Today is the Day!

Say good-bye to Foster...

Getting ready to leave

I really, really, really tried to like this machine. And he was great the first week he was here and the first week he came back after getting serviced. But then he started slamming, crunching, and started having electrical issues. I didn't feel like we were gelling all that well.

Marty is on his way to replace Foster as "we speak" and I'm so excited. 

Yesterday was spent on Ronda's quilt. After shutting down around 5:00 I had to move some more stuff in the studio to make way for today's arrival. I also had to prep backing and fabric swatches for class tomorrow. Once that was done, three more Pineapple blocks were made. 

In amongst the machines leaving (DW is going down with Foster for service) and the machine arriving, I'll be finishing Rondas quilt as I only have the two sets of borders and the side sashing to finish. I could have done that last night, but I didn't want to dive into a whole new quilt while the guys were here asking questions and making disrupting noises.

I've gotten to where I'm getting pretty regimented and while I'm happy about Marty's arrival, it does disrupt my day and I need to focus when I'm starting a new quilt top so I thought it prudent to keep to what I know for the work I'm doing while they are here. 

Yesterdays weather started out with about an inch or more of snow. That changed to freezing snow/rain. Near lunch that changed over to thunderstorms, then it rained and was very windy the rest of the day. Ahhh...spring in Michigan. Another windy day today, but the sun is peeking in and out of the clouds. No precipitation is expected so the guys will be dry while running in and out of the studio. Can't wait to show pics of the studio all put back together tomorrow!

Life...and Death

We were privileged to have a weekend with family starting on Friday afternoon. Life is precious and surrounding yourself with family and friends who love you is important. 

A fun lunch

Beautiful autumn day

And then Monday comes and I learn about a fellow Handi Quilter Inspiration Squad member who passed away last night. That's two from our small group in five years. Both from cancer. Both too young!

Wrap yourself around splendors and good things. Cherish each and every moment. Be thankful every morning when you awake somebody isn't hurting because you have left this earth. Overlook the small things and embrace them instead. 

RIP Scott Hayes for you shall be missed dearly. 

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. 😊

Welcome Foster!

We have the final piece put in place in the new studio. Well, equipment-wise anyway. There's still work that needs to happen structurally but as far as my end goes, I'm all set. 

Here's the new (and final) addition...

His name is Foster

I had never seen this particular machine before (though worked on another Forte in Utah). I didn't test drive it. I bought it sight unseen but was confident in my dealer and moreover, the Handi Quilter name. I loaded him up as soon as Jim and I got him all together and other than getting adjusted to button locations on the handlebars, it'll be a smooth transition from machine to machine. 

Moves like glass on his rails

This was my very first attempt at using him. Not bad? I wanted to play more, but we had a nasty thunderstorm heading our way and frankly, with all the excitement of him coming, I was pooped out. And I feel like I'm coming down with something. AGAIN! Of course, we visit the grandkids and I come home with something yucky.

Foster was supposed to come with a ruler base, but that did not happen so I need to contact my dealer about it. And it looks like, since this machine was a floor demo, he was pretty much stripped of some of his external frame parts; side clamps and batting bar. His "welcome" box had only some brief instructions and four bobbins. Far less than what he was supposed to come with. But most of that stuff I already have around here. 

There are two things I need to order for him that were not included in his purchase: a) Red Snappers. I will NOT pin to my leaders (too clumsy), and b) Anti-Fatigue mats. I don't absolutely need those right now, but will need them in the near future. 

Jim and I did not work on the gable siding last night because we were putting Foster together and then he got called out on a "smells gas" call. And, again, storms coming in.

Here's what I'll start with today on DW...

Cheryl's second quilt

This is going to get a free hand free motion hook swirl. DW drove all of yesterday on those individual blocks in her first quilt so I'll give the computer a break. Plus, I'm faster. 

No customers or deliveries expected today except maybe a roll of Hobbs Batting; not a customer, just a delivery.😆

Lots to do Today

First and foremost is getting Lois' quilt finished before anything else happens. DW was being troublesome yesterday so I fought with him most of the afternoon and early evening. Everything I would try wouldn't solve the problem. The last thing I tried last night seemed to result in a better stitch quality and I'm hoping I finally stumbled upon the fix. 

Here's one block in her quilt...

Each center is quilted differently

After Lois' quilt is done this morning, Jim and I have to head out to do errands. I have to pick up a top/backing at Pieces from a customer, we have to get groceries and other building things. Once we get home and wolf down some lunch, I have to start packing for retreat.

There are a number of things I need to do on stuff before I take them along so I'll get all that completed. The nice thing about retreating at The Springs is I only need to take a few things each day and can bring them home later that night and not have to clutter up my work space there. 

