Gotta Be A Little Flexible

I was working on the quilt on Bernie yesterday morning. I took my lunch and while chowing down [another] rice bowl, received a text from Ann V. and she asked if she could come up today or tomorrow and drop off a few more quilts. 

Well, the previous one I did on Marty (Shop Hop) was for her and I was done frame ironing the backing for her QOV and asked if she could come Friday since that would give me today to quilt her quilt and get it ready for pick up.

I decided to flex a bit and just dive right into it yesterday. 

QOV

I didn't know what I was going to do in here and one never knows how long it's going to take to complete a project. It always seems like it should take less time and then before ya know it, hours have passed and you're only half-way through the project.

Here's what I decided to put into it...

Loopy Stars

Remember, my encoder is down in DW so I could not do any digital work on him and had to drive myself. Honestly, I'm twice as fast as the computer and I don't have to fiddle with realignment with every roll. It turned out beautifully and I was completely done just before 4:30 and frame ironing for the next one on Marty. I moved back over to Bernie and worked that quilt until I reached the half-way point and I was getting pretty fuzzy-eyed since I'd already been up for 13 hours. 

I have a short day today; guild meeting up in Hale and I need to attend because I have a block to turn in as well as getting information regarding our retreat in two weeks. 

I worked on my second BOM block for the second 'month' and finished that. I dove into starting the stand mixer cover and am pleased with patterns by Annie. Very complete. Very visual. 

Happy Autumn day today! Hasn't the weather here been beautiful? Summer-like temps in the day. Fall-like temps in the evening. Great campfire weather. Low bug level. Lots of sun since our rains have yet to show themselves. It's almost like we're living back in AZ. 

The QOV

Today's prompt for IG is A Quilt of Significance. I thought about this while doing my morning chores and I went through the repertoire of quilts I've made over the years. Many of them stand out in my mind; struggles with a new technique or color. Triumphs with piecing or quilting. 

But this quilt, which was made specifically for me, is probably the most significant to me. 

My very own QOV

I don't use this quilt. It's put away in one of the totes to be given to Caleb eventually. I was awarded a certificate and recognized for my service. I didn't know it was happening that evening at guild, but I was so overcome with emotion I could only make jokes and walked around in a haze all evening. It wasn't until the next day it finally hit me how much that quilt meant. 

Paulette actually pieced the quilt, and unbeknownst to me, she gave it to me to quilt and bind. So, I did have a hand in it but I got to do all the fun stuff. It identifies a time in my life where I discovered loyalty, pride, and most of all, teamwork and friendship. Thank you Paulette!

Ever Wonder?

Do you ever wonder what other people are doing at that very moment you're thinking about what they're doing? My mind drifts when I'm long arming. What are the kids/grandkids doing at that moment? What are friends doing? Other quilters...are they long arming, at a retreat, or just piecing? I believe I have too much "think" time. 

The QOV is done. It's hanging out waiting for the markings to disappear...

Ready to remove and trim up

To revisit, I'll be working on Sue's Kaleidoscope quilt on DW for the next few days...

Ready for my attention

It's not even basted in yet. I was waiting for Jim to shim those legs before starting to do any work on it. Now that that's done I can proceed.

While I was getting ready to quilt on Foster last night, the sun broke through the clouds and showed me this yuck on my cutting mat...

Look at all that mess

Your mat has all of this as well. I took my gum eraser to it and it's much cleaner now. What I need to do is get it in the shower with some Dawn to thoroughly clean it, but I'll do that when the weather gets warmer.

Rainy and chilly today. It's probably going to melt whatever snow we have left. If not today, then definitely tomorrow as temps are supposed to stay mostly above freezing with rain for the next day or so. 

Michigan Weather

We're supposed to have cloudy and windy weather today. Nothing about snow, yet that's what it's doing outside. Nothing earth shattering, but snow nonetheless. Wouldn't it be nice to have a well paying job telling people only half-truths?

Here's some of the quilting going into Anns QOV...

One of the 20 blocks

The border treatment

I'm going pretty light on the custom area but it's still taking some time. Many thread changes and a lot of ditching. 

I worked on the Girl with the Pearl Earring after I turned off Bernie after 5:00. Here's the second stitch out...

Now to color

I didn't think I'd get to the color last night, but I still had some time to frog around and here it is prior to doing a textile treatment on the InkTense pencils...

Prior to medium treatment

The colors will be extraordinary when I get the medium on there.  

