A couple of finishes

While at work yesterday, I was able to finish the cupcakes! Quite a few of you asked about the pattern. It's Cupcake Party and for 1 cupcake it takes a half yard for the background and a fat quarter for the top or 1 yard of background and still 1 fat quarter for the tops to make 2 identical cupcakes.



Here are the finished place mats.



And the finished table runner.



And Jennifer came into Cincinnati and brought her mom and her kids into the shop so that she could meet me before retreat! Her kids, Jack and Jenna, were too precious and I kept them occupied while Jennifer and her mom looked around. Heck, even Jan got into it offering them pretzels! Jennifer - it was great to meet you and we'll see you really soon!

I forgot to post pictures of the February BOM blocks that I made last week. I was waiting until I was done with my secret project before pressing them and then I forgot to post a picture. These were made with Bubba.



And finally, Linda and I worked the inventory at the shop today. I suggested that we go to IHOP for breakfast so she picked me up and off we went. She brought me my birthday present - Peeps and a coloring book and breakfast!



Very cool! I haven't broken into the plastic yet, but the night is still young!

R.I.P. Bubba ... and Introducing...

I tried all morning to get Bubba to replicate the noise it was making. Once it finally did, I changed the thread so that I could take it back to the shop and then it wouldn't sew at all! I messed with it and talked to Jen online a little and decided that I was tired of messing with the hassle that he kept giving me. It's been one thing after another for the last year.

So, I decided to trade him in. It was a tough decision, but I really don't want to start hating to use the machine to do anything!

So..... I went and looked at a machine at a couple of the local shops. One shop gave me a really good price with the trade in. I left and thought about it and when I went back, she gave me an even better deal and threw in a $50 foot!

This is what I got!



It's a Janome 6600 and I think it's a great upgrade! I've decided that since it's an upgrade, this machine is a female and her name is JJ.



As you can see, I've tied her out and I LOVE HER!! Now, I have to get busy and finish my cupcakes for the shop. I should really be able to bust these projects out now!

I finally did it!

I have been putting off this shop sample for a long time because the appliqued just scared me, but this week, I decided that it's high time for me to tackle the project and show it who's boss! And did I ever whip it into shape!

Here is the first one that I got through the applique on.



The entire project calls for 8 cupcakes - 4 will be place mats and 4 will be a table runner. Last night, I got all of the applique finished and now, I just need to assemble them to the backing. It's a sew and turn type finish so hopefully it won't take too long.

I took today off so that I could get Bubba back into the shop and show them the noise that he was making. Now, I just have to get him to start making the noise so that I can run him up there.

In spite of Bubba...

I did get some sewing done. Not as much as I would have liked due to his issues, but I got a couple of things finished. He is now having a new symptom - skipped stitches. YEAH! NOT!!!

I finished a couple of blocks for the shop.



And I worked on a super secret project that I can't show yet. Here are some sneak peeks.





That's all you get for now.

I did take the finish object into work today and I now have my first commissioned quilt! Woo hoo!!

Bubba needs help!

Well, Bubba is back home. But he isn't fixed. When I first sewed with him on Sunday morning, I thought everything was great. But as I kept sewing, the sound came back. I'm getting very discouraged and need help!

When we start sewing, all is fine, but if I sew for 30-45 minutes pretty constantly, the noise starts. It starts as the needle is almost to the completely down position and then stops as the needle gets about a third of the way to the up most position. It's sort of a wonking or waahing sound like there are 2 or more pieces that are rubbing against each other and there is no lubrication for the motion. It's not an extremely loud sound, but I also don't think that it is supposed to be happening.

And here is what I have done to try and correct it - I have been constantly cleaning the lint and loose threads out of the bottom of the machine from the bobbin area and under the face plate. I have removed the face plate to make sure that there isn't any lint or anything under it that I can't see when the bobbin is out. I have even taken the casing off of the top part of the machine to make sure that there is no lint there. I have had it cleaned and they said that they removed a burr from the bobbin case. But it didn't do anything for the noise.

I am not sure what else to do. I have emailed Brother to see what they say. I'm sure it's going to be "Take it to a Brother Dealer for service," but if I do that, then I don't have him for 3 weeks and I can not handle not being able to sew for 3 more weeks. And I wouldn't be able to count on having him back in time for retreat because of where he has to go and my working on Saturday's at the shop.

