Apparently Backwards Day is a Hit

I got SOOOOO much done yesterday. Not in any particular order I made a Love Letter block, matched the cowboy boots up with their checkerboard blocks, cleaned the iron, received the batting I was expecting, started this quilt below, quilted two sections of the Judy Niemeyer on DW, frame ironed and have the Farmyard quilt on Marty ready to start and made a 9-patch top. Here's the pics I grabbed during the day. 

Detail work on the Judy Niemeyer on DW

For the 9-patch quilt-along

Some of the quilting going into the one below

Finishing this one today hopefully

Today I'll be finishing the quilt on Bernie and hopping on over to Marty to start working on that immediate deadline. The one on Bernie is a July deadline so I better get to it. I'm quilting barefoot today since the temps when are already in the 80's with high humidity. Air you can wear! My feet will complain later tonight, but I'm wearing a lightweight dress for the icky weather and don't want to add more heat. 

A Well Rounded Day

About the only thing I didn't do yesterday was get on one of the big machines. First thing was the temperature quilt block catch up.

About half of it

That took until lunch time. During lunch I drug out the bag of solids fabrics and started checking to see what would work for the nine patch. 

Most of these are from Amish with a Twist I and II. I jumped on Mike and completed the last cowboy boot before getting into these. Here's the pile of 20 plus one pillow block. These have to be paired with the checkerboard blocks I made at retreat in April. 

Ready for pairing

After working the cowboy boot I started prepping and cutting the fabric for the 9-patch. The neighbor north of us stopped by to repair a cracked step from the new installation going to the lake and then said his wife was at the property. Pause quilt work.

After visiting for a number of hours I headed back home and into the studio and finished cutting and then assembled all 12 blocks. 

Ready for sashing

It was nearly 9:00 when I finally called it a day. See, no time for long arming. 

First Time in Two Weeks

Other than a quick trip to the local DG, I haven't been off the property in two weeks. Jim and I have to go and fetch some groceries. It's bad when the last box of cereal, oatmeal, or can of soup has been eaten. 

Here's some of the quilting going into the 9-Patch...

Funky Flower

Some cool stars

I worked on Joni's quilt most of yesterday. I'm not even half-way through as it's becoming more work than I had originally thought. 

I plan on making a new sewing machine cover for Ellie later today while Jim is hollering at the game on TV. I also plan on chipping away more on this 9-Patch. I feel like I'm just about ready to put customer quilts onto Bernie, but I'm still having some control problems with free motion. Bernie is so much lighter than DW and it's hard to rein myself in. 

Lighting

The lighting this time of the year in the studio is weird. The leaves are still on the trees, and the sun is falling in the horizon, giving it an even greater amount of shade (and darkness) despite it being sunny outside. 

I would like to take a kayak ride later today or tomorrow. Check out some of our blooming colors and see what's going on with our dam. I heard some ruckus down there this morning so maybe they're starting?

Mary's quilt was finished yesterday. Then I put on Linda N's top...

Linda's Beautiful Embroidery

And believe it or not, all she wanted in here was a very loose edge-to-edge. I was cringing as it was stitching out. But I selected a very fine thread and it didn't blemish the embroidery at all. 

After that was done, and after lunch was finally eaten, I loaded this quilt top for Joni...

Joni's antique top

She gave me a book that this came out of and it has a very clear pic on the quilting, which is what Joni wants me to put into it. No thinking on my part. 

I got another row done on the 9-Patch quilt-along last night as well as some border work, two long sashings, and three vertical sashings in before I was tired enough to get out of the studio. 

I have two customers coming today; one to pick up and another to drop off. Both of their names end in -ette. Isn't that funny?

Almost There

I worked almost a full day in the studio yesterday. It was well after dark before I came out. I wasn't breaking any speed records but it was wonderful to be back in there!

Here's some of the quilting detail going into the Dream Bigger panel I'm working on...

One of the smaller leaves

Always have to have one spiderweb

I'm just about at the half-way point on this huge project. Here's what's on Bernie this morning...

9-Patch Quilt-along with Natalia Bonner

Natalia is a wonderful quilter, who until recently, quilted for other people. Now she teaches remotely and has her own line of rulers; some of the best in the industry as far as I'm concerned. She has hosted a 9-patch quilt-along three times over the years. I'm going to pull my favorites from her three "classes" and just play with my new ruler base on Bernie over the next couple of days. 

I had to machine piece the backing for this 9-Patch and Ellie sewed it together perfectly. The only other thing I have to do today is make a pot of chili...which I'll do later this afternoon since I don't want to smell like cooked onions all day long.