A Near-Month Off

When a blog goes silent for a prolonged period of time, there's usually a reason. My reason is that I am smack dab in the middle of a dry spell caused by my long-arm woes. I am unwilling to blog when all I do is whine and complain. No one wants to read that! And I don't want to write it!

I felt as though I took positive action in July when I took the machine to be serviced and cleaned. It needed it. I've had the long arm for 10 years, and this was it's first servicing. All my optimism with a newly serviced machine was crushed when I found that I was still having top thread breakage. Darn. How could this be?

I've been fiddling around with it - in a rather sporadic and half-hearted way - and I feel as though I am getting close. I've had a long phone chat with Jake, the repairman at Chestnut Ridge. He offered good, sound advice, and even said that I could bring it back and he'd sit with me to show me basic trouble-shooting strategies. 

Pink Pinwheels, below, was on the long arm when my troubles began. I have successfully completed it. A promising development. 

Pink Pinwheels; made with leftover HSTs.

Pooh Quilt - intended to be gifted last Christmas. 

 

After Pink Pinwheels, I immediately loaded the Pooh Quilt. I did great for a time, but then the thread breakage started up again. So daggone aggravating!

Stay tuned. I will have positive news. I am optimistic that I can avoid another trip to Chestnut Ridge, and solve this with my own bull-headed determination.

I tell you all this just to explain why I am not blogging. I have tried to focus my attention on WIPs that need finishing, and I've made progress on those. I know that ultimately, with success on the long arm, productivity will see a massive rebound and I will share happy news rather than complaints. 

Now, let me share some of those WIPs (works in progress) which I mentioned. Bit by bit, some finishes are on the horizon. I've pulled out this hand-quilting project to find that I was further along on it than I'd realized. This motivates me to maintain my focus and finish it off.

A hand-quilting project is nearing completion.

With remnant of my TATW quilt finished in the spring, I began making mini TATW blocks. I've now made 7 blocks with a plan to do 5 more. I will still have remnants, but 12 blocks will made a nice couch quilt.

Mini-Trip Around the World block.

Hoping that not just my long arm mojo returns, but also my blogging mojo does, too! How do you weather the dry spells in your sewing and quilting life? Maybe I need a pep talk.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne 

A Lack of Focus

You'd think that by the time one is approaching her 7th decade, she'd have a better understanding that focus on one or two projects brings far more satisfying results than flitting from one thing to another with no real plan or direction.

The most productive I've been lately was that week in August at retreat. I went with projects prepped and ready to sew. I finished the flimsy for the weather vane quilt I made with the Winnemucca fabric and went on to get quite a few stars made for Aurora. Click here to see visual reminders of those quilts.

The trouble is that new ideas present themselves far faster than I can finish making the ideas I've already committed to! 

The idea about using all the scrap HSTs continues to simmer in my brain, so I work on making those tiny block with even tinier pieces! But they are so darn cute, I just wanna' keep going!

I will need to adjust my focus and get going on this one. I know I will; just a matter of when.

I checked an easy quickie off the list by replacing a zipper on this jacket for my cousin. She'd given it to me while we were in Florida. Since I knew she wouldn't need it through the summer months, I didn't need to rush to finish it. Now that we are on the cusp of autumn, I thought I'd better follow through for her.

The one thing I have focused on more than anything has been making blocks for this pattern I borrowed from one of the Frankfort girls awhile back. I had no more of a plan for making this than I had for anything, yet here I am seeming to whittle away at it.

I typically try to avoid samplers. I've made several over the years and historically I always end up with a big mess of fabrics strewn all around my workspace. Samplers seem to lend themselves to messiness. Being a naturally messy person to begin with, this is problematic for me. Yet here I am, working on a sampler that was totally absent from my radar as this year began.

My blocks so far have been fun to make, and I don't have a terrible mess - yet. I had a FQ pack from about 20 years ago; maybe that will minimize the clutter. I will provide details on the fabric in an upcoming post. For now, we'll just look at the completed blocks thus far.

If any of you readers have made this quilt, you may be wondering about the outer border each block is supposed to have. I've elected to hold off putting those on because I don't know which neutral I want to use. I will also need a neutral for the sashing strips, so I will think about that when I have a few more blocks made.

Also, the quilt is rather large with 25 blocks. I am only going to make 20 blocks, setting them at 5 long and 4 wide. No rules, right? Just because a pattern is made one way, doesn't mean I can't suit my own purposes and make a smaller version. I mostly am interested in having a patriotic quilt.

You think I am done reporting all the flitting I've been doing? I'm not. I have had an idea to try making another item I might sell if I were to set up a table at a craft fair. I've made a gazillion of those snappy card wallets. Now I'm making tissue holders for a purse or briefcase.

