All Three Long Arms

This is what I was working on yesterday after Sandy's Tilda Sampler was done. It's Diane's 6th quilt.

Come Sail Away

After working on the two Bernina's I had to reset my arm before jumping on DW. Even though we've taken off his computer hardware and have lightened him up, I still reset for a little bit.

I decided to try something new around the house. I made this.

Did we actually forget this holiday?

That didn't take too awful long and I wanted to actually sew something. I did a test block for the upcoming retreat and the Granny Squares blocks is one of the projects I'll be working on. 

Granny Square block by Lori Holt

I'm glad I always make myself do a test block. While the block itself turned out pretty perfect, I trimmed it a little not so perfect. I'll put it on the bottom somewhere or make a pillow out of it. 

Andrew called just as I was firing up DW. I was able to get three blocks worked on DW for Hannah's quilt while talking to him. Since there is so much writing and color changes, this one is going to take some time to get done. 

Off to do some skating and grocery getting. 

Happy 82nd Mom

Moms birthday was yesterday. She's now 82. This morning she's at Urgent Care complaining of stomach pain. She has diverticulitis and yesterday ate things like beef, sausage, and other foods not compliant with her diverticulitis diet. I wonder why she has stomach pains? 😖

I knocked off early so we could head into town and deliver her a floral bouquet and a card. We also stayed and visited for a while so didn't get back home until well after 6:30.

I called the cousin yesterday morning to let her know my travel plans next week. When she called back we were at moms and didn't having billing info for her yet; had to deal with that right away upon our return.

From there I cut batting and got Hannah's quilt ready to start on later tonight. 

Sandy's quilt did not get done because of the florist hours (they closed at 4:00) and other quick tasks Jim needed to take care of prior to normal studio hours. I'm starting early today to make up for it, but Sandy's Tilda Sampler will be done today. 

After working around the house Saturday morning and making fish tacos for lunch (Jim was late getting home from Food Bank), I headed finally headed into the studio. 

The first order of business was to get the cousin quilt finished. 

I need to call her and let her know I'll be coming through Charlotte a week from today for her to have.

Next, get Hannah's backing onto DW and start frame ironing. Okay. That's started.

What to do next? I can't really start anything big (my rules) until all the Christmas gifts are finished. But, I do need a Christmas bow to put on the studio door in a few weeks. We always decorate on Thanksgiving night. 

That may change this year. The grandkids usually help to decorate and they aren't coming up until the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The house will be lit though. I hope. 

Here is my start on the Christmas bow...

And of course, yesterday was a non-studio day. We ran to Wal-Mart and Home Depot up in West Branch looking for pillow inserts for Hannah and Penelopes pillows as well as window film. We struck out on both accounts. 

Today I hope to finish Sandy's Tilda Sampler on Marty. I have a 12/1 deadline in the queue I should probably tackle next and get started on that before heading down south. So. Much. Pressure! It's not the only December deadline I have and UGH, it keeps me awake at night. 

After Visiting

We had a delightful visit with mom and Chad yesterday. Tried the new Char House restaurant in Gladwin. Great food but freezing in the place; it was 44 degrees outside and yet the radiators in the old structure were stone cold. 

Once we were done with lunch we headed home via Pieces of Thyme. The original backing I got for the cousin quilt was too small by only a couple of inches so found a perfect back in flannel instead. Got that loaded on DW and am just doing an E2E on it.

After one pass and happy DW's stitch regulator is working after having taken all the computer components off, I was back in on Christmas gifts. The girls' pillows are sewn and all I need are the inserts. 

I also got caught up on the Temperature quilt blocks but had to go back and rip a few seams because I forgot the monthly placeholder between October and November. With that fixed I cut more green strips for our garland and then started gridding out fusible for another big [holiday] bow. I could have bought the premarked stuff but am watching the pennies before Shipshe. 

Once that was done I started pulling fabrics to begin cutting today. I'll be working on the bow at retreat and need to cut all the 2 1/2" blocks before I leave. Cutting here is much easier than trying to talk and cut there. 

I was on the phone with the Germany kids this morning for over an hour so I"m blogging late since after the phone conversation (and shower) decided the bathrooms all needed a good scrubbing. Now I can play the rest of the day. 

Visiting with Family Today

My brother is up from Cincinnati. I only get to see him about twice a year meaning we're taking today off to go visit him at moms house. 

I have made exceptional progress on Sandy's quilt and worked well after quitting time. From there I blanket stitched the two grand-girls' pillow tops and then made the backing for each of them.

