On/Off

Marty was on and off more times yesterday than he is all week. Thank you weird weather systems. Looks like it's going to be more of the same today.

Here's some of the quilting going into the Barnyard Friends by Lori Holt...

Chicken wire for the left side background fill

After getting off Marty around 4:30 (for the fourth time yesterday), I finished the daily Love Letter block and then put Cowboy Boots away until I can get to a design wall. Or, the front deck is power washed and I can lay it out there. 

I hadn't spent enough time away from Marty to get onto DW yet so I pulled out the Flower Power I started a couple of weeks ago. 

Many people do not like the prep work that goes along with making a quilt (pressing, fabric treatment, measuring and cutting), but I LOVE that part of the quilt making process. The circles are all cut, as are the leaves and the background squares...

The background squares need to have a flip and sew corner added to each of the 15 blocks, but it was past 8:00 when I shut down and I had started early yesterday, so I called it a night.

I see the skies in the west are getting pretty dark already so I think today may be a repeat of yesterday?

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. 

After working for the day and then receiving a [past closing time] customer for both a pick up and drop off, I finished the cowboy boot I was working on while waiting for the customer to arrive.

This one went quicker because we were talking to Andrew while working on it

I have one more cowboy boot to blanket stitch and then we can start matching up the checker board sections with the boots. 

I didn't want to fire up the iron before the customer came (no burning the customers) so moved to Love Letter block. Well, that was the last one in that row/section so now sections A, B, and C are together.

Love Letters sections a, b, and c

I may take a day off from Love Letters since I have other stuff to do today and I did so much on it yesterday. More on that in a bit. I had set up DW to do two projects at once.

Bathing Beauties

I just ran a straight line situation through that table runner (better pic later) and then I started this Judy Niemeyer table topper/wall hanging.

Getting the straight work done and now filling in

I'll work some more on that later today too. BUT, since Jim and I were out and about last Saturday and next week is the 4th, I better get the temperature quilt caught up. I also have a new quilt-along starting on Monday. It's the 9-Patch quilt-along with Natalia Bonner. She does it on a panel but I'm going to just take all the solids I have and cobble something cohesive together. 

Sort of like I did the flag bunting and table runner. Lots to do and a beautiful day to work. Sunny and mid-70's today. 

Weather Changes Everything

Well, once again, it's a good thing goals are written in sand and not stone because I certainly missed my goal for yesterday. Right at lunch our thunderstorms started and there wasn't any sign of them letting up anytime soon.

We went to Midland to get groceries and mail a package to Germany instead of long arming. When we finally got back home around 4:30 it was still raining pretty good and then around 5:00 it started letting up.

My long arming mojo had disappeared. No storms expected today so the Farm Girl Vintage II should be completed by days end. 

Here's one piece of the Farm Girl I particularly like...

When we did get back I did a Love Letter and a Cowboy Boot block.

It doesn't look like this one would be that difficult to blanket stitch but on those curves and points it's basically one to two stitches at a time as well as all the turning. 

DW was naked and I knew what I wanted to put on him next. It's a Judy Niemeyer that I did early this winter and it's small in size. BIG in the quilting and some of it needed to be marked before loading. I got the back on to frame iron and started right in.

It doesn't look like much but there was a lot of measuring involved. Oh, and geometry. My favorite. 😈

The Catalpa Tree

The Catalpa tree outside the studio window blooms for about a week this time of year. It will bloom longer if we have a decent spring/early summer but since we've been in a dry spell, it's already shedding its flowers. It started blooming on Sunday.

After working here's the cowboy boot completed...

Lightning McQueen?

I did do a Love Letter block prior to doing the cowboy boot. I moved over to DW to quilt out the flag table runner after doing cowboy boot. I was still rocking so I trimmed it up, put it on Mike to bind, and we now have a new table runner for the holiday. It's already in the dining room.

Do you wonder how many more Love Letter blocks I have to do? Well, there are 64 blocks in total, so it'll be another while since I'm currently working on section three of five. 

The quilt on Marty should be finished today if the t-storms hold out until later this afternoon. Here's crossing our fingers and toes to wish that's what happens.

