What's Taking So Long?

Those who aren't into the whole long arm scene do not know what we do as long armers to actually do their quilts. It's not just putting in stitches. As I've discussed before about the 'after' process, what about the 'during' process other than the quilting?

The first item up is unlocking all the ratchets to actually roll forward. 

After the quilt is rolled it looks like this.

Since this isn't straight and flat this has to happen.

The quilt top is brought up and the batting is smoothed first. Then the top is moved back into position to smooth it out. 

Once that's done and the quilt is squared up on the frame, the side leaders/clamps have to be attached.

And now it's time to baste in both sides after everything is checked and ready to get started.

I baste in at about 1/2". Oops, one more check. All the seam threads need to be pulled in that row.

Now it's ready to start getting more quilting put in. This whole process above takes about 10 minutes to perform. This particular quilt gets a roll for each sashing row and each block row so nine advances on the frame. That's an hour and a half just for rolling each section. 

Remember those little squares I took a pic of yesterday? Well, this is what they turned into last night. And after that I did get all the sections together in the Quilt Room.

Diana's quilt will be finished today if all goes well. Jim is at PT and then the dentist so I'll have a quiet morning. The girls are sulking because he's not here. They'll get over it. 

Backwards Day

Jim is in Pinconning picking up a top that needs to be done yesterday. I have the next one set to go on Bernie but it's on hold until the batting arrives. Apparently that's supposed to be today.

Until I get a top (for Marty) or some batting (for Bernie) I'm kind of stuck for a little bit. I'll work on night stuff this morning and then work on morning stuff after lunch and beyond. Good thing I'm pretty flexible. 

Old and New

 

Where I spent my summers

This is our old cottage. This is two occupants later after my mom sold it. There used to be a huge Poplar tree in the center of that yard. The lake is right behind the photographer from this angle. 

They tore this down last summer.

Here's the new cottage...

Nothing cottage-y about this place

It's not a cottage anymore but rather a rather large house. That closes a chapter of my life I'll never see again. 

It's funny how time marches on and waits for nobody. I can't believe it's Friday already. I have two customers coming today and I'll be working on that table runner I showed yesterday. Off to my nail appointment. 

Didn't post yesterday...

I love the soft pinks/peaches in these daffodils

...because after I got all the morning chores done I needed head to town to get nails and errands done.

By the time I got home it was nearly time to make lunch. 

Then I had to pack, which I hadn't yet started. Once that was done, the neighbors were up (oh, and the other neighbor I don't normally talk to wanted to bend my ear for almost an hour and a half). 

We lit a campfire and caught up with what was happening until late last night. 

Heading to Cincinnati right after I get done blogging to spend the weekend with my mother and brother. Oh boy. 

I Don't Know Why...

...on the weekends I really don't like to piece. I love to long arm, but Foster is "put away" until Marty arrives in another week or so.

I also love to make smaller one to two day projects but before I could get out into the studio we spent the better part of mid-day getting phones transferred, music moved, phones deleted, and cases ordered. What a pain in the rear. 

While we were spending time doing all of that this arrived...

I finally have a clock in the studio

After getting the phones back to where everybody wanted them I wandered out to the studio to see what I could drum up. This is what I found...

I could use a summer bag

I've gotten to page two on the four-page set of instructions. BUT, I'm going to modify the inside to include a zipped pocket. This should be interesting since I don't really know what the heck I'm doing. But hey, this is what YouTube is for. 

Wish me luck! Oh, and Go Green since we won our game on Friday. We are up against New Mexico at 8:00 tonight and hope the Spartans can keep it going. 

Happy 39th Birthday and Technology

Our eldest turns 39 today. Actually, he turned 39 during the MSU game last night while in Cleveland since he was born at 12:56 a.m. and the game never started until 10:00. 

Andrew is the one on the right. Caleb is left and as usual, Ben is in the middle

While they were headed to Cleveland for said game, Jim and I were at the Verizon store getting our new phones. What a pain! We actually closed the store because the first phone they brought out for me was defective (locked itself). 

I have just transferred all the apps from my old phone (which Jim now has) and have to get ready to transfer the music library from the Mac. UGH, I could think of better things to do today. 

New phone

I need to check out the pattern for what I need to do for next weekends coat-making class once I get through all of this who-who. Not sure what the rest of the day will entail, but I'm sure something sewing.