What the Heck Season is it?

Off with the summer clothes, on with the winter clothes. We had the A/C on this weekend, and now we have heat. Only in our lovely mitten state. 

Here's what's on the frame today...

Linda N.'s Spool top

Here's a little of the quilting detail going in...

So Pretty!

I hope to finish this one this morning and get another loaded this afternoon. This one would have been done yesterday but the backing needed to be frame ironed and because of the humidity, it was taking a while to dry in between rolls.

I'm getting pretty excited about the upcoming retreat. We have a QQQG meeting today, but Lucy has a vet appointment at 3:45 so I don't know if I'm going to be able to get up there. Jim is in Roscommon and so he can't take her. With the price of gas, and the upcoming retreat, I may have to rethink running two hours, one-way, for a two hour meeting. Maybe one of the members can fill me in during the weekend about what happened?

Happy Lake!

The "lake" still isn't really a lake in the sense of where it should be. We are still recovering from the flood last year and until the dams are rebuilt (we're told 2024) we have a smaller version of normalcy. But when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.

Here we are on our beater pontoon specifically purchased to traverse the "lake" until the real lake returns.

Kathy (in white), me, Jim (watching for stumps) and Mike at the helm.

It's not the Bennington pontoon we're used to, but beaters are better than watching the water from the shore. 

I did manage to get a few of the sashing strips on the spools before we headed out on the boat and only have the side borders to add today at some point. Or not. The neighbors are still here today and you never know what kind of mischief we all get into when we're together. 

Sharon's quilt is on the frame and I need to get some stitches in it at some point. However, maybe not today????

Do You Like Air Conditioning?

Jim was canning yesterday and the sun was shining and the humidity was getting up there. The A/C was cranking, to say the least, and I found myself going outside just to thaw every once in a while. I appreciate central air...to a degree. When my feet are like ice cubes, well then, not so much.

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

Sharon's Not So Halloween Cats

The two baby quilts were completed by mid-afternoon and I immediately loaded this one on without even building the binding for the other two. This is a Colette no-no and it's already bugging me they are just sitting there begging for me to complete them. 

But Jim has (another) doctor appointment this early afternoon and we need to get groceries afterwards. Maybe Sharon's top will get started once we get all that done today? We discussed putting spider webs throughout and I think this would look really cool especially if we can get a few spiders in there with the webs. 

Four more spools were completed last night and I have cut out for six today. That leaves four more to do after those are completed to make the required blocks I'm going for. I want to get those four cut out tonight before going down to Charlotte for sew-in day tomorrow. 

IF that happens. Katie is not feeling very well (seems I'm not supposed to go anywhere this weekend since our trip to Cincinnati was also cancelled due to illness). None of these are virus related but rather both are located in the lower abdominal region. Weird, huh? 

Early Fall?

We have old farmer signs happening around us already this summer that may indicate we're in for an early autumn. The acorns have been falling for a few weeks already, trees are changing quickly in the low lands, and the birds are moving in flocks now. With the mild temperatures of late, and the low mosquito infiltration this year, I don't know if I'm actually ready for hoodies and turtlenecks yet. But there's no stopping Mother Nature and so we deal with it as it comes. 

Sort of like the quilts I work for people. You never really know what you're going to do to enhance their piecing, but once the top is loaded, a bit of research is done, and a few sketches are made, I embrace my decisions and quilt on. 

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

Tina's beautiful top done in Tula fabrics, I think

I took some pics of the quilting detail, but I'm working navy thread into the navy sections and there isn't really a lot to see visually. This top has seven rows and have completed one so far. 

After long arming WAY past my quitting time, I was able to get four more spools put together. I was going to do four more but had a wonderful conversation with a frequent customer who called last night. That was way more important and just as delightful.

Today I'll continue on with Tina's quilt top as much as I can. Mom is coming over at some point today to discuss our impending trip to Cincinnati this weekend. I think too we may need to get on these mowers later. The heat and humidity is supposed to start up again so we'd better get to the lawn while we have the weather in our favor. 

Internet Interruption

Well, that was fun. No internet for almost a week due to a huge storm last Tuesday night. Which is why I haven't blogged at all. I'll try to catch up as minimally as I can.

Isn't this a cute block?

I was going to make a whole bunch of these and then decided the block was not quite what I thought. I may rework it and go in a different direction (I don't like the 3D bottom of the ice cream on the cone).

Oranges and Lemons is together

And it's actually quilted, bound, and hanging on my chair already in the studio (see below). 

I made these two baby quilts for Hazels groomer

She's expecting twins and is having a hard go of it right now, so I'll give these two quilts to her when she reopens...in October or November. They still need to be quilted which I hope to slide in this week. 

Currently on the frame

This is the second of Micky's quilts in the last week. Forgot to grab a pic of the first one. 

Spools in a row

I received this free pattern in the mail enticing me to subscribe to Quiltmaker magazine. I decided to run one test block and fell in love with the ease of construction so put together three more yesterday. I'm going to raid the stash to get a bevy of colors in the quilt, which actually measures pretty decently at 66" x 81". Usually these cute blocks are like 'Make a million and you might get a throw size type of patterns.

I'll finish Micky's quilt today and get the next one on for Tina as it's kind of a rush quilt for a magazine (or something). I just know I can't sit on it for a long time and since I'll be gone all next weekend, I want to at least get it done before I go.