Committed

When I start quilting a quilt everything is beer and skittles; it's new. I haven't gotten bored yet. And all the fabrics are fun to look at. Then, after doing the first roll, I realize just how labor intensive the work is going to be for the next day (or three). I have committed to what I started and sometimes my decisions are questionable. 

I have learned over the years to start with a framework and see how the basic motif goes. From there, I may (or may not) add additional pieces into the framework depending on how the quilt is pieced and how much time commitment I want to put into it. At some point, I have to keep things relatively under control as I have other quilts waiting for me to work.

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

Cotton Cuts BOM 2022 made with Tula Pink fabric

Here's the bonus quilt top I pieced yesterday from the play quilt I just took off Bernie. 

Bonus Quilt

This came with a bonus quilting motif as well but since I added the upper/lower borders, I may do my own thing in here. 

After I pieced this top, and while Jim was giving Lucy a groom, I made this new spring banner for the studio... 

Using as many of the scraps I can

I deleted out the background but while I was making this yesterday, we were in the middle of a snowstorm. Yet, today, it's supposed to be near 50. Ahhh...March in Michigan. 

I'm going to be binding this morning on the little coffee table in the living room, which should prove interesting. Jim needs the backroom table to groom Hazel today so I have to make do with what I have available. Thank goodness quilters are flexible people. 

Still Working Through This Blog Thing

I've racked my brain. I've researched other blog hosting platforms, and the bottom line is I need the kids' help to get the little dots on the left to disappear. They're annoying. But they aren't hurting anything so I'll just have to wait to talk/see them for a fix. 

Here's some quilting detail on the DW quilt...

The 'main' turret in the Beauty and the Beast quilt

I sometimes have a hard time with clamshells. I can't seem to get my head wrapped around how to make them evenly spaced. I took a class one time and remembered I had been given a book on just this subject alone. Reading is good. These turned out beautifully. 

No work on Bernie yesterday. 

Since we have a winter storm on the horizon (it's just starting), I don't think I'll be getting any customer visits today. Jim can't even come home for lunch, so I'm going to quilt and pack all day long to prepare for retreat tomorrow. Since my wrist has been bothering me the past couple of days, I think I need some time doing something else to give it a change and a little rest and the retreat should just be the right ticket. 

Okay...wait...I've figured this out. I got rid of the annoying bullets on the left. Hurray!!!! I do have a brain!

No Electricity (Again)

When our electric goes out, my main computer shuts down. I have to restart it and wait for any updates to take place. Then all my cookies are gone so it has to find everything again. I'm just glad the electricity was only off for about four hours. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here.

Here's what's on DW today...

Beauty and the Beast

This is one of my all time favorite movies. I'm going to have fun quilting this one! 

Here's what's on Bernie today...

Applique and Piecing both!

What a fun one for me to do too. I love these 'not the same throughout' quilts. I don't get bored while quilting them because there's always a lot of thread changes and variations on how they get quilted. 

I have a customer coming to drop off today. Glad she won't have to freeze while she's here now that the furnace is running again. Our little "fireplace" doesn't give off enough heat to do a thing. I hope she comes earlier though because it's starting to snow out there pretty good all of a sudden. 

I Should Know Better

How does the saying go...it's the mechanic that has the worse running car...or the shoemaker who has kids running around with holes in their shoes? I always check the batting in a customer quilt. Always! It has a tendency to want to bunch up and get weird as the thread starts bringing things together. I was in such a hurry to get Elijah's quilt quilted, I failed to check his batting. This was the result as I got to the end last night...

Oops

Yep, I goofed. thankfully the 2 1/2 year old won't give two hoots about this. But grandma will always know about it. I'm so mad at myself but I don't have time to unstitch the last 13" it would take to get this rectified, so it's going to have to stay. 

Moving along. Here's what's on DW this morning (and for the next week)...

The Weidman Quilt Group Quilt

They will be raffling this needle-turned appliquéd quilt and I need to get it done by mid-January so pics and finishes can be done for their advertisement(s). All those pieces need to be ditched. That is a very slow going process and will take a considerable about of time to get completed. So it'll be on the frame for a while. 

Caleb picked up my sidelight for DW yesterday, and Jim will bring it north with him tomorrow when he (finally) returns back home to me and the girls. I miss him terribly! But that sidelight is going to be a must when working on this piece.

As mentioned previously, Elijah's quilt is quilted, but it's still on the frame right now. I hope to get that bound today. The potholders were finished last night; here's the last one...

Number four of four

They all have a black/white/red theme to them but with different fabrics. P.S. I detest hand binding. 😛

And lastly, the six cutlery holder gifts are cut out and ready to assemble today. I have plenty to occupy my time today while waiting for my best friend, my man, my everything to return home to me. Being busy sure makes the time go by quickly and spending it in the studio being creative helps make it bearable. 

