Monday, August 7, 2017

Motivational Monday - progress report


It was a whirlwind weekend and so nice to work WITHOUT a pressing deadline.  That's what happens when you plan. Or more likely there just weren't any major deadlines happening at this time.

It was another instance where that comperized long arm should would have come in handy as at one point, I had the long arm, the embroidery machine and the sewing  machine going at the same time. The embroidery machine was quite fine to run on it's own, but a little difficult to sew and quilt at the same time!

So what did I get done?

I got another one of the Ronald McDonald quilts done!  I counted and there are a few more to do, but they are small and if I focus in this temporary lull, I should get a few more done. The batting is ready for the next one as it had to be joined.

Ronald McDonald quilt - done!

I did get the blocks completed for the next deadline quilt. Well almost. I ran out of fabric!  I had some of this fabric at home - did NOT calculate how much was needed and well, I'm short ONE strip 2 1/2"!  And with today being a holiday, I won't get more until tomorrow. Doesn't matter - the blocks are done, I can sew most of the quilt top together and hope to do that later today.

While piecing the blocks, I was working on my next block for the pixelated apple. Notice all those black/white prints. Yes - I'm using a very busy background. Normally I don't do that as I hate busy background.  No - I don't hate them, I only dislike them when there's not enough contrast to really see the main focus of the quilt. In this case, the main focus is a big red apple - I think the busy background is OK!


One more pixelated block - almost done!
Those blocks are very time consuming, but when you only use them as enders and leaders - it takes a long time. No worries and I went through the black/white stash basket (having exhausted what was available in the black/white scrap basket) and have several more prints picked out to cut into teeny tiny squares.  Now if I were as smart as Peggy, I would know how many I need and I would have it cut and counted. Not going to happen. I'll cut a bunch and if I run out, I'll cut more.

The embroidery machine ran non-stop for two days. Well pretty much non-stop. I was on a roll and figured that if I was quilting/sewing, I could babysit the embrodiery machine. You see, I want to get that Halloween project done.  I have a few other embroidery projects that I want to do BUT I'm not starting anything new untiil this Halloween quilt is done!

Totally random thought here - did we not at one point spell Hallowe'en  with an apostrophe?  Or is that my imagination?





Embroidery machine - slaving away


This quilt uses a lot of black thread. I had purchased a large spool, but you can see that it is getting used up. I checked my thread boxes and found not one, not two, not three, but FOUR spools of the same black.  Why???   NO idea and if you look at them closely, you can see that three of them have been used. Why not use up the smallest one before moving to the next?  NO idea.

Lots of spool of black thread!


All those spools are now in the project box for this Halloween quilt.   I've made a list of what I'm running low. Black is definitely on the list!

So when I went to bed on Saturday night, this is what my design wall looked like.

Halloween blocks


That may mean nothing to you, but I did FOUR of those blocks in one day.  That's the equivalent of almost 200,000 stitches.  I'm not sure the speed of my machine, but there are lots of thread changes, placing fabric for the applique and trimming.  I average about 3 hours per block.


I managed to get a customer quilt done.  A HUGE customer quilt.

One half of the customer quilt

And the other half
 I bought a new camera lens a while back (NO MORE ISSUES with the camera), but the angle is different and I can't get back far enough to take one picture of these big quilts. The next customer quilt is loaded on the long arm and ready for tonight.

Let's see - oh yes - busy at the embroidery machine on Sunday as well and now look at the blocks.

Halloween blocks
 Yep - I was able to get THREE more blocks done yesterday. I could have gotten a fourth one in, but I had to drive my personal chef to the airport and we had dinner out and that killed my embroidery time. Looks like I might be having chocolate for dinner this week!

Let's see - oh yes - I did get some work done on one of my UFOs. I have a wee bit of work to get caught up on those.  I'm making progress. But instead of using it as enders and leaders, I'm going to have to dedicate a day to getting it done!

Blocks trimmed and ready for the next stage. 

Next piece to add on

But while I was watching a movie, I managed to get all the next little triangle pieces cut and marked.


So how is everyone doing on their list of UFOs. Me - I'm not doing great.  I MUST get focused and get those two that I'm currently working on DONE!   I'm off to a sewing day today and I'm taking the project above and hope to make great progresson it. NOT as an ender and leader, but as the darn project of the day. Hmmm - I was going to take my small sewing machine, but I need speed - going to swap out for the bigger one.

It's a holiday here so I get to spend the day with the Monday group!  Can't wait, but first, the girls and I are off to the dog park.

Have a super day!!!


Ciao!!!

8 comments:

  1. love your Halloween quilt blocks .... your embroidered blocks have peaked my interest in an Embroidery machine one day! beautiful blocks!

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    1. Karen - the first "serious" sewing machine I bought was an embroidery machine back in 1998. I've never regretted having the ability to do machine embroidery. Now I want a bigger faster machine! You should check it out - there is so much embroidery available these days.

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  2. Wow, once again you have been so busy. What wonderful blocks of all kinds...lends to a most interesting design wall.

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    1. JOcelyn - oh yes - my design is in constant flux. I would be totally lost without it. And busy - I could never stop - I'd die! Something I inherited from my parents!

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  3. Ok, so here's the funny thing. I NEEDED to know how many squares were in the apple quilt (not sure why but I just had to know), but I have no idea how many squares I have cut. I am just winging it too, if I run out, I will just cut more.

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    1. Peggy -- I LOVE IT!!!! So glad to hear that. Now we just need to find the time to sew those darn little blocks together

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  4. Yes, back in the old days, Hallowe'en had an apostrophe. Punctuation/grammar is old school.

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    1. Kat -- thanks so much for the confirmation. I used to put that apostrophe in there and then one day, either my spell checker or something made me realise that - well, no apostrophe anymore. Who makes up these rules?

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