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. 

Happy Birthday To Me

Yep, today's my birthday. 61 years young and counting. I have a few wishes from folks via text, FB, and WhatsApp. I'm not sure why people do that on FB since I don't generally get on there, but the thought is nice and sweet.

To brighten the day

The flowers are from my mom and the card/gift card are from the A family. Jim and I are going out to celebrate this weekend since I have to work today.

Back to quilting. I may have a customer coming over to drop off but that's tentative. I'll be continuing on with Joyces quilt today and if I hunker down, may be able to get it done. I had a (check this out) three and a half hour long conversation with a lady from Alaska while I was working yesterday afternoon.

Not only did we discuss quilting and some tops she is looking to have quilted, but life discussions were also at the forefront. It was like I knew her all my life. I love making new friends and this was a pleasurable conversation that not only opened my eyes to a few things, but passed the time while I was working. 

The evening was spent at campfire with Bellers. It was a gorgeous night; no wind, clear skies, and the temps hung in the low 60's, so nothing in the way of piecing or cutting was done. I'm hoping the new encoder will arrive today so we can get DW back up and running. 

I've just ordered a new Dream batting to try for customers. I have a few who will not (will not, will not) let me put wool in their quilts, but would like the same definition wool provides in the quilting work. It's called Dream Puff and has the same (if not a bit more) loft as wool, but is a fine spun denier poly that is very warm and easy to quilt. I'm going to try it in one of my own tops first and then see what customers think. Off to work I go. 

Crazy, Busy Day

We started out with this project...

The "Before"

The "After"

Four of the battings are hung. I did not have the wool hung because after you open the package from the roll, the thing gets about 3 times bigger. Taking up that much room would have only allowed for three batts to be hung.

Before we started on this project though, we had to move the sewing table about a foot and that's a large undertaking in of itself. Talk about dust bunnies!

After lunch I had decided I was sick of moving the Tilda blocks/sashings around and tore into it to get it finished...

Getting things organized

It's a top!

Ready for the long arm

That was one long project taking up most of the sit-down summer months.

Once I got that measured, folded, and put away I jumped on DW to free motion quilt this HST baby quilt...

Ready for binding

I made the binding once this was quilted and have that and the Tula to bind yet. Which goes against my "rule" about not starting another quilt on the long arm before the previous quilt is bound. Oh well, it's my choice.

I loaded this onto DW next...

What the heck???

Let me explain. She (Laura Heine) builds the backgrounds in the traditional manner where by everything is pieced before the flower appliqués are applied. I'm not doing that.

These are being held onto the batting with spray baste and I'm going to free motion a zig-zag between each block to make the background even more scrappy. I'm not sure how well this is going to turn out, but I'm hoping for the best. 

Today we have to run to West Branch to research closet door tracks. Jim's not happy with how little room I have to dig around into the queue closet and how tight it's going to be to get the batting out of the new batting closet. He wants to pull the track from inside the closet to outside to give me more "open" space. 

I also need to pick up marking pens (for long arming) and bungee chords to use as a straight line on said batting when cutting. I'll attach them on each side of the bracket to give me a visual and not have me cutting downhill. 

Moving

The little kids are getting ready for their big move to Germany. They have to be out of the apartment on 4/1 but everything has already been shipped out so it's basically a cleaning game. And getting rid of things they aren't going to transport with them; cleaning supplies, boxes, etc. We are meeting them downstate tonight to get some of that stuff. 

It's going to be hard not talking to him every few days. I'm getting sad thinking about it, so let's change the subject.

Here's what DW is wearing...

Karen's Christmas Quilt

Here's why I do not like packaged batts...

Letting it relax

This batt was packaged and it's a cotton/wool blend by Pellon. Karen probably purchased it at JoAnn's. It's full of wrinkles and one end is very crumpled. While I was washing her backing this hung to try to remove those long arm hurdles. It didn't really do much and when I loaded it six hours later.

Meanwhile, this was loaded onto Bernie...

Ronda's applique top

I didn't have much time to work through how I was going to quilt this but started out with the borders and worked my way in. I now have a quilting plan for both of these and will work them simultaneously since Karens quilt body is E2E with the borders being custom. 

It's funny how one can amuse themselves when between projects. I finished Linda's binding right after lunch and then had to wait for the back of both of the quilts above to be ready to load. With that time I: 

1. Cleaned both machines and their carriages. 

2. Selected threads for the bobbin and top. 

3. Updated the computer queue to match the written one

4. Cut up the blocks on the design wall for the Pineapple top

5. Started getting stuff off Foster for his trip next Thursday

6. Snagged a pic of Rondas quilt to make sense of how it was going to get quilted

7. Reset the design wall since it was now empty from the previous project

After working until about 6:00 last night, I played with some more Pineapple blocks. I have a customer coming today to pick up and will be 'closing' early to leave to meet the kids later. 

