Why you NEED a design wall......

 Thank goodness, my foot is fine. Holy -- that hurt a LOT yesterday - well, just in the morning. It doesn't seem to be bruised. Well, the color of your feet/toes is so bizarre anyway that how can you tell if there's a bruise? It's a bit red, but it seems to be fine! I'm a bit apprehensive, though - I don't want to bang it again. The bad sewing machine got moved out of the way, as I should have done the day before!

I accomplished a few things in the morning on the computer. The first was to chat with my friends at Microsoft to fix TWO things on my computer. As has happened in the past, I got a certain type of person on the first call, and they couldn't hear me, and I couldn't hear them, and so I politely thanked them and ended the call. I initiated another service call, and this time, I knew that we were going to get the problem fixed. 

Oh my --- BOTH issues were because of settings on my computer. OK -- but seriously --- I NEVER touch the settings for the junk folder. As a matter of fact, I didn't even know where the settings were. But they had been changed. Why? Can you tell me why??? So once that little box was checked, my e-mail comes into my in-box. I upped the level of security, and it seems to have gotten rid of ALL the junk mail. Oh boy -- that's exciting. There are still a few things going into SPAM, but not my personal e-mail, and I can live with that. 

The second thing was a bit more bizarre. When I went to copy or move a file, I got a random list of folders, NOT the file structure, as I was used to. I knew it had to be in the VIEW tab, but I couldn't find how to change it. Of course, it took the service person mere seconds to click the right button. Why didn't it work for me? Well, thank goodness for having a subscription and getting it fixed immediately. Now I'm a happy camper. 

Well, I still have to resolve that other issue on my laptop. I must do that today, although I don't really have time, I need to get it fixed. 

The other day, I got another giant quilt done for a customer. 

Customer quilt - DONE

I love when the quilting pattern works out right at the bottom. That's something else I must learn. There is so much that my head is exploding just at the thought of what I need to learn. 

The pattern was exactly on target

And I played thread chicken, and I won!!!! I wasn't worried as I have another spool of the same color. 

Almost empty spool of thread

So here's one reason why you need a design wall. Before I took that other quilt top off, I auditioned the borders. I'm not relying on the pattern since it's a dud!!! 

Hmm - I started off with a skinny red, then the busy print, and then more red. The busy print strips are already cut, so I'm trying to find a combination that will work with the strips. I could cut them in half, but trying to make what I have work!! This is not bad. 

Border version one

What if I remove the skinny red border? Hmmm - that's hideous. I don't like this at all. The two strips are almost the same width, and it doesn't do anything for the quilt. 

Border version two

I added the background fabric into the mix. Again, the three fabrics are the same width, and it looks awful. This might look OK on some quilts, but I'm not a fan. 

Border version three

So I made the background fabric smaller, and that adds a lot more interest. I might look at cutting that busy print in half and changing that up. The bottom line, I'm not a fan of this quilt for numerous reasons, and I just want to get the top done and stick it into the "to be quilted" pile. 

Border version four

Here's the status on the other quilt top that I'm making with the border blocks from this quilt. I now have six of eight rows together. I'm happy with this quilt, and I love the design. The big question is what color to put in for the cornerstone? Well, if the cornerstone is going to be red, then I don't need a cornerstone, but you knew that!! Do I use the background cream fabric or red like the sashing? I like the red better - it seems to anchor those larger squares better than having the white in the center. I'll finish the other two rows and then see where it goes with the second row of sashing. 

Progress on the second quilt

It's about the same work, either way. And I'm waiting until this center part is done before I decide on the borders for both. I may find that those busy print strips will work on this one. The big question will be, can I get them both done by Sunday morning??? 

I had hoped to get more work done yesterday, but I was tired, and I needed a nap. That's what having a late-night does to me! The next customer quilt is loaded, and now I'll have to finish it today or tomorrow. And that embroidery machine needs some attention! Yep - another busy day!!

So I was working on the flowers for the All in a Row quilt. I had everything cut, and as I was sewing, I thought - why is the background also the flower center? I think I will recut the flower centers and make them yellow or brown or some more appropriate color. Why didn't I catch this sooner??? 

A flower for the All in a Row quilt

And I managed to get the rest of the Snail's Trail blocks cut. I was missing bits for one block, and I needed to make five more blocks for my mini quilt. So I cut all light blues, and now I'm ready to get these done. 

The progress on the Snail's Trail blocks

Hopefully, things will move a little faster now that the Long Time Gone quilt is mostly done. But there's still a lot of work before June for that as I want to put a border on the quilt, and well, I have some ideas. It's hard to get stuff accomplished when you don't get a lot of time to sew in a day. Well, time to work on your own stuff!!! If I could get ahead of the paperwork, that would be great. And for the most part, the paperwork is done. Although I'm woefully behind in responding to some e-mails. 

But we were planning to slip away for a couple of days, which has now gone by the wayside. So I have FIVE days with nothing planned. I'll be using that time for ME!!!!  I can't wait, and I really need to schedule more dates like that. But with the weather getting so nice, it's hard to be indoors. 

OH - Elle just provided me with a link to a quilt she finished. If you have a TON of 2" square to be used up, check out this link. 

That sounds like a good area to tidy up! What about your fabric scraps? How are they organized? If you wanted to make that quilt with the squares, how readily could you put it together? I love to sort my scraps by color, and I have easy access to them. And I use them ALL THE TIME. My Long Time Gone quilt was made ENTIRELY from the scrap boxes, and a good part of the All in a Row quilt will come from the scrap boxes, as has the Schoolgirl Sampler quilt. 

OH -- here's a question for you. If you receive the link to my blog via e-mail, this feature will go away sometime in July. So I know there is BlogLovin' which you can use to stay in touch with the blogs. You'll get a link from BlogLovin' to let you know that I've posted. Does anyone else use another type of program to get blog posts in their e-mail? I'm doing some research. Send me an e-mail  - elainetheriault@gmail.com if you have another solution so I can pass it along to everyone. 

On that note, I'm out of here. I have a wee bit of paperwork to get under control this morning, and then I'll be downstairs. I have some writing to do, so I may sneak into the backyard to do that. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!!