Quality time with Lenny and Squiggy

Last night and today, I spent some quality time in the basement with Lenny and Squiggy. Now, for those new to my blog, Lenny is the quilt frame and Squiggy is the Viking Mega Quilter. Laughing, are you? Can you really say that you don't name your machines? They are major parts of the process and are going to be around for a while. Hey, men name their cars ...

Anyway, I spent yesterday morning before work loading the Chicken quilt onto the frame.



Once I got home, I was able to get about half of it quilted before I couldn't stand any longer. Today, I had to get it finished. Linda wanted to quilt a Nickel Quilt so I had to work hard to get it done. I think it looks great!



And it's already puppy approved!



A close up.



After this, we were able to get Linda's quilt loaded and she got started on quilting and I attached the binding to the quilt and started the hand stitching part. It's going to be a big job!

Prepping for Vaca!

Thursday and Friday, I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get everything together and done to leave for Florida. I was a mess!

Thursday, I was able to get my pattern together and pieces cut for my second secret project that has to be done the week that I get back from Florida. I did mis-cut one red, but I had plenty of another and was able to adjust. I got all of the pieces cut and put together a pack of squares, a pencil and a ruler to take to work on Friday to draw the lines on the back.

Friday, we were having a department picnic at work and I was only supposed to work until 10:30. Since I was leaving for the week, I had to finish setting up projects and get things straightened up. I didn't end up leaving work until after 1 and by the time I got to the picnic, everyone was done eating. There also wasn't time for me to work on my squares because we were packing up to leave by 3.

I got home and got to work on my packing and prepping for my projects to take with me.

I was able to quilt the Ugly Quilt and find the fabric for the binding. This quilt will reside in Florida so I used a very light weight batting. Since the fabric is some flowers and leaves, I attempted to quilt leaves and loops. This is what I ended up with.






Once this was done, I loaded the table runner and quilted stars. I had a little issue with one star and had to rip that out, but it was extremely easy to have it loaded and quilted within about 15 minutes!




Once these were done, I gathered up my other projects to take with me and started packing my bags. I was in bed by shortly after midnight with the alarms set so that I could get up and ready to make the flight.

Quilted Chaos meeting

Monday nights when we don't have a Guild meeting, we have a small neighborhood group meeting. Last night, everyone was there except Linda who was in Michigan visiting a friend. (Hi, Linda! We missed you! And YOU missed a GOOD time!) We always bring things to show off.

Dominique finished a quilt that she calls the B*tch quilt. I think it looks great! And all the quilting is free motion that she did on her frame.







Since I had the camera out, I had to get a picture of Daisy, our mascot! She's such a pretty girl! And stingy with her kisses! :)



Last week, I showed off my pants that I finished at the retreat. On Thursday, some of the ladies went shopping and Patrice got me a little something.

How cool is this?!? I can't wait to put them in my pants! :)

Lastly, before we left, some of us exchanged some ugly fat quarters for our mini-challenge. We have to make something with out fat quarters by the end of October. Here is what I got. I think it's pretty! And it's a half yard so I have to figure out something really awesome to make!



And Jeanette found some other fabrics and scraps that she wanted to get rid of while she was looking for her ugly fat and we were all lucky enough to come home with some extra pieces. This is what I got.



Well, that is it for now. I'm off to work and then tonight is the second class for the Courier bag. I am excited to be getting back to classes! I always have a great time!

Something is done!

Well, I got something done while I was doing laundry! Lenny and Squiggy were very happy for the attention!

1. Finish the last 5 pairs of pants
2. Quilt the Courier bag pieces for class on Tuesday
3. Piece the August BOM block
4. Piece at least 2 charity quilts
5. Quilt at least 1 quilt
6. Work on 4 secret projects
7. Start on 1 secret project

I got Kristie's quilt quilted while I was working on laundry. I think it looks great! I used a Connecting Threads blue variegated on the top and tan Bottom Line in the bobbin and I just did meandering loops all over.

Another one done!

Last night, I loaded and quilted the log cabin quilt. This was the July UFO from our Yahoo group. It was also the very first quilt top that I made from the very first quilt class that I ever took in January-February 2007. I was able to quilt this in just over 2 hours.

I used the Connecting Threads burgundy in the top and put Sewer's Aid on the spool before I started and I didn't have any thread breaks. Woo Hoo! And I used tan Bottom Line in the bobbin. And I just free motioned loops.









I think it looks great! Lenny and Squiggy seem to be just giddy with the use that they have been getting this week!

Maddy's Quilt is done!

Last night, I got Maddy's quilt loaded onto the frame, Lenny, and quilted with Squiggy. It went very quickly - about 2 hours to load and quilt! It is a Take 5 pattern and the fabric is Michael Miller. I used a Superior Lava black to gray variegated in the top ad had NO thread breaks! I love this thread! I used silver Bottom Line in the bottom because the back is black with white spots - similar to the outer border. It looks really sharp!









I hope that she likes it!

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!

