And It Begins

Jim pulled the trailer up yesterday late in the afternoon. I was already done working and we don't want the thing sitting in the direct sunshine while we have to clean it out from whatever got in it over the winter.

Given what I was cleaning out of it, it appears Mr. Mousy got in earlier this spring when all the Comet had  washed away from around it in the spring rains. Our barn is not weather tight, just resistant. 

Meanwhile, in the quilting world of things, here are a few pics of what I'm putting into Virginia's Pickle Dish quilt.

Feathers in the arcs

Straight lines in the blades and second border

Swag with a feather in the lower portion and piano keys above

After getting the trailer cleaned and prepped for packing (we have some supplies coming for the trailer today and tomorrow so I won't pack much tonight) I came back into the studio to do some other stuff. 

A Love Letter block was done and two more leaf blocks were blanket stitched for Flower Power. 

I had every intention of getting on DW after working the two leaf blocks but I was pooped and it was after 7:30.

One customer coming to pick up this morning and that's about it. 

It May Be Time

The computer I'm on currently is a Mac. This Mac is about 10 years old and it's getting kind of sick. Slow to load. Slow to respond. Often items just disappear or the machine tanks. I think maybe during back to school sales I need to investigate a replacement.

It's DeGroot family reunion week. I'll be dividing my time between the studio and the camper getting everything loaded. The shopping has been delegated out to other folks, but we still have a majority of the reunion stuff. That's supposed to be distributed out when we arrive but we'll see. I don't think people realize just how much we do and how much space it takes to do it. 

We wanted to go somewhere yesterday just to get out of the house and the truck took us to Elm Creek; about the only place that was open after the holiday. Here's what I brought home.

Something for the grandkids, the kids, and me

Those pillows are personalized and I'll get started on those this fall (or sooner) so I don't have to sweat shop Santa this winter. 

I'll be working on this quilt today and most likely the rest of the week...

Virginia's Pickle Dish

This is the quilt Jim had to skim and now we're getting ready to make it right. The previous long armer really messed it up and I'm hoping to give the customer back something she's proud to have in her home.

Violations

Notice how late I'm blogging this morning? It was a very restless night and I didn't actually get out of bed until almost 10:00. Then the kids called from Germany so here we are finally.

Jim and I are trying to find something to do today so while he's in the shower, I'll share my quilt police violation.

The first of 15

The directions on this piece are to fuse these petals down using some kind of fusible web. I don't like how stiff fusible web leaves the block. I hate it in fact. But I have zero desire to learn turn-edge appliqué and my thumb probably wouldn't deal with it any way.

There are a number of fusibles out there claiming to not a) gum up the needle when stitching it down and b)leaving the quilt soft and pliable after application. I find that it's either one or the other and I haven't found one yet that is true to both statements. Misty Fuse is about as close as it gets and you can still tell there is a webbing underneath. 

Solution? I had a hair brained idea to just cut the shapes out without fusible. Position them. Use Roxannes glue baste sparingly to get them to set down just enough until I could get them blanket stitched in. The result is above. The quilt police would be handcuffing me to a post!

I have two leaf sections already stitched in place with only minimal issues and it was issues easily dealt with (waving while stitching them down). Once I repositioned the piece, they stitched down fine. And honestly, that may be because I've got a thin batt down underneath to act as an interfacing. I'd rather use a batt than a woven/non-woven interface because, again, I want the block to be pliable. 

Prior to working on Flower Power I did the temperature quilt blocks for the week and after gluing all the leaves down to ready them for blanket stitching I moved over to DW. Here's what he's wearing for the next few days.

OMG, see the block towards the bottom right hand side? It looks wrong. And I'm just noticing this? It's too late now because I've already started quilting this.

Well, this is a utility quilt anyway so I guess it's going to be okay. 

Nearing a Milestone

I have three more quilts to long arm and I'll hit a milestone. More when I get there. 

