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 

Major Milestone Finish

In April of 2017, I bought fabric for a quilt I was chomping at the bit to make. So excited!! Lake Effect! A pattern I'd been seeing in magazines and on line - gosh I was inspired! When I bought the fabric, my thinking was that I would be able to replicate the quilt without buying the pattern. After a few months, I bought the digital pattern in this post. Soon after, I lost steam on it, ultimately determining that I'd go easy on myself - 10 years - yes, try to finish the flimsy in 10 years. 

Quilt begun: April 2017

Flimsy deadline: April 2027

Actual flimsy finish: August 2026 

That would be 8 months early according to my calculations. I'm over here patting myself on the back, don't cha' know!

In March, I posted from Florida that the piecing was completed (see this post) and mentioned that the four corners of applique needed to be finished off. That is what I've just completed. Whew. DONE.

It is far from a perfect quilt, but by gosh, it's done. DONE! But, please, I beg you!! Stop me before I ever consider doing another quilt like this! Tie my hands behind my back or take me needle thread away from me. What I began with enthusiasm ultimately became a project I wanted to avoid.

Now that it's done to this point, I am happy to have persevered and am able to say I did it. I do still like the suggestion of water that all those elongated hexies imply. Cold water, even. The blues are icy blue and the branches look frosted. So, yes, I like the cold, wintry image created.

Join me and other stitchers for the Slow Sunday Stitching party over at Kathy's Quilts. I've been teasing those talented ladies with this quilt for far too long! 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne 

Retreat Goals

We had quilt retreat this week, and I was motivated to make quilting magic on two big-time goals: Winnemucca Quilt and Aurora. I have been putting these two quilts on my yearly goals repeatedly, and at long last, they are being accomplished! Last month, I posted a 'check-up' on my progress toward completing these goals. Now, I can actually say that one more is done and another is started.

Two lofty goals: 1. Use the fabric bought on our Western US vacation in June 2022 in Winnemucca, NV, and 2. Begin working on Aurora, a quilt with beautiful little stars all in blue.

 First, I worked on Winnemucca. I'd made a test block which satisfied me. The pieces are big; the blocks are big; making the quilt would be fast. It took just over a day to produce my finished quilt top, and I am so pleased with it. Love the look; the fabrics all shine in the simplicity of the blocks without being lost in a more complicated design.

The floral fabric used in the sashing strips and borders is a pleasing mix of the block colors on a gray background. Let's have a closer look.

 

And now that I'm home, I can show even better pictures with the completed quilt top.

Not only am I thrilled to have finally made a quilt with this fabric, I am equally thrilled that I have a good bit of fabric remaining. Now I get the fun of dreaming up a pattern for creating something else from the leftovers. I have plenty - maybe a full yard! - of the stripe, the salmon, and the blue. And sadly, the print is very limited. I used a lot of it on the sashing strips and the borders. Nothing to cry about! I love that this print worked so well in this quilt. I will find another equally attractive (simple!) quilt for using up my remnants.

The other goal for retreat was beginning Aurora. I've had my eye on this quilt for a good while, and had the blues from my stash auditioned and selected. The pattern is by Edyta Sitar in one of her books.

 Those stars! Oh, gosh, they absolutely sing and dance across this quilt! The first time I saw a picture of it, I knew I wanted to make it. I cut most of the quilt out ahead of time and pretty much had everything ready for tackling the daunting task of making 127 stars. And those are 127 4.5" stars! yikes...

Above is my retreat accomplishment on the task: 28 stars. I wanted to at least get the total number of stars down into double digits! I only have 99 more to make!

Yes, it's going to take awhile, but I will make them in batches of 10 or 20 at a time. Breaking down the task seems to make it go faster, and if I've got a good audio book plugged into my ears, I will have them done lickity-split.

In between finishing Winnemucca and beginning Aurora, I made 20 little card wallets. I haven't made any in several months, so I wanted to replenish my supply. This batch contains a few for Christmas.

 One last thing I worked on in the final hours of retreat before packing up was to make a Mini-TATW block from the remnants of my big TATW quilt.

 I've got a great quilt in mind that requires (at minimum) 12 of these mini-trip blocks. Because I had plenty of leftover 2" squares and strips, it made good sense to use them in this fashion. If I still have a lot after making 12 blocks, I might decide to make a few more for a larger quilt.

So that is what I accomplished at our August Quilt Retreat. Fun with friends makes the retreats even more special. We had 8 quilting friends attending this year, and we are already booked for two next year - April and September. 

Hope you are having a productive week! Today, I will put stuff away and tackle a few chores around the house. 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne 

I Cut The Fabric!

After four years of making a goal of using this fabric, I have finally cut it and have begun construction. This is a big deal. 

 If you've followed me here for very long, you may recall that I've had years worth of plans to make a quilt with this group of fabrics I bought in Winnemucca, Nevada. Here on the blog, I've referred to it often as the Winnemucca fabrics.

I sifted through years of photos on my computer to find the date I bought this fabric and LOOK!! I found the picture (above) I took in the shop on the day I bought it - June 3, 2022. Wow. I thought I'd had it longer; sure feels longer. Maybe that's what happens when year after year I fail to achieve the goal of using this little collection. Using this fabric has appeared on the goals lists for '23, '24, '25, and '26. This year it finally will be realized!

Moving in the right direction, at last! I made two significant decisions several months ago. This made the most difference in eliminating all my dithering. One was deciding on a pattern, the other was deciding to make it one of my August retreat projects. 

The pattern is a weathervane block from a book I've had for years - Mulberry Lane by Teri Christophersen. I actually made this same quilt several years ago as a wedding gift, so I know it's going to go together easy-peasy. The sample block pleases me, and the floral fabric will be used for the sashing strips. It's gonna look great.

 How is it possible that I will have so much fabric left over?? Sure, I didn't have any pattern in mind when I bought the fabric, and I selected a pattern with big blocks. The quilt is not overly huge at 60" x 76". I will have plenty to "play with" after I finish this one!

My remaining fabric! More fun sewing to do!

Here's a link to the first quilt I made with this pattern. It was gifted to a friend's son for his marriage. Both that quilt and this one will look drastically different from the quilt pictured in the book, called Lavender Fields, but that's the beauty of quilt-making. Every quilt takes on the look from the fabrics the quilt maker selects. So many patterns and so many fabrics makes for vast, almost infinite "looks" for any given pattern.

Next up, I will share the other quilt I've cut out for retreat sewing. This one will go first, for sure.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne 

Summer Goes Too Fast!

It must be a good thing that one can be enjoying summer so much that taking time to stop and write a blog post seems impossible. When I realized how far into August we already are and then further realized that I'd not posted anything here since the middle of last month - what?! - well, I must be busy enjoying these wonderful summer days.

Hello August! And Wow, do you need to move so fast? Give me time to catch my breath!

The truth is that we've been doing a whole lot of things that keep me out of the sewing room, thus there's very little to write about for a quilting blog when no quilting is happening! For example, this lovely wooded path took us for a peaceful walk in Mansfield, OH, in the gorgeous Kingwood Gardens. We have made several visits to this gem of a place, and always look forward to going again. A day trip like this does wonders for the disposition, but very little for the quilting to-do list!

Since I haven't written in so long, let me share the July highlights collage, and then we can move on to more current sewing and quilting events - and yes, I will have a few! July was a month full of planning and prepping for the Honnold Reunion held annually here at our place. Always so much we want to do to prepare for it - but this year, we had to scale back quite a bit. With my knee recovery (it's doing really well) and DH's gimpy back (it comes and goes), we were forced to minimize our expectations of what we could get done. The reunion went well, and no one really notices all that stuff, anyway, right?

TOP ROW: Since the entire month seemed to hinge on working toward the reunion, I begin with the spread of food we had for said reunion. Certainly plenty for all. And lots of leftovers! Yum! One of the sweetest little girls in the world, Cate, is just growing so fast! Looking so adoringly at her baby sister, in the third picture, we had a wonderful day with them here. My pic of Annie isn't centered as well as it should be, but she is growing and developing all those fun smiling and gurgling milestones that are so adorable at the 3-4-5-month stage.

MIDDLE ROW: My mom gets here hair done over here at my hairdresser's, and it just so happened that our son Adam was home for the reunion, so the two of them got to catch up with one another. At age 89, Mom looks pretty darn good, doesn't she?! My middle pic is of the patriotic table runner I finished just in time for the reunion. (Remember, this IS a sewing/quilting blog, right?) The final pic in this row is of my Frienzies - we all had a fun day of sewing together at Susan's house.

BOTTOM ROW: One of the other sweetest little girls in the world is Reagan who, at 21 months, is really getting to be lots of fun. Her vocabulary is growing and exploring the world at Gramma and Grampa's house is a wonder to her! She was here with her big brother and sister for the July 4th festivities. We attend a multi-generational picnic and fireworks evening at a nearby friend's house. The last pic is of my Trip Around the World. I did so little sewing, that I figured it ought to be included, just to remind me to get back to work at the sewing machine!

With July finally put to bed, let's look to all that is on the books for August! With a quilting retreat in the middle of the month, I have been cutting for some very satisfying sewing time. Two projects are ready to go and I am making one block for each just to get a 'feel' for how speedily I can proceed. Details on those will be forthcoming, to be sure.

 Sometimes, I go to the sewing room with no actual plan in mind. I pick up whatever I find within arms reach and make up something. These 4 little subunits of red, white and blue are such a creation. I had a lot of patriotic colors out when preparing for the 4th and the big 250th celebrations. I put this picture into a photo editing app and came up with a potential future scrap quilt - Jacob's Ladder. It might come to fruition; it might not. We'll see how the wind blows.

I also have a crap-ton of leftover bits from the Trip Around the World quilt I made. Plenty of 2" strips and 2" squares. So I have an idea for using up some of that.

The way I am thinking right now, I am more likely to continue with these 2" strips and squares than I am the patriotic Jacob's Ladder. Given time, perhaps both will see completion.

My ongoing concern is for the long arm. I took it to a repair shop for a total cleaning, oiling and tune-up. I got it back home and DANG!! The thread is still breaking! I will stay in touch with my repairman (by phone and email; he's 3.5 hours away!) and see if I can work through it. I so want to get some quilting done!

Things are looking up for a productive month! I will definitely have two more items to check off my '26 goals! 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne 

Patriotic Table Runner

Two weeks ago, the Frankfort Girls met at Jan's house. That put us right at the big weekend of the 250th celebration in America. Jan, known for her themed gatherings, had a grand table set for us. 

 A bonus table favor at each place setting was tucked inside the navy and red striped kit. The pattern and necessary yardage for a table runner! All our stuff is covering it, but the table runner that Jan made is running down the center of her table. We all could make our own thanks to Jan's generosity and thoughtfulness!

When we left Jan's that morning, we all - sorta' jokingly - challenged each other to have them made and ready for show and tell at our next gathering at Becky's. Well, I took that challenge seriously! I got busy this week and had my table runner done just in time for our brunch. I stitched the binding at Becky's yesterday. 

I'm going to use mine on our island. It is where we keep the salt and pepper shakers, the napkins, the sugar bowl and toothpicks. Centrally located and easy to grab. Don't you love how it sparkles on the island!?

In another week, we will be hosting my husband's family reunion and I am using red, white, and blue as my color scheme - an obvious decision, right? - so my interest in making this table runner was doubly important to me. I have several other patriotic pieces sprinkled throughout the house.

 

I quilted the table runner on my little Bernina with a walking foot. I opted to just stitch in the ditch along each stripe and around each star block. Making the stars was a bit fussy, as the points are made with really small pieces, but I only had to make 9 stars, so I knew I could power through all the fussing with small bits. Not too overwhelming, actually.

I have one more really fast and small-ish project under my needle currently. My friend Sharon gifted me with a fun panel of Psalms verses, which are cut and sewn into a wall hanging. I am about half way finished with it. So stay tuned!

It's really satisfying to see some finishes taking place. It boosts both my motivation and enthusiasm to get going on some other projects - big and small, old and new.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne