Crazy, Busy Day

We started out with this project...

The "Before"

The "After"

Four of the battings are hung. I did not have the wool hung because after you open the package from the roll, the thing gets about 3 times bigger. Taking up that much room would have only allowed for three batts to be hung.

Before we started on this project though, we had to move the sewing table about a foot and that's a large undertaking in of itself. Talk about dust bunnies!

After lunch I had decided I was sick of moving the Tilda blocks/sashings around and tore into it to get it finished...

Getting things organized

It's a top!

Ready for the long arm

That was one long project taking up most of the sit-down summer months.

Once I got that measured, folded, and put away I jumped on DW to free motion quilt this HST baby quilt...

Ready for binding

I made the binding once this was quilted and have that and the Tula to bind yet. Which goes against my "rule" about not starting another quilt on the long arm before the previous quilt is bound. Oh well, it's my choice.

I loaded this onto DW next...

What the heck???

Let me explain. She (Laura Heine) builds the backgrounds in the traditional manner where by everything is pieced before the flower appliqués are applied. I'm not doing that.

These are being held onto the batting with spray baste and I'm going to free motion a zig-zag between each block to make the background even more scrappy. I'm not sure how well this is going to turn out, but I'm hoping for the best. 

Today we have to run to West Branch to research closet door tracks. Jim's not happy with how little room I have to dig around into the queue closet and how tight it's going to be to get the batting out of the new batting closet. He wants to pull the track from inside the closet to outside to give me more "open" space. 

I also need to pick up marking pens (for long arming) and bungee chords to use as a straight line on said batting when cutting. I'll attach them on each side of the bracket to give me a visual and not have me cutting downhill. 

Just About There

Because I had to cut yesterday short with the mammogram appointment and then having to run to Midland to UPS out two quilts heading to Germany, I didn't get Deb P.'s quilt done. We also had to head over to Home Depot to pick up some type of dowel or tubing to hang a few of the batts in the batting closet.

Here's one more pic of Debs quilting...

Can you see the stars?

I'm sticking with a star theme on this quilt since there are a variety of them throughout. I'll finish that up this morning and then move over to Marty where I'm doing...

Another Tilda Sampler

This one has no borders so it won't take as long, but still a weeks worth of work. I will not be solely focusing on this though. I have three table runners that have to get done before customers can come and pick up their Tilda Samplers.

Speaking of Tilda. All the blocks are now constructed because that's what I worked on when we finally returned back from Midland...

Ready for sashing

After I got those all constructed and put aside, I took the Tula Butterfly off DW, got it trimmed up and the binding is now made and ready to be attached. 

I also sorted through the upper most part of the pile of tops I have on the totes. There are a number of orphan block tops that are smaller in size I'll knock out in the next week or so. I have some scrap backings left over and I'll piece those to make backs for them to get as much use out of the fabric that I have since these too will be donated. 

Decisions, Decisions

Isn't it nice to have such easy decisions to make rather than life-altering decisions? So many people have much harder decisions to make and I am grateful mine are as easy as they are. I decided to do an E2E on the Tula Butterly...

Watching DW work

The motif going in

I remember when I bought DW back in '13 I asked the dealer about this ProStitcher thingie. I'm glad I listened to him because while DW was back there finishing another quilt, I was binding and recording the previous quilt last week (donation quilt)...

#114

This is a very soothing log cabin some girl should love. After lunch I remembered I needed to complete a block for next years raffle quilt for the Hale guild. I did that...

For the Hale Country Quilters raffle quilt next year

...and then moved on to working on my Tilda piece. I have the scissor handle and then the blade sections complete. I just need to join them together and then add them to the pincushion section. Pics to follow tomorrow.

This morning, after scheduling my mammogram (Wednesday afternoon) I also signed up for this years Quilting Summit...

Last year I purchased the extended pass, but hardly used it. I didn't do that again this year, but will later if I find there is invaluable information I won't be able to live without. 

Today I'm hoping to get those scissors put together as well as the pincushion section added on. I may also get the binding made for the Tula butterfly, but getting it bound today probably isn't in the cards. 

Happy 36th Birthday to Ben!

