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. 

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. 

A Few Household Changes

Mom wants to get rid of her bedroom set. Not sure why because it's gorgeous. We are inheriting said bedroom set to include a large dresser, night stand, and a sleigh bed frame and mattress. The situation we have with that is moving the very heavy set. And, I need to rearrange/paint the room.

How is this quilting relate? The other lighter cherry dresser we have in the guest bedroom has all my under a yard fabrics in it. It will need to be moved out to the studio to make room for the other set. Jims 'dresser' (it's very small) will be moved upstairs as will the two mattresses from his downstairs bedroom.

Moms new bed should be here in a few weeks so I have very little time to get all of this done. I think maybe we'll move the fabric dresser tonight?

Anyway, back to the studio stuff. I have this going into Sues quilt on Marty. She wanted very light custom quilting in here so I'm doing a piano key in the border and a continuous curve in every other block in the body. I'm nearly half-way complete. 

Piano key border with cc's in every other block

I cut out and pieced the next block in the Quilt Room. 

Books!

I jumped on DW after I got that finished and am on the last row of Book Nook. Jim is concerned about him moving upstairs in that the girls use that bed to look out the window for incoming visitors. They mash down any dirt they have on their paws and although I have a protective 'cover' on the top of the bed, it's not quite big enough to cover the whole thing.

I guess I need to make another cover and I think Christmas is a good time to do that. We can have all the family long arm something for memories. The current cover is just that. When I first got DW we loaded some fabric onto the machine and let all the grownups play. I'll keep that quilt forever even though it's not finished or correct. But, it's memories. Once we get to this age, that's about all that really matters anymore.

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. 😉

A Day of Small

Diane's quilt is done (those small ones usually go pretty quick) and I'll be working on a Trip Around the World on Monday. Meanwhile, after I was able to get Diane's quilt off and trimmed (and all that goes with it), I loaded this onto Bernie to work today. 

I didn't actually baste it in but it's ready to work when we get back from town. Since Bernie is free and DW is not, and since I'll have this done before Monday and having to load another Diane quilt I thought I'd get this done toot sweet. Prior to loading the State of Michigan, I did this little project for my tools I use on DW...

A travel case for teaching

With all DW's things inside

Without anything in it

It was still early so I began piecing the next block in the Quilt Room.

We are headed to visit my mom this morning since she just got back from her up north trip. The game tonight is at 7:00 so I'll be in the studio quite late tonight. I suppose I'm going back to my second shift days at the hospital. 😊

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. 

A Lost Afternoon

Jim didn't get home from his appointments until nearly lunch yesterday. He wasn't into really starting something because he knew we had to get groceries in the afternoon.

He hung out with me in the studio for a while and I finally said that we should go. Needless to say, Dianas quilt did not get done yesterday. Today for sure it'll be finished.

After we returned home I started making the next block in the Quilt Room since I had cut it out the night before (forgot to mention that yesterday). 

These blocks seem to be getting harder in technique (those knitting needles were not easy) as the progression carries on. 

We have a typical fall week upon us. Colder temps, hit and miss rain showers throughout and very little sunshine. But the leaves are beginning to change and fall and the mum is in full bloom. Jim picked up my pumpkins for the studio porch and I'll need to deal with the white one here soon. 

Just another work day today and beyond that, who knows? I need to get the quilt on DW finished so I can load for the 9-patch QAL that's going on right now. 

What's Taking So Long?

Those who aren't into the whole long arm scene do not know what we do as long armers to actually do their quilts. It's not just putting in stitches. As I've discussed before about the 'after' process, what about the 'during' process other than the quilting?

The first item up is unlocking all the ratchets to actually roll forward. 

After the quilt is rolled it looks like this.

Since this isn't straight and flat this has to happen.

The quilt top is brought up and the batting is smoothed first. Then the top is moved back into position to smooth it out. 

Once that's done and the quilt is squared up on the frame, the side leaders/clamps have to be attached.

And now it's time to baste in both sides after everything is checked and ready to get started.

I baste in at about 1/2". Oops, one more check. All the seam threads need to be pulled in that row.

Now it's ready to start getting more quilting put in. This whole process above takes about 10 minutes to perform. This particular quilt gets a roll for each sashing row and each block row so nine advances on the frame. That's an hour and a half just for rolling each section. 

Remember those little squares I took a pic of yesterday? Well, this is what they turned into last night. And after that I did get all the sections together in the Quilt Room.

Diana's quilt will be finished today if all goes well. Jim is at PT and then the dentist so I'll have a quiet morning. The girls are sulking because he's not here. They'll get over it. 

I May Have Went Too Far

I'm actually feeling worse this morning than I did yesterday morning, but better than Saturday or Sunday morning. I noticed when I came out of the studio last night that I wasn't feeling the greatest.

