What Time Alone Can Accomplish

I did not go with Jim down to his class reunion. I had some goals and wanted to accomplish those with my afternoon off.

The morning was spent working and here's what Linda's quilt had put into it...

Dino tracks

When I opened up her stick to pull off this motif (she usually provides the motif she wants), it was not this motif but rather puppy dog tracks. She left a "mock up" sheet with how dense she wanted the quilting and thankfully the information about where she purchased the motif was on the mock up. I purchased it for her on my own stick and got everything straightened out.

Dinosaur quilts need dino tracks, not puppy tracks

Once I had her quilt off, trimmed, billed, and put away, I was able to work on some of my stuff. First. A cow. A thoughtful customer brought me this raw edge appliqué and so I started working on that...

Moo

This will be a Christmas present for my middle son who adores cows.

Next up...

Just some straight lines

I did not blanket stitch this down nor did I do any kind of stitching on the appliqué. I instead opted to leave it kind of raw and just decided to hold it down with some straight line quilting. Both of these are getting bound today, as well as the Gravity quilt that's been sitting in my guest chair for weeks now. 

So today is binding day. Bleh. However, I do have another small top on DW ready to be quilted if I so choose later this afternoon. I don't know that I want to sit around and watch movies all day today; I have too much to do.

I did get this next wall hanging onto DW but haven't a clue how I'm going to quilt it...

A sewing sampler

Oh, and I did work on my Tilda blocks a little bit as I was frame ironing the backs for the wall hangings. I have the top of the pin cushions done and they are all bundled with their counterparts until I can work on those again. 

Memory Lane

Yesterday was not a good news day. I found out my childhood friend from our cottage had a death in her family (FIL) and one of my customers lost her husband the previous day. 

My father texted me and asked for another quilt for his bed since his wife 'borrowed' his indefinitely. While I was going through totes after my PT appointment, I couldn't help thinking about these two deaths and how precious life is. 

And then I pull out quilt after quilt and think about how much joy making those quilts gave me and how it's hard to let them go (for sale, or whatever) just like a member of our lifes circle. Here are a few of the ones I sent pics of to dad to see if he'd like any of them...

This is the one he selected. Farm Girl Vintage II by Lori Holt

I don't remember the name of this one

Seasons by Edita Sitar

Just a scrappy pattern I found on line

There are a crap load more out there, but he was looking for a large queen/king-sized quilt and it needed to be dark in color since his dog sleeps with him sometimes. 

I'll continue to make quilts because it gives me joy and happiness and damn it, life is too short to not be doing what we love to do. 

Had a drop-in set of women stop by yesterday morning. I don't think I'll be seeing them again since price was their main concern. I also had a previous customer come to drop off just one top around lunch time. I did get Bernadettes quilt finished in the early evening. I worked on DW for a bit and then moved over to the Tilda piece for a while. 

 

Hopefully today I'll have uninterrupted work time and can enjoy the rainy day headed our way. We need the rain. The lawn is starting to turn yellow and Jim's garden is looking pretty wilted. 

When You Find Something You Love...

...order like 100 of them. I have a pair of MTA Sport Capris I absolutely love. They are not too thick, they fit well, and they hide my ever growing mid section (thank you broken bones). I wanted to order some more because the other capris I received from Amazon aren't the greatest quality. 

I discovered that MTA is a Meijer brand and the only place to get them (other than thrift sites), is, of course, at Meijer.

Guess I'm going to Meijer tomorrow after my hand appointment.

Not much to share in the way of quilting. I'm just plugging away at Carla's Grannies Garden some more today, although it should be finished later this afternoon. 

Here's the new Dahlia we planted earlier this spring...

Just outside the studio porch

I had two customer visits yesterday. One to pick up and drop off; the other one was just a pick up. She was not very nice. AT ALL. I don't think I have ever had a customer get so pissy with me and almost called her back here to give her back her money.

