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. 

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. 

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.

Getting a Late Start

When I woke up at 7:30 this morning my intention was to just lay there and watch nature outside the window. I woke back up around 8:40. Oops. Must have been tired.

Dianes quilt is nearly done but I'm shifting over to this piece to get it done for the holiday.

Lynette's Quilted Witch by Lori Holt

Pumpkins!

I'm free motion quilting pumpkins of all shapes and sizes into the border. 

I pieced the next block in the Quilt Room

Scrap bins and bolts of fabric

Block #4

Block #3

Block #2

Block #1

Not sure why these loaded in reverse but I started the QAL with Natalia Bonner of Piece n' Quilt in Utah last night. I was having so much fun I did four blocks. I had all three long arms busy yesterday!

More of the same today while enjoying the picture perfect weather the past week (mid-70's with sunshine).

Bedroom Make Over

I did a little knitting yesterday afternoon while relaxing and snuggling with the dogs.

Have you ever prepped a room for painting? I've started (as you know) by getting things out (like the dresser), but yesterday morning was spent washing walls, trim, ceiling fans, and doors. While I'm not painting the ceiling fan or door, it's nice to start with a clean slate. And, frankly, they needed it.

Here's the bedroom with the 'before' pic.

I'll repost the before pic after we get the room finished, but it's going to be a few months before that happens. I have to get paint first and with that I'll need my mom. She knows color and coordinates. I'll leave everything up to her.

Diane's quilt on Bernie will be finished today and then I'll be moving over to Marty to start Lynettes Quilted Witch. No pics of that yet. 

It's Too Early

Even my computer is misbehaving this morning because it's too darn early. 

A fun new border treatment

Following the lines for quilting

I"m having fun playing with the piece I'm working yesterday and today. Diane gives me free rein and so I get to experiment with new motifs. Once work was done I continued with what I started last night. 

I got all the white (background) cut last night topping over 600 pieces. 

Time for some fun. This is the fat quarter bundle going into the next project. The sun last night was shining through (well, trying to shine through my very dirty window) onto the pressing table. At the angle the autumn/spring sun beams fall every wrinkle in the fabric is visible. 

I started using the Acorn on the fabrics to pretreat but found it wasn't doing a whole lot. I mean, it was easing the very light creases, but those deep creases were not coming out. 

Science experiment time (while I had the sun in my favor), I got all my pretreats out to see which one worked the best on fat quarters that have been folded and squished into that cellophane for who knows how long? 

Let me tell ya, this is one of those examples where the most expensive isn't always the best. That $1.49 can of starch outdid the other two by almost double. I know starch gets a bad wrap (attracts bugs, sticky, etc.) but I"m not planning on going on a picnic with the quilt I'm building and quite honestly, after the first wash, the stuff comes out of the quilt so it's not going to be there forever. AND, we don't have bugs in our house since we treat for them every other month. 

I'm kind of disappointed in my findings actually. I was hoping the Best Press would have been the winner since you can get it in so many scents and it's not as gummy on the dispenser as the Acorn. It was the last place winner. Unfortunately. 

Okay, why am I up so early? I have a very busy day. Right now I"m heading to my annual physical. Once home, I'm heading to Au Gres for a fabric sale a fellow guild member is having; $2/yard . We have to get groceries tonight, Jim has food pantry, and we have an appointment in Midland to look at a pontoon at 5:30. I'll get some quilting done in between all of that. I hope. 

I Have NEVER Done This!

We spent most of the late morning/afternoon with mom. We went out to lunch, cleared out some stuff she needed to get rid of and I think we've acquired a new bedroom set. We'll see if she actually gets a different one for her bedroom.

Despite being gone most of the daytime hours, I was able to get the State of Michigan quilted, trimmed, and then did something I've never (ever, ever) in the 32 years I've been making quilts, faced the finished piece. 

I like the facing!

It was way easier than I thought and I believe all my future artistic wall hangings will get this treatment from here on in. 

I cut out and then pieced the next block in the Quilt Room. Jim was watching MSU get their butts kicked by Notre Dame and I didn't want to hear his grumblings about how the team was playing. 

These are supposed to be spools but to me they look like boxes of presents stacked up. When I quilt this, I'm going to really have to emphasize the 'spool' part. 

Haircuts have already been done this morning and I'm not sure where the rest of the day is going. Since it's nearly noon it probably won't go very far. 😉

In-Between Weather

It's the time of year when putting on almost winter clothes starts the day, layers get shed throughout the day, and layers reemerge later in the evening. I'm back in a turtleneck under the sweatshirts. I don't shed many clothes knowing in a few hours I'll just have to put them all back on. 

Diana's quilt was finished yesterday morning and here's what I started working on after lunch.

Diane's third quilt

This one is pretty straightforward. The border is a braided block extended to just have ditched and a 1/4" echo inside. The background is a loopy flower but the challenge comes inside with all the white area. That's all embroidered and will need to have ditching done around. 

While I was cleaning up from Diana's quilt and getting the next one prepared for frame ironing, Jim was working on some new thread drawers for me. The beautiful thread containers that were under the pressing table have been relocated to make room for new thread cones. 

Relocation

This pic turned out weird?

I have thread coming out my ears around here, which is great! I need thread in my job and just to have to piece with. 

Speaking of piecing. Since I was sick on the couch Saturday, I didn't work the Temperature quilt blocks at that time. I got caught up on those last night while talking to Andrew.

After having those built and put into the ever growing top, I moved over to DW to work on the Book Nook. One more book row to go. Oh, and hey, that was all three long arms yesterday. Haven't done that in a while. 

The sun was shining in over the back of the top

I was going to continue on but it was approaching 8:00 and I was starting to get a little tired. I got up too early yesterday I think. 

One customer coming to pick up sometime today and I'll be working on Dianes quilt trying to get it finished before the weekend hits. 

Well, Mud

So. Our water pressure/issue continues on. When the plumber showed up yesterday afternoon this is what he pulled out of the system.

Our pre-filter after a few hours

The plumber replaced the above filter the previous day when he aired up the bladder tank. We ran a pressure test and then Jim took a shower. No other water was used and the filter is already caked. We. Have. A. Problem.

This is the water coming straight into the house. It's not waste in there! That's the actual water we are getting out of our well. The plumber said to by-pass our softener because we'd kill it in a matter of days. 

Since the water heater still has fresh water in it (prior to the tank being aired) we were able to grab quick showers this morning. But there's no laundry today (or yesterday) and using water around the house is at a minimum.

We have three calls into well drillers to have them come out and look at our system. One driller is downstate. One driller has a service truck that's down and can't come. One sounded drunk when we talked to him last night and he'd see if he could get over in a few days. That guy wanted to just drill a new well. Jim called another company first thing this morning and they said they'd be out later today to have a look. 

In quilting news. I finished Diane's quilt on Bernie and now I'm heading over to Marty to start Diana's second quilt. No pics [yet] since I'm preoccupied with this water situation. 

Unexpected Disruption

Our water situation at the house is less than desirable. We have a high salt content in our well (running raw without the softener) and even after running through the softener the salt content is still very high. The only way we get drinking water is through our R/O system and even that is chewing through my granite counter tops. 

Our plumber was out to check the bladder tanks to see if that was the problem. We have two down in the crawl space and after he checked them both, deemed one completely shot. He unhooked it and aired up the second one (it only had 9lbs of pressure). All was good. Until it wasn't.

Jim was in the shower last night and the water pressure was about non-existent after only a few minutes. He called the plumber back and he'll be here this morning after another earlier appointment already scheduled.

Meanwhile, I took a little "shower" in the kitchen sink to wash my hair/face and did a small sponge bath upstairs. I hate not taking a shower in the morning. It wakes me up and I feel all refreshed; ready to go for the day.

I have a lot of visitors coming today. Jim is gone to PT and I'll be dealing with the plumber (when he finally gets here) and I have a customer coming to drop off sometime after 10:00 (???).

I'll be working on getting this piece done throughout the day in between all of that.

A little quilting eye candy

I had to move the bow to the screen door yesterday and so far it's holding. Once I was done working for the day, I cut out for the next Quilt Room block and then moved over to DW to get the second row done in Book Nook.

Then I started piecing the block in the Quilt Room and actually finished it before quitting in the studio. 

Block #9

I better get to it since it's nearly 10:00 now.

Was It Monday?

Jim and I kept thinking yesterday was Monday. Probably because we took Tuesday and Wednesday off. Here is some of the quilting going into Dianes baby quilt...

Clouds and rainbows

This still needs to be removed from the frame and trimmed but after working late it's completely quilted. 

I did a Flower Power block. I removed the table runner, and, while talking to Andrew on his way home from work, got the binding on it. I did choose another quilt to load onto DW so started frame ironing the back for that. After that I started cutting out for the next block in the Quilt Room. 

Garden Table Runner

Later last night we had a lunar eclipse. I tried to capture it 'on film' and here's the beginning phase...

The beginning of the lunar eclipse

I did stay up late enough to see the totally dark landscape, but my bedroom is in the opposite side of where the moon can be seen. I didn't think Jim would appreciate me stalking around the house at 12:20 in the morning so didn't capture the entire eclipse.

I have one customer coming sometime today to pick up and while I'm waiting for her, and until I can get it loaded, the next quilt top going on Marty has to be entirely marked beforehand. I'm still debating how I'm going to do it (Pounce, manual chalk, or blue marks-be-gone). Anyway, happy Friday. 

