What the Heck?

Well, I marked the quilt I was working on Bernie and had intended to fire up the long arm, but then, squirrel. 

What's this all about?

What?

And how about this?

Ooookayyyyy???

Here's the deal. I saw a YouTube video on the Handi Quilter site a few years back. Kim and Kristina were demonstrating how to appliqué on the long arm (rather than having to do all of that on your domestic). Kristina showed a quick blip about a cathedral window she did and then the video was quickly over.

The community outcried for Kristina to do a little more in depth dive into how she did her cathedral window and about nine months later, they indeed did a video on this method of making a the one she quickly showed us previously. I have had the background for this for months, and am just finally getting into setting it up. Jim figured I needed to cut 640 'petals' for what I mapped out here. I have a little over 200 cut. 

My wrist was telling me that was enough so then I moved over to starting those strips from the three jelly rolls I purchased a few weeks ago. 

Here's where I left off around 7:30 last night...

Ready for pressing and getting together

There are fifty strips here (well, one is on the pressing table waiting). All the seams need to be pressed and then I have to join them in the order they are laying here on the cutting table. This is all I'm planning to do today other than getting things around for retreat later tonight. We can't arrive before 6:00 so I have all day to play. The weather is cooperating in that it's supposed to rain all. day. long. Welcome "real" fall. 

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.😆

Happy Flood-i-versary

While the inside of the studio is now "active" the outside still needs work. Well, so does the inside but that's for a rainy day.

Jim and I spent the whole morning working on the gable end and when it got too hot (upper 80's in the direct sun on scaffolding) we called it. Here's where we left off yesterday...

Still more to do

There was a birds nest in the overhang that, unfortunately, we had to take down. Maybe the babies will live as they were nearly ready to fly. 

Good news for today: The new long arm is supposed to be delivered. Originally I was told this morning, but later last week was informed it would be in the afternoon. So who knows? I have work to do on the other two machines so when it gets here it gets here. 

Caleb and Lia are the backers on this new machine and together we came up with his new name: Foster. 

I was also supposed to have a customer come and drop off today, but she has decided to mail the quilt/back to me instead and nobody else (save for the long arm delivery guy) expected.

And...four years ago today we officially lost our lake. It actually happened on the evening of the 19th, but it was today we realized the extent of what had just happened and the lake had reached a record low.

Not Quite Right

Disappointment is looming over me today. Took the APQS Lenni for a test drive last night and I must say I'm not impressed. The machine is loud. The pebbles looked awful. The machine fought with me the whole time so I'm going to have to pass on this machine.

Jim found a Gammill for sale up in West Branch and we're trying to get up to see it, but the guy has already had one looker and another scheduled for later today. 

We have a 1,000 things to do today to prepare for our final inspection and probably should not be chasing around looking at long arms, so if this doesn't work out, that's probably the direction we're supposed to go.

No Pics today as all that was done in the studio was long arming Kathys quilt, which isn't done. Yet.

Is It Friday Already?

Next week is a full week, right? I sure hope so. Seems like time is passing quicker as the years add up. 

Anns quilt is done. I was able to grab this pic last night before we headed to do some grocery shopping. It's hard to get a pic of dark fabric quilting because the thread only makes subtle textures. 

Just before folding 

The wool gives it that "comforter" look, doesn't it?

Working on Bernadettes quilt for the next few days on Bernie. The batting has been shipped, so frame ironing Lindas backing is happening while I do that. 

No contractors expected today. Although Mike the plumber (from Advanced Plumbing) may be around any day to connect into the septic system for the new bathroom. Hopefully not today though. 

Contacted Angela Huffman at Quilted Joy yesterday about the APQS experience I had with those awful test drives. She feels that since all three machines had Quilt Path (their version of my Pro Stitcher), which is the robotics that drive the edge-to-edge quilting, they didn't disengage their belts. They may have disengaged the motors, but if the belts are still engaged, it'll drive jerky and hard like we experienced. Now I need to contact the seller to see if she can grab a pic of both the track system as well as the head. 

Disappointed

So, APQS machines, so far, aren't impressing me. At all. The two I took for a test drive yesterday, once again, tracked like an anchor was attached to them. Pebbles looked like poo. If I can't make a decent pebble, it's a no-go. 

Back at the studio here's some of what is going into Joans quilt.... 

Speaking of pebbles!

There are some days that just aren't good quilting days Yesterday was one of those. I think I was a little discouraged about the results of our field trip. I moved on to something different. I finished my Puff quilt. Finally! 

Isn't it pretty?

Once I finished that, and while Jim was hunting and then after coming home, to yell at the Spartan football game, I put this together...

Cute baby quilt

Don't know who this will go to, but it's now in the "to quilt" pile. 

Started working on the grandkids' Christmas presents. I got all the backgrounds cut and am waiting for responses from their parents about their favorite colors. Right after I shut down the studio for the night, I did get a response from one set of parents, so I'm going to be chipping away at those throughout the next few weeks.

Traveling

I was in the truck yesterday for a little under 300 miles. Presque Isle is a haul from here and yet, I didn't really mind. I took the long(er) way up along the lakeshore of Huron and I was not disappointed in my journey. The colors were beyond words, especially in the morning with the sun reflecting off the lake waters shining up into the trees. 

Here's what's on Bernie this morning...

Something started last year

It's just a cute camping panel with more detail at the bottom. It was started at the long arm event I went to down in Cleveland about a year ago. 

Tina's quilt is still on DW and here is some of the quilting detail going into it...

LOVE doing woodgrain

I was cruising along pretty well and then I received a call from a customer who wanted to come over and drop off a quilt top. She was here for a while and shortly after she left, Christine and Larry came up from the Lansing area to fetch the t-shirt quilt I did earlier this week. The afternoon was pretty much shot for DW work. 

I moved to Bernie and finished the Angela Walters quilt-along panel...

I love doing feathers!

Now all I have to do is find some binding for it. Despite the heavy thread work in here, it's still pretty pliable because I put wool batting into it. Had this had a few other kinds of batt, I think it would probably stand up in the corner by itself. 

We have a beautiful fall day in store for us today. Jim has some outside chores he wants to tackle (transplanting bushes and trees) and I may be able to open the house (and studio) windows to enjoy our Indian summer. 

BIG DAY!

Lauren showed up a little after 10:00 this morning and guess what he's up to?

Getting Bernie's frame put together

Looking better but still not there

It's a slow process, but Bernie is at least on the frame now. Still lots to do; getting the poles put on, adding the leaders, the ruler base, and all the ratchets for the poles have to be aligned. I'll be playing tonight on this beautiful baby! 

No other quilting related activity over the weekend. The funeral service Saturday took all day. Yesterday we washed the garage door, Jim cleaned the downstairs shower head, I moved things away from the corner where Lauren is working to give him "construction" space and we binge watched movies all afternoon. 

This afternoon I'll have to put the studio back to rights, move everything back in that was taken out for construction space, and, well, actually work a little bit. 

[Not] Working in the Studio

I did zero sewing. Zero long arming. Zero hand stitching yesterday. But we were in the studio working for over five hours. 

Our original plan of receiving the new addition to the mix wasn't working out on paper. Nor were any of the other options we played with using graph paper and "mock" pieces of furniture to scale. The room is only so big and we discovered something had to give. Bye bye sewing table. 

That opens things on the south end

The new long arm wasn't going to fit in that space we just opened up. It's too long (despite getting a slightly shorter table.) over reaching into the door where the girls go out. DW and the pressing/planning table had to be moved down a few feet.

Opening up the north end for Bernie

Hopefully this will give us enough room. Now that I don't have two sewing machines set up any longer, I'm going to have to do more on the long arm.

Here's what's on the frame this morning...

This could have been done on the sit-down

I'll get this done this morning and then load the next customer quilt. I did work all day Saturday, so I'm a little ahead of myself, but we have Labor Day weekend starting Thursday night and a whole lot of neighbors who are going to be up to distract me, to include a brand new baby. I love babies!

Something of Mine?

I finished the quilt for Sandy yesterday. Here's some of the quilting that went into it... 

Making something a little pretty

Since it just so happened that I was able to complete this on a Friday afternoon, I was able to get something of my own onto the frame.

Another turtle shell

Jim and I had to run a plethora of errands this morning and when finally getting home we wolfed down a meal and are just getting started onto a normal day. 

Moseying Along

I'm having a little difficulty with my inner ears, causing a balance problem. Monday was the worst and I didn't even work in the studio. I tried. It wasn't successful. 

Yesterday was better and I made some headway on Debs quilt top. I'm past the half-way point and will continue to mosey along on it as much as possible. Here are the threads I'm putting into it...

Gotta love threads

While I was out playing ball with Hazel this morning, I heard, and then saw, a Robin. It's hard seeing them here with the snow on the ground, but apparently they know better than we do. 

New customer coming later this afternoon. More muddy weather in store today and then snow on top of it. Isn't spring great?