Dog Sitter Rescheduled

We have a new dog sitter coming for a meet and greet, but the icy weather conditions today aren't going to allow that to happen. She rescheduled for Sunday afternoon. 

A full 11 hours in the studio yesterday. Joans quilt is finished, but still hanging out on the frame. It's white and until the girls are settled down for the morning and I have had a chance to clean the studio floor, I'm not taking it off to trim it. 

Once I was done with Joans quilt, I moved over and did a few hours on Elijah's quilt. Still not done with that. 

I bound yet another pot holder (one more to do) and then made a prototype of something else I'm making all the big kids for their cars. The pattern calls for more yardage than a fat quarter will get me, so I'm modifying the pattern a smidge to accommodate the fat quarters I picked up at Pieces last week. Here's the first go-around...

Cutlery Holder

The idea is the kids can keep these in their cars so if they need a set of eating utensils, they'll have one handy. Although, those who travel to an office, could just take them there. It's their choice...it's their gift. 

Today I have to trim Joans quilt (she'll be here later this afternoon to fetch), reload DW, get Elijahs quilt quilted, get the last pot holder bound, and if time allows, get the binding made and on Elijahs quilt. I need more hours in a day, especially around the holidays.  

Side Light

DW has a side light that I am pretty much completely dependent on; especially when working on very light or dark colors.

My little quilting crutch

It's been flickering off and on for the past couple of months, but yesterday was a whole new rate of flicker. More like strobe lighting. I have an email into Gall about whether the bulb (which appears to not exist) or the whole unit needs replacing. 

Here's some of the quilting detail going into Sue's Georgia Tech quilt...

One hornet per block please

This is the part DW is stitching out with the pro stitcher. 

I am just past the half-way point on Sue's quilt. I had three customers come by yesterday. The first one picked up...and then dropped another off. The second just picked up, but has more to come later after the first of the year. The third one dropped off and thankfully, there are no time deadlines for any of them. 

Once Jim got home I moved over to Bernie to start working on Elijah's quilt. I didn't grab a real great pic of what's going in on the borders, but here's one of the blocks...

More straight lines

I'm going to alternate between vertical and horizontal straight lines since this is set in an odd block format. 

I have nails this morning, I'm dropping off a completed quilt to Pieces for Paulette, and then I can focus on my work before campfire later this afternoon at the neighbors. 

Two More For The Holidays

Two more tops are loaded onto the long arms. Here's what's on DW this morning...

Sue L.'s gift for her grandson

This one is going to be a combination of ruler and ProStitcher work. Not much free motion though. 

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

Another grandson gift for the holidays

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this one yet. It's for a two-year old so he won't care, but I do. This kit WAS available at Piece of Thyme but I believe she has sold out of them; when I was there last week I didn't see it hanging from the ceiling any longer. 

I have a customer coming any time now to pick up, and another one around 10:30-11:00 to also pick up. That should be about it for traffic today. The neighbors to the north came up last night and we haven't seen them in a while. Probably won't see them again until after the first of the year, therefore we need to take advantage of their visit. 

Four Days...Four Tops

Four days of retreat. Four tops complete. 

Day 4

Day 3

Day 2

Day 1

Obviously, I didn't piece the Pineapple blocks at retreat, but it's now a top. The small tops will be donated and the Plaid-ish will be done with a flannel backing and given to the C's for a couch quilt. 

Katie and Barb seem to be doing well and they caught me up in all their kids/grandkids/kitty stories, as well as ASQ happenings and what's been going on with them personally. 

I had a few drop-offs and one pick up while I was there, and got to know some new friends up here a little better as I would drop by their tables and chat...or they would come over to mine. As always, there was plenty of energy and laughter around the room. This group was a little bigger than in January and there was a herd of kids who came on Friday to liven up the place. 

Today I'm back into Debs Coral Reef top and will be working that all day today and again tomorrow. The studio was put back to rights last night so I could start right in working and I've caught up on all the house chores so I can really focus on her piece. I miss my long arm and can't wait to get into my normal work day. 

Much to Share

Hullo! It's been a while hasn't it? Some boxes arrived while I was sewing my fingers to the bone. Presents for the studio...

A new cordless iron and teflon pressing mat from MSQC

51 spools of new colors to add to the variety from Quilted Joy

What a great retreat. I didn't think it would turn out as well as it did since there was a total of 10 of us not counting the camp director and her staff. But because it was a smaller group, we were able to get to know each other and support each others efforts in the quilting journey.

Despite being pretty social during the event, I was able to get a few things done. 

