Soon To Arrive

Jim is already gone this morning (he was when I got up) to pick up what I think is my grandfathers pontoon. It was hard to tell with the grape and wood vines climbing all over it and while the MC number looked familiar, it's no guarantee. I'll know more when he gets it home.

After working yesterday I quickly did a Flower Power block and then jumped right onto DW. I wanted to get the block finished that was started on Sunday while waiting for Julie to show and I wanted to get caught up with the group. 

Block #10

I messed up though. I thought we only had 12 blocks in the QAL, but as it turns out, there are 20. I am not going to leave DW loaded with this quilt that long. When block number 11 comes out tomorrow, I'll do that and then unload this piece to make room for something else. 
 

The first "chunk" in The Quilt Room

I'm loving these low volume fabrics. The lighting and where I was standing wasn't optimal last night when I grabbed this pic, but it's turning out so darn cute!

I'm hoping upon all hope to finish Virginia's quilt today on Bernie. It's going to be a stretch whether I get it done or not because I'm just past the half-way point. But now that I'm in my groove, it should go a bit quicker? 

Had a friend text that she can't go to the retreat in September so I'll be going to this retreat not knowing a single person. I'm use to walking into a room full of people I don't know, but after a few days, like typical quilters, we'll feel like long lost friends. Unless this group doesn't appreciate my weird sense of humor and my loud and boisterous self. Then I may not be welcome back again next year. 😉

It's Started

While waiting for my customer to show up, and instead of working on The Quilt Room, I fired up DW instead. I don't like having a hot iron on the planning table when customers come. Too big a risk. I got this much quilted before they showed...

Partially done

The customer stayed for a while and after finally saying good bye, it was lunch time. The rest of the afternoon we vegged and just relaxed. It seems the older we get the more there is to do and why is it the day goes by so quick now? Sunday afternoons are a time for us to recharge and snuggle with the girls. 

Visiting

I did manage to get two blocks quilted out on DW before lunch. The first one was pretty intense.

This took a while

The second one, once I wrapped my head around the direction I was supposed to go was pretty easy.

These blocks are not going to be perfect since this is a learning exercise as well as a fun thing to do with quilters from around the world. It's all virtual. It's all good!

Believe it or not, I have a customer coming through to pick up two quilts shortly. I don't like to do Sunday situations. I want to dress not to impress, I want to relax and do what I want on my only day off, and I'd like to wander if the mood strikes. 

But we did that yesterday. We visited mom, went to Tractor to pick up deadman anchors for the floating dock, we visited our neighbors north aways to thank them for dropping off the pontoon trailer. We received a few deliveries while we were in town so dealt with those, and then, finally, around 7:00 was able to play in the studio for a bit. I started getting the next block together in the Quilt Room, but as it rolled around to 8:30, I knew I was not going to finish any time soon. While I'm waiting for my customer, I'm going to work on that. 

Rearrange

While this rearrangement wasn't in the studio, it did keep me out of the studio most of the morning. I had to do something with our 'reading room' arrangement. We keep adopting moms furniture and prior to yesterday, everything had pretty much just gotten tossed in the reading room. It needed organizing and rearranging. 

And I had to clean some windows in the man cave. And then I had to vacuum the floors because you know, I moved furniture. Then the door to the girls' pen needed cleaning. And then after moving things around in the reading room I noticed the walls were looking pretty dirty. Jim was out weed whacking so I did all this while he was outside. He hates it when I rearrange stuff. 

Once we downed lunch we had to head to West Branch for my eye appointment. Cataracts are forming in both eyes and I'm having a prism situation required to be put into my new glasses. My eyes aren't lining things up correctly which is the reason for the [often] blurry vision. Which isn't good in my line of work.

After we returned from town it was after 4:00 already. No long arming for customers. I did get the following block(s) done: Flower Power, Temperatures, and I got one quilted on DW. I did cut out for the next block in the Quilt Room to round out the evening. 

