaded once already but pulled it off to do the second of two for Rae last week. 

Short Life

I often wonder why those sweet smelling flowers and trees only stay in bloom for such a very short time. Like the Peonies and the Irises. The cherry and apple trees; they're quick to go as well. My Northern Catalpa tree is no exception. He just started blooming on Friday; he's already losing his flowers. 

Not even a week

I don't think this extremely hot weather is doing it any favors. It isn't doing anything any favors. 

Laura's quilt did not get finished yesterday. I had to run and pick up Jim from the mechanics and lost long arming mojo upon my return. I have the last row and the last border to do this morning. 

I did make some more green scrappy blocks while Jim did a little drywall sanding and then moved over to do one block on the sit-down machine when he headed to the shower...

Lollipop Chain

I did the center block and almost moved to another one, but it's pretty labor intensive and it was nearly 8:00 by then. The heat is zapping our energy and we were done for the day. It's not supposed to be as hot today, but the humidity is making up for the heat. So thankful we have central air. 

Pea Soup

It's a sure sign it's going to be a hot one today when letting the dogs out at 8:00 the temperatures are the same outside as they are in; 75 degrees. 

The humidity outside is much higher than in the house though making it feel like pea soup out there. We're cold weather people and this really affects Jim. I hope he stays hydrated out there working in the field.

Customer bags. I'm now making customer bags to help eliminate the scrap pile I have. I worked on about four of those this weekend...

Bags for customers

I'm currently tackling the greens in the dresser with the bags and the scrap quilt I've been working on...

Pieces and parts and blocks already made

I still have a little more than 50 blocks to make. Here's some more quilting going into Amish with a Twist III...

More quilting details

Jim trimmed the dogs yesterday after he gave them both a bath. They will be much cooler with this awful heat we're expecting this week. And, it's only the middle of June. More work on Laura's log cabin quilt on DW. Since it's so big, I don't think I'll be getting this one done today, but since Jim isn't coming home for lunch, maybe?

Happy Fathers Day

I started out the day on Foster. Here's the center block...

Center of Amish with a Twist III

Jim and I have errands to run this morning and then the girls all get a hair cut. They've already had baths and we're waiting for them to dry. 

Thank you to all the men in my life, all of which are fathers in one way or another, for your support in my business and my quilting passion. You are truly gifts to me and I think about all of you each and every day! 

Did I Make Any Progress?

I worked a full day yesterday and yet I feel like I made very little progress on Laura's quilt.

I did spend a better part of the morning planning out the quilting, and then later in the afternoon planning some more quilting out on it. But here's the border treatment going in...

Can you even see it?

Minor work today getting Deb B.'s quilt loaded onto Bernie. I'm planning on playing on Foster most of the day. I'd like to get a big chunk of the Amish with a Twist done.

But, all the neighbors are up for the weekend and it's been nearly two years since all three houses were occupied at the same time. I may get a wee distracted.

Goofed Up

I made a mistake on a customer billing. I forgot to give her the 20% first-time-customer discount and she had to email me to point out the discrepancy. I have NEVER done that before. Well, that's going away after July 1st anyway, so hopefully it won't happen again.

Yeah, my pricing is being restructured after July 1. No new customer discounts, my e2e and custom prices are being increased by a penny per square inch, but I'm eliminating the thread charge. So, it's not really a whole penny I'm increasing.

But there are other things being added to the invoice: "Please pick up your quilt within 30 days of notification upon completion". There is a $30 minimum charge no matter the size. There will be a $30 "push" charge if a deadline isn't within a reasonable time. By reasonable I mean a month or more. A few weeks is not reasonable since I'm already four months out right now. 

Batting prices are now posted on the heater right behind Bernie where customers face at the planning table to give them a visual, and I've made batting samples so customers can make informed decisions on which batt to choose.

Whew...I sound all business-like, don't I? Andrew called last night and my pricing/changes were discussed. He's my business manager and is pretty strict with me since I have a tendency not to be. 

Here's what I'm working on DW today...

Laura R's beautiful log cabin

The pic doesn't do this quilt justice. The colors in this are so rich. I'm thinking feathers in the light areas and some swirls in the dark. But I'm still thinking about it.

I finished Rae's second quilt and am re-loading Deb B's onto Bernie. While Jim was strawberry jamming I worked a little on Foster...until Andrew called. Then I moved over to Ellie to piece 27 more blocks in the green scrappy quilt. I'm over a 100 blocks but still need to make more. I'll probably be fiddling with that over the weekend.

