Crossing the Pond is Finished

Hello Everyone,

I took the last stitch in the label last night....and she's done!

I really put my heart and soul into the designing and making of this quilt from beginning to end.

I was attaching the binding and thought what a nice picture this would make.

My contact at QuiltMania magazine sent me the FedEx paperwork, and this quilt will start her journey of crossing the pond today.  She will return back to me in a few months after her photoshoot for her appearance in the May/June edition of the magazine.  I really think I should deliver her in person....don't you?

My Handi Quilter is not computerized.  I call it my riding lawn mower, and I drive it around the quilt.

Of course Mazey wanted to get in on the action.  She sees the camera and jumps right in the picture!

This is what we were dealing with on a daily basis.  Our driveway is under all of that snow.  When we returned back to the cabin after getting our Covid (Fauci Ouchie) shots, this is what welcomed us. This is just two days worth of snowfall.

I had a bonding experience with my shovel.

If you look closely into the messy garage, you can see my long arm.  I basically lived in that chilly garage for days while I was machine quilting.  Mr. Joe was bringing me hot cups of cocoa in the afternoon.  What a guy!  He was going to put a healthy dose of Baileys in it, but thought better, and didn't want me to have crooked stitches.  We ran a heavy duty extension cord from the cabin which was powered by the generator, to the garage.

We were without power, Internet, phone, and TV for eight days.  This is the longest we have been so isolated.  When we walked around our neighborhood, we realized how lucky we were that we didn't have a tree go through the cabin or garage.  There were wires and trees down throughout the entire area.  Many roads were impassable, and many homes are still uninhabitable.

See how slippery that driveway looks?  Well it is terribly slippery.  The area off our front porch looks about the same.  Last Wednesday night I took a terrible fall right off the front porch.  I slipped sideways and hit my head on the asphalt. I seem to have left many eyebrow hairs and skin on the walkway along with quite a bit of blood.  Somehow, I managed to get myself up, and got back into the house without slipping again.  I had a brand new buffalo check fleece vest on and I didn't want to bleed on it.....and I didn't!  I have my priorities.  Mr. Joe immediately prepared an ice bag, while I counted my blessings that I didn't knock myself out, and someone was here to take care of me.  I probably should have had a few stitches above my left eye.  The scar will just give me more character.  Butterfly band aids to the rescue.  

I have a very purple eye lid.  I refer to it as a new shade of eye shadow.  Do people still wear eye shadow?  I have quite the shiner now which is very slowly fading away. Just as the saying goes, you should see the other guy!

We are supposed to have four days of snow again later on this week.  I'm am going to enjoy this snowfall in my overstuffed chair by the fire, with a good book, and an adult beverage a bit stronger than cocoa.

Soon,

Lynn

Down to the Sea in Ships

Hello Everyone,

I've quilted my way down to the ship - the halfway point in Crossing the Pond.....and then there are the borders.  Maybe I'm 1/3 of the way finished.

We had a hard freeze last night, and the garage where my long arm is located, was a balmy 37 degrees.  The garage reached heat wave status this afternoon at 42 degrees when the heater had been on for five hours.  In reality, I'm pretty warm.  I'm just like a little kid that needs to pee after I put on my snow bib, boots, and jacket.  I wear my fingerless mittens, and I'm good to go for a couple of hours at a time.

The morning was absolutely beautiful!  Crystal blue sky, and crisp mountain air.

By this afternoon, the biggest storm of the season started blowing in.  We are actually located in the blizzard zone on the weather map.  We have NEVER been in the blizzard zone for as long as I can remember.

When Mr. Joe heads out for firewood, I'm going to tie a rope around his waist just like Laura Ingalls Wilder did for her Pa.  We have a ton of fire wood on the front porch, so we should be good to go for a few days.

If you don't hear from me for a couple of days, I'm by the fire with my hot toddy and a good book.  We will have to dig our way out, and get to our vaccine appointment late Friday afternoon.  I pray the snow plows will be swarming the neighborhood.

