2017 - The Year in Review

It's New Years Eve. Last year on New Years day I wrote about what I had gotten done and what I wanted to change. I set eight goals for the year. I have never been really good at keeping resolutions or even sticking to long term goals. So this is a bit of reckoning for me. 

The goals were:

1. Complete at least 3 quilts for family - can be ones already started.
2. Buy a long arm machine before the end of June.
3. Organize my studio before the end of February
4. Sew/quilt at least 20 minutes a night
5. Work fewer unpaid hours at work so I feel up to quilting
6. Write in my blog weekly
7. Document my quilts and who they were given to.
8. Start signing my quilts using labels.

Let's take them one at a time.

Killian's (Son)

Arianna & Victor's (daughter)

Just for practice

Goal 1 - Complete at least 3 quilts for family.  Accomplished!!!!!! I finished 5 quilts this year. Three were given to my children and one to my brother. One is just for practice.  Of the 5 quilts, two were started and completed this year (both of the around the rail fence quilts). Two were UFOs and I finally finished them after 3-4 years (Arianna & Victor's jelly roll race and Killian's scrappy braid). One was someone else's UFO that I am really glad I bought and finished off (the just for practice). I plan on keeping that one for myself since I didn't piece it but I may donate it to charity. I don't know yet.

Josh & Kara's  (son)

Steven's (Brother)

Millie

Goal 2 - Buy a long arm Machine before the end of June. Accomplished!!!! I purchased Millie at the end of February and had her set up and running by the beginning of April. Millie is an APQS Milineum. I went to on of their road shows in February and the deal they made was the deciding factor. I am really happy I bought her. Otherwise I would not have completed 5 quilts. I still much to learn about using her though.

Killian's shelf

Goal 3 - Organize my studio before the end of February.  Partially Accomplished!! This has been an ongoing nightmare. While I do have the studio organized, it is needing constant tweaking. Adding the built in shelf was a big help. Thanks to my son, Killian for taking that on. I have also purchased some storage items and made use of some things I had around the house such as baskets and an old gun rack. I expect that I will be tweaking the studio until I get to build one separate from the house.

baskets and tins

re-purposed gun rack

Goal 4 - Sew/Quilt for twenty minutes each night. Not even close. This is one area where I still need to improve. I don't even have a good excuse other than I am so tired when I get home. I started out fairly good but fell off after the third month. Typical resolution failure. Basically after I had the flu. I was behind at work and then dealing with other things and then needing to clean up the studio. It was a never ending cycle. So that will remain a goal this year.

Goal 5 - Work fewer unpaid hours this year so I feel like quilting. Partially Accomplished!! I have cut back on how many hours I work where possible. We now have a full staff. So I am really trying to keep it to 8 hours a day. The biggest issue I have is when people call in sick on second shift.  I have to cover the first half of the shift then my counter part is supposed to relieve me. That doesn't always happen on time. Hopefully there won't be too many days I have to work more than 8 hours. 

Goal 6 - Write in my blog weekly. Partially Accomplished!! As followers of my blog know, I haven't been to good about this. I posted 34 out of 52 weeks. Better than half in fact almost 2/3 of the year. The thing is there were a couple of months that I only posted once and a couple more that I only posted twice. Those were months that I was either very busy or sick or both. As a result I didn't do much in the way of quilting so I didn't blog.

Goal 7 - Document my quilts and who I have given them too. Not even Started. I have actually taken pictures of the ones I've done recently. I even have a book to put them in. I just haven't decided how I want toformat the pages. I will put an effort into getting this started in the first few months of 2018.

Goal 8 - Start signing my quilts and use labels. Accomplished!!!! I have been doing really good on this one. All the quilts I completed this year were labeled even the one I just practiced on. I am still hoping that my son will design a quilt label just for me. One that is more personal and reflective of who I am. In the mean time I will make do with what I have.

So all in all a pretty good year. I haven't decided on the goals for this year yet. That will happen on the first. Which is now! but I need to sleep so I will make those plans tomorrow.

How did you do?

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!! 

Three Weeks Gone

I can't believe it's been 3 weeks since I last posted. Worst than that it's been 3 weeks since I quilted. Time has flown by and I have been terribly busy. I am currently trying to get my studio put back together. Too many non-quilting projects have been taking place in there.

One of which was a cookbook for church. I gathered recipes from members and former members of our little Cairo branch. The theme was suppose to be foods you use to celebrate. Any kind of celebration. The cook book turned out quite nice even if I say so myself. Plus one Sister gave me the recipes from an old candy cookbook the branch had done in the late 70's early 80's.She gave me a copy of the cover for it as well. I put those recipes in as their own section. I was very pleased with how it turned out. I was able to laminate the cover and bind the book thanks to an old friend who sent me an early Christmas present, a binding machine and a laminating machine, so I could "do it right". The cook book looked so nice that I kind of want to do another one for my family. But that is crazy talk right now.

Kim and a friend managed to get some deer. Killian and Perigrine managed to get it all cut up and in the freezer. We went heavy on stew meat. Tatianna finished up classes for the semester and is busy working. She has managed to get all the presents, we need to mail wrapped and boxed for mailing. But because of delays in things arriving, it looks like the presents will arrive the day after Christmas. Oh well, it just draws out the fun another day.

This past week, All of us in our house have been sick, despite getting flu shots. I am feeling a little better. Others are taking longer to recover. We did a lot of sleeping this week. But that is over now. We all need to be back at work in the morning.

Once I get the studio back in shape I need to get moving on a baby quilt. But that will have to wait for the week after Christmas. This week it's baking, candy making and decorating. Maybe I am over scheduled? Perigrine is going to have to pick up a lot of slack.

I hope my machines will forgive the neglect. Have you been able to keep your machines humming? Or did yours end up on sabbatical for the holidays like mine?

Not A Quilting Week

This week was very busy for me as I am sure it was for all of you. The Holiday Season has started and my quilting is having to make way for Holiday Preparations. I am sure I will take the time to do a little stitching here and there but most of my energy has to go into getting things ready.