Gnome for the Holidays

This was my last completion on yesterday. Those striped mitered corners were interesting since I've only done miters about three times in my quilting life. 

DogGone It!

I made this for our dog sitter, Luann. She's a quilt maker too but who doesn't need another quilt to snuggle up with. I'm not sure when I'll get it done to give to her, but the intention is there. 

John Deere Green

Got this fabric from the sale table at Pieces and it's for Jim's mechanic, who said he wanted a John Deere quilt. I designed this one into a jumbo size from another tractor block I found on-line. What I learned about this quilt top is that you don't figure sizes and cut pieces after working 10-12 hours that day because my measurements in some of this were WAY off. But I managed. 

Dr. Seuss Compilation

And who doesn't like a good Dr. Seuss book? I'll keep this around the house for the grandkids to snuggle under while I read them books before bed. 

All of these fabrics/kits came from Pieces of Thyme quilt shop. Doesn't she just have the greatest variety? 

Today is put the studio back together day and, finally, a work day. I'm actually looking forward to it!

Late Start

Getting a little bit of a late start this morning, but I'm finally here in the studio.

Didn't work on much yesterday. No long arming anyway. But I did get the fabrics filed from the three previous projects, the studio tidied up and a new project is underway. Here's where I decided to head towards before taking a totally relaxing afternoon and evening on the couch with movies and Hazel snuggles. 

A-B-C Zoology

This isn't my actual top but a Cluck, Cluck, Sews design using this particular panel. I'm going to do about the same thing with my panel which is already cut apart and on the design wall ready to make some block frames. The only difference in this one and mine is I'm running a consistent striped fabric in every other block rather than making them all different. 

I'll be working the addresses quilt on the frame all day and see how far I get on that. My stomach is rolling (big vaccine decision setting it off) and I'm probably going to end up working through lunch since it doesn't seem very interested in any food for a while. 

Marathon Quilting Continued

Here's what hit the frame yesterday...

Monsters, (Inc?)

This was completed a few hours after lunch to include the binding.

Next on the frame yesterday was this one...

String Top

Because of all the scrappiness in here I just went with a simple double/triple loop meander in a light gray color. This one did not get bound yet but the binding is actually ready to go.

Quilting detail

Today we are headed to Grand Rapids for the day. That means, no productivity in here until later when we get home tonight. And sometimes, when we spend all day on the road, the quilting mojo just isn't there. 

Not Much To Report

The last two days have been literally non-quilting related. The only reason I came into the studio was to let Hazel out to go potty. We've been in and out for the past three days with birthday parties, relative visits (my side this time and not the DeGroot side), shopping, running errands, and appointments.

I did have two quilts dropped off on Friday and one picked up. And I did do a Pro Stitcher update as well as a motif download Friday afternoon. Yep, that's about it.

This is what's going on the frame this morning. I'm just loading it because I had my annual physical first this morning and then after changing into my play clothes, needed to do some yard/garden work. The dew was heavy last night so hopefully I'll get to mow later today should it not get ridiculously hot out there. 

Jill's Dr. Seuss quilt top

Isn't this top just darling as all get out? I asked where she obtained the panel because a) It's pretty good quality fabric, and b) I'd never seen this in any of the quilt shops around (not that I've gone to tons of them lately since having to work through these WIP's). Hobby Lobby! 

While we were in Lansing yesterday for Jacob's birthday, and if Hobby Lobby was actually open on Sunday, this certainly would have ended up in my bag of projects to do once through the WIP's. 

The motif I downloaded on Friday was for this particular quilt top with the hat from the Cat in the Hat book. It's going to be so cute when I get this finished. And this special customer has me do her binding for her; she's one of only three I will actually do binding for. 

Beautiful Day To Work

Temps yesterday: 77 degrees. Winds: Light and Variable. Cloud cover: Intermittent. 

A perfect day to have the studio windows wide open and to listen to some great music while doing my work. I have the best job ever!

Finished the grandkids' play mat (didn't get a pic). Loaded another customer quilt and completed the stitching on it; it still needs to be trimmed this morning and she needs to be contacted. The other giraffe quilt needs to have a customer contact as well...she's been out of state for the month of May.

Becky's Patriotic Military Quilt

I have a new top coming in later this afternoon and a customer pick up this morning. I'm going to load another small top after I get the above trimmed. Ahh...my life is awesome!

During/after working on the long arm yesterday I was able to get three blocks done on the Town and Country piece. 

#'s291-293: Corn, Apple Tree, and Milk Churns

And was able to get five more prepped to work on tonight after stitching out the three above. 

Another beautiful late spring/early summer day in store for us today. Isn't it funny how productive one can be when the weather is just as perfect as this? 

