Quilting and Life Update

Wow, it has been  5 years since my last post.  Time does fly by even when it crawls along by the day. 

I left off when I had just gotten a full time job and was attempting to juggle many balls. Sadly, the balls didn't stay up in the air. Then, I lost my job to a Corporate buy out and I thought life might go back to the way it was before! Ha.

I got a pup, which took most of my days for a few months.  And I was getting caught up and reacquainted with my routine.

Then we had a couple deaths in the family, and of course we had COVID lock down. It was at this point that I got injured badly with a dog accident and I needed to do PT a couple times a week and get back on my feet.  It was a frozen shoulder type of injury, so I couldn't do anything, let alone quilt or walk. It seems the shoulder muscle is attached to all the muscles in the arm, back and ribs.  Anyway, I spent 1.5 years in therapy to get back to 95%. I'm still working on sore muscles in the arms where they must have torn. 

Early on, soon after I went back to work, I sold my APQS George sit down quilting machine.  I figured the next many years I would not have time to use it much and it was too much money to sit on the table waiting for me.   I did find that after using George, I found the Long Arm quilting machines through the quilt store much easier than learning to glide the quilt around on the table rather than move the machine across the quilt.  It is a totally different method. I also felt like learning to quilt was a totally separate hobby from piecing!  There is so much to learn on both sides.  At least that is what I have decided after looking way back. 

I left off with Project 1 Vol. 2 where I did finish the quilting on my George, but it didn't get binding or finishing. This project shouldn't take too much time to finish up. I don't know that I posted the picture after I got the new border on.  If you have followed along, the first outside border just didn't fit color wise.  So, this is the new one. 

The next project I had in the can was the Vol 2 project 3 Small log cabin on diagonal.  I had finished the top, basted it to the back and was ready to quilt. 

And, according to my post earlier with my sister's wedding, I was working on Proj.2 a lattice piecing.  I have no idea where that is hidden!

I have only completed 147 flowers for my Grandmother's Flower Garden Full size quilt. These are a separate project from the Quilter's Academy projects, and is intended for the guest bedroom.  I had wanted something that I could do when my husband was home and we were sitting together in the family room. It was also using my favorite 1930's fabrics. They are just so Happy and make me smile. 

I had a Queen quilt kit I bought back when I first started quilting, thinking it would be a great project for our Master Bed. I had only 1.5 squares done and felt like I was not capable of finishing.  My mother came to visit a couple months ago, and I had the bright idea to let her have the project!  I had cut out every piece and had instructions and pieces in ziplock baggies for 20 years!  It took her only 2 months to get all the squares done!  This is the picture she sent me. 

It is a 'bird house' theme and mom thought it was pretty easy since the hardest part was done, the cutting!  She did notice that the colors are very boring to her, but I remember asking my husband if those colors would be something he could handle for a Master Bed quilt. He didn't think it would be too feminine. Popular colors definitely change over the years.  Now, she will pass it back to me at Christmas time and I will need to put the sashing and edges on and get this quilted. 

Looks like I have a lot of quilting projects and no piecing project started.  Except for the flowers.  It's a good recap of where the sewing room got left off and now that I have dusted it and cleared away the things that have gathered over the last 5 years, I will have to assess what I can do!

I wonder what is the best way to get the quilts quilted?  I am not so eager to use my sewing machine since that's why I bought George.   And I know I would have to retake the longarm classes in order to certify to use the quilt store machines. Is that worth it? Hmm.  I can't imagine finding a cheap small longarm machine used, but maybe someone was like me and found they weren't using it and saw a while before they would be back to it.  

I am not sure I will be diving back into the Quilt Academy projects too soon, but I thought I would update on what has been going on.  The Hargraves have retired now and the Forum is dead for questions. There were a few blogs I was following back in the day and I was disappointed to find that they just quit their blog, and I had no idea whether they had quit quilting or if they just got tired of recording it.  I imagine it could have been exactly like what happened to me, a different season with different activities. I have been using this blog as a diary of sorts to remind me of the process and mistakes so that I can go back and find out how to progress, but I know there are others that have been working through the QA books and want encouragement.  So, I am here and think about the quilting I left behind. Even though I  have not been quilting, it isn't a dead hobby yet.  :) The season has just not been right. 