Soon,

Lynn

Crossing the Pond Update

Hello Everyone,

   

Here's just a quick update on my machine quilting progress on Crossing the Pond.  Slowly but surely I'm working my way down the quilt.

This is the area that worried me the most, and had me completely stymied or flummoxed. I love the word flummoxed!  Now, I'm really happy with what I decided to quilt in this spot.  It's a very odd shape to fill with machine quilting.  I think this is really going to enhance the old-fashioned look of the quilt.  I had to draw this design until I was blue in the face, so I could cement the pattern and movement into my brain.  Everything you see is free motion, not computerized at all.

The snow is supposed to start in earnest this afternoon and throughout the night.  If I drop off the planet, it's because we've lost our power and Internet connection. 

Our power supplier, PG&E has set up camp in our one and only shopping area in town.  They are preparing for the worst, as we are also supposed to have 25 mile an hour winds along with 18" of snow on Wednesday.  Yikes! 

Keep sending your good vibes my way as I tipple while I stipple!

Soon,

Lynn

Machine Quilting Crossing the Pond

 Hello Everyone,

procrastination

[prəˌkrastəˈnāSH(ə)n]

NOUN

1. the action of delaying or postponing something.

So what have I been postponing?  I've been postponing machine quilting Crossing the Pond.  I had decided to send it out to a professional and have them quilt it......but I waited too long to make that decision, and the person I wanted to quilt it wasn't available in the timeframe that I needed it.

I've been machine quilting since 2006, the year I bought my no frills long arm.  For some reason, quilting this quilt scared the bejeebers out of me.  It's big, it's complicated, it has a lot of white space, and I couldn't figure out what to do.

I put on my big girl panties and tried to figure out something......because.....I have to ship this quilt to France for her photoshoot for QuiltMania magazine the 3rd week of February.

Snow day #1 - Friday, January 22nd.  I'm looking down at the house from the garage.

And, of course, I waited until the WORST possible time to start quilting it up in the garage.  This week is going to be a snowmageddon week here in the mountains.  The snow started yesterday, and should continue for 6 days!  I added up all of the potential inches of snow that we are supposed to receive, and it's almost up to 3 feet! Chances are we will loose power, and I'll have to run a heavy duty extension cord up to the garage to connect me to the generator.  Not to mention, it is supposed to drop into the low 20's tomorrow. 

So when you see this quilt in the May/June issue of QuiltMania magazine......think snow!  I'll try to post pictures of my progress throughout the week if we don't loose our Internet connection.

My goal this week is to discover if I can machine quilt with frostbitten fingers. My new mantra is, do not Procrastinate, do no Procrastinate, do not Procrastinate, do not Procrastinate.

Soon,

Lynn

Machine Quilting

Hello Everyone,

I'm almost done with machine quilting Christmas Ribbons. I'm down to the bottom row, so there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

I'm quilting circles in each of the 36 sashing areas.  The circles are taking me FOREVER!  After quilting for several hours, I'm seeing polka dots before my eyes.  I can't wait to get this quilt off of the frame so I can see the overall look.  The throat space on my long arm is only 16", so I'm constantly rolling the quilt back and forth to quilt an entire block.  The 10" block is on point, so that takes up much more room in the quilting area.

I've been at the machine for only about four hours a day.  During the rest of the time, I'm pattern writing or piecing, or doing all of the daily chores around the house, filling Etsy orders, and working on accounting.  There is always something that needs to be done.

Today, I really need to spend some time cleaning my sewing room.  Overtime, it just gets to be so unorganized that I can't stand it.  I'm at that point where I need to stop creating, and start cleaning, so I can continue to create in a more organized environment.  So, if I don't get this quilt finished soon, it means that I have a very tidy sewing room.

Soon,
Lynn

Country Courthouse Part Two

Hello Everyone,

 

It was a marathon week of machine quilting Country Courthouse.

 

I didn't keep track of my exact machine quilting hours, but it was about 35 hours of quilting over the past 6 days.  I would spend about 5 to 6 hours a day at the long arm.  I stitched in every ditch which created this look on the back.  The back is also where I could spot my mistakes once I took it off the long arm.....and there were more mistakes than I care to discuss!