Reunion is next weekend. Jim will be pulling the trailer out probably Sunday night or Monday morning. My life will be split between work and getting ready to go since we basically do everything that's required to run the thing. Let's not even go there. 

After getting Berndadettes quilt done on Marty (the Farmyard Friends by Lori Holt), I planned on spending the rest of the day for just me. Which I did.

While I was attaching the binding onto the first project, I had to take this pic...

There's going to be a seam in the turn

Why is it I check, check, and check again yet I seem to get a join at one or more of the corners?

Here is the table runner finished...

Welcome summer

And then, because I love binding so much 👿 I thought I'd do another one. Here's the Judy Niemeyer Woven Ribbons complete...

Woven Ribbons by Judy Niemeyer

I started working on getting the third table runner finished but after reading the pattern, decided I didn't want to production line sew 60 flappy pieces onto the pinwheels I've been building for the past month or so. I'll add flappy pieces on as I construct other blocks in the future.

All three long arms are pretty empty right now. Jim is frame ironing on Bernie for the next load and I haven't take the quilt off Marty, but there's nothing there to long arm. DW had these two above pieces removed yesterday so he's totally naked.

Once I get done with temperature blocks later this morning, something will be next on DW and it's a mystery which one will be selected. Hmmm?????

Weather Cooperation

It was a wonderful day yesterday with the storms. I didn't have to shut the machine down for lightning and hopefully, with any luck, I'll be able to get the Farmyard Friends quilt done today. 

Here's some more quilting going into the right side of the quilt...

Quilt detail of the right side of Farmyard Friends

Getting the backgrounds prepped for the circles

To give my arm a reset I sewed the corners on each of the background blocks for Flower Power. Once those were finished I jumped on DW. If I had to stay up all night I WAS going to finish the Judy Niemeyer that's been sitting there for over a week.

I didn't get much sleep the night before but my determination won over and I powered through getting the piece done. 

I must like binding (which I DO NOT) because I'll have the table topper and the table runner to both bind this weekend once I get the marks off this piece below. I had to do a second spray this morning.

I'm technically closed today but I am still working on customer stuff. Once the quilt on Marty is completed though, the rest of the weekend is mine to play and enjoy our countries 250th birthday. 

On/Off

Marty was on and off more times yesterday than he is all week. Thank you weird weather systems. Looks like it's going to be more of the same today.

Here's some of the quilting going into the Barnyard Friends by Lori Holt...

Chicken wire for the left side background fill

After getting off Marty around 4:30 (for the fourth time yesterday), I finished the daily Love Letter block and then put Cowboy Boots away until I can get to a design wall. Or, the front deck is power washed and I can lay it out there. 

I hadn't spent enough time away from Marty to get onto DW yet so I pulled out the Flower Power I started a couple of weeks ago. 

Many people do not like the prep work that goes along with making a quilt (pressing, fabric treatment, measuring and cutting), but I LOVE that part of the quilt making process. The circles are all cut, as are the leaves and the background squares...

The background squares need to have a flip and sew corner added to each of the 15 blocks, but it was past 8:00 when I shut down and I had started early yesterday, so I called it a night.

I see the skies in the west are getting pretty dark already so I think today may be a repeat of yesterday?

Dodge'em Storms

We were watching one of our favorite meteorologists on line this morning on Youtube and apparently we have a high threat of storms later today and throughout tomorrow. That means the long arm is only on when they aren't. 

I'm up earlier than usual and am preparing for such events. I finished the quilt on Bernie yesterday, she's coming this morning to fetch and I'll be working on this I-need-it-now quilt for the next few days...

Lori Holts Farmyard Friends

The neighbors are starting to filter in for the holiday. Our directly north neighbors are expected up sometime today and we haven't visited them their past few visits; they've had chores to take care of and other people to deal with.

Nothing else in the studio last night. We headed to West Branch to get groceries for the week trying to beat the vacationers rush. We didn't get home until after 7:00 and that was too late to start getting into something.