Rainbow scrap, Old Town mystery, Walker Wedding quilt... and all the rest

 The weekend run-down...

Rainbow Scrap Challenge - breaking into February's BLUE.

The 1.5" strip bin was sifted; and there weren't a LOT of blues available, so the Dawn's Early Light pile was sifted as well in order to find a nice mixture of blue pieces for 4 of these scrap blocks for the Rainbow Scrap challenge.  I'll be linking up with SoScrappy; be sure to head over there to see what everyone is up to at the start of February's blue month.

Putzin' - putzin' - putzin' along with Bonnie's '24/25 Old Town mystery.  Definitely not in any hurry here, unlike earlier years, so taking my time to trim up each block unit to assist in a neater assembly.  The matchy-matchy of seams CERTAINLY makes assembly much nicer; much more stress-free (err... much less stress might be a better description) ... regardless, piecing the blocks will be MUCH more enjoyable.

... and the first block was pieced this afternoon, waiting on the design wall for the rest.  Clearly, I've changed up the colors of the mystery, choosing only to use what's on the shelves.  Overall, I'm super pleased with how they've been arranged and are playing quite nicely together.  This block almost reminds me of the Hawaii Sunset a few of us pieced back in the years 2012-2014 (give or take).

And PROGRESS on Walker's Wedding quilt.  Whoop-whoop! The top center is pieced!  Next up, to figure a plan of borders;  plain, intricate, pieced, combo...? All these thoughts will be on the docket next weekend.

I've decided to part with the Juki TL98Q.  She certainly gave me many great years paired with the Grace Company GMQ Pro quilting frame, but since the upgrade to the Q'nique 15 almost two summers ago now, I simply haven't touched the Juki.  Therefore, mindset shift; why have it sit in storage when someone may find use from her??

A few other goings-on around the ranch:  time was spent with Bailee girl this morning. 
Bathed, fluffed and groomed in my basement grooming center (ie: former bedroom of one of the girls). 

She's once again a soft-n-fluffy CLEAN golden-doodle who can pretty much beg for anything using those puppy-dog eyes of hers.

The Christmas tree was also finally cleared, and in its place, one of the portable mini-greenhouses was set up in hopes to give my Alocasias some new life.  Additionally, starting up one small tray of 4-6 tomato plants is on my mind.  Just a few; nothing of surplus quite yet.

Livin' the life as best we can with our new-found empty nest household.  
#GrowinOldTogether

Quilting Pantographs for a Juki98

The historical day: Tuesday, April 20, 2010 -- IT arrived! ("IT" being my quilting frame.) By Friday, April 23, 2010, I had my first completed quilt with my Juki 98/Grace GMQ-PRO combo.

I recall my first frustration that week was that the upgraded carriage did NOT come with a stylus of any sort. NOT that I was going to be stopped. I grabbed a pothole looming hook-thingy from Cassie's worktable (she had not used it in MONTHS!), whipped some blue painter's tape around it, and I was set. From what I can tell so far.....the long awaited $50 Laser Style I purchased last week was much overdue. The nicest component of the Grace laser stylus is that I merely have to move the stylus to line up the pantographs RATHER than move the pantograph paper to line up for the next pass. Definitely a good investment to make life easier :0)

Through my year of quilting with my frame, 96% of my quilts have been quilted with a pantograph rather than free-hand. (Okay, being a math teacher, I MUST inform you that the 96% quote is a rough estimate---there were no calculations done to share an accurate percentage----but I didn't think you'd mind or care) :0)

Prior to having the frame, I had purchased Golden Thread's Dot-to-Dot quilting book to use with some quilting on the domestic setup. It was manageable but.....well....duh.....the frame makes life SOOO much easier!

The picture above (showing the jimmied-up stylus) also shows a copy of one of the 4" pantographs in the book. For my first month, I merely made copies of the pantographs available in the book, taped them together after lining them up, and quilted away. Most of my first quilts were smaller crib-sized; the take-up bar never really ended up getting too thick, so even a 5-6" pantograph was possible. However, the larger the quilt, the thicker all the layers become on the take-up bar, which truly reduces the allowable pantograph size.

My true test of "allowable" pantograph space is actually happening right now. The Roll Roll Cottonboll is HUGE! And I am using a 7" feather pattern on it.

SEVEN INCH PANTOGRAPH???

Yes! Seven! Ya see, this pantograph has a 'top' and a 'bottom' part to it that actually works very nicely from side-to-side. Therefore, each "half" is only 3.5". I should have NO problem completing this quilting with my selection. Smart cookie, huh?