Does anyone have any ideas? Any suggestions? Had to deal with this issue? Have any experience with a Brother Innovis 450Q machine? At this point, I am up to just about anything!

Stash Report Week 12

I will have to slowly but surely pull myself back out of the hole I dug myself into 2 weeks ago. This is a good start. I used almost 2.5 yards, but I did buy my March block of the month kits. *sigh*

Fabric added this week: 0.28
Fabric added year-to-date: 37.50

Fabric used this week: 2.32
Fabric used year-to-date: 38.22

Net Fabric Used: 0.72

And now that Bubba is back and purring like a kitten...



Now, I have to get back to my sewing. I am making up for missing yesterday's National Quilting Day that I missed.

At least 1 finish...

But it was just at my JOB. We are in the process of upgrading one of our main software systems and it affects the majority of my work. I had to test 2 different parts of the system and it has been dragging on for months! Seriously, we have been doing this since December.

Anyway, the budget is done. Software testing is done. Things at work should be returning to usual. I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders!

I feel so good, in fact, that I am taking tomorrow afternoon off! And having my eyes checked. I know, tons of fun, right? Well, I have not had my eyes checked or new glasses in a year and a half so I am due.

Tonight, I have just been relaxing and watching TV. I have prepped my label for Lover's Lane and started pressing some pieces to finish some blocks when I get Bubba back. But now, I am sleepy and think that it's time for bed. And tomorrow while my eyes are dilated, I should be able to clean a bit. I mean, do you really have to be able to see in order to dust? We shall see!

Stash Report Week 11

Since I fell off the stash busting wagon and my Bubba is still in the shop, my report just looks pitiful! I bought fabric for a quilt, a kit for a different quilt and a little over a yard of muslin. Oh, and I was 'gifted' 2 fat quarters. I have plans for the muslin and the FQs so they won't be in my stash for too long.

Here's the total damage:


Fabric added this week: 16.85
Fabric added year-to-date: 37.22


Fabric used this week: o
Fabric used year-to-date: 35.90

Net Fabric Used: -1.32

On a positive note, I am making awesome headway on the cleaning! so once Bubba is back, I will be able to sew without any guilt!

Some Sewing Done

After I got the donations out of the way … Well, not really out of the way as much as got the pictures taken … and I ate my dinner of Honey Nut Cheerios, I sat down at Bubba. Well, first I did a little cleaning and then sat down at Bubba. You may or may not have realized that in about 7 weeks, I will be heading to a quilt retreat. (Oh, you didn't know? Have you been living under a rock? Just kidding! giggle) Anyway, all of these donations have been coming in and are starting to put a huge cramp in my style at the house! I'm also going to be hosting a few ladies from out of town. (Hi, Jen, Moneik, Cindy, Sherry, Maureen, Regina the I, Jennifer! Hmmm … I think I am missing someone! Am I missing someone?) This means that my condo needs to be in top shape.

I have made myself a list of things that need to be done in the condo before April 22 when the guests start arriving. I started working on the list on Wednesday night. Right now, my biggest job is putting all of the clothes back into the closet that my cousin renovated a little in December. All of the clothes that had been in the closet were moved to the bed in the spare room and this needs to be used in April (see the list of ladies above). So, the last couple of nights I have also been trying on the clothes as I put them in the closet so that I can make sure that I have the things that fit in the front of the closet and the things that will fit soon in easy reach, too. I think that I am more than half finished. At least, I hope that I am! Once I get the closet situated, most everything else should be a breeze.

After I finished with the clothes that I was working on last night, then I sat down at Bubba. (To those new to my blog, Bubba is my Brother machine that I do my everyday sewing on. Squiggy is the Mega Quilter for the quilt frame.) I had been working on some blocks for a couple of weeks, but since I was working at the shop so much I hadn't been able to finish them up. Last night was no different. I had 6 blocks prepped and I was able to get the rows sewn together on all of the blocks. I ironed a few of them, too, so they are ready to be sewn into completed blocks.