I have not gotten the braid quilt trimmed and bound yet. That is the one project I will have to make time for. It will be fairly easy to get done. I know Killian is anxious to have it done.

I did get the quilt top leader replaced on Millie. I also took off the backing and take up leaders, sewed pockets in them for the Leader Grips rods and then put the leaders back on the machine. That was a little scary but I got it done. I was getting ready to assemble the rods and place them in the pockets when I hit a snag. Patty of Katydids Quilting Studio told us that we can get dowel connectors to make the joint in the rods more stable. I took the sample pieces that came with the kit to Loews and got the smallest dowel screws they had, 1/4 by 1 1/2 inch. Unfortunately they were too big around. I could not screw them into the rod ends. I had to go on Amazon.com and order 3/16 x 1 1/2 inch screws. The screws won't be in until December 1st at the earliest. With it being the holidays I am thinking it will be December 6th. So that particular project is on hold until they come in.

The think I feel the best about the progress I made in cleaning up the studio. My work space is much more inviting now. I packed up my old serger and it is ready to send off to it's new home with my best friend Bear. My new one is in place and I need to read read the manual and get it ready to make some receiving blankets for my daughter's baby. I also have a few gifts to make and it is much more pleasant to work in a neat space. So yes my great accomplishment this week is cleaning in the studio.

I still have more work to do and I will do it a little at a time between Holiday prep but I am ready to take on the Holidays.

How are you feeling about the Holidays? Are you ready to tackle the prep work?

A Reminder that I am a still a Quilting Wannabe

I finally got around to quilting the braid quilt. I used a wandering stipple pattern and it looks really good with the Friendship Braid pattern.  But the quilt itself was the problem this time.

I made this quilt from 2" X 4" scraps about 4 years ago. It was one of those times when I wasn't feeling really well (I do tend to want to quilt when I am sick). I didn't want to cut fabric to start a new project but I wanted to be sewing. I had been shown the way to make the braid at a 4-H leader meet. I had all these scrap strips so I started sewing.

Now these scraps weren't the best fabric but they were free so not a huge loss if it turned out badly. I sewed several braids.  I really liked how they turned out. Next I had to figure out how to put them together. I decided to put a 2" sashing strip between the braids. That meant I needed to trim the the braids. 

What I should have taken into consideration was that when I trimmed the braids, I was making the
edge of the braid a bias edge.  I not only trimmed the long sides of the braids but also the ends. Once they were bias edges I needed to use much more care in handling the braids. I didn't. I had put this quilt aside to work on a different quilt and it has sat in a storage box until a couple of months ago.  I pulled it out and put the outer borders on it. I measured the top and made the back for it. All the while it never occurred to me I was dealing with bias edges. A very amateurish move.

I put the top on the machine without cleaning up the back. So as I unrolled the quilt it left all sorts of threads on the top. I was constantly using the lint roller on the top.



Then when I went to quilt it there were all sorts of bulges and ripples in the top. Not just loose tension. the bias edges had stretched in spots.  I tried to steam them out without much luck.


I can't tell you how many tucks I had to pick out.





But worse is the outer borders. I could not get them quilted without ripples in them. In the end I was very frustrated.

Such a pretty top that I messed up with careless inattention to details. This quilt is for my son, Killian. He thinks it is wonderful and figures it will keep him warm even if it is not perfect. He especially loves that it is made from scraps. Killian says I am my own worst critic and I see minor imperfections as major ones. I love his support but these were not minor imperfections. I appreciate how he tries to make me feel better about my work.

I think I will eventually make another friendship braid quilt. Next time before I trim the braids I think I will take a clue from garment making. I am going to try stitching down the strip a short way from the cut line before trimming. Hopefully that will stabilize it. Then I will be a lot more careful while handling bias edges.

Next up on my list of things to do is put the leader grips on the backing leader and the take up leader. Also I will replace the quilt top leader. That should just about finish the up grades to my machine.  I also need to revisit my design wall. It needs a little more tweaking. Actually a lot more tweaking. Maybe even a whole redesign.

Minute Incremental Progress

It's been a rather un-productive week. I have mentioned that it is our busy season at work. I worked at least 9 1/2 hour days all week. Well except Friday. Friday they were cleaning a roaster at work and I had to leave early due to the fumes.  I was feeling rather tight in the chest this week anyway. So I am really trying to not have asthma flare. I came home and slept. Hopefully I will be able to keep a flare at bay. Especially since I will be working very long hours this week.

Then yesterday was Mule Days. Mule Days is a festival in a little unincorporated town here in Southern Georgia. It is really quite a fun day. I have found that there are all sorts of little festivals put on by towns all over the south. Usually it is the Lions Clubs doing it. We go to 2-3 of these festivals every year. It is a fun family day for us.

So needless to say, I got very little done. I feel like I never have time or energy to do anything. It has felt this way for two months now. It is kind of getting me down. But I have made some very small incremental progress.  Most of it this weekend.

I have managed to get the Christmas Lemonade Quilt blocks together and measured for the border. I just need to dig out the fabric I bought several months ago for the border and the back. I am not sure where we put it.

I still have to get the Friendship Braid Quilt quilted. I promised this quilt to Killian and he keeps asking how it is coming. I will try to get the batting cut before bed tonight. I did get the bobbins wound for it though. And the brown thread on Millie. So I am a little closer. I also tried to figure out what pattern I wanted to use. I think it will be a simple stipple.

The other thing I managed to get done is change the clamps changed on Millie. The original clamps that came with the machine were small spring clamps. They worked just fine. but I always felt they should be a little wider.


I told you last week I bought the OXO clamp kits from Patty at Katydids Quilting Studios. Well today I got them on. It was just a matter of unscrewing the bolts and taking the clamps off and putting the new clamps on.

I think these will give better tension on the sides than the smaller  clamps. After I get Killian's quilt off the machine I will put the snap system on the leaders. Oh after I replace the top leader. I was suppose to do that back in April.

