Did Anybody Sleep Last Night?

If you live in central Michigan, you probably did not get much sleep last night. Spring brings wild thunderstorms that's for sure. Last nights was strobe lightning, consistent thunder, and at 4:00-ish, hail and lots of it. I guess we have more storms in our future later today.

Dianes Squirrel quilt is done and today I'll be working on this big one for her...

I think this should get a custom E2E on it. Or, maybe just some wide straight lines through each block. You can't tell from the photo, but this is a rag quilt and it's flannel. Snuggly is what should be done so nothing too thread heavy.

I did my strip on DW, completed a Scrappy Goodness block and then cut the strips for the outer block on the Pineapple. Once that was done, and since I'm doing this one opposite of the pattern, I needed to cut more scrap strips as well. I was just about done when Jim came back (he has the buggy out now for the year) from the neighbors north of us and said Brenda wanted me to come up for a visit so I finished those after returning around 7:30. 

Here's some hail left over from last nights storm still on the ground five hours later and this isn't even from the drain pipe which has even more...

Oh Hail!

All day on Marty is in my future and since I'm getting such a late start, I better hop to it.

Starting Out Normal

This week, aside from the new washing machine being delivered today, will start out like normal. Thursday starts the difference with my having to head to Hale for my first guild meeting of the year. And then things get busy. More on that during those days.

Here's some of the quilting going into Dianes Squirrel body...

If you look, I have to straight-line through the 'flower' sections and those require a lot of starts and stops. But doesn't it look great?

Because I slacked off Saturday I did get the two pineapple blocks done yesterday for the center section of that top. I was going to start cutting for the edge pieces. See the difference in color for the backgrounds?

What I started with on the left. 

I don't really have a choice in the matter since we can't seem to find the correct shade of gray, but I think it'll be okay. I did not do my strip but did get the temperature quilt up to date. 

I'll be on Dianes quilt all day today on Bernie. Jim can handle the washer delivery guys. 

Learning

Teachers are life-long learners. I ask a lot of questions, especially when we are making a rather substantial purchase to make sure we are making the right decision(s). 

Yesterday we spent most of the day in search of a new washer. Front load? Top load? Stackables? Size? All questions we needed to ask. 

The most important thing we learned was that local businesses don't generally keep washers in stock anymore. They have to be ordered. And what is on the floor to look at is minimal right now. Would you buy something that expensive based on a picture? 

As much as we support small businesses we ended up at Lowe's and purchased our washer there. They had dozens of models to open, touch, and play with before we made our final decision. And I'm glad we were able to because there are a few features on our current washer I could do without, and there are a few I had to have on the new one.

So, here's what we learned: Washers today are good for about 7-10 years (at the outside) unless you wanted to spend $1400 or more on an industrial model which, not everything would be covered if it died. We didn't purchase the cheapest, but we went low to mid on price, features, and usability. 

And...we will receive a $50 credit from Consumers after they pick up our old one. The new washer will be here Monday.

I have to do something with this QR code...

Where does quilting come into all of this? A top-load washer still uses agitation to clean; rubbing fabrics together while swirling water around it. Notice the word 'agitation'. I don't want my quilts agitated. At all. I think making seams go back and forth, and back and forth, and back and forth is asking for trouble. We stuck with a front loader in our decision. All the sales people we talked to whole heartedly agreed. 

We are washing all the rugs/mats and dog things today so if we further wreck our current washer (it is dying) we aren't out anything. I don't want to start right in with the new washer and break it from the opening gate so we are doing our spring washing a little earlier this year. 

Did I do anything in the studio yesterday? A little. I did my strip and a scrappy block. I was all set to start in on the last two center pineapple blocks but then I became really sleepy and decided I was going to just relax the rest of the day. It's the weekend. I'm entitled, right? 

Well, We're Out Of The Tournament

Jim was up well past midnight watching the Spartans claw their way through a tough basketball game. We lost by three and are now out of the tournament. I'm kind of glad. Jim gets pretty worked up when his Spartans play.

I jumped right into Dianes quilt on Bernie and here are the border treatments going in...

I got a lot done in the morning since Jim was gone hunting for a box big enough to ship a quilt (the tie quilt) and getting more background fabric for the Pineapple blocks.

