Faster Than A Speeding Bullet

Okay, so the Linda quilts are not going to take as long as I thought they were going to take. The first one (Williams) is done and the second back is being frame ironed right now. I'll get that loaded in the next half hour.

Dealing with wavering borders. Again!

No work on Rae's quilt yesterday. 

Work on Foster did occur and a couple of lessons were revisited while working on it. 

    Lesson 1) Don't assume the parts that come with a new machine are ready to quilt with, i.e. the needle. Skipped stitches taught me that. So replaced needle. And did a thorough cleaning of the race and bobbin area. 

    Lesson 2) Don't assume new is better. While I appreciated the idea of clear view on the frame, it was not holding the quilt parallel with the ground, and, I didn't have anything to put my arm/hand on while quilting. Thank goodness it wasn't an extra feature I had to pay for; it just came with the frame. 

    Lesson 3) Different thread delivery requires modifications on thread treatment. I will have to net all the large cones of thread on the new machine because the thread base sits and is designed differently. It kept catching and breaking/shredding the thread. 

Here's what was giving me these re-learned lessons...

Crazy Feather

Work on Jay consisted of two blocks, but the first row is ready to assemble. Jim yard mowed this week so I didn't have to which gave me an extra two hours of studio time. Yay!

Gas line in!

Jim also did some studio work outside. The gas line is buried and no longer worrisome to me. It made me nervous with it above ground, especially since we are into mowing season. A very productive day for us both!

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. 😊

How Is This Part of Quilting?

Thursday was spent with my mother and brother. I did get quite a few business phone calls while we were out and about, which lead to yesterday's frenzy. And lack of blogging.

Four customers in and out yesterday. Ann and Mary dropped off and picked up both. Onita dropped off. Linda picked up after I finished her quilt. In between customers I was able to get Lindas quilt finished (obviously since she picked it up last night)! And, I hit a milestone while doing it...

We actually got some sunshine to snap a pic

Look at the Lifetime Stitch Count

90 million!! My friend Nick, in Vancouver, BC has a billion, but I'm not far behind. He has a Fusion too so apparently they truly are work horses. 

What's going on here? How is this quilting related?

Thumb Drive?

Jason, from Gall Sewing and Vac, was one of the many phone calls I received Thursday and he indicated to me, that even though Bernie doesn't have the digital quilting system on him, he still has a computer interface. There is a Firmware update from Bernina I need to do and he thinks this will fix the small tension sensor problem. I'm going to try to tackle that today. 

I'm also removing Bernadettes quilt from Bernie and loading both the machines up as Jim is working today, and Mark is also here working on the drywall. It's like it's not even a Saturday but just a regular work day around the place. I think tomorrow may be a totally veg day since we've been running fast and hard the past week. 

Mice and Chipmunks

Well, it's that time of year again. Critters are trying to find a place warm to hang out during the winter months. I found acorns in the new studio and knew we had a culprit. The dogs found a chipmunk in the downspout and last night we got a mouse in the trap. 

Meanwhile, here's what's on DW today...

Lois' second quilt top

I fear this one is going to take longer to quilt than yesterdays. It's a bit smaller but there's more ruler work involved. And...every center of every square is going to have something different in it. 

Here's some of the quilting in yesterday's Chopsticks quilt...

Simple and clean

I have two customers coming over today. One to pick up and another to drop off. That too takes time away from the quilting process so I think it's safe to say I'll be working tomorrow all day. Which I kind of knew already but hoped I could beat the odds.

And Then There Were Two

A Bernina Q20 and a Handi Quilter Fusion. 

Making the max out of the min

I can't sew/piece much since I'm down to just my little HQ Stitch 210 for domestic machine accessibility, but my love is here with these big machines. I (we) have to figure something else out for the Janome Horizon and my new Elna EF1 (that also arrived yesterday) and the sewing table they usually reside in; which is currently out in the barn in pieces. 