Well, my middle kiddo is on his last mid-30's birthday. I can't believe it! The time goes so darn quick!

As well as having a customer come yesterday and getting two tops set onto Bernie and DW, I worked on this piece...

Jim is working in the kitchen this morning (making a cake and Salsa) and I've gotten some admin stuff done from last Saturday's pick-the-donated-quilt project. I had to fiddle with Jim's phone to get some of the pics transferred and mess with his Cloud backup.

I started to work on our memory book from Alaska, hence the delving into Jims phone, and then got side tracked so that is still in the planning phases.

Meanwhile, I'm heading to the studio. I didn't clean it last night like I usually do on Friday afternoons so I should probably start there. Or not. I want to work some more on the Tilda blocks since I obligated myself to attend a retreat with the Hale group in October. If the blocks are done I can set them on the design wall and get them put together easier.

I also have a few other things to work on. This Tula Butterfly for one...

This one is going to take a while! Or not?

This is a queen-sized quilt meaning it will probably be donated. Do I want to take the time to custom quilt it or just do an E2E with meandering butterflies all over? I'm torn. I made this specifically to do some custom in it, but I have to watch my time. I'm not getting any younger and that's going to be a lot of work.

While I was digging this one out I found three others in the tote that frankly, aren't going to make the cut. They were even too ugly to donate so they are now in the trash. Yep, I threw away three quilt tops. 

Well, that day isn't getting any younger (nor is Ben now) so off I go. 

Poppins Bag Complete

And here it is.

Poppins Bag

I would love, love, love to make another one of these. But it took sooooo long to complete. And it was a struggle the whole way along so maybe next winter, when the days are short and I need a constructive project to do, a second will be attempted.

Earlier today (after dealing with some crappy (literally) issues) I ventured over to Pieces in Thyme for the sashing for the t-shirt quilt. Here's what I brought home.

For Adrianne's t-shirt quilt

It's already been prewashed and ready for handling. Not immediately, but soon.

After taking Hazel down for a swim (78 degrees today) and finally getting the time to blog, the remainder of today will be spent working on more selvedge blocks. Long arming happened mid-afternoon, and only two more rows to go to finish the Tula quilt.

It Started Out Productive...

...yesterday. The Poppins bag is nearly finished but am struggling with getting the stays inserted. Jim's helping hand will be needed to finish. The Tula 100 Blocks top was worked on somewhat.

And...

...then it got nice outside.

The lawn and flower beds were crying out for me to deal with them, so out I went for the remainder of the day.

Today started out like yesterday left off, but now it's becoming cloudy and rather dismal.

I. AM. GOING. TO. STAY. IN. THE. STUDIO. TODAY.

An Oldie but a Goodie

I started organizing all the tops I have laying in waiting under DW's table. I had enough hangers to get about half of them hung yesterday (pics to follow tomorrow hopefully), but while going through them all, ran across this one. It still needed the borders attached and after doing that, I hung it on the rail in the loft for summer fun.

Hello Ladies

This top is going to be fun to quilt. The embellishment possibilities are endless!

I did get a sashing/border attached to the Long Time Gone top. I think it gives a stopping point before the next three borders will be added.

A "new" feature I added in

Most of the prior part of the day was long arming on the Tula 100 Block top.

Today is going to be hit or miss. It's threatening to be a nice day (I woke up to rain), and with nice days comes landscaping and yard work. I'm debating.

Nearly a Week?

Holy wow, it was last Thursday since my last post? WTH? Oh yeah, more nice weather.

Well, I have managed to slip in a few stitches on things in the studio between running down state, working in the yard, and doing the typical weekly errands.

Here's where I'm at on the Long Time Gone piece.

Long Time Gone

The pattern calls for a set of three scrappy borders, but here's my take on that. This is a pretty busy quilt. I think I'm going to set a neutral border around the top first, and then set the borders in. It just seems like (even from the photo of the completed quilt in the book), it's just too much and the borders get lost in the actual quilt.

Here's what's on the frame (still).

Getting Ready to Stipple

This only pass two of five (I believe). BUT, we have poopy weather today, so I'm planning on cranking up the tunes and working on this most of the rest of the morning and afternoon.

