Sleepy Sundays

Jim and I take most of Sunday afternoons off. We recharge for the upcoming week and spend quality time with the girls. As we get older, I think this day is very important for us.

But Sunday morning we do some chores and play around the property. Jim tackled some previously cut branches and the girls' pen with the poop duty and then watched MSU kick UofM's butt in basketball. I finished this quilt on Foster... 

Finally quilted

I still need to bind it (who knows where that is) but it's probably the last "quilt" that Foster will do. I plan on playing on him for some projects I have in my head, but that's about all I want to tackle.

No customers expected today. I have to remove the t-shirt quilt on DW since I finished that on Friday and reload for another April deadline quilt. It'll be a surprise. 

Memories

I was packing up a few of the finished quilts we have hanging around here. They go in totes and are stored in the garage for the kids to deal with when I'm gone. I also found another "holding" tote under the bed that had a large amount of schnibbles in them that I will never, ever use. Gone now. But while I was going through the quilts as I was packing them up, they brought back memories of when I made/finished them. 

Afterwards and while I was thinking of today's blog title I happened to look at a plaque the B family made for us with all of our familial sayings. Some of them just crack me up and I was near tears while re-reading them. Memories are wonderful.

The first Sue quilt is finally done. I loaded the next back for an April deadline quilt, and realized I didn't have to frame iron it since it's a two sided t-shirt quilt. This one needed to be squared onto the back (a nearly impossible feat) and then after working on that for over an our, got it basted in...

Here's the top

Here's the back

It was much earlier in the day than I originally thought, and while I set this up for the Pro Stitcher to tackle, decided with all the seams and bulk DW was going to have to traverse, I was going to have to drive this myself to avoid needle breakage situations.

Just as Jim was pulling into the driveway from his work day, I was finishing the next to the last pass. While he was in the shower I finished her out and we left to do our weekly grocery shopping. It's still on the frame but at least it's quilted. 

I have two customers coming today to drop off five tops. Small and table runners, but they all need to be loaded and basted, and that all takes time too. I'll break in Marty on those when he arrives in a couple of weeks. 

Why Some...

long armers don't long arm anymore. 

Notice anything out of sorts?

And the backing is too short

I called Sue to ask her if I could trim off the sides to obtain extra backing to add to the bottom. She couldn't believe she shorted me like that, but hey, I even do it to myself.

An hour later, and with Jims help, we removed the quilt, trimmed, sewed and sewed again, and then one more time to attach the extra needed at the bottom, and then reloaded. The reloading; that's where it's much easier with two people to assist with the weight of the whole quilt. 

There are many long armers out there who have given up the "sport" for reasons such as the two listed above. They were tired of wrangling these issues. I'm not so sick of it. Yet.

Because I had this little hiccup to deal with, and my eldest called to chat for a while, I did not get this quilt done. Today should be the day and I'll get right to it after my early nail appointment. Not expecting any customers and I have only one delivery coming in, so minimal reasons not to finish this one.

Not much to show. Or Tell.

I had two intricate quilts come in yesterday (Floral Felicity and the Tilda Sampler) and that was the highlight of my day. Still working on Sue S.'s Kaleidoscope quilt yesterday and today both. I have a new customer coming later this morning with another Tilda Sampler but that's the extent of my excitement.

The IG Quilt Fest is going on right now. Yesterday's prompt was...

A good question 

My answer is a little more detailed than the one I left on IG. I didn't want to bore anybody with my artistic journey and how I finally found it through needle, thread, and the big machines. But that's really the reason. It's an outlet for the artist in me I'd been searching for basically my whole life. 

And, it's a give-back pastime. What I make is useable and can be given to anybody who needs a hug of love. 

Today's prompt is Quilty Fashion. Yeah, I got nothing here. But I'm working on making a quilt coat. Well, I have the pattern. I have an idea in my head. Does that count? 

The winter weather has returned. Cold temps, a little snow, and high winds expected all day today. But with yesterday's rain, the lake has come up a good foot. Our dock is entirely in the water (ice), the Beller coyote has completely disappeared, and the fishing boats back end is getting very near the edge of the water. 

Why Do I Need Two (Three) Long Arms?

We get asked this question. A LOT! This is one of many reasons why...

