Retreat Dates

I'll be out of the studio all next week. Monday through Thursday (October 12-15) I'll be retreating at The Springs. Friday through Sunday (October 16-18) we should be in Ohio. That depends on this big girl. 

Not feeling the greatest

Hazel has some bad teeth and I don't know if they will just clean them or remove them. If they remove them, we won't be doing any traveling because it's not fair to the dog sitter to have to deal with her convalescence. 

I finished Lynettes quilt and hung it on DW temporarily while I was doing admin stuff for the project and look how the sun shows the detail I inserted in this.

Sometimes the back looks as nice as the front

I wanted to get on DW last night to start working on the first (second now) QAL but I knew if I didn't get this one below bound I was breaking my own "rules". I know if I don't get the binding done I'll regret it later. 

For Zechariah

This quilt is going to my youngest grandson along with a matching pillow, which I started last night instead of long arming. Today though I need to get caught up on the Temperature quilt. I am way behind on that. We also have lunch plans with mom and so I may be just cutting pieces instead of actually sewing them together. I'll take it to retreat to work on if I have to.

Have you priced poly fill lately? Holy cow, it's averaging $7/lb versus $3/lb less than five years ago. And I have six pillows to make all needing about 1.5lbs each. Yikes. Good thing I started making holiday gifts early this year so I can spread that expense out a few months. 

Out of the Box

As we get older we fall into a comfortable routine. When the routine is disrupted it's like working outside of the box or coloring outside of the lines. Remember in our younger years routine changes didn't seem as big a deal?

Today is back to the norm, but I quite like getting outside of the box. I like change. I like to mix things up. While getting back to the norm is like a favorite pair of shoes; comfortable but not quite as supportive or clean anymore, let's get those shoes really dirty! More in a bit.

Here is some of the quilting going into Lynettes quilt. 

Frosty?

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

Honk

The previous night I did get all the blocks done on the QAL and only had to do the border. Here are the last four blocks. 

Block 12

Block 11

Block 10

block nine

And the last big block in the Quilt Room is finished meaning it's time to get the whole thing put together.

Last block is done

I have a few hours left to go in Lynette's quilt this morning and then my day will be done. I may start in on the fifth quilt from Diane, but since it's supposed to be nice today (another pic-perf autumn day) it may be difficult to stay in the studio this afternoon. 

Yesterday was another 'norm' day, but I'm doing my skating exercises to regain the balance I've lost and adjust to my new 'older' body (which is not 16 anymore). I'm planning on sticking with my skating (re)endeavor and that's getting the shoes very dirty!

First Order of Business

Wow, did I get some things done in the studio yesterday. I think I was making up for the past two unproductive days. 

First: All the pieces for the Granny Squares top are cut, organized, and ready to head to a retreat. Check. 

Next. Finish the Book Nook quilt on DW. Check.

Next. Get binding on said Book Nook quilt and shoot a photo before putting it away. Check.

The pumpkin was still sweating from the cold night we had so was finally able to get it dollied up for the fall season. Check. 

Get new top loaded onto DW for the 9-Patch Quilt-Along with Natalia Bonner. Check.

Decided on a different border treatment than she put in because I know this quilt-along is a bit simpler than the one I'm doing with Sam from Quilting Curve Studio. How about this?

I'm now ready to actually participate in the QAL since I have the borders and sashing started. Yay!

Because I had spent a lot of time on DW yesterday getting things finished and started, I pulled away from him around 7:00 to do some cutting for the next block on the Quilt Room. 

But today I'll not be doing that. In fact, I should be heading to Crosswell for a fantastic fabric sale going on but it's a 2 1/2 hour drive one way and the sale started yesterday. Chances are, everything is picked over and it's too nice to be in the truck all day long (again) today. 

Jim has applesauce he wants to start. There is another sale next weekend in Harrison with even better prices than Crosswell and I'll just attend that on Friday (Saturday, we have family coming up). 

I need to run into town sometime today to find a foam core board for the super-mini design wall I'm going to need for the Granny Square planning. I also need to wash down the trim and ceiling fan in the guest bedroom to prepare it for painting so I'll start there and later we can run in after Jim fends off all the mean bees out right now while he's peeling and coring apples outside. 

