Sending Love Your Way on Valentines Day!

Linda's quilt is coming off the frame today after I deal with this...

Not sure what's going on here????

I have to change out the belly bar afterwards because the lighter bar used to hold the tops isn't up to my leaning on it. 

While I'm frame ironing for the next quilt going onto DW, I'll be working on this one on Bernie...

Quails anyone?

Isn't this just so darn pretty? I love to work on appliqué quilts. So much detail and I can see what the quilt maker has put into them while doing so. 

After working on Lindas quilt yesterday, and after meeting a brand new customer (we hit it off right off the bat), I headed to the new studio to repaint the north wall. See the difference?

New color on the left. Much better!

Jim was on the phone with a new insurance company when I started the painting and after he finished he headed to the bathroom to prime...

Priming isn't fun

We have snow in our near future, so they say. Meanwhile, Happy Valentines Day!💘

Well Hello Thar!

It's been over a week, but since mom seems to be on the mend somewhat, I'm free to work in here a few days this week. Today is one of those days. I did manage to get a little quilting in here and there throughout the week but not enough to really report on a daily basis.

The Heart top is quilted and being picked up today. What. A. Mess!

Getting things straight

I did get some good news while mom was convalescing; Pieces of Thyme got their occupancy permit and were moving on Sunday. This was a great opportunity for Jim to deal with mom issues because I needed a break. Here are a few photos of all of the fabric and shelves we painstakingly moved. 

The shelves starting to come in

Yummy fabric!

The day started out well enough, but then Mother Nature decided to intervene and throw some rain at us. At that point, we were just hustling to get all the fabric in the new store before we got thoroughly drenched. I wish I could assist in setting up the new shop but I'm so buried here. 

Here's what I'm working on this morning...

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

This is a panel Diane said "No Hurries" to, but obviously it needs to be done for the holidays. We finally have some sunshine in our day and no appointments outside the house, just one drop off and one pick up here is all. 

Accident Day

Not a car accident or anything remotely Earth shattering as all that, but ding-yourself-up-accident day definitely happened. Those dumb Japanese Lady Beetles (affectionally known as bean bugs) started coming in the house yesterday. Time to get out the dust buster and keep on top of them; banged my shin up pretty good on the chair I was using to get at them.

Once I doctored myself up from that I finished quilting Scrap Petals and took it off the frame. I built the binding and was putting that on when I decided to sew through my finger, nail and all. It's kind of interesting to see a needle sticking through your finger and then having to go find the needle nose pliers to pull the damn thing out. 

But I did manage to get the binding on and the Scrap Petals is complete. 

Ready to use

Frog and Owl are also completed and hanging in the bathroom.

Who?

Jim brought the mail into the studio right in the middle of my needle-in-the-finger crises so I wasn't able to check it out until later. This came yesterday! So excited!

This is the smaller one measuring 46" x 52"

I wish I would have paid attention when I purchased this because I really wanted the bigger size. But this will make a decent throw when I border it out. The pattern is jelly roll friendly but I don't have one with 42 varying colors. I think I may make it a little scrappy and pull from my stash instead. Hmmm???

Putting a customer quilt on who has already bound the quilt and needs me to re-quilt it from her previous quilter who messed it up. I'll have to baste temporary leaders on it first to get it loaded and then see what I can do from there.

Another Surgery

Albeit it was a small one, Jim had to have a tendon cut on his other foot yesterday (opposite the ankle reconstruction) to relieve a hammer toe issue. This occupied most of our afternoon. I did manage to get the AQS quilt quilted before we left as well as two pillow tops to match.

Pillow tops to match the quilt

I'll often do this with orphan or test blocks to get some use of the fabric in a positive way.

After we returned home from his little surgery, I constructed the flying geese that will be used for the border for the heart project I'm working on. 

Flying geese for the border

Today is a quiet day around the "lake" so a great opportunity to work in here most of the day. I want to get the AQS quilt off, bound, and the pillow backs made to prepare for forms. I'd like to get the heart quilt top completed (great, another UFO to add to the stack of tops needing quilting) or maybe I'll just get it quilted???? 

I have to run a finished quilt over to a customer later this afternoon but that won't take up too much of the day with plenty left for me to enjoy the studio. 

Life and Errands

Life: Cleaning the house top to bottom which took most of the morning. Lunch. Jim decided we needed to get groceries afterwards and by the time we got home it was past the long arming hour.

I did do some piecing on the new project that was started a few days ago. This is where I left off last night...

See what I mean about the 1980's similarities?

One of the places Jim visited before he got home yesterday morning was the sign company who made the new sign for the quilting business. It will duplicate as our "lake" sign once I retire from long arming. Here it is sitting in wait for us to get it mounted at the end of the driveway. 

The new sign

It's gloomy today and expected to stay that way so I hope to finish the long arming on the AQS top while drawing lines on squares for the next step in the heart top above. 

Hard To Get Motivated

When the weather is cold. Gloomy. Rainy. Windy. The body just wants to lay around and read and eat Jelly Belly's.  I had to really power through yesterday to get over this autumn hurdle. Once I power through for a few days, my body seems to adjust and we're off and running again. 

Today will prove to be day two since the weather is a duplicate of yesterday.

Ghost stitching and piano keys

Linda's Heart Quilt

This was worked on yesterday. And, despite my lack luster motivation, was completed last night. 

This is on the machine today.

Linda's Sunshine top

This is the third "kind" of these I've done in the past, oh, two months. The panels have all been the same, but each top has come in with different exterior portions outside of the panel. Which makes it kinda the same, but kinda different.

While checking e-mails this morning, AQS put out a blog on a lady who did a really cool spider web table topper and offered the pattern up free. I checked into it and it doesn't look too awfully daunting. I may end up starting that after my work day wraps up in here. We'll see how I feel about it as the day progresses. 

In the Groove

I must have been really rested yesterday. Much was done in the studio.

Joanie's Christmas Quilt with a Minky backing

The minky backing was causing some slide issues yesterday. The batting kept wanting to shift. Which, in turn, kept causing the top to want to shift. Which was causing puckers near the edge of the borders. But we came to and understanding (that silly Minky and I) and got it done by mid-afternoon.

Luann's Big Ole Heart

This wasn't the next one to hit the frame (pictures do not load in the order I send them for some reason), but rather the last one. The table runner below was the next one up. But this big heart has been basted in and is ready to go first thing today. 

Tristan's Christmas Pillow

I'm making these On-The-Go Travel Pillows (pattern purchased at Pieces in Thyme and created by Fishsticks Designs) for each of the older kids for Christmas. This handle turned out on the correct side this time. It was my error with the previous attempt over last weekend. So, apparently I can no longer read.

A Ghostly Tablerunner for Luann

If you look close enough, there are ghosts quilted into the runner. What you can't see (and it didn't want to photograph) is there is glow in the dark thread for the ghosts. Every house is ditched also as are the stars in the center. 

Today I will continue on with the Big Ole Heart and maybe make another pillow for Hannah. While DW was stitching out Joanie's rows yesterday, I was able to start researching all the addresses I've lived in my life. I need to get a hold of my mother and my father both to fill in some of the blanks, but I think I have enough to start making the Colette version of Paulettes houses/memory quilt.