The past month or so, I have been hearing some strange sounds from Bubba. At the beginning of a sitting, he purrs like a kitten and everything is right with the world. As we progress, I can hear a low squeaking sound. It's almost like there is a gear or something grinding every time the needle goes down and not enough oil or grease to help with the friction. I have cleaned the insides out lots. I have oiled what I think can be oiled. I have changed the needle lots. And it continues. Now, if I leave him alone for 15 minutes of so and come back, it sounds fine again for a while. This is one reason why I haven't done much sewing. I asked at the machine place next to the shop about a cleaning and how quick they could be and they said 7 days. With my discount for working at the shop, the price comes out a little higher than the shop where I actually bought my machine, but he wouldn't be in the shop for 3 weeks. Plus, I should have him cleaned again before retreat. But then I think, I JUST had him cleaned before I went to Wisconsin. IN OCTOBER! Should he really need a cleaning this often? At $60 a cleaning? I'm hoping that nothing is wrong with him. Or maybe I should hope that something IS wrong with him to need a maintenance this soon. The machine is not even 2 years old.

So, I packed Bubba up last night instead of sewing the rows into blocks and he is in the back of my car right now. I am dropping him off at the machine shop on my way home from work tonight. And I will be able to get some cleaning done since I can't sew. Well, I'll keep telling myself that! :)

It's time!

It’s has been a few months since the Quilting Survivor Challenge of 2008. Some time has passed so all the players could return to their sewing corners and pat themselves on the back or lick their wounds and regroup to try again.

After numerous hours of discussing the options of another challenge, Jen and I finally came up with an idea of a challenge for January 2009. Once we settled on the idea, the real fun began. We had to identify all of the different types of work a quilter would do. We then had to rate the work based on our idea of level of skill needed and the difficulty of the work or task. There were many more hours of discussing and debating the tasks and values. We laughed. We cried. We yelled. I’ll admit it … there was probably some name calling. I mean, Jen’s husband Mike just wouldn’t stay out of our way! *Giggle*

Without further adieu, I bring to you, my fellow quilters, my loyal readers, my peeps….



It is going to be a great way to start off the New Year on the right machine quilting foot!

Here is the premise – whatever you do that is quilting related will get a point value. For example, get 9 points for making a 9 patch block, but lose 10 points if you buy fabric that you don’t use during the month. Total your points for the month and see how you rate against the other quilters.

Now, Jen and I are competing between the 2 of us. But you can join in our fun!

• Use our point values and play along to see how you rate against me or Jen.
• Find a quilting buddy and challenge her to a competition.
• Cheer me on in my quest to beat Jen once and for all!

The competition begins at 5:00 PM on 12/31/2008 and runs until midnight on 1/31/2009.

We still have a couple of things to discuss for bonus point items and any rules that we feel we should impose on everyone playing along, but we should have the file available tomorrow for anyone interested to start tracking their points. Just keep track of what you are doing tonight and tomorrow if you are lucky enough to be able to sew.

Now, Jen is getting a head start on me because she has been off of work since noon. I gotta get to Bubba, my machine, and get to work! :)

*Edited to add - here is the link to the file with our points values and the spreadsheets to track our progress.

I knew it!

I knew that I would forget something! I didn't make myself a list and something got left off my last post for the week in review. :(

I stopped at the post office last night and I mailed off 3 packages.

One to Kristie containing this and some goodies:



A package to Gina across the pond with this and some goodies:





And I sent one other package that is a surprise. Hopefully, when the recipient gets their package, they will post about it!

OK, now that was it. Today, I am meeting Cathy for breakfast at IHOP and we have our fingers crossed that they have pumpkin pancakes! Then, we are heading to Best Friends for class and possibly some shopping. After that, I am going to pick up Bubba, my machine, who has been in the shop for 2 weeks. Too long!


I should be posting some updates later today. I almost have all of the pieces cut for the Moon Pie quilt. I am very happy about this! Just the setting triangles left!

How did I do?

Pretty well, I think! It took a bit longer for the oil change because there was a problem with a tire that I had checked out. Thank God I did! I could have had some serious issues when driving up to Wisconsin in 12 days. There was a piece of metal in one tire and they were able to patch it, but it took quite a bit of time. When I finally left there, I hit a few shops and then came home. Then, it was nap time since I didn't get home until about 2:15. Two hours later and I pulled my first task.

30 minutes cleaning the spare bedroom (where my stash is kept). I hadn't put anything away since just before the Shop Hop so it was a bit of a mess. After 30 minutes, the piles had been tamed and the only things remaining were bags of scraps and fabric that needed shelf space. On to the next task.

