QUILTING DONE ON BLUES

 I worked and worked the last two days on the straight line quilting on the Rhythm in Blues quilt.  And I finished it up today.  I am happy with it.

Now I'm thinking about ways to finish it.  I thing regular binding would look too heavy and facing would look unfinished.  There's got to be the perfect solution, I just need to figure it out.

Today would have been Moe's 27th birthday.  I still miss her.  Best Dog Ever.

LONGARMING!

 I cleared off all of the junk that I'd piled on top of my longarm and actually started quilting again on the Equinox quilt.  It's been months since I worked on it!

I was stymied about how to quilt it, thinking I wasn't good enough.

But, I've got to get things moving so I've got to do something on it.  

Let's just do it!

GET IT DONE SUNDAY

 I finished my Daisy yesterday, and today I finishsed more projects.

It started with getting the last of the quilting done on my Free Motion Quilting Challenge quilt, or Fiona Mae as I named it.  I actually quilted some feathers into the last two corners.  And they aren't completely horrible.  Next, the binding for it.

Then, while attending a Brave Patch zoom meeting about the Daisys, I finished sewing together the HST to make the last of the little stars needed for Opening Night quilt.  Now, on to putting together the bigger stars for that quilt.

FINISHED TRINKETS

Finally!  I've been quilting on the Trinkets Six quilt.  Eduard put in almost 11 hours quilting.  I think that's the longest I've ever spent on any quilt.

This one was great for practice.  Every trinket square was quilted differently, giving me an opportunity to try out lots of different fills and motifs.

AM/FM QUILT FINISHED

I finally finished the AM/FM quilt.  

It almost didn't happen.  First, I ran out of thread and thought I'd have to find some more.  But, I was checking to see if I had anything close and found another spool of the same kind.  

Then I ran out of bobbin with only about 1/2 square foot left to do.  That one was easy to fix, and then I was off and running.  I had it done a few minutes later.

Here's where I was when I thought I ran out of thread.

Here's all I had left when I ran out of bobbin.

Done

QUILTING SOLSTICE QUILT

I've been working on quilting the Solstice Challenge Quilt all week, putting in an hour or two everyday.

Some days were a real challenge with a lot of picking out and re-doing and even some machine failures.

Jelly was curious and wanted to see what I was doing.

I'm not sure why, but my bobbin got all tangled up and froze.

After I cut away the bobbin thread, this was under the quilt.

The first block in the Challenge.

 At one point, the machine starting making funny clunking noises.  When I pulled it to the side, these parts flew off....

It took me a few minutes to figure out where they came from.

Oh, it's the thread guide that goes around the needle.

Luckily, I found the tiny little screw that holds it all together and after several attempts and adjustments, I managed to get it back where it belongs.  And tightened down very tight.

Quilt on.

HOME PROJECT CONTINUED

I got the couch arm covers quilted and sewed together.  I still need to finish the binding.

QUILTING!

After our morning walk I got started working on the Red Love quilt.  First I had to figure out the stupid bobbin winder.  I want to use Aurifil thread - I have a spool of red I ordered for this quilt.  But, I couldn't get the damn stuff to anchor itself to the bobbin so that it would wind.  It just kept slipping.  I tried some polyester thread and it wound on there fine.  Darrell suggested that I just tie the red thread to the polyester that was already on the bobbin.  Great idea - that worked!  So I got one bobbin wound and started quilting.

I'm using the HandiQuilter Versa-tool ruler.  Doing little arches - and I'm doing much better than I thought.  I was practicing with this ruler yesterday and was having a difficult time.  Maybe sometime in my sleep last night my brain figured out how to use it.  It's looking good!

I got maybe half of it quilted, but it took hours.  I finally had to quit because it was too hot up in the studio.  It's supposed to be 95 degrees today.  Too hot.

LOADED FIRST QUILT

Well, I finished the practice quilting on the small piece that Kim loaded up on my A1 Quilting Machine after she put it together.  I used up all the space.  So, I unloaded it and loaded on a real quilt.

This is a quilt top I made years ago using 4" red squares from a fabric exchange I participated in.  I can't remember if it was through Pieces Quilt Shop or through Issaquah Quilters.  Either way, I ended up with two red quilt tops which have been languishing in incompleteness for 10 or more years now.

I purchased some quilt backing from Connecting Threads a while ago, thinking I'd use these tops as practice when my A1 got here.  The backing is icky, too.

For the last few days I've been thinking about how I want to quilt it.  I'm still conflicted.  I think I'm going to use the Versa-tool ruler from HandiQuilter, and do a gentle curve on each seam, but I may change my mind tomorrow (but probably not).  It seems boring, but I need the practice.

The back is on the frame.

I used the table to size and cut the batting - worked great!

All loaded up, ready to quilt.

I decided to add the centering tape to the machine.  I did it while I turned up Dread Zeppelin and let the neighbors enjoy that one song, too.  I can't help myself - I love their songs!

So, then I tried to wind some of the thread I want to use onto a bobbin using the Bobbin  Winder that came with the A1.  What a piece of junk.  Kim was having trouble with it and fussed with it when she wound some bobbins for me.  I'm having a different kind of trouble with it.  I fussed with it a little then gave up.   I hot and tired.  I'll give it another try in the morning.  I'm not sure what to do with the bobbin it messed up; half of it is wound good, the last part is screwy.  I don't know enough about tension to know if this is acceptable or not.

FIRST DAY

I was still tired this morning.  It was a long day yesterday and the dogs make it almost impossible to get a good night's sleep - one on each side of me and they are way too hot.

I took them to the dog park this morning.  They enjoyed that and got some good exercise.

When I turned the machine on, the tablet didn't come on.  I checked a bunch of things, turned it off and tried again.  I ended up calling Randy in Missouri.  He was very helpful and all it was that I wasn't holding the on button on long enough.  Oops.

I played a little more trying some allover swirl designs - see, I don't even know what to call them.

I then felt I had to finish sewing the rows together on the Dandy Flowers quilt.  The top is done now!

Then I played a little more on the machine - I guess I need to get a name for it (him, her?).

MACHINE SET UP DAY

The missing parts showed up this morning a little after 7am.  It was the same driver that didn't delivery them yesterday, he was kind of surly about it.  (He probably got in trouble).

Although Darrell was teaching a Blanket Chest class, he helped me uncrate and carry the parts upstairs.  Things were ready when Kim from A1 showed up to put it all together.

She got it all put together and we put a quilt sandwich in and did a quick run through.  It was almost 6pm before Kim left for her drive back to Aberdeen. 

Thanks, Kim.  You went above and beyond to make this happen today.

Happy Birthday to my Dad who would have been 90 today.  It's a good day.

MACHINE ARRIVES, SORT OF

Finally, the day I've been waiting for since March arrives.  My new A1 Quilting Machine was scheduled for delivery.  Listed on the bill of lading was three items, a pallet, and two crates.  Only the pallet showed up, and the truck driver knew nothing about the others.

I quickly called Missouri where A1 is made and told them.  They were great, they called the trucking company in Kent, where they found the missing pieces and arranged to have them delivered first thing in the morning because Kim is coming to put the machine together tomorrow.

In the meantime, I kept busy working on the Dandy Flowers quilt.  I got all the parts made and put it up on the wall.  It only fits crossways.  I got two rows sewed together, but stopped because I was too worried.

the pallet

I'm a little worried about this top piece that is smashed.