Day 17 of F to F - getting close to done!

One good thing about having a facing type binding is that you can carefully pin the facing to the quilt, take a picture of the quilt and you would never know the binding was pinned. That is what I did so that I could spend my time getting the standard binding on the second piece. I had a little bit more of the hand sewing to do, so I was up early again this morning and finished it before I went to work.

I went back to read the rules about this challenge and I totally missed what event these were for! It is for the International Quilt Market and Festival in Houston. They will notify you on September 5th if they selected your piece and you have until Oct. 1 to get it to the venue. I won't bother spending the time attaching hanging pockets unless a piece is selected. Why waste the time when there as so many other things I need to do! If my pieces don't get selected I can show you what I have been doing. If they are selected, then I can't post pictures until December.

This morning when I arrived at work I looked up at the sky and saw four jet streams. It made me wish I was on a plane going somewhere.

With the three day weekend here I plan of getting a lot of work in the studio done. There is so much I need to do I really have to figure out a plan or I will be going in circles and nothing will get done! I have lots of movies that I borrowed from the library to have playing while I hit the sewing machine hard!

Day 16 of F to F and the MQG meeting

Last night six ladies arrived for the monthly MQG meeting. The first activity was me showing the ladies how to make a facing style binding. I had the binding sewn on the first of the two F to F pieces except for one corner. I wanted to show them how I sewed the binding at the corner. Next was a demo on the understitching and then trimming the corners. I turned the corner right side out and showed how to press the binding to the backside of the quilt and ease the corner into shape. Here is the pressed corner

Next I showed the ladies how to sew a circle. We had scissors, freezer paper, and glue sticks a flyin'! I showed how to sew the circle and then several of the ladies sat down at the machines - yes, I had both 1475s set up and ready to go - and sewed their circles. They did a great job! I forgot to get my camera out until the last minute so I only have shots of mine and a mother and daughter's blocks. I learned how to do this from Simply Quilts.

The back after I trimmed it

Show and tell went fast at it was approaching 8 p.m. and two of the ladies needed to leave. I didn't get pictures of two impressive pieces that were shown - a small challenge quilt that was inspired by the colors in the packaging for peanut M&Ms (you can see it on http://snarkyquilter.wordpress.com/ the Aug. 21st post), and an improv pieced quilt top. The quilt top blocks were made using the techniques I had shown the group some time ago and the fabric was hand dyes I had made and sold to this lady. I know she will bring the quilt back so I will get a picture of it then.

The one member brought her daughter and she showed some of the fabric she had printed in college. She graduated from the Savannah College of Art and is now looking for a job. Here website is studiotineke.com. Here are some of the fabrics

I was up at 5 a.m. so I went to the studio to work. I finished up the trimming and machine sewing on the first F to F piece. I pressed and pinned the binding so all I need to do is the hand stitching. I also got the binding sewn and pressed the for second piece.

At lunch today I will try and get the quilting done on the second piece so after work I can sew on the binding. I need to post the pictures tomorrow.

Lots to do

Last evening was about cleaning up for the MQG meeting at my house tonight. Much of the time was spent putting away stuff. I still need to vacuum, but the studio looks decent. I am going to demonstrate how I put on a facing binding so I have the first of the two F to F pieces laid out on my big table. I had pressed it and used my bricks to hold it in place as the moisture evaporated. It is now nice and flat and ready for tonight.

I waited until 7:30 to go out and mow the front yard. The temp was still in the low 80's and it was very humid. I was drenched by the time I was done. It was starting to get overcast and just when I got started I saw lighting. I mowed fast! Here is the sky once I got done.

and a few minutes later it looked like this

I saw that my Shasta daisies were finally blooming and here is the first flower. The picture is a bit blurry and dark as the wind was blowing and I needed to get inside because of the lighting.

We didn't get but a sprinkle. I also took the time to repot this cactus that was marked down to $1.00. I love cactus. He was in good shape, but it looked like it must have been knocked over because the wasn't much dirt in the pot. He was very dry so I gave him a good drink of water and now we will see if he survives.

Day 14 of F to F - so close!

