Must Blog

Blogging in the morning is my kick start. I recall yesterdays accomplishments and goals, line up what I'm going to do today, and make myself accountable for my future goals. It's a way for me to keep a journal of sorts on when and what happens in the quilting (and other) part of my life. 

I need to blog every morning or I feel like I've skipped part of my morning routine which just throws everything else off.

Here's what I'm putting into Paula's quilt...

Each block is the exact same

I'm nearly half-way done with this quilt and should be able to finish by end of business since I don't have to baste in or get things started (thread choices, change in quilting motifs, etc.). It was warm yesterday (78 degrees) but today we're back to normal spring temps (mid-50's). I prefer those. Jim and I have decided we are NOT warm weather people. 

Took Sunday Entirely Off

The only reason I went into the studio on Sunday was to plug and unplug the iPad. I love, love, love my studio. But, I don't want to not love it by HAVING to be in there ALL THE TIME. And, frankly, after we jumped down to Costco, I actually took a nap in the afternoon while watching our sappy movies. 

I am invigorated and yesterday, worked on Bernadettes quilt all day. I need to call her this morning. I have a question about the cloud sections; they are currently only ditched and echoed around. I think we need to put in a little "crease" quilting.

Here's some of the work that went into it...

Windy!

I'll be moving over to Marty to work on Paula's quilt top for a wedding gift (another May deadline)...

What a cool wedding quilt!

Each of these blocks will be receiving individualized attention, as will the sashings and the border. I'm still torn on the thread colors for the HST's and the bars on the blocks. Do I tie off after each one? Or, do I use a variegated thread and ditch over?  

There's an awful lot of starts and stops if I don't just jump over via the ditch and with this being a "useable" gift, I'm concerned about all those tie offs. I'm going to have enough as it is with the gray sections. 

I think I just answered my own question. At any case, this is all mapped out meaning I better get to it. 

Not Just the Last Stitch

Just because I put the last stitch into a quilt doesn't mean I'm actually done. It has to be checked on the back for stray threads and any places I may have missed during quilting (I found one yesterday actually). Once that's done it can be unloaded and taken to the trimming table.

After trimming and folding (that was a feat) it has to billed, copied, recorded and filed away; both the quilt and the paperwork. 

Here's the backside as I was unloading last night...

Lots of thread

Now that the big girl is done, I moved over to Bernie on what will be the next project this upcoming week...

Bernadettes 1st grandbaby quilt

Looks simple enough, right? Bernadette would like me to double batt the balloons and the clouds to make them more puffy. I copied each element from my light pad and then cut out the shapes to then transfer to batting. Jim was home by then and helped me cut each batting piece out.

I'll temporarily adhere the pieces to the quilt when I get to each one prior to basting down the quilt on the sides. She is asking for a lot of quilting in the background (I have a pic of what she wants in there already) so I don't have to think about how I'm going to do this. But there's the other work involved. Meh, that's my job.

Jim and I are staying away from the studio this morning. We are running to Costco to 'just look around' and then we have some stairs in the back that need repairing due to frost heaving. And, it's Sunday, so everything is pretty low-keyed. 

The Scary Part

Some pretty quilting

There is a time when this long armer (and I think many of us are of like mindedness) is scared to work on a customer quilt. That first stitch. That first motif we put in. Just getting the quilt started is kind of scary. Why?

For the same reason a new long armer shies away from doing "that special quilt" on his/her new long arm. We don't want to "ruin" it.

Here's the deal. If it's finished, it's perfect! Doesn't matter what you put in it. Chances are, unless a fellow quilter looks at it, nobody else will even notice what you did. That's fact and has been proven by this science major. 

So, get out there and play with your machines. Even us seasoned professionals have quilt-beginning anxiety but we take a deep breath, set the needle to the down position, and push start to begin yet again another hug of love. 

DW has already returned home and while I haven't had time to check on his performance, there were many adjustments made that should have transpired the first time he went downstate. He should be fine now. I hope he is because Jim is headed back to Lansing today for our 3-year old grandsons birthday party. Happy birthday Zechariah. He could have taken the machine back down if he wasn't right. 