That was a feat. Not the box. That was easy. The fabric was another situation altogether. Here's the lesson learned on that; Buy and LABEL the fabrics purchased for your project. Buy enough and then some and then label it so it's not inadvertently used for another project. 

Which is what happened. I know I got the fabric at Pieces. That's where most of my purchases come from. But they didn't have the right color of gray and ended up with a slightly lighter shade. I have enough of the darker stuff to finish the inside blocks so I'll use the lighter fabrics for the outside blocks, which I think will actually work out okay.

But that's not always the situation. We had to run and UPS the quilt out and then get groceries after. When we arrived back home, and while he was watching his games I did a strip, a scrappy block, and constructed two more inside pineapple blocks; only two more of the inside blocks to go.

Today we are heading to Clare to look at washers. Ours is spitting out oil onto our clothes, it will occasionally not entirely spin out, and the clothes are smelling a little funny. The dial on the front hasn't worked since forever, and all the signs are pointing to it quitting. We're going to try to head that off. Thank goodness for a decent tax refund. 

Long Projects

After getting through Dianes quilts over the next week I noticed I have several tops that are long-to-complete projects. Most of the remaining quilts in queue are a week or better in working. Not that Dianes aren't, but I know I've done several of the quilts in queue already and they all want same but different quilting in them as the previous ones already completed.

Here's what I'll be working on today...

The middle is embroidered, kind of

Borders take the longest to work. They require a lot of planning and sometimes math. But while I was going to sleep last night, I was "working" the first two in my head and today while I'm working through those, I'll work through the next one in my head.

Bernadettes quilt was finished late in the afternoon and am already frame ironing another back on Marty; the only large quilt top Diane left me last fall.

After working, I made a Scrappy Goodness block, did my strip on DW, and then completed three more pineapple blocks. I discovered I am short on the background fabric. Jim has to find a box somewhere in town to ship out Judy's Tie quilt today and then he'll head over to Pieces to get more background fabric for me while I'm here working. He's such a great husband!

A Crappy Day

Well, I had a great day. Very productive. Jim did not have a great day. More on that in a bit. 

I worked on Bernadettes Hometown quilt all day and will be doing that again today. Maybe this is its last day before being completed?

Here are a few of the threads going into it though...

I actually added one more after this pic was taken

After working, once again, past quitting time, I moved right over to DW. I should not do that because the difference in the Bernina weights and DW's weight is significant and I don't feel like I quilt as well because of this. Here's the last weeks worth of strip quilting...

We are more than half-way done with these so not too many more weeks. 

I did a Scrappy Goodness block and then tried to move into an appliqué project I started months ago, but don't have the transfer fabric to complete it (A Laura Heine) so pulled some other project out that's been put aside for quite some time. 

Remember the pineapple blocks I was making eons ago? They have been hanging out underneath the sewing table way too long. Yep, those are going to retreat to get finished if they aren't by then.

Here's what Jim had to deal with yesterday...

Increasing the riser height

Talk about a stinky job for him to have to deal with. I didn't even go out and talk to him while he was working because, just, NO! We have burned up three pumps in eight years and it's the lay of the land that causes it to overwork itself during heavy rains. He's trying to rectify the situation. 

When It's About The Piecing

If a busy quilt top is received into the queue and the customer wants custom work done on it, a look at what I have as a whole is necessary. The quilt I'm currently working is not about my quilting. At all! It's about the piecing. I have to decide how to enhance the customers piecing and not detract from it with the quilting. It's a balancing game. Here's an example...

See anything?

The top half of this block is quilted but can you see anything? No! And you shouldn't. Her appliqué work on this is stunning and I do not want to detract from her efforts. I'm just laying down thread to hold the piece together and not messing with her substantial accomplishments.

I've seen this quilt on-line and found that most long armers are merely doing an edge to edge on this particular pattern. Sadly. It detracts from the overall image(s) and bunches up some of those many layers this quilt has.

Because all of these pieces need to be started and stopped individually, this is taking a long time to quilt but so worth the work!

After working on this all day (and well past quitting time), I moved right over the DW to do my strip. I made a scrappy goodness block after that and then I was in the mood for some paper piecing. 

While I had zero intentions of working all of the third column in Rita, I was having such a good time that I did indeed get the third column completed and attached to columns one and two...

