Happy Early Morning

This weeks BOW

I needed to color my hair this morning and I was up early anyway. Jim is in the shower and we're running for a few groceries before we start our day. Here's some things going on in the studio though not exactly in order since I batch sent these to the Mac...

Next up on Marty

Background fill on the polar bear

Background fill on the moose

For a customers granddaughter for the holidays

The book top is done!

Once we return I have to install a new router that came Fed Ex yesterday. Our old one is getting weird. I'll also be working the quilt on Marty most of the rest of the day since Rae's quilt on Bernie is done. And if time permits, I'll start on the one on DW. Yes, that's a customer quilt for a granddaughter for Christmas, not mine as DW is intended to be supposedly.  

Just Can't Do It

I loaded up Christmas music this morning instead of the usual 'favorites' playlist because I'm working on Christmas quilts for customers. One half of one song and I had to change it. I feel like Thanksgiving gets buried. 

I'm thankful every day for what I have; the customers who are currently keeping our lights on and the roof over our head. For the warmth our furnace provides and for the love of my husband and for our dogs. I'm thankful for our family, even though, sometimes, they drive us nuts. I'm thankful I'm not hungry or thirsty and I'm just hoping others appreciate what Thanksgiving stands for instead of getting caught up in the commercialism Christmas has provoked. 

I love (love, love) Christmas, but too much of a good thing starts losing its luster. Just like ice cream or cupcakes. 

Back to quilting things. Here's some of the quilting going into Rae's quilt body...

Peppermints

Swirly Holly

I had a customer drop off late yesterday afternoon so pulled off that table runner that was on DW and started frame ironing the new backing. Another holiday gift for a lucky granddaughter. 

Today I have one customer coming to pick up and I'm hoping to get this quilt on Bernie nearly finished. I may work tomorrow morning to get it finished up.

After working on the big guys until well after dark, I got the borders made for the quilt top sitting on the chair that I didn't get done the previous night only to discover it wasn't even a top yet. Sashing needed to be added to the rows and the rows needed to be joined. 

Not quite together yet

I'll be tackling this at some point throughout the weekend. I'm starting to see a dent in my cluttered studio. Yay!

Cleaning up the Messes

Here's the quilt I'm working on Bernie...

The next holiday project

Here is a little of the quilting going into the borders...

Some of the quilting

After working until around 5:00 last night, I was at a good stopping point (bobbin ran out) and I then moved over to DW. I finished the table runner that was on him, but didn't get it off the frame as of yet. I have my reasons.

I proceeded on with my two BOW's and here's the results...

Too stinken' cute

I'm a little concerned about my fabric availability on the next two blocks. The background white is getting pretty darn low and don't think I'll have enough to finish with that particular fabric. ????

What I thought was only one quilt to get borders on, discovered there's another one below that one to also get borders on. Well, at least one was completed...

Life IS better at the lake

Since I don't have a BOW to work on tonight, the second top requiring a border should be able to be completed. However, we were on the phone last night with the B's and that lasted until almost midnight. Jim and I were both up at 5:45 this morning turning over last nights conversation so I'll be pushing through the day on sheer fumes.

And, I have two customers coming today to drop off; one this morning first thing and another later this afternoon. Customer presence seems to wear me out more than it used to. Not sure why? Age maybe?

The Older I Get...

...the more the messy studio bugs me. I have projects laying around all over; binding that Jim is working on, my two BOW's, a top I didn't get borders on, a Laura Heine I'm working on for my brother, and the petals for the quilt I want to make entirely on DW. I'm sure there are more, but this is just off the top of my head. 

I think once the BOW's are done, I'll have to start getting things completed. 

This just arrived yesterday...

A challenge for next year

The girls in the Wisteria Room at Shipshewana had three of these hanging. Two were complete, and one came home with me to be quilted. Then they said they were having a challenge for next year to bring one of these completed. Challenge accepted! Because, you know, given what I'm complaining about, need something else to do. Lol!

After getting (not Rae's) but Sue S.'s quilt off Marty I found the next holiday quilt that needed to be loaded and got started right away in frame ironing. 

After getting that going I worked a little on the table runner on DW. I put this into the center rather than what I did in the previous customers' quilt...

A little more 'controlled'

I still have the outer border on the table runner to do, but the rest is complete. I moved over to the sewing table and worked on my BOW's. I actually cut for the remaining four barns/houses around the pieced block, which is why these didn't get done last night...

Aren't they cute?

Hopefully tonight I can finish those two up because on Friday there is another one to be delivered. Today I'll be working on this holiday quilt on Bernie...

This is actually Rae's

While this isn't a huge quilt, the notes I took when she delivered it for quilting are pretty extensive. Code for time consuming. Meh, it's what I love and that's okay. 

For a Monday...

...things went pretty well considering I hadn't turned on a long arm in eight days. It felt so good to get back onto the boys.

Before I started anything, I had to find a quilt to load onto DW for Jim to work on. However, EVERYTHING in the queue is custom work. I did find one customer quilt Jim could have did some mark and quilted by block work on, but when I made the backing for it (she asked I do so), it was about four inches too short. I decided to get on Marty instead because I was so frustrated.

