The charity quilts are finished. I quilted already pieced tops as discussed in my last blog. Here are the finished quilts. I need to practice machine binding, but I’m happy with the quilting. Again, I used the Double Dutch pantograph pattern from annebright.com.
So they are packed up ready to be shipped to Pittsburgh, PA. It was fun and good practice.
I’ve been working on charity quilts for Quilts Beyond Borders. QBB sends to the quilter the pieced top, backing and binding. The quilter supplies the batting, quilts the layers and finishes off the binding. Besides providing constructive practice time, I found these charity quilts proved that quilting adds a depth and beauty to a quilt that it didn’t previously have. This plain quilt particularly proved it as I felt it had no unifying design, but, unfortunately, I didn’t take a picture before I had quilted it. Sorry, I am. This is the quilt after quilting. I’ll have to take a better full quilt picture later. 
Here is the second quilt top before quilting.
And here is the quilted top. 
And the third quilt after quilting. 
The back…
I used a pantograph “Double Dutch” by annebright.com. I am surprised at how much I enjoy the pantographs. This is good news as it means I enjoy working at the back of the machine, pantographs, as much as I do at the front of the machine, free motion. I’ll upload pictures of the completed quilts in a bit.
A couple of weeks ago I took a vacation to work on my longarm. That first weekend it was rainy and dark. Now, I had known I needed better lighting and had been thinking about possibilities, but I thought there was no hurry. Wrong! Apparently, I had been using my Millie on sunny days. It would come to be about 4:00 PM when I would need to stop because it was a dark on half of the longarm as the sun was behind the treetops. But that was OK. I was about done by that time of day. However, this particular Saturday left the entire longarm in the dark. So I needed to resolve that ASAP. Not wanting to spend much money, this is what I did.
On the side, I am quite pleased that I was able to photograph this light cleanly without a tripod or flash. I’m sure this is easy for many of you, but I’m just learning.
Can anyone tell me how to remove the underlines from the middle text on this page?
Here’s another project I am working on. There is one member of the Lily clan who still needs a quilt. Can you believe I still have enough of Lily’s accessories for one more quilt? Notice what a nice work area my Millie is when she just holds a practice sandwich. I would never set anything on an actual quilt. Here I am, digressing again.
The colorful bits go in the Lily quilt.
And these bits will also go in the quilt. This will be a different design than the prior quilts. I have an idea for the design, but I am fine tuning and cutting as I go because…I can. And actually, I am further along than this as these photographs were taken last week, but presently I’m too lazy to trot upstairs for another photograph. So, here’s just a glimpse for now. When it is done, I can’t wait to have a go on this with Millie!
I have been wondering what to do with my longarm practice muslin sandwiches, which will accumulate over the next few months. I think it will be a shame to throw away the sandwiches, and yet they are certainly not something I would give to anyone. I thought of giving them to the local pound, but I have to admit I hated the thought of binding them.
Last weekend we were bringing a DVD to relatives as a gift. They had just gotten a long haired dachshund puppy so we bought the first season of The Dog Whisperer for them. We don’t even have a dog and we enjoy watching this show (or does that just indicate how little there is to watch on TV). Anyway…all I had was Christmas wrapping paper. Being too cheap and/or lazy to run out for some paper, I went into my sewing room, cut a piece from a sandwich, and sewed a pouch for the DVD.
I was happy about this for a moment. Then I started to worry that they would think this was the best I could do, instead of what it was, a 5 minute wrap sew. So, I began again. I took another piece of the fabric, found an accent fabric, and a prettier ribbon.
When I made this second pouch, I changed the seams, which shrunk the pouch just enough so the DVD wouldn’t fit into it. Oh well, I decided to leave my ego at home so I wrapped the present in the white pouch and was done with it. In the end, it was fine.
It turns out this pretty pouch is a perfect size for my Nook! My muslin sandwiches will make a lot of iPad, Nook, Kindle…pouches! I love to find function where there was none! Now who has what device? What to do with all these pouches? Something new to ponder…
I’m sorry for the gap in posts. When comparing the Boston Marathon bombings with my longarm practicing, I felt my practicing wasn’t worth a comment. However, to explain my absences, as I don’t want to bore you excessively, this is what I have been and will be working on:
It is the usual practice sandwich: muslin, batting, muslin. This particular sample is the least expensive muslin I could find ($1.99 per yard) and inexpensive polyester batting ($35.00 for a rolled package). In my quilts, I always use a natural material, generally cotton, but for practice cotton makes no sense as it is not cost efficient to trash it! I make several runs through an entire muslin sandwich. I have made three runs so far on this sample, each in a different colored thread so I can see my progression. I am having a hard time co-ordinating the shifting of my feet with the movement of the machine. Inevitably, I have to shuffle my feet when I am in the long curve, which I have not mastered. There are moments when I feel as if I am practicing Tai Chi, slow and graceful, one with the machine. The next moment I’m stumbling along. I never thought there would be footwork involved with quilting! Nonetheless, I can see the improvement. This is supposed to be a scroll and leaf design, but it looks more like a whale’s tail to me.