I'll be working on Anns quilt all day today. Yesterday I had a pick up and drop off both. I had a phone call for two more tops coming in next week and a call from the Shop Hop folks to get all the information on Linda's Michigan Shop Hop quilt (that I did a while ago). It will be going into the magazine later this year, and they are giving me credit, which is very cool. And it's Friday already. Holy crap. 

Overkill

Ginny's quilt is done! I have to find a box big enough to get all three quilts in so we can ship them this weekend. These are all the pretty threads that went into her quilt in a row...

I love thread!

I'll be working on this QOV for Ann today...

Not normally a custom but...

I don't normally custom quilt a QOV because I charge a set fee for them. But this one had so much going into it I'll definitely be losing a ton of money taking the time to do the custom work. But our veterans are worth every bit of my time.

After finishing Ginny's quilt (late afternoon), and after loading the QOV, I moved on to the binding on the quilt sitting on Foster. I had to get it done. I needed the machine for another project...

And it's a finish!

I love the green binding I put into it!

I loaded the fourth Girl with the Pearl Earring next. Is this overkill?

A 15" art piece on a 12' frame

My little Janome 1600P that I use for sit-down quilting is showing its age and is causing me some grief. I stitched this out on Foster and then started doing the fill. It was time for Spartan basketball and I was getting tired. Here she is so far...

Doing the back stitching

I'll continue with her tonight since this is going to be my finished class 'model'. I have one customer coming today to pick up and should be able to make decent headway on the QOV since it won't be quilted to death, but some nice easy custom will give it some spark. 

Another New Project

My husband, Jim, loves to do puzzles. Now that we have an actual dining room table (only used about three times a year) he has a surface to work on. He has two Spartan puzzles from last year and this year both to work. I asked him if he liked starting them or finishing them; what was his favorite part? He said all three phases (start, working, and ending) were enjoyable.  

I'm the same way with my quilt projects. I love all the facets of working a project from picking fabric, to cutting it out, piecing, quilting (probably my favorite), and yes, even binding (least favorite). 

Here's a new project I started yesterday after going to Pieces and getting that dark, dark blue I needed for the background colors.

This is going together fast!

I'm going to work that some more today while Jim works his puzzle(s). We should go in and visit mom, but I just need a day to "play" and relax. We're eating our New Years crab legs today (we were still both sick to eat them earlier) and going to snuggle with the girls while watching it snow every so lightly out the living room windows. 

More Snow Then Expected

We were only supposed to get a little over an inch of snow yesterday. 3+ inches later...but it's so pretty.

Jim headed off to work with my truck after he cleaned up the driveway. His tire went flat again. He said the tire place could not find a leak yesterday but something certainly isn't right?

Here's some of the quilting going into Anns QOV...

Lots of pebbles

The plumber was here most of the morning. New customer received. And this heater thing is either going to be my nemesis or a positive thing. I work on piecing or my own quilts on Foster when it's running. Lucy likes it though...

Right in front of the blower

I managed to get all the blocks together for the Pineapple top and that'll go to retreat in a few weeks...

Ready to be assembled

Once I was done with "working" for the day and got the Pineapple quilt blocks packed, I started a new project to replace the Christmas mat under my utility thingie in the middle of my sewing table...

It matches my thread bin

I love, love, love Tula Pink fabrics. These were 10" squares left over from the Shipshewana rummage sale two years ago. I've been waiting for a project to use them with and this was perfect!

Jim and I were up very early this morning (like around 5:00) for whatever reason. Who knows? I've already cleared the studio walk, the back deck, did a load of laundry, showered, unpacked and installed the new printer (the grandkids broke my other one), texted my mother and brother (she had another heart situation last night), made rice, and ground a new canister of coffee. It's barely even 9:00. 

Not sure what direction I'll head in the studio yet. I haven't even had my second cup of coffee. I do know I need to run to Pieces to get that dark blue fabric for my next project. Jim said he should be home before they close at 2:00. He's driving since I'm sure the roads are pretty dicey. 

Something Little Accomplished

This was a very draining weekend. Time spent with family can be a great thing, but mentally draining. Especially when your brother and mother get into a very heated tiff. Regardless, I lost myself in my happy place Saturday night and Sunday morning working on these...

Trees

Flower Row

So, not much in the way of sewing other than the blanket stitching here. I have two customers to call this morning and I'll be working on this piece today...

A QOV

I'm kind of tired of the two motifs I have in my tablet for QOV's and Urban Elementz is having a digital sale through the end of the month. I took advantage of that since Deb K. wanted some Hummingbirds in her son and DIL's wedding quilt and while I was out there downloaded another QOV E2E. 

