Ever Have One of Those Days?

Yep, shoulda stayed in bed yesterday. Between the frigid cold temps and wind, the snow, and the studio mishaps, it was all telling me to something else yesterday.

I was working the very last border on the Judy Niemeyer quilt; doing the last channel at the bottom and then all went to hell...

Broken Needle

Since I've had broken needles before, this wasn't the issue. The unfamiliar grinding noise and the error message I received on the screen was the issue. I popped open the throat plate and found this...

That little metal thing is supposed to be straight

Not only was the little metal thing not straight, but it was hitting the bobbin race. I unscrewed it and straightend it out. Did a little adjusting. Put in a new needle and hand cranked it down to see if it was going to "time" correctly. 

Nope. Not even close. The needle is coming down on top of the bobbin race and not even connecting with the thread loop. I threw the machine completely out of time. Meaning, it has to take a trip down to Lansing. UGH!

And I was dealing with this too...

Lovely straight border

How are you supposed to do a straight channel in this? Well, I was done working on DW so had to strip the quilt already loaded onto Marty and move this quilt over to him so I could finish this thing once and for all...

Moving hour

Ever try to off load and reload a super king-sized quilt before? Jim was out working on his workshop so I didn't want to bother him to assist and therefore just handled it myself. I WAS going to get this quilt done yesterday no matter the problems. 

And, by 6:00, the quilt that was on here was reset and this one was removed. I don't have a pic of the one I'll be working on today on Marty because, well, it was off the frame for most of the afternoon yesterday trying to get the one above completed. 

But, I'll be working on Marty all day today. This customer is concerned about me getting her quilt done for the holidays and I have to focus on it to meet the holiday deadline. And, of course, it's not a small one. Not huge like the last one, but not small either. 

Do You Remember?

Your parents told you something fun and exciting was going to happen and then because of weather, work, or car issues, it didn't happen. Remember how let down you felt? Yep, that's kind of what happened yesterday.

First, Gall Sewing and Vac showed up with their van to deliver Marty, his frame, and to take Foster away. Oh, and to take DW down for servicing. Well, three of out of four isn't bad.

Foster is gone, DW is heading for repairs, and the frame is up...

He's here!

The new frame is up. 

See the box on the left. That's Marty in that box. But when it was opened I heard the installer utter an "Uh, oh". 

No, no, no! No uh oh's! 

Apparently, the head wheels come with the Bernina frame. I did not get the Bernina frame because a Q20 only has an affordable frame up to 10'. I need 12' so we found a Grace frame that would work. Grace does not provide the head wheels. Obviously.

And Gall forgot to include them in the shipment. sigh

When I go to pick up DW next week (hopefully, Tuesday) I'll be getting Marty's head as well with his wheels attached. Meaning, we have to set him and adjust him on the frame ourselves. Not to mention, the "helper" the installer was to have with him had "fish poisoning" and couldn't make it. 

Guess who had to help unload and reload that box truck?

Since this was such a CF and after talking to Jason on the phone at Gall, we decided it would be okay for me to run down and get both of the machines (and them not have to come back up to finish their job) in trade for the ruler base for Marty (a $300 option). I don't think Jason was even told about the helper not showing up for work. I'll be mentioning that during my visit. 

All in all, I probably couldn't have played with the machine last night anyway. I was up early yesterday (oh and today too) and was feeling it around 5:00. The leaders that came with the Grace frame did not have the rod sleeve sewn in for my Red Snappers so I had to sew a double line down each 12' leader (three of them) which took over an hour. 

I had to put the studio back together, and Andrew called in amongst all of that. It was nearly 7:00 before we finally shut down the studio for the day. I was frustrated, let down, exhausted, my feet were killing me, and yet I was not in a bad mood because I'm one step closer to getting this studio perfect. 

Among all of that, the electrician showed up to figure out why we didn't have electricity in the garage (which meant no door opener and the chest freezer (which is full) was not working). Oh, and the Bellers' facia was flapping in the high winds so Tim was out to deal with that as well as help my long arm tech pick up styrofoam and cardboard he stupidly left outside the box truck when putting the long arm frame together. 

