A good mail day!

Yesterday was a good mail day. Some may even say a great mail day!

The thread that I ordered last week was delivered.

I got 2 of the King Tut color cards. This will definitely help to pick colors in the future.



And I got all of this thread! Most of it was chosen with a specific quilt in mind.



Now, I have to get quilting!

Threads

I have decided that the best threads for my Avante are the Superior So Fine and the Glide threads. I have also decided that I need to start building up on my color inventory.

I ordered these 2 colors last month and figured that having the color cards would be a wonderful tool when I have to order more specific colors for a quilt.



I believe that I already have to buy 2 new cones for upcoming quilts!

Quilt #44 - Teal and Gray angles

Last week, I quilted and finished the binding on this quilt for Gerre. I used the Square Spiral panto and a gray Glide thread so there is sheen to it. I also used a silver Bottom Line in the bobbin.





I really love how this one turned out!



The pattern is fantastic and the colors just pop! Way to go on this quilt, Gerre!

Quilt #17 - Finally!

I finally got around to finishing the last couple of passes on this quilt for Gerre. I had run out of thread almost 2 weeks ago and then got too busy with work to have any interest in quilting when I got home.

But now, it is quilted! Tomorrow, I will make the binding and then start working on hand stitching that.



I used the Nouveau Feathers panto on this quilt with a light green Aurifil in the top and Bottom Line in the bobbin. I only had 2 spots where the thread pulled through to the bottom and no spots for the top. Woot!



The thread was perfect for these fabrics!!



But it does mean that it is harder to see the quilting design. It is lovely!

Never a good thing

I was quilting last night and got to the end of a pass when I realized that my thread was getting low. I didn't even get another full pass finished...



I have this much left to quilt.



Barely another row of blocks. UGH!!

The thread has already been reordered. Now, I have to decide whether to take this off the frame and load something else until the order is delivered...

Friday Night Sew In - 6/7

Last night, I quilted quilt #13 on the frame. I got Moon Pie finished. I used white Glide on the top and my go to silver Bottom Line in the bobbin.



I did have some issues with the upper thread looping on the top. I haven't had this issue with any thread other than the Glide, but I had a few spots like this. I try my best to regulate my speed, but it seems to happen when I do free motion and not when I use a panto.



Once I got that done, I loaded the next quilt on the frame and then did a bit of cutting.

I cut out the pieces for the pieced border for the Sweet Treats quilt. I'm ready to get this quilt top finished and ready for quilting!



And then, I pulled out the Easy Street to see where I was with the steps. I had stopped when I got to a lot of cutting - 169 3.5" green squares and then white strips for more strip piecing and more cutting.

I'm ready to get a few UFOs finished to start a couple of new quilts!

Some goodies and a quilt

In the past few weeks, I have placed a couple of orders to replace and add to my thread collection. I was trying to move away from Connecting Threads Essentials for the frame, but with the spool attachment I can use the Essentials thread so it will be here if I need it. I would just rather not need it.

I ordered a few cones of Glide. This works well for pantographs, but I have to watch my speed when quilting a free hand design. I only wanted to order about 4 colors, but there was a minimum amount so I chose a couple more colors. The cones are 5000m and around $7 a cone.



I got an assortment of variegated King Tut colors from Sew Thankful.



And some So Fine and another cone of the silver Bottom Line that I have been using.





Here is how the cones of So Fine and Glide compare in size.



And this morning, I had a bit of extra time so I loaded the first Quilt of Valor on the frame. I'm going to use Square Spiral to quilt it.

Quilt #3 finished

Tonight, I started and finished quilting the third quilt on my new frame and machine. It's another charity quilt and I was testing out the thread again. I wanted to have one quilt where I had no thread breaks. Or at the very least, very few thread breaks.

Success!! I changed the needle and used Warm & Natural batting and I only had 3 thread breaks on the entire quilt. I used a purple Connecting Threads Essentials in the top and Bottom Line in the bobbin.





I'm so thrilled with how quickly the quilting goes! Tomorrow night, I am putting another quilt on the frame and trying out a pantograph! I can't wait!

And I have a quilting buddy.

Design Wall Monday - 5/6

Tonight, I dropped a few quilts off at the OVQG quilt meeting to be part of our display at the South Lebanon School House Quilt show this weekend. I was in a rush to turn them in so I didn't get a picture of all of the quilts stacked together for my design wall.

When I got home from the Guild meeting, I snuggled with the pups for a few minutes and then went to the basement to try and finish the quilt on the frame.