Some Good, Some Not So Good

We visited several shops to and from Shipshewana. Some of them were meh, and others were OMG! We discovered our favorite in Middlebury, Indiana. What a gem!

Anyway, if I liked the shop, I would purchase something. Here's the haul I took from Quilts at Marshall House, Quilts at Essenhaus, and Yoders. I did not find anything at Lolly's (which was weird). 

The haul

Now I have plenty to do at both retreats and during the winter months here. Jim also found some fun things (he LOVES puzzles) to work on this winter. 

We encountered some weird weather coming home. I was able to snag a slight rainbow pic north of Saginaw while heading back from saying goodbye to Lia and Evelyn. 

Can you see it?

Here's some cute pics of Shipshewana in the fall...

Roasting marshmallows

Run, Forest, Run

And now it's back to our regularly scheduled programming. Jim is at PT this morning and I'm catching up on some laundry while already working in the studio. I had to wait for the mouse to recharge a bit before I could blog. It was completely dead.

I'll be working this quilt today on Bernie while frame ironing the back for the next one on Marty. I've already had to flip this quilt 90 degrees because of what I'm planning to put in here. 

Diane's little Noah baby quilt

It was a great few days spending it with my best friend. We ate way too much and traveled a lot of miles in a little over 24 hours, but we needed to get away for a few days and now Jim knows where I spend a week every November. BUT, it's GREAT to be home!

A Little Of This

Even though we have out-of-country visitors staying until next week, I had to work yesterday morning and early afternoon. I did get Virginia's quilt finished and called to let her know that it was done. 

Customers came right after lunch (actually, during lunch) and once they left we were headed to Midland. We missed the estate sale by a few hours but we did get some other shopping done at Meijer.

Lia and I decided to make a name banner for Evie's room and here's where I left off last night after Evelyn went to bed.

I'll work on this some more later tonight. Not much studio work planned for today since we have company. But who knows how much the kiddo is going to sleep and what is in store for our day. 

I Know, I Know

This is supposed to be about quilting, but I have to get a little sidetracked this morning. Look who surprised me yesterday with the help of a lot of people? 

I was just trying to finish up Virginia's quilt and Caleb's in-laws arrived. We visited with them for a few minutes and then Tim had to take a call. But it wasn't a call at all. It was Lia (my DIL) letting her dad know she was pulling in. 

All the way from Germany! Caleb was unable to make it this visit, but this is the first time we've been able to interact in person with our newest granddaughter. Meet Evelyn Riley DeGroot. Isn't she a doll?

Of course, this is going to put a damper on any quilt related items for the next week since that's how long they are visiting for. I will be trying to finish Virginia's quilt this morning and I will peck at this one next.

It will be intermittent and since the guest room is attached to the studio, I probably won't be doing much after-hours sewing either since that's where Evie will be sleeping. 

Talking and Working

Mary's quilt was finished on Marty and now I'm on Bernie working on Virginia's quilt from Primitive Gatherings. While Virginia's isn't a big quilt by any means, it seems those take longer than the others. This is going to be a wall hanging and since there is no continuity between blocks (orange isn't attached to another orange kind of thing) I have to start and stop at virtually every bit of piecing. That's the reason for the long time. And then, of course, there are all those color changes. You get the picture.

After working past quitting time, and while talking to Andrew, I jumped onto Mike to do a Flower Power block and worked these two blocks on DW.

These are turning out so pretty and I'm so sorry I didn't double batt this!

Once we hung up with Andrew I had already cut out the next pieces for the Quilt Room and so started constructing the next block. Here's the result. I love the low volume which isn't usually my jam. 

Only a half day today. I have an eye doctor appointment at 1:30 and after dialating my eyes, chances of me doing much the rest of the day is slim. I already have a sensitivity to light (blue-eyed people do I'm told) but that just makes life a little too bright. 😙

It's Raining

There are some really questionable people on our Smallwood Lake Association page asking questions that nobody can answer. Like, 'How soon before the lake fills?'. Well, unless you're
God, that question can not be answered. 

But, I feel like responding to the page, 'Hey, we got rain. How come the lake hasn't filled up?' Wouldn't that be a hoot? Ya gotta have more than 1/10th of an inch to raise a lake nine feet.

Enough of that. I have to run around and change out some of my summer things and then into the studio I go. I'm working two quilts at once it seems. This one on Bernie...

This one is basted in and already started

And this one on Marty...

This one is basted in but barely started

Those two are on todays docket. Here are better pics of what I'm doing on DW.

Block one

Block three

I did manage to get the pieces cut out for the next block in The Quilt Room and I was able to get a Flower Power block blanket stitched. Our son called and we talked for about an hour on his way home from his work which I will set aside any quilting for.