Blanket stitch detail

I made zippered backs for each of the boys' pillows. Boys naturally don't take care of their stuff so I'm assuming the pillows will be all over the house without regard to dirt. The girls' pillows are getting an envelope back so they can still take off the cover to launder. I nearly broke a needle doing the zippers for the boys and the new zips I purchased (on line) are more for heavier projects like jackets. Not pillows.

Just watching the game

Jim's new Spartan fleece throw is getting good use and Lucy finds it very snuggly as you can see. She was watching the game with dad and I couldn't resist getting a quick pic of her in all her cuteness. 

Jim Has a Busy Day

My day will be here working on Sandy's quilt. Jim, on the other hand, has plenty to do today. Dentist and food pantry stuff will keep him busy all afternoon. 

Because he needs the truck and I don't get back from Hale until well after 1:30 I won't be heading up for our monthly meeting. Again.

Once back yesterday I didn't really have a game plan in mind other than lunch. Once that was done and I got out into the studio I was super focused on getting Tristans pillow done. 

Hope he likes it!

Now for the girls. Hannah still has a quilt coming with her pillow but why I was making templates and getting fabric out to do Penelopes pillow I decided to do both of them in tandem.

The applique is adhered but both still need blanket stitching. I'm going to purchase pre-made pillow forms for these instead of making my own like I did the other four. They were an odd size. These are going to be 20" square. 

So here's where the Christmas situation is currently. I need to finish the two pillows above and I need to get the cousin quilt quilted and all the other stuff that goes with that. Then Hannah's quilt needs to be loaded and quilted. Except for Hannah's quilt, I'm hoping to get all the other stuff done before next weekend. I want them off my to-do list before I head to Shipshewana. 

And, I have two Holiday deadlines looking at my on the business end of things; one before December 1st. Once the Tilda Sampler is done I think I'm going to have to park Sandy's other top to the side until the holiday things get finished. She's in no hurry so yay!

DW Is Stripped

Off to skate with my getting-to-know-you "geezer" friends. I am past the half-way point on Sandy's Tilda Sampler. I haven't grabbed any pics because, well, we've seen this quilt so many times previously. 

I did get Elijah's quilt bound and here is the set he'll be receiving for Christmas. 

While I was working on Marty yesterday, Jim was working on this project at the other end of the studio. 

The carriage drives the motors for the ProStitcher

A naked machine

He has removed the ProStitcher off DW. I don't use it. I don't like. I don't have control and it adds a LOT of weight to my free motion work. 

I haven't tested him out yet to make sure we have all the necessary connections for the stitch regulator, but I'm sure it'll be okay. 

I also started Tristans pillow top. Jim assisted on the color selections and this is what we came up with. 

Election Day

Please go vote. If you don't, it provides a vote for somebody you may not want to get elected. Although, I am the most unpolitical person you could probably meet, I have morals and obligations as a U.S. citizen to uphold the right to vote. And keep this country I've vowed to protect, safe. 

I was finally able to get my first roll in yesterday on Sandy's Tilda Sampler quilt. I was kind of out of it yesterday so was working in slow motion. Jim threw up last night so I'm wondering if we had a little bug? Thankfully, we feel fine this morning. 

Elijah's pillow is done (see above) and his quilt is half bound. I have the back side attached and will hopefully attach the front tonight. Once we get done voting this morning I'll have a regular work day ahead. And, the temps today: High of 74. This is November, right?

Can It Get Any Better?

Our thermometer here in the house said 74 degrees yesterday afternoon; on the first of November?! This is really going to throw off the coloring in my Temperature quilt.

I worked on our garland for a few hours in the afternoon while watching movies. If you haven't yet seen Six Triple Eight on Netflix, I highly recommend it. But I may be partial since I am prior military.

This is all I have left to finish so I did make some headway. 

I'll be on Marty all day today working on Sandy's Tilda Sampler. Don't know where tonight is taking me. I'll have to wait and see.

Leaves

There are a TON of leaves floating along on top of the lake this morning. Is this natural or from somebody who blew them into the lake instead of dealing with them in their own yard?

Three pillow tops are quilted! 

Tristans

Hannahs

Penlopes

That's the easy part. Now the building of all the front pieces must commence. We are headed to moms this morning to visit with her for a bit and then snuggle Sunday. 

Not much else to report. I spent the post-movie afternoon getting all the Halloween decorations put away and then replacing them with all the Thanksgiving stuff while Jim was lifting the Dahlia bulbs and getting them down in the crawl space. 

