Missing: Mental Focus

I swear, some days I totally lack an attention span. Most days, maybe. Last Wednesday had me absolutely flitting from project to project, idea to idea and never accomplishing much of anything.

I even mentioned in this post that my willingness to chase squirrels has been in overdrive - I have been doing quite a lot of chasing. 

Here's a recap of last week, as best as I can recall.

SUNDAY - Stitch on some hexies; cut fabric for more hexie-making; prepare little project box for trip.

MONDAY and TUESDAY - In the car; stitching hexies.

WEDNESDAY - Flitting; I couldn't land on anything! Work (minimally) on William Morris quilt; work (minimally) on hexies; clean just one spot in the quilting room; sort patterns; print more patterns (free one from online); think about new projects - tree quilt, leaf quilt, Kaffe quilt, jelly roll quilt and others; scold myself for ignoring Lake Effect; scold myself for ignoring long-arming; scold myself ignoring 9-patch/snowball quilt. 

Whew! Exhausting all that flitting!

THURSDAY - Realize that tomorrow is a Frankfort Girls day, and I don't have a finish to share! Finally decide to put a quilt on the long arm; fix horrible tension issues; quilt the 3-yard quilt; affix the binding.

FRIDAY - Go to quilting (9-noon) at Sheryll's; stitch binding; at home, load a quilt on the long arm; again face tension issues; grumble and dither over this ever-recurring issue; work on William Morris; work on hexies.

Now that I have written it all out, it looks like only Wednesday was a total squirrel day. Add in parts of Thursday (morning) and Friday (afternoon). Why does it seem as though the entire week was like that?

Brains. Who knows how they work?

I have a number of projects to show you, but since we had quilting with the Frankfort Girls on Friday, let me show you Terry's stunning patriotic quilt. I love this, and it looks so simple! She says she is done with patriotic sewing and is officially moving on into fall sewing. I like the way she thinks!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Totally Finished 3-Yard Quilt

In the previous post, I told you all about the tension trouble I had on the long arm, and the methods I used to correct the problems. My resulting quilt out of that rather intense session at the Tin Lizzie is one I am very proud of.

I made this quilt top at the Nelsonville Retreat last month. It is one of those 3-yard quilts called Crossroads. Read more about it here. Ever since I've had it pinned to the design wall. Being out in the open like that, one cannot forget about finishing, so I found some decent backing fabric and got busy.

The backing had to be pieced from two different colorways of the same fabric. The fact that it is such an understated gray print helped me in deciding to use this.

I made the binding from the cut-away parts of the backing. It made sense to keep going and get'er done, so I did. I worked on tacking the binding during odd bits of time on Friday and Saturday. 

Getting myself back on that long arm machine is an absolute must. The quilt top situation around here is beginning to overwhelm me - and it's about time I dedicated some good long days to quilting.

Are getting some good things done today? I always seem to be motivated as we begin a new week. Hope your Monday is awesome!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

There's Always Tension

Just like the plot of an excellent novel, my story with this Tin Lizzie continues to offer up dramatic highs and lows. It's safe to say, however, that I do believe I am becoming master of this plot, and soon (hopefully) I will be able to resolve this tension and feel the master of the machine.

Ironically, (to continue with the literary theme) the tension is the very thing that gives me fits! That tiny little disc on the side of the machine does a whale of a lot of work. It controls how taut the thread is as it goes through the needle, into the quilt, and to ultimately clasp the bobbin thread to create a stitch. 

To prepare to quilt on Thursday, I loaded the machine and began stitching. In less than a foot of quilting I knew I had troubles. I could feel it in the way the machine hesitated. Rather than to go on, I had the good sense to stop and remove the top of the quilt from the take-up bar.

 

What a mess! Eyelashes everywhere! My tension troubles were epic. I am getting really good at stitch removal lately. But remove I did, and just look at the pile of thread taken from just a few inches of "quilting." What a waste.

Next, I went over that machine like a maintenance madman. Like any good plot, the action became frantic at this point.  Rising action?? Yes. I changed the needle. I re-threaded the machine. I dusted the bars. I cleaned lint from every orifice I could access. I oiled the necessary spots after consulting the owner's manual. I was thorough - very, very thorough. 

 

Obviously, a practice quilt on which to set the tension properly would be required. I grabbed a nice long scrap which I cut in half and sandwiched with some scrap batting. I loaded this practice quilt the same way I would load a real quilt. Then I began making adjustments. And do you know what? (Climactic point coming...) With ever-so-careful fine-tuning, my stitches began to get better and better! I got to a point where I was making beautiful stitches - both on the top AND the bottom of the quilt! (Cue the jaunty music!) Tension resolved! And boy-oh-boy, did I ever feel accomplished!

 

After reloading my quilt onto the Tin Lizzie, I went back to the beginning and quilted with confidence! It was a joyous thing, I tell you. This drama had a happy ending; your heroine faced and conquered the machine.

I now have this quilt bound and ready to reveal. I will share that tomorrow when I have some decent pictures. 

With this exceedingly satisfying victory, in her happy position as master of her machine your heroine loaded another quilt onto the Tin Lizzie the very next day. Strike while the iron is hot, as they say. And guess what? This process appears to require further character building.  While I won a single victory in my quest for mastery, more challenges await me. (Who am I? Bilbo Baggins?)

I am currently working on my resolve, and I will continue my journey. Enough for now with grumbling and complaining.

Have a great week, dear readers! It's a dreary day here, and I feel quite lazy. Hopefully, I will be able to accomplish some small thing today.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

More Hexie Action

I had a reason for pulling out the flower hexies late last week, and working on that flower Saturday night (see previous post). I was preparing for a road trip and this is the small stitching I planned to take along for the road.

Needle, thread, scissors, templates, and bits of fabric were all that I needed to prepare a bunch of hexies for action. The dim hotel room room lighting turns white into yellow here, but you can see a bit of what the first day's travels yielded.

Can you tell where we went? That is Kauffman Stadium, home of the Kansas City Royals, as seen from our hotel parking lot. Our Cleveland Guardians were in KC for a 3-game stand, and we decided on very much of a whim to go to a game. Because we took along my brother-in-law, I was a backseat passenger, which ensured my having lots of time to stitch.

We had a beautiful night for baseball. We had an easy walking path from our hotel to the stadium and the temps were comfortable. I'd heard about how beautiful the KC stadium is, and it was as good as described. Really attractive outfield features - waterfalls and fountains! - and the friendliest staff ever. We had a great time. We got an extra inning of baseball, too, and - best of all - a win!

Now, back to the hexies. My plan was to make 12 matching hexies to add around these small flowers. I'd made these small flowers ages ago, and they were just taking up space in the sewing room. Sometimes I just make random stuff and because I have no immediate firm plan or idea for that random stuff, I end up with little projects just waiting to happen. Proof: many of these hexies were made in 2017, and I have all manner of "plans" for them, according to past posts! One is reminded of the squirrel effect. I'm afraid that Squirrel Club is one I ought to join.

I had already added the next row of hexies to a few. The one I did on Saturday night is at the bottom of this pile. This all seemed very doable with very little effort while sitting in the backseat of a car for 10 hours - both ways. 

Was it worth it? Driving so far to see a baseball game? We think it was. Our seats were fantastic; the ticket prices were rock bottom (KC is having an off year); and we had a crazy little adventure. What better way to spend a couple of days? That's what retirement is all about, isn't it?

DH and I alongside his brother Mike.

I have continued making hexies and flowers; some progress pictures might show up here later this week. Now that we are back home, I want to return to working on the William Morris/Lil' Orphan Scrappy quilt. All those blocks are now made. I am working on outer units which (hopefully) will form a  zigzag outer border.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Hexies For The Win!

Make that a win-win, as I made this hexie flower and our OSU Buckeyes were victorious 21-10 over the Fighting Irish. While watching last night's big season opener versus Notre Dame, I took three fabrics, a stack of hexie templates, scissors, needle and thread and stitched this pretty little posie.

During all the yakkety-yak of pre-game, I made fabric decisions, and cut out all the parts. I got all but the last three hexies attached before going to bed; I have finished it up this morning.

I like this layout of fabrics and colors; that outer row is fussy cut so I could take advantage of the mostly gray parts. Here is better look at the full piece - it's a Tilda fabric.

I detest wasting fabric, so I will likely not fussy cut this any further. Those florals are just too pretty to let go to waste. If I want a gray fabric, surely I can dig around and find some suitable all-over print that would be less wasteful. One flower doesn't waste too much, but that's my limit!

My fabric choices came together quite by happenstance. This tub had a small stack of fat quarters pulled ages ago (like over a year?!) most likely for some road trip we were taking. Not wanting to miss any of the game,  I forced myself to create something from the existing options. 

The two prints are Tilda fabrics bought in May 2021 when we vacationed in the Shenandoah Valley. The polka dot is a remnant from Spring Dreams, which I made last spring. In that linked post, I mention my difficulty in adequately photographing the sashing - well, this is the sashing, and it looks like the correct color.

The picture near the top is taken on our kitchen counter - light background. The picture just above is taken on the footstool of my game-watching/stitching chair - dark gray background. Isn't it interesting to see how the background changes the block? I am very far from making big decisions about backgrounds, but this could prove useful when the time comes.

I am joining the Slow Stitching party over at Kathy's Quilts. It has been awhile since I sewed with these lovely ladies; I am always inspired by the handwork they do, and the creative ways they take slow-stitching to new heights. Click here to see all the participants' pretty projects.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Quilty, Crinkly Goodness

Laundry day here. Washed the bedding this morning, and I went a step further than I usually do - I washed the quilt, too. Quilts only get washed if they are used, and this has been on our bed all summer. It occurred to me when folding it fresh from the dryer that I don't believe I have ever documented the crinkly nature of a freshly laundered quilt. Oh my, it is so very appealing!!

The shadows in the room are producing a strange looking color on the folded quilt. I tried some filters, but I am so bad at that. Just trust me, this quilt looks mighty cozy in its freshly-laundered crinkliness!

This quilt has been our go-to choice this summer, and even though a lot of people are putting summer things away, I put this back on the bed for now. I just can't make myself think in terms of changing out summer stuff for fall decorating yet. 

These fresh linens will be super cozy to crawl into tonight! The smell will be heavenly. Nothing beats fresh linens on the bed.

I've talked about getting a few quilts loaded onto the long arm and doing a lot of quilting this month. One quilt I always think would look fantastic as a fall quilt on our bed is this one I finished in 2017, and have yet to quilt. I call it Dusty Trails, as I always think of pioneer women quilting fabrics like this when settling ever westward. The fabrics have a historic, old-fashioned, somewhat dusty look to them.

 

Just think how nice this will look all quilted up on the bed! Then think of that extra step of laundering it and getting it just the right crinkly texture. Mmm. I am motivating myself, can you tell?

But, today, DH and I are going to play. I have two loaves of zucchini bread to deliver, and then I believe we are going to go swimming. And for even more fun, we are taking the CanAm Spyder instead of the car. Whoo-hoo, we are wild, aren't we???

Happy Quilting, Friends!

September Is Here!

 Omigoodness. Can you believe we are here in September already? It just boggles the mind.

 

In my usual manner, I am wrapping up the old month with a collage. I didn't have many actual finishes, but I do have many, many starts. Let's see the highlights.

TOP ROW: In possibly the only quilt I quilted, another of Kay's quilts is done and bound and ready to be passed along. I have only alluded to this ongoing project of finishing quilts for Kay; at some point, I will post a more complete write-up of it, but timing plays a part. The middle quilt of the top row is a pretty pink floral 9-patch quilt made for the pending arrival of our first grandchild in October. I will definitely be quilting this (and a few others, hopefully!). The final pic of the top row is of the lush hydrangeas along the side of our house. We had some gorgeous humidity-free days in August bringing the clearest blue skies. I love living out here in the remote country farmlands. We are so blessed with acreage, trees, and all manner of wildlife. This picture contains the beauty of the white blooms, the varied greens of the trees, and the vivid blue of the sky - a winning combination.

MIDDLE ROW: At quilt retreat I made a 3-yard quilt called Crossroads, and here you see a closeup of the fabrics used in it. Center stage is one of my 70 stars for Lil' Orphan Scrappy, a quilt I worked in earnest on at retreat. All 70 stars are finished, and down below you will see an updated picture of my progress. On a Sunday evening about a week ago, we went to Columbus to meet our daughters and their fellas for dinner - to celebrate Emma's 30th birthday! On the way, we drove through a pretty nasty thunderstorm, but as we approached Columbus, the skies cleared and we were blessed with the most brilliant rainbow I've seen in a long time. It lasted and lasted - we could still see it as we entered the southern suburbs. I probably took a couple dozen pictures of it. Note that a faint second rainbow is in the upper right corner.

BOTTOM ROW: Another quilt still in progress is my green and beige snowball/9-patch. I have all the blocks made and now need to take an afternoon to sew the top together. Just this past weekend, DH and I visited his niece, her family and several extended family and the afternoon included a pontoon ride on the Ohio River. My first river ride, and it was perfection. Finally, my current focus is finishing up the blocks for Lil' Orphan Scrappy done in my scraps of William Morris fabrics. 

Yes, I do have a few ideas brewing and stewing for September. Sharon and I have decided that we both need more Kaffe Fassett quilts, so we have plans to do those this month. 

Besides the KF project, I will definitely be finishing the snowball quilt and the William Morris quilt. I then should turn my focus to the long arm machine - I really need to quilt 6, minimum, and could easily get ahead by doing that many more! I still plan to do some sort of pine tree quilt, and I always wish I had a leaf quilt when fall color arrives, so maybe that ought to go into the planning stage, too.

Since I am wordy today, let me finish with a couple of pics to further enhance the August collage. Two more pictures of the rainbow and one more from our Ohio River excursion.

I-71 in Grove City; Stringtown Road area.

I-71 northbound on south side.

Family fun on boat heading to the Ohio River.

It's always exciting to start fresh with a brand new month, so instead of bemoaning these waning summer days, I will anticipate all the fun that September will bring. New projects, new adventures, and football!!

Happy Quilting, Friends!