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!

More T-Storms

We were watching the season finale of The Voice and even over the loud TV, rumble, rumble, rumble. They lasted until after 1:30 and the lightning show was wild.  

Another 11 hour day yesterday. Six+ on Marty and another almost four on DW. The second row in Bernadettes quilt is done and I started working the next sashing before shutting Marty down for the day. Here is some of her quilting going in...

Sashing and border treatment

I did not get the second row finished on DW. I had to pick substitute threads from the So Fine! to the Glide so that took some time. And, then while I was working the piece, did not like some of the substitutions and had to make several trips back and forth to the thread cabinet to find suitable replacements. I only have the pearl and mint to get into the background, but at 8:00 I was pretty tired. 

Jim was sick yesterday morning. He used to have juvenile epilepsy and strobe lights/erratic lightning will cause him later issues. We watched the lightning the previous night and yesterday he was dizzy and very nauseated. He went back to bed and slept until nearly lunch time. 

Lucy was not happy. She sat outside his bedroom door waiting for him to get up; she even got sick mid-way through the morning I think from worry. Dogs know this stuff about their owners. 

She certainly is his dog. More rain expected today but hopefully no thunderstorms. Our lake is nearly as high as it was two weeks ago and if we do get more rain, I'm sure it will be the fullest it's been in six years. Unfortunately, our gate is wide open and the depth will diminish as soon as the rains stop. 

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. 

Making Adjustments

Evie (if all goes well) should be coming home from the hospital today. We're discovering they have much better health care in Germany. It's not like it is here in the states where you spit out a kiddo and then leave the next day. 

The Tilda Girls should be finished today and I'll be moving onto the quilt on Marty. After working until past quitting time I moved over to make another block in the Fireworks top. Once the weight of Bernie was out of my system, DW was next up.

Here was the border initially in The Produce Section...

Kind of plain

Jim assured me this was enough border treatment and I pondered this before taking the next roll. Days I thought about it. Nope. Not enough. Here's the new borders...

Much, much better

Jim was watching the pre-game and eventually the championship game between Indiana and Miami last night. Lucy was watching with him just like one of the dudes...

She's so funny

Very cold today but at least the gusting winds have subsided somewhat. We received blizzard like conditions yesterday and pileups on the highway all around the state were reported. So glad working from home solves all those issues!

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?

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. 

Fast Day

Yesterday was long day (got up early) and yet, it went by extremely fast. I should be finishing up Linda's third quilt today at some point; I'm on the last row!

The youngest son and his wife came up yesterday. Caleb was helping Jim put up strawberry jam, Lia was applying for a job, and I was of course working. 

Caleb brought some of the goodies Foster was missing. The only thing now is those side clamps, but I "borrowed" one from DW and am making do.

That's about all to report. Here's Lucy taking advantage of Lia's presence...

Traitor!

But Lia doesn't really mind and at this point, she was just reading while Caleb was finishing up with berries. 

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! 

Go, DW, Go!

My brother just texted me to let me know our lake dad passed away...last July. Why am I just finding out about this? Why didn't I get a call or text message? We were like his second set of kids. Kinda bumming right now. 

DW was cranking yesterday. Two quilts and another backing frame ironed. I'm hesitant to get the next one started. Our electrician is expected shortly to finish with all the wiring and lighting in the new studio. I'm not sure if he's going to have to shut the main house down to do all of that. Once an E2E is started I don't want to stop the momentum and it's nearly impossible to get everything lined back up again. 

Here's what DW did yesterday...

Trailing Leaves

Here's the second one...

Wandering Baseballs

But then I ran into a problem...

The blue is the backing. 

So I had to take this off after pass two and rob Peter to pay Paul from the sides and attach to the missing end. And, of course, that didn't go smoothly because I attached it incorrectly and had to rip out the whole length of it and do it again. But I got it handled. 

And while DW was doing his thing, I was working on Dianes quilt on Bernie. Here's some of what's going into that...

Dianes snuggly flannel quilt

I'm going to start with Diane's this morning and wait until Nick gets here to see whether or not he's shutting down the main house. I want to make sure before I get going on any computer work on DW. But here's (maybe) what he'll be doing today...

Linda's cat quilt

Once Jim got home last night, he finished the exterior of the bathroom wall. Isn't this pretty? And of course, Lucy had to inspect everything. It's coming along slowly but steadily. Jim does a little each night and I'm so proud of what he's accomplished each night after working all day long at his "real" job. 

Bathroom exterior wall

Winter III

We already have a couple of inches on the ground and are expecting more throughout the day. It's a GREAt day to stay in, put on some mellow jazz, and quilt, quilt, quilt. 

Bernadettes quilt is not done (yet) but will be today if the quilt fairies are with me. I'll work on the Jacqueline deJonge on DW while frame ironing for the next Bernie quilt. I have most of the quilting decisions done on that one, which I swear, takes the longest when actually quilting. 

Have already poly'd the door this morning so only one more coat on one more side. That'll be later tonight. 

Today's Instagram Quiltfest question was your favorite quilt. The one everybody, the dogs, and the visiting family members snuggle up with. Well, it's definitely this one!

As Lucy is demonstrating

It's nothing detailed or elaborate. It's just quilted with a wool batt, and quilt shop quality fabrics. THAT makes the difference! Batting more than anything is what give a quilt its drape and snuggle factor, yet folks always want to skip spending money there because they feel like you can't see it so what difference does it make? 

ALL the difference! Fabrics with a good hand are also important but the batting, despite the hidden value of it, is the key. And, quite honestly, the difference between a good batt and a discount batt is about $20 on a queen size quilt. I think I've sang this song before, but it is something I'm passionate about and want to share. Don't skimp on your batting people! Seriously!!!