A Wedding and Four-Patch Lattice Project

My sister was married this weekend!  

We traveled back to California last week and was busy preparing for a backyard wedding.  The end result was a beautiful wedding between my sister and her wonderful man. 

Not much really accomplished last week in the sewing arena, but I have put together what I DID get done just before we left. 

My progress on the next project in this class:

I have cut my strips:

I sewed them together

I cut the strips to make 128 half four patches

I counted them.  I was ONE short. There was no left over space on the ends to sqeeze one more out, and I thought to myself.. Do I really have to make 2 more strips to make ONE 2 patch?
I decided I better recount.  WHEW, exactly 128!  Never been more grateful for miscounting! Usually, we have half strips left over. I just didn't even consider I would be THIS close.

Now, I sew the 2 halves together and I have instant Four Patches!

The other blocks are just squares! That is next on the task list.

I suppose the main lesson is reinforcing habit, and learning the sashing with corner stones.

Work in Progress: Flower garden and Quilting

Grandmother's Flower Garden is coming along.

I've mentioned that I am working this in a traditional 1930's fabric, in 1/2" hexagons. However, I am not working the project in the traditional sense.
I have 1.5" squares cut, 6 of same fabric

I have 1/2" iron-on water soluble hexagon cut outs. This is so handy, so I dont have to remove the cardboard hexies.

I press them together

I cut the extra fabric off edges, which saves time from trying to cut out perfect hexagons to start.

I glue the edges over the stabilizer with my Sewline water soluble glue

Then sew together using Wonderfil 100 wt. thread, a polyester thread cotton coated.

I am happy with my flower garden. It grows by the day.
Soon I will have to pick out my white solid fabric and start the path between so that I can estimate how many it will really take to complete.


My quilting project for now is first project from Volume 2.  Thankfully, I followed the directions, and basted the quilt when finished.  We were told that quilts set on point have a tendency to get out of shape if left as quilt tops and not basted.  It has been over a year since this was completed, so I'm happy I finished up with basting before the hiatus.

So, this week began the quilting part.   I have put George to work!  It is all Free Motion, except I will be using a ruler for the strips and the star on the four patch.   It is looking like a beginner, which is why she has you quilting beginning with quilt one in Volume 1.  I wish I would have learned on the first quilts, as now my nicer quilts are getting the ugly treatment!  Oh well.  They are all learning projects.  I noticed after I did 2 rows, that my tension may not be good, the back is a bit loose.  I will need to work on that before I get any further!

V2 Four-Patch Lattice; Class 240 , Lesson 6, Project 2

New Project started: Four-Patch Lattice

Fabrics chosen. I decided to keep really close to the project colors.

The peach color was very off grain cut.  I made a cut 1/2 way through yardage and attempted best I could to align in 2 sections.  I still need the green fabric for the lattice, but since I could not find anything to fit the requirement, I thought I would get started with the beginnings.  I think the lattice is next to last anyway, last part being the triangle side settings.

Grandmother's Flower Garden:

Here is a Pintrest picture of the quilt I want to make. I don't have any calculator to determine how many actual flowers I will need.  I was told by someone who knows about these things, that this quilt picture is indeed 1/2" hexie flowers.  I intend to put the white path and green "leaves" in the same pattern as this one.  I estimate there will be 1000 flowers for a full size quilt if  I decide to make flowers edge to edge.  I was told that will be about 14000 hexies total! I am thinking I may just do the bed top rectangle with flowers, and make borders that drop over the sides of the bed.  This might cut off 1/3 of the flowers this way :) This is a long term project.  I will keep a tally on the side bar as to progress.  62 flowers now completed ! I'm working much faster than anticipated.  I purchased new Wonderfil thread.  It is much thinner so threads a needle better, and disappears better so my stitches don't show so much :)  And, they came in many light pastel colors which blend wonderfully.

Lastly, I have been working on basting my Log Cabin on Point quilt top.  I have finished that, and am in the process of deciding on a quilting pattern for quilting my first try on George.