Today is going to be better! I'm teaching a one-on-one long arm class here. I have no other customers coming. I am down to one machine (Bernie) which isn't good but I won't feel overwhelmed next week to work 13 hour days, and we'll be using that today for class. Oh, and it's sunny and not blasting wind. 

Interesting?

This pic may be of no interest to anyone...

The boys are naked

...but to me this is two blank canvases I get to work with over the week. Of course I know what's being loaded. I have to take measurements prior to loading the backing (don't want what happened last week to happen again) before getting them frame ironed, but a lot goes into a quilt already at this point.

I've measured and cut the batting. I've selected threads. The machines have been cleaned and needles changed. The work orders have been gone through (again and again) to make sure I've followed all the directions we've discussed, and the tops have had threads removed from the seams (what I've found so far anyway). And, I haven't even put needle to thread and fabric yet. 

But soon.

I had a drop off and a pick up yesterday but not expecting anybody today. 

Almost Empty

The boys are almost empty this morning. Still frame ironing both backings so here's what's on the machines today...

Bernie

DW

It'll be a mystery on what I load later this morning. Meanwhile, I shall do some long arm and studio cleaning while I'm waiting for these guys to dry. 

In the outside world, I noticed all the wonderful quilting sales going on right now. Have you taken advantage of any of those? Unfortunately, I can not this year due to the huge project out there on the south side of the house. But that's okay. It would be fun to hear if any of you are taking advantage of the amazing sales!

I'm A Girl...I Can Change My Mind

It's like we have a license to change our minds about something. Take the new studio for instance. We were going to tear out the window in the spare bedroom and use it for the new bathroom. But that would require a repair of the bedroom wall and removal of construction materials in the new bathroom. I've decided to just leave it in there. 

Yesterday I had every intent to unload Janice's Flamingo and load Tina's Snowman quilt to make sure I got it done in a timely manner. After I blogged and thought about it, decided to just work Janices quilt anyway since I knew I wouldn't get Tina's done in a day. It doesn't need to be done yesterday, but before her Christmas open house in a few weeks. 

Here's some of the quilting that went into Janices Flamingo...

Feathers in the Flamingo

Now Bernie is sporting the snowman while I'll chip away at tomorrow and however long it takes me to get this quilted...

This is so stinking cute!

And quilting on Bernie wasn't the only quilting I did. While frame ironing the backing for Tina's quilt, I was stitching out the five blocks in Martha's quilt with the Pro Stitcher, and while that was stitching out, I was taking apart Avery's turtle to begin fixing it. 

When everything was said and done, the turtle was fixed, the Snowman is already ditched and ready to be quilted, and Martha's quilt is nearly ready to advance once I get in the oak leaf border on each side. We worked late and didn't come in until around 8:00 last night. Jim just about has the furring strips completed and we're hoping to get the second wrap around the building before Tyvek Tapping the seams. 

But Jim is working on this for me this morning before I even get started in there...

Lowering and re-leveling Bernie

The machine fluctuates in level-ness as the seasons change. And I've noticed some shoulder pain lately having to reach across to take advantage of his throat space. And, I'm shrinking. I've lost about an inch over the last two years, so Jim lowered the machine for me a notch. Now he's level with DW. Should make work much easier! Thank you my wonderful man!

More Trade Tools

There are a few little tools I've had on my wish list for the studio and I was able to pick every one of them up yesterday. 

Some new tools

Bar magnets for the belly bar to keep my new protruding belly from sliding the quilt tops in directions I don't want them to go. A measuring gauge and shorter fabric tape measure are just things I didn't have. A seam gauge (still trying to perfect that 1/4") and a new pattern by Lori Holt called Bee Happy. I still have a lot of reproductions in the studio and it's hopefully going to use most of those up. 

Some of the other items I was able to get while out and about with mom was the vanity, top, and faucet for the new studio bathroom. I checked on ordering the entry door, but didn't want to spend the coin right now on something we wouldn't be needing for quite some time.

