Thunder Storms

It's been thundering to our north all morning...like literally since I got up around 7:40. I thought everything was going to miss us, but low and behold...here it comes. And it's still thundering out there.  

I can not fire up the long arm during thunder storms. Unfortunately. So I'll get some housework done (bleh) until it passes within the hour. Meanwhile, Paulette's quilt is finished and now I'm on to the next one. Here's what's on the frame this morning...

Becky B's Alaskan Fun

I'm doing a lot of ruler work in this one so it's going to take most of the day and maybe another one after today to complete it. 

When Jim got home from work yesterday, he was very kind in finishing my thread/ruler rack and here is the finished piece!

Thread in the middle...rulers on the side.

I have about 60 or so more threads to order to get her filled, but it's a great start and what a time saver when trying to match threads to customer quilts. Hmm....maybe I'll work in the studio and get that a little more cleaned out while this storm pitter-patters on the roof. 

Three More Nutcrackers

Here are the guys who were quilted last night after I got home from work.

Standing at attention

I feel like these guys are judging me while I'm quilting them.

And news flash, I think I'm changing most of my So Fine! thread out to Glide by Fil-tec.

Heres why:

It needles better. There is little (if any really) lint in my bobbin case. It's just a bit finer weight then the So Fine! (So Fine! is a 50 wt. where the Glide is a 60 wt.) DW will needle it through on a size 16 needle and doesn't need an 18 like the So Fine! Because it's a finer weight, you can fit even more on a bobbin. And, quite frankly, I have so many less thread breaks when traveling to the left on the machine with the Glide. Oh, and it's about half as much for about 1,000 yards more per cone.

I think that's plenty of reasons to switch. I would have to say the downside to switching is the Glide is a trilobal poly and gives a sheen, where the So Fine! is a matte finish. Some of these quilts don't need a sheen in them, so I'm not going to be able to switch entirely, but I'm leading myself in that direction for the bulk of my quilting here on in I think.

We'll see when I get my first shipment at weeks end from North Dakota (which, when I talked to them today, were wonderful and very helpful in their service). Jennifer was very prompt when I called and they may have a new permanent customer if everything works out. Oh, I ordered the thread from Kings Men Quilting Supply, in case you were wondering.