Happy Gate Closing Day!

We received word via the Smallwood Lake Association FB page that our gates were closed yesterday. Our lake can now start to refill.

Jim and I added it up. Six years, two months and two weeks later. And, until we get some rain, the idea of the gates being shut is great and all, but it's not going to refill without something from the sky.

One more day on the Flea Market quilt on Marty and then it should be a wrap. I had two visits yesterday; the neighbor to the north while Jim and Mike were moving rocks into the corner 'garden' we're putting in, and another from a customer to drop off. I worked later to make up for the time, so no worries there.

I did a Flower Power block and then jumped on DW to do the first two blocks in a QAL I'm participating in. We're using virtually blank space to do some grid quilting. Here's the blank space...

Here's block one:

And here is block two:

I'm going to kick myself for not double batting or not using a loftier batt. This is turning out better than I anticipated. I'll try to get a better pic the first block because the pic above doesn't do it justice. 

After two very labor intensive QAL blocks I was surprised it was still as early as it was so I got out my binder and started cutting for the next Quilt Room block. Well, one thing turned into another and viola, I have my second block done.

See the lable on the jar? Yep, I actually hand embroidered that! Me. Hand embroidery. Call Ripleys! Another beautiful sunny day in store for us to enjoy quilting. Isn't God great?

Raven Finish

The Raven is quilted, trimmed and ready for binding. Not today though. We are going in to visit with mom. 

We had a scheduled Consumers Energy shut down last night and the computer is acting very sluggish, so I'll keep this brief. 

Nothing going on in the studio anyway since it's Sunday other than frame ironing backing for the next quilt on DW.

Happy August

One more month and maybe some of this heat will start to subside a little? I'm on row four (of four) on the Flea Market quilt and after working we wandered over a few doors down to the north to visit with our town neighbors.

They have a house in town and they have property and a barn out here. 

Once we got back home, it wasn't too late and since Love Letters was finished the previous night, I made a decision (and just couldn't wait) to start The Quilt Room. Here is block #1:

Block 1: Iron

I love how low volume these fabrics are. I think this is going to turn out really cute once I get the millions of blocks complete. 

We are going to an estate sale this morning. The dogs need treats and we also need some Buckeye Market sweetcorn to go with our burgers and fries later for lunch so we're doing errands on this (finally) rainy morning. I think I may jump on DW later this afternoon to get the Raven done, but who knows what the day will bring? 

Love Letter Top Done!

Lunch with friends is fun isn't it? And then the icing on the cake was a phone call from another quilting friend later in the afternoon. I miss talking to people of like mind and the retreat in September can't get here fast enough. 

Although, Jim is pretty supportive of my quilting passion. He visits the studio usually every day. Which is a great thing because I've heard awful stories from other ladies who quilt whose husbands/partners are not nearly as enthusiastic as Jim is. That's sad. 

I did get the first row completed on the Flea Market before leaving for lunch and the second row started after getting back. 

The quilting in the background

While on the phone I stuffed my earbuds into my ears while talking. I was working on Love Letters and after I hung up realized I only had a block or two to go to finish it. So, that's what I did. Not only that, I ended up taking the time to actually get it all together.

Love Letter top is complete!

I don't have enough floor space to get the whole top in the pic, but you get the idea. I think I'll finish the table runner I've been working on while using it as leaders and enders before I start anything new on that machine. But then, once that is done. HA! I get to start something new. Yay!

I picked up background fabric for each of the three patterns I have hanging around that I want to start so now I'm all ready to start digging into a new project! Don't ya love starting new projects? First, work. Happy Friday! 

Making a quilt 15 Times

Could you pick a pattern out of your pattern library or from a quilt you completed in the past, and want to make it 15 times? Long arming is pretty much the same way. To quilt the exact same quilt 15 times is unheard of. Yet, here I go. 

Here is the second Flea Market in a week I'll be working on for the next week. 

This makes Number 15

I truly like doing this pattern. It's not TOO labor intensive and there aren't a gazillion thread changes. I've gotten it down to a routine. The first one I did took me seven days to work. I have it down to about 4 1/2 days now. 

I do the borders a little different for each one, and I move the quilting around in the dresdens; what one pink flower had in one the next one might get something different. Here are the borders going into this one. 

I love doing feathers

This quilt is going to be an heirloom and I like to put heirloom things into the quilting so this one got feathers rather than a piano key or loose bubble feather. 

Yesterday was grocery day since we were pretty much out of half our salad fixings and we had to hit Lowe's to get some deck sealer and paint for some of the trim work around that house that's looking pretty tired. We didn't get everything unloaded until after 7:00. Too late to start something in the studio so it was an early night off for me. 

More of the same today. Although, I am going out to lunch with a customer/friend and will probably be gone most of the midafternoon. 

At Our Age

Whenever we can we visit with friends and family. Every day is a gift and should be enjoyed as best as possible. We love our neighbors to the north and when they are free to take a few hours out of their day to catch up we jump on it.

We live here full time and they do not, so their visits have been brief over the past six years since there's no real reason for them to hang out long other than to do lawn/house maintenance.

The Flea Market quilt for Julie is finished. The frame ironing on the next Flea Market is also finished and I'll be loading as soon as I get done here. There's a very sad story that goes with my next job but I'm not going to get into why. Tender care and love will be especially thick on this one!

After working and visiting with the neighbors, I headed back out to the studio to make a Love Letter block and then started blanket stitching Flower Power. 

Flower Power top

Here's the first block of the 15 needed. I didn't have enough time to work on DW unfortunately because of the chat session next door, but I did have a little time to go through the next three quilt tops I'll be tackling. I discovered I did not have nearly enough scraps/leftovers to complete the Granny Squares pattern by Lori Holt. 

Instead of trying to piece meal it together, I did break down and purchase a fat quarter bundle from a private seller on Etsy. I don't usually do that, but her prices were pretty good and she had the particular bundle I wanted. 

More of the same today so not much else to write about. 

Finally, Some Rain

While everybody in the state was getting rain the past day or so, we were not. The dirt pile Jim was moving, which is mostly all clay, was like dustbowl Oklahoma. It was dry throughout even to the bottom. 

Last night we finally received a thunderstorm and some decent rain. Even the dirt under the oak trees is wet. Hallelujah!

One more day on Julie's Flea Market and it should be a wrap. Fingers crossed. I did a Love Letter block after working and then realized I hadn't done any Temperature blocks in a while. Two weeks actually. I don't like getting that far behind and so took some time last night to get those caught up. Isn't it pretty?

That took most of the rest of the night so nothing else was accomplished. More of the same today minus the temperature quilt. Hopefully I'll be able to jump on DW and get the Raven finished. I am so excited to get the next quilt loaded but am not going to share just yet in case something else grabs my fancy. 😁