I'm here. We have some family dynamics that are a little skewed right now and it's best if my unfiltered mouth just stay in the studio. Honestly, I'm feeling so pressured for all the May deadlines I have it is best if I stay here and maintain a "normal" working day. Which is what I'll be doing. 

Christines quilt WILL be finished; at least that's what my head is saying. I have four white triangles to do (like the one pictured above) and the whole bottom and part of the side borders yet. A full day's worth of work. 

Tools of the Trade

What's all this?

I use many (many) tools when I'm working a quilt. This one I'm doing for Christine is so large and has a lot of space to be creative. Here are most of the tools above that I'm using in her quilt.

I'm past the half-way point and will be working this all of today. Jim has taken [another] day off to take DW back down to Gall for the repair on the repair.

Did I tell you about that? The new hopping foot/needle bar assembly wasn't installed correctly. The hopping foot is not sitting level to the throat plate and he's skipping stitches like crazy. It's frustrating with this machine that every time he goes down for a repair, he comes back with another issue and has to go back down again.

I received a UPS shipment yesterday. I was expecting batting (which was one of the packages). I also received another quilt for the queue and a surprise package; the new Shop Hop Magazine for 2025...

This years magazine

And look!

Linda and I are in it!

So excited to see my work in print. Again! Happy Friday!!

Working my way Through

Christine's quilt is about 1/3 of the way done. Jim got me a pair of AirPods for our anniversary and I gotta tell ya, they're great! Andrew called last night and we talked for about 40 minutes. While I was working. I've never been able to do that before because: 1) The machines are too loud and 2) It was very difficult to hold the phone in the crook of my neck while talking. 

The AirPods have noise cancelling and he couldn't hear a thing from the machines. Of course, I was on Marty, who is nearly whisper quiet anyway, but it was good to know if I'm ever on DW, people can still hear me.

I'll be working on Christines quilt all day today. Don't know if you can see anything in this pic or not...

A little of the border treatment

The one bummer about the Benina machines is there is no sidelight. It's hard to get pics of the quilting without it so I'm going to have to think of something else to illuminate what I'm doing in the quilts. 

While I was on the phone with Andrew, Jim was on a Webinar about our lake. Looks like we are about a year from getting it back. While the dam will be done at mid to late summer, the rains will have abated and our fill will be minimal. And then we have winter lake levels that won't allow them to fully fill until next spring. But there is going to be building progress as soon as funding clears in the next month. 

Remember That Quilt You Did For Me?

Christines HUGE project

I do over 100 quilts a year. Do I remember your quilt? In all likeliness, probably not. It is not that I don't respect and/or admire your work. You're not insignificant; just the opposite. But it's hard to remember exactly whose name goes with whose quilt. I can barely remember my grandkids' names, let alone anything else.  

I was phone heavy yesterday. Lyn called from Battingsupersale.com and I got batting ordered. I got thread ordered on-line. Jason called from Gall about DW skipping stitches and how his new arm isn't quite right. He's going back to Lansing on Saturday. Caleb/Lia/Papa and I were all on a conference call-twice yesterday. 

Yet, I was able to get Paulette's quilt finished. It's still on the frame waiting for the marks to disappear, but it's quilted.

Today I'll be working on this big girl above. She's 108 1/4" square. Yep, this is probably going to take me the rest of the week to do. Another May deadline. 

Ordering Supplies

I needed to order thread today (they are having a sale through today only) and I've tried ordering batting twice now but they have extensive security measures on their site and won't let me order on-line. I'll have to call Lyn in a few minutes.

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

Just a little texture

I'll be working on this most of today. It's bright and sunny out there. Another long day but the positive weather should help in keeping me going. 

Small Project Saturday and Sunday

Saturday morning I made this new banner to hang under our fireplace mantel...

Spring banner

Since Easter was yesterday, the eggs that are up there will come down today and be replaced with these.

Didn't feel very good in the afternoon (not sick, just out of sorts) so took it easy the rest of the day. Yesterday we did administrative junk.

Jim is going to be taking over all the admin stuff for the business. I need to ease him in slowly and since I hadn't done my books at all for '25 I thought this would be a good start. It's actually the hardest of my admin chores and after checking February's input, it looks pretty good.

I demonstrated with January. We have also done a little web tweaking and also, some work order changing since I no longer have Foster and am using Marty instead. Prices also went up a smidge.