That's it for now.  

2017 is in the Bag, 2018 Here We Are!

I am not disappointed that 2017 is over. There was a lot to deal with, and my quilting time suffered.

I did tally just under 50 books read for the year, which surprised me since I felt like I was hardly reading.

My full time job has put a damper on the quilting and hiking time, my favorite past times.

But I am determined this year to keep juggling all the balls in the air.

Home Goals:
January started off with a complete room decoration. This was my son's room, and is now transformed to an official guest room. The only thing we didn't change was the wood trim paint and the ceiling light. The dresser and side table are from Wayfair!  They were cheap, and shipped fast, and were not that hard to assemble.  All good things when making up a new room!

I also intend to do some serious purging of STUFF.  De-cluttering is the go word I think people use these days, but that just doesn't do my project justice.

Quilting Goals:
I have been working really hard on my Grandmother's Flower garden hexies.

I have many more than this now, and they have moved away from my design board and into a plastic storage bin. My plan is 4 flowers a week.  That will get me 1/3 of the way, but steady I will go toward progress.  This shall one day turn into a full size guest room quilt for that bedroom pictured above.

I am taking a Craftsy Class on ruler quilting.  I hope to finish it by the end of February, and start quilting on 2 quilts that will be ready.

First I needed to figure out how to change my foot to the ruler foot:

Hubby and I managed to figure it out, but after seeing a YouTube video demonstating the new ruler foot, I see I have the old one!  This one is curved on the back side, which does not allow even contact with my ruler when I use it on that back side. Imagine that, It is already outdated, and it is the first time I opened the package.

Here is my Craftsy homework number one: testing the ruler on a square. It makes for nice even "straight" curved lines.  Just need to work on my length of stitch a bit more.  Poor George has had no usage since I bought him! But this year he will get to work.

Once I finish the class I will be quilting these two quilts:
This one completed over a year ago but the only finished QA project  not quilted.

and this one, my recent Quilt Academy Project, Log Cabin set on point.

Just this weekend, I attached all the sashing and setting triangles. All that is left are my corner triangles.  I think it will end up as a baby quilt, it is smaller than all that work seems!  I cannot even tell you how frustrating it is to attempt to pick up this project in the mid progress of squares. I have ripped more seams on this one quilt top than I have in my life time of projects.  Even considering I picked out an entire quilt worth of quilting!
This will put another project in the finished category, and it is only January!

I hope to finish the next 3 quilt projects in QA Sophmore Year. I think that is finishing through class 250. Turns out I will have been a Sophmore for 3 + years.  I know of only one other blogger that is working through the series that is further than I am. She is also working sequentially through and in Jr. Year, but has not posted anything in the last year.  Seems we both took off this past year.  I wonder if anyone is actually working through the 3 or 4th book yet? I suspect many people bought the books and pick projects they want to work on. But, I will continue to plod along at my turtle pace and actually finish the race someday!

Reading Goal:
I have managed to figure out how to keep up my reading list, so I am working loosely through the 2017 Young Wife's reading guide, based on Tim Challis' reading list template. She recently posted the 2018 Reading Challenge, but I will save that for next year!  My plan is 3 books per month plus a classic and any other reading assigned last minute through our small group participation.  I think there are 42 books on the Reading Challenge list, and 12 for the classics list.

Outdoor Goal:
We bought backpacking gear last year but didn't get to adventure out. The location we were going to use as our test hike was full of ash from fires.  This year I hope to take 2 weekend trips into the great wild outdoors, with a hike of about 10 miles in.

We also enjoy 4x4 with our FJ, and bicycling. I have one overnight bicycling trip planned on a Rails to Trails path about 3 hrs drive from home. It is short, about 12 miles each way, but the Teton Range is in full view and the path is flat.

Bible Study:
There are 3 book studies I have on my agenda, and I am half way through the first one!
I finally settled on reading through the Bible on a slow pace this year, using the Bible Project plan, and their Read Scripture App. I appreciate the video intros.  I've been reading from Horner's plan for so long, I really need to put things in order again.  I was planning on a chronological plan, but then this one came along, and I jumped with more enthusiasm.