The Last Block

Looks easy enough but this took ALL morning to complete. Isn't it cool though?

See what I mean?

Anyway, the sun came out (shocking) while I was trimming it up and here's a few pics of the finished project...

I'll just let the pics speak for themselves. Let's just sit here quietly and enjoy. 😁

We ran to town first thing this morning to get groceries and menu items for the weekend. Jim is going to turn on his basketball game shortly and I'm headed to the studio once I get this done. I'm working on Foster and another little small bag project I picked up from who knows where. 

Snowy Errands

I had to run some errands this morning putting me behind my day an hour or so. Nail injury (dumb thumb, again), batting to The Springs and to find my lunch pail from the retreat last week. All that is taken care of so on with my regular day.

I've been taking pics of the Tilda Sampler I'm doing for Bernadette as each block is worked so I know how to quilt it if one of her students want the same quilting done in theirs. Here's a few of them...

The swimmer girl

The cats

The goose

More on that today. The reason this is so defined is because this quilt is double batted. It's going be hung and the wool batting won't stand up to gravity by itself. BUT, double batt and lots of seams results in broken needles. One so far. 

After working on Bernadettes quilt I moved over to the Koala's and have gotten the first row put together. There's still a number of blocks, spacers, and sashings to make so am doing that as I construct the rows. 

Tattoos

The new long arm didn't seem like part of the "gang" until he was reasonably dressed. Meaning, he needed some tattoos to fit in with the crowd. Nearly all of my machines have some kind of bling on them and it was a visual priority for me to get him to fit in...

Do you see anything missing?

Jim noticed it right off the bat when Foster was delivered. Can you see it? The line on the "Q" is missing, making it look like I have a HoForte. No, he's a guy, not a ho. 😆

DW stitched Ann's quilt out beautifully but I can't say the same for me. The motif I selected was too big for the frame space and he, inadvertently, twice, motored out because I didn't give him enough space. That was fixed (error on my part) and he had her quilt done by lunchtime.

In fact, I was starting to frame iron the back of the next set of quilts when I called Ann to let her know it was finished. Yes, I wrote that correctly; the next SET of quilts. 

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

Linda's first of three for William

There's a story that goes with the next three quilts but I won't carry one about that. They are all pretty much the same but each requiring a little different treatment in quilting. This is Williams' quilt. 

I'll be using the ProStitcher to do these, but not in the E2E format. Each individual block receives a singular motif. All the blocks have to be ditched, so I'll be driving that portion, but then will engage the motors to do the piano keys and the motif for each block. Very time consuming!

Each of these next three quilts measure 80"x100" so this isn't a one day and done situation. Plan on seeing these for a while. 

Nobody expected today. My batting and the tattoos showed yesterday. Still waiting on the Red Snappers and a check from a customer but doubt if they'll show today as I received texts/messages about both just yesterday. Onward, ho. 😊

Lighting

Lighting is everything. Especially when the eyes start aging. Quickly. I've noticed overhead lights even on a cloudy day, despite all my windows, is almost a necessity. The sun is always a big help but today we have clouds. 

Here's some nice lighting to get the whole effect of Maggies quilt that was finished yesterday. I was just getting ready to trim it up and the sun shone through the loft windows just right...

See what proper lighting can do?

I'm loading the next quilt, which came in last night as urgent. Haven't finished frame ironing so no pic on that. Diane's quilt received quite a bit of quilting yesterday while I was waiting for the urgent quilt to arrive. I'll keep chipping away at that as time permits. 

Soapbox: COME GET YOUR QUILTS! Some of these have been here for months. I currently have seven sitting in the waiting room...

Each bag is a quilt waiting to be fetched

I know life happens, blah, blah, blah, but we all have stuff. Be responsible and don't leave me here as a storage unit please. 

I have to research how to get letters into the quilt that came in yesterday. Normally I would use Art and Stitch to do that but it seems to have quit working with the last tablet update on DW. Maybe I should download some fonts instead?!?

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. 

Finished and Finished

Sandy's quilt is finished. The drywall mudding (in the main room) is finished. Now the work begins. On, the [new] studio, not Sandy's quilt. Her quilt is all ready to be picked up. No, the mudder left a nice mess for me to clean up. I didn't want to pay him to do it so it's on me. And talk about fine dust. OMG, it's going to take forever, especially on that very large south wall.