I called Caleb and Lia to ask their advice about it and they said absolutely not. I did what I said I was going to do. The work order was made with her present the day she dropped the quilt off and I have nothing to be sorry for so returning her money because she threw a tantrum was not a good business practice. 

It was that jean quilt I did a while ago and with the [wool] batting, backing (I picked that up for her) and the quilting it came to less than $200; she expected to have it bound as well. I don't do binding people! And it wasn't trimmed because it was done after the hand breakage. It's a free charge I offer anyway. I guess if she gives me a bad review I'll have to address it when it comes out.

More rain this morning and then it should be out of here around noon time. Great quilting weather!

Rest Day

I didn't do a thing in the studio yesterday. By the time haircuts were done and cleaning thereof, and by the time we finished morning chores, it was time to prep for lunch. 

MSU lost last night but at least we made it one step further than Michigan. 

I'll be working on this piece all day today...

Lots of work here

Since I really only have one working machine right now, this is going to be my entire focus for the next day or so. Pics of quilting to come tomorrow. 

Milestone Monday

DW passed a HUGE milestone yesterday...

100 Million!

We've certainly had some good (and some frustrating) times over the past 12 years. I love 'em though.

I'm giving a small long arm clinic (I guess that's what you'd call it) later this morning. Around 10:30 or whenever the three participants arrive. It's basically showing how to use rulers, free motion, and how a quilt is quilted and completed.

So I couldn't finish the quilt on DW since that's the one being used for demonstration purposes. The last quadrant is waiting for the ladies to show later. Meanwhile, I loaded this quilt top onto Foster...

Happy Camper

And after basting this one in I loaded this one onto Bernie...

Millies Dresses by Tilda

Bernadette loves the Tilda fabrics and patterns, and I love them too, making it a win-win situation. I'll continue to work this until the ladies arrive later this morning. I've already got the ditching in and have an idea of what I'm going to do in here as I sketched a quilt plan last night on the iPad.

After working I started playing with the Yoder Sisters and before I knew it, they were all built and this is where I stopped last night...

Two more steps to go

I have to get the ladies sewn down. I'm going to free motion on Jay (the sit-down machine) the appliqué pieces and then it'll be ready for binding. Maybe tonight?

Temps this morning: minus 7 degrees, but it's very sunny out so while it looks nice enough, being outside for any length of time isn't a good idea. 

Applique Sunday

I started building my first Yoder Sister yesterday after picking out the next quilt to head onto Foster. This is sister number two...

Turning out well

This one went together easier than I thought she would. Which leads me to believe the other three should be about the same. I'll be working those throughout the week.

Joyces/Cindas quilt will be worked on today. They are coming tomorrow to watch me quilt it and so will only be able to get to about the last quadrant today so they actually have something to watch. I don't know if I'll set in all the borders before they get here. Something tells me I should because they take sooooo long. And I have all those tucks I'm going to be dealing with. 

It was -3 degrees this morning when I [finally] woke up and the high today is supposed to be somewhere in the vicinity of 6 degrees. The river sure is making a lot of noise about it, but it's pretty cool when it "talks" down there. 

Art Show

The Gladwin Art Guild art show was pretty okay. I was surprised there weren't more entries or exhibits, but for a small town, we're lucky to even have such a thing. And there are definitely some talented artists here. Mom received an honorable mention in the traditional art category with one of her loose/modern paintings. 

I prefer her loose style over her painstakingly precise style

Here are a few of her other paintings on the sale wall...

I like the top one best in this section

Isn't the little girl just adorable?

I have to save money right now or I would have snagged my two favorites. After getting home and eating lunch, Jim was canning more (the last batch) of salsa and I headed to the studio. He was nearing the end of salsa just before the MSU football game started so I stayed in the studio and built blocks like a crazy woman yesterday...

Eight new Bee Happy blocks

I was going to stay in there today, but decided I need to get out of the house. Jim and I are going to enjoy the absolutely beautiful late summer day, see some color, and head over to Elm Creek to maybe pick out some more background fabrics for this piece. I don't think I have enough to get me through this whole quilt. And, even if I do, background fabrics are always a must for a stash. 