BUT, for those of you with a smaller harp (8.9" on a Juki98), depending on the size of your quilt, a 6" pantograph will be the maximum. Your safest best is to use a <5" pantograph.

I have ordered a couple of other pantographs; my favorite being 6" Feather Me. I chose to use this once on a larger quilt (roughly 80x85), SO.......before starting, KNOWING that it may just be too large, I took it to school and made a small reduction to it with the copy machine which brought it to 5". Admitting, it was a putzy process but I love this pantograph for the feminine quilts!

Most of the pantographs I have acquired were designs I had seen in quilter's blogs. I (try to) include all pantograph information on my completed projects for this reason. I have also spent my fair share of time googling "small quilting pantographs." ;0)

Naturally, the thought has crossed my mind about upgrading. However, for the hobbiest, I can't see the investment at this time. Instead, I'll play around with the new laser stylus to see how much easier pantographing can become. ;0)

12:22 pm comment......
**snort**
**giggle**
Having a few moments of down-time before taking Cassie to a friend's for a birthday party, I jumped online to see if anyone had updated this AM. Not seeing much to read, I took a moment to re-read my blog post.....

".....I grabbed a pothole looming hook-thingy from Cassie's worktable....."

Hmmm......I wonder exactly what a pothole thingy looks like! LOL.... wonder if it may ruin the wheels on my carriage the way typical potholes ruin wheels on cars....


OBVIOUSLY I meant....."potholder"
;0)

Losing patience; quilting frame experience learning tips--{{UPDATE}}

Okay...three hours into quilting this thing and I need a break! It is soooooooo slow! And putzy!

I'm tyring my Bernina on the frame; I lose about 2 inches of quilting space, but I knew I wanted to try some more precise quilting, so I really wanted a stitch regulator available.

So...a few things I've learned....

a) It's hard to see the quilting area when on the Bernina. Here's my line of view from the front. Can you see the needle?
Yeah...me either. So, I've had my Yoga alotment for the day trying to maneauver to see where I'm going...bending to the left, bending to the right, squatting down in front...

b) The Juki98 quilts MUCH faster, but no regulator :0(

c) Doing echo quilting with only 5" of quilting space IS NOT fun, easy {{or very consistent}} when the blocks are 8+. :0( Once I get this thing done, I'll show you the attempt at echo quilting around the flowers.

d) Until I either get i) a larger throated machine or ii) a stitch regulator for the Juki, I will most likely stick to pantographs or simple {{thoughtless}} meandering designs.

Alright, alright.....another hour and THEN maybe I'll hang up the quilting shoes for the day....


**{{sigh}}**
It WOULD be nice to finish this today before DH needs to leave for Marshfield, cuz then he could take it with him to deliver to MIL {{oh yeah...it's her quilt she asked me quilt up for her}}. But I don't think that's going to happen.....

2:00
Alright...I stuck the "git 'er done" motto in my head.....

Six hours of quilting, and it's finished....

Echo quilting around each of the flowers; my first real attempt at it...

The flowers had such a "poof" to them that was fun, so I onlly did a little swirly-gig on four of the petals...Can you see in this picture?

Here's a darker flower...

....hmmm....looking at this picture makes me think I could have (should have) done a swirly-gig on each petal. Oh well...se'la'vee (sp?)....it's already in DH's truck on its way to MIL. It is what it is.....

Okay---2:00.....lots of day time left; cloudy, rainy day (AGAIN)....
Cassie is begging to sew, so I'll see about setting her up on my Brother.
Cassie is begging for a "purse," so I'll kill two birds with one stone...

Excited, confused, frustration, excited, disappointed, satisfied, frustrated, excited again

In that exact order

{{Excited}}
All day yesterday, waiting for that lovely brown UPS truck to arrive. At 5:34 p.m., it rolled into the driveway, and I couldn't contain myself. "Honey, honey, honey--go see if he needs help--I don't know how many boxes there will be; I don't know how heavy they will be--go help, okay?"


{{Confused}}
DH was back in the house in seconds, carrying ONE box---"so, is this it?" he asks.
My look was probably priceless-----
WHAT!??!!?!?!?!?!? One box?!?!?!!?!??
Me: "Are you kidding?!?!? You're kidding, right? You just left the other boxes outside, right???"
Him: "No honey, really...this is the only box....see, the slip says '1 of 1'"

{{Frustration}}
Cell phone lines AND internet were in chaos, so there was no way to try to sort things out and check online to see 'what happened.'

{{Excited--for the time being}}
The box that DID arrive was the Juki, so I started unpacking it, setting it up, reading the manual cover-to-cover...
...and tried her out. She makes a GREAT FMQ stitch!!!!!!

{{Disappointed}}
An hour later, internet was working again, so I dug a little bit to find out "what happened."
I will admit to being impulsive at times. When I logged into the sewingmachinesplus.com site (for the first time) and saw "GMQ Pro frame - drop shipment ordered"----I panicked!!!!
WHAT?!?!?! THe shipment was dropped!!??!!?!? What......now what...?!?!?!
And I emailed the company.....

{{Satisfied}}
Knowing that I had contacted the company, I didn't want the night to completely be a wash, so I sadly sat in front of the Bernina, WISHING I actually had a frame to put together, but......decided to at least finish up a few things hanging over my head...
Carolina Christmas blocks that have been leader-ender projects were moved to the main project and were completed....

tidied up the 4-patch leader-ender box that had been collecting over the past year or so (130 of them)...

And whipped together (yes, WHIPPPED) together another Quilts 4 Kids (disappearing Nine-patch). I wanted a small project as the first project to be accomplished on the quilting frame. I figured having one to donate at the same time was a great use of fabric ;0)
A close up of the orange fabric----I emptied the bolt from the shop back in January; I just LOVE it.
SO---quilt name????? "Leapin' Lizards" "Chameleon Colors" ???? What do you have in mind?

{{frustrated}}


I

HATE

DEER!!!!!!!!

Remember back in December??? (hubby hitting deer).....
**sigh**
We seriously have only had the car back for a couple of months--------the insurance company is going to wonder if we have a salt-lick mounted on our grill!!!!

Thankfully, DH was home today and was able to call insurance and get that ball rolling again. Gosh---I wonder if alligators cause the same damage??? Angela, maybe we'll move to Florida!!!

{{Excited again}}
The day ended on a some-what positive note.
I heard back from Sewingmachinesplus.com...

Dear Amy,

No worries girl! The GMQ Pro, Quilt Cad and Grace Speed Control all come from the manufacturer to you. These are referred to as ‘Drop Shipped’, and I think that is your confusion. We should receive tracking information in the next day or so, and you will expect the items delivered right to you!

So, whew!!!!! It's SOMEWHERE, I just don't know where nor know when it'll be delivered :0(
So, I am NOT-so-patiently awaiting the delivery of the frame...

**sigh**

At least tomorrow is Friday...

Making room...

I HAVE been around; living life; sewing when I can; and researching a LOT this past week (more to come on THIS soon)...

So, yesterday morning, I looked at this mess of boxes...


and this mess of strip scraps that have been collecting for two years!......


and this hap-hazzard area of "quilt-layout"... (GOSH! I have piles of fabric all over the place!!!).....


and CLEANED--LIFTED--MOVED--SNEEZED (at the dust)--VACUUMED UP MOUSE "stuff"--EWWWWWWW--SWATTED AWAY SPIDERS--UGHHHHHH......

All at the same time, I emptied this (my former sewing room)...


and moved into my main basement area...
This is the same area that had the mess of boxes in the first picture...now with a "curtain" backdrop

Same area as the "quilt-layout" pictured above--SOON to be enhanced by a 4-piece matching desk/table combo being inherited by my parents...


Sadly, I STILL have boxes of fabric to sort through (SOME DAY), but at least they are organized now into nicer looking piles.

I don't have any permanent carpet installed on the floors; all of my carpets are left-over "scraps" from installing in other parts of the finished house. The old sewing room in now carpet-free with one hope: To have a "finished" room by mid-summer! Until then, I will sew in the main area of the basement and use my "sewing room" as the quilt-layout area.

Pictured here is the same area as the collected-strip-scraps above. The two bins pictured have since been moved, and you'll notice my lovely green "outdoor-indoor" carpet??? I needed 130" of carpet (I ALMOST made it; 122"----good enough!!!)

Why you ask? The outcome of my research this past week....Grace GMQ-Pro and Juki TL98Q combo...


It's not a "Cadillac" by any means, but, it's affordable and better than what I currently have (kneeling, basting, and fighting the quilting under the DSM)

Now for those of you following Angela (Soscrappy)----our "twin-dom" has returned! We "found" each other in 2008 and were amazed by the similarities between us (teachers of Math and Science, three children almost the same ages, quilters, runners...); I officially dubbed her my on-line twin! Now---we're at it again. However....YES! I WILL admit that I'm jealous of HER purchase versus mine, but...se-la-vee...I will enjoy watching her with her beautiful HQ 16 while I learn on my Juki 98. I'm okay with that :0) And besides-----she has to wait a couple of weeks; MINE is being delivered (hopefully) tomorrow! I've been eyeing up the tracking site every few hours ;0)

Okay---off to actually SEW something now that the cleaning is done!

Happy Tuesday