Frame ironing a backing

While I am over working on DW, I'm prepping the next quilt to head onto Bernie. Frame ironing is only one of many steps it takes to get a quilt loaded. Let me ask you this...do I question why you need more than one set of anything in your line of work/hobby? 

The third machine is just for my quilts. This was a personal purchase (not a business purchase) I felt I had a need for since my flimsy pile was just growing instead of reducing. 

I could probably get away with one machine. I did for years. But I'm about a third faster now in my "quilt production" than in the those previous years. Would any of my own personal tops ever get done? Not. A. Chance. 

While I was working on Sues quilt on DW yesterday, this came to my attention...

Well, that ain't right

Coming completely detached from her top. I've found three of these so far in here and I'm having to tack them down for her as I go along. 

I have two new quilts coming in later this afternoon but my morning is free. I'm up early. I worked late last night (almost to 7:00) because I have some deadlines in April pressing down on me. Thankfully our electricity came back on (we all lost it around 11:45 for no apparent reason). Better get to it on this rainy early spring day. 

Ever Wonder?

Do you ever wonder what other people are doing at that very moment you're thinking about what they're doing? My mind drifts when I'm long arming. What are the kids/grandkids doing at that moment? What are friends doing? Other quilters...are they long arming, at a retreat, or just piecing? I believe I have too much "think" time. 

The QOV is done. It's hanging out waiting for the markings to disappear...

Ready to remove and trim up

To revisit, I'll be working on Sue's Kaleidoscope quilt on DW for the next few days...

Ready for my attention

It's not even basted in yet. I was waiting for Jim to shim those legs before starting to do any work on it. Now that that's done I can proceed.

While I was getting ready to quilt on Foster last night, the sun broke through the clouds and showed me this yuck on my cutting mat...

Look at all that mess

Your mat has all of this as well. I took my gum eraser to it and it's much cleaner now. What I need to do is get it in the shower with some Dawn to thoroughly clean it, but I'll do that when the weather gets warmer.

Rainy and chilly today. It's probably going to melt whatever snow we have left. If not today, then definitely tomorrow as temps are supposed to stay mostly above freezing with rain for the next day or so. 

Not so Snuggle Sunday

Okay, so we did snuggle a little after lunch and before the game, and then again after it was finished in the early evening. Meanwhile, in the morning I worked on Foster...

What's going in the "mint" section

And in the afternoon I started pressing, cutting, and piecing for the first block in what I'm calling the Scrappy Susan quilt. 

The first scrap block (of 40)

You can see my focus fabric in the background; what I pulled all the scraps from to make it a little more cohesive. 

Today is QOV work on Bernie. It should be done by the end of today barring too many interruptions. 

Taking the Girls

We had errands to do after getting morning chores done and we took the girls with us. Something we haven't done in a while, but we weren't going to be in any one place any too long. They were so tuckered out when we got back home they were very quiet the rest of the day. They get so excited going bye-bye.

One of the stops was Pieces of Thyme to pick up some background fabric for this new project...

The newest project

After lunch and a movie or two, I headed out to the studio to read the directions for this project and started cutting the background pieces...

Backgrounds all cut

Jim was out in the workshop cutting and making shim pieces for the two north/south long arms. DW is wearing his latest "heels"...

A new set of shims

During our second movie the medium I had purchased Friday for the Girl with the Pearl Earring was applied. Here's a before and after treatment with said medium...

Before

After

Yep, just some fabric medium on those InkTense pencils brings out the life of the party.

Not sure where I'm headed today but it'll be low-keyed. 

More of the Same

Yesterday was free of any distractions but I'm still not finished with the QOV. Here's another few blocks going in...

America the Beautiful

And here's one of Lady Liberty...

Does this block make me look fat?

While the furnace was running I loaded the two big machines for their next project(s). Here's what's on Foster...

Left overs from a previous project

I dug this out of the flimsy tote. With all of that light negative space, ya know I have to custom quilt this one. Here's what's on DW after the QOV is done...

Sue's beautiful Kaleidoscope Quilt 

This is, of course, going to be custom done. But not until that QOV is finished. 