I quilted, and quilted and quilted last evening and I am now 98% done. I can finish the rest of the machine quilting at lunch and then it is on to the binding! Here is the pile of pieces for the second piece

And I need to cut the binding for the first piece out of the black American Made Brand (AMB) fabric I had left over

Both of these pieces were made front and back out of the AMB fabric. The batting is warm & natural. The thread was various brands, Sulky, Connecting Threads essentials, Star, and some quilting thread I don't know the brand. I will work on the bindings tonight after I get done cleaning up a bit. The ladies are coming Wednesday night so I need to get a few things put away.

My cold is much better and I think it will be gone by the end of the week.

Day 13 of F to F

It was a rough weekend with all the coughing, sneezing, and blowing my nose, but I feel better today. These are the friends that got me thru the weekend

I did get the first piece of the F to F challenge all quilted. I then pin basted the second piece and have about 60% of it quilted. At times it was hard to push myself. It seemed like every time I would take a break I would fall asleep in my sewing chair.

I did have to switch out sewing machines. My original Pfaff 1475 started skipping stitches as I free motion quilted. The new machine works like a dream!

I definitely need to send my original to my repair man and have him clean and tune it up. It has not been worked on in years. Here is the control panel on the new machine. I don't think anyone every used this machine.

Now look at the control panel for my original machine. Look at all the nicks! I have no idea how I could have done this. Maybe with the tip of the scissors?

I did go out Sunday morning about 10 to trim the front yard. I was going to mow, but the grass was still too wet from dew and the humidity was 75%. I am going to have to dig deep and mow after work tonight no matter what.

Day 10 of the F to F projects

I am officially starting to panic! I did get about 1/4 of the last section quilted last evening between the coughing, sneezing, and blowing my nose. Other than getting a haircut Saturday morning, I will be chaining myself to the sewing machine this weekend. The piece I am working on is 46" x 48" and the other piece I want to get done is 46" x 47".

I did receive the additional fabric I purchased for the Michael Miller challenge for QuiltCon. I was one of the lucky people that gets a free bundle of 8 FQs of Cotton Couture for this challenge. There is not enough fabric with the 8 FQs to do what I want so I bought more Cotton Couture. The free fabrics are pastels which I don't work in very often so I bought a few fabrics to punch this project up a bit.

My free FQs won't be shipped until the end of the month, but I will post them with these fabrics once they arrive. I will have to read the rules again because I think this may be another one of those projects I can't post pictures of. So as soon as I get the F to F pieces done I will be jumping right into the Michael Miller challenge.

Day 9 of the F to F projects

Even though I felt lousy with this cold, I soldiered on and completed another section of the first of the two pieces for the F to F challenge. So the first piece is 4/5th done! I did discover a thread goober on the back that I will have to fix.

I don't think I can finish this last section tonight, but it will be done for sure by Friday night. I then can use this piece to demonstrate to the quilt group next Wednesday on how I bind a quilt with facing. Next I have to get the other piece quilted as the deadline for these two is Aug. 31.

I picked up a couple of movies for the weekend - yes, another Dirty Harry movie and a movie Clint Eastwood directed about the musician Charley Parker.

While I was at the library I cruised over to the new books section and Kathy Doughty's new book was sitting there just waiting for me to pick it up. I love her use of color and prints!

I received an email from the Akron Art Prize - that is the group running the event I entered the "Where's Jimmy?" quilt. The email was for a 20% discount for one week only for Moo cards! I only have about a dozen left so I think I will go ahead and get some more. Oh, we get a break on shipping too.

The quilt has been delivered

It was quite an adventure last evening between getting the Where's Jimmy? quilt photographed and delivered. First it was hot outside around 85 degrees. My friend's man friend dropped me off beside the photography studio so I didn't have to carry my piece for two blocks. I went in the door and there was a long set of stairs I needed to climb. This building is old and the ceiling height is at least 20' so that makes for a lot of steps. Oh, by the way, no air conditioning. I made it to the top and guess what? I had to climb another set of steps just as long up to the third floor. By the time I got to the top of the stairs I was sweating bullets. It was running in my eyes and I was a mess! I could even think about taking a picture of the studio, but I wish I would have as there were the mammoth corbels inside the photography studio.

We got the quilt hung up and here is the picture.

Much better than the one I took!