I hear rumbles of thunder off in the distance. We knew storms were coming so I did the annual put-the-houseplants-outisde-to-be-washed thing this morning. 

Looks like a giant salad bowl

Until the threat of lightning passes, I'm off the long arm machines, but I did get Debbies pillow shams (covers?) done last night after the all-day shopping extravaganza. 

 While the storm is hanging around I'm frame ironing the backing for the next quilt up on DW and there's always (too often) administrative work I need to catch up on.

Two Weeks

Has it really been two weeks since I heard the comforting hum of my long arm machines? I checked my photos and it was two weeks ago today since I last turned on DW. 

Here's what he's wearing today (and probably tomorrow, and, and, and)...

Mary A.'s blue and almost white top

I'm going to have a lot of fun with this one. I'm putting glow in the dark thread in those center kind-of star things (per the customers request) and I think a multi-layered scallop with a basket weave in the border. But that may change as I start getting into things. I need to get it basted in and ditched first, and since DW wasn't fully hooked up yesterday (too much yard work and then storms later in the evening), I have to do that as well. 

Why, when you get back from "vacation" does it feel like the yard goes gang busters? Mike and I did the whole yard just a week ago, and yesterday it looked like it had been over two weeks. Took that long too. Jim and I were on mowers before lunch. I was on and off the weed wacker all day while filling in the charging time with weeding. Or dealing with customers. Had a new one drop off yesterday.

Speaking of which, I have another new customer coming around 10:30 this morning and some repeats coming to both drop off and pick up a little later that. 

I usually get about five quilt tops in from mid-June to mid-August. It's my time to catch up from the late winter flurry that traditionally hits me. But this year, WOW, consistent drop offs and not much time to actually catch up. As I look out the window at our currently stalled new studio progress, I become excited for the digs that will provide less wasted time and a better work flow environment. 

We're Back!

DW is back from his spa week down in Lansing. Quite a few things were found that were wrong with his old self, but when Jim heard him [test] running he said he sounded like new. I, on the other hand, am feeling not so new.

He's back!

I got all the poles put in this morning and have everything moved to get right back into the swing of things.

During our rain-filled reunion, caught a chill and I think Jims sister decided to share her Croatian cold with me. I was on the couch for three days trying to shake this thing. I'm still not a hundred percent, but I'm getting there. 

I've already had one quilt dropped off this morning and have another coming later this afternoon. I'm frame ironing a backing on DW and this is what will be loaded once I get that done. 

Mary's beautiful (and very large) quilt

Meanwhile, Jims leg is on the mend, although he goes in for an MRI early (2am) Monday morning to rule out a possible bone chip. We have a lawn that, with the rain, has decided to get ridiculous and we are still trying to close out the reunion stuff, but hopefully will be done with that later today. We have rain coming so I'm afraid I'm going to have to mow yet this morning before the customer shows early this afternoon. 

Ahhh...such is the life of a small business owner I suppose. 

What's Missing?

So, what's missing from this pic? 

See anything wrong?

There's a carriage there (upper portion of the pic) but no head. DW is headed to Lansing for his annual spa treatment. Meanwhile, his bed is a great place to put customer quilts waiting to be picked up. 

Once I got DW torn down, and then loaded into the truck (thank you Wayne for coming over and helping with this), I had to move all the quilts in waiting over to DW's bed. Jim is currently sleeping downstairs since he's "disabled" for the time being, and for a few weeks the quilts can reside here. Hopefully though, people will come and pick these up. 

Work on Bernie commenced and the moth is taking longer than anticipated because of what I've decided to quilt in it. But that's okay. No hurries on this one. 

The neighbors are up this weekend and the girls discovered their daughter and granddaughters also came since their dog, Walter, came over this morning to fetch the girls for some play time. And, wonderful neighbors that they are, Mr. Beller is mowing both of our lawns at once this morning. One less thing for me to do.

