17th finish of 2016

I finished this at 9:30 last night. My 17th finish of 2016. It is 72" x 87.5" which is smaller than what the top was before I started quilting it. The quilt shrunk about 2" in length and width! The first picture is to show you the actual color of the quilt. I turned on all the lights near where I hung the quilt, but it is still a bit dark. This quilt used up a lot of my flannel scraps, but I still have more!

One of my brothers has friends that are expecting a girl on Dec. 25 so I think I will make a couple more girl quilts for him to pick from. My brother really likes my zig zag quilts so I will make at least one or two of those.

Well, the series is 3-2 now with the Indians heading back to Cleveland for game 6. I never thought Cleveland could sweep Chicago at Chicago so I wasn't surprised that they lost last night. I do think they will take it in game 6 on Tuesday. Go Cleveland!

More progress on the flannel quilt

I was tired when I got home from work so I didn't start quilting right away. I did end up getting some done and I am now 44% done with the quilting. I had some problems with my top thread breaking and it was driving me crazy. I decided to change the needle, but that didn't help. So I changed the needle again, rethreaded the machine and like magic I was back in business.

I have nothing on my schedule this weekend except to watch the Indians and Cubs. Go Tribe!

So my plans are to see how much of this October project I can get done this weekend. I already have the binding cut so once the quilting is done there will be nothing slowing me down! Have a great weekend!

1 - 1 and more progess on the flannel quilt

Bummer - the Indians lost, but they can't win them all. Bauer was not sharp and a few mistakes were made in the field. We will try again on Friday night. Go Tribe!

I figured the amount that was quilted on the flannel quilt wrong in my post yesterday. Instead of 8% it should have been 12%. I worked hard last night and solved the problem with the Essentials thread that kept breaking. I switched my top thread to King Tut. The Essentials is fine for the bobbin thread, but the top kept on breaking and that was driving me crazy and slowing me down! It was lucky I had a cone of King Tut the same color as the Essentials thread. Right now I am 35% done!

3 to go and 8%

What a game for the Indians. Kluber pitched so great and Perez hitting two HRs that cemented the deal. It's sad that somebody has to lose this series. Both are long suffering teams without a WS win, but somebody has to lose. Bauer is pitching tonight and his finger should have had enough time to heal that he won't be bleeding on the mound tonight. Go Tribe! 3 to go!

Too bad over the years Charlie has had such bad behavior. It would have been fun to have Ricky "the Wild Thing" Vaughn take a walk out of the bullpen and throw out the first pitch. The crowd would have gone nuts!! Tribe fans and the team embrace the portrayal of the Indians from the movie. In fact, two players took an empty locker and built a shrine for Jabu. They gave him a cigar and rum to keep their bats hitting those balls!

I spent too much time watching all the pre-game hype instead of quilting on the flannel quilt. I did get some done although it is slow going. I have to free motion machine quilt much slower due to the thickness of the flannel. I also am having trouble with the top thread breaking so I have slowed down a lot. Right now I have 8% of the quilt quilted. I need to pick it up a notch so tonight no messing about!

Go Cleveland and progress on the flannel quilt

Tonight is the first game of the World Series. I think it will be a hard fought series. Both Cleveland and Chicago are long suffering teams that deserve to win it all. My grandpa was a long time suffering Cubs fan, but Grandpa Brown, I am rooting for Cleveland!

I got started on quilting the flannel quilt. I am making the triple loops bigger than I would on a cotton quilt. I have to loop around the intersections since they are thick! Some of the flannels I used are very heavy flannels and even though I trimmed the intersections, they are still thick. The backing flannel is also a very firm, slightly heavier flannel. I am using Connecting Threads Essential in Turkey Red.

The color in the pictures is way off. The backing is a gold/tan color not pink like in the picture.

Secret project revealed and flannel quilt project

I received at text on Friday that Glenda of quiltswissy received the secret project. The post office was fast! Here is what she received

It is 29 3/4" x 42" and is made of t-shirts - some Glenda sent me and one I found at the Goodwill. I embroidered the lettering, stitched borders around the shirts, added patches, and machine quilted it just like I did the AC/DC piece. Here are some detail shots.