Happy Halloween

Do you participate in Halloween? We like the cutesy stuff for Halloween: Ghosts, pumpkins, the dressing up. What we don't like is all the creepy movies, disgusting movies, killing, death, satin-like fictional creatures. Halloween, IMO, has become dark and dangerous. 

So, have fun with the kids and their costumes, but unfortunately, we get zero trick or treaters and really don't participate in this holiday.

We do, however, participate heavily in Thanksgiving. Which, again, IMO, is way understated, has more meaning than Halloween, and gets lost somewhere between Halloween and Christmas. Don't we live in a weird world?

I got a good start on Sandy's quilt yesterday morning. Then the beautiful afternoon presented itself and the long arming mojo disappeared. Jim and I did some color touring, had a few errands to run, and attended an estate sale. I got a new fall/spring jacket from the MSU Marching Band and Jim got a new MSU throw as well as a soap stone. 

When we finally came back home my quilting mojo had returned. Sometimes it only takes a few hours to fire me back up. I got the borders on the cousin quilt and it's ready to hit the long arm.

Before I load this later I'm going to background quilt the pillows for Hannah, Penelope, and Tristan. It's easier to do it on the long arm than the DMS.

Meanwhile, and speaking of long arms, Elijah's quilt is quilted and off the frame. I need to trim it and get his pillow done at some point today. Want to hear something cute? Jim is on my industrial machine right now repairing his rag quilt before we wash it. I guess it's going to be a sewing kind of day for everybody.

Shopping for Insurance

Jim shops around for insurance every few years. He likes to make sure we are paying a fair price and the coverage on our stuff is well insured but not over insured (there is such a thing). His phone has been buzzing all morning. Talk about vultures!

Dianes quilt is done! I have her next back ironing on the frame. Here's what I'll be working on today on Marty. 

I wonder how many of these I've done?

This will be done similarly to the past Tilda Samplers so I don't have to think about what to put in.

Janice picked up her quilt yesterday and was over the moon at how it turned out. I'm so glad I was able to take a top she didn't particularly like and make it something she now wants to enter into a show. 

While talking to Andrew last night on his way home I put the blocks, and then the top, together for the cousin quilt. I still have to get two borders attached but the body is together. 

Once we hung up with Andrew (Jim joined in the conversation about half-way through) I jumped on DW to work another row in Elijah's quilt. I have one more row and two borders to go. The cousin quilt will be loaded next since I want to deliver it when I head down to Shipshewana in a few weeks. 

Wow Am I Sore

I started following a professional skater on YouTube and she has me doing all sorts of exercises and stretches to strengthen my legs. While I do stand all day long at my 'job', the strength in my outer and inner thighs is lacking. Clearly from what they're telling me this morning after skating yesterday.

Anyway. I had to make room to work on Elijah's pillow cover so started piecing the blocks together for the baby quilt for Jims cousin. 

The direction I'm heading with that top

Once I got the area cleared on that portion of the sewing table, I started back in on Elijahs pillow top. I had to do some background quilting before applying and appliquéing things down. We stopped by Park Bench Quilt Shop between skating and groceries to pick up the background fabric.

That carried me through to about 8:00 and I was tired from our busy day so called it a night. Customer coming to pick up this morning and I'll be working on Bernie most of the day to finish Diane's quilt. 

No More Beacon

The crane down at the dam was used for all matter of things construction. It was finally removed yesterday. We could see the blinking red light throughout the night and last night it wasn't there. Our neighbor reported it was deconstructed yesterday. 

We are officially done!

Here is some of the quilting going into Diane's quilt. 

The first two borders

I have to make a quilt for Jim's cousin for another expected grand baby; one of those 3-yard things is what I selected and here's the fabric for that. 

Flannels!

And while working on DW last night I finished a pass with one color and switched to another. This is what was left on the cone I removed. Talk about thread chicken!

I'm off to go skating this morning and then we'll head to Meijer afterwards since we are already in Midland. Don't know if I'll have time after getting done with lunch (after returning home) to quilt this afternoon on Bernie.

Solids

Do you have solids in your fabric stash? I have a lot of small pieces left over from both
the Amish with a Twist quilts, but very few large pieces. 

I was working on Elijah's pillow top last night. I was to the point of setting all the appliqué pieces on the background but could not find a background piece that would work. Black, red, and dark blue (all the big pieces I had) are not going to work. That's on hold until I can run over Thursday to get a piece that may be more suitable. Of course, a six year old isn't going to care, but I will. 