Bobbin Case

I was having a little trouble with the bobbin case on DW yesterday. I was either receiving no tension or complete tension stoppage on my bobbin thread. I fiddled with it for a while and got it a little better, but not stellar. I cleaned it. Readjusted things. Cleaned it again and it seemed worse. 

I powered through the addresses top and completed it's quilting, but I'm not particularly happy with the tension it gave at the end. I thought I had a spare around here and have spent the morning trying to find it with no luck. 

I've fiddled with the case a little more and it's a dead duck. New bobbin case on order and it'll be here in a few days. Meanwhile, no customer quilting until I get that rectified. UGH! It's always something isn't it?

I still have the addresses quilt to bind and the Zoology top to put together so I'll work on that most of today. Here's where I left off with the Zoology blocks last night...

Zoology Blocks

I watched a Handi Quilter video last night about all the feet we have available to us (I have them all but one) and remembered how to better utilize these feet in my quilting. It's always good to get back to basics and I came up with a couching idea for this top above. I'm going to acquire some low volume yarn and couch between each of those blocks in the seam line to give it some texture. Kids love that and I think it will set this top off.

Before the Weekend Commences

I was able to get a little sewing in yesterday in between customer drop offs and weekend festivities. 

Here is the scissor row put together in its entirety.

Sew by Row; Row 1

How's this backing for the burger (Blue Plate Special) top?

The burger backing

And my neighbors' daughter and son-in-law didn't know what I was talking about Thursday night when I mentioned my long arm (they've never been in the house I don't think). I snapped this pic so I could show them what a long arm actually is. 

DW

I'm off to visit with friends, make new friends, and watch the weekend unfold for all the kids, dogs, and adults to enjoy. Happy Labor Day!

Another Top

And here it is complete.

Blue Plate Special

This is going to be fun to quilt!

I started working on the binding afterwards for the two baby quilts finished a few weeks ago. Started is the key word in all of that.

Moms endoscopy yesterday went well. Didn't get home until mid-afternoon so just started piecing instead of any long arming.

Nick, from our And I Quilt campaign for HQ sent a stitch count call out...

56 million +

He's at 62+ million. Guess I better get my arse in gear and get a move on. The yard crap and all that happy stuff had me busy a portion of my quilting summer. That's my excuse because I really don't know what else put me so far behind him (we were near equal about six months ago). 

While I was piecing the Blue Plate Special I heard a lawn mower and assumed it was the commercial mowers across the lake getting ready for the Labor Day weekend ahead. Then I looked down at the lake (as I do about a 100 times a day) and saw a head moving.

Can you see Jim?

Not sure how he managed to get the rider down to the beach, but there he was, mowing our weeds off, in all of his glory.

Today I MUST finish long arming Jodi's top and get these two baby quilts finished. Beyond that, I just never know. There are a few patterns to work in the bin and I'll see what mood strikes me once the day progresses further. 

Games We Play

While Katie and I are working in our sewing rooms we play something called thread and bobbin chicken. How long before the thread is gone (and can we get through one more seam)? Or while long arming, can we get one more pass out of that bobbin?

Yesterday I won at bobbin chicken. Which I rarely do. 

I won!

Jane's Farm Girl Vintage is now a quilt instead of just a top and I'm hoping to deliver it to her while she's at retreat later this afternoon.

I have four tree skirts and a king still in queue. The tree skirts have been here for a while, but Pat is in absolutely no hurry to get those done, so I think I'm going to push the king ahead of the skirts and get that loaded and started today. 

Since the "thing" restrictions are being slowly lifted, Jim and I thought a visit to The Camp for fish fry night sounded like a good idea. When was the last time we actually went out on date night? Has it actually been a year? 

The quadrant three blocks are made but not yet joined. Maybe I'll tackle those if we get back at a decent hour after running errands later tonight. 

Stitch Count

Occasionally the stitch count will be checked on the long arm. Yesterday, while working on the braided top for Becky, I happened to remember a conversation the AIQ squad had about this very subject. Check this out!

50 Millon!

That's a huge amount baby! Loading a new quilt top for Jane this morning and will be working on that this morning. 

Hazel has to head to the vet later today with some type of ear problem she's having recently. And working on the String top later after the long arming. 

Finished!

Sunday:

The huge quilt is finished. Even though we played outside in the snow for a while yesterday afternoon with the neighbors, I was able, during the abysmal MSU basketball game, to get DW to stitch out the last 12 sunflower motifs. Completed at about 7:00pm.