With the anticipated snowstorm barreling down our way, I'll have lots of time to work on binding.  We were going to head to the city house to spend time with the kids, both big and little.  We are rethinking our trip, and may just stay put and enjoy the snow, and decorate for Christmas while humming, "I'm dreaming of a white Thanksgiving".

When we made an early morning trip to the grocery store yesterday, we only bought the ingredients for the dishes I was going to make to take with us. I had absolutely no intention of making a full-blown turkey dinner, since we didn't think we were going to be here.  Two dinners were planned between our two sons, one Thursday and one Friday.  Turkey on one day and barbecued brisket on Friday. I made a comment to Mr. Joe yesterday about the one and only frozen turkey in the freezer compartment at the store.  Now, I wish I'd put that bird in the cart! 

As with a lot of mountain communities, when the shelves are empty, they don't get refilled right away.  We may have to go dumpster diving in our own freezer compartment to come up with a meal.  Not to worry, this quilter is prepared to put a nice meal on the table.  It may be a non-traditional meal, but it will be tasty. 

I'm finishing up writing the directions for Country Courthouse.  I can work on it if the power goes out.  Quite often the first major snowstorm of the season knocks us off the grid.

Mr. Joe's dream is to be stranded in a mountain cabin with the woman of his dreams.  In his daydream, he pictured the woman several decades younger!  To that I say DITTO!

Soon,
Lynn

 

Machine Quilting Country Courthouse

Hello Everyone,

 

Just as I get the time to machine quilt Country Courthouse, the weather turns chilly.  Some quilters have their long arms in a nice, cozy room......mine is in my garage here at the cabin in the mountains.  The good news is, the big garage door will be closed so I won't have to worry about a bear wandering in.....a very real possibility.

 

I quilted the spine on the border, then I start filling it in with feathers.  I have to take a lot of pictures, to refer to when I work my way down the quilt.  Some days my feathers can be smaller than others.  It is a real balancing act to get them even all the way around the quilt.

I have an old HandiQuilter (HQ16) vintage 2006.  This machine has been a workhorse for years and years!  I love it, even though it is not computerized at all.  I've had to teach this old dog (me, not the machine) new tricks and make it quilt what I want to quilt.  I named my machine Arthur, as in Arthur Murray, because my machine and I have learned to dance across the quilt together.  I clean it, oil it, and it is good to go.  I wish I could give myself a shot of oil in all of my working and non-working parts!  Where's Dorothy and her oil can when you need her?

I wanted to quilt something a little different in my setting triangles.  My goal is to create a lacey look around the border.  You never know what look you are going to achieve until it comes off the machine.  

 

It takes me about 4 minutes to stitch in the ditch around every Courthouse Steps block.  Multiply that times 85 blocks.  There are 64 nine patch blocks.  I haven't quilted one yet, so I can't calculate my time.  In a nutshell, I'll be quilting into infinity and beyond!

I have a small space heater in the garage which may have to be turned on today.  I wonder if I can quilt while wearing mittens??? 

Soon,
Lynn

Machine Quilting Madness

Hello Everyone,

 

Just a quickie this morning since I'm off to class this morning.  I wanted to show my machine quilting progress on Country Sunshine.

 

I made the borders 8" wide as I planned on filling the space with plate feathers. My plan almost went in the dumpster when I had to pick out every stitch of what you see.  I checked my tension in the beginning and proceeded to merrily quilt.  The front looked gorgeous, the back was horrible and turned into a continual birds nest!  Something went wrong with the tension and I had the BIGGEST mess.  What took 20 minutes to quilt, took 2 hours and 20 minutes to rip out.  Click HERE for a link to plate feathers tutorial.

My head finally hit my pillow around 11:30pm and the top border was done.  It's 5:6am now and I'm starting in again before I head to the shop to be with my Sew'n Wild Oaks girls.