One more column to go

I love to paper piece and this has been fun. There are a lot of teeny, tiny pieces in here so as I'm building it I'm trying to work out how this is going to be quilted. I'm still unsure but it'll come to me when the time comes I'm sure. 

Today will be on Marty all day working on Bernadette's Hometown quilt. And, probably tomorrow as well since it's a slow-going process.

March is Ugly

Isn't the landscape not so pretty in March? Everything is brown and there's really nothing very nice to look at. Except in the studio. I get to look at beautiful quilts all day so I feel very fortunate.

Dianes quilt was finished in the early afternoon and I moved over to this quilt after...

Hometown

This is Lori Holts' Hometown quilt top that Bernadette is having me custom quilt. Isn't it gorgeous? I've already got the borders set in...

Border treatment

I'll be working on this one for a few days...or more.

After working a little later I jumped over to DW to get the two days worth of strips completed. From there I worked on the temperature quilt blocks for the past week and have those all caught up. Monday seems to be a good day to work those. 

I did one block in Scrappy Goodness and then it was nearly 8:00. Where does the time go? 

Jim is at the vets this morning with the girls getting their annual physicals and shots and their meds for the summer. Wow, is it quiet around here with everybody gone!

Not Much To Report

I have a customer coming this morning to drop off and I'll be working on Dianes quilt all day today. Well, until I get it done since I'm driving an E2E on it. It may not take all day since it's a moderate size. 

We are getting snow this morning and that's about as exciting as this Monday is starting out. 

We weren't expecting this

Happy 40th!

Wow, I wish I was 40 again. No, my eldest turned 40 at 1:06 this morning. We just got off the phone with him and he seems to be handling it okay. Earlier this week when we talked he was having a hard time with it. I did the same thing so I can relate.

Yesterday was a productive day in the studio. I needed to do some spring cleaning out there and straighten out some things in the retreat tote to prepare for that in a few weeks; along with my daily stuff. 

I did the strip first off on DW and then while talking to our kiddo in Germany, stuffed and made the pincushions for the retreat caddies.

These look simple enough, don't they? Even with Jim helping me it took us until lunch to get them all done. And I had already made the inside shell and the outer cover as well as having had everything cut out and pinked. 

Once we finished lunch and he retired into his basketball-filled man cave I headed back in to clean and get organized. 

I have a couple of [secret] projects I'm going to be working on at retreat and had those set aside to go into the tote. When I pulled the lid off the tote I found something I've been kind of ignoring since January.

I worked on this at the Creative Escapes retreat and I knew the border I started attaching there was pretty messed up. Which is why I was avoiding dealing with it. And, this top is huge; muscling it around the pressing table wasn't really on my fun-things-to-do list. 

Amish With A Twist II

But, while the Spartans gained another win at March Madness, I was able to correct the messed up border, attach the other two pieced borders and get the last set of borders attached as well. The flange is made but won't be attached until after it's quilted.  

I didn't come out of the studio until nearly 8:00 working on this and Jims game started at 2:30 or thereabouts. The studio is clean and organized and I've got way more than enough stuff to keep me busy at the retreat. 

No studio time today. It's going to be a rest day because the remainder of Dianes tops need to be done before retreat and I have another customer coming to the retreat that needs her top finished as well so I see long hours in the upcoming week.

Isn't Home Ownership Just Great?

While I was away yesterday morning I kept hearing the Ring fire off. I figured Jim was out in the garage getting the water out we accumulated with last Sunday's rain that has finally thawed since it immediately froze. 

When I got home I asked why the Ring kept going off. Long story. We lost our water heater. Again. Thankfully it was still under warranty. Our water is so bad we even chewed through an industrial heater in less than three years. This is our third one in eight years.

When I got home I finished Judy's quilt, called her and it's hung over Marty right now until we figure out how to get it to her. Which is fine. Nothing immediate I need Marty for because I'm going on a Diane quilting frenzy starting Monday on Bernie.

I had to make a few phone calls 

I did my strip on DW after 'work', constructed a scrappy block, and then I had to start this...

What's this all about?

These are going to make this...

Jolly Rancher pincushion

I have to make 19 more of these to go with the caddy's. This is to weigh the caddy's down so they don't tip over so today will be working on some of those and who knows what else I'll get into during Jim's b-ball game later.