I used an orange and yellow variegated Connecting Threads Essentials thread on the top and a Bottom Line in the bobbin and I definitely had issues with the upper thread breaking. I think it is a combination of the batting and not having the spool attachment for the machine. I am getting one of the attachments this weekend!



In trying to use some things up, I used a poly batting on the charity quilts. They are nice and puffy!

I just quilted loops on this one.



I picked up another kid quilt and 2 QOVs to be quilted this month. More practice!

See what others have on their design walls here.

The Avante Runs

Well, the machine runs. I think there is a fair amount of operator error so I have been a little hard on myself. But considering that I have done this without any physical help... I think that I have done pretty well and I need to stop beating myself up. Jennifer has helped via email and I am very appreciative of that!!

Edited to add..... I heard from the quilt shop today that I bought the Avante from and we have an appointment for tomorrow to make sure everything is in order. I hope I can get the table level tonight so that we don't have to mess with that. :)
So here is what I have done so far...

These are both with Connecting Threads Essentials thread that I have used a lot on the old system. It is VERY linty, but I have so much of it. I was hoping to be able to use it up, but I think that I will be including some of it in with the sale of the Mega Quilter.





That last pictures shows one of the many thread breaks I had.

And here is a little more of that thread and another thread break. I do have to say that the stitches up until the break are perfect!



I loaded a Halloween colored Aurifil thread and it was amazing! I think that there was only one break with this thread. I tried a little ribbon quilting.



And then some bigger loops.



I also had some great experience with King Tut thread. I have several more types of thread to test, but I am happy to know that there are some that I can use!

IQF Show goodies

Here are the goodies that I got at the IQF Cincinnati show last weekend.

I love these thimbles! Last year,  I think I got 2 and I wore one completely out. No one locally carries them. I got the last small one in the Gadgets booth at the show on Preview Night! :)



These bundles and fabric I got at Sewn on Friday when we shopped around the city.





And this is the haul from Fabric Shack.







And of course, the new HQ Avante'!



When I went back to the show on Saturday, I got this set of grippers for the HQ to lock the wheels for straight line quilting.



I stopped at the Superior booth for some Bottom Line thread and picked up a cone of So Fine. Marj was telling me that she uses the So Fine on her machine for the top thread so I figured I could try it out. If it doesn't work, I can always piece with it. :)





I also got some Aurifil 50 wt for the machine, too. It did so well on the Mega Quilter that it will have to be awesome on the Avante'.



And the newest Scrap Basket book. I'm hoping to find something in these books or the Schnibbles books to use my layer cakes and charm packs on. :)



It has been a while since I shopped and I might have gone a little crazy, but I am so thrilled with everything that I got! Now, if only the Avante will show up soon!!

WIP Wednesday - 12/12/12

For the Quilting Gallery's birthday giveaway, go to this post.

How crazy is it that it is 12/12/12?!?! :)

I got the quilt that was on the frame last week quilted. It turned out awesome! The blue marks on the quilt are painter's tape that I use to mark where I need to bury threads. More pictures are in this post.



I also worked on my Dresden Plate quilt. Well, the blocks. I had a few misfires when I started, but things are moving along wonderfully now!

Here is the test block.



And after working out the kinks, I have my big blocks for the center finished.



And just something interesting.... I believe that I loaded this on my machine in October. Yes, October 2012. It's a Gutterman spool of white with 1094 yards of thread. I ran out of it last night!



I guess that the strips I sewed for the last Scrap Squad used a lot more thread that I thought it did. And I haven't even started Bonnie Hunter's new mystery yet!

Last week...
FINISH CMQG challenge quilt - Not quite finished, but great progress made!
Finish quilting quilt on frame - I didn't have this on my list last week, but it should have been. And it was finished. :)

Next week...
FINISH CMQG challenge quilt
Work on last Scrap Squad
Start the Easy Street Mystery on Quiltville

I'm linking up at Freshly Pieced.

Quilt-A-Thon Saturday - 10/6

Well, I feel like I quilted all day long today and I only finished one quilt. And I still have to bury threads. There are a lot of threads to bury because there were thread changes throughout the quilt. I don't care for thread changes, but the effect on this quilt is fantastic!!

Sadly, all I can show is the back.



I also spent a good amount of time cleaning and vacuuming and bathing the dogs to try and combat some fleas that they picked up.

Tomorrow, I am going to do my best to get a couple more quilts quilted. And make a couple of blocks.

We shall see what happens!