I need to clean the studio some time this week as well. I have some things that need cleaned up, some piles that need take care off, some fabric that needs put away. I also need to get my new saddle stool set up. I am hoping I find it more comfortable than my dining room chair for working at the Long arm. I also need to clear my dining room table so I can cut fabric for the borders of the Christmas Lemonade Quilt as well as cutting the fabric for the flying geese blocks to finish the Irish chain.

I just expect that I will be pretty tired this week. So I am not setting any goals other than doing what I have time and energy for.  I am however writing down the things I want to get done and going from there. This way I can see what little progress I do make.

How do you keep yourself moving forward?

Beginner's Class

These past two weeks have flown by and I am exhausted. I have not made much progression my projects but I have made small strides towards starting the quilting business.

I went to the Beginning Long Arm Class with Patty Butcher of Katydids Quilting Studio. Tatianna went with me. When we got there Tatianna looked at the other participants, turned to me and said "I am the only one under fifty." She has to put up with me dragging her to all these things and often there is no one her age there.  Mostly it is because no twenty five year old can afford a long arm machine. But she is a good sport about it and we have a good time together. The other ladies really liked her as well. I don't think she felt too out of place.

The class was very informative. The first part dealt a lot with setting up a business. The other three women have actually started quilting for other people. They even set up their business licenses and everything. I am not even close to that yet.

Next we talked about batting, thread, needles and bobbins. Patty strongly suggested we have more than one bobbin case. In fact she suggested we have on for each type of bobbin we use.  But at the very least we should have a spare. I will need to order one or two. She also went over bobbin tension. She suggested a you tube video about tension. It is done by Jamie Wallen (You-Tube Video). I watched it and I really think it is a good resource. Everyone gets so worked up about tension. If you start out with the right bobbin tension adjusting the top tension will be a breeze.

She had several examples of batting.  And talked about the right side (dimples) and wrong side (pimples) of needle punched batting. Most batting is needle punched. Some batting it is easier to tell which is which. Patty gave us a tip for figuring it out. Take a needle and poke it through the batting. The side that it goes through easier is the right side and you want that facing the quilt top.

Patty also showed us several types of thread. I have Superior thread but I have heard good things about Glide and I think I might like to try that. Patty also said she like the thread she got from Connecting Threads. I used live in Vancouver, Washington, not far from the Connecting Threads store. I had been in the store but not for quilting supplies. I wasn't into quilting as much back then. I was doing tole painting at that time. Connecting threads had a sister company called the Artist's Club that sold decorative painting supplies. The two shared a store front at that time. This was over 12 years ago though so I don't know if they are still part of the same business. I have bought from them online though.

Patty also showed us the way she loads a quilt. She uses a snap system on the backing leader and the take up leader. I bought a set for my long arm. I just need to quilt the quilt on it before I can install them.

She also has changed out the tension clamps on her machines. She has OXO clamps on hers. They are much wider. She told us that if we were going to change the clamps out to make sure to get a bigger washer because the holes on the OXO clamps were bigger than the ones on the clamps that came with the machine. As I was wandering through the her studio I saw that Patty already had kits made up to make this change. So needless to say I bought those as well.

Patty showed us some free style quilting and ruler work. She showed us rulers that she felt were a good investment. She told us who made them and where we could buy them. She never once mentioned she had them there in the studio. I, of course, found them. The others also found things they wanted.

Patty was a little surprised that we were buying things. She never once tried to sell us anything. The improvements she made to her machines were not part of the class but we all asked about them. I love going to a class and not getting the hard sell. I also love some of things she had done in her studio set up. It gave me ideas for when I get to build my studio outside the house. That will have to wait a couple of years but I have plans and ideas.

The only down side was, we learned that the QuiltPath camp won't happen until March at the earliest and only if she can get enough women interested. That class is $500.00 dollars and runs over three days. It is however being offered online. I will have to look into that. It may be cheaper doing it online.

All in all it was a good learning experience. I got a lot of good information. I will definitely consider taking more classes. Right now, I am eager to start doing more custom work. I just need to find the time to do it.

Hopefully this week I will get more quilting done and have time to make the improvements to my machine.

Projects Nearing Completion and Projects Revisited

I honestly have not done very much this week. I have been feeling very tired. Well that is not totally true either. Tuesday I felt really good. I had slept most of Sunday and Monday while on a business trip with my husband. But I did put in some long hours this week and was wiped out by the time I got home from work.

While on the trip I did get the binding on the small around the rail fence quilt. I just need to put the label on it and it will be complete. That will make four quilts completed this year.

I have not started quilting the braid quilt yet. I had it on the machine, backing, top and batting, all set to start as soon as I wound some bobbins. But then we needed to move some stuff around, my husband and son were supposed to put a batting bar on my Millie. They asked us to clear out underneath Millie to make room for them to work. That was a couple of weeks ago. Anyway the roll of batting has been sitting on Millie's table, making it impossible to quilt. I am actually glad that I had the delay. You see I fold up the batting onto the machine to keep it off the floor. When I am not quilting I fold it up even more to keep the cat from attacking it. I notice one day that the middle part of the batting was not as wide as the ends. In fact it may not have been wide enough to go past the edges of the top. I decided to play it safe, I took the batting off and folded it neatly and then put it in a storage basket. I will take the time to measure and cut the batting accurately. Why set myself up for problems that can be avoided. I can us the small batt in another project down the road.

The good news is that the batting bar is now in place with the roll of batt on it. So this week I need to cut the right size batt and put it place on the machine.

Unfortunately, the process of getting the roll of batting on the bar was not without casualties. Remember last week, I said the design wall was flimsy and that when it got bumped blocks would fall off?

Yes, those are the blocks of my quilt all over the floor. Fortunately there were only about six rows left on the design wall. With the help of the picture I took for last week's post, I got the blocks back up in what I hope is close to the same order as before. I know it is not exact because I had done some tweaking of the design after I took the picture. Either way I will just have to live with the results.


While I didn't get any long arm work done. I have been working on the Christmas Lemonade quilt. (the blocks on the floor) I only have 3 more rows to stitch together and then add the borders, Then of course make the back. Soon it will be ready to go on the long arm. So I need to get the quilting done on the braid quilt.