While I'm doing all that, I'll be frame ironing the backing for the next quilt to get onto DW and eventually (before I leave) load the top and batting. Happy Saturday!

Spa Time

DW is heading to Lansing on Friday morning to spend some time getting all cleaned and fixed. He's running fine. He just has some electrical issues and limited response on a few of his buttons that need to be addressed. So, I'm on a time crunch with him this week. 

I started on Bernie yesterday...

AWESOME texture!

Once the backing was frame ironed I switched over to DW. Here's what he's wearing today...

Janice's Irish Chain

I'm about half-way done with this one and I'll continue on now that we are back from Midland after getting ortho consults on Jim's knee. Which isn't as damaged as we originally were told on Friday. Yay!

Here's some of the quilting going into it...

This is a "clean" looking quilt so I'm keeping it clean in the quilting

After this one is done, then so is DW for a few weeks. They'll have him down in Lansing all of next week and then we have reunion, so won't be able to fetch him until around the 11th or 12th. I'll continue working on smaller-sized customer quilts on Bernie, but all the big ones are on hold for now. 

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. 

Lucy's Social Schedule

It's pretty bad when the 13 week-old pup has a better social life than me. She has a groom today at noon and a vet appointment at 4:00. The groom is to introduce her to the grooming noises/process (since she will be getting groomed throughout her life) and the vet visit is for her final puppy boosters.  

Meanwhile, back at the lake, here's what's on the frame this morning...

Kathy's Ribbon top for her granddaughter

This, of course, is one of those hurry-up tops in the queue. The ribbons are being ditched with invisible thread, which is a fun little beast to deal with in of itself. Especially on the long arm. Here's some of the detail of the quilt I finished yesterday...

Some quilting detail

And what's this thing?

What the heck?

This is an echo foot. This particular one is for echoing exactly 1/2" around what I want to echo. It came in very handy for all the work around Ila's quilt and thank you Handi Quilter for coming up with these!

I'm going to be slipping bits and pieces of Kathy's quilt into Lucy's social schedule today and hopefully get it done tonight after Jim returns home from work. 

Great Day!

Look what finally showed up yesterday in the mail!

New bobbin case!

I've already played with the tension and ran a test run this morning. This bobbin needs to have the tension a  little less than the previous case, so that'll take some getting used to; a constant vigil until we relearn.

Because our mail does not arrive until later in the afternoon (if at all), I started this little top (because I found something else on the shelves). 

The Way Home

I'm not working with the actual yardage requirements and am actually going to do this through a fat quarter bundle Jim bought for me about two years ago from Pieces so mine will look a little different.

Here's the top I finished yesterday morning before starting to cut for this new project...

The United States

While I was cruising around on YouTube about a quilt a co-Handi Quilter Inspiration Squad member makes entirely on the frame (I'm very intrigued about this and need to try one) I stumbled upon the quilt our Inspiration Squad made for the Handi Quilter folks...

My blocks is right there in the bottom, right hand corner

This is a pic of a pic of a video, so it didn't come out very clear, but very cool nonetheless. 

The weather today is supposed to (probably) be our last summer-like day for the year. We seldom get near the 80's this far into September, but we are today so very little time will be spent in here this afternoon. Need to take advantage of the sun and warmth before we start getting out the turtle necks and sweatshirts.

Water

Since our flood 9 months (has it only been that long?) our water quality has begun to deteriorate. Rapidly. Our softener and R/O system can't seem to keep up with the ever changing extremely low water table. And then we had a power outage two weeks ago and that seems to have really sent the softener into a tailspin. 

This is my sterling silver ring after noticing last week the rotten egg smell and the high salinity when rinsing out my mouth after brushing my teeth. 

Water issue

Culligan will be here Thursday morning.

Did not do any long arming this weekend AT ALL! Had my top draped over the machine admiring it before folding it up today to put it away until a backing is obtained.

But I did do some long arm communication with the AIQ squad via Zoom yesterday. That was fun. But we are all feeling a little neglected and shoved aside from the HQ folks. I know "the thing" has a lot to do with it, but an occasional bit of communication would be stellar.

I did do a little sewing though while Jim was called on out Saturday. Another 10 string blocks and a new layout. And since this layout pretty much calls for an 8 x 8 setting, I'm deducing the blocks number to 64 rather than the 100 originally planned. It's going to be a nice size quilt top even with the reduction since the blocks are finishing at 10 1/2". 

New string layout

I'll put them together in 4 x 4 quadrants, but these are not nearly as strict in their placement. Clearly. 