But, I'm going to continue on today like nothing is wrong. I've got things to do. I'm nearly at the half-way point of the Dresden quilt for Diana. At least it's off the floor this morning. After working I needed to complete the block in the Quilt Room that was started on Saturday. 

I finished the block and have matched it up with the two blocks above. 

Still needs borders, etc.

It still needs to be bordered and the embroidery hoop block will be set in there as well. I wasn't up to wrestling with something big last night. Still kinda achy. 

What's going on here?

Gridding out the interfacing

There is pre-printed interfacing for purchase in increments of your choosing, but it's just as easy (and way cheaper) to make your own gridded interfacing for a smaller project. I would not attempt to do this on something huge. I did that once already and it was a nightmare. 

Here's what went onto the interfacing. 

Hmm?

You'll see later this week what's happening here but I think it's going to turn out well. 

Today will be a repeat of yesterday except for the weather. I should be less apt to squirrel since the weather outside is rainy for now. Yesterday was a beautiful fall day with temps around 70 with the sun shining; who wouldn't squirrel with weather like that?

Summer Cold

I seem to have picked up a small summer cold. I wasn't feeling all that well yesterday but just attributed it to lack of sleep. While I should have gotten more done at 'work', I've only just completed row number one. 

And, I wasn't able to complete my Quilt Room block either.

If I don't finish something before coming out of the studio I know something isn't quite right. 

The kicker about this is that I'm supposed to be at a retreat next week. I can't go if I'm sick and not for my sake, but the other attendees who are there. 

Today is going to be a relax and go slow day. I don't have any high pressured things on my to-do list so I'm just going to take my time at whatever I do and sneak in a nap or two maybe?

Problem Solved

As much as I can't believe I'm saying this but it WAS our bladder tank causing all our water issues. The well guy didn't even head to the well when he arrived but immediately headed to the crawl space to check out the tank. Sure enough, despite what the plumber said, the tank was bad.

So far we have great water pressure, the water smells cleaner (another well guy said it was the bladder tanks that was causing the issue with our smell/salt content), and we are still clearing out all the mud from the days worth of usage without the filter. 

This is what I'm working on right now.

Diana's Dresden

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

The borders to start

Here is what is going into the actual blocks.

Feathers all around

After working well past quitting time I cut out and then pieced the next block in the Quilt Room.

Block #10

I jumped on DW and worked a full row in the Book Nook while I was talking to Andrew on his way home.

I had enough time to cut out for the next block in the Quilt Room before closing up for the night. 

This morning we have to run into town; I'm going to support mom at her art show exhibition and Jim is going to run errands. He'll meet me back at the art show later. I'll work this afternoon after we return and I get back into my comfy clothes. 😀 I remember when I used to like dressing up. It must be my age?

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.

Artistry

For some reason my brother wanted me to send a pic of the first complete painting my mother made. It was created sometime between my brother and I existing and was finished after we were both born. It's an eerie painting yet was created back when she put her heart into her work. 

She doesn't paint with the same heart or passion any more. It just seems like she rushes through to meet a deadline for an upcoming show. My mother used to be a wood carver and was a national award winner. But her wrists can no longer take the work so she has worked her way back into her oils. 

I have to remind myself that even though I'm behind (eight or more months), I need to maintain my artistic integrity with my customers (and my) quilt tops. I can't be rushing through just to meet a deadline. 

Even though Diana's top is basically all cross hatching, I've still pulled many threads and when I look back on what I accomplished, I will correct things that just don't seem right. It would be too easy to shrug my shoulders and let the mistakes occur (nobody but me would know), but I DO NOT do that. I have too much self-worth and determination to let mistakes exist. At least those that I catch. And I'm always watching!

I'll be on Diana's quilt again today, although only through the morning. I have a meeting/lunch with Linda about our retreat in April as well as the upcoming Shipshewana trip in November. 

I did get a kit cut out last night to take to the retreat in a few weeks, and I worked the block (a little) on the Quilt Room. Nothing on DW. 

Thunderstorms Be Damned

Yep. I heard the thunder. And more thunder. And, then later in the afternoon, a repeat performance. I didn't care. I kept on long arming. I didn't stop or even slow down. I was being daring I guess. 

Here's some of the quilting going into Diana's (I called her Julie yesterday) Flea Market.

A simple cross hatch

It's mostly premarked so you'd think it wouldn't take as long. I wish. The marks are getting rubbed off with me leaning up against them despite my keeping the quilt folded onto itself while I'm working. UGH!

Once I was done working, and since I have all the Flower Power blocks done, I cut out and started making the next block in the Quilt Room. I got those about half done and moved over to DW.

Here's some of the quilting going into Book Nook.

I was going to do a crosshatch in the border, but since I'm getting my fill of that in the Flea Market during the work day, decided to do something a little classic (like books are) and creative (like books are). 

More of the same today. I have a customer coming later today to pick up and possibly drop off but that's about the only change between today and yesterday. Isn't my life exciting?

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.