Relatively slow night

Yesterday at work was very busy and I was pooped when I got home. I ended up eating dinner, relaxing for about half an hour and then hanging out on my bed and watching TV with the dogs and the white board and doodling quilting patterns. Practice makes perfect! I think that I am ready to try quilting some floral patterns on a charity quilt. I had also loaded another Kid Komfort baby quilt on Lenny. Well, it only took me about 15 minutes to load everything on the rollers, but after rolling up the backing, I realized that it was upside down so I decided to leave it for the night and go back and reload the backing tonight. I was very happy though that it only took 15 minutes!

I also made some changes to my blog's sidebar. I added a Tag Cloud that will list my tags with the larger fonts identifying the tags that are used the most. I had been eyeing Regina's cloud that she has on her blog, so I finally found the code and updated my tag widget. I am proud of myself for getting it all set up without any help! Go me!! I also deleted a few items that I felt had run their course. Any thoughts on the new set up? Wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't mentioned it?

Well, I am still behind in the July Challenge, but the weekend is coming up with very little that I have planned. I have a couple of movies from the library to watch and some things on the Tivo to watch and some quick and easy projects that I can finish up quickly. There has been a new development - the other 2 competitors have decided that no matter the outcome of July's Challenge, they don't want to compete again in August. Does that mean that I win August by default? :) With just a few more days in July, I need to gather steam to make a come back and pull into the lead. I am going to do it!

More FMQ practice and a placemat

Something else that I finished this week was another Kid Komfort quilt that I practiced more quilting on. I had this done on Monday so that I could take it to the small group meeting and get some critiques on. I thought that I had done better on this one and got the motions down pretty well. I still did the quilting with some spaces between because I was trying to practice and wanted to just get it done and make sure that the machine was going to work OK with the tension. I also took the advice of Judy and Patrice from the small group and pinned this quilt instead of trying to baste it. The pinning went really quickly and I was able to get them out of the way before quilting so this is going to be my preferred method of sandwiching!









And I finished one of the cat placemats. I was able to make the top and then sew the sandwich so that I could turn it inside out and stitch up the opening so that I wouldn't have to do binding. Once that was done, I quilted it with about a 1/4" seam around the stitching. This was done with help from Jeanette from the small group.



I was a little concerned that Carmella wouldn't like the fabric with the cats, but I spoke with my mom last night and she assured me that Carmella would love the table runner and placemats! Now, I just need to get them finished so that Mom can deliver them to Carmella when they come up in January. Or I could also just send this to Carmella because it should be light enough to not cost an arm and a leg to mail.

Patting myself on the back!

I just finished FMQ the I Spy! I think that it looks pretty good for being a beginner. I have been quilting since 8:30 and it is 1 AM now. I am pooped! My shoulders and arms are not as sore as they have been after the other times that I have practiced. I am sure I will be hurting tomorrow!

I promise that I will post some pictures tomorrow. I also have to get the binding sewn on and work on some other things.

But I am happy to be finished with the FMQ!

Mini Update

I have been trying to get things done for Christmas, but I am afraid that I have to admit defeat. I do not think that I will get everything finished my Christmas and I am sure that I will not be able to mail things to Florida before Christmas. So I am going to calm down a little and not rush through the projects and people will get them by mid-January. I am going to keep posting pictures of things as I get them done.

The most important thing to finish by Christmas should get done - the I Spy quilt. I spent some time on Sunday practicing the free motion quilting on another Kid Komfort quilt and I am ready to quilt the I Spy on Saturday. Then, I should be able to get the binding done by Christmas.

Now, I have to get to work. Today is our Secret Santa exchange and I have to stop and pick up some bagels to share! So much for the weigh in today! :)

I did it!!!

On Jen's advice, I drank a little and then tried my FMQ again. I had a glass of amaretto and orange juice and a splash of Sprite. I am feeling really good right now!

Anyway, I set up the machine and practiced on my practice fabric again and used the rest of the space that I had.



I also went a little crazy and tried to do my name.



Then, I put in an off white color and worked on my Halloween table runner. I probably should have chosen something a little darker - something more beige or gray - but I think it turned out well!





All in all, I think that I am ready to quilt at least one of the Kid Komfort quilts tomorrow and see how it goes. If all goes well, then I will be quilting the I Spy! I was thinking about going a little crazy and quilting the sections differently, but I think that I am going to try and stick to an all over stipple/meander. We'll see how it goes with the Kid Komfort quilt first!

Yippee!!

I finally practiced a bit on my free motion quilting today! It looks a bit jerky in some parts, but overall, I am starting to get the hang of it. I am not sure that I will be ready to do the I Spy quilt for Christmas and make it look really nice, but I don't think that the kids or my sister or BIL will be all that worried about whether it looks jerky or that some of the stitches might be quilted large. I just need to practice a little more and take time to go slow on it. I have a Kid Komfort quilt that I can sandwich and quilt.

Here are the pictures:



And close up - I have a star and hearts and I practiced making the C's for the Storm at Sea quilting.