August Quilting Plans

Unlike summer 2021, DH and I haven't taken a ton of trips this summer. We sorta' made last summer special by planning a getaway - big or small - every month from May through September. This was to celebrate the fact that we were both - finally - fully retired. We'd both taken on part time gigs after retirement from our main jobs. No more! 

Here in summer 2022, besides that trip out to see our son and tour around the Pacific Northwest, we are not traveling much. I had a girls' vacation a couple of weeks ago, and later this month I will attend a 4-day quilt retreat. Minimal time away.

This lack of traveling should be a reliable indicator that I am able to do more sewing and quilting, right? I hope to prove that theory this month.

I said in yesterday's post that my August goals are twofold: long arm some quilts and make some new stuff. 

In order for long-arming to happen, I have GOT to figure out why I continue to have such a terrible "eyelash" problem on the backs of quilts. I know that I need to tighten the tension, and  do it incrementally to find the "sweet spot." Also, I know to clean the lint, change the needle, and oil the machine.

I have had many long arm successes.

Before going to Anna Maria Island a couple of weeks ago, I had a quilt needing eyelash removal - again. I did the one a month or so ago (read about it here and here). Daggone if I didn't have the exact thing happen with the next quilt I loaded!! Fortunately, I discovered the issue after just one pass of the machine, so removal wasn't horribly unpleasant.

Here you can see that I have removed a few stitches and some of the offending eyelashes are shown, too.

Look at all that wasted thread! Besides wasting my time by having to sew, unsew, and dink around with the tension, I hate wasting thread. 

The quilt shown here is one of my friend's quilts; I have done 4 of hers already, then there's this one and at least one more to do. I really would like to get them all done this month.

In addition to finishing these quilts, I have at least two baby quilts ready to be quilted, and a couple more random quilts I could add into the mix.

One baby quilt to quilt.

Another baby quilt to long arm.

I'd love to quilt this from 2017; a good quilt for fall.

My other priority for August is making new stuff! This is always exciting. I look at long-arming with trepidation; I look eagerly toward starting a few new quilts!

Since I'm getting a little long-winded here, I will be back tomorrow with details on those new quilts swimming around on my brainwaves!

Happy Quilting, Friends!