Block #6

Jim is doing his volunteer work at the food pantry and I'm not sure what's in the works for this afternoon? It's supposed to be icky outside so something indoors I'm sure. 

Talking and Working

Mary's quilt was finished on Marty and now I'm on Bernie working on Virginia's quilt from Primitive Gatherings. While Virginia's isn't a big quilt by any means, it seems those take longer than the others. This is going to be a wall hanging and since there is no continuity between blocks (orange isn't attached to another orange kind of thing) I have to start and stop at virtually every bit of piecing. That's the reason for the long time. And then, of course, there are all those color changes. You get the picture.

After working past quitting time, and while talking to Andrew, I jumped onto Mike to do a Flower Power block and worked these two blocks on DW.

These are turning out so pretty and I'm so sorry I didn't double batt this!

Once we hung up with Andrew I had already cut out the next pieces for the Quilt Room and so started constructing the next block. Here's the result. I love the low volume which isn't usually my jam. 

Only a half day today. I have an eye doctor appointment at 1:30 and after dialating my eyes, chances of me doing much the rest of the day is slim. I already have a sensitivity to light (blue-eyed people do I'm told) but that just makes life a little too bright. 😙

Good-bye Stumpy

Here's some of the quilting going into Mary's quilt on Marty...

A little detail

There's not much to see. I'm ditching everything and putting in a snowflake every once in a while. An embellishment is added here and there when the motif warrants it. My conundrum right now is what to put into the wine-colored border. I'm still working on that.

We got enough rain yesterday to start raising the lake. This stump used to be about five to six inches out of the water. I took this last night just as it was starting to get dark. This morning, Stumpy is gone. We'll probably never see him again in our life time. It's about 25 feet off our permanent dock so he'll be way beneath the water as it returns. 

Our "rain gauge" for the past six years

We've watched the lake rise and fall with Stumpy. We lost him in April this past spring with the heavy rains we received then, but it was only for a few days before he reappeared since our gates were still open.

More work on Marty this morning and then I'll move over to Bernie since Mary's quilt should be finished by lunch. Nothing else in the studio last night. We needed to get groceries.

It's Raining

There are some really questionable people on our Smallwood Lake Association page asking questions that nobody can answer. Like, 'How soon before the lake fills?'. Well, unless you're
God, that question can not be answered. 

But, I feel like responding to the page, 'Hey, we got rain. How come the lake hasn't filled up?' Wouldn't that be a hoot? Ya gotta have more than 1/10th of an inch to raise a lake nine feet.

Enough of that. I have to run around and change out some of my summer things and then into the studio I go. I'm working two quilts at once it seems. This one on Bernie...

This one is basted in and already started

And this one on Marty...

This one is basted in but barely started

Those two are on todays docket. Here are better pics of what I'm doing on DW.

Block one

Block three

I did manage to get the pieces cut out for the next block in The Quilt Room and I was able to get a Flower Power block blanket stitched. Our son called and we talked for about an hour on his way home from his work which I will set aside any quilting for. 

Happy Gate Closing Day!

We received word via the Smallwood Lake Association FB page that our gates were closed yesterday. Our lake can now start to refill.

Jim and I added it up. Six years, two months and two weeks later. And, until we get some rain, the idea of the gates being shut is great and all, but it's not going to refill without something from the sky.

One more day on the Flea Market quilt on Marty and then it should be a wrap. I had two visits yesterday; the neighbor to the north while Jim and Mike were moving rocks into the corner 'garden' we're putting in, and another from a customer to drop off. I worked later to make up for the time, so no worries there.

I did a Flower Power block and then jumped on DW to do the first two blocks in a QAL I'm participating in. We're using virtually blank space to do some grid quilting. Here's the blank space...

Here's block one:

And here is block two:

I'm going to kick myself for not double batting or not using a loftier batt. This is turning out better than I anticipated. I'll try to get a better pic the first block because the pic above doesn't do it justice. 

After two very labor intensive QAL blocks I was surprised it was still as early as it was so I got out my binder and started cutting for the next Quilt Room block. Well, one thing turned into another and viola, I have my second block done.

See the lable on the jar? Yep, I actually hand embroidered that! Me. Hand embroidery. Call Ripleys! Another beautiful sunny day in store for us to enjoy quilting. Isn't God great?

Raven Finish

The Raven is quilted, trimmed and ready for binding. Not today though. We are going in to visit with mom. 

We had a scheduled Consumers Energy shut down last night and the computer is acting very sluggish, so I'll keep this brief. 

Nothing going on in the studio anyway since it's Sunday other than frame ironing backing for the next quilt on DW.

Happy August

One more month and maybe some of this heat will start to subside a little? I'm on row four (of four) on the Flea Market quilt and after working we wandered over a few doors down to the north to visit with our town neighbors.

They have a house in town and they have property and a barn out here. 

Once we got back home, it wasn't too late and since Love Letters was finished the previous night, I made a decision (and just couldn't wait) to start The Quilt Room. Here is block #1:

Block 1: Iron

I love how low volume these fabrics are. I think this is going to turn out really cute once I get the millions of blocks complete. 

We are going to an estate sale this morning. The dogs need treats and we also need some Buckeye Market sweetcorn to go with our burgers and fries later for lunch so we're doing errands on this (finally) rainy morning. I think I may jump on DW later this afternoon to get the Raven done, but who knows what the day will bring? 

Love Letter Top Done!

Lunch with friends is fun isn't it? And then the icing on the cake was a phone call from another quilting friend later in the afternoon. I miss talking to people of like mind and the retreat in September can't get here fast enough. 

Although, Jim is pretty supportive of my quilting passion. He visits the studio usually every day. Which is a great thing because I've heard awful stories from other ladies who quilt whose husbands/partners are not nearly as enthusiastic as Jim is. That's sad. 

I did get the first row completed on the Flea Market before leaving for lunch and the second row started after getting back. 

The quilting in the background

While on the phone I stuffed my earbuds into my ears while talking. I was working on Love Letters and after I hung up realized I only had a block or two to go to finish it. So, that's what I did. Not only that, I ended up taking the time to actually get it all together.

Love Letter top is complete!

I don't have enough floor space to get the whole top in the pic, but you get the idea. I think I'll finish the table runner I've been working on while using it as leaders and enders before I start anything new on that machine. But then, once that is done. HA! I get to start something new. Yay!

I picked up background fabric for each of the three patterns I have hanging around that I want to start so now I'm all ready to start digging into a new project! Don't ya love starting new projects? First, work. Happy Friday! 

Making a quilt 15 Times

Could you pick a pattern out of your pattern library or from a quilt you completed in the past, and want to make it 15 times? Long arming is pretty much the same way. To quilt the exact same quilt 15 times is unheard of. Yet, here I go. 

Here is the second Flea Market in a week I'll be working on for the next week. 

This makes Number 15

I truly like doing this pattern. It's not TOO labor intensive and there aren't a gazillion thread changes. I've gotten it down to a routine. The first one I did took me seven days to work. I have it down to about 4 1/2 days now. 

I do the borders a little different for each one, and I move the quilting around in the dresdens; what one pink flower had in one the next one might get something different. Here are the borders going into this one. 

I love doing feathers

This quilt is going to be an heirloom and I like to put heirloom things into the quilting so this one got feathers rather than a piano key or loose bubble feather. 

Yesterday was grocery day since we were pretty much out of half our salad fixings and we had to hit Lowe's to get some deck sealer and paint for some of the trim work around that house that's looking pretty tired. We didn't get everything unloaded until after 7:00. Too late to start something in the studio so it was an early night off for me. 

More of the same today. Although, I am going out to lunch with a customer/friend and will probably be gone most of the midafternoon. 