Prepping the Thangles BOM half square triangles. I was only going to iron and cut the fabric, but I remembered that I have a (very cheap) Singer that has always done well so I pulled it out and found this.



The thing laying on top of the machine is supposed to be attached to the plus looking thing on the left. I tried attaching the piece with super glue, but it didn't work. I was able to sill use the machine and I got all of the HSTs sewn and cut down to the right size and ready for when Bubba returns.

I think that at this point, I pulled out to quilt a charity quilt. This is what I made some slight modifications to the plan. I decided that I didn't want to work in the basement because I have TV shows to watch so I put this one to the side and pulled another piece.

I spent 30+ minutes working on stitching down binding and I watched Friday's Ghost Whisperer.

The next piece was to update the UFO and projects listing on my sidebar. Easy! And done!

At this point, it was about 11:30 and I was ready for bed. I spent some time ripping out some stitching and then headed to bed. But not before I pulled the piece to work on next. Finish Flintstones pajama pants.

This seems to be working quite well! Although, I may put off quilting anything for today, too. There is enough for me to do without even thinking about the charity quilts that I have to work on.

Decisions made

Will they work? It's too soon to tell.

I am still sans Bubba right now. No call from the shop to let me know that I can pick him up tomorrow. In all likelihood, it will be sometime next week and I won't be able to get him until Saturday. I can live with that. I still have Lenny and Squiggy who have been slightly neglected since just before vacation and I have several charity quilts to be quilted along with several of mine. I also have a lot of prep work that can be done while Bubba is gone. Lots of ironing and cutting.

There have been some things that I have been contemplating and I think that I have made some decisions about how to proceed with these things. The first thing is UFOs. The second is scraps.

I read somewhere of a way to handle the UFOs. A person would make a list of all of her UFOs and put them on little pieces of paper in a jar and pull one of the papers out at the beginning of the month. She would then work on that project until it was finished or the end of the month came. If she got it finished before the end of the month, she would pull another piece of paper and work on that project. Once the end of the month came, the project being worked on would be returned to the jar and a new project would be pulled.

This sounds like a good system. I am going to try it this weekend and week with all of the things that I want to get done before Bubba comes back home. This should be a good indicator of how well the system will work for me.

Scraps. Well, what can I say about scraps. I have read Bonnie Hunter's Scrap User's System and it seems to make sense, although I can't see myself using a lot of 1.5", 2" or 3" strips or squares. I like the Nickel Quilts books and charm pack patterns using the 5" squares and the jelly roll patterns and books using the 2.5" strips. I am thinking that I will go through my scraps and sort them and start cutting. Or pick a bag and go through it and then grab another and start over. (I have lots of scraps!) I am going to keep the fabric separated as far as Joann's fabric and quilt shop fabric. I have lots of patterns from the Stash Pot Pie classes that I can use on the Joann's fabric and I can pick a pattern and start cutting the scraps according to the pattern so that I can use them up now. I will have to rearrange some of my projects that are already in bins so that I can free up 4 bins, but that shouldn't be a problem for long.

I feel good about these 2 decisions that I have made and I am anxious to get started so that I can see how they work out. I have a ton of shows to watch on my TiVo now that the new season has started and I picked up a few movies from the library this week to watch, too, so I should be able to make some great progress this weekend! Stick around and see what happens!

Friday at the Retreat

So far, Bubba is cooperating. We have had a couple of trying times, but not enough to make me pull out the other machine. I got 2 more runaround bags completed. The ladies in the room where I am are all really nice. We are having a good time laughing and catching up. We also watched the Bucket List. The only bummer is that we are on the very back wall of the building and I can't keep the internet up on my laptop so I can't chat with anyone while sewing and I can't check or send emails. Tomorrow, I might have to make a little time to check emails and read some posts. I have 85 new emails and over 200 posts to read. :(

Here are the pictures of the 2 bags that I finished tonight. I forgot to get Carol's picture with hers so I will have to do that tomorrow.

Here is Brenda. She loves the Wizard of Oz!



And here is Maddy. She likes hers, too.



Tomorrow, Maddy and I are working on bindings. She has 3 quilts to bind and I have 2. Hopefully, I will be able to get mine done quickly and start working on my pants while I help Maddy finish hers. OK, I am off to bed so that I can get up and get to work early! We get monkey bread for breakfast! Yippee!!