Thinking Ahead

I love starting a new quilt. While I'm ditching in I think about all the spaces I need to fill and what I'm going to put in there. Oftentimes the quilt is already sketched on my iPad, but not always. This is one of those times. 

The quilt was hanging on Bernie waiting for me to put thread down and I was able to view it over the course of a couple of days to plan my quilting strategy. It is there I too formulate what would look good in it and make it cohesive to what the customer is asking for. 

She wanted her appliqué to "pop" off the quilt and we double batted to make sure it would do this. And, it's a wall hanging and double batting will give the quilt stability while all that weight is pulling down (thank you gravity). 

Here's the start of what's going into Bernies first appliqué quilt...

"Pushing" the background down

Here's a better pic of how everything will pop up once all the pebbling is done...

Rising to the occasion

I don't know if I'll work on this today. We have flooring that needs to be screwed in (that's my job) but Jim needs to do a "test" run of screw placement to see how we are going to stagger them throughout the job. I may work for just a few hours and then start in the [new] studio with construction stuff. 

Winter II

Yep, our second winter has arrived. We have three inches on the ground so far and it's still coming down. It is sooo pretty!

Here's some of the quilting going into Ginny's Quail quilt...

Still so stinkin' cute!

This quilt top makes me smile when I'm working on it. 

Linda's quilt was taken off DW. His poles were exchanged and now this top is on DW...

Boho Heart

Tula Pink (I think it was her) did a similar type of heart a few years back. This pattern is designed by Jen Kingwell. I'll be working on this maybe later today, but more likely tomorrow. The Quails are taking a little longer than I expected. I'm throwing down a lot of thread.

Jim and I had to re-level Bernie yesterday. He's hanging up on the center section (again) and his head kept shimmying to the left. I can't wait to get moved into the new studio so all this floor flucuating isn't going to occur. 

While Jim was touching up the ceiling in the new studio last night, I was able to get the first set of borders on Stars and Shadows. One more border to go. 

Sending Love Your Way on Valentines Day!

Linda's quilt is coming off the frame today after I deal with this...

Not sure what's going on here????

I have to change out the belly bar afterwards because the lighter bar used to hold the tops isn't up to my leaning on it. 

While I'm frame ironing for the next quilt going onto DW, I'll be working on this one on Bernie...

Quails anyone?

Isn't this just so darn pretty? I love to work on appliqué quilts. So much detail and I can see what the quilt maker has put into them while doing so. 

After working on Lindas quilt yesterday, and after meeting a brand new customer (we hit it off right off the bat), I headed to the new studio to repaint the north wall. See the difference?

New color on the left. Much better!

Jim was on the phone with a new insurance company when I started the painting and after he finished he headed to the bathroom to prime...

Priming isn't fun

We have snow in our near future, so they say. Meanwhile, Happy Valentines Day!💘

More Construction

Most of this weekend was spent outside. All except for yesterday. But since Thursday afternoon, we've been out working on the new studio. Here's where we ended Saturday afternoon...

Foundation is Done!

By "we" I mean my totally wonderful boys Caleb and Ben as well as Jim and I. The boys are work machines and without them Jim and I would still be on the first row had we had to do this ourselves. 

We have to wait a few days before any other "major" construction commences to let the mortar dry and make sure everything is settling. Jim will slurry the sides this evening after he gets home from work (today was his first day back), but that's a minor thing.

I spent yesterday in the studio most of the day working on this...

A bucket list project I've wanted to make

I've wanted to make a US map from appliqué since forever. This is the beginning. I have about 100 flying geese to put around the first border I've already attached, and then another border will be added after that. 

But, that's for later tonight or next weekend, depending on how much new studio construction assistance will be needed depends on how much "after work" time I get on quilting projects. 

I'll be working on Pats quilt today and hope to round that out later this evening now that I have my groove on quilt path and thread changes figured out. 