At Our Age

Whenever we can we visit with friends and family. Every day is a gift and should be enjoyed as best as possible. We love our neighbors to the north and when they are free to take a few hours out of their day to catch up we jump on it.

We live here full time and they do not, so their visits have been brief over the past six years since there's no real reason for them to hang out long other than to do lawn/house maintenance.

The Flea Market quilt for Julie is finished. The frame ironing on the next Flea Market is also finished and I'll be loading as soon as I get done here. There's a very sad story that goes with my next job but I'm not going to get into why. Tender care and love will be especially thick on this one!

After working and visiting with the neighbors, I headed back out to the studio to make a Love Letter block and then started blanket stitching Flower Power. 

Flower Power top

Here's the first block of the 15 needed. I didn't have enough time to work on DW unfortunately because of the chat session next door, but I did have a little time to go through the next three quilt tops I'll be tackling. I discovered I did not have nearly enough scraps/leftovers to complete the Granny Squares pattern by Lori Holt. 

Instead of trying to piece meal it together, I did break down and purchase a fat quarter bundle from a private seller on Etsy. I don't usually do that, but her prices were pretty good and she had the particular bundle I wanted. 

More of the same today so not much else to write about. 

Finally, Some Rain

While everybody in the state was getting rain the past day or so, we were not. The dirt pile Jim was moving, which is mostly all clay, was like dustbowl Oklahoma. It was dry throughout even to the bottom. 

Last night we finally received a thunderstorm and some decent rain. Even the dirt under the oak trees is wet. Hallelujah!

One more day on Julie's Flea Market and it should be a wrap. Fingers crossed. I did a Love Letter block after working and then realized I hadn't done any Temperature blocks in a while. Two weeks actually. I don't like getting that far behind and so took some time last night to get those caught up. Isn't it pretty?

That took most of the rest of the night so nothing else was accomplished. More of the same today minus the temperature quilt. Hopefully I'll be able to jump on DW and get the Raven finished. I am so excited to get the next quilt loaded but am not going to share just yet in case something else grabs my fancy. 😁

I Have a Brain

Since I figured out the back door to getting pics in here, I thought I better post the embroidery I did last week for the Quilt Room quilt.

Definitely needs ironing

When I took the pic I was just passing through the studio and didn't want to fire up the iron, but all the labels and blocks are ready for me to start this masterpiece. However, it will still be weeks before beginning. I already have three projects in the works on two separate machines and that's enough for now.

The day hours will consist of total Marty work on Julie's Flea Market quilt. The afternoon should follow with what has become the norm, but the neighbors are up, meaning the studio work in my head may physically change when that time arrives.

Why Do I Post Everyday?

Generally I'm out in the studio everyday and since this is my quilting diary, that's one of the reasons. Another reason is to make me accountable for what I'm going to be doing later on that day, and reason number three is to summarize what I did the previous day.

If I wait two days, details are often forgotten. When I don't post anything I wasn't here to do anything quilting related. 

Yesterday was one of those days when I wasn't here all day. But what did I do Friday?  

After working on Flea Market for the day I made a Love Letter block. I did the two leaf blocks left in Flower Power, and then instead of jumping on DW, I sorted and glued down the circle parts of Flower Power. 

Now I can start stitching all of those down. The class for this quilt used a variety of stitches to go around each circle. I'm not doing that. Just a regular blanket stitch is good enough for me. 

Yesterday, despite not being in the studio, I did do something quilt related. I've been wanting to get down to The Hen House quilt shop in Charlotte so Jim and I took a trip there after Jacobs birthday party in Lansing. Now there's a hidden gem! I know the owner and most of the people who work there and so it was like a mini reunion. These ladies all belonged to the guild we had there (until Covid killed it) and catching up over the past four years took over an hour. I picked up this layer cake to add to the fabric for the Quilt Room I'll be starting soon. 

I haven't been sleeping very well lately (again). I did get some sleep last night, but the previous two nights I saw 3:00 a.m. and beyond and still got up before 8:30. Today I'm not feeling too good and my energy level is about zero. It'll be a quiet day reading and snuggling with the girls. 