Loading a new customer quilt today. I don't know which one but there will be a pic tomorrow of who was next in line to get completed. 

Dear Jane

I think there's a quilt pattern or fabric pattern out there called Dear Jane. 

Janes first quilt was completed yesterday and the second one loaded and started. Here's what's on the frame this morning...

Janes second granddaughter quilt

DW started this, but then he was having some issues after some adjustments I made. I decided I could mimic what the stitch pattern was and decided to do this one myself. 

The adjustments were changing needle size. And angle. And that wasn't the right thing to do. Skip, skip, skip. DW prefers a larger needle no matter the thread size. Period. He does NOT do anything less than a size 19. Period (I only went down one size to an 18). He wasn't having anything to do with it so we went back to our regularly scheduled programming and now he's fine again.

What made me change was my dealer. He said the machine is timed differently when using a high-speed needle, which I have switched over to. Because, let's face it, I quilt fast. I had to get some more needles and my dealer kind of ripped me about using these high speed needles "because that's not how the machine gets timed when I bring it in". Well, he works fine with them. 

I called Handi Quilter to question the validity of this new information and the tech said it wasn't really that big of a deal. Then the tech told me that my needle MUST be positioned at the 6:30 position. NOT 6:28-6:25 where it sometime is. I moved it and DW still seems to be stitching fine...as long as he has that size 19 high speed needle in there. 

That was an hour or more out of my afternoon yesterday. Adjustments can only be made one at a time and it takes a while to determine the cause of issues when they start happening. 

After Jim got home, I was pooped. I had already quilted one quilt, started another, cleaned the studio while the first was stitching out, and a plethora of other small things were accomplished in here as well (moving and organizing my long arm bobbins, getting Jay back set up, etc.). And, I think I'm getting my grandsons cold because I wasn't feeling all that great. Still not feeling that well this morning.

I did get these laid out on the wall though. I had to do them by quadrants because it's going to be a rather large top when I get it all put together.

Laying out the Rail Fence 

Finishing Janes second quilt today. Loading another quilt for tomorrow. Piecing these quadrants together is on my radar for the day.

Reason Number 412...

...why measuring your borders is essential. 

Puckers and Tucks WILL occur

Enough on that. 

Let me give a shout out to the Handi Quilter Glide foot, without which, would not be able to ditch some of these seams.

Bulk can't beat me with the Glide foot

Here are all the Gravity blocks cut and ready to be assembled. Oh wait, I did that last night. 

Background blocks ready to go

Tonight, after long arming, I can start to put blocks together to make sections.

Virtual Retreat

Word was received, late yesterday afternoon, the video/photo session with Handi Quilter next week, has been postponed. Again.

At least the studio has been cleaned, but now I have to continue to be diligent in keeping it that way. Which may be hard after this weekend. 

Katie and I are attending a virtual retreat beginning on Friday morning and continuing throughout the weekend. Lots of fabric, thread, and general mayhem that comes with retreating has to be kept in check I'm afraid.

Continuation ensues with the large customer quilt I'm working on the long arm. And, the rows are now being sashed on the Nova Star. 

Adding the sashing to the Nova Star blocks

The vertical sashing pieces are pretty easy to get in. The biggest hurdle is keeping the blocks in order and labeling them properly so they stay that way.

The hard part is getting the setting stones picked and built into the horizontal sashing. That will come maybe later today if Joanie's quilt gets finished this morning. 

And I want to load the Bear Paws to work on over the next few days/during retreat. I don't know if long arming is the actual thing to be doing during a retreat, but I remember a few times when I was at a "real" retreat, had thought long arming would be a nice change of pace. Maybe I'll get something on the sit down machine to quilt (also). Hmmm???

Lost Packages and Channel Locks Rock!

MSQC is one of the most attentive companies I've had the pleasure to work with. A package ordered nearly a month ago has been bouncing around the country and was inadvertently sent to our old house. Our fault, not theirs. They are making sure it gets re-routed once they receive it there.

A new customer dropped off a little wall hanging a few days ago and wanted irregularly spaced grid work put into the piece. Hurray channel locks on my HQ Fusion!

Happy Halloween!

Isn't this cool?

Prior to working this piece yesterday afternoon, I finished Paulette's third quilt. Again, my HQ Fusion and the Pro Stitcher come to my aid.

Yummy candy motif

This quilt is going to The Springs (she thinks) for room redecorating there.

Today, I get to actually drive the Jeep. Another package from MSQC (and our error again) ended up downstate and I have to go fetch it at the post office. No, they won't forward it. I even offered to pay but I could be some deranged person wanting to heist 3 yards of white and black fabric. LOL!