Never Have I Ever

Have you ever played that game called 'Never Have I Ever'? Well, yesterday was one of those situations for me. I worked on Marty, did the daily Love Letter block. Blanket stitched the cowboy block...

The second horseshoe boot

Put binding on Rita and got it hung on the design wall (aka the art wall) and then reset Mike to do more blanket stitching today.

Rita the Ripper is finished!

And then I started a table runner and actually finished the top all in a matter of hours. It usually takes me a whole day to design, pick fabrics, press, cut and sew together something like this. I did it in under three-ish hours. I've never done that! It's on DW and ready to be basted in...

Flag table runner

It matches the banner design I made Sunday and will be put on the table for the upcoming holiday. I'm hoping to get it quilted later tonight after all the other quilting "chores" are done. The pic doesn't really do it justice so hopefully I can get a better one later today. 

Ah, Such is Life

My eldest closed on his new house yesterday. The buyers for his [now] old house backed out on Saturday. Now Andrew owns two houses. Since the house sold quickly the first time six weeks ago, I'm sure it won't take long for it to sell again. Such is life.

A Love Letter block and another cowboy boot commenced after working yesterday.

I was still moving and hadn't fallen over from the lack of sleep the night before so I quilted up Rita the Ripper...

I made the binding for it once it was quilted and will hopefully get that on tonight so I can load another something on DW.

More of the same today; working on Marty (Farm Girl Vintage II for Evelyn), etc., etc., etc..

No Sleep. Again!

Last night was the third night this week I have fallen asleep only after 3:00. Good thing I'm taking today off. 

Not because of the "holiday", but because we are going to the lake I was raised on down in Crystal. We are reconnecting with people I grew up with and visiting the ole stomping grounds. I moved a lot when I was a kid but every summer until I was a teen were spent with grandma and grandpa at the cottage on the lake. I've only been back a handful of times since getting out the Army 35 years ago.

Mom sold the cottage when grandma had to be put into a care facility. It had been in our family since the 50's. The cottage was torn down two years ago and a new monstrosity now sits in its place. But the memories are still there and some of the people we knew growing up are still living right next door to our old lot. 

Today we are taking a pontoon ride around the lake. Something we used to do often as kids with the whole neighborhood. Bring your own chair and a coffee and away we'd go for a two-hour ride around this beautiful body of water in central Michigan. It's a hidden gem and property values there have skyrocketed because of it. Which is why we aren't living there instead of here. 

Anyway, pics from todays adventures will post tomorrow. I started in on Evelyns Farm Girl Vintage II quilt yesterday morning first thing. 

Border(s)

Corner

Let me show you the difference in custom versus edge to edge quilting. If this had been E2E quilted, this wonky block would have never laid down correctly...

Notice all the lifting and weirdness happening here

This is the after pic after I got it quilted...

Pretty much fixed

I got a Love Letter block done after working and then did my daily cowboy boot...

The second star boot

I got the baby quilt off DW and bound that...

And then I loaded this onto DW...

It's all basted in and ready to get quilted. Maybe later tonight if we get home at a decent time?

Not Responsible

I was cruising around on IG last night while listening to another season of Alone. One of the fellow long armers made a sign for her studio that said: I am not responsible for stray seam threads, pet hair, puckers (should you fail to measure your borders), and your back being short. I think I need this in my studio. 😉

Ginny's quilt on Bernie was finished in the late afternoon. This is what I'll be starting today...

Evelyns Farm Girl Vintage II by Lori Holt

We have attempted to load this quilt twice already and maybe the third times a charm? I investigated how others have quilted this including Lori Holts long armer (or maybe she does her own long arming?) and EVERY picture I found has this quilt edge-to-edge quilted. Weird!

We're not doing that per the customer. She said to just have fun so that's what I'll be doing. 

After getting this on the frame I did a Love Letter block, a cowboy boot and I finished quilting the baby quilt on DW. It's still on the frame, but it's quilted.

This one only took a little over an hour to stitch

One customer expected today to pick up. I have to do some batt ordering and a little other admin work first though. Bleh. 