We ran to Midland last night to UPS out Ginny's three quilts. I stopped into Joann's to find some fabric medium. They were, of course, out. The store is a skeleton even after only one week into their closing. Hobby Lobby had what I think I needed. I have to check my test section to see if it's the right thing.

The Bellers came up for the day/night last night and we headed there after getting groceries to catch up and visit. 

Today is a crap shoot. Jim and I have been doing chores all morning and are now heading to Pieces to pick up some background fabric for the next scrappy quilt I'm going to do with folks around the country with Susan Smith. She's hosting a sew-along and I need to dump some scraps. 

Michigan Weather

We're supposed to have cloudy and windy weather today. Nothing about snow, yet that's what it's doing outside. Nothing earth shattering, but snow nonetheless. Wouldn't it be nice to have a well paying job telling people only half-truths?

Here's some of the quilting going into Anns QOV...

One of the 20 blocks

The border treatment

I'm going pretty light on the custom area but it's still taking some time. Many thread changes and a lot of ditching. 

I worked on the Girl with the Pearl Earring after I turned off Bernie after 5:00. Here's the second stitch out...

Now to color

I didn't think I'd get to the color last night, but I still had some time to frog around and here it is prior to doing a textile treatment on the InkTense pencils...

Prior to medium treatment

The colors will be extraordinary when I get the medium on there.  

I'll be working on Anns quilt all day today. Yesterday I had a pick up and drop off both. I had a phone call for two more tops coming in next week and a call from the Shop Hop folks to get all the information on Linda's Michigan Shop Hop quilt (that I did a while ago). It will be going into the magazine later this year, and they are giving me credit, which is very cool. And it's Friday already. Holy crap. 

Overkill

Ginny's quilt is done! I have to find a box big enough to get all three quilts in so we can ship them this weekend. These are all the pretty threads that went into her quilt in a row...

I love thread!

I'll be working on this QOV for Ann today...

Not normally a custom but...

I don't normally custom quilt a QOV because I charge a set fee for them. But this one had so much going into it I'll definitely be losing a ton of money taking the time to do the custom work. But our veterans are worth every bit of my time.

After finishing Ginny's quilt (late afternoon), and after loading the QOV, I moved on to the binding on the quilt sitting on Foster. I had to get it done. I needed the machine for another project...

And it's a finish!

I love the green binding I put into it!

I loaded the fourth Girl with the Pearl Earring next. Is this overkill?

A 15" art piece on a 12' frame

My little Janome 1600P that I use for sit-down quilting is showing its age and is causing me some grief. I stitched this out on Foster and then started doing the fill. It was time for Spartan basketball and I was getting tired. Here she is so far...

Doing the back stitching

I'll continue with her tonight since this is going to be my finished class 'model'. I have one customer coming today to pick up and should be able to make decent headway on the QOV since it won't be quilted to death, but some nice easy custom will give it some spark. 

Titles

Sometimes it's hard to pick a daily title for these posts. Yesterday was pretty uneventful. I long armed ALL day. Stopped near dark again. Worked on the Girl with the Pearl Earring stitch outs...

One of three stitched out

Two of these are actually stitched out. One more to go. Yep, that took me to about 7:30-ish. I knew if I started the third I'd be out there for another hour or more. 

Can you see any of the quilting?

Do you see it?

Probably can't because, once again, mostly just ditching is occurring in the center section blocks. The border blocks are another story as are the borders. More on this quilt for most of today. I have a few more thread changes on this pass and then I can work the border blocks, which take a very long time. 

I haven't done anything with the quilt coming off Foster yet. If I take it off I have to put something else on there and quite honestly, since we don't get along so well, I'm just not wanting to fiddle with him. The binding is made and all I have to do is trim the quilt, but there it sits. 😈

A Gift

I love to get surprise gifts. Maybe I'm selfish but getting something unexpected is always fun to me. Linda brought these with her yesterday when she dropped off her next top for me to quilt...

All Tula Pink fabrics

I was so appreciative of her, the top she dropped off is going to be pro-bono because there are some cuts in there exceeding a yard. 

Before and after my lunch with Linda I worked on Ginny's top and here's where I am starting today...

Day 1 of ???

There are over 16 threads in here meaning a lot of thread changes. And then you miss a spot you already loaded that thread for (three thread changes ago) and have to reload that thread. UGH!