No Sewing

I didn't sew a single stitch yesterday. But we did start the main room floor in the new studio. 

Getting started...

...and this is where we ended before running out of boards...

About 1/4 of the way done

It smells so good in there with all the cedar!

Then Lucy and I took a nap together...

So. Darn. Cute!

I'll be working on Bernadettes first appliqué quilt today. Don't know if it will be finished since all those little pebbles take a while to do but I'm going to try my hardest. 

I have a few phone calls to make/return this morning first thing and we have to run to the tax preparers office later this afternoon; those take priority today. 

House Cleaning

Every once in a while I need to take a morning out to just clean up the house a bit. Bathrooms, stairs, change out the monthly wall hangings, wash area rugs and seasonal quilts. Since those dreaded chores are now out of the way, the fun part of the day can begin.

Martha's quilt is about 2/3 of the way complete. I have the sashing strips in the third row to do and then will move onto the last row. This quilt has a lot of thread changes, and different quilting areas requiring me to roll back and forth.

Some of the quilting

I discovered yesterday (or actually remembered) that Golden Doodles are like velcro to leaves. The Catalpa tree shed most of its leaves yesterday because it was pretty cold yesterday morning. The girls love to play in the leaves and it was fun watching them romp and wrestle around out there. Until we had to come in.

Yep, all over her body

And you can't just wipe them away like a normal short haired canine. These have to be aggressively brushed out with a wire and then smoothing brush. After I was done quilting for the day and before I lost daylight, I was out in their pen getting rid of all those leaves. And getting dog poo stuck in the lugs of my boots because the leaves were hiding all of that as well.

And I said autumn was my favorite season?

Starting to think about next week. Leaving on Tuesday for retreat down in Shipshewana for the week. My last vacation until the end of January and I'm so excited. I'm pondering which machine to take. I think Lilo (my HQ Stitch 210) because he's small and light to carry and I have an extra Sew EZ table for him to give me some extra sewing space.

I cut some more pieces out for the cowboy boots and I think I have about 35 sets done. I need 68 and I'll cut a few extra for, well, extras. Happy November!

Not Much to Share

We did a little bit of everything this weekend. The only sewing I did was on two 100 blocks. Yep, that's it. 

The rest of the weekend was spent moving dirt, steam cleaning the furniture, washing all the downstairs quilts, mowing, trimming, visiting my mom, and taking Sunday afternoon to just relax and rejuvenate. Jim and I go 100%  during the week, and let's face it, we're not 21 anymore. We need a half day to let our bodies recoup because we know, until this addition is done, we have a lot of work ahead during the week. 

Here's some of the quilting going into Sandy's Flea Market if that helps?

I love the texture wool batting provides

Hazel and Lucy were being silly on the couch yesterday. I got a few good pics of them playing but this is my favorite... 

Smile!

Mostly more Flea Market work today and then when Jim gets home, more dirt work. Yeah, when you only haul it a buggy load at a time (in our ATV), it takes a while to diminish the huge piles down. And we need to prepare the girls' new pen shortly to get ready for winter so the south pile needs to get out of here. 

[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. 

One Year Anniversary

I worked diligently on Lynette's quilt yesterday with very few interruptions. Until Jim got home from work. Then we needed to run to Midland for errands/groceries. Today is the day I'm hoping it will be done. I have one more row and the final border to do. 

Since I don't have any quilting pics to share, how about a few of Lucy, who as of today, has been with us a full year. 

One year ago in Wooster, Ohio

This is the day we picked her up. 

This was last month, but she looks the same

And here she is a year later. My how our little girl has grown. She's such a happy little girl and she is very respectful of the quilts floating on the long arms and doesn't get into them as I work. She doesn't, however, contain herself around customers. She's so happy to see people she jumps incessantly and pees all over. Until we learn self-control, she's banished outside when they come by. 

Cloudy today. Rain expected later. And I heard a Kildeer when I was out in the girls' pen this morning. Spring is officially here. 

I received an email from Pieces of Thyme that my BOM is ready to be picked up, so I'm going to head over there after lunch to grab that. And, if Paulette is there today, I can run her quilt over too. 

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. 

Just Another Day

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. For Jim and I, it'll be just another day. Our Thanksgiving won't be until Saturday. That means Friday I'll be prepping all day. The two customer quilts need to be done today, and while we won't be celebrating the holiday on THE holiday, we'll still be 'working' around the house. 

Actually, I would like to sit and bind those potholders while watching the Thanksgiving Day parade and the Eukanuba Dog Show. That's why these two customer quilts need to be done today. I think it's doable.

Lucy was chillin' the other night. Since I don't really have any new quilting pics to post, here's one of her looking all cute-sy.

I'm so darn cute!

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I have SO MUCH to be thankful for: My supportive husband, my home, my customers, the kids, the grandkids, the dogs...my life. My life, on a whole, is a dream I nearly pinch myself every day to make sure I'm not dreaming. 

Election Day

I'm going to get as much studio work done until lunch time. I have everything packed. The house is clean. The truck is loaded. I'm nearly ready to go. I'll vote in my travels downstate later since it's on the way. 

We traded out one of our pieces of furniture. Lucy is demonstrating which one went away...

"But I like this loveseat mom."

This is being donated to Midland Center for the Arts. Mom got a new loveseat in her living room and her other fairly new one (newer than what Lucy is sleeping on) came home with us on Sunday. 

Go vote today. There's a lot of confusion on Prop 2 here in the family, including myself, but get the facts (The TV ads don't give all the information and most of them are lies anyway) through Michigan.gov to read the entire list of proposal content as well as their actual purpose.