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. 

Happy Valentines Day!

I'm wearing my burgundy, pink and white today to celebrate the day of love. Although, I think we should celebrate love every day. No?

Janice's colorful top is now a quilt. I didn't get any pics of the E2E I put in, but I drove and did the swirly feather flower all over. Except the border where I put in a half feather.

Here's what's on Bernie next... 

Steam Punk from Indiana

I have three quilts in a row for a customer in Indiana. Her name is Gail and I get tops from her at Shipshewana for me to quilt. This one is going to be a shop sample so there is custom going in.

DW hasn't been fully loaded yet but here's what he'll be wearing today...

Janices Soccer Boy Top

This is actually a Carpenters Star from what looks to be a layer cake and some background fabric. I'd love to quilt this with some shocking green, turquoise, or yellow but that's not what the customer wants.

As promised yesterday, here's some of the quilting going into the I-don't-remember-when-I-did this quilt on Foster...

Corner treatment

Upper border area

This looks so cool with the afternoon sunshine hitting it since Foster is on the west end of the studio.

I was on the phone all of yesterday morning. Bernadette and Maggie are coming to get their quilts around noon today. I left a message for Gail (other Gail, not the one from Indiana) about her Dad art quilt being done. I had to call Gall Sewing about something I have in the works (a secret until something more concrete comes of it), and then Gail called me back to let me know she was on vacation until the end of the month and would pick up her quilt then. 

My brother was texting me during all of this so I was definitely multi-tasking because I was also basting in and getting ready to quilt Janice's quilt on DW as soon as I could get off the phone. 

Well, I have nails first thing and will get right back home to work on Janice's second quilt before the girls show up around noon. Happy VD!

Digging Out

Jim was late getting to work this morning. Another six inches of snow last night and we still have a little coming down this morning. He said the secondary roads are a wreck so I don't think I'll have anybody wanting to come over today.

I'm closing a little early though as we have a tax appointment at 3:30 this afternoon. Have I ever voiced how much I detest this whole tax process? Bleh!

Back to quilting related stuff. Millies Dresses is done! I finished right before lunchtime. I had a quick art quilt I was hired to finish and so got that right on the machine after getting Bernadettes off...

Her dad in 3-D art form

I forgot to grab a pic before getting it into the pick-up closet; it looked much better stitched out.

I'm not sure what's going on Bernie next, but here's what's on DW for today...

Janice D.'s colorful top

Still not sure what I'm going to do with this one. She is open to me doing either E2E or custom. I really want to do some custom work but I don't know that it would enhance it that much to warrant the extra expense to her. Hmmm???

After getting that loaded I moved over to Foster to get his new back frame ironed. While working on that I got the binding into the Kaffe quilt. Isn't this cool?

Using the same thread as it was quilted with

And it's a quilt!

Cotton Cuts Mystery BOM from 2021 (I think)

Once that was done, the back was ready on Foster so this is what he's wearing now...

Haven't a clue when I made this

I already have pics of what's going in here, but I'll save those for tomorrow; I've already got enough pics in here for this posting. Happy snowy Thursday.

Noted Issues

Whenever I find an issue with a top I make a note of it in the work order and then snap a pic to alert the customer of possible areas of concern. Maybe they aren't concerned, but that's up to them.

Here's one I found yesterday while working on Millies Dresses...

Can you see the stain?

Not sure what this is? Coffee, maybe? Not my problem. 

I'll be finishing this quilt up this morning and then have one more September quilt to work on before I'm into November drop offs (all the Octobers were deadline quilts and are already finished). 

Mom stopped by for a short (not quick) visit and helped get the "eyes" into the art quilt going on Bernie next. We caught up and then just before Jim got home (she does that) she took off. 

After taking Jim to pick up his truck from the mechanic (thermostat not working, wiring harness not completely working, and his 4WD was definitely not working) I jumped on Foster and finished quilting the Kaffe top. The binding is made and ready for the quilt. It's still needs to be unloaded and trimmed but hopefully I can get to that tonight. 

We have a weather warning for later this afternoon; 4-6 inches expected. It's not supposed to start until around 1:00 but it's already starting to lightly snow here. Bernadette will be coming Friday (or the next Friday) instead. 