I rolled the quilt back up and headed back to the car over to the gallery where it will hang. I am still sweating. I got to the gallery and the fellow there, Michael, had me set the quilt on the floor. Thanks goodness I had wrapped it in a sheet! Once talking to Michael I realized the quilt was not going to be hung up for until this weekend! I told the fellow it was going to be all wrinkled and asked if I could come back and steam it. He was ok with that so that is a relief! By the time I got home, still sweating, it was 6:45. I had started out on this adventure at 4 p.m.! I fixed myself a big whiskey slush, a small sandwich, and cranked up the A/C to try and cool off. I went to bed early as I started Monday afternoon with the feeling that I was catching a cold and I needed some serious rest. Tonight I will start back on the F to F quilts.

I will be bartering my skills with the photographer. He needs a banner sewn together and I will get photos of quilts for submissions! With Michael, he needs some patches sewn on some bags and I am not sure what I will get in trade, but he is a potter.

9th finish for 2014 - "Where's Jimmy?"

The "Where's Jimmy?" quilt is now done! To recap the story behind this quilt - my brother worked for Jimmy Buffet for 3+ years. I got to meet the wardrobe lady several time and we would talk sewing. She would send boxes of pieces of fabric home with my brother to give to me. She was downsizing the amount of clothing she was hauling from concert to concert and these yellow pants where added to the fabrics pieces. After wondering what to do with these pants for years, I finally decided to make this quilt. The quilt is improvisationally pieced with commercial prints, batiks, and my hand dyed fabrics. I entered this quilt in the Akron Art Prize 2014.

I took a half day vacation to get it finished and I am so glad I did. It took me longer than I thought to get all the loose thread and lint off, stitch the rod pocket, put on the label, and modify the wood for the hanger. Here is the quilt laying on my table. I needed to press and steam the bottom of the quilt to flatten it out and it looks much better now.

I didn't shove the hanging rod in it yet, but it is varnished and ready to go.

The label - I took a picture of the autographed picture my brother had gotten for me, printed it out on the laser jet, and added my info.

I found a sheet that is almost big enough to wrap the quilt in for transporting.

After work I have to take it to a place that will professionally photograph it for free and download it on a jump drive for me. They will use the picture in the slide show of all the art in the competition. After the photography, I will head to the gallery to hang it.

One thing the Art Prize is asking for is an artist's profile. I have no idea of what I should say. I would appreciate your input!

This event runs Sept. 6 to Oct. 4 when the public's votes are tallied and the six top vote getters are revealed.

Busy weekend

I was gone all day Saturday helping out with the band. The gig was an hour from my brother's house. It was a fundraiser and a bike poker ride. Michael's bass player, Skully, ride a motorcycle and knew the family that was hosting the event in honor of their daughter who was killed in a car accident. The band got a standing ovation after they played "Maggot Brain".

Sunday a quilting friend came over to repin a quilt which we didn't see the first time that the quilt didn't have backing under one corner. A very stupid mistake. So I helped her take out the pins and repin the quilt. That afternoon I quilted on my F to F piece, but it was hard since I was still tired from the very long day on Saturday. I didn't get to bed until 11:30 p.m.

Day 4 of F to F and a new project

My first piece for the Farm to Fabric project is 46" x 48" and it is now 1/3 quilted. I will hit it hard this weekend while I have a new group of movies that I borrowed from the library playing.

I received an email from the MQG about a Michael Miller Challenge for QuiltCon. They would send you a FQ bundle for free of 8 Cotton Couture fabrics to use. You had to promise to make a piece for the show. What the heck I thought and I signed up. Well, I must have beat the crowd because I get the free bundle, but now I have another project to get done by the end of November! I have been thinking about what I am going to make and it will take me purchasing a few more yards of Cotton Couture. The rules say you can use Michael Miller prints for the back and the binding, but only Cotton Couture for the front. I have outlined the colors they are sending. I usually don't work in pastels.

No more signing up for challenges! Have a great weekend!

Day 3 of F to F and hardware

I quilted for about 3 hours last evening while I watched the movie "The Marathon Man". I didn't like the movie especially when one of the bad guys started torturing Dustin Hoffman's character with dental equipment. I had a dentist appointment this morning for a checkup and cleaning. My experience was better than Hoffman's character!

I did stop in the hardware store before my dentist appointment to get two eye screws for the wood hanging pole for the Where's Jimmy? quilt. I want something substantial and I think these will do the trick. I will just have to try and drill a straight hole in each end of the wood. I will have to get my levels out (yes, I have several of different lengths) and figure out a good way to drill. I need to get the final details completed as I will have to hang this piece next week. I am getting very excited to see this happen and of course I will post a picture!