In the meantime, Janices quilt was finished at about 4:45 last night. She was coming this morning to pick it up but called already and rescheduled for Thursday instead. 

Drying from the markings

Today I'll be working on Diane's fifth quilt top while continuing to frame iron a new back on Marty. 

A simple quilt that needs some serious quilting

Jim has town stuff to do today; new tire on the truck (defect), doctor appointment, and attending the delivery of moms new bedroom furniture. 

I did get the Temperature quilt all up to date while we talked to Andrew on his way home from work. That took a while since I was two weeks behind and I had to add a row to the already existing top. No work on DW. 

What's That Thumping Noise?

Despite all the Christmas deadlines, the Temperature quilt still needs to be kept up. I didn't do anything with it the previous week and unfortunately, this is as far as I got yesterday.

Only three cut out

Jim decided we needed to go to Northwoods in Pinconning to pick up dog shampoo and anything else we stumbled across. We were there for quite some time (way past lunch), and instead of our planned meal, stopped and got a pizza instead.

Since it was well into the late afternoon going out to the studio wasn't an option. However, I did do some quilting stuff.

Making a garland

Because of the retirement situation and having to kind of watch our pennies, we decided to make our own garland for the stairs and the loft rail. I tied about 12 feet yesterday (of the 40 that we need). I need to cut more fabrics because it's starting to repeat itself too much. 

Christmas Headway

After making a dresser runner yesterday, and let me tell ya, that took WAY longer than it should have I was finally able to jump on DW to get some long arming done on Elijahs quilt. But here's the runner I made to kind of match the bed quilt. 

I should have made it a bit longer but it's going to serve the sun-fading purpose it was made for. 

To protect it from the sun

Notice the room isn't yet painted. Mom insisted on getting the set over here asap despite my asking her to not be in any big hurry since we did yet need to paint. While I was at retreat the set was sent over. Ho hum.

I did get a few hours in on DW but no pics. I don't usually work in the studio on Sunday. But, since we have nothing planned, I guess that's where I'll head to for the morning anyway. This afternoon I'm planning on working on the strip thing. 

London Fog

The fog of late has been so thick, but today it feels like London (not that I've ever been there). I still can't see down the lake and I'm blogging late this morning. 

Yesterday started out well. Very productive and I thought maybe I'd be able (if I worked late) to get Janices quilt done. But then, before my customer showed, this is what I discovered.

When Jim measured the back he found the length to only be 3 inches (total) longer than the top. He figured if we loaded the quilt the other way it would be long enough that way. He's still having a hard time turning things around in his head to make sure seams and sizes are correct. 

The back is WAY too short. Crap!

Well, now I have to find a way to fix this. 

Measure first to see how much of the sides I need to trim to get to the right length. 

Remove the whole thing from the frame.

Cut sides and piece them together to make a longer section for the missing bottom.

Add them to the whole quilt; and what a pain that is!

Reload after pressing and try to get the damn thing straight on the frame like it was previously. An almost impossible task.

It's reloaded and my customer finally showed up about 10 minutes before closing. She never left until nearly 5:00.

Since I was already in a frustrated, pissed-off state of head space, I decided to get even more frustrated with trying to rectify this awful situation. A few hours later and I had a top. 

There are supposed to be two additional small borders added onto the side. But, as a long armer, I know those small borders are more of a hinderance to quilt they they are a statement piece for the quilt top. I decided to leave them off. In all likeliness, this quilt will be cut up into a coat later at some point and I don't think those small borders (1" and 1 1/2") are even going to make a difference. 

I'm getting a later start today because, well, it's Saturday and it was a busy week. Playing with the dogs this morning was much more important than anything else I had planned.

I need to make a new table/dresser runner for the new dresser in the spare bedroom. Mom is afraid the sun is going to bleach the cherry finish so I'll appease her (when/if she ever comes over) and make something to match the quilt on the bed. 

I want to get on DW today to work on Elijah's quilt. Maybe during the football game later?

Not Sure How To Make It Clear

I've changed my hours both on Google and the web site. I had two people this morning near 9:00 texting me to ask work questions. I answered them right back but maybe being considerate or aware of others has went by the way side?

While I do eat, sleep, and breathe quilting, I like to enjoy waking up gradually. Business related items before I've even had my coffee is not cool. 

I have a customer coming today to drop off and I have another full day on Janices quilt on Marty. I got three rows done yesterday and I work tirelessly on it all day long. I have five more rows to go and since I have two more tops coming in today it won't get done until at least Monday.

Elijah's quilt is sitting on DW but  not basted in as of yet. 