I have a crazy busy week this week. Too many May deadlines looming at me and not enough time to work so I'll be putting in lots of hours to try to get my head above water. 

Odds and Ends

Mrs. Robin is being very persistent in getting a nest up in the rafters of the studio porch. Dozens of times yesterday I was out there trying to dissuade her. She stopped trying in the late afternoon and then started back up again this morning. 

UGH!

After two customer visits in the morning I got Evelyns quilt trimmed, billed, blah, blah, blah. Here is some more of the quilting that went into that...

Ready for trimming

After lunch Paulette's quilt was next while frame ironing the back for Christine's on Marty. Here is a pic of the border...

Can't really see much. Sorry!

Maybe this pic is better?

Not much better. 

It's hard to get a pick of black on black without the sunshine. Which we only saw for a tiny bit yesterday. The rest of the day was bleak and rainy. Today is supposed to be much of the same. I think I'm going to work on DW for the morning time. Jim's on-call so we can't wander any where leaving me to amuse myself here mostly this weekend. 

Admin Stuff

Administrative tasks were a large part of jobs I've held in the past. As good as I am at doing it, I'd rather be doing something else honestly. But a one-man-band business requires me to wear all sorts of hats and administrative assistant is just one of those. 

This morning I'm also a pest eradicator. We have a robin trying to build her nest up in the rafters of the studio porch. I take away her long grasses (which she's getting from our compost bin because I just put them there last night) and a half hour later there's just as many up there. Live in the country. Hate nature. 

I finally finished Evelyn's T-Shirt quilt late yesterday afternoon. Customers stayed much longer than I anticipated as well as a call from Germany with a nickel tour of the kids' new home. What a great place they have to live in for the next three years!

Here's what I'll be kind of working on today...

Paulette's AQS BOM

I say 'kind of' because I have two sets of people coming right after I get home from the nail appointment this morning. And, we have thunderstorms in the area all day, which means the machines are unplugged during such events. 

At What Point...

...do you give up hope and just carry on? Nothing from the parents/son yet on the anniversary. I'm so done with expecting even a phone call. 

On a brighter note, the kids called from Vilseck, Germany yesterday and we were able to chat for about 20 minutes. It was good to hear their voices, although, they both sounded really tired. I got Jim all hooked up with WhatsApp on his phone and we "chatted" with them for a bit this morning.  

They've received their keys to their new home and are unpacking all their luggage today. They love their new triplex saying it's been recently updated. From Google Earth it looks very stately and on a quiet street. I'm sure tomorrow will be trying to recover their belongings and their car that were sent over a month ago. 

But none of this is quilting related so let's get back on track. I have two people coming later this afternoon to pick up and I'm hoping to get Evelyns t-shirt quilt finished. Here's some of the quilting going into a few of the blocks...

Wrestling block (I mimicked wrestling mats)

Echoing some border blocks

I have one row and the bottom border left to go and didn't work on anything else yesterday. It should be finished by the end of today at the very latest. It's a beautiful, clear, sunny day so far. No wind. Yay!

Still Nothing

My dad did call yesterday during lunch and wanted to discuss the lake situation. Apparently he heard something on the news. Never said a thing about our anniversary. Glad we are of such importance to half our family. And I wasn't going to remind him. Nope. No sir re. 

Making good progress on the t-shirt quilt. Here's some quilting from the back since I took a roll prior to quitting last night...

Sometimes the back looks just as good

This is a nice present Evelyn is giving her grandson that's for sure. More on this one today while frame ironing the back on Bernie for Paulette's quilt. 

Customer coming today to pick up and then we are going out to lunch. That'll be nice to get out of the studio for a few hours during the week. Which I hardly ever do. 

And as much as I love my studio (and I mean, what's not to love?) getting out occasionally is a treat and a welcome change in my very regimented life. 

One out of Four

Of the four important people in our lives who forgot our anniversary, only one of them recognized they slipped up by yesterday. Andrew, thank you for your belated anniversary wish. Still waiting on the other three.

Evelyns Flower quilt is done and now Bernie is empty. I'll find the next one up and get the backing started while working on this other Evelyn quilt on Marty...

T-shirt quilt

She doesn't want just an edge to edge put in here, but rather custom quilting each block as well as the sashing strips. 

