Why so quiet?

I haven’t posted anything in quite awhile, as I’ve had my head down and just plowing away.  I get focused like that, just want to get to a good stopping place, and then, if I’m not careful, I start another row, another block, another stitch, another…something.

So, what have I been working on?  The Boise Basin Quilters quilt show is coming up and I have submitted 2 entry sheets for quilts.  The actual quilts are due to be turned in on June 5th.  I’m putting the binding on one of them now, and the other is the Happy Quilt, which still needs to be quilted!  At least I’ve picked out the thread, batting, backing and quilt pattern for that one, but I need to find time to get it done!

I’ve also been working on quilting a customer’s Lone Star quilt.  It’s not your typical “home-y” colors that most people think of, it’s purple, dark grey and light grey, and it’s gorgeous!  I’m taking my time on it, as I’m using 2 colors of thread on top, and a different color of thread on the bottom, which means I have to do a thread change and I am very particular about the back thread not showing through.  The top threads are a bit different in weight, so each time I change the threads, I have to re-calibrate the tension, which means I want to minimize how often I change threads!

I’ve also been working on a way to make several lap / baby quilts at once.  I have a customer who is interested in buying them, so this needs to be an efficient enterprise.  I’ve learned a lot in the process (I should probably write those lessons down, huh?) and have been quite thrilled with the results.  I’ve used the Valentine pantograph from Willow Leaf on the first two, and will be considering other designs as well.  I think this will definitely work for some Bronco quilts, too!

A batting sampler quilt is in the works, too!  I purchased 20” squares of Pellon’s Legacy batting at Innovations last year and have been meaning to put this together since then, but never got around to it.  I finally decided how I wanted to do this and was able to find some really nice fabric on sale, now it’s almost all cut and ready to sew together.

I’ve recently setup a wholesale account with Sulky thread as well as received some thread samples from Fil-Tec in the mail.  I got to see some of the Sulky Blendables for the longarm machines at my last networking meeting and I really liked how it felt, and it was gorgeous!

Fil-tec makes Glide thread, and I’ve heard that Glide is wonderful!  I’ll be testing it out on these samples, too, and will report how I like it.  I haven’t gotten any of the Sulky thread yet, but I will probably be able to get some before the project is ready to quilt, so I’ll be able to show off quite a few of my threads.  They are as fun to collect as fabric!  I’ll post photos of the sampler when that is finished, but for now I’d better get back to finishing my quilt show projects.

Upcoming plans

I wish I were home today, as it is raining and gray outside, the perfect sewing weather!  I need to make up some time, as I did not quilt this weekend, as planned.  Instead, I updated both my husband’s and my websites, www.GriffinDrywall.com and www.ArtisanAtHeart.com

I am excited that I conquered the challenge of a new piece of software, as well as how the new FAQs now display in an accordion style!  There is still a lot of work left to do for my site, specifically getting the store back up and running and configuring it to use PayPal, but that is the nature of the beast!

I am also looking at submitting an application for one of the local farmer's markets to sell my quilts.  The table fee is quite reasonable, and I don't have to commit for the full season up front, which is a concern since I don’t have a large inventory of quilts to sell yet.

One reason I haven’t posted much lately is that  I have been working on testing a particular pattern to see if I can make some quilts in a production style method, while still maintaining quality, and I have been very pleased so far.  I think I can have several lap/baby sized quilts completed in 2-3 weeks, which will make having a table at the market feasible, as well as showing some larger quilts for customers to order in their own colors.

So, I have lots of quilting plans, not to mention normal “life” plans.  I feel very blessed to have so much to look forward to.  I hope to also achieve balance in my approach, enjoying the entire journey and appreciating the experiences with the busy-ness that can be so all-consuming.

American Hero Quilt Finished!

I finished the first quilt top that American Hero Quilts has sent me with a pantograph called Star Spangled, from DesignsByVickie.com.  It was a bit more challenging than I anticipated, since it has a lot of points and changes in direction, but I think it came out OK for a first try.  I will definitely use it again!  I used  gold King Tut cotton thread on the top and  gold Sew Fine! on the back.   I’ll be sending them off as soon as I get a box and print a label.

I’ll be doing more quilting this weekend, to get ready for the BBQ Quilt Show coming up in June.  Submission forms are due May 20th, so I need to get busy!

Bonus quilt!

During the flurry of activity of making the Happy Quilt, I made several more blocks to “make it bigger”…I always want a bigger quilt!….and then it just didn’t look right, it had WAY too much going on!
So, the new blocks came off the design board and the Happy Quilt became what it is today…and unfinished top!  Not that I haven’t been working on it, mind you.  I have the thread, quilting pattern, batting and backing picked out, I just need to seam the backing fabric together to get it ready to quilt.  For some reason, that always takes me a long time!
In the meantime, my copy of Quiltmaker magazine arrived last week…with a wonderful pattern inside by Scott Murkin called the Swirlabout!  I immediately went back to my left over Happy Quilt blocks and re-arranged them from Happy Quilt 2, which I felt was uninspiring, to the adapted arrangement also offered in the magazine, called Whirligiggle.  Click on the Whirligiggle link to get the downloadable pattern from Quiltmaker.
 