Glenda said that it makes her happy and that no one has ever given her a quilt before. She said she was going to post it on her blog today quiltswissy.blogspot.com.

I worked on the flannel quilt this weekend. Once I got the top done I pieced together the backing and taped it down to my table

Gently smoothed out the batting with a yardstick

Laid out the top for pin basting using my covered bricks to help hold the top at one end while I positioned it in place and pressed the top flat with the iron to lock the layers together.

I pin basted it while I watched the PBS special on Hamilton. I wonder why Lin-Manuel started documenting the process on film? It took 6 years to get Hamilton written. How would he have known it was going to be a huge hit?

pin basted.

The bobbins are wound and the machine is set up for free motion quilting.

Mailed and backing

I mailed the secret project yesterday. I included the hanging rod and two nails for hanging. Once I know the person this is for receives it, I will then post pictures.

I was digging around and found enough flannel to back the quilt on the design wall. I will have to sew two pieces together, but that's no big deal. I hope to get this top finished and pin basted this weekend. If I concentrate, maybe I can even get started with the quilting.

Have a great weekend!

Cleveland wins! back to the flannel quilts

There were hugs all around

and preparations for a champagne shower. Don't you just love that blue helmet with the eyes!

Next Tuesday Cleveland with play either the Dodgers or the Cubs at home. Go Tribe!

While watching the game I got my big table clean up. It was a mess!

And now I am back to working on the flannel quilts. I have half of this quilt already sewn together. Last night I got one row of blocks trimmed and sewn together. Then my brother called and the first two blocks for the next row are sitting under the presser foot waiting to be sewn together.

Secret project is done, the pool is filled, and my latest fitbit badge

Yes, the secret project is done! I stitched the binding and added a rod pocket while I watched the Indians game. I was lucky to find the perfect size rod in my collection of hanging rods which saved me some work. It is all packaged up and ready to ship.

I also had a cardboard tube that I cut to size and wrapped the piece around so maybe it would not get too wrinkled during shipment.

I don't know why I was so fascinated with watching the pool being filled yesterday, but I was. It is now full and ready for the chemical treatment to start and heating the water.

Done. Now the contractors just have to finish cleaning up the place in the next 8 days.

Yesterday I got my India badge for walking 1,997 miles which is the length of India. I have to walk 500 miles for my next badge which I have no idea what it will be.

More progress and another win!

I went for a walk after work to get the rest of my steps in and to take the mail to the mail box. Next it was getting onto the binding for the secret project. I got the binding sewn on, trimmed, and pressed to the backside of the piece. This is a facing style binding.

The Cleveland vs. Toronto Game 3 came on at 8 p.m. so I sat down to watch some of that while I finished up pressing the binding to the backside. The Tribe won again! That is three in a row against Toronto! Game 4 starts at 4 today, so you know where I will be! I plan on stitching the binding while the game is on. Go Tribe!

Today at work we have a bit of excitement. The pool is getting filled. There are 25 tank trucks of water needed to fill it. It will probably take two days to get this done.

Secret project update

The embroidery stitching is done!!! Yeah!! I was so tired this weekend I had to force myself to stitch, but I did and I am glad it is done. I have the fabric sitting on the ironing pad ready to be pressed and cut for the facing binding. I will work on that during the ball game tonight.

Speaking of the ballgame, the Indians have won the first two games against the Blue Jays! Only two more to win. The game is in Toronto tonight. It's a 4 out of 7 series. Go Tribe!

Too tired to stitch

I walked a lot yesterday. I had almost 10,000 steps by the time I got home from work. It was such a beautiful evening I decided to walk to the library and Taco Bell. I had a real hankering for a chili cheese burrito. The Taco Bell opened about a year ago and it is at least mile and a half from my house. I made myself a rule that if I want to eat there I have to walk. Here are my stats when I finally fell into bed.

I now only have 17 more miles to go before I get my next badge. I wonder what it will be.

I walked this morning before work and have 5,700 steps already. It was a bit chilly out - 39 degrees. There was frost on the grass

and I found these coins in the parking lot at the high school

and this sticker on the asphalt in the middle school parking lot. I am not sure if it is an octopus or a creepy clown!

There will be watching the Indians play tonight and Saturday, a haircut, walking, and hopefully some stitching this weekend.


Have a great weekend!