Bernie is empty right now. Jim had to re-align his rails since he was starting to pinch a little in the middle. I'll load him up while the QOV is stitching out. 

It'll be nice when the new tablet arrives. I won't have to follow a million steps to get a new motif into the computer like I do currently. 

Part of the Job

So this is what I did all yesterday afternoon...

Pulling threads

This is the quilt these came out of...

Paulette's Quilt of Valor

I found some red, white, and blue thread in my thread drawer and thought it would look pretty good in here. I actually found two cones, but used the one that had the most thread on it. They were two different manufacturers. 

After doing a tension check (different weight) felt like it was okay to get the Prostitcher going. While it was stitching out, I fired up Bernie to work on Tina's quilt. Then I heard a weird noise and knew something was amiss with DW. 

Thread break. Tried again. Same thing. Changed needle. Same thing. Did a tension adjustment. Bad juju. And then I looked at the back of the quilt to see what (if anything) was happening there. What. A. Mess! The 20 minutes it stitched took me (and then Jim too after he got home) four hours to get out. 

I'm switching thread and starting over today. I was so over this quilt after pulling all those threads. I shut DW down and worked on Tina's quilt instead. I managed to get it done while Jim was watching his basketball game. I still have to offload and things that go with it, but Bernie will get a new quilt top later today. Maybe the new thread I've selected will work better today. Here's crossing our fingers (and toes). 

Happy Veterans Day to all my Fellow Veterans

I take my military experience pretty serious. I grew up (a little) being in the service. I relinquished all prejudices I may have had (although I don't think I really had all that many), I was honored to have achieved the promotions and commendations I received. And most recently, the recipient of a Quilt of Valor. Remember the sacrifices your service members put forth so that YOU can live a safer life. 

Yesterday was a testament to the hard work I further learned (because farming is pretty hard work as well) in my formative early 20's while in the military. Two baby quilts done in the morning. A large queen loaded in the afternoon and I'm already into the blocks after setting in the border last night. 

Jill's baby quilt

Penny's baby quilt

Border detail

Stephanie's top I'm working today 

This is a pretty intense top to work so it will probably be on the frame a couple of days. Jim is on-call this weekend so we aren't planning on going anywhere too far and should be able to concentrate on this one fairly easily. 

And, I. AM. MAJORLY. BUMMED! I'm going to join the Quirky Quilters Quilt Guild and their meeting is next Tuesday...moms surgery day. And chances of her staying overnight in the hospital is pretty slim, meaning I won't be able to sneak away and attend the meeting. The chance of weather holding out another month is probably pretty slim since we've been playing nice-weather-roulette over the last few weeks. 

Trunk Show and Quilt of Valor

The trunk show at the Quirky Quilters Quilt Guild went very well. Thank you to my husband for all his help, my mom for cataloging the quilts as we were pulling them, Linda from Pieces of Thyme for helping to handle them after showing them, and Linda and Susan both from Pieces of Thyme for coming to the Quilt of Valor presentation.

I've only ever had one quilt made for me and that was by my grandmother (I still have it) a very long time ago. This was the quilt I was presented with last night...

My quilt and the certificate to go with it

Another huge thank you to Paulette (seen on the left) for making this quilt for me!

It was a HUGE surprise to be awarded this honor. You don't just get one willy nilly. You have to have served in the armed forces and have been nominated to receive it. I will cherish this quilt for as long as I live, and since Caleb is the only one in the family to have served in the military, it will get handed down to him when I'm gone. 

This quilt guild is about an hour and half from the house, but it was an absolutely beautiful drive along the shores of Lake Huron and worth every minute we spent with these wonderful women (and Jim). I am still looking for a quilt guild to join and I think I just found it! I won't be able to head there in the winter, but that's really only four months out of the year. They sew during the day and then have their meeting at night. Which is perfect!

I received four tops last night to quilt and another customer dropped off this morning. I have to write work orders up on all of these and do a little cupboard rearranging before I can get on the long arm. Bet get to it!

Eating Trends

In the autumn months it seems our metabolisms tell us to start eating comfort foods. I know my appetite usually increases two fold and the kinds of foods I crave are carbs and fats. Oddly, the opposite seems to be happening with both Jim and me. What's up with that? 

Here's what was on the frame yesterday afternoon...

Paulette's second QOV

I had to text Caleb to ask about the center sculpture and what it was called. The Battle of Iwo Jima thus naming the quilt after it. What our fellow soldiers have endured during war time. The loss. The sadness.