With these two quilts coming to completion I got to thinking about where to put my focus next. I decided to revisit the Irish Chain quilt. If you recall I had made it too long and not a bed friendly size. I was going to leave it that way. I didn't have any more of the batik fabric to make the blocks and I didn't want to tear it apart. Well, I found some similar fabric on the Missouri Star Quilt Company website. I still didn't want to tear apart the top and re sew it but I came up with another plan. I ordered yard lengths of several colors that were similar to the batiks in the chain blocks. I still have plenty of the white fabric left. I decided to do put a row of flying geese blocks along each side of the chain. I plan to put a two inch border between the chain part and the geese. Then run the same border along the top, bottom and outer edges to tie it all together. That will make the quilt wide enough for a bed. So once the Christmas lemonade is done, I am returning to that project.

I also need to finish my Star quilt. That one is a lot farther away from being done. But I should be able to work on a block or two here and there in the evenings.

After that I really need to plan a quilt for my sister-in-law. (maybe before the star quilt) She has opened her home to two of my daughters and one of them brought a husband and two little children with her. Lynn has a family of her own to take care of. We owe her big time, even if it was her idea.

Then there is the quilt for my bother in-law. He sent my husband a picture of a quilt, asking if I could make one similar. Since he has employed my son last year, my youngest daughter this year as well as a son in-law. I need to try and do that quilt for him. I think he wants to donate it to a fund raising program.

Plus there is the flower quilt I want to do. The Minion wall hanging for my husband. The Grand Adventures quilt, the All Boxed In quilt, a pineapple quilt and so very many more. There is not enough time in my day to get all of these done. Sometimes I wish I was independently wealthy so I didn't have to work.  I could just sew and quilt all day, every day. The reality is I wouldn't though. I have too many interests for my own good.

But I am still working towards the quilt shop/business. My mood is so much better now that I have taken the attitude that my job is just a job and not a career. While I haven't made it to the tech to find out about the entrepreneur classes yet (work was too crazy this week) I am not giving up on the plan. I will work to improve my long arm skills to get me started. And this next weekend I am gong down to Brookeville Florida to take the beginning long arm class. I will be at Katydids Quilting Studio. Patty Butcher is an APQS dealer and the person who set up my machine for me. It is her studio and she will be teaching some of us novice long arm quilters how to use our machines. I am really looking forward to the class. Tatianna will be going with me since her midterms will be over this week. It will be a good break for both of us.

This week's plans:

1. go to the beginning long arm class
2. put the label on the small around the rail fence quilt.
3. finish the Christmas lemonade quilt top
4. clean up the studio
5. start quilting the braid quilt
6. But mostly sew a little each night.

What projects are you working on? What projects are you planning to do? Do you even plan that far out?

Design Wall

My studio lacks what I consider to be an important quilting tool. It does not have any space for a design wall. Truthfully I've never had any space or surface that I could use as a design wall. So why do I consider it an important tool? I suppose I could come up with many reasons but the only one that really pertains to me is Quilt Layout.

I tend to use many different fabrics and colors in my quilts. My blocks are rarely uniform in construction so, I need a way to lay out the quilt to keep colors and patterns spread out somewhat evenly. For smaller quilts I have made use of my bed. But that isn't always convenient. I do like to sleep occasionally.

I have seen people use flannel backed tablecloths tacked to a wall for their design wall. I have seen people adhere flannel to a wall in their sewing room/studio for a design wall. Recently I purchased a Quilt Wall from Missouri Star Quilt Company. Which is simply a large piece of felt or Pellon like material. The problem I have with all of these solutions is I don't have a wall that I can put these up on.

As I was perusing Pinterest, I saw a posting on design boards. One person had taken a sewing pattern board covered it with flannel and used curtain rods for feet. I liked the idea. It could be folded and put in a corner when not in use. The problem is it wasn't big enough. It would only be about 36 inches by 58 inches. But what if I used 2 pattern boards taped together? That would double the space.

So I set about gathering supplies. I purchased 2 sewing pattern boards and 2 curtain rods from Walmart. I had a box a of medium binder clips duct tape and the quilt wall from Missouri Start Quilt Company.

The only flat surface large enough to work on in my house is my bed. Don't you just love the camo sheet. Needless to say my husband is a hunter.

I bought these two pattern boards at the local WalMart. I was rather disappointed in what passes for sewing pattern boards these days. The ones from my youth were much thicker and sturdier. They also folded accordion style. These pattern boards are nothing more than large sheets of corrugated cardboard with a grid printed on one side. The edges are even raw, not finished. Plus instead of accordion fold these fold in on itself from each side. Not sure how well that will work for storage.

At least he overall size of each board 58"x 36".  That should give me 58" x 72" design surface.

I unfolded the boards and laid them long sides together. I took care to match up the fold creases. I really do want to be able to fold this up when I am not using it.

To help me keep the board lined up while I taped it I used small pieces of dust tape to hold them together. This helped keep the creases lined up.












Since the boards are 58 inches long and 36 inches wide, I couldn't run one long piece of tape easily. So I opted to tape from the center to the edge.

Yes I know my tape is not straight. Nor is it terribly smooth but it should not matter in the end.

Here it is fully taped. Now I am sure just taping one side would probably be enough. Especially since I will be clipping the board to the curtain rods. But I didn't want the tape joint to become a hinge.

So I flipped the boards over. See how nice and tight that seam is. That is a very good thing. If you look closely you can see the fold creases lined up.

I repeated the taping process on the plain side.

The tape is a lot smoother on this side. Probably because I was more confident doing it.

With the boards together it is time to cover it with something the quilt blocks will stick too.  You can use felt or flannel or a flannel backed tablecloth but since I have a quilt wall, I am going to use that.

I spread it out evenly over the boards. If I was positive that this was going to work the way I hope it does, I would probably use a spray adhesive and permanently attach the quilt wall to the boards. But I am not sure how well this is going to meet my needs and I want to be able to tweak things.