Before and after cleaning the floor. 

But before I start in on that today, I have customers coming today to pick up and while I'm waiting for them to arrive, I'm going to do something I've wanted to do for quite some time...

???

I'm not going to report on this until it's done in case it doesn't work. But it will be to everybody's benefit when trying to pick out the right batting (nice clue, huh?). 

So, that's my forecasted day and Jim is out there working today too. Another repeat of last week(end). 

Is It Friday Already?

Next week is a full week, right? I sure hope so. Seems like time is passing quicker as the years add up. 

Anns quilt is done. I was able to grab this pic last night before we headed to do some grocery shopping. It's hard to get a pic of dark fabric quilting because the thread only makes subtle textures. 

Just before folding 

The wool gives it that "comforter" look, doesn't it?

Working on Bernadettes quilt for the next few days on Bernie. The batting has been shipped, so frame ironing Lindas backing is happening while I do that. 

No contractors expected today. Although Mike the plumber (from Advanced Plumbing) may be around any day to connect into the septic system for the new bathroom. Hopefully not today though. 

Contacted Angela Huffman at Quilted Joy yesterday about the APQS experience I had with those awful test drives. She feels that since all three machines had Quilt Path (their version of my Pro Stitcher), which is the robotics that drive the edge-to-edge quilting, they didn't disengage their belts. They may have disengaged the motors, but if the belts are still engaged, it'll drive jerky and hard like we experienced. Now I need to contact the seller to see if she can grab a pic of both the track system as well as the head. 

The Wrong One

I had two rolls of batting ordered through my supplier and of course, the one I'm in desperate need of, was not the one to arrive yesterday. So, on to more Bernie work I go.

I finished the Tilda Cats for Debby and even loaded and finished her pillow top...

Pillow Top

That only took a little over an hour and then started frame ironing the next one for today. 

I'm finding myself listening to podcasts/YouTube videos in the afternoon while I'm quilting and found one very interesting yesterday, so I had to try it. It's a cowboy boot block and with me being a "retired" horse person, was very intrigued by it and seemingly how easy it went together via the demonstration. 

Between rolls I pulled some scrap fabric and tried a few boots of my own. What do ya think?

Howdy Pardner

I like them. In fact, I think I'm in love. What a great way to use up some scraps and have fun in the process! These may head to Shipshewana with me. Hmmm??? But I had to get away from my newest obsession and work on the puff/biscuit quilt some more before getting too deep into something new. 

While I was trimming/billing/loading/sewing Jim was out working on blowing some of our leaves out of the yard and then heading into the new studio to start getting the furring strips up so we can hang ceiling drywall. 

Lots of steps when doing construction

It seems like this project is kind of at a lull. I know there are a myriad of steps involved in construction, though I had no idea it was this many. 

Well, here's what finally was loaded onto Bernie last night since DW is still waiting for batting...

Paula's black and white log cabin

I'm in love with this quilt. But I love black and whites anyway. I have a few ideas on how I want to quilt this but will settle on what goes in once I turn on the machine and start getting into it a little further. 

Revisited

When I first started quilting, I used to load the top onto a bar on the long arm. Now I just float the quilt tops and measure each end as I advance the quilt. Bernie is hard to do that with because of the way the frame is set up and configured. 

I loaded this next quilt onto Bernie with the top also loaded onto a bar...

Next up on Bernie with the quilt top loaded onto the bar

This quilt won't be worked on for a while because I have other tops with nearer deadlines. But it's loaded and I can chip away at it until I can get those others done. 

Here's some of the quilting going into Rita's 365 quilt...

The center medallion

Let's talk about packaged batting. Manufacturing, in general, tries to pack as much as they can in as little bit of packaging as they can. It's a cost thing. They don't care how the batting (or whatever) ends up in the package, just so long as it gets in there. 

The last two or three packaged battings I've received have had situations such as this...

A mild situation

A not so mild situation

Here's my question: What am I supposed to do about this? I load tonight for tomorrow, so the batting "relaxes" for the next 12+ hours. It has the weight of the top smoothing it down and the drape/gravity working to get those wrinkles out. But, these are both the day after. Now what? 

I have to work at each advance by hand smoothing, pinning, separately basting and sometimes spritzing to work through this. It takes (a lot) of extra time and becomes frustrating to me when sometimes the wrinkles just won't submit. I have read [somewhere] that putting the batting into the dryer with a damp towel will ease out the wrinkles. So, I guess we can add laundry attendant to my title. I think I need to work on finding a better solution for the problem. 