Beat the Clock

I was playing beat the clock yesterday with the humidity and the air erasable pen I use to mark with on quilts. I was also playing against mother nature who decided to cut my day short (more than once) with thunderstorms. Not only did I get off Bernie before 3:00, I couldn't even get on DW later in the evening.

Here is row four of the row by row for Ginny...

Textured wood and some flowers in the background

So I did some sit-down work and as the storms continued to roll through I continued on with more sit-down work. I got a love letter block done before 4:00. I moved over to a cowboy boot...

That was done by 5:30. Jim was still canning so I had plenty of time to do something else. I decided to get Rita the Ripper out and work on that. Turns out I had more than enough time to work on it and even put a border around (which the pattern did not).

Rita the Ripper

This pattern is still available on-line and in some stores. There is a whole series of them available including bobbins, thread, and other sewing notions. I thought this would go well with the needles wall hanging I have on the 'design wall'. 

Well, I still had some more energy and started going through my bag-o-tricks to see what I could start next. I have to have a half-dozen things going in the studio at once. However, only one or two appliqués are permitted. I can only take so much blanket stitching. I know this next project needs to be pieced first and the cowboy boots should be done before having to blanket stitch things here so this is my next project...

I've quilted a few of these for customers already and mom bought me this kit for Christmas two years ago. I'm NOT going to fuse these down. That's a lot of layers and the long arm isn't particularly jazzed about it all. Neither am I frankly.

They are large pieces and I feel like I can stitch them down as I build the blocks. I may get some fraying, but I'm okay with that. In fact, I may just promote it because that would be stinkin' cute as heck. 

Today is another round of beat the clock. Very humid and we have rain (maybe storms) coming later this afternoon. Ginny's quilt would have been done yesterday had I not had the interruption. And I have a customers' husband coming to drop off this morning, so I should be able to get the quilt done. 

Doing Pinwheels

I forgot to mention about making pinwheels for that little garden table runner. Instead of tying off I run a HST through the machine and construct pinwheels while make the love letter blocks. I think I have about 10 of them made already.

 Here is some of the quilting going into the RxR for Ginny. This is row two.

Lady Bug row

I completed row three before taking a roll in the afternoon but forgot to take a pic beforehand. On to row four today.

After working I made a Love Letter block and have the first row together in section three (there are five sections). I moved over to Mike and did the daily cowboy boot...

Moo

From there I fired up DW and did some quilting in the baby quilt. Why can't I just do E2E on these things? Oh, because I know how to do custom and it looks better. But I did do a hand guided (not computerized) E2E design in the center panel section...

Swirl flower edge to edge

While I was out playing in the studio Jim was playing in the kitchen. He loves doing this stuff (which is good because I DO NOT). Here's his accomplishments for the night...

Some of these are for customers

I'll be giving away a small jar of jelly to anybody who visits after Thanksgiving. These are all strawberry, but today he'll be doing strawberry banana and strawberry rhubarb. We don't actually eat this much jam throughout the year. Some of these are given away to family and friends. Mostly family. 

Windy Day

After working on the temperature blocks yesterday morning it was almost time for Jim to get home. After lunch the wind was roaring but I didn't feel like staying here. We jumped in the truck with the girls in search of strawberries and a place to walk the dogs. We also stopped at a garage sale and to look at a yellow Jeep alongside M-61. Too high millage and they had smoked in it. The Jeep, not the garage sale.

We found strawberries (OMG the price [$6.00/qt.]) and then Jim dropped me off at Riverwalk so I could follow the trail back to moms condo. He met me there and we thought we'd visit with mom if she was home. She wasn't.

It was after 5:00 when we returned home. Jim searched out more strawberry resources (found one for $4.00/qt.) and I appliquéd another cowboy boot...

I was going to call it a night, but still had plenty of energy left. I fired up DW and started quilting the cousins quilt...

Of course, I can't just free motion the whole thing! I'll do a hand guided free motion in the center portion but the sashing, border, and geese get custom work done.