These four are my prototypes; I've experimented with topstitching and with assembly line construction. I will continue to perfect my speed and see if I can mass produce 3-4 dozen of these little cuties.

And what are we NOT seeing? Any work on the long arm and any work on those quilts I took to retreat: Aurora and mini Trip Around the World. I DO still plan to make these, and I will get back to work on the long arm. 

Too many options - and I haven't even mentioned that it's soon to be time for me to take my quilting on the road to History Day next month. I always set up my hand quilting there for folks to see the old-timey methods of our ancestors. It's a day I look forward to, but it does require a bit of planning.

Hope you are checking items off your to-do list! I will find a way to return my focus; I think phases like this occur from time to time. I'll be on track soon; I'm sure of it!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne
 

August Wrap-Up

Just as I was late in welcoming September, I am even more late in wrapping up August. It was a good month filled with so many varied activities and events; I simply must review it so as to preserve all the memories.

Before we get into that, I will show you a peek at the next quilt coming off the long arm machine. It was intended to be a Christmas gift to a special little one, but my machine woes prevented that from happening. It is ready in plenty of time for THIS Christmas!

 All right, the main order of business: a wrap-up of August. What a fun and busy month!

ROW 1: Five members of DH's family attended a Cleveland Guardians game to celebrate b-i-l Mike's birthday. Next, yours truly whacked off her hair! I've not had it cut this short in a very long time! And last, I finally cut into the treasured fabric bought on vacation years ago! We traveled through Winnemucca, NV, and I got to shop very quickly for these fabrics. I love the quilt that resulted!

ROW 2: This row can be the granddaughter row! The two older granddaughters vie for space on Gramma's knee at a Columbus pizza restaurant. We met both families for dinner on a very hot Sunday afternoon. Baby Annie wasn't at all bothered by the heat or the noisy restaurant. She is 4 months at the time this pic was taken. And, again, Cate and Reagan canoodle at the restaurant while waiting for pizza.

ROW 3: The first quilt off the long arm was the pink pinwheel quilt made for baby Annie. I'll be binding it today. The sunset picture is taken looking out across the Ohio River near Ripley, OH. The whole Moonrise (Florida) gang met at a friend's river-side cottage for a cookout. It was lovely catching up with everyone. And last, DD Erin blows kisses around Annie's ears and neck. Isn't that a happy face?!

And now I can put those August duties behind me. Time to look ahead to what September has in store! My main priority will be getting as many quilts run through that long arm machine as possible. I set a rather lofty goal back in January; I am woefully behind. 

We also plan to leave for a 6-7 day trip into New England next week. I want to get some handwork prepared for stitching in the car.

Plenty to look forward to! And one more thing - Buckeye football is back!! Today is our season opener!

 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

And GO BUCKS!

Jayne  

Saving and Using HST Scraps

Saving scraps seems to be a common by-product of quilting. Maybe not in the beginning, but definitely it becomes habitual the longer one quilts. 

When I learned the 'stitch and flip' method of applying corner triangles, I became fanatical about saving those cutaway bits. I even began sewing them together before cutting them away -- time-savings as well as scrap-saving! Genius!

They have been accumulating and I need to get serious about using some of these HSTs. I said I saved them because they were useful, but if I never use them then just how useful are they? 

Now, there's a thought to ponder ... 

Lately, I've been pulling out all the HSTs whenever I come across them, Usually, they are stored in zipper bags, and are stuffed in bins or drawers. I'm sure I've not pulled out all of them, but here's a good-sized pile of them.

These bags represent several really pretty quilts, and I can show you a few. One of the oldest is this Thimbleberries quilt called Star and Chain. I started it at a retreat in 2017, then finished it at the 2018 retreat. This quilt produced a boat-load of HSTs.

 

Another quilt that produced an abundance of HSTs was Snow Shoo, also made in 2018. Sharon and I made this pattern together using 2 blocks - a snowball block and a shoo-fly block. That's how we came up with the name. Hers was also blue and off-white.

 

Here's another look at my pile of scrap HSTs. Maybe I can detect additional quilts. Yes, in fact, at least two more and both much more recent.

Both Smoked Cheddar and Cotton Ridge Farm were made last year, from very similar fabrics. There's a nice big supply of cutaways from these two quilts.

And one from just last month - The Winnemucca quilt I made at retreat. This quilt left me tons of salmon-colored HSTs and light blue HSTs.  Combined with all those from these earlier quilts gives me a wide range of colors and variety.