Don't know if anybody is coming today or not. I have two customers who said they'd be by this week to pick up and it's now Friday. Had two come yesterday; one pick up and one drop off...another Flea Market, and it's so nice to hear all the positive comments about our new studio adventures. Though on hold for the time being since we are down a worker. 

After working on the long arm for a while, I decided, with the storms coming in, shutting down the long arm was probably a good idea, and I was pooped anyway. I pieced three 100 blocks instead and here are numbers 4, 13, and 22.

12 blocks done already. 

No Pics Today

Not much happening in the studio other than long arming customer quilts. I already showed pics of what was going into Janice's quilt and I didn't work on Bernie at all yesterday. 

I'm on this time crunch to get Janice's quilt done before tearing down DW later this afternoon. And...I only have one more roll/row/set of borders to work so I should be done by lunch today, but either way, it'll be complete before tonight to get the machine loaded into the truck. Hopefully.  

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. 

Two Linda H's!

I did a little quilting on Linda H's quilt yesterday while I was frame ironing the for the next one to go onto DW. Here's what he's wearing for the next couple of days... 

Linda H's top

Two different Linda H's but their quilts are both on the frames. Too funny! And that was confusing when I had to pull their batting out since I didn't label them with full last names. But I got it figured out and am off and running now. DW's Linda is getting computerized, free motion, and ruler work put into it. 

While I was working on Bernie yesterday, I found out that even professionals get a little lax sometimes and because of this, decided to try to quilt the ruler instead of the quilt.

Can you see the needle hole?

Just to the left of the needle you can see a very tiny hole. Yep, tried to quilt the ruler instead of the quilt. Needles to say, I had to change the needle because hitting it compromised its integrity. 

I did work on the Pieces BOM #4 last night, and I STILL don't have them done. Maybe tonight?

Customer coming to pick up right at 10:00 this morning and I'm not expecting anybody else so should be a rather productive day on the machines. 

Forgot to Blog this Morning

Because we were off and running first thing. First stop, the UPS store to get Mary's quilt on its way. We were supposed to do that last night, but we ended up at the Verizon store for a new phone for Jim. That took WAY longer than we anticipated.

Second stop was to Pieces of Thyme for a Dream Bigger panel for a quilt my brother commissioned me to make/quilt for his "step-daughters" wedding this coming summer. Once we got home it was nearly lunch time and then Jim went into the bathroom upstairs to continue laying flooring. I started on my "Call Me Crazy" paper pieced blocks. Week two came through and I hadn't even started week one yet. 

Here's what's on DW today...

Jill's granddaughters birthday quilt

This will be getting an edge-to-edge on Monday. I'm going to drive. DW is acting odd and I'd be more comfortable doing the driving this time around until he goes down this spring for his spa day.

Here's what's on Bernie today...

Terry's Wall Hanging for her husband

I've already started on this one. Did all the ditching and started putting in the word/motorcycle detail. 

Before I can load a quilt (which I spent most of yesterday doing), these things need to be done to the machines:

Cleaning all the gunk off the trolley rails

Changing and aligning the needles

Cleaning the gunk off the rail wheels

And I also dust the machines and the long arm beds. I also vacuum under and around the floor of the machines. I feel like people often think you just throw the layers on the machine and then go. There's a lot more to quilting than just that...as you can see. 

Oh, and my long arm log is up to date. In 10 years I've quilted over three million square inches of quilts. 

July is Almost Over

Where is the summer going so fast?

I'm loading Chris L's quilt right now, but have one more roll to frame iron before I can finish loading. Jodie will be here at noon time and I have a doctors appointment in 45 minutes. Annual physical. Yuck!

Part of Jodie's last quilt yesterday (and the day before) was using the computer for some of the borders. I noticed that the head of the machine was feeling like it was going over chatter bumps on a dirt road. I asked Jim if he would help me offload the head from the carriage so I could peek under there and see what was up. 

We found the situation almost instantly and ended up turning the carriage upside down to get this mess out of one of the shafts near the vertical sprocket assembly...

