A Little Longer to Complete

The tops done thus far in my little corner of the world have been edge to edge quilted. Custom/ruler work takes a LOT longer to accomplish and this Jacqueline De Jonge piece is no exception. I have only completed about half.

Here's a little detail going into the quilt...

Quilting detail

I bound the quilt from the previous day after long arming for the afternoon. I then started in on more turtle construction, and not without a lot of hiccups. I did manage to get the shell constructed and here's the progress thus far.

The turtle shell

More of the same in store for today except the binding part. 

One More

One more top hit the frame yesterday. 

Super Sweet

Here's some of the quilting detail in it...

Probably my last edge to edge piece

I still need to get this off the frame and trimmed and bound, but I'm going to load another one today regardless.

I also started a turtle. My batting scrap bag is overflowing indicating it's time to start another turtle for some lucky child. Probably my nail techs daughter. I'll work on that in the evening when not long arming.

The Bonnie Hunter checkered quilt was also finished yesterday morning so really, I did two quilts yesterday. 

Yard Work Interrupt-us

I had every intention yesterday, having spent the previous day on the road, of spending the entire day in the studio. Except we have neighbors coming up today, we had a beautiful weather day, although a bit humid, and we like to have the yard nice for the weekend so it's not looming over our heads. 

Now that Jim is clear to do most things (slowly) he was (FINALLY) able to get on his mower for the first time this year. And he can weed wack too! We worked the yard all morning and into part of the afternoon.

Once we got cleaned up, through lunch, and finishing morning chores, we were pretty well tuckered out. 

I did manage to get the next top loaded but not until having to make a backing for it

Bonner Hunters Leaders and Enders

I'm going to let DW drive this one this morning and see how far we get on the motif I picked for it before possibly loading another one later.

Marathon Quilting Continued

Here's what hit the frame yesterday...

Monsters, (Inc?)

This was completed a few hours after lunch to include the binding.

Next on the frame yesterday was this one...

String Top

Because of all the scrappiness in here I just went with a simple double/triple loop meander in a light gray color. This one did not get bound yet but the binding is actually ready to go.

Quilting detail

Today we are headed to Grand Rapids for the day. That means, no productivity in here until later when we get home tonight. And sometimes, when we spend all day on the road, the quilting mojo just isn't there. 

Marathon Quilting

The previous two quilts shown on my last post are quilted and bound. This quilt was also quilted and bound over the weekend...

This was a big one!

And the Painted Ladies shown last week is also now completed. Four quilts in one weekend. Whew. 

This week is going to be much of the same as the weekend was except for tomorrow in which we have to head to Grand Rapids to Jim's four-month check up post surgery. It's going to be a good day to stay in today and quilt anyway because it's supposed to be a hot one out there with temps already in the 80's. 

Let's See if the Camera Works Today

Completed this top yesterday, which is the one mentioned in yesterdays post. 

Aren't these funny?

This pattern is by Alley Cat Tales and it's called Step-in' Out. It's an old pattern so it may not be obtainable any longer.

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

The "chicken" stack and whack pattern

I say "chicken" in the comment under the pic because I used a set of chicken panels to make this particular top. It's just getting an edge to edge with DW driving, but I'm quilting chickens into it as the motif. 

19 Tops (20 if you count the one above I just finished)

Here are all my quilting WIP's (now that I'm through all the piecing WIPs). All but five of these have backs so I have my work cut out for me in the next couple of weeks.

Here's the detail of Paulette's quilt I just finished the day before...

Paulette's Mystery Stars

This is a new motif supplied with our latest Pro Stitcher update. I expanded it out a bit so it wasn't so close together and I just LOVE it!

Today I'm finishing the Stack and Whack on the frame and loading another one. I'm doing a self-imposed quilting marathon because having these on my sewing table is going to drive me nuts! 

Autumn is Starting to Show Just a Little Bit

As the calendar nears the end of July, and as our drought has brought on extreme stress to our lands, our trees are already showing the affects with a slight change in some of their leaves. It's too soon.

This was observed as we took a buggy ride and on our trip to Houghton Lake yesterday. It feels like we just jumped into spring and fall is right around the bend. Fall is my favorite season and with it comes less bugs. And more quilting time. Always two good things.

Despite being gone most of the last half of yesterday, I did get Paulettes quilt completed before we left. Would love to show you the detail but the Mac had an update yesterday and my phone, which I use to photograph everything, is having an off day apparently. 

Hazel and I snuggling on a particularly cold-dish night earlier this week

I made a decision last night after our return. My "Bag of Tricks" which I'm now going to call my Bag of Projects, was supposed to be gone through and weeded out. What I'm going to do instead is just pull the first project out (which I did) and that'll be the next project. It exposes the project after that which I can prepare for (fabric, supplies) while making the first project. 

Here's what I pulled last night...oh wait, phone/computer issues. Maybe tomorrow? Well, it's a little wall hanging I purchased from one of my customers a few weeks ago prior to her estate sale with little old ladies skirt bottoms, legs, and shoes. 

While waiting for the phone and computer to sync this morning, I pulled all the tops I have completed out and all the backings I've purchased thus far and paired up as many as I could. 19 tops total and pairs for 14 of them. This is called taking advantage of the slower month of August and knocking out as many of my own quilts as possible.