Christmas (Observed)

My shop hours are posted on Google. And...everything else is/was closed both yesterday and today like I am (supposed to be). Yet...I have a customer that called last night (I'm not kidding about this) and is coming over today. She said, last night, she would be here around 11:00. 

Jim and I had things to do around here this morning (haircuts, etc) and were staged to receive her around 11:00. She just called again for the balance on the invoice and said they'd be here in the next hour to hour and a half. 

Do people really have such little consideration anymore? So frustrating. I know my brochure said I'm flexible. But there's flexible, and then there is just plain rude. 

Let's get to something a little more positive. In the MSQC box I opened yesterday, there were a number of small projects that could be completed rather quickly. Which I really enjoyed. Here's the ornament that came in the box...

Isn't this just darling?

There was a leather duck change purse you had to stitch together and complete so here he is...

Quack

Then there was a jar of buttons in the box and the next days' gift was a pattern to make a pincushion to set atop the jar...

Another pincushion...which I am always in need of

Cute pattern

Then the box came with a winter-y charm pack, some yardage background fabric, and this pattern. I'm in the middle of all of this right now. I'll work on this until this customer [eventually] shows up. 

There's still another charm pack and background fabric to do another cute wall hanging and some more yardage to make a darling snowflake pillow. I'll tackle those later but for now, let's go sew. 

Merry Christmas

I made a folded start to put into the tree last night. Merry Christmas everybody!

Merry Christmas

Yesterday was spent working on the Spools quilt. Nothing else. But the Christmas present from Jim was additional lighting in the studio. Here he is getting it all in...

Hanging the new lights

Our family Christmas is actually on Wednesday. I knew this was going to happen (call is mothers intuition), so I had ordered a 25 Days of Christmas box from Missouri Star Quilt Company. It's been sitting here teasing me for a few months now. 

Spoiler Alert! The next pic is a compilation of everything in the box (minus two items).The very first day was not to disappoint (I won't tell in case somebody else out there ordered one)! It was a pleasant surprise throughout the whole box and I'll definitely order one again next year. 

MSQC 25-Days of Christmas Box

Much to Share

Hullo! It's been a while hasn't it? Some boxes arrived while I was sewing my fingers to the bone. Presents for the studio...

A new cordless iron and teflon pressing mat from MSQC

51 spools of new colors to add to the variety from Quilted Joy

What a great retreat. I didn't think it would turn out as well as it did since there was a total of 10 of us not counting the camp director and her staff. But because it was a smaller group, we were able to get to know each other and support each others efforts in the quilting journey.

Despite being pretty social during the event, I was able to get a few things done. 

Gnome for the Holidays

This was my last completion on yesterday. Those striped mitered corners were interesting since I've only done miters about three times in my quilting life. 

DogGone It!

I made this for our dog sitter, Luann. She's a quilt maker too but who doesn't need another quilt to snuggle up with. I'm not sure when I'll get it done to give to her, but the intention is there. 

John Deere Green

Got this fabric from the sale table at Pieces and it's for Jim's mechanic, who said he wanted a John Deere quilt. I designed this one into a jumbo size from another tractor block I found on-line. What I learned about this quilt top is that you don't figure sizes and cut pieces after working 10-12 hours that day because my measurements in some of this were WAY off. But I managed. 

Dr. Seuss Compilation

And who doesn't like a good Dr. Seuss book? I'll keep this around the house for the grandkids to snuggle under while I read them books before bed. 

All of these fabrics/kits came from Pieces of Thyme quilt shop. Doesn't she just have the greatest variety? 

Today is put the studio back together day and, finally, a work day. I'm actually looking forward to it!

Phone Issues

Isn't it funny how our smart phones are something we both love...and hate. Love them when they are all updated and new and shiny. When we can get any bit of information right at our fingertips. When we can communicate so easily with each other; family members who live so far away with a couple of clicks. Hate them when they become outdated and won't do any updates. When they start getting scratched, cracked, and when half the functions no longer work; like sound.

Mine is heading into the hate category. We have a 14.8 update and a huge 15.0 update that my phone won't accept. I've spent the entire (and I mean more than two hours) deleting photos, videos, and apps no longer relevant. I've checked my storage space. I've turned the phone off and then back on again attempting one more time to get these updates to work. It's thinking about it.

And without my phone I can't communicate with customers. Not cool! 

MJ's quilt was finished last night. I have another I'm loading right now. This is the pic I took while doing measurements and preparing to get it onto the frame. This piece will be getting an edge-to-edge design. 

Going on the frame today

 Here's what I worked on last night after trimming MJ's quilt...

Raviolis!

I've always wanted to make a puff, or sometimes called a pillow quilt. There's a long story about why and I won't get into that, but this is the start of the puff quilt I'm determined to make. There are several video's about how to make these. Two of the videos suggested making all the squares, putting them together, and then slitting the back to stuff. This method would require one to then hand stitch all those slitted seams closed, that is, if you didn't slip and possibly also snip the front fabric. 

I decided to choose the method from the Missouri Star Quilt Company (with Misty hosting) as the best method. I have two machines that are quite capable of handling bulk and weird sewing issues and she provides insight on why not to overfill the puffs and how to handle matching seams and other possible problem situations. We'll see how it goes over the next few days.

Typical cold, wet, windy fall day today. I took off all my summer jewelry this morning and broke out the turtleneck and sweatshirt. But fall is absolutely my favorite season since the bugs will eventually be gone. 