Quilt Retreats

Have you ever been to a quilting retreat? I feel like I need to get away from the long arms for a little bit. My mind and my body say it's time. I'm dealing with wrist and back issues (just minor so far) and my head yesterday was starting to get a little burned out. So, tomorrow I leave for a three day quilting retreat. It's actually four, but we have to head to Lansing on Sunday so I'm cutting the retreat short. 

Here's a little more detail of what went into Keri's quilt...

Love, love, love the texture these quilts get!

I had a guild meeting I should have attended last night up in Oscoda but felt like I needed to stay here and get Keri's quilt done (so I could go to retreat guilt free). It was in the evening I finally shut the machine down. I only have a little more work to go on it this morning and then it's another finish. 

I also need to prep stuff for the retreat. I'm only taking two projects to work on this time (maybe I'll stay more focused). The Cotton Cuts BOM top which needs to have those borders put in, and the twirly (Radiant Suns) top I just spent the last four days cutting out. IF (big "if" there) those don't keep me busy enough, I always have a kit I purchased at Pieces a few weeks ago to play with for Zechariah's next birthday. 

Once I get Keri's quilt off and trimmed, I'll work on Bunny's on Bernie while the backing is being frame ironed for the next top on DW. Haven't a clue what IS next, but I have a few deadlines to look at and see what direction I need to take. 

P.S. I've been told wool batting doesn't have memory. But not all wool battings are alike. The wool I provide to my customers comes off a roll. Here's what happens when you buy pre-packaged wool batting...

Yep, and there was NO smoothing this down either

This was the very top of the batting as I was preparing to load the quilt top itself. I had to pin like crazy to get these to smooth out as much as I could. The rest of the batting was just as bad on the sides and the bottom, so there was no turning it to get away from this situation. Dream [brand] batting is the best if you do have to buy pre-packaged. More lofty and much softer. This was a Hobbs and while I like their other batts, wool is not their strong suit. 

Off The Rails

I'm pretty good at being organized, multi-tasking, and proactive. Except yesterday. I'm not sure what got me off track, but I failed to order [special] batting for the upcoming quilt going onto DW. The backing is frame ironed and when I checked the work order, realized the kind of batt this particular quilt requires is not something I usually stock.

When I get an order in like that, I try to get the "speciality" item (thread, batt, etc.) ordered ahead of time and then attach a note or the actual item to the hanging-in-wait top/backing. That way, when it's ready to load, everything is right there. 

This is what's on DW for the unforeseeable future...

Go Green! Go White!

Thankfully, my batting supplier is pretty speedy and I'll get the batt on Monday or Tuesday. Which leaves today and tomorrow morning free. I can't load it onto Bernie for two reasons: 1) I still have one (not finished) on Bernie (which I'll work on today), and 2) It requires the Spartan "S" and helmet to be computerized into it. Bernie does not have that capability. 

Is your quilt square? Wanna find out if it is? Have the long armer just load it onto the frame (doesn't even need to be quilted) and roll through the length of it. If it does this, it's not square...

Compare the left and right sides.

I square them up at the top when I run a plumb line and again on the sides by keeping track of the measurement through each roll. They are ALWAYS basted during the quilting progress, so this ones not on me. 

Having said all of that happy crap, I'm on Bernie today finishing last years Cotton Cuts BOM. I did my block for this month last night and only have one more month to go before construction begins. 

Jim's mom is also an issue. As of last night, she was still hanging in there. I think She's waiting for Jim's sister (who lives in Idaho) to get there. Which should be today.

Encrypted Messages

Technology is a wonderful thing. Until there's so much of it that it's hard to keep track of who saw what on which app. I rarely do Facebook or TikTok. Or Twitter. Or Snapchat. It's making my head hurt on just how many choices there are out there to keep in touch. I'll just keep blogging and keep my web site up to date. That's enough I think.

Here's some quilting detail going into Tina's quilt...

See what wool batting does?

Tina's quilt is double batted...it has a layer of cotton on the bottom and wool on top. Look at that texture!

I think my bobbin winder for DW is crapping out. Not good. Jim has to take it downstate to let Jason (my dealer) take a look at it and see if it's salvageable. If not, there's another expense I'm going to have to eat. They aren't cheap!  I'm going to have to order some prewounds or [try to] get bobbins wound (this is going to take a lot of planning) before he leaves with it.

And I think my new SE phone is a lemon as well. I charged it fully yesterday and this morning it was completely (and I mean, it wouldn't even turn on) dead.

It's starting to snow here this morning so it'll be pretty to watch as I work today. 