While DW was stitching out, I cut for the rail fence blocks and started/finished piecing out all the reds. There were a few pinks and purples to do and then moved along to the blues. 

Getting a few stacked up

Jim moved the leaders to a new rail position on DW. I found that with these giant quilts, having no clamps on the one end was becoming a situation.

More centered

Monday:

Calls made to: 

Gall. Sewing machine done and Ben will pick up. 

Becky. About her quilt top/backing. 

Tina About the cancer quilt being done and when that was going to be picked up. 

Cleaned long arm and then loaded this top.

Becky's Teapot Top

The reason I had to contact Becky about her backing is because it is nearly as nice as the top.

There are even two embroidered teapots under here somewhere

I don't know if Linda is going to stop by this morning to pick up Paulette's quilts or not. We received another bit of snow last night and I think the east side of the state is still getting some. 

Monsters, Inc.

Happy Halloween...if you're one of those people who get into it. We used to. We don't anymore simply because we live out here in the boonies and we get zero trick-or-treat traffic. So, what's the point?

Had to call Gall Sewing yesterday morning as I started out long arming. I changed DW's needle and he started being naughty. Jason suggested a few things, but it didn't work. I changed a few things (tightened the tension and moved the needle position back to about 6:29) and he started working just fine. And then the customers starting showing up. In droves. 

I thought picking up completed quilts was all that was happening but five new tops came to join me here by noon. Mom and I had to get pizza in the afternoon so only evening quilting was accomplished, which was minimal. 

Today is the MSU/UofM football game (despite the Covid crap) and I hope to get more done on The Monster during all of that since I was only able to get row two completed before I got too tired (there are eight rows total BTW). 

I did get another River Rock month done last night after long arming.

River Rock Blocks

These are going together easily, yet labor intensive enough. They are pretty, even though this isn't my color palette. Mom and are on the total opposite end of the value spectrum. I like brights and stark contrast. Mom likes these...muted earthy tones done with batiks. 

Down and Back

My long arm, DW, goes downstate every year for a spa day. Yesterday was that day. The dealership where he was purchased (thanks a million Gall Sewing and Vac) will slot me in for the day so two four-hour trips aren't necessary. 

Mom and I found plenty to do while the long arm was being tuned up. We are from Lansing after all and know where to go and how to get there. 

I did warn mom shop hopping was in my plans and if she didn't want to tag along I would understand. She was a trooper and never complained about my lingering and gabbing with long time friends.

After Gall Sewing, we headed to Country Stitches. After lunch we went down to Charlotte to The Hen House. Purchases were made from all of three; we have to keep these people in business or it'll come down to just few choices rather than the plethora of choices we have now. The virus thing isn't helping so I think our contributions are key. 

Today I'll take DW for a test drive on something small and get him ready for the six or so customer tops sitting here waiting patiently. 

A Quick Decision

I had started to clean the studio a bit yesterday morning. And then I cleaned some more. And then I began slightly organizing. I realized, I really, (really) needed to organize way more than I had started. 

After our lunch yesterday, and our traditional Saturday afternoon movie, we started tearing into the studio. It received a thorough scrubbing, dusting, vacuuming, dissecting, purging, organizing, and yes, rearranging! The only thing that didn't get cleaned were the windows themselves (although the sills certainly did). 

My new layout!

Getting Ready for the Camera

The reason all of this was done was twofold: 1) It just needed it. I hadn't spent any time actually getting my elbows dirty in there and it was time. 2) Handi Quilter is coming in about three weeks to film. They would have been appalled at the condition had they looked close enough to all the dust bunnies I was raising in there. 

Funnily enough, I do run the dust buster in here nearly everyday. But those dumb bunnies like to travel and hide in the most ridiculously weird places. And, this is the room where Hazel goes in and out to her pen. She drags in a little bit of stuff too.

I'm excited to be working in here today to see how everything pans out. The only concern we really have is the iron cord running from anywhere in the room now to the middle of it, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

I do actually have a quilt on the frame (which I started in the morning before all of this). Here's Paulettes little whale of a whale top.

Just keep swimming!

So now the long arm faces east instead of north and I'll have a grand view of our "lake" once the trees start to lose their leaves. We continue to try to new layouts every once in a while to make the most of a room that actually needs to be about four feet wider and longer. But I am NOT complaining! I know of quilters who make magnificent tops and quilts in a postage stamp-sized room. I'm thankful for everything I have here and don't take this marvelous space for granted. A HUGE thank you for my man for helping in a project he simply detests to do. Without him, I'd still probably be working on this.