Batting Supplier

Wanna know the best place to purchase an excellent quality batting? Not the big box stores, that's for sure. Battingsupersale.com has the best prices, and believe me, I've checked everywhere.  

I had to call them yesterday and talk about some batting options for me personally and they have very nice folks. You actually get a human when you call and they are a family owned, only made in the U.S.A. company. Two positives in my book!

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

Rae's second quilt

Once I finished working on that for the day (around 4:30) I moved over to Foster to work on Amish with a Twist...

Gotta love those feathers!

I'm ready to roll to the next row. While I was doing this, Jim was working on these...

Shelves for customer pick ups

And we moved the quilts in queue to the other closet. They fit better there and this gives me the bigger side for batting and my projects. 

Z Rack dismantled and used only the bar on top

One customer already here this morning to pick up and nobody else expected today. I'm hoping to finish Rae's quilt and I'll see where the rest of the day takes me. 

Recall All Done

I was supposed to take the Dodge in today for a computer recall. Jim ended up doing it instead, meaning, all the chores are done and I'll be heading to the studio as soon as I get done blogging.

Gwens second quilt is finished and she's coming tomorrow to pick both of hers up... 

Can you even see it?

It's a baptist fan with a heart in the middle. That's what happens when you use matching thread.

I'll be working on Rae's quilt all day. And not easily. She chose wool batting for this quilt, which isn't the problem. The problem is that Hobbs wool batting seems to be inconsistent with its lofts and there is a point in the quilt where the loft is really, really lofty, causing ruler problems for me. 

I need to contact my supplier and ask if anybody else has mentioned anything about this.

After working Gwens quilt yesterday, and starting Rae's second quilt, I didn't get anything else done. Jim and I ran to Bay City/Essexville to pick up the wood for the closet shelves right after he got home from work. We diddled around there for a bit and then took the back roads home.

It was a beautiful day yesterday and we enjoyed being out and about a little bit. 

ALL SIX!!!

I wondered how long it would take me to have a day using all six of the machines set up in the studio. Yesterday was that day so obviously it wasn't that long.

DW: Quilted Gwen's first quilt.

Bernie: Had a quilt back frame ironed only to discover the previous quilt [owner] had two in my queue. First back off, second back on and her quilt is fully loaded. 

Foster: Removed Dream Big and had the Amish with a Twist loaded and quilted on.

Ellie: Made binding for the Dream Big off Foster

Mike: Attached binding to the Dream Big

Jay: Did seven or so blocks last night for sit-down work.

Yep...all six machines. 

Here's what Gwens first quilt received yesterday...

Swirls

Bernie was wearing this before my discovery of two for Rae in the queue...

Nope

Now he's wearing this...

Rae's second quilt

Foster is wearing this...

Amish with a Twist

This one will be on Foster for a while. It's a big quilt and this was started on DW about 2 1/2 years ago. It was taken off to make room for customer quilts and hasn't been touched since.

DW is now wearing this...

Another huge quilt

This is Gwens second quilt and is also getting an E2E today. I have to purchase and then download the motif from Urban Elements first before getting started but it's all basted in and ready to go once I get there.

Just wanted to "show off" the Dream Big quilt before closing...

Ain't it purdy?

I actually snuggled under this last night (it'll be the summer quilt) and washed/put away the wool quilt that's usually on the couch. Aaannndddd, that's a wrap. 

Not Even A Small Project

Yesterday was a rare day; NO work in the studio. At all.

Jim and I did a little shopping in the morning. We didn't get home until well after lunch time. Made a nice stir-fry and then we basically napped and watched movies the rest of the afternoon. Sometimes a person needs that recharge. 

I did, however, finish my Dream Big quilt on Foster on Saturday...

I love doing these things!

All I need to do is trim and bind and it'll be one less in the to-do totes.

Gwen's quilt is first up this morning on DW. I'm frame ironing on Bernie for Deb B. and while it's a sunny day out there, it's actually kinda cold this morning; low 50's. Feels more like a fall morning than an early summer morning. I have the heat on in both the main house and the studio. Happy Monday. 

Where Does the Time Go?

Yesterday flew by. I was so darn busy it just seemed to pass like the speed of light. 

Nails, dig out quilt to hang, call Verizon, do normal chores, administrative stuff, hang quilt, quilt, lunch, quilt, dog sitter visit, quilt, customer came to pick up, grocery shopping, and then the clocks say 9:00. WOW!