That's a lot of thread to be caught in the shaft

He should be a lot better now when having to use the ProStitcher. Any other person would have sent the machine to the dealer, but I've learned to pretty much trouble shoot many situations with DW since we live so far away from Lansing. 

The kids are in South Dakota and will be heading to Omaha, NE today. They are slowly making their way back home and are taking their time getting here, which is fine. They aren't used to sitting and driving that long so this works out well for them. 

Jim is getting antsy about their slow progress, but he has to remember they aren't professional drivers like he is and for many of us, sitting for long periods just isn't in our make-up. I think he's also anxious about them making it home safely since there are so many bad drivers out there. Once Monday gets here and he gets to give the kids a HUGE hug, he'll settle down. 

What I Do When I'm Frame Ironing

When quilt backs sit in the queue for two months, they have a tendency to get a little, well...wrinkled. Rather than trying to iron them the conventional way (because as soon as I try to load and move them around they're wrinkled again), I frame iron. This takes a little while because drying has to happen between each roll.

I've seen IG and FB posts about this technique; both effective and ineffective. Ineffective because it is a little time consuming. But honestly, so is conventionally ironing the backs. Between each roll, I take that time to do the following because it has to be done anyway despite what technique is used:

1. Clean the long arm. Dust, gook, and threads pile up on the frame bed and have to be cleaned.

2. Clean the bed rails and the truck the head sits on because they accumulate yuck too.

3. Clean the bobbin area out thoroughly. I do a light cleaning with every bobbin change, but this leaves the head clear to give me a better view of the bobbin area. 

4. Select the threads I'm going to use throughout the quilt and the back. 

5. Snug up the invoice a little and make any notes.

6. Select the rulers/tools I'm going to use throughout the quilting process for that particular top. 

7. And if time permits, work on a little piecing of my own.

Here's a little of what's going into the top I'm working right now...

Just a little cheddar feathering

Lucy is feeling much better today, which is a good thing, but it's not. She wants to behave nearly like normal, but she has to stay quiet for a few days more. This could be a challenge. 

I have two customers coming today to pick up and I'll continue on with Jeans quilt. With the high winds in the afternoon and the cuddles Lucy required, it didn't get finished yesterday. 

Welcome Earthlings

While having to park at Frandor Shopping Center yesterday, it astounds me how clueless people are sometimes. I'll just leave it at that.

Frandor Shopping Center is home to one of four Gall Sewing and Vac centers in the state. Yep, they had DW done already and after taking him for a short test drive at the shop, can't believe how well he's improved. Why do I wait so long to get him serviced? 

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

Mickey's Rail Fence

DW is currently stitching this out as we "speak". 

And, while spending another four hours behind the windshield of my truck, got to thinking about my block count for the Pineapple top. I'm not putting it in a 8x8 setting, but rather a 7x9 setting. This means my block count is exactly right.  

After getting home, getting the long arm set back up and loading Mickey's top, I worked on those pineapples and got four more complete. 

I have customers coming today mid and late afternoon both. It looks like I'll be getting at least three new tops in. Snow today postponed the first bunch to that mid-afternoon slot, but that's okay...I have plenty in here to catch up on.

A Day on the Road

First stop was here...

DW's First Home

Jason was wonderful about listening to all of DW's little "problems" that have cropped up in the past 16 months. They'll take good care of all of them and I'll be able to run down to get him (hopefully) on Thursday. 

From there, Bed, Bath, and Beyond to do a Christmas Exchange. From there I met Katie at Cheddars on West Saginaw for some lunch. We have such a fun time together. I hated to go, but still had a few more stops to make...and it was already past 1:00.

The next stop was the B's house to drop off meat and jam/jelly. We had a nice (albeit quick) visit and I promised the grandkids I'd stay longer when I came back down later in the week. There were ugly black clouds looming in the north and I wanted to make sure I didn't get myself stuck.

Final stop was Country Stitches. I wanted to take a not-hovering-over-you look at the Bernina Q24 long arm machine (because both Gall and CS sell them). Once I did that, as well as a little shopping, I headed for home. 