Winters Grip

Yep, today we wake up to about a half inch of snow. And, it seems to be an ongoing thing with squalls intermittent with sunshine throughout the day. And the wind is howling...again.

It's a great day to quilt! Here's what's on the frame now.

Barnyard and other animal friends

In keeping with the animal theme, I've included a few more in the setting squares.

Quack!

Bzzzz

The additional critters are done with the Handi Quilter Pro Stitcher, but the rest of the quilt is being free motion quilted. This is the quilt being sent to the reunion for auction this upcoming summer.

I also found myself working on my Jacqueline de Jong pieces last night after helping with more deck work. I'm getting way low on some of the batiks going into the piece. So much so production has stopped until I can get to a quilt shop to obtain more.

And where in the #$^& is my MSQC orders placed over three weeks ago? Seriously, I could have driven out there and back as long as they are taking. But I understand they are probably swamped with all the folks making masks, so I get it, and patience is relevant here. Maybe today?

Coasting Along

Many out there are having a hard time, at this point, of entertaining themselves in their own homes. I find it odd. We buy these multi thousand/million dollar homes and we can't stand to be in them for two weeks? Does this sound a little silly to anybody else? I love my home and the minute I leave it I can't wait to get back to it.

My situation, I know, is much different than the masses. I work from home, so going out isn't a daily regiment for me. Maybe this will identify to people they need to find a passion (painting, drawing, writing, whatever.) they can do if/when this situation we're finding ourselves in ever happens again.

Obviously, quilting is mine. I blazed through a custom piece in one day yesterday because I was having so much fun. Here's one of the blocks.

One of the blocks in Paulette's quilt

And, like usual, I loaded the top too close to the leaders and had to [once again] go through my rulers to find one that would assist in the crosshatched border.

Handi Quilter 2 x 10 Ruler is the only one that would work here.

I love my Handi Quilter rulers! Today, I'll be using them again in this piece as well as some Angela Walters free motion meandering feathers, ribbon candy, wavy lines, and others.

Mickey's Quilt of Valor

This one is going to be a challenge. Mickey actually wants to see the quilting throughout the quilt and has chosen a medium gold thread to run through the whole piece. I better be on my A-Game today because any (and I mean any) and all mistakes will be seen with that dark blue background.

Spa Day

Or more like probably a week instead of just a day. Not for me though. It's for the long arm. DW is WAY overdue for a PM. He should have went down in September and I've put it off. Now the machine is misbehaving and he needs to go see Mike.

Mike is an amazing Handi Quilter tech located at Gall Sewing in Lansing. Mike knows this machine intimately and will get it purring like he was previously. It looks like it's a timing issue and that's okay. It's better than an encoder issue (which I originally thought it might be).

This means no long arming for a few days.

Skipped stitches

An even bigger skip

And this is when you know you're machine isn't feeling its best and should probably go see your tech if you've ruled out just about everything else.

Friendship

I am very fortunate to have about four or five close friends; those people you can tell just about anything to.

And I am blessed to have many other friends whom I can share quilting pitfalls and accomplishments with. Sarah McNary is one of the new AIQ friends. You can see her on the latest HQ live talking/teaching/inspiring about color theory. Which, until this week, was a yawner subject to me.

Sarah talked about the color wheel (don't yawn until you watch her video...seriously). She made one and although didn't out-and-out challenge us to make one, there was a challenge where I was concerned. Here's mine in the works yesterday.

A very fun, but very challenging project

This was probably one of the hardest things I've had to do in a while. I could go on for hours about what it took just to prep the underlayment.

Here's another project I've always wanted to tackle in my quilting world.

Double Wedding Ring Wall Hanging 

This was a class on Craftsy/Bluprint by Jackie Kunkle. I wanted to see if this was a direction I would head in with Lia and Caleb's wedding quilt. It. Is. Not. It took three days over the weekend to get a 30" wall hanging pieced and while it's beautiful, I'm just not going there for their quilt. Next option.

Work yesterday, work today and then tomorrow I hope to get some long arming started on the new Dresden a customer brought over last Wednesday.

Sunny Sampler

Sunny is finally getting off the frame later. Work this afternoon, so I don't know if it'll be today yet, but tomorrow for sure.

My pics aren't wanting to load this morning...maybe because it's 14 degrees outside and everything is frozen.

Meanwhile, here is DW in action doing the cross hatching on the tops of the pillows I made for everybody at work.

DW making cross hatches

 Okay, photos have decided to thaw out.

Sunny Sampler

This was a fun piece to quilt. Lots going on and a few of the blocks were just pieces of a panel so there were no seams to have to deal with. Not sure yet who this is for or whether I'll just post on the sale site.