I should be able to get lots and tons completed today because no visitors means much quilting. 

Bad Thread

First thing yesterday morning I loaded and then quilted this lovely piece...

Maggie's Tilda Quilt

This is getting an E2E with me driving...

An all over feather/swirl flower

I'm faster than the ProStitcher and I had some bobbins to use up. I knew if I threw the computer on it the bobbins would run out mid pass and lining up mid pass is a pain.

This quilt was done before a late lunch. After lunch I moved over to Millies Dresses on Bernie. I'll be working that most of today while I'm frame ironing the next back on DW.

Once I was done working on customer stuff I loaded this quilt onto Foster...

Cotton Cuts BOM from ???

I'm not sure when I made this top. It was a few years ago out of Kaffe fabric. I'm putting a lime green thread through it and I started with some Omni I've had for quite some time. 

What a nightmare. I hadn't even gotten through the first pass and I had constant thread breakage, shredding, wrapping around the needle, and horrible tension. I took it one preventative step at a time and still had the same issues. Once I changed out to Glide thread I didn't have one stinking issue.

Here's where the thread is now...

In the garbage

I hate throwing away thread. My threads aren't exposed to any sunlight or adverse temperature conditions. In fact, this thread is in a drawer under DW being protected from dust, sun, or extreme changes in temp, yet it went bad after 10 or so years. I'm tossing the rest of my Omni thread as well because they've all been around about that long and I'm not willing to use this in any further quilt. 

Not to mention this stuff is linty, linty, linty!

Mom may be over later today to assist with some "eye" work on an art piece I was hired to finish for a customer. Mom is the eye queen and she'll look over what I've chalked in and approve or correct as needed.

We have a weather event in the works out west and while Bernadette was scheduled to come and pick up her Tilda Sampler (and Millies Dresses if I get it done) tomorrow the weather may change that intention. 

Small Project Sunday

Here was this Sunday's small project...

See-thru pouch

I have a busy beginning of the week. I have one to E2E on DW, and another to finish on Bernie. All before Wednesday afternoon.

The rest of the week looks a little less pressured. 

But yesterday was relaxing and restful in the in afternoon. I even took a nap...which is unusual. The girls and I snuggled together most of the time while watching movies and admiring the beautiful scene outside our windows with the new fallen snow. 

Well, time to get to it. 

A Little Snow

We received at least six inches of snow yesterday/last night. I say at least because we measure in a relatively concealed area and Jim said, when he went out to snow blow this morning, near the garage we had upwards of 10".

It's so pretty though. 

Last nights snowfall

Yesterday, after running errands and lunch and while Jim was watching MSU basketball, I long armed on Foster the remainder of the Happy Camper quilt. 

Motif going in

And another one is done

The game was finished but Jim seemed less than motivated to do anything so I continued on with a little bag I had started on Friday...

I LOVE THIS BAG!

I'll take it to my next retreat in April (or is it in May?). Speaking of retreats, Paulette mentioned another retreat she attends in Shipshewana but it's at the Farmstead and not the Blue Gate Inn. Quilt n'Go sponsor this one and I just checked their web page. There is no mention of times and/or dates. I'll have to call them later this week. I may be interested in going? Maybe?

After making the bag above I dug through my 'matched pair' tote (where tops are already matched with backs) and pulled out the next one to do on Foster. This too will be getting an E2E with me driving as it is a Kaffe top where no matter what I put into it it's going to get lost. I'll be frame ironing the back today while working on my next project. 

I'm making another bag I think. This one will have clear vinyl on the front so items in the bag can be seen. Great for my ongoing crochet projects. Happy Sunday!

The Last Block

Looks easy enough but this took ALL morning to complete. Isn't it cool though?

See what I mean?

Anyway, the sun came out (shocking) while I was trimming it up and here's a few pics of the finished project...

I'll just let the pics speak for themselves. Let's just sit here quietly and enjoy. 😁

We ran to town first thing this morning to get groceries and menu items for the weekend. Jim is going to turn on his basketball game shortly and I'm headed to the studio once I get this done. I'm working on Foster and another little small bag project I picked up from who knows where.