Nothing in the studio today. We have to go visit mom because when we were there yesterday she was (of course) out running the roads. It's no wonder the woman needs a new car every four years. 

Weird Weather

The hot, muggy days like yesterday are bound to produce some interesting weather. Thankfully, we're up here in a valley where we get very mild weather. It's rare for us to have to seek shelter or worry about a storms fury. Unlike those folks downstate. They have all the fun. 

Ila's quilt is done and I'm moving over to Ginny's quilt on Bernie today. I've already started ditching and have been quilt planning since loading it yesterday afternoon.

A row by row

I'll be working on this cute piece most of the day. 

While getting this quilt above started I was frame ironing on both DW and Marty for their next projects. I'm ready to load on DW but have another couple of advances on Marty. I was waiting for Jim to get back from the food bank yesterday and blanket stitched this cowboy boot...

Howdy, howdy, howdy

Once that was finished I started to bind the Firework quilt until we left for our weekly groceries. I had, throughout the day yesterday, made a back for the baby quilt going onto DW and made two bindings. One for the baby quilt and the other for the Firework. Can't work on the baby quilt until the other one is bound. My rules. Otherwise nothing would get bound around here. 

Jim is off to the dentist this morning. Went yesterday and they didn't think anything was amiss, but had another tooth in front of the offender bother him throughout the night so he has an appointment to get that looked at. All of this without insurance. Just great. 

Data Centers

The new controversy out there are these data centers they want to put in our state. HUGE water and electricity consumers and thankfully, the little town of Mason we used to live in (about 12 moves ago) said "NO" to one in their community. Not to mention they are loud, loud, loud, and provide very little employment. And, as we're researching the situation, the electricity they use is passed down to the neighboring communities and population of that area increasing their already high bills.  

It seems they could find an alternative to the resources these places take?

I did work on Illa's quilt for about two hours yesterday before Linda showed. The rest of the afternoon was spent with her. When I finally got home it was nearly 4:00. I knew I had a couple of hours more worth of work on Marty so I decided to wait until this morning to try to finish her quilt up.

I did a Love Letter block, did a cowboy boot, and put the borders on the baby quilt for Jims cousin...

After taking a quick break, I started in on DW and actually got the Fireworks quilt done. It's off the frame and all trimmed. I'll have to make and bind that maybe yet tonight? I have to make the backing for the baby quilt and get that on the frame ASAP since it's going to reunion in less than a month from now. 

I'll be starting on Marty to begin the day. Hopefully I can get that finished up?

Only One Pic

With all that I did yesterday I have only one pic to show for my efforts. 

First, Marty long arming on Illa's quilt top. This should be done by weeks' end. I made my first Love Letter block and then moved over to Mike to work on another cowboy boot. 

After blanket stitching that for the day, I got out the new baby quilt I have to make for Jims cousin. Except for the final borders, it's all put together. 

I moved over to DW to work on a Fireworks row and finished that just before 8:00. 

More on Illa's quilt this morning and then I have a lunch date with a customer/friend at Riverwalk. We usually do some shopping afterwards so I don't know if I'll be getting back on Marty when I return. 

Custom Orders

I make quilts because I like the pattern or color. If you take a liking to what I make, then by all means, I'll let you have/purchase it. But making a custom order on something you like or want is a different story. We have a cousin who is expecting another grandbaby and wants something whimsical made. She hasn't defined what exactly and I'm supposed to guess. And then maybe I make something and she doesn't like it?

We're going to Elm Creek this morning to see what they have. I'm going to shoot her pictures and see if she will respond to me in something she may want me to make. The nice thing about that is that if it's a pattern I'd rather not make, I'll not send her a pic of it. HA!

What did I do yesterday? I pressed and prepped the fabric for the Quilt Curve Studio Quilt-Along and then set that aside for a bit. I did a Love Letter block and then started to work a cowboy boot before Jim came home.

After lunch I long armed for a while on the Fireworks block and then resumed working the quilt-along top. When I came out of the studio at nearly 8:00 I had a top!

Ready for marking

All of these blocks need to be marked with a 2" grid and since I chose to do both lights and darks, I'll have to use several marking tools.