Not Going to Ohio

We were supposed to be leaving this morning to head down to Andrews. Tristan (our grandson) isn't feeling well, but moreover, Hazel had to have five teeth removed yesterday. She has stitches, pain meds, and is on antibiotics. Too much for the dog sitter to deal with. We had to cancel.

I'll be fussing around the studio today. Not necessarily working but, yes, working. To shorten a lengthy story, I came home with a crap load of fabric from the retreat and have filed most of it away. But I have other things to take care of. 

Here's what I accomplished in four days.

Day 4: Potty Humor

Day 4: The Quilt Room

Day 3: Ho, Ho, Ho

Day 3: Cowboy Boots

Day 2: Flower Power

My birthday was amongst the retreat happenings and Jim not only got me a long stemmed rose for the retreat table, but he got me these for the house.

Gorgeous!

From the pics above, I managed to get five tops put together. The piece I worked on the first day was not going together well. And, quite honestly, I was being lazy. I didn't trim each block as I was building them and it's not going together very well. I'm hoping to rectify that soon since all my big projects are now all together. 

Not Much Studio Work Yesterday

I mentioned in a previous post the permanent dock situation and how the ice and weather have beaten it up. Jim pulled the boards a few weeks ago and we finally picked up the new boards yesterday. Prior to that we headed over to Pieces to pick up the background and frame/sashing fabrics for the Alaskan BOM. 

Here are the fabrics I picked up from Alaska to compliment...

Blues, green, turquoise, and a little red for a pop of color

I had every intention of working in the studio while he was down there getting those new boards in, but I ended up at the lake helping him out. The bugs were practically non-existent and it was a gorgeous weather day (mid 80's) so we took advantage before the crappy (but I love) weather hits in a few weeks. 

Here's the new dock...

20' of new lumber

Per the usual, the pic doesn't do it justice. I was taking it from the top of the hill on our deck. We had our struggles and also per the usual, it took us to get half-way through the project to figure out how to make things go a bit more smooth. 

Even though today is supposed to be a repeat of yesterday (weather wise) we are only planning on working around the place in the morning. We need a day of rest. I will be in the studio this morning working this weeks BOW (Santa's belly) and still need to cut everything out while Jim is doing Pestie, giving the dogs a trim, and hopefully, replacing the water filter under the house. 

Weather Permitting

What a great couple of quilting days. The quilt finished two days ago should have taken about four to six hours. It took 11. But that's okay, I had fun working on it. 

Yesterday's quilt shouldn't have taken nine hours, but it did, and it turned out just beautiful.

Carla's Sample Christmas Tree

I started rummaging through all my scrap buckets and realized they are getting pretty full. I think I need to maybe do something about it. I'll be thinking through this situation while I'm loading the next quilt up in the queue. 

Which may be one of my quilts since the next few days look sketchy for time. DW will have to be torn apart on Sunday night to load the long arm for travel Monday morning for his spa day. That only leaves a partial day today (the afternoon is shot running errands) and tomorrow only. Hmmm???

911. Never Forget.

I did manage to complete the Vintage Christmas quilt yesterday. It was a fun process working on this piece. I didn't quilt it to death and left everything organic given the whimsical feel of the blocks within the top. Flowing ribbons throughout the borders and sashing. Simple X's in the cornerstones. Ditch quilting (mostly) in each block with a few fillers to add more whimsy.

Vintage Christmas. Pattern by Lori Holt

I started to load my next top; Long Time Gone as a storm was starting to roll in. And it was a nasty one, so I have everything laying there waiting to set needle and thread to fabric. This pattern is by Jen Kingwell.

Long Time Gone. Pattern by Jen Kingwell

I haven't a clue how I'm going to quilt this piece. There is very little negative space to do much detail work, and it is a very busy quilt. I think perhaps much of it will be ditched and I can get some gentle curves in there wherever possible. I never know until I turn DW on and start laying down thread.

Today is the 18th anniversary of the horrific 9-11 tragedy in New York and Washington DC. Let us never forget those thousands of people who were victims of such a terrible act and even more people who fought to save/assist those affected. The younger generation were just babies during this time. My eldest son was in high school, and my middle son in junior high. My youngest was just a grade schooler, yet they all remember what they were doing during the breaking news. As do I.

Quilting brings me peace and joy. For those disturbed or mentally manipulated people who think killing is the answer, I sew a stitch for you today to hope you use the common sense given to you to make the right choices in life and maybe find your inner peace through something worthwhile rather then senseless acts like 9-11.

Instagram? Facebook? Blog?

Which platform to post which quilt is starting to get a little confusing. Katie and I are participating in a 100 blocks in 100 days quilt along and I see they have a facebook page. We usually post on Instagram. And there's a blog to refer to if you have any questions, but you do not post there. All. These. Rules.

I'm starting to wonder if this is making it a little less fun? The other two quilt alongs I'm participating in do not require any postings. We just get our little pattern each month and make our blocks. Easy enough. But to win any prizes on other quilt alongs the set of restrictions and rules is becoming not worth even adhering to the restrictions and rules. Maybe a white board to keep everything straight would help if I participate in any next year (since most of the 2019's are done or nearly done).

Rant over.

Here's what was worked on with the long arm yesterday.

Vintage Christmas by Lori Holt

There are only two more rows to go! What? This was just started yesterday and it's a fairly decent size. And ditch quilting is being done throughout. Maybe I'm starting to get the hang of this. LOL!

I'm hoping to finish this up today and get something else loaded later tonight. There are a few other little projects being worked on right now. Yesterday I squirreled and made this little cutie.

Zippered Triangle Pouch

These would make nice gifts for all the little girls in our lives; the neighbor girls, our granddaughter, etc. and it went together before lunch yesterday so they are not a major time consumer.

Two Days on the Road

And was somehow able to finish this cutie last night.

Log Cabins and Flowers

This top was obtained from an Amish Quilt Auction last spring in Clare, Michigan. It would make a wonderful lap quilt for an elderly person or a cuddly quilt for a toddler girl. It measures 40" x 52" and will be offered for sale.

I started loading the Lori Holt Vintage Christmas top Katie and I worked on last fall/winter.

Vintage Christmas

 It's just basically sitting there not basted in, but ready to be when time permits later today. Maybe.