Oh. The quilted coat received RAVING reviews in town yesterday. I found myself at several places of business and people would stop and ask about the coat. I also heard from one of the people who stopped me that I've made Facebook as another person snagged a shot of me while walking downtown and commented about how cool the coat was. A win!

Batting Chicken

While I was taking my last roll late in the afternoon, I was sweating whether this quilt was going to exceed the batting width. Talk about winner, winner...

Andrew called just as I was finishing getting things basted in for today's work which was perfect timing. While I was talking to him I constructed three Scrappy goodness blocks. After we hung up the strip of the day was stitched out. 

The zippers and other things arrived yesterday including the frames for the caddy's. Since the zipper did arrive, I was on to tackling that next. Here's the color Jim and I picked out and what do ya think?

The pink zipper

It went in rather easily and I'm debating on whether to put one into the other coat I made earlier this year. Maybe this weekend?

I have an appointment first thing this morning and then when I get back this afternoon I'll be finishing Judys Tie quilt. Along with other stuff. 

Hours of Operation

It's pretty simple. I'm open from 10-4 each weekday. I observe national holidays and Saturdays are with appointment only. Or, if you're in the area and we aren't doing anything, as long as you call first we can probably accommodate you in the morning. Please let me have Saturday afternoon and Sunday off.

I received a message at 9:01 this morning about a quilting question. 

Even though Jim is home now, we still have a routine to do every morning; laundry, house cleaning, dogs, correspondence, technical stuff, showers, blogging, etc. I don't get up until around 8:00 (I love to read at night when the house is finally quiet) so staying up until well after midnight is my norm.

That's the beauty of having your own business. Your hours are up to what fits in your schedule. For me, 10-4 works well. And please respect that people. You have a life, as do I.

Soapbox done. I worked all day on the Tie quilt for Judy. We headed to get groceries in the afternoon and then after returning home, I quilted the strip for the day on DW. 

I pieced a scrappy block and then separated for the next three. I also ran two test strips for the cowboy boot top. 

18 more of these to go

I think this will be a retreat project I'll work on since it requires minimal thinking. Jim finished binding my coat...

Waiting for the zipper now

I have the zipper on order and will install that tonight if it does indeed arrive today. 

It hit me when I was separating the next three scrappy blocks that I have to test irons and start getting stuff around for the retreat we're hosting. Since it's not at The Springs and we're doing this one from scratch (first time ever at this location), we have to provide some of the things we aren't used to providing. Big irons for the ironing station (which we're also providing) is one of those. I had to test a few to make sure they still worked since they've been in the closet for a few years...

In good working order

Today I'm supposed to have a customer coming to drop off, but we're getting some weird snow/rain mix and it's well below freezing. More work on the tie quilt but it should be done today. Hopefully!

Shipshewana

I just found out my non-quilting mother is heading to Shipshewana tomorrow. She's staying at the same hotel we stay at during our retreats (Blue Gate Garden Inn). I'm so bummed! There are a few seats left on the bus, but I have a customer coming tomorrow and a meeting (retreat related) on Friday at 11:00. And, it's not just the expense of the trip, but the shopping that'll get ya.

Sigh.

Here's some more quilting eye candy on Judy's Tie quilt...

Center of the middle ties

Perimeter of the center ties

I did my strip last night on DW, two Scrappy Goodness blocks, attached the sleeve binding on the coat, and sewed the last binding around the perimeter of the coat as well. I started hand stitching that down and am nearly half-way done. Jim may take the remainder over since my middle finger is now numb. 

I have all the temperature houses caught up and the frames are ordered for the caddy's. 

I received a message from a lady wanting pricing on E2E quilting through my web site. She must have missed the banner at the top indicating I wasn't taking new customers any longer. I called her back (got voice mail) and let her know the situation. I referred her to Sarah across town for E2E services. 

More on Judys quilt today. I'm past the half-way point so the schedule in my head is good. 

Lots of Negative Space

When I'm given lots of negative space, there are so many things I could do in there. But the quilt has to be 'read' and doing some things in one may not be what the quilt needs. 

Here's some of the quilting going into Judy's Ties...

I haven't yet gotten to the center section of ties but this is what's happening above the center. More pics tomorrow.

After working I moved over to DW to quilt Sunday and Monday's strips. I worked a block in the Scrappy Goodness and then attached the hood and the sleeve binding on the coat. However, the sleeves have to be hand sewn now to the inside. 

