How to increase productivity .........................

Yesterday was a pretty intense day. I accomplished quite a bit. How did that happen? At one time during the day, there were four machines on and three of them were working simultaneously for most of the day. It's not for the faint-hearted but if you can handle the pressure, then go for it!

I started the day bright and early by loading a customer quilt on the long arm. This is one that I had on the machine two weeks ago and I just couldn't get anything to happen. Let's say that it was with great trepidation that I started to quilt that quilt. The pattern was VERY intense and I was afraid if something happened - well - it wasn't going to be pretty.

Customer quilt on the long arm

 I stuck by that quilt for the first two rows of stitching. Everything seemed to be OK.

Look at the pattern - soccer balls and soccer nets. And if you look close there's a soccer ball right in the net. Not planned!

Soccer ball in the net!

 OK - I'm going to have to learn to trust this machine so I walked away. And turned on the embroidery machine - the Husqvarna Viking Designer EPIC. It's time to get some more of those sashings made for the Halloween quilt.

As I mentioned the other day, there's a feature which made it easier to do multiples of the same thing, which is good since I still have cornerstones to create. For those of you who think you can just turn on the embroidery machine and let it go, that's not the case, I still had to babysit depending on what step it was at.

After the outline for the batting was stitched onto the stabilizer, I had to put the batting in place. Then it was stitched down. Then the batting needed to be trimmed before moving onto the next step.

Batting is stitched in place

Then the fabric was positioned and once the three areas of the fabric were stitched in place to match the batting, I could let the machine go on its own. No more babysitting.

The fabric is being stitched in place

All of that is knowing the steps the machine has to do. And the STOP feature on the Designer EPIC made it all possible. I turned that button on and off depending at what stage I was in the process. Without that, well - it wasn't going to be fun. And this machine is super fast so it seemed like I was constantly doing something to advance it to the next stage. And if the bobbin ran out? I had a new bobbin ready to go. Once the machine was started, I could use the separate motor on the bobbin winder to wind a new bobbin and have it ready. I know - totally insane, but it was one of those days when the planets were aligned!

The STOP function is a great function on an embroidery machine

I also managed to cut out a small wall hanging and I was piecing that on one of my own machines.

Piecing the wall hanging

But the pioneer in me was also saving scraps of the batting (for the embroidered sashings) and joining them. Since I had an extra machine sitting around, I set that up and used it to join batting. I know - that's just totally ridiculous. It's decadent, but you know what? That's OK. I have space, I have the machines, I might as well make use of them. Then there was no switching of settings or feet. I just sat at whichever machine needed to be fed. Of course, these last two machines had to be operated manually - DRAT!

Joining batting scraps for the sashing

At one point, I needed to change the needle on the embroidery machine. I opened up the box of machine needles to find a HUGE mess. I knew it was like that, but I decided that it was time to fix that. The lid was struggling to stay on.

A huge mess in the machine needle box

Now the needles are sorted and bound together which will make searching for a new needle a snap.

Needles are sorted and back in the box

So in total what got done yesterday? The small wall hanging got sewn together. It just needs the border put on and needs to be quilted and in the mail by tomorrow. A job for later today. You can't see it as it's for a magazine.

This customer quilt got done. It's trimmed and I have to sew the binding on for the customer who is coming today to Sit n Sew so I'll do it while everyone is here. 

Customer quilt - DONE

Quilting pattern

Quilting pattern on the back

It's a challenge with some of these specialty designs to have even density over the entire surface. That's the way the pattern is created. Once the quilt is washed, no one is even going to notice that.

So if you want your quilt quilted with something special - (an overall design), I do that. Oh, should I say the computer does that? There is NO way that you could stitch this one by hand.

And I now have TEN stitch outs  (or technically 30 sashings) done. How did I manage that? I guess I did seven of them yesterday. 

30 sashings waiting to be cut apart

And here's the materials prepped for the next 30 (well almost everything is prepped). 

Materials for the next 30 sashings - prepped

I also got a second customer quilt quilted. Hey - I was on a roll and I was taking advantage of the machine working and the rainy day. This customer is also coming to Sit n Sew which is why this particular one got done. I say that because some customers are going to say - hey - where's my quilt?

Customer quilt - DONE

I was glad as one by one, I shut down those machines. It was a pretty intense day. I was going to go for a walk but we had a nice gentle rain and I was just as happy to stay inside.

So what was wrong with the long arm? I've no idea. One moment it wasn't working - I went on vacation and came back and everything is fine. I touched nothing except maybe put that wire in a better position??? I still have to walk to the hardware store for a better clip. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed and going to try and get as many done this coming week as time allows. That means I'm back to about 4 or 5 a week. It's going to be a short week for me as I'm away for the long weekend, but I'll do what I can. Then when I'm back, I'm hitting the machine full force to get caught up. Thankfully the backlog isn't too steep.

While I was working yesterday, I was thinking a lot about The Task Master and those UFOs. I was doing some math and well - I have a whole story to tell you about tomorrow. I'm determined to get those UFOs complete by the end of the year. I have a plan! Plan B.

On that note, I have to finish getting ready for the Sit n Sew. Can't wait - another fun day of sewing with great friends.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!