Sometimes less is more

Since I could not load a quilt for Jim to do I instead taught him how to hand bind. My hand just isn't liking the process and since Jim can't quilt, he can do this. Here's his little work station in the studio...

After working until around 5:00 on Marty, I moved over to DW and loaded this...

Look familiar? The customer I did this for had an extra kit and we exchanged quilting for the kit since I thought this would make a nice gift for my DIL in Ohio. It's basted in and the ditching has been started.  

When I got done on DW I cut and started the two BOW blocks I missed while in Shipshe. I didn't want to take all the fabric with me to have to sort through while there so I'll get caught up this week after 'work' when I can here. 

Today I should be finishing up the quilt on Marty while Jim works binding before he goes back out hunting later this afternoon.

It's Good To Be Home

I am so sad on the last day of a retreat. Leaving friends behind is always hard and the laughter we share will be missed until the next retreat. But, I love our home and while I do miss the girls already, it's good to be back.

I did not get as much done as I usually do at a retreat. Miscuts, undercuts, and other circumstances (lots of shopping) resulted in the slower progress, but I did manage to get the BOM top done...

BOM top ready for quilting!

I also completed two table runners for holiday gifts this year, but neglected to get pics of them. 

We spent yesterday unpacking and getting everything back in its place in the studio. I organized a few things I purchased in Shipshe and then we started working. The quilt Jim quilted while I was gone needed trimming and then I attached the binding to the front. Hand binding commenced after lunch and after only getting about four feet done, had to quit for the day. The hand can only handle so much,,,

Hand binding (bleh)

I received word this morning from the kids in Germany and all four quilts made it!

The quilts made it to Germany!

That's my kids' head above the pineapple quilt. lol. 

I missed blogging during the week, and I really missed the 'big guys' so I'm starting early this morning to take stock in where I left off, what I need to load onto DW for Jim to work on, and get my head back in the game. Vacation is over and the holiday season will be here soon. Let's quilt!

Leaving Early

Mother Nature has decided to pull a fast one on us and show winters wrath a bit earlier than expected. We received a nice little snowfall yesterday afternoon and temps are in the 20's. Main roads should be clear, but Shipshewana is expecting snow right about when I arrive around 3:00. Thank you Lake Michigan. 

It was a cutting frenzy the past two days. I was trying to get things around for the retreat since I only had two projects to take and they were not going to keep my occupied for five days; a table runner and a panel quilt. Yeah, right, that would entertain me for about a day. 

The girls know I'm leaving

Jim is loading the truck and as soon as I get done blogging, I've pretty much gotten myself ready to boogie out of here. I wasn't leaving [originally] until tomorrow morning, but with the weather being silly, and for my fear of being out on icy roads, I'm leaving today instead. My hotel room is ready and it's going to give me and Jim both peace of mind to get me there during daylight and non-snowing conditions. 

Since I won't have the Mac, and I don't own a laptop, blogging will not occur. I'll see you on the flip side and will be back on Saturday night. I'm looking forward to the 'girl' time. 

Family Importance

I only see my brother a few times a year. Same with my mother even though she lives about eight miles away. She's busy with her art stuff.

But my brother lives seven or eight hours (instead of miles) away down in Cincinnati. He came up for his and my moms birthday on Thursday night and we spent all of yesterday going to art exhibits, shopping at antique markets, and going out to eat in Bay City. From there, we headed to Hobby Lobby in Midland before coming home. Jim stayed behind. It's too hard for him to do much walking right now. 

Needless to say, no long arming occurred yesterday on my part. Jim did some work on DW. But the previous day resulted in this going into the quilt on Marty...

After working on that quilt all day, and Jim starting to get into the one on DW...

Putting a frame around each of these already "quilted" blocks

I started getting ready for the retreat that starts next Tuesday...

Cutting and sorting for each block
I have much more cutting to do. After my meeting this morning in town I'll continue this afternoon.

The meeting I have this morning is with Linda for a possible retreat location downtown Gladwin at the Riverwalk. While we enjoy the retreats at The Springs, Riverwalk offers a few higher ended options; chef versus cook, pedicure versus a chair massage, beautiful suites versus 'just a room' rooms, and the view is spectacular out two sides of the room versus being in the basement of a large building.

We've conjured up some interest with people Linda and I have talked to and will talk some more about it while we are in Shipshewana with those girls there. But we have to nail down some specifics because questions will be asked we need answers for before they are asked of us. 

My Own Rules

I started the day out on DW getting the wall hanging that needs to get to Germany quilted. This was all before or near 10:00. Jim had to head into town to run some errands and get some personal affects from his desk (unsuccessful) leaving me here to do some quilting...

I finished Carrie's quilt on Bernie just before 4:00 and then looked behind me. 

I have a rule about DW. Once a quilt is taken off (mine) then the next one can NOT be started until the binding is on the one just removed. Yet, this was staring at me all last week as well as this week thus far...