If you look at the blue stitching at the top of the picture, the curve shows you where I had to take a step when I was not one with my machine. The black followed the blue and here I have mastered my step, if only temporarily. So you see, not an exciting post, but it is about necessary work to be done. Any suggestions to coordinate my footwork with my body, arms and machine is more than welcome!
I spent Thursday and Friday at MQX in Manchester. What beautiful quilts and quilting were on display! I had originally registered, months ago, with the intent of choosing a longarm quilting machine. However, as I, quite surprisingly, made the purchase of my APQS Millenium in March, my reasons for attending the show changed. As the intent of this show had originally been to study longarm machines, B. had agreed to join me at the show. He did not back out when the reason changed and he was a great help absorbing all the information thrown at us. In addition, I signed up for three classes. B. signed up for one.
We took the machine maintenance class together. Dan Novak of Nolting was the instructor. I am now supposed to have confidence when I have to take the machine apart for certain repairs, which I hope never to have to do. Seeing the tension thingy (yes, I’ve already forgotten the official name, but a rose is a rose by any other name) removed from the machine and broken down into six pieces and then successfully put back together does provide a certain degree of confidence in knowing, on an intellectual level at least, that I can repair this machine. However, this machine will never break down…I am offering this thought to the universe. This class also enabled B. to understand what the heck I have been talking about on occasion; i.e., tension issues. And now when I have pieces removed from the machine he can tell me, ‘you can do this’. Everyone needs a cheerleader and B. is mine.
I then took an Edge to Edge class from Kim Brunner. As I started at the front of the machine practicing custom designs, I thought I should step behind the machine for some all over designs, hence her class. More than anything, she confirmed plans and practices I already had in place.
Today, I took a Machine Quilting Business class. It was interesting. This again confirmed my rough business plan and prospects. Valerie of A Needle Runs Through It was entertaining and knowledgeable. As I have been in business for myself before, in another industry, I knew what information I wanted from this class and she delivered.
We stayed at the Radisson Hotel Manchester, which is in the middle of the two exposition areas. B. and I were fortunate enough to be in a newly renovated guest room; i.e., the first people ever to be guests in this fully renovated room. What a joy to not have to worry about debris from prior guests!
B. even had thoughts of moving to Manchester. First, he got the best haircut he’s had in years…and he’s been on a search. Second, we went to the Strange Brew Tavern and all their beers were $3.00 all evening-this was a huge hit. As we were only two blocks from the hotel, B. enjoyed drinking whatever beers our lovely waitress recommended. However, everyone looked like us and we found that rather disconcerting although not uncomfortable as we have found in other areas, but disconcerting nonetheless.
Here’s the view from our room. It’s not Paris, London or even Boston, but we found our stay there quite charming, and the activity on Elm Street would lead me to believe Manchester might be in a renaissance of its own. Regardless, I have a fondness for Manchester as my mother was born there.
As you know there are many opportunities for spending money at a show like this. Prior to attending, I had determined what I wanted to buy versus study, and that kept me in line. This is what I purchased:
The thread is Fil-tech. I purchased it because they said the thread was made in the USA. I’ll try it and do some research to see if in fact it is made in the USA. If it is and I like it I might change my ‘go to’ thread. If not, I’ll stick with Omni. I purchased three pantographs from Annie Bright. One sparse, one dense, and one simply because I loved it.
This is the sparse one, loose flowers: Lightly Flowered.
This is the more dense and more complicated one: Aviary. Double Dutch is in the middle regarding denseness and complexity. I didn’t take its picture.
This is the reading material from the show. I look forward to reading it at my leisure and fine tuning my plans.
The plague has been at our house the last few weeks, so I have not had the energy to turn Millie on and practice…or do much of anything for that matter. (Would anyone like to come clean my house?) I digress. Practicing is part muscle memory so I did do a little…very little…repetitive drawing.
I have a long way to go with my feathers. And my leaves and berries…
And anything else for that matter, but it is a start. I have been reading about all aspects of longarming and design if that counts in any way. My plan is to start heavy practicing on some pantographs, and then pull in free motion designs over time.
I have set the exit from my day job and industry for the beginning of September. I am excited at the prospect of being my own boss again and to be turning in a totally different direction. As I can finally afford to be artsy, now is the test to see if I have it in me. I am looking forward to the next thirty years of health, happiness, discovery and lovely, civil people!
Here’s Millie in her new home. She fits!
And so does my sewing…
This reminds me that I need to make better sized dowels. OK, I think I will watch the CD before I start…as one can’t just turn it on and go. There is cleaning and oiling and warming up the motor and …
After months of stress and study, the decision has been made and trajectory begun. Today, I purchased a 2008 APQS Millennium to be delivered within about 2 weeks. This is like going for the lightly used deluxe Saab versus a new basic Honda Civic. In other words, it is me. So, here is the lovely Millie in her present home:
And …
Twelve feet of iron and machine… Now to ready her room!
Quiltify 