Therefore I chose binder clips to hold the quilt wall to the boards. I started to use the medium binder clips, but I quickly realized that I needed many more clips than I had. So I made another trip to WalMart. I wanted to use medium clips all the way around. But as luck would have it, my local WalMart didn't have boxes of medium clips. I could get small clips, large clips, or an assortment of sizes.






Small would work for the top and bottom but not the sides. Large was just  overkill. So I bought the assortment. Which actually worked out for the better.

I wrapped the quilt wall around the edge of the board and held it in place with the binder clips.

I used 21 small clips on the top and bottom edges. They were actually a better size for that part of the job.

For the sides, I needed the medium sized clips.

You see the board is not going to stand up with out help. I need something rigid to help hold it up. Hence the curtain rods. The ones I am using are the old fashioned single white curtain rods. with the slot in the back for curtain hooks if you needed them. These go from 48"to 84".

For the sides, I placed the curtain rod on the underside edge of the boards. I then wrapped the quilt wall over the rod and used the medium clips to hold it all together.

I tried putting the quilt wall between the board and the rod but the clip rested in the slot and made the clips lay funny.

I ended up using 14 of the medium size clips on each of the sides.

Here is the wall standing up in my studio. Well Kinda of. The curtain rods are not the greatest frame. I had to curve the wall slightly to get it to stand and the shelf behind it has a lot to do with it standing.

Does it work? Yes, it works. Here it is with a quilt laid out on it.







Is it all I hoped it would be? No. Time to get the resident engineer (otherwise known as my husband) to work on it.

Pros - It is portable. I can fold it and stick it in the corner. It does hold a lot of blocks. I can sit/stand back and get a good overall view.

Cons - It is flimsy, the slightest bump and blocks will fall. It is not sturdy enough to stand up without curving which affects laying out the blocks. It is not as big as the quilt wall.

I have asked my husband to redesign it, using different materials if needed. In the meantime I have a quilt laid out and am starting to get it sewn together. And I can go to bed without clearing the quilt off the bed. Since I can leave it up, I can sew a row or two every day and not have to set everything up and put it away. That is a definite plus for me. Once Hubby gets the flaws worked out it will be even better.

What do you use to plan out your quilts?

Depression, Set Backs, Attitude Adjustments and Prespective

My happy mood of two weeks ago lasted up until the Wednesday the 23rd. Once again, work got me down. I won't go into details but on Friday, I was told I had a poor attitude lately. I was also told I needed to change my attitude. I finished up work early and went home.

That weekend, I was determined to find another job as quickly as possible. I was ready to take any job. My resume is updated. I applied for a couple for jobs and spent a good deal of the weekend fighting tears. To say the least I was a bit depressed.

On Sunday, my husband gave me a priesthood blessing. In it, I was reminded that all growth does not occur outside the home and all growth doesn't occur inside the home. I was told to decide what I wanted to be and start working towards that. Now isn't that a wake up call.

While I really do like my job and most of the time my boss is really a good guy, it isn't what I dream of doing. It isn't my dream job. It is what I needed to do at the time. It is a paycheck that helps pay the bills. Sure I want to be good at it. I enjoy being the go to person. I enjoy being seen as my boss's right hand man. But it is not my passion.

I've said before what I would really like to do is own a quilt shop. It is my dream. I work for myself and get to help others learn to do what I love. It seems almost like a pipe dream. Well, that is what I want to be. So why not work toward it?

I have decided that I need to do is quit treating my current job as a career. It is a job. It pays the bills. Set backs in it are not that big a deal. Since I no longer run the lab by myself, I will stop trying to keep track of everything. This will get even easier when they add another supervisor.

I will work towards the quilt shop. Of course I have no idea how to start a business. Funding will be a big issue. I also don't have a clue about running a business. But when my daughter was looking to go back to school she came across an Entrepenuer certificate program offered at the local technical college.

I think I know where to begin. It is two semesters long and only 6 hours a semester. I believe it is offered online as well. I had planned to go find out more about it this week but ended up training a new temp in a seasonal position. So it was long days. This week my boss is out of towm so leaving early will be difficult. But I am determined to take this course. I will find out more about it.

Once I made these decisions, my mood lifted. I am not stressing over things at work. If I do my job and others of the same rank mess up, well that is up to my boss to deal with. I do not have to fix everyone's mistakes. I do not have to spend 10-12 hour days working. The other supervisor is just as capable of doing the work as I am.

I have had a marvelous attitude adjustment. Probably not the one my boss wanted but well it is one I can live with. It is amazing how little I fret over things once I started veiwing the job became as a means to reach my goal.

Perspective is everything. My focus will be on the quilt shop. I will figure out how to start it and how to run it. In the mean time I will work to pay bills and earn the money I need to make my goal happen.

Post Irma and Happy Surprises

Well we survived Irma just fine. We did lose power for about 16 hours but it just provided us with a lazy day. It took some effort to get up and return to work though. I really would have enjoyed a few days off. But we have entered our busy season at work. I am hoping that I can keep the hours down this week as I got very little done this past week.

I had planned to cut fabric during the power outage. What I didn't count on there being so little natural light in my cutting area and studio. Even without the curtains there wasn't enough light to cut anything accurately. I did have candle light but I wasn't getting a candle anywhere near my fabric. I am sure you all understand.

I could have worked on the design wall but we were kind of tripping over each other here in the house and that was going to take some space to put together. So instead of working on quilting I did some bead work. You see, I also make jewelry. I tookthe time to get out the Kumihimo supplies and string up some beads. I was able to do that by candle light just fine. I managed to get two necklaces woven.

Like I said I would have liked to take a few days off, but we are in the busy season at work. It's peanut harvest time. And while I only worked three days this week, they were longer days than I would have liked. But I had arranged to take Friday off at my husband's insistence. That darling man surprised me with a visit from my best friend and soul sister. Thursday after work, we drove down to Tallahassee to do some"shopping." Kim had been very insistent that we leave the house no later than 4:30pm.Which was unusual for him. He hates shopping. We went straight to the airport and picked up Bear. I was so happy to see her. I hadn't seen her since my father's funeral over a year and a half ago. Before that it was my mother's funeral and that was in 2010.