Nope

Schedule did not resume as normal. Mom closed on her condo. Brother came up from Cincinnati. More deck materials arrived. Maybe this week?

Yesterday proved to be a semi-successful studio day. I did a little long arming.

Lona's quilt for her granddaughter

And later, after two appointments, I was able to continue on with a few more Bear Paw blocks. Oh, I didn't mention that? Katie found a cool quilt on Instagram and she was able to trace the pattern back to a MSQC video. We are reversing the light/dark areas and are making a ROYGBI/VP version. Each color will be 14 or 15 in numbers to make 100 blocks total. These will be set in quadrants of four and then sashed between quadrants. Here's what I have been able to slip into my life over the last week.

Unnamed quilt top in progress, but it's the Bear Paw blocks making the top 

Today, no appointments! Maybe just a run to pick up Jim if his pickup truck is done at the shop. It went to the hospital as it was running very rough of late. Long arming and cutting more blocks for more Bear Paw blocks in my future today. Happy quilting day!!!

So Confused

It seems Blogger has either updated or my computer is reacting to it differently now.

After fussing with it for a bit of time this morning I was able to finally figure out how to write a new post. See...that's how much it's changed recently.

No quilting things to post over the weekend. Nothing at all was done in here except to put my two new jelly rolls received from MSQC on Friday into the WIP pile. Reason: Deck building.

Jim and I spent the entire weekend running for materials and working on our deck. When we weren't doing that we were just trying to catch our breath for a much needed break.

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!

Not a New Pattern

I've made a few log cabin quilts in my quilting lifetime. They are usually very bright and sometimes a little wonky. Yesterday I ran across one that was neither bright or wonky. But very appealing.

I drafted the pattern and did a test run in the morning. The block was way too big and the measurements were a little off. After putting that aside, I loaded a customer quilt and worked on it for the remainder of the day/early evening.

After thinking about the block made earlier in the morning, I redrafted and rescaled the block to a more manageable size. Bingo! After making another test block, came up with a winner. It's a good thing I did run the test too because apparently math is something you only do in school.

The initial test block

This log cabin top is going to be very low volume; way different then I usually do, but when put together it looks so soft and snuggly. A wonderful soft batting will defiantly have to get put into it to enhance the exterior look of the quilt.

I ordered two jelly rolls from MSQC and hope they get here this year. Is anybody else having trouble with their orders? I sent one in on April 3rd and another on April 13th. Nothing has arrived yet. I can only imagine how backed up they are with the virus thing.

Running Out Of Fabric

I have six projects going on in the studio right now. My Jacqueline is at a standstill because I need more fabric to finish the last go-around. I can't order any for it on-line because I need to make sure the correct colors get placed in each section. Computers aren't always true to color.

The flannel rag quilt for Jim is on hold until my order comes in from MSQC.

The Happy Camper piece may be worked next, but I'll have to pirate some of the black fabric from the Jacqueline piece to work on it.

The Row by Row quilt along is a monthly thing and until Irene puts up another month, that's parked.

The Scrap Happy top can be continued for a little bit, but once all the slabs are built, I have no background fabric for the thing...unless I pirate the white from the Row by Row to continue on. See...I need more fabric.

The quilt for my mom is in the works and the top will be completed today. The center section of this quilt is the quilt along I'm doing with Helen Godden and won't be able to quilt it until she gets through all her videos (in two weeks). BUT, I'm thinking with the leftover fabrics, I may just get creative and make a matching pillow to go with the quilt.

Moms Mothers Day Quilt for her new Condo

The wind outside today is screaming (again), so long arming probably would not be a good idea. I'll make the back for the animal/barn top from last week and at least attempt to get it loaded.

Maybe I need to get a large black and white order in to MSQC for some more white and black? I don't think I'm going to be able to get anymore otherwise.

Whoa, is thisTuesday Already?

We are finally breaking into spring here. This means less time in the studio when the weather is gorgeous. Which as pretty much the last four days.

Today, we have April showers and sewing can commence. Here's what I've managed to fit in despite being outdoors quite a bit.

We had a new addition to the family on Saturday. Welcome Eli!

Baby Elijah Melchizedek was born Saturday around 2:30-ish weighing in at a light 10 lbs. 8 ozs, and 23 inches long. Because of the virus crap, we are not allowed in the hospital and we have to wait to even visit him for a few weeks.

I finished the animal/barn top

While getting all the dirt on our new grandson, I was finishing this top. Thank you Katie for your input on the border fabrics. It looks pretty good!

Made five masks for my brother and his gang

My brother texted on Friday after we had started our relaxing time, and requested masks for his girlfriend, her daughters and the one boyfriend. Those were stuck in the mail yesterday.

Loaded Sandy's quilt top

And yesterday morning was rather chilly, so while I was waiting for it to warm up a bit, loaded my last (for now) customer quilt onto the frame. More pics of this one to come as it's being worked.

I had ordered a pattern last week that struck my fancy and it arrived in the mail yesterday. I want to start working on it since I'm pretty much caught up in here on other projects. They aren't completed, but I have a fabric shortage on all three of what I have being worked on right now.

Until I can get out to a fabric store(s) to select fabric, I'm at a stand still. Although, the one project for Jim has fabrics coming in the mail. He wanted a larger rag quilt and I need more flannel for the backing squares to arrive from Missouri Star Quilt Company before I can continue on with it.