After working on DW to almost dark, I switched to prepping for an art class I'm teaching in May. I've got all the girls marked out and I'll hopefully be starting to stitch out my marks tonight or tomorrow...

The lady with the pearl earring

There are four of these that need to be made in various stages of completion for demonstration purposes. Only three of the four are going to be time consuming since the first one is just a demonstration of the overlay in front of her. 

I'm debating on whether or not to just do these on the long arm or the sit-down machine. I can think about that today while I'm working I suppose. 

Snuggle Sunday

I did work on a small project yesterday while we were relaxing and rejuvenating for the upcoming week...

Circles into squares

The next step is to join them into two sections of four. There's a way to do it without "breaking thread" but I have to watch the video because I don't remember how Erica [Arndt] did it. I also started another pair of slippers to use up all my bulky wool yarns I have hanging around the place. 

I'll be working on Ginny's BOM quilt on DW part of today. The other part is going to lunch with a customer/friend and it'll be nice to be able to chat without sewing machines humming in the background or other interruptions like we endure at retreats.

Introducing Marty!!!

The Handi Quilter Forte and I are not getting along very well. As you may have been keeping track of. He's just not working out. It's a long story how this all came about, but Foster is going away in about a month. Marty will be joining us where Foster currently resides...

A new long arm coming soon

Yep, I bought a new long arm yesterday. Trading in Foster for what the kids and I have named Marty.

The Bernina machines are black and the frame we are putting this on is white, so what's black and white? 

Well, lots of things, but Zebras came instantly to Lia's train of thought. Then she thought of Marty from Madagascar. I thought of Marty McFly from Back to the Future (another of my favorite movies). Since Bernie is named after a movie (Weekend at Bernies) so too will Marty be named.

Yep, that's about all we did yesterday, but what a wonderful day! I'm still pretty giddy about it!

Who Said Long Arming Wasn't Dangerous?

I was on Bernie yesterday way before I was scheduled to open to try to get ahead of the day. 10 minutes into my work and... 

Poked my finger and the thumb is being compression-ized

I can tell when I don't wear my compression glove. My thumb just throbs the next day and sometimes even keeps me up at night. I poked my finger tying off with the needle because I was being stupid.

The Steam Punk is done! Not until after lunch, but done nonetheless. I had a bazillion phone calls/texts in the morning to deal with. And then there's the regular admin stuff I do on Friday mornings too.

Here's what I'll be working on next week on DW...

The last of Ginnys tops to do

This was a BOM she did last year and upon initial inspection, this too is going to be a lot of starts/stops and thread changes. I've already pulled four threads and that's just for the borders and backgrounds. I've already basted in and started the first border. 

Once Jim got home from work (way after 4:00) I jumped over on Foster and finished the quilt I have loaded on him. But not without some issues...

What's wrong with this picture?

The machine is on. The machine quilts. But how do I change stitch length? Or any other controls (lights/handles/bobbin sensor)? And this happened twice last night. The only way to get the screen back on is to turn the machine off and then back on again. There's a short in there somewhere so he needs to head back down to Lansing.

But he may be leaving me permanently. Still haven't heard back from Jason to see if we're going to make that a go, but as soon as he opens up today I'll be calling him. 

Speaking of Jason and Lansing, we are headed there later today when Jim gets home from work. We have to stop at Gall anyway because my favorite bobbin case (once again) is not tensioning correctly. He needs to change a little spring thingie in there. IF we have time. 

Jim is working this morning but as soon as he gets back home we are on our way south. We need to pick up some things from the little kids to bring back home before the movers come in for round one for their European move.

We might buzz over to the B's to visit with them for a bit, but we'll have to wait and see where we are at time-wise. 

I've already got the sheets in the dryer; first load already put away. Bathrooms cleaned. Plants watered. Dogs fed. Sinks scrubbed. Living room vacuumed. Now can I play in the studio?

Oh, and here's a video of the studio today...

It's a sunny Saturday as you can tell from the video so enjoy!

Taxes

Everybody has to pay them. Taxes. Bleh! Jim and I ran and signed our prepared taxes last night before heading to Midland to get some groceries and do errands. The only reason we're getting some money back this year is because of my business. I guess after your kids leave and you no longer have that deduction, opening a business is the next best thing?