Of course, I am not listing my many regular things I do, since those are habits that do not need a poke and reminder.

And, that is my plan for 2018.  Here is to being intentional and productive.

V2 Log Cabin Progress- Tiny Squares

I got all the tiny log cabin squares completed this week!
Thankfully, I am a patient type person. Otherwise, I think I would have closed the door to the quilting room and taken more time off.  It does not work well to take a year off and then attempt to start back up without a hitch.
I think I picked out seams 3 times this week, on almost every square.   I put the new log on the wrong side, or cut it too small, or added a strip that wasn't wide enough.  Ugh. The main key to building a log cabin: always put the new log upside down on the top of the new strip with the new log at the top (first entering the machine), right sides facing each other!
But, I persevered and finished the goal for the week.  10 small squares completed!

I am also making progress on my Grandmother's Flower garden. More flowers added to the bouquet!

Short, sweet progress.  Makes me happy.

A New Job and different Life

Ever feel like you were bored at home, too much quilting time and needed a job?? You know, for socialization?
No, me either.
But my husband thought that we should start saving for dual retirement and that is a hard thing to do on one income. And one spender on quilty things.

So, he volunteered me for a job!  A FULL TIME job!  In my prior life, before kids, I was a C.P.A.  I've been home now for 23 years.  I think I forgot most of my Accounting, but he thinks I can do anything, so I'm now fully employed, doing "accounting" work again.

The past 12 months have been an adjustment. A Father-in Law's death, a son moved out, another son pronounced with Crohn's Disease, and a new full time job.  Did I forget to put quilting in there?  No, I have been busy figuring out how to make dinner and clean house in my spare time.  I used to have all day to do those things!  I thought I was just organized, now the real humbling story is.... I just had a lot of time available.

My quilting left off with this project still on the design board:

And, I was ready to start with the smaller log cabin squares for the outer edge.  I cut my left over strips too small, and threw them away, and never went back to the room!  Yes, sometimes a mistake is enough to derail a whole lot of motivation.

Today, I stepped in the sewing room and decided I would at least make a small accomplishment.

And, here they are. the tiny little center squares for the tiny squares.  Makes me feel like some progress is finally happening!
But, just so you know that I have not been totally giving up: I started a new project a few months ago, that didn't tie me to the sewing room.  I have started a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt!
Yes, it will be a lifetime of hand sewing baby 1/2" flower petals.  It is something I can do in the evening while sitting downstairs with my husband.  It is not at all something in the Quilter's Academy at this stage, but I have really wanted to do something like this for a while.  It will end up someday as a full size quilt for the guest room. Here is my first batch completed.

I think I will need about 500 of these baby flowers before I can piece it together for a bed quilt.  Life time project, yes indeed!

And, just to prove that quilting is not going to be a major part of life any more, we filled the bonus room with a new addition.

I thought this room would make a great play room, back when the kids were home.  Never got around to buying the table. It was always on the "some day list".   More recently I was hoping sooner than later I would make this room my quilting room. George takes up the right side just outside of the picture.  Seems lots of things have gone back to the past!   Ping Pong anyone?  Its a FUN game :)

V2 Cabin in the Cotton Begins

Vol. 2: Third project is finally underway. Life has gotten back to a more predictable flow and I found myself in the quilting room 5 days this week!   I made 18 of these 7x7 squares. All different, since the project is supposed to be scrappy style.

 The fabric is a 1930's reproduction fabric, which happens to be my Favorite theme of fabric, and I have been collection lots of 1930's. I was not so sure about this project and using my collection, so I bought a strip set just for this project. They are more bright than the ones I already owned, but were nice for this project quilt.

Log Cabin squares are not that difficult, and we have done one other in the first volume, the Patriotic Log Cabin as show here.

The difference this time is a smaller grid, we use only 1" grid, and the center blocks are same size as the rest of the grid.  We are also setting the squares on diagonal point, and will be learning sashing.
Here are the 18 completed squares and aligned on the design board ready for the setting mini blocks that will also be log cabin, 1/2" grid.

