It May Be Time

The computer I'm on currently is a Mac. This Mac is about 10 years old and it's getting kind of sick. Slow to load. Slow to respond. Often items just disappear or the machine tanks. I think maybe during back to school sales I need to investigate a replacement.

It's DeGroot family reunion week. I'll be dividing my time between the studio and the camper getting everything loaded. The shopping has been delegated out to other folks, but we still have a majority of the reunion stuff. That's supposed to be distributed out when we arrive but we'll see. I don't think people realize just how much we do and how much space it takes to do it. 

We wanted to go somewhere yesterday just to get out of the house and the truck took us to Elm Creek; about the only place that was open after the holiday. Here's what I brought home.

Something for the grandkids, the kids, and me

Those pillows are personalized and I'll get started on those this fall (or sooner) so I don't have to sweat shop Santa this winter. 

I'll be working on this quilt today and most likely the rest of the week...

Virginia's Pickle Dish

This is the quilt Jim had to skim and now we're getting ready to make it right. The previous long armer really messed it up and I'm hoping to give the customer back something she's proud to have in her home.

Simply Marvelous

We had a beautiful drive over to Elm Creek and struck gold in the baby quilt department. I'll be making this pattern...

With these fabrics...

Baby cottons for the top and flannel for the backing

Since it's a girl quilt we needed to be not so blue. While I was waiting for Jim to shower before we left I did get three squares marked on the Quilt-Along top...

Starting the marking

Jim is working on the yard today and I'll be starting on Marty. Iilas quilt is probably going to take the better part of this week; it's pretty labor intensive but certainly well worth it. 

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. 

Time to Get Out

I've been cooped up in the house for more than two weeks. Cranking away at the long arms and doing not much of anything else has been about the consistency of my life. 

When I wake up in the morning I lay in bed to go over my day in my head and today, studio work wasn't filling my thoughts. At all. Burnout? Boredom? The need for something social? I asked Jim if he would be willing to take me somewhere. 

I can drive. Certainly. But we spent yesterday apart and I didn't want a repeat today. Neither did he. So, we are jumping in the truck and headed to Elm Creek. 

We ended up at there and I purchased a few things. So did Jim.

I was in the middle of blogging yesterday morning and Lisa, Paul, and [new] Kona popped over to say hello while Dave was out mowing. Right after we chatted for some time, and the dogs all played, we took off for our drive.

I didn't get to finish my blog. 

Back to Saturday. The customer wanted me to use the left over backing and batting to quilt her pillow cover. But, it was too short...

The white is the pillow cover itself

After making both of those I loaded and quilted this...

Once I got that quilted up and removed, I had to (re)load this...

When the customer dropped this off and we discussed it, she said she didn't want ANYTHING in the embroidered sections except to ditch the blocks. I questioned this but I do as the customer tells me. 

After she got it home and looked at it further, decided she changed her mind and wanted something in those embroidered blocks because this is what happens when you leave large portions unquilted...

Large portions not quilted will puff up and look sloppy

So all I need to do is get some cross hatching put into each of these nine blocks. Sounds easy enough, right? HA!

I'll be working on this most of today. I have a customer (and friends) coming sometime today to drop off a quilt to be done, and I'm not sure what time they'll be here. I'm thinking probably after lunch?

That Time of Year

About this time of year I start collecting fabric and patterns for quilts I'd like to make throughout the winter since I seldom go anywhere during the cold months. We took advantage of the beautiful day yesterday and headed over to Elm Creek to see what I could find for more background fabric for Bee Happy. And pick up anything else that caught my eye.

Here's my haul...

A few goodies

A new pattern book for a Double Wedding Ring, which is one of the last quilts on my bucket list. I'm going to attempt one. Background fabrics for Bee Happy, and a pattern/jellyroll/background fabric for a cool star-like quilt. 

I've been picking up things here and there. The Produce Section is one of those examples and what I hauled yesterday is another. I should have enough to keep me amused through about April. Or just about anyway. 

Saturday, after coming home from the art show, I met the mailman and my box arrived with the thread order placed last week, so DW is going to be cranking most of today. Well, it depends on which of the two quilts (DW's or Bernies) are from the Oscoda group because I have to head up there tomorrow night. I'll take with me anything I can. 

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. 

More Trade Tools

There are a few little tools I've had on my wish list for the studio and I was able to pick every one of them up yesterday. 

Some new tools

Bar magnets for the belly bar to keep my new protruding belly from sliding the quilt tops in directions I don't want them to go. A measuring gauge and shorter fabric tape measure are just things I didn't have. A seam gauge (still trying to perfect that 1/4") and a new pattern by Lori Holt called Bee Happy. I still have a lot of reproductions in the studio and it's hopefully going to use most of those up. 

Some of the other items I was able to get while out and about with mom was the vanity, top, and faucet for the new studio bathroom. I checked on ordering the entry door, but didn't want to spend the coin right now on something we wouldn't be needing for quite some time.

I hear rumbles of thunder off in the distance. We knew storms were coming so I did the annual put-the-houseplants-outisde-to-be-washed thing this morning. 

Looks like a giant salad bowl

Until the threat of lightning passes, I'm off the long arm machines, but I did get Debbies pillow shams (covers?) done last night after the all-day shopping extravaganza. 

 While the storm is hanging around I'm frame ironing the backing for the next quilt up on DW and there's always (too often) administrative work I need to catch up on.