Happy Fathers Day

I started out the day on Foster. Here's the center block...

Center of Amish with a Twist III

Jim and I have errands to run this morning and then the girls all get a hair cut. They've already had baths and we're waiting for them to dry. 

Thank you to all the men in my life, all of which are fathers in one way or another, for your support in my business and my quilting passion. You are truly gifts to me and I think about all of you each and every day! 

Did I Make Any Progress?

I worked a full day yesterday and yet I feel like I made very little progress on Laura's quilt.

I did spend a better part of the morning planning out the quilting, and then later in the afternoon planning some more quilting out on it. But here's the border treatment going in...

Can you even see it?

Minor work today getting Deb B.'s quilt loaded onto Bernie. I'm planning on playing on Foster most of the day. I'd like to get a big chunk of the Amish with a Twist done.

But, all the neighbors are up for the weekend and it's been nearly two years since all three houses were occupied at the same time. I may get a wee distracted.

Goofed Up

I made a mistake on a customer billing. I forgot to give her the 20% first-time-customer discount and she had to email me to point out the discrepancy. I have NEVER done that before. Well, that's going away after July 1st anyway, so hopefully it won't happen again.

Yeah, my pricing is being restructured after July 1. No new customer discounts, my e2e and custom prices are being increased by a penny per square inch, but I'm eliminating the thread charge. So, it's not really a whole penny I'm increasing.

But there are other things being added to the invoice: "Please pick up your quilt within 30 days of notification upon completion". There is a $30 minimum charge no matter the size. There will be a $30 "push" charge if a deadline isn't within a reasonable time. By reasonable I mean a month or more. A few weeks is not reasonable since I'm already four months out right now. 

Batting prices are now posted on the heater right behind Bernie where customers face at the planning table to give them a visual, and I've made batting samples so customers can make informed decisions on which batt to choose.

Whew...I sound all business-like, don't I? Andrew called last night and my pricing/changes were discussed. He's my business manager and is pretty strict with me since I have a tendency not to be. 

Here's what I'm working on DW today...

Laura R's beautiful log cabin

The pic doesn't do this quilt justice. The colors in this are so rich. I'm thinking feathers in the light areas and some swirls in the dark. But I'm still thinking about it.

I finished Rae's second quilt and am re-loading Deb B's onto Bernie. While Jim was strawberry jamming I worked a little on Foster...until Andrew called. Then I moved over to Ellie to piece 27 more blocks in the green scrappy quilt. I'm over a 100 blocks but still need to make more. I'll probably be fiddling with that over the weekend.

Batting Supplier

Wanna know the best place to purchase an excellent quality batting? Not the big box stores, that's for sure. Battingsupersale.com has the best prices, and believe me, I've checked everywhere.  

I had to call them yesterday and talk about some batting options for me personally and they have very nice folks. You actually get a human when you call and they are a family owned, only made in the U.S.A. company. Two positives in my book!

Here's some of the quilting going into Rae's quilt...

Rae's second quilt

Once I finished working on that for the day (around 4:30) I moved over to Foster to work on Amish with a Twist...

Gotta love those feathers!

I'm ready to roll to the next row. While I was doing this, Jim was working on these...

Shelves for customer pick ups

And we moved the quilts in queue to the other closet. They fit better there and this gives me the bigger side for batting and my projects. 

Z Rack dismantled and used only the bar on top

One customer already here this morning to pick up and nobody else expected today. I'm hoping to finish Rae's quilt and I'll see where the rest of the day takes me. 

Recall All Done

I was supposed to take the Dodge in today for a computer recall. Jim ended up doing it instead, meaning, all the chores are done and I'll be heading to the studio as soon as I get done blogging.

Gwens second quilt is finished and she's coming tomorrow to pick both of hers up... 

Can you even see it?

It's a baptist fan with a heart in the middle. That's what happens when you use matching thread.

I'll be working on Rae's quilt all day. And not easily. She chose wool batting for this quilt, which isn't the problem. The problem is that Hobbs wool batting seems to be inconsistent with its lofts and there is a point in the quilt where the loft is really, really lofty, causing ruler problems for me. 

I need to contact my supplier and ask if anybody else has mentioned anything about this.

After working Gwens quilt yesterday, and starting Rae's second quilt, I didn't get anything else done. Jim and I ran to Bay City/Essexville to pick up the wood for the closet shelves right after he got home from work. We diddled around there for a bit and then took the back roads home.

It was a beautiful day yesterday and we enjoyed being out and about a little bit. 

ALL SIX!!!

I wondered how long it would take me to have a day using all six of the machines set up in the studio. Yesterday was that day so obviously it wasn't that long.

DW: Quilted Gwen's first quilt.

Bernie: Had a quilt back frame ironed only to discover the previous quilt [owner] had two in my queue. First back off, second back on and her quilt is fully loaded. 

Foster: Removed Dream Big and had the Amish with a Twist loaded and quilted on.

Ellie: Made binding for the Dream Big off Foster

Mike: Attached binding to the Dream Big

Jay: Did seven or so blocks last night for sit-down work.

Yep...all six machines. 

Here's what Gwens first quilt received yesterday...

Swirls

Bernie was wearing this before my discovery of two for Rae in the queue...

Nope

Now he's wearing this...

Rae's second quilt

Foster is wearing this...

Amish with a Twist

This one will be on Foster for a while. It's a big quilt and this was started on DW about 2 1/2 years ago. It was taken off to make room for customer quilts and hasn't been touched since.

DW is now wearing this...

Another huge quilt

This is Gwens second quilt and is also getting an E2E today. I have to purchase and then download the motif from Urban Elements first before getting started but it's all basted in and ready to go once I get there.

Just wanted to "show off" the Dream Big quilt before closing...

Ain't it purdy?

I actually snuggled under this last night (it'll be the summer quilt) and washed/put away the wool quilt that's usually on the couch. Aaannndddd, that's a wrap. 

Not Even A Small Project

Yesterday was a rare day; NO work in the studio. At all.

Jim and I did a little shopping in the morning. We didn't get home until well after lunch time. Made a nice stir-fry and then we basically napped and watched movies the rest of the afternoon. Sometimes a person needs that recharge. 

I did, however, finish my Dream Big quilt on Foster on Saturday...

I love doing these things!

All I need to do is trim and bind and it'll be one less in the to-do totes.

Gwen's quilt is first up this morning on DW. I'm frame ironing on Bernie for Deb B. and while it's a sunny day out there, it's actually kinda cold this morning; low 50's. Feels more like a fall morning than an early summer morning. I have the heat on in both the main house and the studio. Happy Monday.