We got to spend two whole days just catching up with each other. I do miss getting to spend time with her. In the past 28 years we have lost track of each other, and found each other more than once. Now a days we keep track of each other on facebook.

 Her life has been a difficult one and she is a true survivor. I admire and love her all the more for who she is and what she has been through. We both have changed over the years but that hasn't changed our love for each other.

With all her struggles and trials Bear is still fiercely loyal to me and my family. She loves my children with all her heart and they know it. She is one of my biggest supporters. She gives me advice and encouragement. She takes pride in my accomplishments. I only wish she lived closer so I could see her more often. But alas our lives have us separated by 6 states. Still 37 years of friendship is something to celebrate. And we definitely did.

So I didn't get things on my list done but I had a great week and it was even better than achieving the goals I had set. I did manage to build the design wall and I will report on that another time. I want to bask in the afterglow of this weekend.

Here's to living a full life, Enjoying the journey, Unexpected delays and not letting goals get in the way. Have a good week everyone.

Prepping for Irma and Still Getting Things Done.

Here it is 9:02 pm on Sunday night. We have spent that past week prepping of Irma. My husband was very concerned that we be ready and well, a lot of things got done that were needing done. The large tanks that he is turning into storage buildings are usable as storage buildings. They still need some work but are usable. The yard has been cleaned up and things put away. Trash has been taken to the dump multiple times. Water has been stored. Food has been bought. Fuel has been bought and stored. Buildings and equipment have been strapped down. Decks have been cleared.

The inside of the house is a little (okay, a lot) cluttered still but we are prepared. Unfortunately the generator, we ordered did not arrive as it was suppose to. But still we will be fine. After all the work, Irma should be a tropical storm by the time she reaches us. Which is typical for us. Prepare for the worse and be relieved when it isn't as bad as we feared.

This week was a strange week for me. First, I had Monday off for Labor Day and then we had Thursday off for our company party. But we also lost my husband's Uncle Jack on Thursday. He was in his late eighties and lived with my in-laws, in Idaho. Our daughter, who is out there working for a couple of months, called in the middle of the night to let us know. So sleep was a forgone conclusion after that. Both my husband and I went into work early and came home early. So I also had Friday afternoon off as well. Despite Irma and Uncle Jack's passing, I was able to make some progress on my projects.


First thing I worked on was my friend's pants. It was an easy repair since it was just a popped seam. I did use a reinforced stitch though. I would hate for it to happen again. That project was completed rather early on Monday.

Next up on Monday were the curtains for the Studio. I found this fabric in a Walmart. It is home decorator fabric so a little heavier than quilting cotton. It wasn't too bad of a price and the colors were perfect for the studio. First I measured the windows and decided how much I needed for hems and casings. Then I serged all the raw edges. I turned the raw edges under and top stitched them down to get a nice finished edge. Then I put in the hems and casings. I hung the hardware myself. I had it all done by noon.

Since I have an air conditioner in one window I made one curtain short so the air conditioner wouldn't be blocked. It really makes that whole wall look complete. Funny how something as simple as curtains makes a room look more pulled together. Plus I have some leftover fabric that I can use for a sewing machine cover.

The next thing on the list was getting the borders on the Braid quilt. I needed to add all four borders not just the top and bottom onesas I had thought. I also had to go back over some of the seams of the braids. This top was made from scraps and some were more prone to raveling than others. I also wasn't doing as careful a job sewing as I should have. I am much more dedicated now. This quilt has been in a bin for the last four years and well was just neglected. 

I also was able to get it on the machine on Thursday morning before going to the company picnic. I didn't start quilting it because I didn't want to get part way done and lose power due to Irma. Besides I needed to get ready for Irma.

Every night this week, I worked on finishing the binding for Arianna's quilt. It is a largish quilt and the binding took some time. Plus I was only working on it as we watched TV. But I am Happy to say it is done. I finished it Thursday or Friday I am not sure now. I have it bound, labeled and packed to send to her. I sent her a picture text and asked her if she knew what it meant. She happily replied "Our Quilt is Done". Now if I can just manage to get it in the mail.

The last project I managed to get done was the Purple Quilt. I am calling it a Punch of Purple. I turned the binding and clipped it down Thursday morning before the company picnic as well. I took it to the picnic with me and started stitching it down.

I know that sounds rather unsociable. The Picnic had activities that I just wasn't going to do. I don't play basket ball and besides those young men really get into their game. I wasn't going to ride the mechanical bull. The wrecking ball's inflatable construction was just too unstable a platform for my weak ankles. And the gyro sphere really didn't appeal to me especially after eating lunch. I would have gone swimming if they hadn't canceled it. So I sat in the shade, talked with my friends, cheered on the others and happily stitched away. I had a lot people comment on how stunning the quilt was. I had a couple ask if I would make them a quilt. Anyway I got half the binding stitched down on Thursday afternoon. I finished up Sunday afternoon. It is labeled and folded and ready to be given away or used. I am not sure which yet.

So looking at last week's projects I have managed to complete five out of eight. I knew I wouldn't complete all of them but I am really happy with getting five done. Besides I was leaving the design wall and lay out projects for when the power went out. I don't need electricity for those two.

• Finish the braid quilt top and back and get it on the machine - Done
• Finish binding Arianna's quilt and add the label - I already made the label. - Done
• Bind the purple quilt and add a label.- Done
• Build a portable/storable design wall - I have an idea based on some things I saw on Pintrest.
• Sew curtains for the studio windows - I found some nice fabric on sale. It is cut and ready to be sewn. The curtain rods need put in as well. That is what my husband and son are for. - Done
• Mend some pants for a friend - she doesn't sew and it is only a seam the popped. - Done
• Lay out the Christmas Lemonade quilt - I started this and realized that my bed was not going to work since I needed to be able to go to sleep at night. Hence the need for the design wall.
• Work on the star quilt

So for this coming week we will move the projects we didn't complete down. Then maybe add one or two.  