Calls and Deliveries

When I order batting from my supplier they have, in the past, sent it via USPS. I've received notes in the mailbox that 'the item is too big to fit into box' and it's no wonder...

How the batting arrives

Our road hadn't been plowed until yesterday because the [now] UPS guy said he wanted to deliver this yesterday but couldn't risk coming down our road. The batting company is charging me a delivery charge (it used to be free) but I'll pay the extra to get it here via UPS because our mail guy isn't too bright.

Pats second quilt is almost done. It was 7:30 when I called it. I have another hour and a half (at least) of work to do on it and that would have put me in there until well after 9:00. I think 10 hours is enough for one day.

Needless to say, Barbs quilt didn't get worked on at all.

I received a text from a 'regular' customer of mine about a thread situation into the quilt I just did for her. She's coming over Thursday to take care of that. 

I had a new customer call and she'll be over today after 1:30. 

I had another guy call who wanted me to finish three quilts he just purchased at an estate sale. They needed hand quilting so I'm trying to find the Amish lady that does Ruths hand quilting west of town. 

And, one of my new regular customers called after hours yesterday. Hospice has been called and she needs to get some quilts done before...

Cherish every day you can just because. 

Cramming

I feel a little like it's exam week where cramming for finals is a large part of college life. Cramming for Christmas quilts is kind of the same thing. Today Jim is downstate hunting and I don't expect him home until later tonight. I need to get as much done in here that I can because I have a week of ridiculousness coming up; moms surgery tomorrow, dentist/mom Wednesday, vet/mom Thursday, and then it's Friday already.

I have a  couple of customer quilts to prep and repair before they are able to get on the long arm and will work on those while the currently loaded top is stitching out. But people, honestly? 

The amount of batt given to me on each side

If this pieces shifts AT ALL, I'm going to be in trouble. I had to select a rather angular motif JUST for that reason...less shifting while quilting. I even put on my glide foot to make sure it stayed put while being worked. 

And away we go!!!!! 😄

A Bunch of Things

Yesterday morning started out getting Jills quilt off the frame once it was quilted out. While it was stitching I managed to get half the puff quilt tied. 

The afternoon resulted in trimming Jills quilt and getting backing/batting made for the Scrap Petal top. I didn't want to rob Peter to pay Paul in the backing situation with this top so I pieced four long gray and black strips together to make one. I wanted to put wool batt into it since this is going to be one of mine, and went to the closet to fetch one.

Except I didn't have one in my inventory. WHAT? I always have a wool batt in inventory. Scrounging around the studio and upstairs under the bed resulted in JUST ENOUGH batt to piece together for this top. I loaded and basted in the back and batt and waited until Jim got home to help me load the top. It's pretty fragile with only the fabric glue holding all the petals in place.

What's on the frame this morning

Here's what transpired with my stitching...

Working out pretty well

Once again, this is being advanced with the petal stitching and then I'll have to back roll to put in the filler stitching. I don't want to do this one very heavy because I want to use it as my snuggle quilt on the couch. Thus the reason for the wool batt. Jim likes to keep the house cooler and I'm always freezing at night while we relax before bed. 

Today I'm starting to pack for my trip tomorrow to Cleveland. I CAN'T WAIT! I didn't sleep well last night because I'm so excited and I have a few other family things on my mind right now spinning around in my head. I'm a little nervous too; venturing that far out without Jim which I haven't done in a while. 

No blogging for the next four days because I'm leaving out early tomorrow morning (well...early for me) but I'll have lots to tell (I hope) about my long arming event and meeting Lauren Jackson. 

Hazel Loves Pillows

Zzzzzz

Of course, who doesn't like a good pillow to take a snooze on?

Tuesday was Deliver Quilt/Vote/Grocery day. In other words, no long arming. Not much sewing either, except I did get moms fifth set of blocks done on her River Rock top. 

I made up for that yesterday. 

It started out with this

When customers provide their own batt, it can sometimes be interesting on what exactly you get. This was discovered after opening the package-a huge bump on the inside of the batt. 

This customer asked that I piece her back. Once that was completed, and we mashed down that bump in the batt, we could finally load.

Penny's Shadow Boxes

Here's some of the quilt detail, but basically, I squiggle quilted squares in the box sections, swirled the sashing pieces, and ribbon candied the black shadows. By 6:10-ish I was finished with the 82" square top. A solid nine hours worth of work since I didn't take a lunch and started earlier than usual (because of the stupid time change). 

Penny's Shadow Box Details

This is a "complete" quilt job meaning this needs to be trimmed/squared and binding made and attached. That's on today's radar.