Let's Try This Again

I don't know if any photos will come through today? I worked all day on the Flea Market quilt on Marty. You don't remember the Flea Market? The one I've already quilted about 100 times? You know. This one!

Another Flea Market

Okay, I got this photo in through the 'back door', if you will. And to make things even better? The next one to load is the same top, different owner. And do these ever take the time to work!

While I was working Flea Market, Jim was working the stove. Here's his pickle project from yesterday and he has more this morning to put up. But we're both in our happy place. Despite my belly aching about the Flea Market quilts, I love doing them and wouldn't trade my job for any other in the world!

Nothing else done in the studio yesterday. We had several errands to run last night; sending quilts to customers, getting wood and slides (or failure to get said wood and slides), and groceries. 

Lots to Report

But not many pics. I finished Ginny's quilt right before lunch. After lunch, Jim and I needed to find him some wide mouth lids for his pickles. We started to head towards Colonville Hardware but stopped at the grocery story in Beaverton. They used to have a large canning rack including sleeves of lids. 

They no longer have those and while I was in the store looking Jim was calling Colonville to make sure they had some before we drove all the way over there. Good thing he checked. They did not have any and so we picked up four boxes of the lids that the grocery store in Beaverton had.

I did a Love Letter and a Flower Power leaf block before jumping on DW. All the while I'm frame ironing the next back on Marty because I have two customer quilts I need to get done ASAP. After working on DW for a few hours I decided that was enough and noticed it was only 6:30. Embroidery?

Yep, and all the pieces are embroidered that need to go into the Quilt Room. 

I am having trouble getting my phone to talk to the Mac. Our iCloud is nearly full and the Mac won't accept any more information. That's how it syncs. Maybe tomorrow I'll have this figured out?

They Use To Make Fun Of Me

The boys used to say I had so many quilts on the walls that I may have to start putting them on the ceiling. Does this qualify?

It looks great up there but I must admit it's going to get some getting use to in having something hanging from the ceiling. 

While Jim was hanging that up for me I was continuing with Ginny's quilt on Marty. I slipped a few hidden things into it and this is one of them.

Woof

I have one more day on her quilt and then I can call that a wrap. After working her quilt I did a Love Letter block and then finished getting together section four (of five). I did a Flower Power leaf block (only two more of those to go) while talking to Andrew and then headed right over to DW to work on the Raven.

Here's some of the thread painting going in...

Not everything needs to be quilted

And here is the background fill I'm using around the raven...

Swirl Feather

This is a new-to-me motif I have wanted to use for several months now and thought this was the perfect opportunity to incorporate a swirl (mimicking flight) and the feather (mimicking the bird) into a quilt. 

Jim is going out mowing. I had a few texts flying around this morning regarding Shipshewana in November. One girl would like to abstain this year (too much other stuff going on around that time). Her replacement not comfortable going down under the circumstances surrounding getting her there. And one to Virginia and Monica to see if I could stay with them this year. Looks like I have everything sorted and can now move along with my morning.

We have to run to Colonville Hardware this afternoon. Pickles are on and Jim needs wide-mouth lids. They have the best price and we like going there anyway. It's hard for me to start a new quilt in the afternoon and I think Ginny's quilt will only take this morning to finish. A period of celebration is needed after completing each quilt I think? 😗

Post PT

I don't remember being useless after my PT last year but it affects all people differently. Jim did nothing when he got home from PT yesterday. 

After lunch with Cheryl yesterday and upon getting home near quitting time I was not of a customer long arming mind. I did a Love Letter block, a Flower Power leaf block and then I moved over to DW and started in on this.

The Raven

Here's some of the quilting going into the borders and cornerstones. 

I love the tumbling squares

Today I'll be on Marty all day today. No appointments for the day (that I know of) so I should get a large chunk of Ginny's quilt done.