I actually have used some scrap HSTs over the years, which ought not surprise you. I do try, you know. *wink* Both of these little quilts have materialized out of remnant cutaways from other quilts.

Wall hanging from Eventide remnants, a quilt made in 2014.

 

Very small topper from Cotton Ridge Farm.

 

If you have stayed with me through this lengthy exposition, I confess: I do have a plan. These many bags of saved scraps will be cut down and used in a pretty quilt that I've been seeing and following over on Instagram. It's not anything I've long desired to make; it's simply appealing, and I've got the beginnings so why not go for it? 

Oh yeah, I'm starting a new project. And I will show you. Promise.As I continue working on it, you will soon see some pictures. 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne 

Hello September

Always late with my monthly greetings. So what else is new? At this point, I think I would needlessly surprise readers if I welcomed a month on time. *smh*

I ought to have an August wrap-up collage ready to share, but I'm late on doing that, too. I will work on it. Promise.

Now let's go have an amazing September!!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne 

 

I'm Quilting!

Since way back in mid-November, I have not taken a successful stitch on the long arm machine. I loaded what I called a freebie quilt which would be for our then-expected third granddaughter. It was made with leftover parts from a previous quilt, and it was just as cute as can be.

It's been so long ago, I'm having a hard time recalling the exact order of things, but I believe I'd quilted 3 or 4 quilts prior to this one and was on quite a roll. I had knee surgery in late October, and I know I had at least two ready for binding to do while in recovery and rehab. When I went back to work on this, I had nothing but broken threads - top threads - and for the life of me, I could not diagnose the problem. 

Threads broke in as few as 5-10 stitches. I was beside myself with frustration. Finally, we were approaching Christmas, and I needed to stop fretting about the long arm and get myself ready for the family feast! And as soon as that was over, we would head out for our 3-month winter in Florida. 

In July, I took the machine apart and drove it to Amish Country - Holmes County, here in Ohio - to a well-known and highly regarded repair shop, Chestnut Ridge. It was about a three-hour drive to get there, and about 3 weeks later, we went back to pick it up. (I will do a write-up on that great shop in a future post.) For now, I will just say that I still had trouble with thread breakage after putting the machine back on the frame. I was truly flummoxed. I called the technician who worked on my machine and sent him pictures that he requested to try to diagnose from those. Finally, I took the thread off, put a different spool on, re-threaded the machine and gave it a whirl. 

EUREKA! IT WORKED! 

And I believe I have diagnosed my issue. The pin on which the spool sits had vibrated forward and the guide bar above it had vibrated too low and close to the spool. Thread was getting jammed up in that area where the thread leaves the spool such that it pulled and eventually broke.

So this little quilt is quilted - not the prettiest quilting I've ever done - but it is done, and I can proceed with a gazillion more that I need to get done. How to decide which to do next?? 

Man, I am so glad to be able to say that I've (apparently) solved my thread-breaking issue. You can bet I'm gonna' get another quilt loaded ASAP.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne 

Retreat Projects By My Friends

Retreats are wonderful in so many ways. Not only do we get several days of uninterrupted sewing time, we are gathered in a large room with other quilters who encourage and inspire us. After several retreats with the same core group of women, we learn each other's quilting preferences and habits. Today I will share some of the projects from these women. 

And, sadly, I didn't get pictures of everyone. Bummer! I just don't think of it in time - self-absorbed, I guess. So my apologies to Helen, Becky and Jan! Help me do better! *waahhh*

My bestie Sharon was super-productive as she finished two flimsies and began a third. First finish was a 9-patch baby quilt for a grand-niece.

 And her second finish was this black and white quilt that she's planned to make for 25 years!! 

I did not get a picture of her third project, but it is another black and white quilt. I am sure I will soon have an opportunity to get some pics as she continues working on it.

Terry was in patriotic mode. We had so much on our plates with this 250th-year celebration in America, it was impossible to make all of them! These will be available for future patriotic holidays at Terry's house.

 

These two were finished flimsies. She began a third quilt that is designed to look like a woven coverlet in faded blues, reds and neutrals.

Lisette, I have learned, likes small quilts (wall-hanging size) with small pieces. So her finishes are really precise and meticulously pieced. First she made this braid-like quilt.

Next she went to work on this darling small quilt, determined to have it finished by the last day. And she did it, too. It looks amazing.

 

Last, we have Susan, who was beginning a block-of-the-month quilt that she hoped to catch up on. The pattern is called Liberty Island Sampler, and this is the center medallion of the quilt.
 

She made additional progress on other blocks, but I did not get any pictures of them.

And that brings us up to speed on the recent retreat. It was a wonderful 4 days. 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne