Practice Better Make Perfect

(affiliate links to my designs)

For about six weeks now, my goal each and every day has been to get the above baby loaded onto the longarm so I can practice and get the below baby finished and sent to the now three-month-old baby.

There have been moments, perhaps hours or even days, when I thought perhaps I should just quilt the pink baby quilt on the domestic sewing machine.

Ringo the Longarm was serviced back in about September because I hadn't touched it in several years. I remember having trouble with skipped stitches when moving backwards. I remember thinking it was a timing issue. I was ready to use the longarm again, so I took it in for routine maintenance and the skipped stitches problem. It's been more than 90 days, which is all the service warranty covers. So I'm sort of stuck with what I've got for now.

I finally got the practice quilt loaded onto the longarm this week, and I'm SO rusty! I'm having to relearn everything. So thankful for YouTube help videos, which I didn't have access to back when I bought the machine. It came with a DVD. Now all the DVD tutorials are online. And I've been making good use of them.

I'm still skipping lots of stitches, so I probably still have a timing issue. But I'm relearning everything about upper and lower tension, and these are important lessons. I may have to quilt the pink quilt on the domestic machine, and I may have to make lots of practice quilts before I get the longarm running properly. But eventually, I'm going to get Lizard going on art therapy again, and that's pretty darned exciting.

Tweet

Home on the Range

Tweet

Pretty Pink

Tweet

halfway there

Tweet

Pinktober, the Sequel

(affiliate links to my designs)

I was so excited to receive my newest Spoonflower cheater quilt panels. It was difficult to decide which one I should use for the new baby quilt, and I ultimately chose the original. I used some stash batik and some pink Grunge for the border, and the top was done in just a couple of hours.

The second panel is similar to the first but square instead of horizontal. The second two panels are going to be so fun to work into quilts once I finish the baby quilt. Then I'd have a couple of pink quilts ready if another little baby girl comes along...

In the meantime, I have to finish the quilt back. I began with 36 pink charm squares from the temperature quilt stash I was hoping to make into a real temperature quilt in 2023. I'm not so sure I will make an actual fabric temperature quilt now, so I didn't mind robbing the stash. But then I realized the 6x6 stitched block wasn't near big enough for the already finished quilt top.

So I dug into my pink scraps stash and added one more row of pink charm squares, then cut some 2.5-inch patches for an inner border. I really like the new size and the improved design, but now I'm stuck! I can't decide what to do next, and it needs to be more than ten inches wider and longer. I want to use fabrics in my pink stash, and I have pink charm squares, my own 2.5-inch strips and even a few layer cake squares. Ir, I could dig into some pink stash yardage and make a solid border, which I'm actually considering. I just have come up with something I think will look pretty not too busy.

Tweet

Two Months and Counting

My goal was to have two-month-old Melody's quilt in the mail by Monday. Last Monday. Actually, July 8. But life happens. I guess my revised goal is next Tuesday...

When I made the initial dozen blocks, I nixed using the blacks and grays in the Sweet and Plenty colorway. I didn't think they looked girly or babyish.

The quilt needed to be bigger, and I didn't like the options I had with the remainders of my jelly roll. I didn't have enough of any stash pink solid I could use as sashing. And I didn't want to buy more fabric. After playing with the blacks, I decided they actually add a little punch to an already cute quilt.

I'd planned to use the pinks, limes, aquas and whites of the remaining jelly roll strips to make the plain Jane back big enough. I didn't have two of anything but the grays. So I played around with the sashing, and I decided the gray in the colorway looks just as good as the black. Funny how different fabrics can twist and turn in your design when you're trying to use what you have instead of acquiring more!

Quilting has begun! Plain and simple with the domestic machine because Ringo hasn't been touched in a couple of years and probably needs routine maintenance. When the quilting is done, I get to repeat this whole color adventure all over again as I try to decide what fabric color/pattern I should use for binding...

Tweet

My Old Friend

What a joyous reunion! My sewing machine didn't go anywhere; it's actually been front and center in my dining room for years. I see it every day. However, it has seemed a bit like an obligation rather than a cherished hobby.

My giant digital snowflake temperature quilt segments seemed like such a fun idea when I first decided to make a puff quilt. When I began actually puffing two 2022 quilt segments (which still remain unfinished), I realized what a time hog a puff quilt might be. I began seriously dreading my 2023 project. I didn't want to go back to it. I wanted to pretend it didn't exist.

Of course, life priorities didn't help much. For more than a year, I couldn't dedicate a block of time to sewing. Last week, I decided I might be able to work back into a sewing/quilting schedule if I started with a different project before tackling the behemoth temperature quilt.

I began with a few quick mending projects, which had been piled on a chair next to the sewing machine for way too many years. One by one, I patched ripped shorts, inserted pockets into a dress that didn't have any, and hemmed a dress that was too long. These easy projects provided the inspiration I needed to finish piecing the 2023 digital temperature quilt segments. And, YAY!!!!! The piecing portion is DONE!!!!!

This monster measures 89x119. I think it's big enough for a king bed if I don't puff it. I don't know yet what I want to do with it. But finishing the segment piecing enabled me to get started on Baby Melody's quilt. She's two months old now! So I'm super motivated to get it in the mail!

Tweet

Celebrate

Tweet

Friday Fascination

Tweet

Friday Funny

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by #BABY (@babies.selections)

Tweet

Friday Fantastic

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I'd be able to watch a bald eagle lay an egg live as it happened! Modern technology sometimes is absolutely amazing!!!

"Jackie" has THREE eggs now (and we got to watch her lay the third one live as it happened!), first time ever, and she's been protecting them from heavy, wet snow all week!

Tweet

Friday Funny

Tweet

Friday Fabulous

Tweet

Friday Funny

Tweet

Wordless Wednesday

Tweet

Wordless Wednesday

Tweet

Friday Fascination

Tweet

Friday Fabulous

Tweet

Friday Fun

Tweet

Friday Fascination

Long, but SO worth watching!

Tweet