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. 

Plenty of Activity with a Puppy

And I'm actually getting some quilting done. Fitting time in during her naps and after Jim gets home. Talk about cuteness overload!

Hazel in the background watching her every move

Here's some more detail going into Lindas cats...

A show-worthy quilt!

This IS actually going to the Midland show in April or May. Not sure exactly when it is but I know I have a mid-April deadline.

I'll finish this one up today (fingers crossed) and load the next show quilt. A customer has already came and went this morning and my house wasn't yet cleaned for the day (puppy detail and all that) so I need to do chores before I can dig in to anything. 

Happy 36th birthday to my eldest son! Seems like he was just a little guy reasoning with mom and dad why he couldn't do things. How the time flies!

Production Day

 This was completed yesterday morning, as I had hoped it would be.

Paulette's Crazy Kitties

I loaded and completed two of these for a new customer (Mary Anne) and they turned out so cute. 

Mary Anne's Squadron Leader Quilts

Both of these quilts were done free motion and with ruler work.

This was attempted. Well, it's done, but apparently I either a) can't read directions anymore, or b) the directions were incorrect. I have to go back and see what I did, but the handle got put on the wrong side of the pocket for the little ones to carry their books in.

The handle should have been on the other end

I'd like to make one of these for each of the four older grandkids for Christmas. I'll stick a new book in there for them and maybe a little cash. 

Jim's ragg quilt is now officially finished. It was in the dryer on fluff most of yesterday lifting off all the threads. It was then picked clean after a day in the dryer and now he has it on his chair waiting for our cold weather to come.

Today is another long arming day with a Christmas top for Joan S. She has chosen Minky for the backing and it's proving to be interesting trying to get the tension right on the bars so not too much drag occurs while DW is stitching out the design. 

Paulette brought a quilt over to show me on her last couple of visits. My theory is that if I can't get something out of my head, I need to do something about it. The quilt had been hand embroidered with all the various places she has lived in her life. While I DO NOT hand embroider (it looks terrible), I was thinking about ways to do each block with all the homes I have lived in my life (I think I'm at 31). 

I was going to do it on the long arm somehow, but, with all the customer tops waiting, don't think that would happen even yet this year. Jim suggested a quilt-as-you-go on my sit down machine. Which is a much better idea. 

I'm still formulating that in my head. How much detail do I want to go into with each house? Do I want to put the years in along with the addresses? Do I want to color each house in the correct thread colors or leave them all the same? Decisions, decisions. Lots to think about while I'm working in here today. 

Indian Summer

I'm not sure if what we experienced the past week was our actual Indian Summer, but it sure acted like it. Mid 70's to low 80's all week. Beautiful sunny skies and slight breezes. And with it, of course, outside work. 

The property is now minus one whole tree, and seven tops of dead Ash trees the Emerald Ash Borer tried to take. And, with the dead tops, comes a whole lotta mess. I also have a new mum garden near the entrance of the house. The lawn has been mowed for its last time, and the garden has been put to bed. 

Some of the mess

Visitors also contribute to little studio time. Dad and Charlotte came on Saturday (their first visit in a year), and many customers on Friday. Here's about all I did over the last seven days.

Sharon's Bear Paw and Black Bear Lodge Quilt

I have another cat quilt on the frame for Paulette right now. 

This is the full-size one. 

The one on the frame currently (pic won't upload for some reason), is a bit smaller. She did two with these crazy kitties in them. And they just crack me up while I'm quilting them because I've known cats with practically the same personalities as the ones she depicts in her work. 

I'll finish her smaller kitty quilt this morning, check to see who's next, and get that loaded hopefully before lunch. Since I have slacked off with the outside stuff, it's time to buckle down and get back into the work mode here in the studio. But that's a good thing because my muscles just aren't 21 any more. :[)

New Web Site

I've kicked Wordpress out of my life. After struggling with that site for a year, I couldn't take it anymore. I tried feverishly to get my site running through them and frankly, was more confused the longer I worked with it.

Bummer though...they are holding my URL hostage and won't release it. I had to rename my web site and do some damage control of the weekend's work with WIX, but I think the site is "roughed in" enough to at least provide a little information.

The new web site is now called (drum roll please)...

I LOVE QUILTING AT THE LAKE, or ilovequiltingatthelake.com

I'm not changing my business name, just the physical URL to get to my information out there for potential/current customers.

Now that I've wasted a portion of my morning dealing with that, I can start doing some actual work in here. I'll be loading Jill's first quilt this morning and get it started. I have a Sugaridoo row to make. Some Jacqueline de Jong strips to start (there are lots of those to work on) and then who knows where the day will take me.

Catmosphere is complete and Hannah will be the recipient for her birthday in May.

For Hannah's birthday in May

Time to quilt!

Moving

No, I'm not moving. Heavens no! I love our house. Love, love, love it!

But my web site is moving. Currently hosted through Wordpress, I'm moving it to Wix today. Wordpress was too difficult for me to navigate and was struggling to identify blog versus web...and seemed to always post on the wrong thing. Of course.

My needle was moved on the long arm. When it came back from the shop it was set at about 6:31. I moved it back to about 6:25 and no more skipping. Weird. So my quilt currently on the frame to test why it was skipping should be finished today.

Catmosphere

And my mom IS actually moving. I was supposed to head over today to help pack books, but she is getting snow and we're getting some kind of sleet/snow/rain mix here. Therefore, giving me permission to work on the web site today. And one of my quilts.

Merry New Year!

Yep, I know, it's already a week into the new year but hey, I've been a little busy. Quilt camp, ya know?

And, three more tops join the rack of shame, one wall hanging was completed, and one cloth book gives Hannah something else to read instead of Bob the Tomato.

Here's a quick look at the progress for the weekend.

The Leah Day Friendship blocks are now a top! This was before getting them together

My last project, which, I just finished this morning (those darn mitered corners). Catsmosphere!

The January wall hanging

The Angela Walter Build a Quilt blocks are now a top

And I don't have a picture of the book, but it's a cloth book titled The Twelve Dogs of Christmas.

A few other projects were started and then put aside because of concentration issues during chatting and all the noise.

I actually got the blades made for this project, but didn't have enough background to finish it.

This was two panels and a fat quarter bundle purchased earlier this fall that needs some work.

And that's what camp is all about. Finishing those projects and catching up with fast friends; making new friends and discovering new ideas and techniques; making memories and starting out the new year on a good note.