Family Visits

My brother only comes to Michigan about four times a year. This weekend was the weekend he chose to visit. We spent last night and this morning with him and my mom and so am getting a late start to my day. And...I had a customer appointment at 10:30 this morning so there was that too.

Here's a little of what I worked on in between family...

The McKenna Ryan is now quilted

And so is the turtle front and back

Once I got my little things quilted up and pulled off the frame, Jim had to help me load this one onto DW...

A unique situation

This is the second quilt for Margery, but I didn't do the quilting. She had it edge-to-edged somewhere else and had already bound the quilt. She decided later on, to make the Dresdens and then have them attached by me. 

So, I don't have any extra backing to work with, resulting in us having to pin a faux leader onto the quilt. The white clamps in front are giving me some stability on that end of the quilt and then I'll use the side clamps to get it even more stable. The Dresdens are just getting some circles put in to adhere them down and she wants the points to be free, so nothing there either. 

This one should (I'll emphasize should here) only take a day to do, but I'm already an hour and a half behind in my day. Thankfully, it's nice weather so that's making things okay. 

Sometimes It Feels Like Forever

This was the first weekend in five weekends (Jim pointed out) that we haven't had to travel over 200 miles. The weekend was long, but quick...if that makes any sense. And it feels like forever since I've been on the big machines. 

They were mocking me this weekend while I was working on this...

McKenna Ryan "The Gentle Barn"

This is where I ended yesterday...

Time for borders

It still needs to be trimmed/squared and then borders need to be added, but the appliqué portion is done. I'm not going to blanket stitch this. I think, instead, I'm going to add some tulle over the top and straight line quilt it. Or checker board quilt it. Still debating and probably won't make up my mind until I get it on the frame. 

I'm going to work on Linda H's quilt on Bernie most of this morning while frame ironing the backing for the next one going onto DW. That's today's plan anyway. We'll see how that plays out as the day progresses. 

Just a Quick Entry

I have nails first thing this morning and don't have much time to post today. Nancy's quilt is done and I'll be loading another later this morning once I return home. 

Here's some quilting going into Elleen's quilt...

Love, love, love the textures

I'll be working on this while I'm frame ironing Martha's backing. And, I'm expecting a pick-up sometime later today.  

Happy summer-like weather!

No Electricity (Again)

When our electric goes out, my main computer shuts down. I have to restart it and wait for any updates to take place. Then all my cookies are gone so it has to find everything again. I'm just glad the electricity was only off for about four hours. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here.

Here's what's on DW today...

Beauty and the Beast

This is one of my all time favorite movies. I'm going to have fun quilting this one! 

Here's what's on Bernie today...

Applique and Piecing both!

What a fun one for me to do too. I love these 'not the same throughout' quilts. I don't get bored while quilting them because there's always a lot of thread changes and variations on how they get quilted. 

I have a customer coming to drop off today. Glad she won't have to freeze while she's here now that the furnace is running again. Our little "fireplace" doesn't give off enough heat to do a thing. I hope she comes earlier though because it's starting to snow out there pretty good all of a sudden. 

Apps Acting Weird

Our Aura frame was down yesterday and said it had lost a connection and tried to reboot all day. I finally unplugged it and restarted it. All seems fine today. This morning, my IG account was jumping all over the place and now my blogging site had me logged out (which I never do) and wanted me to build a new blogging site. What is going on out there?

Here's what's on DW this morning...

Martha's top (and bottom)

This is a two-sided quilt so I have to be extra vigilant when advancing with each roll to make sure everything stays pretty lined up. You can't really tell, but there are a bunch of sheep in here so I think just an open swirl might be nice to mimic wool. 

I got started on Barbs quilt yesterday and have the first three borders in. Karen's quilt is done but not without a LOT of challenges. Here's one of them...

That's the border bunching the batting, not the other way around

But after some discussion with the top and with DW, we got it done. Here's a little detail of what was put into this cute Under the Sea Sue Spargo piece...

It doesn't look like much but very time consuming

We have a freezing rain coming down right now and it's likely to rain all day. Like I texted Jim this morning it's a good day to crank up the heat, the tunes, and DW. 