Received some bad news as we were shopping last night. The long armer west of me towards Harrison passed away in her sleep the previous night. Totally unexpected and a shocker to say the least. You'd think I'd be happy about this, but she was keeping my numbers at a relatively stable level. I didn't know her. Never met her. Never been to her business. I just know she's a fellow long armer and it makes me sad.

On a brighter note, I've decided to get on the quilted jacket bandwagon. I like them. They're super cute and finding orphan quilts is never a problem. Since Joann's is going out of business, we stopped by the Midland store to take advantage of their liquidation sale and picked up these two patterns...

Hoping one of them works

I suck at "real" sewing. I can make a quilt until you're blue in the face, but then sewing garments is always a different story with me. I've tried over the years with horrible results. These patterns claim to be "easy" but I'll see about that over the weekend when I peruse the directions. 

I also picked up a little yarn to finish my daisy blocks I'm crocheting for a bag I'm making. 

And...Ginny's Steam Punk quilt still isn't finished. Today maybe? All that starting and stopping in the birdcage and around the birdies is taking soooooo long. And I have six thread changes with each pass as well, which also takes some time. Leaving work at "normal" time didn't help either to take care of the tax thing. Well...

Happy Friday. 

Weird Mac

The computer I blog on (my desktop Mac) was completely off this morning. I checked all the connections because it would not just turn back on. I switched the plug it was in on the Monster surge protector and it finally fired up. Isn't techology great?

I know this computer is getting up in years and maybe it's giving us some signals?

Up early and rolling already this morning. Chores are done and I'm jumping on Bernie first thing. The Steam Punk quilt did not get done yesterday. This is why...

Do you see any quilting?

You don't see any quilting because I'm going around each and every one of the non-aqua elements with aqua thread. It takes a LONG time to do this as I can't just whip around everything willy-nilly. 

Maybe today it's going to get finished? I have a customer coming later to pick up and had a last minute visitor yesterday to drop off who was here for a bit. 

I did get another roll done on Foster and have a half and one more roll to go. But I have to piece some batting since the quilt was bigger than the batting on the roll. That won't take long, but it's kind of a contortionist act wrestling with 107 inches of batting. 

Skeptical

I was on the long arm by 8:30 yesterday morning. Getting up super early does that I guess. I'll be on it before 9:30 today. I worked on Ginny's Steam Punk quilt in the afternoon as well as some more quilting on Foster, but the bulk of yesterday morning and afternoon were spent working on Ginny's E2E piece on DW.

I drove...

I can drive faster than the computer 

I love to set DW at about 55% on manual mode and "skate" across the quilt. This big lady was done before a late lunch. 

While I was setting up to quilt this, of course, I had to pick top and bottom threads. I need to place a thread order because my bobbin threads are becoming very reduced in quantity. I didn't think I had enough  of the sterling color to get me through this piece and then I found these...

Prewound bobbins

These are SuperBOB's by Superior Threads and I had tried these once before in DW when I first purchased him. I didn't have a lick of luck back then, but I'm a little more seasoned now and feel like I could deal with adjusting tension to make them work. Everybody else in the industry is all a rage about prewounds and I really wanted to make them work. I had to. I didn't have enough of the Glide thread to get me through this quilt. These were a gift from a customer and I thought, 'what the heck?'.

OMG! I'm sold! I would have put four or five bobbins through this quilt if I would have wound them myself. I had a little under two bobbins into this quilt with the prewounds! According to Bob at Superior Threads, there is nearly four times more thread into these bobbins then there would be if I would have wound them myself. I don't think he's kidding!

I've tried the Magna Glide [prewound] bobbins in Bernie and they worked well in him also. I know the Berninas take a slightly different profiled bobbin, and it's recommended that if we do use prewounds to use the Magna Glides.

I wonder what a dozen of these price out at? Let me check. 

Okay, they run about a buck apiece (for either the Magna Glide or the SuperBOBs). When pricing them out they are nearly double what it would cost for me to wind my own bobbins. Dang it. I really like the convenience but for a business, I'll just have to suck it up and wind my own. Drats!

