Summary of the week

Summer came and we reached highs of 97, and then just like that it was way cool for this time of the year. Usually May is a muggy month where we have a bunch of gulf stream moisture with highs between 85-92. Last weekend a cool front came and cooled us off to highs in the 60s and low 70s. It has been a quilting kind of week!

I have been working on mom’s quilt. It is 90% complete. And the weekend is long so maybe I will get that finished up and get something else on the frame.

There is mega texture in this echo quilting AND it took the fullness out of the spots that needed it.

I am down to one seam left in the scrappy buckeye beauty quilt. I will probably add borders this weekend. I did place a poll on youtube for selecting a border. At the beginning of the poll, the two fabrics were neck and neck in the percentages. Make sure to go check that out so you can vote too!

And a while back I was viewing another Nolting longarm on youtube and noticed they had a CLX like mine but their handles came further to the front of the frame. I reached out to the owner (Ann) and she let me know that those are just extension bicycle handles (only $10 dollars on Amazon). She actually added two sets to make it more ergonomic for her. I only added one because I do ruler work. This changed has taught me a few things.

So for the few years I have owned this machine, I would leave my machine with a back ache. I mean the belly bar is a fulcrum on the body and you have to bend over to reach the rear of the quilt while quilting. This helped tremendously with that! My arms are bent at 90 degrees and kept by my side which is a very natural position. I did not need any technology to make this change but a screwdriver. And because I removed the foam pads that were original to the machine, when I do ruler work and grab that right handle, it fits marvelously in my hand. Those handle cushions are too big, which is not ergonomic for these chunky dunky hands (those handle grips were made for man’s hands….hmmm not well thought out Nolting). Was I able to do more quilting for longer periods? YES! I wish I would have asked a long time ago.

I did have a tension hiccup. I got jammed and the machine went into fail safe mode. I thought I broke the machine! I oiled heavily and left it rest for 24 hours. That dislodged a large piece of lint put off by the green thread I am using on the backing. My eyes don’t see green very well any more. I cannot see the lint below in the machine. My machine is still not just right. I presume there is another hairball this cat needs to hack up.

May is almost over, what does June hold quilt wise? Well, I am still waiting on grid interfacing! Yeah, after the wrong stuff was shipped, I ordered AGAIN and because I am relying on a drop ship, it has taken all month. I had hoped I could start on this.

I have decided to enter this 365 quilt block challenge in a quilt show. It has been on my table needing the binding added now for months. I did work on that a bit this week. As I see it all rumpled up on my table, I see how accurate my points and nested seams are. This quilt deserved to be seen! I will be making arrangements for a label as well as a hanging sleeve. I know when other quilters see it, they will be inspired and they will know how much work went into this. And I finally measured the quilt. It turned out to be 90 X 90. I was shocked by the measurement haha, it is spot on. In the description box to tell a bit about the quilt, I am listing I now hate red hahhahaha. Other quilters are going to relate to this.

Have a wonderful weekend! Be safe! Summer is officially here! Thanks for reading my blog!

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The Scrappy Blues

I have not done much this past week. I was waiting for interfacing last week. They sent on point grid interfacing and I wanted regular 820 pelon. So I ordered more and am still waiting. If the pandemic has taught us anything is to be patient with what ever mail service you are using and expect delays. So the Embroidered Flowers Quilt is on hold for now.

And Texas summer arrived last weekend, which left me feeling tired and drained all week. So no quilting happened in the garage.

And I found out today another coworker is expecting a child, and knowing the time line, I have to get off my keester and get busy!
Most of the parents are not going to find out what they are having and others it is too soon to know. I kind of went into panic mode with the news of someone else expecting because I have one top to quilt for that regard. I have oodles to get done between now and then. So today I searched for a block that I could go scrappy. After clicking around with Moda Block heads I found the buckeye beauty block. Perfect! I had to go all the way back to Moda Block Heads II. If you are interested in this free pattern click here.

So after a few hours of starching, ironing, cutting and sewing, I have a nice scrappy sampling and am pleased with this so far. I shall get this top sewn this weekend, or at least that is the plan.

Scrappy Buckeye Beauties, what are you working on?

I am participating in the second annual #Scrapathon2223. I wonder how many scrap quilts I will happen this year. I think I have three that will probably fall into that category. We shall see, eh?

Make sure you swing by my youtube channel and hear about all the things judges look for at county fairs as far as quilts are concerned. Lots of good information. See below.

The blog is rather short and sweet this week. A first time for everything LOL! Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog!

Quilt Judging

We all have experience with the quilt police. We all have been told by quilt police something where they try to push their ideals on you. Many of us quilters have a quilt police story. I can think of a couple of stories that I could share, but want to keep the blog more constructive and less negative. Do you have a quilt police story? I would love to hear about it. Use #quiltpolice anywhere on any platform in social media. I will be reading your story. Or, you can just leave a comment below.