Here's some quilting detail on the Jacqueline piece I'm working on...

Gotta love all that tiny detail work

When I finally got to working yesterday (after my installation guy left at nearly 2:00) I was only able to get about five hours into this. It should be finished up today. 

Once I was done quilting, I worked some more on the Bernina (hereinafter referred to as Bernie). While it looks pretty just sitting there, that's not what it was purchased for and I need to get myself into it quickly. This is what's on Bernie this morning...

One of mine!

Here's the plus side to this machine so far: 1) It's very quiet! 2) It's smaller and less space is required to move around it. 3) It stitches beautifully once you get the thing threaded and tensioned correctly. 4) The lighting is wonderful, even in that dark corner during night time hours. 4) It is very smooth of the frame and the stitches are perfectly spaced!

Here's the downsides I've discovered (but correctable): 1) The take-up leader was installed incorrectly so we have to turn that once this quilt is finished. 2) The dead bar is too close to the head and needs to be raised slightly. 3) I have to pin the backing onto the leaders. Purchasing an additional set of Red Snappers will solve that. 4) There is no way to accurately plumb the top of the quilt. They have channel locks available as an additional purchase so sometime in the future those will be coming. 5) It's set a little too high but I don't have mats in front of it yet to raise me up to where I need to be. I'll be looking for some of those. 6) It's not DW and I'll have to learn my way around this beautiful piece of machinery. Time and use will take care of that. 

I'll know more about the plusses and minuses once I actually get to quilt on it later tonight. So far I've just basted in and played in one tiny corner to check tension, but I'm remaining optimistic since I love to learn and this is my passion. 

Summertime

Even though we don't have a lake, per se, with the flood and with the state and feds having to inspect our dams, summer still brings the projects forward that are otherwise weather neglected. 

This keeps me outside much more and inside the studio much, much less. Unfortunately. 

But I'm still quilting here and there. This was completed this weekend.

Paulette's Frog Face

This is on the machine right now.

Not a good pic, but a better one will come

Using the HQ Swiss Cheese Template works out excellently on this particular section of border! Will continue to work ruler work and free motion on this piece today.

Bought a new truck on Tuesday. Traded in the yellow Jeep (Skittle) and now we can travel with more than two people in our vehicle. And...when DW needs to go down for service, I can actually take him and not have to rely on mom to want to take him downstate for me. 

Meet Rudy

911. Never Forget.

I did manage to complete the Vintage Christmas quilt yesterday. It was a fun process working on this piece. I didn't quilt it to death and left everything organic given the whimsical feel of the blocks within the top. Flowing ribbons throughout the borders and sashing. Simple X's in the cornerstones. Ditch quilting (mostly) in each block with a few fillers to add more whimsy.

Vintage Christmas. Pattern by Lori Holt

I started to load my next top; Long Time Gone as a storm was starting to roll in. And it was a nasty one, so I have everything laying there waiting to set needle and thread to fabric. This pattern is by Jen Kingwell.

Long Time Gone. Pattern by Jen Kingwell

I haven't a clue how I'm going to quilt this piece. There is very little negative space to do much detail work, and it is a very busy quilt. I think perhaps much of it will be ditched and I can get some gentle curves in there wherever possible. I never know until I turn DW on and start laying down thread.

Today is the 18th anniversary of the horrific 9-11 tragedy in New York and Washington DC. Let us never forget those thousands of people who were victims of such a terrible act and even more people who fought to save/assist those affected. The younger generation were just babies during this time. My eldest son was in high school, and my middle son in junior high. My youngest was just a grade schooler, yet they all remember what they were doing during the breaking news. As do I.

Quilting brings me peace and joy. For those disturbed or mentally manipulated people who think killing is the answer, I sew a stitch for you today to hope you use the common sense given to you to make the right choices in life and maybe find your inner peace through something worthwhile rather then senseless acts like 9-11.