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. 

This is Why

This is exactly why I don't get much done on Sunday. I did knit for a while but this occupies my left arm...

And this occupies my right side...

It makes it hard to move my arms when I have a total of 100 pounds all over me. And I LOVE every minute of it. I savor my time with the girls because they don't live as long as people and we have to cherish our moments with them as much as we can.

Here is what is starting my week out on Marty. I love Trip Around the World quilts. They are probably one of my favorites. Except to quilt them. There are a lot (lot, lot) of starts and stops in these because the blocks are following in their diagonal arrangement. And look at all those color changes. 

But it's going to be beautiful when I get her done!

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. 

Every Intention

I had every intention yesterday to work on the quilt on Bernie. I knew I needed to get fabrics cut for retreat though and had another customer coming to pick up. Starting on the Tilda Girls would have resulted in very little progress because the customer was due at 10:00-ish.

It was after 11:00 before the customer left (we were all gabbing; her husband with Jim and she and I) and so that would have left a very small window to long arm. Cutting continued instead. 

After lunch there was a fabric pull mess that needed cleaning before long arming and decided to just cut the pulls laying out. One thing turned into another and it was getting dark before I realized the finishing pieces hadn't yet been cut. 

The quality control brigade sleeping on the job

Getting ready for a retreat is no picnic, but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. Here's everything getting all bagged up...

When everything was finally cut out and getting packed, it was then I realized one of the blocks needed to be remade. I didn't remake it at the time because shortage of fabric was in the forefront. And, as I revisited the pattern for said block, sure enough, not enough of the copper color was left.

Thankfully, I've made a different (Number 1 I think) Amish With A Twist and had fabrics left over from it. I scrounged around and found a close color to copper in the stash and remade the block before coming out of the studio. Just in time for the Ice Skating Nationals. 

New block on the left. Old block on the right.

Look at the upper right hand corner of the old block and the bottom right hand corner isn't much better. It was shorter than 1/4" and would have pulled out of the seam allowance so it needed to be remade. Done. 

Have you ever seen the ad on IG about the Luminary Quilt? It's been pulling me in as it's stash busting friendly, very few seams need to match (three at the end) and the finished quilt is stunning. I purchased and downloaded the pattern this morning and want to make a test block. BUT, I have to pack and get ready to head to retreat first thing tomorrow morning. 

Maybe just one test block? Maybe?

Don't Ask For Channeling...

Okay gang. You want your sides channeled before I set in the motif we discussed at the planning session. But, you only leave me this much backing...

2 3/4"? Really?

I can't attach the side clamps to steady the sandwich when left only this much backing. And since this quilt is so big, I can't even attach my leader grip bracket because I'm that close to the side of the frame. I've pulled multiple stitches on these channels, and I'm done with doing that. 

If you don't provide me with the minimum requirements of at least 4" all around, I can not be responsible for shoddy looking work. There is a reason long armers need that much extra. Too many to list today, but it's not because we want you to spend the extra money. We NEED that much to get things aligned and stable on that 12-foot frame.

I had the quality control crew making sure I was staying on task yesterday...

Hazel (l) and Lucy (r)

We have a beautiful snow coming down right now and it's supposed to stay with us until around noon. Then, it'll be kicking back up again later this evening. New snow is always soooo pretty and will be nice to look at while I've passed the half-way point in the Judy Niemeyer quilt. I knew this one would take over a week to complete. 

A First For Me and The Quilts Are Gone

I had the backing all frame ironed. I had the batting laid on top and let it rest all day (packaged batts have to rest to pull the wrinkles out). And, then, I proceeded to lay the top out to see what I was working with. I played and played with this top trying to get it to "smooth" out. Here's the quilt in question...

A giant 108" to custom quilt

But here's the issue...

All the corners were pulling in

And the final issue...

That's all the extra backing I was given

Since the quilt was pulling in on the corners, I can guarantee the middle is going to flare out and this little bit of backing wouldn't be enough once I got down to that point. Even though the backing was telescoping (as you can see by my ring finger), the quilt 'fell' over the sides; it was beyond my Red Snappers and that told me I'd run into [more] problems mid-way through quilting. 

I had to call the customer and let her know I would not be able to quilt this quilt. I have never, never, ever called a customer to take their top back. Thankfully, the customer knew there was an issue and she even stated she had intended to call me a couple of times over the summer to tell me not to quilt it because she knew it was going to be a problem.

She'll be up here (she lives downstate) in a few weeks for a retreat and will pick it up then. I'll unload everything this morning and get ready for the next one to go on Marty.

I had two visitors yesterday. One to pick up her finished quilts and the other to pick up the rest of the Rayola donated quilts. Wow, that was very emotional for me once they left. I broke down into tears and just prayed one little kiddo would find comfort in all my efforts. 

Meanwhile, I would have gotten Janice's quilt on Bernie done, but the neighbors a couple of doors down, were up and we have to visit with them when we can. They are always so busy working down there and they don't come over (they live right in town) during the winter months. I only have the border to go and then I'll have to see what's up next.

Meanwhile, these two were hanging around yesterday morning and looking less than enthused.

Ho Hum. But we love our chair. 

Lots to do today. Is it already Wednesday?

Health

It's funny, how when we get older, our health starts to get stupid. Jim had an anxiety episode on Saturday morning so we found ourselves at Urgent Care. We wanted to make sure he was not precursuring into a stroke or heart attack. 

He has an appointment with his GP tomorrow morning to discuss this event. At any case, his BP and HR were about normal, so it didn't look like anything too severe.

After we returned from Urgent Care and Pieces (found a backing for my Kaffe top) I did get another Koala done...

The newest on the bottom

For some reason this one turned out a smidge too small. I replaced the seam tape on Ellie, so I'm thinking I got it a little too wide when I set it. I'll have to remake that one and replace it. I'll use this one for a pillow to go with the quilt.

While Jim was watching Spartan basketball I went from piecing the Koalas to Foster to start quilting the Camping quilt...

Love putting in swirls

I was going to custom quilt this (I want to custom quilt all my own quilts), but this one was a bit too whimsical and honestly, I think this was the better choice. And I get to use up all the Omni thread I have in my bin that I want to get rid of.

Yesterday was a lazy day. Jim was still a little tired from his Saturday episode and I was just drained. I was productive however. I crocheted the base and started the first slipper from the yarn we bought last weekend...

A partial first slipper

I'm putting a different colored cuff on these, so this is only partially completed. Hazel seemed to need a lazy day as well...

Isn't life tough?

I'm all recharged today and ready to face Linda's intricately quilted quilt. The sun is shining, the neighbors are gone (I can have the music a little louder) and I'm not expecting any customers at all this week. Which is a good thing because I'll be at retreat from Wednesday on. 

Speaking of retreats. A big thank you to Jim for helping me put in the larger spacers on my SewEZ table because I'm taking Ellie along to this retreat; she's deeper than Lilo so different spacers are needed on the table base. 

Undecorating

The house is officially undecorated. Jim still has lights, a wreath, and some giant Christmas bulbs to remove outside, but the inside is put back to rights. Except for moving the computer which I'll do here shortly. 

I did start a new project Saturday. I didn't have enough fabric to do anything larger than a baby-size quilt top, but here's the center sections...

Pineapple type of quilt top

I'm using Kona snow for the background and a Kaffe Jelly Roll for the colorful sections. This is going to turn out so pretty.

And, it's back to the normal schedule today. I'll be on DW working on Janice's quilt. I'm still not up to my usual long days on the long arm so I'll work as long as I possibly can and take plenty of breaks to try to get back up to speed. 

Haven't had a pic of the girls in a while so here they are just relaxing this weekend...

Pretty girls

Lucy looks less than impressed, but I finally got a decent pic of Hazel. She often will not cooperate when I bring out the camera. 

Happy 6th Birthday!

Today is Hazels sixth birthday! 

I'm six today!

If what everybody has indicated I should have at least four customers coming today. Three to pick up and one to drop off. Won't be getting much quilting done if this comes to fruition. That's okay. I have a lot of admin/cleaning up to do.

Mary's quilt is done but is still hanging out on the frame. Worked until well past 7:00 getting it finished and didn't even do anything else afterwards. Too tired. 

While I was working, Jim started hanging the ice guard on the studio roof before the eavestrough guys come to do their thing. He also trimmed some of the lower, dead branches on the Ash tree outside the west studio window so the branch didn't break off, bounce, and then hit that particular window.

I never did get a decent pic of what went into Mary's quilt.

Nervous

Hazel, my huge golden doodle is a very nervous dog. She likes routine and especially likes music. During our power outage she knew something was wrong. She threw up, had very loose stools and was doing a lot of hiding and pacing. 

Today, now that things are back to normal, she's up on the loft bed taking a morning snooze. 

I didn't have music playing because we had to conserve the battery life on our devices. And I didn't shower. Or, make the bed. Or, do any laundry. She knew. and while this is a blog about quilting, Hazel is a huge part of the process because she comes in to give my eyes a break and to stretch and get a drink of water when she wants loves and pets. 

Here's the east side of their new pen...

Half of their new pen

And that was another change she had to deal with shortly before the power outage. I'm so attached to this dog it's kind of scary.

One customer came to pick up yesterday. I'm not expecting anyone today. Hopefully I'll get Colleens quilt finished on Bernie and then I can start on Mary's on DW. I need to make up for lost time this week and I'm starting to feel the pinch a little. 

Nails this morning and then right back here to get to work. No loafing in town today or running to Pieces. Happy Labor Day weekend. 

Dog Food

I forgot to mention Hazel had to go to the vet on Wednesday. We thought she might have had an infected gland in her bum, but come to find out, she has the doggie version of hemorrhoids. I'm leaning towards changing their food. 

The vet said she was just a nervous doodle, but I'm not buying it. Why, all of a sudden, even with Lucy here, is she being affected by our occasional disappearances? Food was her issue in the past and I'm logically thinking this is the situation again. 

Here's some of the quilting going into Ruths Christmas Stars...

Just a circle in the center

Because there was batting behind the red and green points that I could get to with those 3D layers, the center at least needed to be quilted down. And, that's all I did. The rest of the quilt is getting pretty heavily quilted since it is a wall hanging. 

I had a few customers call yesterday and want to stop by in the late morning to both pick up and ask some advice on another top they inherited. We chatted well past lunch time; they are such good people!

I have a flash and smash appointment at 11:00 in Gladwin today. Meaning, I have to leave here by 10:30-ish. I have another errand to run over in Harrison after the flash and smash. I have customers coming to pick up in the mid-afternoon. Jim wants to run to Midland after we get done with the pick-up customers. And I'm supposed to work when? Tomorrow I guess. 

I did work a few more of Charlottes blocks last night after shutting down Bernie. And, my foot was bothering me so I moved over to Jay and did some sit-down quilting on the 365 blocks. I'm on big block 12 now. 

The Girls

The girls are having a hard time adjusting to my being in the new space. Hazel especially. She's been in the old space her entire 5 1/2 years and she doesn't do change well anyway; hides under our bed when we start rearranging furniture in the living room. Lucy doesn't care. She's just curious. I found a fleece/denim chunk of fabric when I was cleaning out the spare bedroom of my stuff and laid this down for them.

Lucy is clearly relaxed. Hazel is trying.

But this can't stay on the floor permanently, so I'll have to take it up each evening after Jim gets home.

Went to the Pieces of Thyme VIP night last night for their annual tent sale. Bought three wide backs and saw a butt load of friends and quilting customers. It was fun to browse the store since I hadn't been over there in a while.

Here's a little quilting detail of what went into Linda's quilt...

Doing some channeling

Lindas quilt is done and she's coming to get that and I another customer is coming as well to pick up first thing today. 

I've got Raes quilt basted in and border ditched. Still debating on what to put in the first border: Feathers or Orange Peel but I need to work that out. Oh...here's something I made last night for my granddaughter before heading over to Pieces...

Hannahs birthday gift

When we went down three weeks ago for Zechariah's birthday, Hannah met us at the door with a way-too-big apron on; she was helping her other grandma make rice krispie treats and while she looked adorable, making her an apron that fits is probably something she'll use since she's showing interest in cooking. And is safer since she won't be tripping over the thing. 

Will be loading the next quilt onto DW while working on Rae's quilt. I got word yesterday that the new machine (name still undetermined) will be here Monday between 10 and 11:00. So excited! 

Finally, a Full Week

Back to a normal full week of work and on the cusp of a storm. So they say. The lake will probably eat it like it usually does.

The drywall guy is supposed to be here today to work and I'm hoping the batting shows up today for Linda's quilt. I'll be working on Bernadettes in the meantime. 

I did sew a few pieces together yesterday before lunch and while we were in the middle of our movie, Virginia arrived and we got to spend a little time together before she headed back north. But here's some of the pieces for said quilt top I was working on...

I need to move this stuff

While it's great having everything front and center, I need to get this off my pressing table. That's first thing after blogging even though I've already laid down thread on Bernie this morning. This pile of stuff is driving me batty. Which isn't far to drive, but you get the picture. 

Want a laugh? Watch what Hazel does when she gets a squeaky ball in her mouth. 

Getting the Tree

We have our tree and it's lit with lights. But, we haven't decorated with all the ornaments yet. Not sure what happened with that? Maybe tonight we can get to it. 

In between customers, tree getting, rearranging the house to accommodate the holidays, and moving mattresses/box springs between beds, the Irony blocks are all "roughed" in. Here's all 16...

Block 1-8

Blocks 9-16

OMG this thing is going to be so cute. I'm going to wait until retreat next month to blanket stitch the appliqué and get them together into a top. I don't have anywhere here to set up the machine to do it. 

On to the big machines today. I have one customer who is picking up sometime this week, and that's about it. I do have to take Hazel to the vet today. She's due for her annual shots/tests and she's still limping around here on three legs. They can get her in at 2:00. 

Small Project Sunday

After haircuts in the morning, the first thing I needed to do was to file all the fabrics away from the last two scrap quilt projects that were sitting on the dresser waiting to go back into their respective drawers.

Once that was done I was able to start one of the grandkids' letters. "E" is for Elijah...

His favorite color is orange. 

Hazel was feeling a little relaxed. Or remose. Or something...

"I'm am justo so...oh I don't know"

More of Joans quilt today. Those pebbles take a while to get in there so I have a feeling today isn't going to be the last day it's being worked on. 

[New] Studio Work and Other Things

Yesterday wasn't spent in the current studio, but rather assisting (when needed) on the new studio. None of the machines were turned on. It was a low-keyed but productive day. Jim got the black pipe run through the crawl space.  

Temporary until we get the walls up

We took the heat of the day to jump on mowers/weed whackers until the shade swung around for more new studio work. 

Next up was the insulation around the sill plates on the interior of the crawl space.

It should be warmer then the current studio

Once we got the insulation figured out (that was interesting) we had to move the 25 sheets of plywood out of the garage onto the deck to get them staged for application. 

Ready to disperse where needed

It's supposed to be blazing hot today so we are probably not going to do much out there. And, we have three grandchildren showing up later this afternoon for us to watch all this next week. 

We've already rearranged the living room to cover the dangerous hearth up and I've moved all the quilts waiting to be picked up into the studio so kids can't get near them. The studio doors will be closed so little hands can't touch the two quilts I'm working on. 

The girls knew something was going on this morning (they hate it when we rearrange things in the house). They were laying there waiting for me to reassure them this morning while I was making beds and getting my shower. 

Please let us know everything is okay mommy

Jim is canning salsa this morning and I've been cleaning house. I want to sew something before the kids/grandkids arrive so I may do a few 100 blocks. Or something. 

No Pics Today

I really don't have any pics to share today. I'll slip one in here of the girls or something. Anyway, Tina's quilt is done, but still on the frame. I had to wait for markings to go away before unloading. No work on Linda's quilt last night because I wanted to get Tina's done. 

Eleen's quilt top goes on next. I have a quick deadline on this one to deal with and a border I'll need to mark out before even loading. I'll do that while frame ironing the backing. 

Have a great quilting day!

What the girls do while I'm working. 

Happy Birthday to Me

Yesterday was my birthday. We had some grocery shopping to do and when we arrived back home, the kids/grandkids were already here. Let the fun begin. 

I asked for a bathroom "remodel" for my birthday. I don't want a new vanity, new shower, new toilet. Just new plumbing and shower controller so that the dumb thing would quit dripping...constantly. The plumbing in the house was copper. 

Jim has pretty much changed out all the downstairs. All he had left to do was that upstairs bathroom. Ben and Jim are working on that right now. Meanwhile, we are without water and Lucy decided to roll in raccoon poop this morning while we were in the pumpkin patch. She's outside until she can get a shower. 

Here's what's on Bernie this morning...

A charity quilt

I was able to get this top basted in and started the first row until the grandkids decided they were done with the activity they were doing and needed grandma's attention.

We were trying to get pics of the girls together yesterday so I could change my FB profile. Here's a few of them, but I'm still going to try to get some better ones. 

Too dark

Lucy wasn't going to cooperate

The kids are planning on leaving later today, so maybe I'll get to work on the charity quilt some more tomorrow a little bit. I want to have it quilted by Monday so I can take it to sew-in on Tuesday. 

Where's the Color?

I took a kayak ride yesterday down to the dam and noticed that hardly any of the trees are even starting to lighten. It's a late fall start that's for sure.

Speaking of color...this quilt is very neutral but here's some of the quilting going into it...

ALL Ruler work!

This is going to be on the frame during the morning and probably into the afternoon. Notice that I was able to get it flipped around so I could work on it easier. 

Here's a pic of the girls as they were chilling on the couch/ottoman the other night...

Isn't Lucy getting big?

Small Project Friday?

We have a new addition to the "Smallwood Yacht Club". His name is David Paul Custer III and he's such a doll! I got to hold him last night and he's so tiny compared to all the DeGroot babies who come. While mom and dad were at a baseball game last night, I made Paul (not to be confused with his dad/grandpa) a banner for his room with his name on it. His parents were over the moon this morning with it. 

The girls were watching me earlier this week as I was doing chores. Who can resist these faces? I'll be mostly traveling between houses this weekend. Everybody is up and we have a lunch planned for today to celebrate Pauls birth. It's the first time we've all been together since last October. So...not much quilting. 

Good morning world