These two QOV's will be finalized today and since it's Friday, I may slip one of my own tops onto the frame to do quickly before loading for Monday. 

Not much was done on the Sew by Row because I was tackling two quilts at once with Paulettes projects. Oh, and my burger quilt is now bound as well. I figured since I was working two bindings, why not three?

Future fabric bundles

Is Normalcy Good or Bad?

Jim and I like to think of ourselves as a little not normal. But sometimes getting back to a schedule and normalcy seems right too. It's the question of the day. 

Here's what's on the frame today...

Paulette's first Quilt of Valor

This will be completed today and her second one will be loaded right behind it.

The Sew by Row is coming along fairly fast. I don't normally (see, getting out of the norm again) cut my pattern pieces all at once, but for the last two tops have somehow went in this direction. The last row won't be as quick as the previous two because there are about a million 1" squares that need to be diagonally sewn, trimmed, and pressed before even thinking about putting the block together. But here is where I'm at this morning...

Sew by Row with only one more to go

I'm sure there is sashing in between each of these rows because the rows seem to be melting together. 

And that'll be my day. Long arming first; Sew by Row behind that. And...maybe the asphalt guys will actually show up today to throw a little zinger in there. 

A Week!?

Mom's Day and deck building consumed our last week, but not without at least a little long arming thrown in somehow.

Currently on the Frame for Bunny

Pat's Deer done on Wednesday

Sue's QOV for a Marine in her family completed yesterday

Gotta love the Pro Stitcher

And that's about it.

Bunny's will get finished today and Carla's will get loaded right after. I have another three coming this morning and three or more tomorrow too.

The shut-in is starting to drive some people nuts. DW and I are enjoying some of the benefits with everybody finishing the long-awaited tops customers had waiting to be completed.

Happy Friday and Week Three of the Quarantine

Today begins our fourth week of this lock-in thing. I'm okay with it. I'm getting a lot done in here.

Here's Mickey's last border completed late yesterday morning.

Aaannndddd it's a quilt!

After Mickey's quilt was finished, I started researching for a "barn" to make for the center of my little paper pieced animals. Katie sent me a link for a gal who blogged about this and then I found this book in my bag of tricks:

Improv barn building

Creating began!

I got the main barn finished last night but still have silos to build next to the barn and all the grasses to get in below. Today I'll be continuing on until mom arrives (we are ignoring the social distancing thing because, well, we haven't went anywhere to become infected) to make pizza for lunch.

Sunny Days, Sweeping Up A-Okay.

I used to watch Sesame Street a little too much I guess to know the words to the whole song.

Long arming most of yesterday. Mickey's quilt should be finished today. She asked for a contrasting thread in this one and here's the first border pass.

Mickey's Quilt of Valor

Gotta love the meandering feathers (thank you Angela Walters!).

After working on this most of yesterday, the paper pieced animals were worked on. The one thing positive about our little shut-in order is the UFO piles for most of us should be diminishing somewhat.

I was going to sash the animals in and just call the top done, but after looking through the authors book (Mary Hertel), I noticed a placement of not just 12 of the animals, but all 16. I'm thinking an improv barn in the center with all the animals around it would be really cute. After getting Mickey's quilt done, I may head in that direction.

Meanwhile, the sun is shining today (finally) and working in the studio will be an absolute dream.

Coasting Along

Many out there are having a hard time, at this point, of entertaining themselves in their own homes. I find it odd. We buy these multi thousand/million dollar homes and we can't stand to be in them for two weeks? Does this sound a little silly to anybody else? I love my home and the minute I leave it I can't wait to get back to it.

My situation, I know, is much different than the masses. I work from home, so going out isn't a daily regiment for me. Maybe this will identify to people they need to find a passion (painting, drawing, writing, whatever.) they can do if/when this situation we're finding ourselves in ever happens again.

Obviously, quilting is mine. I blazed through a custom piece in one day yesterday because I was having so much fun. Here's one of the blocks.

One of the blocks in Paulette's quilt

And, like usual, I loaded the top too close to the leaders and had to [once again] go through my rulers to find one that would assist in the crosshatched border.

Handi Quilter 2 x 10 Ruler is the only one that would work here.

I love my Handi Quilter rulers! Today, I'll be using them again in this piece as well as some Angela Walters free motion meandering feathers, ribbon candy, wavy lines, and others.

Mickey's Quilt of Valor

This one is going to be a challenge. Mickey actually wants to see the quilting throughout the quilt and has chosen a medium gold thread to run through the whole piece. I better be on my A-Game today because any (and I mean any) and all mistakes will be seen with that dark blue background.