• Build a portable/storable design wall 
• Lay out the Christmas Lemonade quilt
• Work on the star quilt - sewing machine needed so after Irma passes through
• Design and start quilting the braid quilt - after Irma
• Make the binding for the braid quilt - after Irma
• Cut fabric for the flower quilt - if power is out
• Cut fabric for on point quilt - if power is out.

Okay the last two are so I have something to do if the power is out. Otherwise they will wait until I get the Christmas Lemonade and the Star quilts done.

Planning ahead is keeping me focused. Writing it down is keeping me focused. Crossing them off as they are done is very satisfying. Hopefully I will continue to make progress.

Are you staying safe and dry? What will occupy your time this week? Will you be preparing for a natural disaster or getting things cleaned up afterwards? How about organizing your work space or just working on a new project?

Three weeks of Updates

So it's been three weeks since I blogged. I started writing this last week but for reason I lost most of it despite hitting save frequently while writing it. So this blog will cover the past three weeks. It may be a little long.

I did very little in the way of quilting the first week. I was working on a Mini-Class for church. I prepped and taught a class on baking yeast bread. It was not just a demonstration, we made bread. Everyone took home a loaf. There were 12 of us there. I think everyone had a good time which makes it all worthwhile for me. I hope everyone learned something.

Prepping fro this class was a pain though. The week before the class I was trying to put together print outs for the class to take home.You know recipes and such. But my printer would not feed the paper. I was so frustrated. This is the second Cannon printer I had bought in less than 9 months.  I never had this much trouble with printers. We had a Lexmark for 6 years. We had 2 different HP for a total of 14 years. Why the cannon printers won't last I have no clue and they both did the same thing. I emailed Cannon to no avail. It's been three weeks and they haven't responded. So I ended up buying a new printer. You better believe it wasn't a Cannon. I went back to HP. This one is supposed to be good for printing pictures so I am hoping it will give me a good quality print on fabric for picture quilts.

As for Quilting though, I had a pretty good couple of weeks. With the new printer, I printed out some quilt labels on printer fabric. I put a label on the first quilt off the long arm. In fact this is the first quilt I've put a label on. I think the cattail design goes pretty well with the Around the Rail Fence quilt. I even got the quilt packed up and ready to send to my oldest so Josh and his family.

What do you use for quilt labels? I bought a CD of quilt labels off Amazon. I have to say I am disappointed in it. I thought that it would have several templates of different quilt labels on it and I would just have to type in all the pertinent information and hit print. But it was just a CD of drawings, some with lines, and some with just an open space. For the most part, the drawings weren't that good. I was discouraged that I spent good money for it. I picked out a few designs that I could live with. Then I had to copy the design into a word program and adjust the size so I could get 2 images on one sheet of fabric. I then had to print out the images on printer fabric, write in the information and color the design to make it more personal. It works but it isn't what I thought I was getting.

My son, Evan, is a pretty good artist. I am asking him to design a quilt label for me. If I am going to have to write in the information, and color it anyway, I might as well have a design that reflects who I am. He is very busy these days taking care of his family. He works six days a week, so I am sure I will have to wait awhile. But I think I will prefer his design to the drawings on the CD.

Some of my wonder clips came in, so I got to work on putting the binding on Arianna's quilt. I have even managed to get it about a third of the way stitched down. It is something I can do while watching TV with my husband. Tatianna still hasn't finished the second quilt and now that she is taking classes again it may be a while before it gets done. I am trying to let her finish it in her tiny stitches. But I may break down and take over, just to get it done.

I also got the fourth (purple) quilt done on the long arm. This was the disappearing nine patch. I stitched a curl design in purple thread. The roundness of the stitching softened to line of the piecing pattern and made the uneven lines less noticeable. But I did have some problems with it and I did learn some lessons.

I believe I told you I learned the importance of basting down the sides of the quilt before quilting. On this quilt I learned it is important to keep the basting stitches smaller than the head of the quilting foot. It is no easy task to free up the quilting foot once it has slipped under the fabric and stitched itself into the quilt. If I hadn't been watching closely, it would have ruined the quilt. As it was, I did end up with a small tear up at the top. I will put a wide binding on to hide the repair.

This quilt also reinforced my desire to take a class on using the Quilt Path software. I really need to learn to use it better. On this quilt, I stacked five rows of curls, every other row was reversed and offset. When I went to stitch the second grouping, I needed to start with the offset row. I couldn't figure out how to do that, so I created another pattern starting with the offset row. I had written down the size so I could get the groupings the same size but somehow I ended up with the second grouping being a quarter of an inch smaller. It was very frustrating. I was almost ready to give up on it all together. When my son, Killian came into the studio. (He thinks the long arm is neat.) He commented on how he liked the curl design.

I showed Killian the problem I was having and told him I was debating taking the stitches out. Killian said to me "Mom, you are the only one who will ever notice that." He also reminded me that this is a time of learning and mistakes are going to happen. He is right of course. This is not a quilt that I am entering into a competition. It is a learning quilt. Killian also said that anyone who is that critical of one of my quilts doesn't need one of my quilts. He's probably correct there as well. I left the stitching in. Some times we are our own worse critics. Yes, I need to work towards perfection but not at the loss of my sanity.

Another lesson I learned on this quilt is that I tend to pull and stretch the quilt top as I pin it on the leader. I am not sure how I did that but I need to be more careful. I should have taken the quilt top off and re pinned it when I noticed that it was not rolling up evenly. Because I didn't, I got some buckling towards the end. It isn't so bad but I had to tug and pull a little to keep it this minor. Tugging and pulling probably wasn't the right thing to do but in the heat of the moment, it seemed the only thing.  At least the quilt is quilted and that makes four quilts done on the long arm. Once they are all bound, that will make twice as many quilts done this year than I did last year.

I have gotten the binding sewn onto the fourth (purple) quilt and will start stitching it down as soon as I get Arianna's quilt done. In the meantime I need to get another quilt on the long arm. I have one top that is almost done. It is a braid quilt that I started about four years ago. I just need to add the end borders and make the back. I found some fabric for the back and will try to get this quilt ready and on the machine this week.