Last weekend I worked. No sewing happened. And, last weekend summer abruptly showed itself. Fall will show itself in Nov. That’s usually when it cools back down. Stitching did not happen at all this week.

I worked last weekend to prepare to be off during the week for county fair judge training. I am now a certified judge.

In this process, my mind started churning about very negative feedback my peers have given me over the years. I never really got any constructive criticism. I entered a quilt in my county’s fair back in 2006. I lost out to the only other quilt entered. I never understood why. I was up against a master quilter first of all, but that is neither here nor there. Normally when a quilt is judged you get a constructive criticism piece of paper. I never got that. I felt jaded all these years. I never understood why I lost. That chapter has closed.

On Tuesday May 17th at 7:30 pm central time, I will be live on youtube with the very quilt that was judged and I will be going over why my quilt was NOT a blue ribbon. I will also be covering what judges look for when they are judging a quilt. If you have comments or questions you will be able to ask me direct during the youtube livestream. My chat preferences are set. You have to be a subscriber 24 or more hours prior to my live. Does this interest you?

This video/forum will not tolerate quilt police. I will take comments in the chat very seriously. Quilting is art and deserves constructive criticism. I want my readers/subscribers/viewers to know that the quilting community wants to help not hurt.

While in ”learning to become a judge”, I was surrounded by other quilters. The quilt police came out in that meeting. But, I also saw constructive critique and the benefits from that.

In addition to judging quilts, I learned about photography, painting, crochet, knitting, rug hooking, as well as all sorts of other that is thrown into the textile medium and can now judge all of these. I am now in a database for county fairs in my state to call on me when they need these categories judged. No, I cannot judge in my own county.

I learned the most from the photography and painting segment since I do not really dabble in those things. Hopefully what I learned in those categories will get some better photos onto the blog!

I also started a vlog on making the embroidery flower quilt. Unfortunately I ordered some grid interfacing and they sent the wrong kind. The new interfacing will not be here until the 19th. This project has stalled. But, I managed to shop the stash for almost all of my fabrics. Putting those tidbits and scraps to good use.

I have finally started binding my 60 degree stars quilt. If I am on the couch, these edges will be coming together.

Today I will be back to work on quilting the dresden quilt and will do it in the weeee hours of the morning to keep cool.

If I am recalling info correctly, these dresdens I am quilting are made from happy birthday fabric. Isn’t that fun?

Well I have one more thing. A few weeks back, I posted about content and asked my readers to tell me why my numbers have dropped off. Well I figured it out. WordPress deleted all but 4 of my email followers. Shame on you wordpress! This has greatly impacted my traffic. Bummer. It took me 6 years to get those followers, some of which I have had since day one. But my numbers are not the only numbers down. I really think people are exercising their freedom to move about in the country now that most are vaccinated. We are practically hamsters left out of the cage, right?

And for those of you who read my blog regardless of the goings on, I thank you! I know you are here. It warms my heart.

Happy Mother’s Day 2022

I have been busy, but then again I haven’t.

In my last post I pondered who would win the battle of the backings. I am pleased to announce my Mom won that battle. I am custom quilting a dresden quilt with a dash of embroidered butterflies. I have uploaded a video of how to quilt and make a flower border using a circle ruler. The way the quilt is made, makes echoing around the dresdens the way to go. I have posted a video on youtube. I will share that here.

And last weekend I started making the Embroidery Flower Quilt. This is a free pattern offered by tilda fabrics utilizing solids. Click here for the pdf. I did a massive fabric pull and went through 2 cans of starch during the cutting and ironing. After deciding on which swatch matched what fabric best, I managed to find 44 different fabrics in my stash that were either blenders, solids, or a very close match calico print. I had to make a trip to my LAQS to get the remaining two fabrics. I have cut all my color pieces. I lack cutting the background. I have cut some squares. I have cut some strips. I will be assembling this using the grid interfacing method. Be looking for that tutorial soon. And I will refrain from cutting so many small blocks and utilize the strip method instead for large hunks of background fabric

My method for this? As I paired a fabric to the matching swatch, I wrote on a sticky note the fabric number assigned and how many squares to cut. After cutting I bagged the squares and the sticky note together and hung them on my design wall. I have seen this particular pattern done using the paper plate method. I do not have room for 46 paper plates to be lain about. So, I am now a bag lady! I started a Vlog on youtube to document this journey.

And because I pulled the majority of these fabrics from my stash I am claiming this to be #Scrapathon2023.

As of now I am a bit stalled waiting for the interfacing to arrive. I worked my day job today (on a Saturday, I know right?) to prep for my time towards county fair judge training this week. So not much sewing this weekend. This will work out just fine with a little time. I can’t wait to sew and my whip out a project from my open gates quilt box. Not sure yet. The body pillow pattern they enclosed look lovely. Perhaps I may stitch a bit on that.

Happy Mother’s Day! Take it easy ladies! Today is your day! Enjoy!

And thanks for reading my blog!