January says good bye…

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And then we will be saying hello to February soon! I love the photo a day game. I will be posting daily on the blog and there will be a picture using this prompt. I will also share it on Facebook and twitter. I can almost guarantee that the post and photo will not “go together” but that is the fun of blogging. You can do what you want!!

Winter storms have slowed life right down this past week. Travel to and from wrestling meets have been foggy, snowy or icy. We have a tournament Saturday in Alpena which is 72 miles away and it is a conference individual tournament,  but as usual we don’t know what wrestlers are going. So much drama with this sport, I am not good with it. We will go regardless as there is a certain girl over there that would like to see our son.

I am giving violin lessons again after a bit of a hiatus. She is a girl from our church. A string broke on my violin last night so it will be a creative lesson!

 

Vicki

 

 

More pinwheels!

Here is a bigger pinwheel I just took off the frame. It’s using a twister ruler for layer cake sized squares.

I quilted in each pinwheel blade to make it look like wind. I stippled the dark outer border. I am going to load a customer quilt next.

A little update, my parents finished their move Sunday. It’s only a few hours away and when they come visit it will be like quilt camp.

We are in the last couple of weeks of wrestling. Next is ordering senior pics. It’s going to be a busy spring.

And my husband reminded me that the first highland games of the season is only 5 months away. 🙂

A little quilt

The long arm is working pretty good. I quilted this Christmas quilt to test out the set up because it was a bit bigger than the last tester quilt. The stitches are good, yes! I didn’t even have to mess with the tension. I quilted a holly leaf on  it with curls. It will make a great sample for customers.

I had a customer quilt dropped off today. It’s a good thing that cleaned up the house early because I couldn’t’ sleep in late today. I have another one coming. Bought batting for me, so I have lots of quilts in the line ready to load on the frame. Pretty exciting stuff because it has been very slow in getting any customer quilts over the last several months.

I have to say that the last two blocks in the BOM are really hard. This block has tons of partial seams. It isn’t perfect but it is done and nearly flat. The dreaded Mariner’s Compass is the last block and I am going to start it today. Hmmmm, wish me luck. I think I am gonna need it.

Vicki

a bit of sewing has happened

I did sew two more blocks in my Block of the Month. I have two more to finish and they are the most challenging. Y seams and a mariner’s compass. I think they look cool but I am having trouble with the y seams, as usual! The blocks will be great.

I then was faced with a dilemma. I ran out of thread and couldn’t continue to sew blocks. I had no batting for the quilt on the frame. I have no money until pay-day tomorrow and no time to go to Hobby Lobby until maybe Sat but may be not until Monday because they are closed on Sunday. I am having to find something else to do. I feel a bit lost, wondering. I could get some crocheting out but I am not feeling inspired to do that.

Flower blooming on coldest days

This is a big weekend. Wrestling is a tournament tonight for the B team and A team has a very long tournament Sat. Not sure which one DS will be in yet. I am hoping to find out this afternoon before the tournament starts at 5. Ugh, sickness is running through the team so it is all last-minute in determining who will go where. It makes me a bit nuts. But only a few more and we will be done with our son wrestling as it is his senior year.

Crazy thoughts. No more being tied to the school schedule. No more sports drama. With our daughter is was stage moms and mean girls. We paid a housing deposit for college and scheduled Freshman orientation for DS. The year of change.

My parents sold their house and they are moving on Sunday. More change. It will be great for them and I will be seeing them often but it will just be different from what  it was.

Thank goodness my 50th birthday is several years away because if I got an AARP card in the mail this week, I would probably have a freak out or my head might just explode!!! Hahahaha. Now if the below zero weather would leave I think that things would be much better.

Looking forward to attending a quilt show or two this summer and fall. I am trying to get one finished before the April application deadline. I gotta get some thread!!!

Vicki

Stumped on y seams

Design Wall Monday

The long arm is moved and set up at my house. My parents will be moving this next week or so and it is not being moved. I have it in my bedroom. It is a  tight fit,  but it works! I quilted this little twister from last week to test out the set up:

 

 

I am also spending MLK day quilting on my quilts. I have two customer quilts soon. I want to quilt a couple of my own to get my long arming skills sharp again after a little break and to get used to the new set up.

 

I took an inventory and I have 7 quilt tops to do of my own. 2 queen sized, 2 wall hanging sized, 3 twin. I have batting and backing for three. I will be well on my way to being “caught up” with NO UFO’s. LOL I know , I will always have some waiting to be finished.

 

I think I have the blog set so people can comment this week. I have been trying to get it right! Thanks for visiting. Be sure to check out the projects linked at www.patchworktimes.com

 

 

Vicki

 

 

Setting up the long arm in my new “Studio” space

I am moving the long arm from my parent’s home studio to my house. I think It is going to be in my bedroom. It is one of the largest rooms in the house and has a ton of wasted space. That also means that the design floor will move to a design BED , whoo hooo, no bending over to pick up blocks. I like that idea very much!

I am still using my dining room table as my sewing studio because quite honestly we don’t eat at the table much unless there is a big dinner going on. Why waste space in this little house, I say!

Since I haven’t started any new projects, and because there are 3 or more wrestling meets/tourneys this week, I decided to review some of the quilts I made last year. They will be quilted once the long arm is ready and tension set. Here are a few, since I moved to this blog they may be new pictures to you. If you are one who reads then you will surely recognize them!!

And there are a few more, as I inventory the to be quilted bag I will post them. I think I have 7 quilt tops waiting in my stack.

Love that quilting!

Vicki

Which One?

I am trying to fill out all of the information that is required in my quilt magazine submission. The hardest part is choosing a picture of me. I am down to these two. Which one? I want to submit the second one I think.

Which one do you like?

I am working on moving the long arm to my house from my parents studio. It looks like they are closing on their house this week. The only room in my house big enough-out side of the living room, and dining room – is my bedroom. I will be setting up a new space for myself to quilt in. I have been procrastinating on it a bit. Well, I have my naked Christmas tree still up. So yea, I am procrastinating on organizing things.

I have tons of tops to get done and I will start advertising with local people that I am ready to do longarming for other’s. I need to get some cash going. I have a trip to Scotland to save for and more importantly a kid going to college in the fall. I have a book to write and that means finished quilt tops.

Whew, I am wearing myself out this morning thinking about it all. Good think I have next Monday off for MLK day. I will need it!!!

Additional pics edit:

 

Vicki