 It sure felt good to be quilting again, but summer quilting upstairs on the sun facing side of the house is WARM.  Lemonade, good music, and quilting is a good day though.

Other Things Besides Quilting in Life!

What?? Is it possible? Other things besides Quilting the day long?

I took a break last fall and fell in love with walking the trails in our foothills.  I like to call it hiking :)
Here is a picture of me enjoying the nature of our local city.

I miss my dog Zoe tremendously. However, her "sister" which is not closely related, but from the same breeder has done very well in taking up the position of guardian of the family. She was my husband's companion dog, but I have now adopted her and she is equally loyal to both of us. Here is a pic of them together too, as friends. :)

My sister arrived and we went to Jackson Hole Wy, and visited the Tetons.

We got lots of snow in the mountains this winter. We and another couple spent a weekend in Sun Valley enjoying the snowshoeing adventures.

We went to California for Christmas to spend time with the extended family, and were treated to a day at Disneyland.

Hiking in Winter, with my walking buddies.  This is Feburary!  Enjoying lunch on the ground!

Then, in May disaster struck, and Brisby got very sick.  She was slowing down some, and thought she needed some joint juice, but after a delightful hike in which she did not seem sluggish, she came home and preceded to bleed profusely.  Pyometria.  She was set to be spayed this summer when we slowed down the walking in the heat.  We missed it by a couple of months, maybe.  We were referred to an emergency hospital since it was off hours. It is a highly capable hospital, but also Very Spendy.

Thankfully, our minds took control over the emotions, and we had them keep her over night to stabilize her and then we transferred her to another Vet in the morning after searching for capable and available surgeons.  They took great care of her, and now have the title "Our local Vet".

Just in time to heal and travel to California for the wedding of our Niece.  The boys were Ushers.

After all this, Husband decided that it is too stressful to ride the motorcycles we just got last fall.
He sells his bike, and I decide I'M KEEPING MINE.  Well, I take a 2 hr ride by myself one afternoon and decide this is no fun!  lol.  It was meant to go from here to the woods and enjoy the back country, which I will not do on my own.
So, I sell the motorcycle too.

But I buy this delight for riding local errands :) And it is SO much FUN!

It reminds me of college days and I really enjoy riding it around town. Aprilia SportCity 250.   It is lighter and easier to maneuver, park and get out of the garage by myself.  The 650 Versys was just too big for anything other than long rides.  This one is a keeper.  And, it has its very own space in the garage now too.

My sister and I did some hiking in her hills while we visited for the wedding. As we got to talking she decided I should come in and have an ultrasound of my thyroid.  She works at the hospital on call at nights.  Turns out I needed to see a doctor right away.

So, this month I have been spending some time visiting and giving blood donations (samples) to my new doctor. Thankfully, the results are non malignant tumor.  Monitor and medicate is my future for now.  I'm very thankful for these results :)

And I finally learned how to can!  We had strawberries galore this season, so I made jam with a friend who knows these things.  The peaches are abundant this year too, as well as pears.  Our apples didn't fair so well, I think it must have been too warm too soon as we dont have a single apple. And, pickles, of course! Lots of pickles.

So, as I think about Quilting many times I have just not had the brain space to remember where I was at when I took my break!  I know I had just got my new machine.

And, hung a new thread spool holder with lots of fun colors!

Maybe as the forecasts warn of 103 degrees coming, I will find my space in the Quilter's Nest again soon.

Emotional Losses

In Memory of my fur baby  4/26/05-11/11/15

Zoe

Autumn is my favorite time of year for outdoor activities.  The cool weather, sunshine with clouds, changing colors, and clear and open space away from summer crowds is just sweet.   

I didn't fully comprehend how much I enjoy the season, until I realized that the quilting room was so far back in my mind I haven't been there in 2 months!  I don't do well in our summer heat, so I spent much of the summer quilting in my cozy cooler room.

When Fall came around, the dogs and I hit the trails, and we've been walking 4-8 miles/ day.  I'm thankful that Zoe made it through our walking season. This picture was taken on her last day. This picture doesn't look like her to me, but it probably reflects how she felt.  She has been my best dog. She was loyal and typical Aussie, smart and trainable. She doesnt have a grey hair on her, and it was a surprise to see a tumor grow so fast. If she didn't get cancer, I think she would have had many more years to share with us. 

Yesterday I opened the door to the quilting room.  I'm not sure I'm ready to come back and get rolling, but I have gifts I need to make for the holidays so I am going to work on it. Then, I'll be taking another break through the holidays, as we  travel back home.  This is the first year we don't have a school vacation schedule to adhere to, so we will hopefully be able to spend more time with family and friends :)

Rest in peace my furry companion. 

Improvements and Other Things

I'm supposed to be working on Class 240.  Good thing while everyone else in this season is having to go back to school, I am not tied to a schedule. :)  And, for the first time ever, I do not have children going off to school this year!  Life is changing.  Seasons are changing.

First, the weather has turned delightful.  Perfect for taking nice rides with hubby on my newer motorcycle. I used to have this one a couple years ago. It was a '91 Honda Nighthawk 250. Previously used as a motorcycle safety class bike with only 2,000 miles on it.  But I soon found that it just didn't go fast enough, or take corners smooth enough ;)

So, I sold it at the end of the season that same year, with the understanding that I was going to hunt down an Adventure 650 bike.  Well... hubby decided I didn't need to spend that much money. lol.  So, it took me 2 years to find this gem on Craigslist at the beginning of this summer! I talked hubby into going with me to take a look.  One look and he said, "what is your hesitation??"

She is a 2012 Kawaski Versys 650, with less than 4,000 miles.  And, yes, she is plenty fast and corners great.  Hubby decided it was so nice that maybe he wanted a bike too!  So, we found a Vstrom 650 deal.  Now, we spend weekends when they are cool enough exploring the back roads and byways.  Last week we took an Experienced motorcycle safety class, STAR.  Lots of fun :)  She is a bit dirty in this pic, as we took a ride along the mountain fireroads. 

And, of course, I still have to stick in our bicycle rides too. So, there has not been that much time for quilting!  oh my!

Class 240 starts with improving workspace.  I think I got that covered with my new George!  lol.

But, I noticed right away while experimenting with him, that I needed MORE light in that corner of the room, outside my sewing room. 

I purchased these from Amazon.   I was able to cut and use one for both machines!

Need more light?  These are wonderful LED's that light up the entire space underneath, and now I don't need to worry about where to put the lamp!

And, I've been practicing a little bit on George.  He is all set up now, and ready to quilt.

These are my first two attempts to see what the tension does, and try my hand at free motion. This is with thread already in bobbin, and the freebie sample thread that came with the box. It is nice Superior variegated thread.

 Then, I swapped out for the brown thread, and a fil-tec prewound bobbin (also samples since I don't have any thread yet for this machine) and this is what I got!  Not so nice anymore. The only real change here was the bobbin! Looking at following picture, you can see the back side where the thread was being pulled all the way to the back.

 So, I played with it until I got it as best as I could considering I'm working with brown on top and white on bottom with totally white fabric.  I chose that combo just so I could really work the tension to learn it.

I decided I really like the idea of Fil-Tec's bobbin and the thread is nice, with no lint and very affordable.  So, I ordered some and am awaiting this bonus package.

So, most of the rest of class 240 was reading about sashing and how to add triangles to diagonal set sashed quilts, cornerstones, frames...  

Lesson 6 is project Cabin in the Cotton. It is a log cabin pattern on diagonal with simple sashing. 

The picture uses 1930 reproduction fabrics and suggests a baby quilt.  My absolute favorite fabrics are the feedsack reproduction fabrics and I have been collecting them, hoping to gain the skills to make something nice with them.  So, I just couldn't bear to use any of my current stash yet. lol.

However, I did find some on ebay that were already cut in jelly roll strips of 10 different fabrics!

This will work perfect :)

I will get to work with my favorite fabric on a trial run! and maybe add to my stash a bit left over??

Anyway, I've been busy, just not moving fast on any one thing. Wish I was further along with using George, but at least cooler weather is on the way, and then it will be winter!