This week I also straightened up the studio a bit. I cleared my work surface and my computer desk. I filed a bunch of paperwork and all in all made things better. I also started laying out the Christmas Lemonade quilt and am quite pleased with how it looks so far.

Projects for this week:

• Finish the braid quilt top and back and get it on the machine
• Finish binding Arianna's quilt and add the label - I already made the label.
• Bind the purple quilt and add a label.
• Build a portable/storable design wall - I have an idea based on some things I saw on Pintrest.
• Sew curtains for the studio windows - I found some nice fabric on sale. It is cut and ready to be sewn. The curtain rods need put in as well. That is what my husband and son are for.
• Mend some pants for a friend - she doesn't sew and it is only a seam the popped.
• Lay out the Christmas Lemonade quilt - I started this and realized that my bed was not going to work since I needed to be able to go to sleep at night. Hence the need for the design wall.
• Work on the star quilt

Okay, I know that I will not get all of these done this week but it doesn't hurt to have things listed out. It gives me direction. In fact I am writing them out on a paper and posting it in my studio next to my sewing machine.

What is under your needle this week?

Accomplisments, Plans, and Food for Thought

So I took my third quilt off the long arm this week. I have trimmed it and have it ready to put the binding on. I am kind of stalled out because two thirds of my wonder clips are still on the second quilt. Tatianna is still working on sewing that binding down. She thought she needed to use tiny stitches to secure the binding. When I say tiny, think a short machine stitch. Since she is a quarter of the way done she feels she needs to finish it with those tiny stitches. I think I said before she is a little OCD. I do have more wonder clips on the way, so when they get here I will start working on the binding. Arianna will be so pleased if I get it done before her anniversary.

I also did a lot of organizing in my studio this week. I have all the planned or in progress quilts and kits on the shelf, I went through old projects and organized them. I have them all on this really neat wire shelf from Lowe's. One of the things about this shelf that I really like is the fact that I can hang things on it. I took some "S" hooks and hung my cut and press pad on the end along with my larger lint rollers, on the front I used smaller "S" hooks and hung little things like box openers and little screwdrivers

   

 I placed things under my long arm neatly to have ready at hand without being in the way. Still is messy but better than before. I will have to come up with a better arrangement when my husband gets the batting bar installed. If you look in the back you can see my granddaughter's tricycle which needs to find a new home. Preferably in Idaho with her. If I can figure out how to get it out there I will send her Mother's sewing machine along as well. 

I gave away my mother's sewing machine this weekend. I don't need six machines. It was not the one I learned to sew on and in reality it wasn't really my mother's machine. She never liked it. It was one my dad bought when I couldn't get her old singer to work on the knit fabric I was sewing into a dress for my friends wedding rehearsal dinner.  They went out and bought a Kenmore that would sew the knit fabric. It was similar to one I had used in school so I liked it, but Mom never did get used to it. Mom would be happy that I gave it to some one who will use it. Anyway one machine down.


I still have a couple of boxes to go through and some filing to get done but the studio is coming together. I even cleaned off my sewing desk and have it ready to sew one. I have to post a picture of it because I don't know how long it will stay that way. My family has a habit of putting things on my desk for me to take care of. It is frustrating especially if I am wanting to sew. I tend to just move it to another place and then the piles start to grow. I need to find away to quickly take care of these things instead of piling them up elsewhere. I like having a clean work surface.

I also made the difficult decision to quit holding onto some quilts I started seven years ago. These were from a block of the month club that a very small quilt shop was doing. The shop is now defunct. I don't know if I even have all the instructions. I was doing three at a time. Two were to practice the blocks on before cutting into the very expensive $10.00 a yard fabric. The shop is now defunct. Mostly because they marked everything up so much and really gouged their customers. $25.00 a month to get a photocopy of the instructions for that month's block.  People got tired of that real quick plus they didn't pay the teachers very well. Anyway. I put the fabric in yardage and I will make hot pads out of the completed blocks. That cleared up some of the clutter.

Last week I mentioned that I had bought some quilt tops on e-bay. One was fairly good sized but ugly. The thing is the blocks were hand sewn. It looks like someone found them and just sewed them together without any thought. The fabric they used in between the rows of blocks was totally wrong for the the blocks. It was obvious the work of two different people. Tatianna and I think we may take it apart and sash the blocks with white. Plus the bocks need squared up to lay flat anyway. That means quilting it is now on hold until we do the original quilter's work justice.

The other quilt top was a disappearing nine patch. It was obviously the work of a beginner. The seller mentioned that she hoped I liked it. I do! I told her so but asked why she never finished it. She said she had taken a class and when the class was finished, the instructor gave them a list of quilters to send their quilts to. When she found out how much it would cost to have it quilted she decided to wait until she was better at making the tops. I asked her why she didn't quilt it on her sewing machine. She said the instructor told her it would be too difficult and it wouldn't really work on a regular machine. That made me sad. This was a small top only 42 inches square. It could have been done on a regular sewing machine. From talking to the woman, I think the class was sponsored by a group quilters that were drumming up quilting business. The cost was nominal and they provided their own fabric. While I can understand the idea it still makes me kind of sad.  The woman now doesn't have her first quilt because it would cost too much to finish it. When I have my own quilt shop, I will encourage women to do what they can to finish their quilts even if it is to hand quilt them. Plus I will help them if I can.

The quilt didn't have any borders. It had 1/2 inch seams instead of 1/4 inch. The blocks weren't totally straight but it was a really good job done by a first timer. I decided to add borders to make it larger. I was totally pleased with how it looked after I added the borders. The purple borders make the whole thing pop. I can't wait to quilt it now. I already have the back made and will put this on the machine this week. Not sure what design I am going to do but I have the perfect color purple thread to quilt it with. I may send the seller a picture of the finished quilt.

So that pretty much gives you and idea of this coming week's projects. Quilt the purple quilt. Bind Ariannna's quilt. Work on the studio. I may even manage sewing everyday since my husband is out of town again. What will you work on?