I will quilt all day tomorrow, then Thursday I head to Colusa to teach Patchwork Math and Heritage at Friends Around the Block on Friday and Saturday.   I can't wait to see the shop since it is located in a former mortuary.  I was so mad at this quilt last night, I was ready to throw it in the crematorium!  I'm better today, and no longer have such dire thoughts. For me, quilting plate feathers is like trying to rub your tummy and pat your head at the same time.  They do not come naturally at all.  Heaven forbid that I get distracted, and that is my middle name!

Off to the quilting room to get some quilting in before the sun comes up.  The girls are going to have to prop me up in class and make a coffee run or two or three.......

Soon,
Lynn

Prairie Flower is Almost Finished

Hello Everyone,

 

My incarceration, I mean wonderful days spent in my machine quilting room are almost over!  This is my reward for four and a half days of machine quilting.  I am one happy camper!

 



 

One set of borders.  I call these Gail's border since my sister Gail made all of the blocks for me.

 



I first started this quilting marathon almost one week ago, and I do mean marathon, not a sprint.  When I decided to quilt in each of the little 1" squares, I didn't do the math.  There are 640 individually quilted squares in the Double X blocks. Had I calculated that in the beginning, I may have changed my mind on how I was going to quilt this.  I'm actually delighted now that I didn't change my mind.  If you had asked me that last Thursday, I would have looked at you cross-eyed! 

 My task today is to turn the quilt, and machine quilt the side red, and then rust colored borders.

My back is scrappy.  I cut up all of my left over fabrics into large squares and sewed them all back together.  I love to use what I have, and just about every scrap was incorporated in the back.

 

After I finish machine quilting the sides, I will attack the miles of binding.  The quilt is 94" x 94"......that's a ton of binding.  My arm is starting to ache just thinking about it.  The minute the hanging sleeve and label are finished, this quilt is shipping to the East Coast for a photo shoot for Marcus Fabric.  The yummy fabrics are Conestoga Crossing by Pam Buda.  As far as I know, we will be kitting this quilt at In Between Stitches exactly as you see it here.  I will also be teaching the class in the near future at In Between Stitches.  I guess it would help to finish the pattern writing first!

It's a very rainy Sunday morning here in California.  We may wash away during the rain or shine flag football game today.  Time to get out the yellow rain slicker.....again.

Soon,
Lynn



 

The Quilting Saga Continues

Hello Everyone,

 

Well, the long arm quilting continued very s-l-o-w-l-y during this week.



If you remember a couple of posts ago, this was how I was going to quilt the Double X block.  As you can see, I've changed my mind.  I wasn't completely "sold" on this design.  I let it percolate in the back of my mind while I was walking the dog on Monday, and in class on Tuesday.  I just knew a brilliant idea would enter my brain.

 

Wednesday morning I had to make a decision since I'd quilted my way down to the first row with the blocks.  I was stumped.  I went to my machine quilting board on Pinterest, and saw an idea that looked something like this.

 



I just knew this is what I had to quilt.  But what I didn't realize is that it would add an additional day....or three to the entire project.  I LOVE the basket weave look that it gives to the quilt.  I can't wait to get it off the machine and see the entire thing.  But I'm days away from that.

This row of blocks is a snap.  I can zip around these in a jiffy.  It's the rest of the quilt that is bogging me down.

Tomorrow I'll be going to the little grandsons Little League games and then there's Flag Football on Sunday.  I can't miss any of them.  They need to have their number one fan cheering them on every pitch, hit, and catch of the way.  Yet I know in the back of my mind, this quilt is going to be calling my name, and cheering me loudly to get back to work!

Soon,
Lynn

P.S. Do not go and see A Dog's Purpose with your grand kids.  Last Friday night we had date night with the little guys.  Jess held my hand throughout the entire movie saying, "It's alright Grammy. It's just a movie."  I started crying during the opening credits.  Then in another part of the movie, Kade started to cry.  We were a bunch of blithering idiots during the entire film.  If you are going to watch it, wait for it on Netflix, and see it with a box of Kleenex in your own home.

Machine Quilting Progress

Hello Everyone,

 

Here are some images of my machine quilting progress on Prairie Flower.

 

I quilted my way across the top of three borders.

I was glad to finish the first set of borders and then moved on to the setting triangles.  So far I'm sticking with my plan.  You can see my very scrappy back rolled up on the uptake bar.  I only had scraps left from all of the fabrics Marcus Fabrics sent me, so I cut them all up and put them to work on the back.

The Prairie Flower blocks go fairly quickly.  I am also quilting in the center section of the flower to nail that down.

In the comments section, some of you asked some very good questions, and I'll answer them all collectively.  I have a Handi Quilter (HQ 16) which I purchased new in 2006 directly from the manufacturing plant in Salt Lake City. I was in the market for a machine, and HQ fit my price point which was under $10,000.

I signed up for HQ's beginning machine quilting class before I purchased a machine.  I wanted to take the class first to see if I had an aptitude for machine quilting.  With airfare and all it cost me around $1,000 to attend the class.  I figured that was an inexpensive investment to make before I plunked down the big bucks for a machine.

The class was wonderful! Even though I was the only person in the class of 15 who didn't own a machine, the staff made me feel completely comfortable.  Each of us had our own machine to use during the 3-day class.  The instructors were incredible and the food even more incredible.  By day two of the class, I purchased my HQ and I immediately named it Arthur.  As in Arthur Murray.  Because I learned how to dance with my machine.

HQ sent a distributor to my home and completely set up my machine and I was up and running.....and terrified.  I loaded on large pieces of fabric and started practicing.  Our two dogs had the nicest dog beds you've ever seen! 

I really worked at machine quilting for 6 months, then returned to HQ for the Intermediate class. Then I felt confident that I could quilt for others. Would I recommend that....probably not.  It was the hardest job I ever had in my life.  I was so afraid that customers wouldn't like what I quilted, but they loved how I quilted! I did have one problem person who I found out later was never happy with anything.  I was devastated.   What I thought was absolutely stunning, she didn't. (Insert sourpuss face here!)

Sue asked if the machine was easy to maintain.  The answer to that is yes it is.  I oil it and clean out the lint after every two bobbins. I've only had to call for technical support once in 11 years when something got out of whack.  Now I hope I haven't jinxed myself. It is a good, quality machine that doesn't require taking out a second mortgage.  My entire set up at the time was $8,000.  It has paid for itself over and over again.

Have I quilted something and didn't like the results?  Yes to that!  I quilted an entire row of Baptist Fans across a 103" quilt using a groovy board.  What took 20 minutes to quilt, took 8 hours to pick out.  I was not a happy camper. 

I think deciding what to quilt is the hardest thing to figure out.  There are many resources available on line, and you can spend hours scouring Pinterest and the Internet for ideas. If you can't draw it, you can't quilt it.   I repeat, practice drawing first before you begin stitching.

Once I started designing and running the pattern business, I became so busy I only have time to quilt my own things.  Now Arthur collects dust between quilting sessions.  But he's just like an old friend, and we get reacquainted with each new project.

I'm off to the shop today to spend the day with my Sew'n Wild Oaks girls.  I'll spend the day with Arthur tomorrow.

Soon,
Lynn

Quilters, Start Your Engines

 Hello Everyone,

 

The backing is made and now it's time to get Prairie Flower loaded onto the long arm.  I put a roll of film over the blocks, and with a dry erase pen, started drawing what I think I'm going to quilt.

 

I was going to cross-hatch the beige area in this quilt, but then I remember that cross-hatching would look like horizontal and vertical lines on a block which is set on point.  Back to the drawing board, and I came up with this.

This should make the red squares pop along the outside border.

The outside triangles will look like this. 

 

The only part of the quilt I actually marked is the black setting squares.  I used a Sewline chalk pen.  It doesn't rub off easily, has a nice sharp point, and I can see it!

 

 

So that is my quilting plan.  I may change my mind once I get going if I don't like the look.  It is going to be an intense week of quilting.  Nothing about my long arm is computerized, so I will be driving my machine across the top of the quilt. I had to learn to dance with my machine.  I take the lead and orchestrate the dance.  Hopefully I don't trip over my own two feet!

Soon,
Lynn