We have light snow/rain showers this morning and yesterday it got to nearly 70 degrees. I think the kids took the nice weather with them.

Speaking of which, they arrived in Frankfort (I mis-spoke yesterday and said Amsterdam) around 1:00 this morning. I received a text letting us know they made it. They only had a quick (45 minute) flight left to Nuremberg a few hours later. We haven't heard anything since the 1:00 check-in, but I bet they were exhausted and I checked on-line see if there were any issues with the flight and it appears all went smoothly. They'll be fine. These two love to travel and this is just another adventure for them both. 

Don't Let the Mouse Die

The mouse on the Mac was dead this morning. I've been fighting with it all day and just finally got everybody all synced back up. I really love to blog in the morning and found my day thus far a little out of sorts.

It doesn't help that our kids (Caleb and Lia) are on a plane headed to Newark for their connecting flight to Amsterdam this evening. The cat isn't taking traveling very well. 

Jim and I were in Troy yesterday spending the day with the kids and Lia's dad and his girlfriend as well as her uncle. We had a wonderful time but alas, we had to finally say goodbye. It was hard and this morning I was pretty tearful. It's hard to long arm looking through tears.

Yesterday was our 40th wedding anniversary and the little kids didn't forget (still haven't heard from the older two, or even my own parents). These Peace Lilies smell so wonderful and were making the drive home a little less unpleasant...

Beautiful anniversary flowers

I made Julie (Tim's girlfriend) some bowl cozies as a hostess gift on Saturday...

Aren't these fun?

Here is our last pic of the kids in the states for a while.

Lia and Caleb on departure eve

But, today is a work day and I'm working on Evelyns flower quilt. I will be finishing that up by end of the "closing" time. We should hear from the kids in another hour or so to see how the first flight was, especially with kitty. They have a two hour layover in Newark before the long flight across the pond. 

Excellent News!

Aside from fun quilting things to post, I need to share something a little personal. The FLTF has been in a lawsuit with a group who stopped our dam construction about 13 months ago. During the suit, the FLTF (the folks responsible for getting the dams fixed) had to put a stop to construction due to possible court outcomes. 

There is, obviously, a LOT more to this story, but the bottom line is, after five courts, the little group who stopped all the progress were, in their last court attempt (the Michigan Supreme Court of Appeals) denied their hearing this morning.  

What does this mean? We will finally get our water back. We will finally be something more than a river but rather a lake again. It will take time; an extra year lost due to this little group of agitators, but the water will return nonetheless. What. A. Relief!

Between the two sets of customer visits, I'm working on this quilt today...

Evelyns Flowers

It's a great quilt with lost of starts and stops and will be easy enough to receive people as they come and go.

I'm frame ironing on Marty and have discovered the clearance between the idler and take up bars is not as good as it was on DW so I think maybe I might have to pin the backing to the take up bar leader in the future. The Red Snappers are taking up another good 1/2" which doesn't sound like much, but when doing a large quilt, it means a lot. 

I was hitting the quilt back yesterday with my ruler base and causing the machine to actually stop dead in its tracks while trying to free motion. It makes it hard to do feathers when the machine is balking at you so a change needs to be made for future quilts. 

Obligations

Isn't it sad when you feel obligated to contact family because you haven't reached out in a while? My parents have always been extraordinarily independent and during our upbringing, weren't the huggy, touchy kind of parents. They remain this way even more so in their elder years. When I don't hear from them in a while, I feel like I have to touch base and check in to see how life is.

Dad was this mornings call. Now I'm back onto work stuff.

Here's where I'm at on Sue's quilt...

One more roll after the one I'm working on

I have to get a hold of Gall this morning to discuss DW's issue of the new hopping foot mechanism. I also want to touch base about this...

His halo light was ruined during his trip

Jim said he had this side away from the back seat of the truck, so chances are it got damaged in the delivery truck or more likely, the van he was transported in from Grand Rapids to Lansing on Monday.

This is an expensive add-on (around $75) and now it's useless. I really depend on that light with DW because his on-board lighting isn't really the greatest. First generation and all that happy crap. 

The sun is peeking out this morning, but the weather app said it's supposed to be cloudy all day? I'll take the sun, but I'm not holding my breath about how long I'll have it. 

It Feels So Good

When I'm away from the big machines for a while, it feels so wonderful getting back on them again. Marty is a dream to quilt with. He's so quiet and is working like a champ!

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

Feathers galore!

Each fabric color gets its own thread color. 13 color changes per roll. And, since Marty is a Q20, that means I'm only getting about 18" of quilt space in there. On a 96" quilt, that means a lot of thread changes. But it's easy on the Bernina long arms making it not a real issue. 

I called Gall Sewing about DW's new hopping foot/needle mechanism that was installed last week. It's sitting a little too low and raising it only causes skipped stitches. I asked Jen if it hitting the throat plate in the back was going to injure the machine. She said it wasn't doing it any good and she'd talk to Jason about it (he was in GR yesterday).

So, I'm not using him at the current time until I get an answer on that. After getting Marty all set up (there's lots to get set up on the machine when you first turn it on) I was able to get two full passes done after my drop off customers departed. I'll be working on this all of today.

I have one customer coming to drop off after lunch. We are getting light snow currently and winter has returned. I'm okay with that. I'd rather have cold weather and snow than muggy weather and bugs. Is it really already Wednesday? 

At Last

That Nat King Cole song comes to mind, At Last when I saw Jim pull into the driveway with both of the "guys" with him.

Here he is bringing DW in during a snowfall...

I'm glad I married a manly-man

Once DW was set onto his carriage, I started getting everything put back on him (side light, Command hook that somehow got lost during his trip downstate and back), and getting everything plugged in. Then came Marty (did not get pic).

We had a LOT to do once the machines were back on their carriages. The frames needed to be leveled. Marty's frame is new and had to be "pole" adjusted which was a feat. Jim had to run into town to get a different carriage bolt for the dead bar. Then Loring (the tech who was here Thursday) called Jim and told him to just knock off the spinner and bolt it instead. He ended up doing that because the bolt he went and fetched was not long enough.

Now to re-level again. During all of this I was frame ironing a back on Bernie and making this for Marty...

A Tool Bowl

Each of the machines has their own tool bowl so when adjustments need to be made I know exactly where to go.

Once DW and Marty were set, frame ironing immediately started. Long story short. Hers is what each of the boys are wearing now...

Sue S's Log Cabin on Marty

Evelyn's Flowers on Bernie

My Scrap Happy on DW

Evelyns quilt is basted in. The Scrap Happy on DW is basted in and started. Not without some issues though. While basting in I kept hearing a "click" with each stitch and upon investigation, found his new hopping foot mechanism was set too low. The back side of his foot was hitting the throat plate. Jim helped me raise the foot one turn.

That wasn't the right thing to do because then he started skipping stitches. Back down the foot goes and I'll have to call Gall today to see if hitting the throat plate is going to become an issue. Regardless, it gives me very little clearance on the layers.

Sue S's quilt is not basted in nor has Marty even been turned on yet. But here he is all tatted up and ready to work today...

Welcome Marty!

Did not get time to make a video with the studio all situated. I've managed to lose a pair of scissors and a compression glove in all of this. They'll turn up eventually. I hope.

Dentist appointment first thing this morning. Customers coming shortly after I get home to drop off a top. And then I can relax, enjoy the "new" studio and get back to work. It's been a long five days!

New Airbuds

Jim got me an early anniversary gift and purchased some Air Buds to surprise me. They are so very terrific! I've listened to some music, talked to Jim, and am listening to the rest of my YouTube clip after doing my morning walk. 

Speaking of my man, he's taking today off to head south to pick up the boys. He's actually already there since he left at his normal go-to-work time. So excited to see the frames filled back up again, which, if all goes well, should be later this afternoon or early evening. They are all currently empty.

I worked on the dungarees yesterday and was able to finish them while Jim was giving the girls a haircut. They are NOT figure flattering but oh, are they comfortable!

See, not figure flattering at all

But something that fits me loosely during those few blazing hot days we get is what I was going for.

Meanwhile, I have my Friday student texting me already this morning and I have to get the studio heated up (set the temp low this weekend since we were going to me mostly gone on Saturday) to start my week. I was to have had a customer drop off and pick up later and then go to lunch, but she just called and is sick today so will not be coming over after all.