Yep, I'm actually hand sewing the binding on this one. Don't ask. I lost my head. 

Not Much To Report

I did go out to the studio briefly yesterday to see where I needed to head with my coat. I thought if I had just a small amount to tackle I would get that done so I could bind the outside of everything. There were actually four steps to go and two of them were pretty major; attaching the hood and measuring/making/attaching the wrist binding. 

I came out of the studio a few minutes later. 

While I was puttering around doing other stuff, Virginia texted me on one of her backings so I sent her a pic of the girls. She loves animals as much as we do!

Hello!

I'll be working on Marty most of today. Lots of negative space to work with and it's not getting done by itself. 

Jim is out dealing with a saturated snow situation in the driveway. We received three to four inches of snow yesterday morning and then heavy rain all afternoon and into the late evening. The temps are right at freezing and he wants to get the snow off before the temps start falling later on. Otherwise we have any icy mess out there and he doesn't want that. 

Four Years Ago

I just received a notification that four years ago tomorrow we headed to Wooster, OH to pick up Lucy. Has she really been with us for four years? 

Yesterday started out on DW doing my daily strip. From there I made a caddy and then started digging into the coat.

Lunch was late because I was playing with that the rest of the morning and shortly after our movie, the neighbors had camp fire and we were down there until almost dark.

I spent the rest of the night whip stitching down the pockets and hand binding the hood. 

I want to work on it some more today, but last time I spent a Sunday out in the studio, I woke up sick. My body is telling me a day to rest is mandatory and being sick on the couch does not count. 

Oh, and I had another call yesterday from a quilting customer. Did people forget I'm not open on Saturday? I've been pretty lax about turning my business phone off Friday nights to prevent this but apparently I'm going to need to start doing it again. 

I see reading and knitting in my future today. We have a winter storm raging outside and it sounds like a good day to just rest and relax.

Back in the Saddle

Yesterday was the first "normal" day in the studio in a week. It felt so good to be back in the saddle!

I finished Diane's quilt up and we have the back to her next quilt being frame ironed. Once all the post- quilting chores were done, I moved over onto Marty to work on Judys quilt she made for a friend. All ties!

The quilt plan had been discussed during the drop off so I didn't have to think about it much. Here's the border and center of the partial dresdens...

Then I got to all that negative space. I originally proposed putting rays off each tie, but after getting the markings in DID NOT like that at all. I called Judy to let her know it wouldn't look good and could I move in a different direction.

Thankfully, my customers trust me. She's leaving all of that up to my discretion and feels like I'll make the right choices for what I change it to. 

I did start working the partial dresdens in the corner, but even after putting in two rows of echoing, they aren't spilling out into the negative space quite like I'd hoped. I needed to sketch some more and I think I've got a good plan going forward. 

After shutting down business for the day I made a caddy. I have enough for the amount of folks currently registered to attend the retreat but I'm going to continue on with the ones that are roughed in so attendees have a choice in their gift. 

I made a Scrappy Goodness block and then headed over to DW to do my strip for the day. From there I grabbed that quilt I whipped out last Sunday and started cutting up the pieces for my Elemental quilted jacket. I made the long bias binding strip needed for the whole thing and then I didn't know where else to head. 

I read through the directions (again) and will start working on that today. I'm a little confused about the binding on the inside of the hood, so when I finally came out of the studio around 7:30 Jim had a Spartan b-ball game to watch (which we lost by two) and I plugged my ear buds in and started looking for a video to assist with my confusion.

Misty Doan (Missouri Star Quilt Company) did a video with the pattern designer making a coat from start to finish. BUT, they barely touched on the hood section. In fact, just sort of glazed over the whole thing. Huh? Maybe it'll make more sense when I get back to it this morning?

Welcome Back Winter

It's certainly a poopy weather day out today. Woke up with three inches so far and it's still snowing. It's a wet, heavy snow; the kind needed for making a snowman. It's sticking to everything and it looks so pretty.  

Meaning, I should be pretty productive today. 

After all of our errands and getting home late for lunch, I did get out in the studio to get some work done. Dianes quilt should be finished today and I'll be moving over to Judy's on Marty afterwards. No pics yet of that one.

I was starting to get a little tired after working well past quitting time. Getting a later start in the day does that I suppose. I decided to get caught up on some caddy's since that's mostly sit-down work. Five caddies later and I was rejuvenated a bit. 