More work on Bernie with the Steam Punk quilt. I'm hoping to finish that one today but since it's a shop custom I'm going at it a little slow. 

Getting Motivated

I heard a line from a TV show I watch at lunchtime (The Middle) and it's so true. Instead of saying, "Oh, I have to get up to go to work today, or, Oh, I have to do laundry today, etc."  Change the 'I have to' to 'I get to'.  Which I've immediately switched to doing. It does make a difference!

So, I get to work on two more beautiful quilt tops today. This one is on Bernie and has been [finally] started...

Getting a custom treatment

All I've really done is set in some piano keys in the border and long lines in the next set of borders. But after I get done working on the next top I'll get more into it.

Janices quilt received an all over paisley, so not much to show there. This morning I'll be working this one on DW as it is receiving an E2E with me driving...

This is a large top!

This may take the better part of today. 

Actually, the next three (these two and the next one on DW) are for the same customer who lives down in Ohio. I met her at the Shipshewana retreat and it's become a tradition that she makes tops throughout the year and I bring them home to quilt them in November. I'll mail (UPS actually) them back to her once they are finished this week. 

I did get a pass done on Foster last night until all of a sudden my heel started hurting. My body reminding me I'm the age that I am. 

It's very sunny out this morning and the snow is just so sparkly. But it is very cold too; five degrees right now. Wow, are my studio windows dirty. 

Snuggle Sunday

We did get a few more snow showers yesterday. Jim waiting until almost dark to blow the driveway to make sure all the snow was done from our "storm". The girls look great with their new haircuts and I've finished four more customer bags... 

Ready to fill with trimmings from customer quilts

Today I'll be working on Janice's Carpenters Star on DW and then, if time permits, I'll be moving over to the quilt on Bernie to start for Ginny. Not much else happening since we're starting a fresh week. 

Bad Hand

The thumb injury that occurred to me as a young girl (like seven or eight years old) is starting to become an issue. It feels like my thumb joint is becoming arthritic or something. This is my dominant hand; my working hand. Moreover, my working thumb. 

I played on Foster for a little under two hours yesterday and my thumb, even while typing this morning, is making its presence known. Painfully. I got off the long arm and moved over to making customer bags. Sewing and pressing do not require much pressure on that joint. I have started wearing a compression glove to try to ease the situation.

Here's a few of the bags Jim (he helped when he got home from work) and I made yesterday. 

A few customer bags

While Jim is giving the girls a haircut, I'm going to work on four more. 

Our "storm" didn't turn into a storm at all. We got maybe another inch of snow overnight and only spontaneous snow yesterday. It's supposed to be done snowing by late morning today and that's it. Kind of a let down.

MSU won last night in Champagne, and Tom achieved the most winning coach award passing Bobby Knight after the win. While Jim was watching the game, I got the third round of my crochet squares done and will work on the fourth while we're watching movies today. 

On a bad note...the little group who have put a fly in our damn reconstruction ointment did file for appeal with the Michigan State Supreme Court on Friday afternoon. Are we ever going to get our lakes back?

A Boring Life

Some would say my life is boring. My mom, who runs the roads, can't figure out how I stay here all day long just quilting. We are expecting a large amount of snow through the weekend and she's already complaining about having to stay home for three days. I relish snow storms! 

I love my life. I'm warm, secure, loved, fed, clothed, and I get to do what I'm passionate about for a little bit of income. What more can a person really need out of life? 

I didn't get much of Janices quilt done yesterday because I had two scheduled customers and then two later in the afternoon drop-ins whom I haven't seen in forever and it was great catching up and seeing them both. 

Here's a little of what's going in...

Paisleys!

By the time my later afternoon folks left it was nearly closing time. So, I'll pick this back up on Monday.

I did get a little quilting done on Foster, but then decided Jim needs something to do in the evenings that is pretty low keyed and productive. We had a bag making class and I think he may be making my customer bags. IF he really wants to. 

I'm currently out of bags (well, we made two last night) and have been using recycled bags from Pieces for people to carry their trimmings out with their quilts. That's not cool nor is it very professional.

Jim's working this morning so I'm going to jump on Foster here in a bit once I finish the Saturday chores. Happy snow event.