It's snowing this morning but I don't think it's supposed to continue much longer (although the grass is already white) so winter has opened its door again. A great day to get the studio put entirely back together and a new, updated video shot of what the studio looks like when it's finally right! 

Class A Success

I was able to finish my coat in class yesterday. Well, I need to press the inside arm seam but I have a finished product and here it is...

Was it worth it?

This coat received glowing reviews from the shop owners, the fellow students, and customers in the store shopping. I guess it's a win. I love it! Jim even said he loved it and that it was cute. 

So, on to my next "garment" project. I can no longer show my knees. My over-sized thighs (thanks skating days) are heading south and heading towards my knees. They are UGLY! Summer is coming and while I do have a few pairs of capri jeans, it would be nice to have something a little cooler and freer flowing in those unbearable 90-degree days.

I love my bib shorts, but again, they show my knees. I tried ordering capri bibs and there are only a few available out there and what is available are ridiculously expensive. 

YouTube produced a vast number of bib overall/coverall/dungaree patterns and then I stumbled upon two Australian ladies who teach beginning garment sewing and how to draft your own patterns. I have hit pay dirt I think.

I have my pattern pieces drafted and cut out. I pre-washed some inexpensive fabric I picked up yesterday at Material Mart from their sale section. I got enough for four pairs of "dunga's" for under $60. One of the few pair on-line I liked were $89 without shipping. 

I was so excited I kept on going. I have the pockets made, the straps and loops made, and will be continuing on today while Jim is trimming the girls. 

Pieces of dungarees

We had a wonderful dinner yesterday after class at Lucky's Steakhouse and just before we left yesterday morning, Jason called and said both the "boys" were ready to pick up. But they were in Grand Rapids. Ummm...no. I have plans and can't make the trip before you are finished with your vendor event. 

Jim is going to take tomorrow off to run down to fetch them in Lansing. Yay. The studio looks empty with two vacant frames, and now nothing on Bernie's frame either. I have a HUGE work week ahead of me I think. 

Life Long Learner

I'm the first person you'll hear say something like, I did not know that or Hey, that's a really cool thing you did. 

My student yesterday came up with a motif I had never really seen occur in the quilting world before, so here's a pic of what she ingeniously invented...

The bottom motif

I like it!

I have a garment class today I'm attending and Jim is heading in with me to do our weekly errands. We're going out for our anniversary celebratory dinner after class.

The girls have already had baths today and while we were getting around for our trip into town Jim noticed two calls from Grand Rapids. Well, two means somebody is trying to get a hold of us. Jason had called from the Plainfield store and said both machines (DW and Marty) were ready to be picked up. BUT, they are in GR not Lansing.

Jim is going to take Monday off and run down to Lansing to pick up the "guys" instead of us having to run the additional two hours to get them. And, quite honestly, I won't be doing much on them this weekend because we're going to be gone all day today...and I don't long arm (usually) on Sundays. 

Do You Remember?

Your parents told you something fun and exciting was going to happen and then because of weather, work, or car issues, it didn't happen. Remember how let down you felt? Yep, that's kind of what happened yesterday.

First, Gall Sewing and Vac showed up with their van to deliver Marty, his frame, and to take Foster away. Oh, and to take DW down for servicing. Well, three of out of four isn't bad.

Foster is gone, DW is heading for repairs, and the frame is up...

He's here!

The new frame is up. 

See the box on the left. That's Marty in that box. But when it was opened I heard the installer utter an "Uh, oh". 

No, no, no! No uh oh's! 

Apparently, the head wheels come with the Bernina frame. I did not get the Bernina frame because a Q20 only has an affordable frame up to 10'. I need 12' so we found a Grace frame that would work. Grace does not provide the head wheels. Obviously.

And Gall forgot to include them in the shipment. sigh

When I go to pick up DW next week (hopefully, Tuesday) I'll be getting Marty's head as well with his wheels attached. Meaning, we have to set him and adjust him on the frame ourselves. Not to mention, the "helper" the installer was to have with him had "fish poisoning" and couldn't make it. 

Guess who had to help unload and reload that box truck?

Since this was such a CF and after talking to Jason on the phone at Gall, we decided it would be okay for me to run down and get both of the machines (and them not have to come back up to finish their job) in trade for the ruler base for Marty (a $300 option). I don't think Jason was even told about the helper not showing up for work. I'll be mentioning that during my visit. 