Way too Early

When I went out this morning to clean the girls' pen, it smelled like spring was in the air. Too early!

At least it's sunny out there and it'll make for a cheery workday today. Here's what's on DW this morning...

Sue Spargo "Under the Sea" 

Notice they border blocks. This one is going to be a challenge. I like challenges (thank goodness).

Here's what's on Bernie this morning...

Barbs Snow Girls

Each of these has some kind of sewing saying in them. It's going to be fun to quilt out. 

Yesterday, DW and I did this piece...

Jodie's fourth quilt

I followed the checkers in the background and ran a single stemmed feather around the outside. I finished her second quilt on Bernie as well and so will need to contact her about them all being finished later today. 

Orange Ball

Blogging late again today. Fed Ex delivery and then customer came to drop off. There's an orange ball in the sky this morning. Must be the calm before the storm is due.

Here's what's on Bernie this morning...

Spools of thread

Quilting detail tomorrow on this one.

Here's some more quilting detail on the Weidman Quilters appliqué piece on DW...

First Row

I'm almost to the half-way point on this one. I'll work in this today and the Spools later tonight. I'm also working on those placemats and have the binding attached on one side. Maybe those will be completed this evening as well?

And it looks like our Christmas is postponed. We have a nasty storm due in starting tomorrow afternoon. Mom doesn't want to drive down to Lansing, and I was a little concerned as well. 

AND...the "B" grandkids seem to have come down with Chicken Pox. Jim and Colette do not have their Shingles vaccine so we would be a possible Shingles recipient...which we want no part of. Needless to say, our trip to Lansing Friday is out the door. Maybe after the first of the year when the grandkids are through their Chicken Pox we can celebrate? Suddenly, it doesn't' seem like Christmas at all. 

Holiday Moving

We have to do some moving around in here to get ready for the tree and other decorations accumulated the past 38 years. We found our tree yesterday afternoon and got it as far as into the house. Jim received a call out on a 'smells gas' so the rest had to wait until he got home. Once he returned the lights were put on but that's as far as he got. We'll finish decorating tonight. 

While he was working on outside chores yesterday morning, I colored my nutcracker and have him layered, sitting in-wait to be worked on...

Helen Godden's 2022 quilt-along piece

While he was out on his emergency call, I worked on the background for my new sewing tree pattern...

Doing it differently

All these appliqué directions say to first adhere the appliqué pieces to the background, stitch them down and THEN layer and quilt. I do it differently. 

I build the background (to include borders), mark the placements out with a Frixion pen and then quilt the background on the long arm. Afterwards I'll put the appliqué pieces down and THEN blanket stitch. 

It's like appli-quilting. The Yammy Cat and Pod Cats were done this same way. It works out better for the quilting end of things and the backing is double adhered down so gravity can't take its toll on the piece over time. 

Today, nothing (yep, you heard right) is on DW. My goal is to have the Gnomes done before anything else gets put on. I'm more likely to steer in the right direction if I'm not tempted in the other. 

Beautiful Late Summer Day

Today is supposed to be gorgeous. There is mowing in our future today I think. I have two customers coming sometime today; one to pick up and drop off and another to just drop off. I'm not sure when either of them are going to be here since they both left it open, so I'll just work until they show up I guess. 

Here's what's on the frame this morning...

Kathy's Stained Glass Poppies

Pretty isn't it? I've always wanted to do one of theses stained glass pieces but haven't had the opportunity as of yet. 

Here's some quilting detail that went into Janice's quilt yesterday...

This sure sets things off!

I'm having a bit of a tooth problem the last few days. It's one of those if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it things. The dentist recommended (for two years) I get a crown on my #3 molar; over half of it is covered with a very old filling. Yep, the filling is starting to fall apart. The soonest they can get me into the office...October 5th. And that's just the crown prep (root canal oh boy!). That's what I get for my stupid "broke" thinking I guess. Meanwhile, I'm on soft-ish foods until then.