And here's Hazel's Tuesday pic. She just got a new haircut on Monday.

A Few Projects

Yesterday was take-advantage-of-gloomy-weather day.

The Poppins bag was first on the list. As far as supplies allowed was as far as the project went. When ordering the Craft Tex, I thought I had ordered enough, but found out yesterday it was not only the wrong size, but only one was ordered. It needs two.

Moving along to the Long Time Gone pineapple blocks. Two were nearly done before lunch. Five more to go.

The afternoon consisted of long arming and working on the selvedge top.

Tula Pink's 100 Modern Block Design

The long arming on the Tula piece is going to take much longer than anticipated. The meander being put into the fractured windows on the off-white section is very closely quilted. Even though the machine is set to manual and at about 50%, the time it's taking was surprising.

The seventh border is set into the selvedge piece and only one more fat border to go. The next border is half-square triangles and it too will take a lot of time to make each of the blocks needed. They are six inches in size and each is set at a diagonal with a variety of sizes of selvages needed.

Today is sunny and is supposed to be warm-ish. The windows on the house are looking pretty grungy and part of today may be working on those. Maybe?!

Happy Mom's Day!

My hopes for all women out there is that there is a special someone to wish you a happy Mom's Day. If there isn't, I'm going to say "Happy Mother's Day" to you! It's a simple gesture but it means so much because without you, your children, pets, parents, whatever, wouldn't have the care and love you provide to them.

The Tula 100 Modern Block top almost (almost) didn't get loaded yesterday. While going through the batting options in the batting closet, I didn't have a king-sized batt. But after doing some piecing, was able to put together enough wool cast offs to add to the queen-sized available to make it a go.

Tula Pink 100 Modern Blocks

If you look close enough, I've started to quilt around each of the blocks. I'm putting a double frame around each of the feature blocks to start and then quilting each block randomly. The "real estate" will be filled in on a row by row basis. I think each color will be done with a different motif.

Going to a Quilt Shop

Aunt Effies, in West Branch, is a very nice quilt shop. She has a lot of everything there and it's set up more open then most quilt shops I've visited; which makes shopping very easy. While mom had to trek down to her art emporium where some of her paintings are available for sale, I went quilt shopping.

I. DIDN'T. BUY. A. THING!

I KNOW!

WHAT THE HECK?

I realized I have a lot of projects going on here and decided I needed to (once again) get some of these off my list before getting into anything new. Once in a while ya just gotta say "Enough," and actually finish some of what has been started.

When arriving back home, two more pineapple blocks for the Long Time Gone top were made, I worked the zipper into my Poppins bag, and looked ahead on what my next row (border) is on the selvedge top. After about 9:00, I settled down to start sketching out what I'm going to put into my Tula Pink 100 Modern Blocks top. Oh, the possibilities!

And I'm still undecided.

Oh the real estate!

Getting anything to really wow me was hard, but I came close on a few designs. I think this one, because it is so open, is going to need to be loaded and preview paper needs to be put over to play around and see what will work out best for the design.

So, Tula Pink 100 Modern Blocks, after hanging on our loft bannister for over four months now, you are finally going on the frame today. 

Menopause Sucks!

Just sayin'. Hot flashes. Sleepless nights. Acne. Mood Swings. I feel like I'm back into the puberty years.

Despite all the physical changes happening to the body, we march on.

During the week, after getting my HOPE challenge done, I've pictorially recorded what I've been up to so I would remember what it was when I blogged again. I didn't know if later blogs would "bog" down the HOPE votes, so I didn't post for a few days to avoid voting confusion.

These two go together. I'm (finally) using a solids jelly roll I've had for a while

Beginning a few placemats

Dream Big

The last entry was loaded and started yesterday. Here's a better pic of what was completed before closing up for the night.

Love the texture

I'll work on all of these this week, as well as the Stripe Me Happy top. The sashing strips have been added all around and Katie figured out how to get the flying geese in the remaining three border strips that need to be added. I love Katie! But before those three flying geese borders are added, a narrow border needs to be put on to separate the two. This sure is one busy top I'm making!

The last sashing strip was set into the Tula 100 Blocks top, and now it's ready to head to the long arm...once the Dream Big panel is completed.