All in all, I probably couldn't have played with the machine last night anyway. I was up early yesterday (oh and today too) and was feeling it around 5:00. The leaders that came with the Grace frame did not have the rod sleeve sewn in for my Red Snappers so I had to sew a double line down each 12' leader (three of them) which took over an hour. 

I had to put the studio back together, and Andrew called in amongst all of that. It was nearly 7:00 before we finally shut down the studio for the day. I was frustrated, let down, exhausted, my feet were killing me, and yet I was not in a bad mood because I'm one step closer to getting this studio perfect. 

Among all of that, the electrician showed up to figure out why we didn't have electricity in the garage (which meant no door opener and the chest freezer (which is full) was not working). Oh, and the Bellers' facia was flapping in the high winds so Tim was out to deal with that as well as help my long arm tech pick up styrofoam and cardboard he stupidly left outside the box truck when putting the long arm frame together. 

Today is going to be better! I'm teaching a one-on-one long arm class here. I have no other customers coming. I am down to one machine (Bernie) which isn't good but I won't feel overwhelmed next week to work 13 hour days, and we'll be using that today for class. Oh, and it's sunny and not blasting wind. 

Today is the Day!

Say good-bye to Foster...

Getting ready to leave

I really, really, really tried to like this machine. And he was great the first week he was here and the first week he came back after getting serviced. But then he started slamming, crunching, and started having electrical issues. I didn't feel like we were gelling all that well.

Marty is on his way to replace Foster as "we speak" and I'm so excited. 

Yesterday was spent on Ronda's quilt. After shutting down around 5:00 I had to move some more stuff in the studio to make way for today's arrival. I also had to prep backing and fabric swatches for class tomorrow. Once that was done, three more Pineapple blocks were made. 

In amongst the machines leaving (DW is going down with Foster for service) and the machine arriving, I'll be finishing Rondas quilt as I only have the two sets of borders and the side sashing to finish. I could have done that last night, but I didn't want to dive into a whole new quilt while the guys were here asking questions and making disrupting noises.

I've gotten to where I'm getting pretty regimented and while I'm happy about Marty's arrival, it does disrupt my day and I need to focus when I'm starting a new quilt top so I thought it prudent to keep to what I know for the work I'm doing while they are here. 

Yesterdays weather started out with about an inch or more of snow. That changed to freezing snow/rain. Near lunch that changed over to thunderstorms, then it rained and was very windy the rest of the day. Ahhh...spring in Michigan. Another windy day today, but the sun is peeking in and out of the clouds. No precipitation is expected so the guys will be dry while running in and out of the studio. Can't wait to show pics of the studio all put back together tomorrow!

It's One Of Those Days...

...I'm so grateful and thankful I work from home and don't have to go out into the weather. Windy. Snowy. Cold. Bleh!

Here's some more quilting going into Ronda's quilt...

One of the pieced blocks

The customer that had an 11:00 appointment just called to reschedule for next Tuesday so I'll be able to finish this piece (hopefully) today. 

And then I have some finagling to do around the studio to prepare for Marty's arrival tomorrow as well as the class I'm teaching on Friday. I've already got notes and handouts roughed in. Making the practice piece will be done later after finishing Ronda's quilt along with moving furniture and things around.

Bad Storms

Apparently, living in the center of lower Michigan has its perks. While we don't get as much snow in the winter, or rain in the summer, we also miss the erratic weather throughout other parts of the state.

Southern lower Michigan received tornadoes on Sunday. Northern lower Michigan received freezing rain which coated everything with 3/4" of ice. We received a 20 minute thunderstorm with some high winds. Yep, that was about it. We seem to be the only ones with electricity.

Working on Ronda's quilt all yesterday and today. Here's some of the quilting as promised...

Pebbling the background

Feathers in the dark green borders/sashings

I'll be continuing on with this quilt all of today while enjoying the sunshine before another round of weird weather comes in tomorrow. And...tomorrow I'm supposed to have customers but I think I need to let them know about the icky weather headed our way. They are coming from a ways away and don't think her table runner is worth the trip if the roads are stupid. Happy April Fools Day!