Why's The House So Dusty?

Oh yeah, because we've had to turn the furnace on already. And, chances are, that filter in there needs to e replaced. It's been cold here at night and the house nearing the low 60's is not good.

Yesterday I worked on my Tilda piece and managed to get the last part of the second section done. I have to put all the "sewing" items together yet, but it's coming along. 

Those scissors took for-e-ver!

Today is going to be working on Linda N.'s quilt on Marty and will probably take most of my work time up. 

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. 

Happy Seventh Birthday Hazel

She was born seven years ago and she's one of the best and goofiest dogs we've ever owned. She's my constant reminder to take breaks in the studio and has to come and check on me often throughout the day.

Taken early spring

She loves pillows as you can see as well as the water and playing "glove". Happy birthday my precious girl!

After the guild meeting up in Hale, of which I became rather emotional talking about donating all of those quilts, I scurried home after making a quick stop to pick up softener salt at the Standish Milling company.

Let's side track for a second. Standish Milling is worth the trip over! Their salt is less costly than anybody here in Gladwin, not to mention a better quality. But that's not the shout-out reason. Their service to their customers is OUTSTANDING! I no sooner pulled up by the salt and a guy came over and loaded it into the truck before I even finished paying for it. The cashier was extremely pleasant and made one feel at ease. They have a large variety of items in their store and it's a place we'll be patronizing in the future!

Okay, back to quilting. Jim was already home for lunch but had to scoot out to a dentist appointment and I scooted out to the studio. While I was quilting this piece...

An E2E was requested in here

DW was over stitching out the Soothing Log Cabin. Once I got the wall hanging done on Bernie, I got it off and started loading the next back. Meanwhile, Marty's back was finally dry and I was able to get this one set and ready to go for today...

The next one up on Marty

DW finished his thing and he did fine, so I'm not sure what happened to Linda's stitch out on DW previously. It was probably something I did. Who knows? Anyway, I pulled another one of mine out of the tote and am now frame ironing for the Tula Butterfly. That ones going to take a while I'm afraid.  

I was supposed to have a customer come and pick up yesterday, but that never happened. Maybe today?

What The Heck?

Two finished quilts in one week that needed to be reloaded onto the frame...

Filling Gaps

This is why I really don't like doing digitized work. Despite my doing a drag and drop on each pass of this quilt, the last two rows separated themselves more than what my screen was showing and it was clearly visible. The customer had to bring it back for me to fix.

She had already bound the quilt so I had to load it as-is and fill in with swirls and pebbles; the same elements in the motif that went into it.

Guild up in Hale first thing this morning and then back here to get started on two new quilts. Yes, the two Tilda Samplers were finished late in the afternoon yesterday which is how we're seeing the above quilt on the frame.

After I got the above quilt fixed and the Tilda quilts billed and put away, I got the next two quilt tops out and started frame ironing backs. The first one is pretty small so I'll be starting on that when I return later. The other is flannel so the backing is taking a while to "dry" between each roll. 

Packages

I received a package yesterday from Fat Quarter Shop with a pattern and some fabric for a table runner I'll work on throughout the winter. With the package was something else I ordered. They are called Alphaclippies. Instead of having to write letters/numbers on small post-it notes, I can use these instead...

I made a hanger for the Alphaclippies

This will assist greatly when piecing. Where were these while trying to put together difficult quilts like Amazon Star?

At any case...here's some more eye-candy on the Tilda Samplers...

Today should be the last day of these two quilts. I have one large last block to do and the border. However, I have a customer coming later this morning who likes to chat and we have rain coming. I don't know if the rain is carrying stormy conditions with it, but there's always that chance. Let's quilt!

Hello Old Friend

Jim canned salsa yesterday and the house, for a while, smelled like a nice Mexican Restaurant. While he was canning I was doing some maintenance on Caleb and Lia's quilt; Amazon Star...

We meet again

DW did the original quilting on this piece and here it is again, over 10 years later, back on DW working on some seam pulls and other stuff. Other stuff means I found two sections where the blocks weren't finished, and another whole section that wasn't even quilted. At all. 

Yes, you can get a previously finished quilt on the long arm and the proof is above. 

From there, and after lunch, I headed back into the studio to bind #113 donation quilt (Farmers Daughter) and worked on my Tilda piece. Section three of the second 'batch' are all done and I'm working on the second half of the second section of the second 'batch' now. LOL.

Meanwhile, I grabbed some pics of the donated quilts in their temporary storage area (one of three) while we were on our way to Elm Creek. They just came through the Mac this morning...

About half of the donations

Here are some more that are going...

I texted Keri this morning to let her know that all [113] are ready for pick up and that a bigger vehicle or a trailer would be needed to get them all in one go. I'm sure she's trying to find the means with which to get these as I have not heard back from her yet. 

I'm back on Marty/Bernie today. My goal is to get these two Tilda Samplers done before shutting down tonight; It will depend on whether my day is interrupted with quilt fetching.