One more thing - we have also had some discussion on the next year's St Jude Quilt Retreat. We have some great ideas! I am very excited!

Sunday Get Together

Sunday, a couple of my quilt buddies and I got together to quilt and chat. I didn't get much done because Bubba was really acting up. Jeanette ended up calling her hubby to bring her Brother over for me to use. After that, I was able to get a couple of more take along bags done. I wonder who those are for....

Here is one of the bags. It looks like mine, but there is one tiny difference - the stitching on the handle.



Here are some pictures of our day.







Linda is almost done with her binding on a Baptismal quilt. This is Grape Jam - very pretty!



We all had a great time and Dominique even made her homemade spaghetti sauce. Yummy!

July Monthly Accomplishments

July was a very busy month. Reading through my list, I really got A TON done!


Here's the list:

1. Finished piecing the block and assembled the top for the Wagon Wheels quilt. Also made the binding.
2. 3 blocks for the Block of Month that I am doing through Best Friends
3. Completed a Cars quilt from a Joann's kit for Ethan
4. Completed a Christmas quilt top and prepared the binding. I bought it because the Santas reminded me of my grandparents' house at Christmas when I was little. When I showed my aunt and grandma, they totally agreed!
5. Finished a very old UFO - Mom's Halloween Big Shirt
6. Watched part of the Pajama Quilter Reloaded DVD and practiced quilting designs a lot on a white board.
7. Loaded, quilted and buried the thread ends on Hip to be Square, formerly known as the first Stash Pot Pie. I also got the binding attached and completely sewn down. It just needs a label now.
8. Completed a Spiderman quilt from a Joann's kit for Spencer
9. Fixed Bubba when he was acting ornery from over-use and wanted to suck the fabric in when I wanted him to cut the threads.
10. Completely finished the fruit table runner and place mats. I just had to finish hand stitching the binding down on most of the pieces.
11. Completed the entire top of the Lover's Lane UFO. When I started, I only had one block of 20 completed and about 15 4-patches and half square triangle units of 180 each that were needed for the top. I got all of the units done, the blocks assembled and the entire quilt with borders put together. I also have to say thanks the members of Quilted Chaos, the Guild small group that I belong to. They helped me lay out most of the blocks when the units were finished. Thanks so much, Ladies! I'm so glad that you could have a hand in helping me with this quilt! (Note - See pictures of my sweat shop here.)
12. Quilted a funky block Kid Komfort with meandering loops and sewed the binding on. Am still working on stitching the binding down.
13. Stitched a binding down fora quilt from one of the Guild small groups that is going to Alaska. The quilt, not the small group. :)
14. Finished the Lover's Lane top! I know that this was mentioned before, but it was a HUGE undertaking with all of the piecing and ironing that had to be done!
15. Quilted a blue Kids Komfort
16. Completed 4 of my secret projects. Well, I finished 3 and Patrice 'finished' 1. When I post about the projects, this will all make sense. I promise!
17. Finished a paper pieced star block for Heather.
18. Oh, and I got in 160 hours of quilting/sewing. How cool is that? I didn't win the July Challenge, but I still did A LOT!!!

Other non-sewing items:

1. Picked up a gooseneck lamp for Squiggy. It's wonderful to be able to see while I quilt!
2. Tried the ice cream at The Dip. It's good! I'm in trouble!
3. Got my shirts that I ordered with our July Challenge logo on them. Very cool!
4. Picked up a large white board to practice my quilting designs on.
5. Worked at the St Jude Dream Home selling tickets at the open houses for 2 afternoons.
6. Read D is for Deadbeat and E is for Evidence by Sue Grafton
7. Read The Bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen - great author!

So, it was a very, very productive month for me! August is looking like it will be almost as productive! I am going on a retreat next weekend for 2 days. I have already started thinking about what I need to get done before I leave and what I should take with me. Decisions, decisions! :)

Don't forget about the Finish it Up Month this month! Read about it here and come and join us! And if your not already a part of the Prolific Quilter's Yahoo Group, join us here!

What a long week!

It's so nice to be home for a while! Work was excruciatingly long this week! I did manage to sew a lot and get ahead in the competition, but I have a very bad feeling that this will all change tonight. Although, I am now getting a strong second wind and it could be a long night at Bubba. And the iron - I do have a bit to iron. Quite a bit.