I jumped on DW to catch up on five days worth of strips...

The evens

The odds

I wanted to do more; catching up on the Scrappy Goodness and maybe working some of the cowboy boots, but after long arming on DW I was getting pretty worn out. I guess I did enough for my 'first day back' post sickness.

I do still have a cough and I'm still kind of fuzzy headed, but I'm going to pretend none of that is present. Sleep last night was elusive until nearly 3:00 and I'm attributing my fuzzy head to that. I can pretend, can't I?

Couch Camp...Again!

I did work yesterday morning and that about did me in. A delivery was made yesterday afternoon and here's what the mailman brought... 

These will help when I'm having to do hexagons in quilts that require them. Previously, I would have to de a bazillion markings and measurements to get the hexagons to work.

Today I'm still fuzzy headed and a little dizzy. My left ear is almost completely plugged. I'm not sure what long arming (or anything else) that will occur as we have a few appointments this morning and we haven't went grocery shopping in two weeks. 

Couch Camp

Sunday was spent in and out of the studio despite my 'rule' of not going in there on Sunday's. Jim had a basketball game at 4-ish and I didn't really feel like listening to him bark at the refs/players on the TV. I did my strip and then made a caddy, as well as cutting up for the cowboy boots. I loaded up the flimsy I found in my stash before lunch.

During his game I headed to the studio to work on this...

This is going to be a spring coat

Here's what I quilted into it...

This is just me doing some hand guided free motion quilting. It was well after dark and even the game ended before I got it done. But it's on the frame (Marty) waiting for me to take it off. 

So a few days ago I thought I had developed a terrible cat allergy. Turns out I was actually coming down with something. Still not sure what this is. Today my left ear is plugged like it was when we came back from Alaska last August.

I've had every cold symptom known except for the really sore throat. No nausea or diarrhea so it's not the flu. However, I'm fuzzy headed and dizzy still today despite having spent the past two days on the couch. And, I'm so very tired. 

I can't long arm if I'm dizzy. That's not cool. Nor is it safe. I'm going to try to get out there this morning and see how things go. I'm not going to push it though and if I'm not feeling it, it may be another day at couch camp. 

Allergies

I felt like I was coming down with a cold yesterday. Itchy, watery eyes, snotty nose, sneezing, and a lot of sinus drainage causing me to cough. But, I didn't have aches and chills. Nor did I have a severe headache. I think I'm developing allergies.

And, yesterday, I took Virginia's quilt off the frame, trimmed and folded it in order to get it ready for pick up. Virginia has lots of cats. Jim thinks it's a cat allergy. And I didn't do my eye drops yesterday so it very well could be.

Despite my wading through all the head things I was dealing with, it was a very productive day. I started on DW to do my daily strip. After, while I was working my daily caddy my phone rang. It was one of my regular customers (I guess all of them are regulars now since I'm not taking any new business) and they were coming to the area. Could she drop off a top? Sure, I'm just puttering around the studio.

Jim was working on his very first loaf of hand-made bread. Doesn't this look yummy?

We love bread!

I made a Scrappy Goodness block while I was waiting for them and then recorded the days missing for the Temperature quilt. I also dug through my flimsies to find a suitable coat pattern. They arrived and were here for over an hour. More like an hour and a half. Boy did I get a beautiful quilt to work!

All transferred

During lunch I prepped my pattern pieces for the coat I'm making. After lunch I removed Virginia's quilt to free up Marty for some quick long arming today. I had to construct a backing for the top I selected from my stash and started frame ironing that. I constructed the houses for the temps I recorded and added them to the next row.

While I was waiting for the backing to get frame ironed on Marty, I constructed the strip sets for the cowboy boot quilt...

Ready for cutting

Today I was up very late. The previous night our chimney for the fireplace decided to drip into the chimney pipe. One. Drop. At. A. Time. And loudly because water dripping on metal is very loud! Apparently we have a new leak. Guess what's right outside my bedroom? Yup. The chimney. And this allergy thing wasn't helping. 

Today I'm hoping to sneak onto Marty for a few hours to get the coat top quilted along with all the other daily things I should do. But, it's Sunday, so who knows how motivated I'll be. 

How I'm Super Productive

I've kept track of my productivity over the past few months and I've come to some conclusions. I'm very productive when...