Apparently Backwards Day is a Hit

I got SOOOOO much done yesterday. Not in any particular order I made a Love Letter block, matched the cowboy boots up with their checkerboard blocks, cleaned the iron, received the batting I was expecting, started this quilt below, quilted two sections of the Judy Niemeyer on DW, frame ironed and have the Farmyard quilt on Marty ready to start and made a 9-patch top. Here's the pics I grabbed during the day. 

Detail work on the Judy Niemeyer on DW

For the 9-patch quilt-along

Some of the quilting going into the one below

Finishing this one today hopefully

Today I'll be finishing the quilt on Bernie and hopping on over to Marty to start working on that immediate deadline. The one on Bernie is a July deadline so I better get to it. I'm quilting barefoot today since the temps when are already in the 80's with high humidity. Air you can wear! My feet will complain later tonight, but I'm wearing a lightweight dress for the icky weather and don't want to add more heat. 

A Well Rounded Day

About the only thing I didn't do yesterday was get on one of the big machines. First thing was the temperature quilt block catch up.

About half of it

That took until lunch time. During lunch I drug out the bag of solids fabrics and started checking to see what would work for the nine patch. 

Most of these are from Amish with a Twist I and II. I jumped on Mike and completed the last cowboy boot before getting into these. Here's the pile of 20 plus one pillow block. These have to be paired with the checkerboard blocks I made at retreat in April. 

Ready for pairing

After working the cowboy boot I started prepping and cutting the fabric for the 9-patch. The neighbor north of us stopped by to repair a cracked step from the new installation going to the lake and then said his wife was at the property. Pause quilt work.

After visiting for a number of hours I headed back home and into the studio and finished cutting and then assembled all 12 blocks. 

Ready for sashing

It was nearly 9:00 when I finally called it a day. See, no time for long arming. 

First Time in Two Weeks

Other than a quick trip to the local DG, I haven't been off the property in two weeks. Jim and I have to go and fetch some groceries. It's bad when the last box of cereal, oatmeal, or can of soup has been eaten. 

Here's some of the quilting going into the 9-Patch...

Funky Flower

Some cool stars

I worked on Joni's quilt most of yesterday. I'm not even half-way through as it's becoming more work than I had originally thought. 

I plan on making a new sewing machine cover for Ellie later today while Jim is hollering at the game on TV. I also plan on chipping away more on this 9-Patch. I feel like I'm just about ready to put customer quilts onto Bernie, but I'm still having some control problems with free motion. Bernie is so much lighter than DW and it's hard to rein myself in. 

Lighting

The lighting this time of the year in the studio is weird. The leaves are still on the trees, and the sun is falling in the horizon, giving it an even greater amount of shade (and darkness) despite it being sunny outside. 

I would like to take a kayak ride later today or tomorrow. Check out some of our blooming colors and see what's going on with our dam. I heard some ruckus down there this morning so maybe they're starting?

Mary's quilt was finished yesterday. Then I put on Linda N's top...

Linda's Beautiful Embroidery

And believe it or not, all she wanted in here was a very loose edge-to-edge. I was cringing as it was stitching out. But I selected a very fine thread and it didn't blemish the embroidery at all. 

After that was done, and after lunch was finally eaten, I loaded this quilt top for Joni...

Joni's antique top

She gave me a book that this came out of and it has a very clear pic on the quilting, which is what Joni wants me to put into it. No thinking on my part. 

I got another row done on the 9-Patch quilt-along last night as well as some border work, two long sashings, and three vertical sashings in before I was tired enough to get out of the studio. 

I have two customers coming today; one to pick up and another to drop off. Both of their names end in -ette. Isn't that funny?

Almost There

I worked almost a full day in the studio yesterday. It was well after dark before I came out. I wasn't breaking any speed records but it was wonderful to be back in there!

Here's some of the quilting detail going into the Dream Bigger panel I'm working on...

One of the smaller leaves

Always have to have one spiderweb

I'm just about at the half-way point on this huge project. Here's what's on Bernie this morning...

9-Patch Quilt-along with Natalia Bonner

Natalia is a wonderful quilter, who until recently, quilted for other people. Now she teaches remotely and has her own line of rulers; some of the best in the industry as far as I'm concerned. She has hosted a 9-patch quilt-along three times over the years. I'm going to pull my favorites from her three "classes" and just play with my new ruler base on Bernie over the next couple of days. 

I had to machine piece the backing for this 9-Patch and Ellie sewed it together perfectly. The only other thing I have to do today is make a pot of chili...which I'll do later this afternoon since I don't want to smell like cooked onions all day long.