I Hate Tension Issues

 I did another "oh boogers, I forgot it was Monday" about 2 a.m. on Tuesday. I didn't have much to post so didn't bother on Tuesday.

I finished the Grid Girls mystery quilt.

All the borders are on and the binding is made. It will probably be a while before it gets quilted. I'm not thrilled with the quilt - I liked the pattern, not the fabric - and I don't have anything that matches it to use as a back.

I did finish quilting and hand sewing the binding of the sampler quilt.

This one I am thrilled with. I love the quilting in the blocks. The pantograph in the border? Not so much. It was hard lining up the pantograph edge with the border edges. Don't know why I stressed over it, you can barely see the quilting due to the busy floral print.

I think I've mention JoAnne, the Quilts 4 Kids coordinator, is downsizing the program a bit. She is no longer taking in new fabric donations and is getting rid of the fabric in her she-shed. She has been bringing 7-8 totes in each month. What is not taken, she is taking to Goodwill. My hoarder heart just can't let that happen.

This is what I brought home last Friday. I brought home almost as much last month.

There was a small tote full of airplane fabrics. Above are a few. I brought them all home. I don't know where I'm going to put it all but I brought it all home. :o(

Are you curious about this blog post title? I had some tension issue when I changed the bobbin quilting the sampler quilt. It took a while but I was able to resolve the issues. Last week I loaded this quilt.

It came from one of Angela's estate sales. I'm getting loops on the top. 

Checked the bobbin tension with the Towa gauge - all good. Loops on top - solution is to loosen the top tension. I've loosened it to the point of the knob is almost ready to fall off. ??? So what to do? My solution, ignore it hoping it will go away. Don't think that is going to work. This was last Monday (probably why I forgot to post). I haven't touched a sewing machine since. I did do a wicked clear out of everything, put everything away, scrub it cleaning of the sewing room. Maybe if I did the same thing in the long arm room it would resolve the tension issue.  

I know. But I can dream. 

Slow Progress

 But I am making progress. I finished the first border on the Grid Girls quilt and added the second border. The final border is pinned to the quilt (no picture). Hopefully I'll finish it tomorrow.

The block quilting is finished on sampler quilt. Now I have to turn it three times to finish the borders. Don't you get your wish if you turn the quilt three times? I'm really happy with the quilt motif I chose for the blocks.

I haven't had any problems quilting this free motion design in all directions.

A friend sent me this quilt pattern catalog from 1928. 

I love the quilt on the cover.

Some of the block designs. 

And the price list! Twenty-two cents a yard for calico fabric. Fifteen cents for the pattern. $.35 - $2.00 for finished blocks - the double wedding ring block was the most expensive at $2. Complete quilts $25-$45.

I had three bucks in my backyard this evening. They don't like to be too close to each other. This is the largest one, I've shown his picture before.

He has gotten much braver. He is laying on the rug right outside my slider window. He didn't move when Mom went to her chair with her walker.

Not Much

 

Not much happening here. 

I dug out a UFO and started adding the first border.

Didn't get very far. Added three sides of the first border.

Loaded the sampler quilt.

Again, didn't get very far. Got the top border quilted and all the in-the-ditch around the sashing of the first row. All the stress over the quilting motifs and the fabric is so busy you can't see anything. It's going to be a busy week so hopefully I'll make some progress. 

I should probably get off the laptop. I've been listening to thunder for the last hour. I think it is still too far away to be a problem. I'm sure the helicopters will be out early tomorrow morning looking for lightening fires. Tis the season and it is not merry. Stay safe.

Sometimes I Wonder

 Luckily, neither mom nor I got very sick. Seemed more like a mild cold than a "virus". Regardless I did spend a lot of last week sleeping.

Do you ever wonder why, after over 25 years, you still quilt? Sometimes I do. Especially if I have to use my brain to make the quilt. The whale panel quilt required me to use my brain.  

That really hurt.

The panel was larger than the panel in the pattern, so I had to change the approach to making the top and calculate all the border dimensions.

My poor brain.

But this is why I continue to quilt. I love how this turned out! The pattern looks complex, but it was really easy to make.

I think I watched a bazillion quilting video's last week trying to find something that I could use for the blocks in this quilt. The blocks are 12 inches - too big for the Moxie.

So I needed to find something that I could quilt half a block at a time.

This is even better, one quadrant at a time. That was my first time drawing it on paper - easy! Turning the design to fit in each quadrant may not be quite as easy.

This is the pantograph I'm going to use for the borders. It has corners also but I haven't been able to find anything that explains how to use them so you get a continuous design.

Slow and careful will be my mantra for the next week as I work on this. 

I Got...

 I got a few things done last week...

I got this guild community service quilt quilted and the binding added. The back fabric is from 2000. Somewhere I have a quilt made from it.

I got this ready to load next. I think I know how I'm going to quilt it. I ordered a border pantograph and I have to find thread that will go with it.

I got this loaded, quilted, and binding added in one day.

I got the binding hand sewn on the sunflower wall hanging...love this quilt.

I got a lot of progress done on the whale panel.  It might be bigger than I planned.

OMG! I got an Aunt Daisy block made.

And lastly, Mom and I got Covid. Boo Hoo. First for both of us. So far, it's not too bad. Keep your fingers crossed it stays that way.

Did You Hear Me?

 As I was getting ice a huge black spider ran across the kitchen counter straight toward me and jumped down at my feet...I may have screamed. Loud. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate spiders!

Now on to more pleasant things.

Finally got new blinds and shades for the master bedroom (I guess the correct term is now primary bedroom). I'm not a big fan of vertical blinds but I really like these panels.

Finished the hexigon quilt. I picked this up because I liked the backing fabric, at the time I didn't know there was a quilt folded up in it. I'm going to donate it back to Q4K.

Love this candy wrapper quilt. Here it is with the green binding.

Picked up a community service top from the guild to quilt. I loaded it upside down. I'm using the swirl pantograph again.

Finally finished quilting the sunflower wall hanging. Even with the Juki I had problems with the thread breaking. It is an Aurifil 40 weight cotton thread. This is the third spool I've had issues with. Even a slight pull will break the thread. 

My next project will be this pattern:

Using this panel and fabric.

Of course, I'm not following the pattern exactly since I want it wider. I'm sure the next loud thing you hear will be me cussing cause I screwed up again.

Didn't Make a Dent

 I have been cutting scraps for over two weeks now and I feel like I haven't made a dent. I also had to stop for 3-4 days because my wrist and elbow were yelling loudly.

The big Home Goods bag is down to this...

These are mostly small pieces. I'm kinda over the need to organize my scraps so these will probably have to wait awhile along with the two or three other bins of scraps.

Not sewing or cutting and not spending a lot of time on the computer allowed me to start and finish the most recent Robert Crais book.  

I like this author and have read all of his books...unfortunately his books are not available as audiobooks so I couldn't multi-task.

Quilting on the long arm didn't bother my wrist so I finished quilting the candy wrapper quilt.

Yellow flannel on the back. The binding will be a lime green.

I've loaded the hexagon quilt I found and have it almost done.

In the ditch quilting everywhere.

Bella helped with the scrap busting...

Keeping the ironed pieces flat.

And holding the rule while I cut.