Day 2 - F to F and got baby back

The machine quilting on my first Farm to Fabric piece is going well. I was pleased with the progress I made last evening and this morning before I headed to work.

The UPS lady arrived last evening and brought me baby back, that is, the Pfaff 1475 I had bought on ebay. I only got this far unwrapping it, but this is how you pack a machine! It is all wrapped up like a mummy!

Day 1 - Farm to Fabric quilting

I got started on quilting one of the two pieces. Since I cannot show you what I have done I can show you the threads I picked out so far. I am going to use a mix of cotton 40 wt. threads and Sulky rayon only because I don't have every color I need in cotton.

I have figured out how I am going to quilt one of the pieces, but I am still trying to figure out what I am going to do for the other one. I need to have some handwork to do on Saturday when I spend much of my day manning the merchandise booth for the gig we have scheduled.

I did buy another bendable light for the second Pfaff 1475 I bought. It should be delivered today. My repair man ended up having to replace the base as it was cracked as well as bent. Financially I still came out ok.

Glutton for punshiment

I spent the majority of my weekend working on two pieces for the Farm to Fabric Challenge. Of course the rules state you can't post pictures, but I can show you the fabric colors I used.

The one piece I made was very non-traditional and the other piece was more traditional. I need to get these quilted quickly! I won't find out if either is accepted until early September.

My brother came over and put the new spark plug in the mower and it starts much easier now! I mowed yesterday afternoon and it just about did me in. It was at least 80. I needed to at least get it mowed since they are calling for rain Monday - Wednesday. If it doesn't rain I will have to do the trimming. Here is a picture of a fawn resting in the backyard. It must have been born late because it was small. You will probably have to click on the picture to be able to see it in the upper left part of the picture.

This weeken's list

Last evening was the last night of the Downtown at Dusk series. I worked selling beer again. I also received this book for being a member of the museum. It contains pictures and information of their permanent collection.

A couple of stories - this Judd piece which is an aluminum square tube lined in green plexiglass. One of the security people told me they found somebody's kid crawling thru it. Oops!

I was helping out when the remodeled museum opened. My job was to keep the stragglers in tour groups moving. This old guy walked up to this piece and started tapping on it and said "I wonder what this is made out of?" I asked him not to touch the art and he tapped on it again and asked again what was it made out of.

I am sure the security staff has lots of stories to tell about the public interacting with the art!

I got an email that the submission date for the American Made Brand Farm to Fabric challenge has been extended to Aug. 31. I kept telling myself I needed to look up the date because I couldn't remember when the cut off date was. Since I bought fabric, I guess I had better get busy so this is my project for the weekend. I am not sure what I am making yet as I have to go and look up the size limits.

I also would like to spend some time out in the yard trimming and pulling weeks, but it just depend on how hot is gets.

Have a great weekend!

Chores and packages

I spent last evening doing some chores - laundry, cooking, weeding - things I let go until I absolutely have to do them! I did sit down and turn on a movie "Hang 'em High" - an old Clint Eastwood cowboy flick. So that is three Clint Eastwood movies this week!

The mailman brought me a couple of packages. First was a box nicely packaged with my mower parts. My brother will come over and install the new sparkplug and I also bought a new air filter. Hopefully this will resolve the issues of getting the mower to start. I bought the parts from PartsTree.com. I had to call them since I couldn't figure out from the hundreds of mower models which was mine. The fellow I talked to, J.T., was extremely helpful and patience! The shipping was quick too. I would definitely buy from them again.

The other box was some zippers I ordered from Wawak Sewing. They have a lot of sales (I get their email sales alerts) and the zippers were buy two and get one free. I bought two packs of 25 assorted 11" zippers, so that means I now have 75 11" zippers which I plan to use to make some pouches like this one. The three packs of zippers came to $12.79.

Here are the zippers packaged nicely in zip bags along with some 26" zippers I wanted for making this tote bag.

The 26" zipper was also buy two and get one free. The three zippers came to $2.74! Shipping was $4.89 and I got my order in just three days. This is the same company that helped me out with the interfacing I needed for Michael's vests.