Just When Things Are Returning to Normal...

...the holiday weekend creeps up on you. Yesterday was a "normal" studio day. The weather was cold, rainy, and windy. Perfect for working in here. I did some long arming (Diana's quilt is done). I did some top construction, I did some cutting, I loaded another quilt on the frame, had a customer stop by to pick up her quilt and mom stopped by. I never left the studio until 9:00 last night.  

The "yellow" rows are all attached

I cut for the next round of blocks as well as the batting that goes with.

For the grandkids

I had to stop working on this yesterday because the ole' back was starting to have a fit. I'll continue on with this today until customers show up later this morning.

And, I'm so excited! I received an email this morning from a company called Cotton Cuts. They are doing a mystery quilt starting in July. The two mystery quilt things I've participated in previously turned out extremely wrong. But this company provides the directions, the fabric (eight colors) and free shipping. It starts in late July, which means all my WIPs should be done by then. I hope. 

It'll be great working on a new project with like-minded people and with fabrics I don't have to think about trying to make work together. Yay! 

Well, Isn't Being Quarantined Fun?

Actually, it's okay. Jim started showing mild symptoms Christmas day and yesterday went into the full blown yucks. He went and got tested this morning. Meanwhile, my mom is about a day and a half ahead of him and went and got tested yesterday. I'm still cruising along.

I started this two days ago.

An activity Wall Hanging for the Grandkids in Lansing

And then I finished it.

Great for homeschoolers like the grandkids will be

Yesterday I loaded and started this.

From my virtual retreat a few months ago

And then I finished it.

Already hung

What to do today?

I want to actually make something and not long arm today. It's hard to long arm with a house full of people. It's pretty distracting and I like to stay focused when on the frame. I'll dig through my bag of tricks and see what I come up with for a project for the next week or so since the Health Department has directed us to stay quarantined until January 10th. 

 

Despite the Quarantine

I'm getting some long arming and sewing tucked in here and there. 

Getting the activity top quilted

I just ran a meander throughout the piece because, frankly, the grandkids aren't going to give one hoot about what I put into the quilting. And it was quick while Jim was talking to the kids after he got home from work.

Today I hope to get this bound and all the activity pieces put into place. In other words, finished. 

Happy Quarantine

The kids are starting to mend after their "thing" came back positive. They'll be here until at least Wednesday and are pretty cool about me working in the studio why they are here. But, I would like to spend some time with them as well since I probably won't get to see them for another six (or more) months. 

I've got to get Nessy done today and then I'm hesitant about putting customer quilts on until we are sure we are "thing" free around here. I'm going to hold off on that until at least next week. Which means, I'm going to try to get some of my quilts on the frame in lieu of.

I drug out another WIP last night when we finally got our bearings to Lansing for our Christmas celebration down there. This is kinda what it looks like.

Activity Quilt for the Grandkids

I don't remember how long ago I started this thing, but it's time for it to become a finished quilt. There are a gazillion pieces to getting it together and it took a little while to find out where I left off and what still needed to be done. I think (I think) I'm at the point of having to quilt the thing before I add all the do-dads onto it and getting to the "active" part of the activity quilt.

I was pretty tired last night from not sleeping the night before at the B house and therefore need to go over this again today to see what exactly I need to do.

Listen to Your Body

Apparently the rest on Tuesday was badly needed. I was nearly back to my normal self yesterday and completed two quilts.

The giant Dresden for Mickey.

This turned out beautifully

And the Lil Buck-a-roos was bound and completed.

Yee-Haw

I would like to long arm today, but the wind is just howling. Compromising DW's electrical system on account of power rolls is a decision I'll need to make. I'm going to get the new batting roll I received prior to our leaving put on the batting bar, and load another customer quilt. After lunch, I'll see what that winds are doing, but I'm not very hopeful.

Katie said I need to find some fabric to play with in here, and the Happy Camper blocks are STILL sitting on my design wall waiting for mom to come over to finish helping me design the thing. Maybe I'll try to tackle that myself, or, my Jacqueline DeJong blocks could be drug back out and worked on. Gotta see where my head leads me I guess.

Block 8 and a Kids Quilt

Here is block 8 for today.

Block 8

The rest of yesterday, aside from beginning preparations for the DeGroot reunion, was working and finishing this cute kids quilt.

You are loved

I picked this top up at a recent Amish quilt auction. I think I paid $10 for the top. It finished at 43"x54" and is now complete. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it, but it'll be cute to look at for a few.

I need to get a few more blocks ahead for the 100 blocks challenge. We have a houseful of people showing up on Thursday and Wednesday is shot with shopping for reunion supplies, nail appointment, etc. I'm also hoping to load another quilt onto DW and keep the momentum going.