Four ready to bind

Yep, four of them. I started around 4:30 and ended around 7:15. Enjoy the show!

Originally for Rayola but going to Germany now

Baby Spartan

Baby Hedgehog

Baby beds

Jim can ship these out next week while I'm gone. Speaking of next week, I popped open my tote to see what I had left to sew at next week in Shipshewana and it isn't good. I have one (ONE!) project in there and that certainly isn't going to keep me busy for a whole week.

I have the BOM I can cut out and take as well as Chads flying pig I could work on. Jim drug out my wagon for transport of things up to the room(s) and so tonight I need to start thinking about my projects being taken to Indiana and getting things around for that. 

I have two customers coming to day to pick up and this is what I'll be starting on Marty today...

A few of her favorite things

Another holiday deadline. 

Lots Going On

This is what I'm currently working on... 

Carrie R.'s hand embroidered girls

Here's some of what's going into it...

The inside border

Outside border

Jim did this little quilt for the kids in Germany...

Hedgehogs for the hedgehogs

Babysitting the Pro Stitcher

We had customers come later in the afternoon for pick up/drop off and they are infrequent visitors so we caught up with all that we'd been up to over the past six months. Delightful ladies for sure!

After the hedgehogs were completed we constructed backing, frame ironed, loaded, and then basted in for this next quilt on DW. 

To put into the nursery in Germany

We both selected a design together and got it ready to start first thing this morning, but the longer I thought about what we had picked to put in there the less I was sold on it. Back to the drawing board. I'll continue on with Carries quilt on Bernie once I get Jim started on DW. 

Household Chores

There were a number of things we all need to do in the fall. Raking/blowing the leaves, taking care of hoses and lawn/deck furniture, putting the flower bulbs to bed. Jim was working on some of those tasks yesterday so he wasn't in the studio much.

I did get the first Carrie R. quilt done and here's some of the quilting going into the Santa... 

Ho, Ho, Ho

I'll be working on her second quilt today on Bernie while frame ironing for the next one on Marty. 

I had a new customer stop by yesterday. I'm not taking any new customers at the current time, but her story compelled me to make an exception. The quilt I'll be working on for Ann and Chad is stunning and since the recipient is 95 years old, time is of the essence. That quilt, I think, needs to be put onto DW as it is very large. 

I have two customers coming today to pick up and I'm not sure if Jim is going to be in the studio or not? We have a baby quilt that needs to be tackled so it can get to Germany before the holidays. And since they go through EVERYTHING, I want to make sure both quilts make it okay. 

The Weekend

I did get a little sewing done on Saturday before the family arrived. Here's my BOW for this past week...

Poinsettia

Aaannnddd...that was about it. The kids were here for quite a while pressing apples for cider, putting the flowers to bed for the winter, taking buggy rides, and watching MSU go into overtime only to lose. Again. 

But I had so much fun playing with the grandkids. 

We had to run into town yesterday for a few things forgotten at Meijer for chili and the girls needed food too. We spent all of yesterday just relaxing and snuggling with the dogs since they were worn out from the grandkid visit the previous day. 

I had an on-line inquiry come through during the weekend and she's supposed to be here this morning to take a look at what it is she's asking me to do. I'll be working on Marty all day while Jim is loading and hopefully quilting, the hedgehog quilt for the Germany kids on DW. 

Very (Un)Accomplished Yesterday

I didn't get nearly enough done in what it was I was initially working on...

Some continuous curves in the triangles

Jim was having some tablet issues on DW. Here's what he's stitching out in Mary's quilt...

He kept touching the work portion of the screen and hosing up his progress. We had to restart the machine a few times because he lost connection. It was just one of those days I guess. But we did make it to the bottom with a few inches to spare on that backing. 

By the time he wrapped up his quilting and I trimmed the piece, it was past quitting time so I shut down Marty for the day. 

Jim asked what was next on DW. We have to get these two baby quilts done and in the mail headed for Germany. Customs goes through everything and last time we sent a package it took five weeks to arrive to the kids. We want to make sure these get there sooner rather than later. 

Having said that, this was loaded last night...

Baby DeGroots first Spartan quilt

I haven't actually quilted with DW in months. His buttons and weight are vastly different than the two Bernina long arms, yet, we fit together like peanut butter and honey (I prefer honey over jelly). 

And since I already had him loaded (we had to put a panel his his backing to make it wide enough), I decided I hadn't had enough long arming yesterday and tore right into it. 

Me doing free motion

Yep, this is NOT computerized but rather me doing the driving. After an hour or so it was finished and is now waiting for me to get it off the frame and trim so it can be bound. 

But the B's are headed up today (pending their alternator repair on the van) and Jim is pressing cider. I'm going to work in the studio for a short bit to get my BOW done. I had made great progress on it last night but then the Bellers decided to have a fire (Kathy's cancer is back) and we knew we needed to spend as much time with them as possible. They are headed to Florida next week for a month. 

If the B's don't come up, then I'll continue in the studio getting the next DeGroot baby quilt loaded. I have to find a back for it and that's another something I'm going to do this morning. I may need to run to Pieces.