Ready to begin

I wanted to concentrate on getting Jacobs pillow done. Here is his Christmas set ready for wrapping. 

Jacobs Christmas gifts

When you have seven grandchildren, the holidays have to start earlier around the house. Jim was working on our little strip project while I was working on Jacobs pillow. It takes a village. 

New Wednesday Norm

Since I am now closed on Wednesdays we have a new norm. IF the weather cooperates, we'll be in Midland in the morning, maybe lunch after but definitely grocery shopping after that since we're already in Midland. 

When I get home I may or may not long arm depending on the time. Yesterday it was nearly 4:00 before we got home so no long arming on Janices quilt. But, there was lots to do after Jim and I watched (as we are naming them) Fred and Ed across the lake attempting to build a pole barn. And, it was too nice to be inside.

First, get the binding on Jacobs quilt. 

Check that off the list

Next was picking out and making backing for Elijah's quilt. I'm frame ironing today while working. 

Getting ready to load this tonight

Once I had the back made, loaded, and started on frame ironing, I moved over to Mike and blanket stitched the pillow top. 

Top and back/binding selections

I had to decide what colors I was using for the pillow back and binding and have those all figured out. By this time it was nearly 8:00 and I was tired from the Midland activities this morning. My knee has a little twinge in it so I'll not be running any marathons today. 

We are also dealing with mom stuff. She is showing continued decline in her mental faculties and we had to put a bedroom set fire out throughout the day. Well, Jim did anyway. She's supposed to come over later on to explain what happened but we need to have a discussion with her about recent developments in her spending and thought processes. I'll be working all day until she decides to show up later. 

Noticing Things

I've mentioned before that when I'm quilting a quilt I see every stinking millimeter of the top. I inspect for tears, holes, threads, and other anomalies. Like the one below.

Blood? Food? Drink?

I'll be continuing on with Janices quilt later today but this morning is skating day and we have to get groceries while we are in Midland. 

Since I had a guild meeting last night and we didn't get home until nearly 9:00 nothing else was done in the studio other then cutting out more strips for the other project I'm working on. 

New Hours

I went into my web site yesterday to modify hours of availability with my 'retirement'. Same with Google. However, one of the two (I can't remember which one) would only let me either be closed on Friday or stay with the same hours (10-4). I wanted to reduce Friday to 10-12 since we seem to get pulled away on Friday afternoons for one reason or another. 

I opted to mark it closed and if somebody needs to come on Friday I'll make arrangements to be here. 

Meanwhile, here's some of the quilting going into Janice's quilt.

A corner

The border corner

After working I took a few minutes to cut up a bunch of strips. More on this later. 

Strips in green, white/off white, and red

I got the top together on the horse quilt and have to get a bunch of borders in next.

After getting that top where I wanted to be last night, I moved over to DW. I removed and trimmed Jacobs quilt and made the binding after that. It's not attached but ready for me to do when next available. Not tonight.

Tonight I have a QQQ meeting up in Oscoda and we have to leave here around 4:30 to get up there in time for the meeting. 

Change the Web Site

If I put a blurb in here I'll be more inclined to remember to do something later. Like changing the hours on Google and on the web site. I'll be closed on Wednesdays, remember? 

This is what I'll be working on for the next few days. 

I laid in bed last night thinking about how I'm going to quilt this, but thought it was pieced differently than what I was 'quilting' in my head. Back to the drawing board.

Meanwhile, nothing quilting or knitting yesterday. We were in Mt. Pleasant most of the afternoon and once we got home our neighbors three doors down were out to the property and we went to visit until nearly sunset. 

It doesn't feel like I got a lot done in the studio yesterday but I was busy out there all day long. At first, after running around in the morning, I started right in on Tristans potty quilt because decided it needed to be enlarged. 

One of our stops was Pieces of Thyme to find more toilet paper fabric. They were out so I made due with something I had here in the stash. 

I remembered I needed to make a baby quilt for Jims cousin due in about January/February, so I picked up three yards and a back for that.

After lunch I was animate about finishing Jacobs/QAL quilt and by nearly dusk, I called it a win. 

Block #20 (my favorite)

Block #18

Block #19

Block #17

Block #16

From there it was time to fix/finish the quilt I started with on the first day of retreat. It's still not done but at  least some of the blocks are squared and fixed. 

I'm on the phone right now with the kids in Germany so getting photos in is a challenge. I may knit later, but Jim and I are running to Mt. Pleasant to start picking up Christmas lights for the house. Every year a couple of strands burn out.