I did manage, once replaying our days to each other, to get two pineapple blocks done before running out of steam. And I had a raging headache. Probably due to the stress of getting the machine down, the driving in not so great road conditions, and not getting much sleep the night before. 

I plan on working on the pineapples some more today as well as the remaining ditch stitching on the puzzle wall hanging. I was also thinking that I would start taking pics of the customer quilts I have in queue and planning the quilting on those. That way, when they hit the frame, I'll already have a plan laid and the quilting will go quicker since I'm losing nearly a week of productivity. And the planning is what actually takes quite a bit of time. 

Posting on a Sunday

After working on the long arm yesterday morning, decided his service date of 2/22 had to be moved up. He was being a very naughty boy and I can't take him being like that with customer quilts. He's taking a trip to Gall Sewing on Monday. Yay! BUT, this means no long arming for about four-five days. 

Ready to head out

His electronics are all removed and his poles are down so all Jim has to do is get him in the truck tomorrow morning. 

Since I can't long arm, I moved to the sit-down machine (once I got the baking and a nice phone conversation with Katie done). 

Here's where I left off last night...

"Puzzle" wall hanging

This is the back side of this quilt because the front side has all sorts of markings causing a distorted view of the current quilting. It appears I have about 11 blocks left to do. Katie asked what I was going to do for the next few days since I can't long arm. Ahhh...the opportunities are endless.

The Pineapple blocks will probably get finished, which means I may not have them to take to retreat. I've got another top I purchased fabrics for yesterday at Pieces and I have a few of those 3-yard projects I can cut and take to retreat so I'll prepare all of those. Cleaning and organizing the studio is always on the to-do list and I'm sure, while I'm doing that, I'll find plenty of other projects I have forgotten I want to tackle. 

Long Arm Issues

I've noticed DW acting kinda weird since doing that large paper pieced quilt. He's making a new clicking noise underneath where his bobbin case resides. And yesterday, was skipping a stitch every once in a while. Although, this could be most of the problem...

Blob of fusible

See that fuzzy thing on the right of the needle? That's a blob of fusible in the thread path. This is the second needle I've put into this quilt already. And after stitching for about six inches, it's all gummed up again. I'm going to have to rethink doing appli-quilting for people.

Needless to say, DW is going down for a spa treatment while I'm at the retreat on the 24th. I'm going to drive him down on the 22nd so I can spend the 23rd getting ready. They'll have him ready for me to pick up on Monday. 

I'm going to finish Beth's butterfly (Flutterby) this morning. Hazel was supposed to go to the groomer today, but a snowy day is ahead (they have winter storm warnings out downstate) and was getting anxious about having to go out. Her groom just needs to be rescheduled. 

Happy Saturday

I did manage to get a little quilting in yesterday between customer visits, all my errands, and the inevitable weekly trip to Midland. Here's a little detail on what is going into Joni's quilt...

Love the wool batt to give it some pop

MSU basketball today. When Jim gets home, and while he's watching his game, I'll continue on with Joni's quilt. It should be finished today I would think. Although, DW was being a weiner yesterday. He was being a weiner during some of Linda's quilt too and I'm contributing it all to the So Fine! thread. He was fine until I started putting that through him. 

I cleaned out his bobbin area to include removing his needle plate and cleaning under there. It seems to have made things a bit better, but I'll (once again) change his needle and see how he behaves. He is overdue for a spa day and the large amount of seams in a completely paper pieced top may have just thrown him a bit out of time. 

Chores and a phone call with my mom found me way behind this morning. And, to be honest, I was being a little lazy given it's a Saturday and I've been busting fanny all week. But the rice is cooking, the shower head is (once again) descaled, the laundry is done, the floors are washed, and the sun is out!

While I was working on chores, this showed up on my deck...

Lilo's new SewEZ table for retreats...and other places

This will give me something else (I'm sure) to squirrel about today. Too many fun things to do and just not enough time.