Here are the two versions of the quilt, same blocks, just reversed to show the negative of the other; squint at them if you don’t see it.  I’ve decided how I will sew them together, but I’m interested in hearing which one you like best!

Progress to Date

Quilting:  My “need to quilt” count now is 3 customer, 3 personal, and 1 American Hero quilts to quilt.  Backing to be seamed together for 3 of these quilts.
Tops:  This new bonus top needs to get sewn together before the blocks start falling off, or get taken off, the design board so I can use it again, and I have two Bronco quilts in process on which I want to see further progress.
Blocks:  I finished my donation blocks for the upcoming quilt show.  I cut fabric to help out with making a wedding quilt.  I have star blocks from a Pass The Bag event that are still sitting in the bag.  Those won’t make it into a real quilt for awhile yet, I’m sure.
Looks like it’s going to be a fun, and busy, weekend!

Official Boise State University craft vendor!

It’s official!!

I have been been awarded an official Boise State University crafter's license to use Boise State University themes in making and selling quilts to the public at large.

So, in addition to offering long arm quilting services and making custom quilts, I will also be creating BSU themed quilts!

Sample Bronco quilts are in progress, so stay tuned!

Adventures with Zippered Leaders

The reason I haven’t posted for the last two weeks is that I’ve been extremely focused on tax reports and sewing …more so on sewing!

I finally finished my American Hero Quilt that I started quilting last August, but it still needs the binding.  I don’t have a picture of the full quilt right now because I also pulled out a UFO that is made of of LOTS of half square triangles, and they are taking up the majority of space on my design wall where I normally take my pictures.

On Sunday, my fabulous friend, Verna, came over to motivate me and lend a hand with getting the canvas properly cut for my new zippered leaders.  I’ve been avoiding it due to the fact that this has to be pretty precise and dealing with the 4 yard length of fabric presents its own set of challenges.

It took a couple of hours to get the fabric cut out properly, and I realized that I’ll need another 4 yards of fabric to make the 3rd set of leaders that I want, but I’ll have two of them for now, which is great!

It is, however, taking an inordinately long amount of time to get this project finished!!  Sunday night I was up past midnight because I was serging the edges of the canvas.  I remembered someone saying they had color coded theirs, which I think is a great idea (I had red thread in the machine already and loved my test run!)

So, I serged red, then blue and then decided I was going to go for just plain cream/white on the pickup roller.  Changed thread and the tension was a mess!!  So, I dutifully tried to adjust it (I have a wonderful Pfaff 4785 electronic serger that I NEVER have to adjust the tension on!)...and I spent over an hour messing with it (DUMB, DUMB, DUMB!!) with no satisfactory results...and yes, I turned the machine on and off several times to get it to go back to its default settings.

FINALLY, I decided that hey, the tension on the other colors looked great, just change the thread again.  And, voila! the tension went back to being beautiful!  Well, mostly...I used the 3 matching dark colors I had left and 1 light color in one of the needle positions, and the light color kept skipping a few stitches, then would catch again, then skip later so that it left large stretches of thread on top of the fabric.  So, I put in a contrasting dark color and it worked just fine.

So, why would light colored thread suddenly become my evil nemesis??

Less confident that I would actually finish, I again took up the task again last night.  I added another straight line guide down the middle of where I will be attaching the quilt to the leader, then ironed down the edges.  That went very well!  I went to sew it down with a straight stitch and half way through this long 128" trip, the thread broke but I didn't know it.  So I fixed that, not especially happy with the way it's looking, but OK fine, will address that later.

Then I couldn't remember what my zipper foot looked like so I had to look it up in the manual (it's not the usual "half-foot" for the Pfaff) and then had to find in the manual how to move the needle over left and right so I get a tight seam.

Then it was time for bed, and I actually went!  No more staying up until midnight, I’m exhausted!  So, they are STILL not done!   And this is for the FIRST SET!  AARRGGHH!

Now to get the binding completed by Thursday night (guild night), finish the leaders so I can get this other American Hero quilt mounted, and finish my tax reports for the accountant. 

That's what one calls blessings, huh?

Crazy!

I actually played this weekend!  Not only did I go golfing with my DH and another couple, I actually played with that big box of scraps!

I am really proud of what I accomplished:  additional blocks to get a UFO (UnFinished Object) on its way to being finished, and two crazy patches!

I have always wanted to do this block but this box of scraps really provided the opportunity….and I love the result!

Given that I already have several projects in progress, not to mention the list of UFO’s, I decided that, for now, I will limit myself to making 9 blocks to make a wall hanging.  I think I will even do some hand stitched embellishments!