Anyway, somehow, I downloaded a virus on my laptop and I am having issues getting into some blog pages. Since I haven't been using AOL, I have been using Internet Explorer and I can't get into my blog sites without going into them in AOL first and then I can open them in IE. It's more of a frustration and inconvenience than anything else. I have successfully virus scanned and cleaned everything up, so I think that this is the last part of the issue. At least, I hope it is!

Tonight, after work, I ran to Joann's and picked up some fabric paper and a few other things and then to Office Depot. I got a magnetic white board and pens and markers for the white board. Now, I can practice some of the Pajama Quilter's moves before trying them on a quilt. Very cool!

OK, it is already 8:15 and I need to get upstairs and start boogieing at the machine! Wish me luck!

Progress made

After I got home from my Stash class on Saturday, I ate lunch and then got to work on my Lover's Lane Nickel quilt. I separated all of my pieces that I had made so far so I could see where I was and what I needed to do. Here is everything that I had when I started today.



Then, I got started on sewing my half square triangles.









This last picture shows my progress on trimming them up to 4.5 inches square. Very time consuming! Lots of hours put in on this today!

I also got the first part of the four patches done before I called it quits for the night. A very odd thing happened while I was sewing. I ran out of bobbin thread and spool thread at the same time! Now, this did not make Bubba happy and the thread cutter is not working again. But there was also some thread tangled up as a result of this problem and I will need to take the casing off and clean it out again. But as long as I am chain sewing, I won't need to use my thread cutter and we will be in good shape.

I had a whopping 12 hours yesterday! Go me!! And I am now in the 60 hours range so far for the month! Gina, I think that you are going to have to pay up! :)

Now, I am off to work on those 4 patches!

He works!

Yesterday after work, I ran to Best Friends for my class. Well, as I got closer to the shop, ,I realized that I hadn't checked the schedule to double check the class and started second guessing myself on when the class was. Turns out that it isn't until September. I have no idea how I figured that it was last night! Anyway, since I was there, I had my June BOM block and needed to pick up my July kit and a cut of fabric that would be 10% off. The shop just got this Jetson's fabric in and I just had to have it to make some pants or something! (Sorry that the picture is a little fuzzy!)



And since I didn't have class, I came home to sew. I had my dinner and then got to work on fixing Bubba. Michelle suggested taking the cover off and cleaning out under the needle plate and oiling the cutting mechanism so I did that. This is what it looked like when I was done with the cleaning.



Then, I put the cover back on, threaded Bubba, crossed my fingers and sewed a little and hit the thread cutting button.... It worked! I was thrilled! So, I made the next BOM block. I needed 18 half square triangles for this block, but it was fun to make!



Once I was done with that, I didn't feel like starting anything new, so I finished up another UFO! This was the April UFO from the UFO Challenge. The bindings are now complete!



All in all, I got 3 hours and 15 minutes in last night.

So far today, I went to my Stash Pot Pie class and buried my threads in the quilt that I quilted last weekend. That's 2 hours towards the July Challenge. I have had lunch and now, it's time for a quick nap - the dogs are calling to me to rest with them! Then, I am going to work on the Lover's Lane blocks!

Bubba, is that smoke???

I think that Bubba has been overworked the past week! Dangit! The thread cutter is not working. When I sew on something and then push the button, it cuts the thread, but then sucks it down into the machine and when I pull the fabric out, the fabric puckers a little and the thread pulls. Bummer! I put a small quilt together for Spencer and it was so hard to not hit that thread cut button. I eventually figured out how to take the needle cover plate off and cleaned out the back part of the machine in hopes that it would help. It didn't. :( Anyone have any ideas? I can't be without a machine right now so taking it in for service is out of the question.

Anyway, here is the quilt that I made, start to finish, last night.



It was a Joann's kit, but I removed the plush and replaced it with a solid color flannel. And the front sticks to the back fairly well so I didn't even do any quilting on it. I think that Spencer will love it!

I only got 3 hours and 15 minutes in last night. I had to get my things together for my class tonight at Best Friends. I have to get there a little early to but the last bit of fabric that I need and the next BOM kit. I can't wait to see how my fabric choices look in this quilt!