1. It's poopy weather outside

2. I'm talking on the phone

3. Jim is out doing errands

4. I'm not expecting any customers and can really immerse myself in the music playing in the studio

Yep, Yesterday number 3 and 4 occurred and I managed to get Virginia's quilt finished at around 2 or 2:30. Since I worked over a few days this week, that gave me permission to run over to Pieces for some fusible and the fat quarters missing in the cowboy boot quilt. 

Once we were finished shopping, one of the workers' sister came in with something she made while we were checking out. I fell in love. Asked how hard it was. She was NOT a sewer or a quilter but managed to make a stunning piece of clothing. 

I asked her about the pattern and Susan (owner of Pieces of Thyme) now carries the very pattern she used. Guess what else I came home with? 

Looks easy enough!

When I came home I put the purchased items away except for this pattern as I wanted to look through it and see what I was up against. OMG! So simple. And the lady I talked to at the quilt shop said the only hard part was the pockets. She said to look at the pictures first and then read the instructions, otherwise they are sort of confusing. Good thing I already do that anyway!

She made the one in the center in the picture above. I was even able to try hers on (I'm glad I did or I would have under sized it) and have decided to put a hood on mine. The pattern has many size, style, and extra options including hoods, zippers, rounded corners, etc. included. Now I'm on the hunt in my flimsy pile to see what would be cool to make into a coat. 

After looking through the pattern and trying not to squirrel, I made a caddy, quilted my strip, and then re-made the first block in Scrappy Goodness after Jim pulled all my seams. He's such a trooper. This is more like it...

I was so happy with the results of this block that I made another. 

Today will be a caddy, a strip, another Scrappy Goodness block, and I have to get this weeks temperatures recorded and houses made. From there, who knows?

All Wrong!

I did end up working on Marty all day and still have a solid day ahead of me to finish the Stars and Shadows quilt for Virginia. Jim has errands to do this morning so maybe with no distractions it'll move along quickly. 

I did work late on it last night because I wanted to only have the gray work to do in the blocks before advancing and finishing out the borders.

And then the usual schedule followed: Make a caddy. Quilt the strip of the day. Work on something else. Scrappy Goodness was my target. And that worked out well because Andrew called on his way home from the office and we talked while I cut out all of these...

All cut and ready to piece

And in my tired state, I read the directions for the next step and pieced this...

Nope

I had two strips left over from my "A" pile and wondered why that was. The way the directions were written, she said to pull all strips from the "A" pile, separate at so and so number, and then sew those together as seen above. 

Except, that's not what she meant. I should have pulled the top off of each A through H pile, separate at so and so number, and then sew together. All of these seams have to be ripped out, sewn back together into their place in the tube, and then put back into the A pile to start over again. 

I'm not happy about this! And, this is why I always do one block beforehand to make sure I've read everything correctly. Or, in this case, make sure the directions are written as they should have been written.

Welcome Spring-ish

The morning started out on Bernie working on this next piece for Diane...

Some celebratory ribbons

Now I'm stuck again on what to put into her center panel. I'll think more on that today while working on Marty. Virginia's quilt is coming along slowly. My goal is to get it done before tomorrow's close of business. Meaning, no guild today. 

Yesterday was one of those days when I LOVE working out in the yard. It was sunny and warm-ish and no bugs. Can't stand bugs. But everything is still frozen into the soil and I had 'real' work to do in the studio. Jim got a lot done though. He loves being outdoors. 

 He also made me this...

Long Arm Ruler Rack

My rulers are getting pretty banged up with me transferring them from the pressing/planning table each night so I can do personal stuff in the evening. I mentioned to him about making something like this because rulers are VERY expensive and needed a way to keep them from getting scratches all over. He's the man!

Another beautiful sunset last night as I was making a caddy, quilting my strip on DW, and working through the Scrappy Goodness blocks...

Just breathtaking

And phase 1 sewing the scrappy goodness blocks together is complete. I pieced the remaining six strip sets and then they had to be joined at the top and bottom to make a tube. Next step? Cutting out (160) 2 1/2" strips from the tubes. Oh boy. 

Ready for cutting up

Since I'm not going to be at guild this morning I'm jumping straight onto Marty and working pretty hard to get through as much as I can today. Crank up the tunes, drink lots of water, do lots of stretches and go!