Here's the quilt I dug out and hung in the new studio. It's my pride and joy as it was on and off again over the course of five years...

Town and Country

If you don't remember this quilt...it has 365 little 4" blocks, all of which are individually appliquéd. It's one of those quilts you could look at for hours and still find stuff.

While shopping, I found a really cute door mat for the new studio...

And everybody is truly welcome here!

I love the buffalo plaid!

I've already been "choring" this morning while, once again, on the phone with Verizon, but I think we got everything all settled with them (one of the kids "left the island"). 

I'm going to finish Rae's quilt today if it kills me; I only have two borders left to do. Jim is out mowing so he'll be busy for at least another hour which means I should be working too. Maybe later today/this weekend, I can play some more on Foster??? 

Getting Worried

My neighbor had has 70th birthday yesterday. Remember when 70 seemed ancient to us as kids? And we're not that much younger than him which makes me wonder about my mind at this conjecture. 

I thought I ordered Red Snappers for Foster a few weeks ago. The company I went through sent an odd email regarding the make and model of my machine and did the head sit on a carriage and was there a bed on the frame. I answered the email and figured it was for statistical purposes.

There's a lot more to this story but what it boiled down to was my ordering a ruler base (which my dealer was getting for me and didn't need to order) instead of those Red Snappers I've been waiting for which I desperately need.

Is my mind starting to wain? Is my age starting to actually show? This is scaring the crap out of me!

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

Gwens Sampler

This is getting an E2E (cringe) instead of custom work, but hey, I do what the customer wants.

The poppy bloomed yesterday and here is what I can see out the south window...

Love the salmon color

I'll be finishing Rae's quilt today on Bernie before I attempt Gwens quilt, or maybe while it's stitching out. I have nails first thing and then I'm coming right home after. Happy Friday!

Fast Day

Yesterday was long day (got up early) and yet, it went by extremely fast. I should be finishing up Linda's third quilt today at some point; I'm on the last row!

The youngest son and his wife came up yesterday. Caleb was helping Jim put up strawberry jam, Lia was applying for a job, and I was of course working. 

Caleb brought some of the goodies Foster was missing. The only thing now is those side clamps, but I "borrowed" one from DW and am making do.

That's about all to report. Here's Lucy taking advantage of Lia's presence...

Traitor!

But Lia doesn't really mind and at this point, she was just reading while Caleb was finishing up with berries. 

Thunderstorm Morning

We have a nice late spring/early summer thunderstorm rolling through right now. It doesn't look like it's going to last too long but we needed the rain at any amount.

Yesterday morning was spent on the phone. Literally. ALL MORNING! The only thing I stitched on DW was to baste in the batting to the back to get a plumb line. Yep, that was it. 

I only took one break after lunch and when Jim got home, I had only set in the first two rows. The motif Linda decided on is spectacular, but so (so, so, so) time consuming. Here's what the last of her quilts is getting...

Custom quilting the last one

What takes so long are the channels and the feather spines. Each and every one has to be individually started and stopped.

Gall Sewing called yesterday and said all my goodies were there. Caleb is planning on coming up today to do berries with Jim and he'll bring everything with him. It'll be nice to get a ruler base on Foster. It's even nicer to have children that support what you do!

Sherry's quilt arrived to her place all safe and sound (UPS'd that out on Monday night), and Pat N. called to thank me for the beautiful job I did in her quilt (that was delivered to Terry a few weeks ago). I needed those calls after the mornings phone interludes. 

Looks like the storm is already winding down. Time to get the music on and the thread a runnin'. 

Price Increase

I have to do it. I have to raise my quilting prices a smidge to stop taking a loss. Thread, needles, electricity, oil, and well, wages, have all increased on me, yet I'm hesitant about raising my per-inch price. 

I'll have to post something on my web site I suppose. Ugh.

Anyway...price increases will take affect starting July 1 meaning any top received after July 1 will receive new pricing. I'm only going up a penny and quite honestly, I'm eliminating the thread charge so it's not even going up that much. 

I'm working on frame ironing Linda's third quilt. I had a lot of traffic (phone and in-person) yesterday afternoon so I didn't get done as quickly as would have liked on the second quilt.

I've already posted a pic of what that second quilt is getting, so here's a pic of the view leading up to the new studio now...

Welcome!

The scaffolding is still in place for when the metal is ready to get put on. Which will probably be this weekend. Hopefully.

No customers expected today. I'm still waiting on deliveries from Gall Sewing on my ruler base, welcome kit, and bobbin winder for Foster.