Imposters!

 In case you think I'm working too hard, you can think again! Yes -- I have a couple of deadlines, and  YES - I'm a wee bit behind, but I'm not stressing over it. I'm still walking a couple of hours a day for me, I play with the girls (OK -- mostly with Murphy, Lexi is too much of a princess to play!), and I'm reading. And to top it off, today, I'm off on an adventure. Technically, I shouldn't be, but I am. 

That all started because I had two places where I wanted to meet people or pick up something. Both of those have gone bust, but we're already made plans, and well - what the heck. If it means I need to stay up a bit later, then I'll do so. 

I'm happy to report that on the class prep, I'm making great progress. The work for two of the three classes is complete - the pictures are taken and just need to be organized into a presentation. Then I have one more class to prep. After those classes tomorrow, I'll be madly working to catch up on everything that is a wee bit behind. Just a couple of quilts and some writing. 

Don't forget that it's the Virtual REtreat on Saturday and Sunday, and I'll be trimming quilts and catching up on some of the ongoing classes. Busy, busy, busy!!! 

Here's the Zoom link for Saturday, July 24, from 6 PM - 9 PM

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89254233911?pwd=VGQrTnFybW1HMWpleHA4M2Q2NGVwZz09 Meeting ID: 892 5423 3911 Passcode: 982797

And here's the link for Sunday, July 25, from 10 AM - 8 PM

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87246635892?pwd=VGY1cUUyLzRaRi9VUVV2ZWFINXc2dz09 Meeting ID: 872 4663 5892 Passcode: 440473

Can you tell me why Murphy thinks it's more fun to bark at the rabbits in the middle of the night rather than in the daytime? And why is she up in the middle of the night anyway? If she had a little bark, it might not be so bad, but she has a deep, resonating bark, and you can't miss it!! Oh, Murphy!

Rabbit on the front lawn

I got another customer quilt done. Oh - I thought I only had small ones this week, but I lied. There was a giant one waiting to be done. It's absolutely adorable with those dog appliques. 

Customer quilt - DONE

And look who I found!!! That was the closest to Murphy. 

Murphy imposter

And this looks pretty much like Lexi! 

Lexi imposter

Don't tell them, or they'll be begging me to make those! 

This particular quilt came to me because another long arm quilter said that the appliques were too thick to quilt over. Really? I had no issues with my machine. Granted, I could hear it labor through the appliques as there were MANY layers in some spots, and the fuzzy stuff is a thin batting. Multiple layers of fusible, and the batting for the quilt was very thick!

Let's just say that there was a wee issue at one spot of the quilt (related to loose hand embroidery that I missed), and so a wee bit of riping was required. That was NOT fun since the back is flannel, and the thread was buried deep with all those laters. I had to roll that quilt back and forth to access the stitches on the front and back. 

However, the good news is that I got the pattern right back in the right spot, and you wouldn't know that anything happened. Gosh -- it pays to know how to use your equipment. 

So, as I was working on one of the projects for the class tonight, I got to thinking about the fabrics. The entire quilt (except for the background) is made from one 10 inch layer cake from Tula Pink. Some of the colors are very weird together, and the prints are super busy. I finally realized that I WILL need more fabric, and this was one of the things on my shopping list for today. 

Then I remembered that I had a couple of other Tula Pink fabrics. Now, where are they? OH - they are in the tub with the rest of the modern fabrics. It was thanks to Morgan and her Tula Pink quilt that I remembered I had this eye fabric. 

Morgan's "I see you" block!

Yes -- I have that fabric with the eyes on it. Well, I was certain that I did, but I can't find it. However, I found several other Tula fabrics. Now where the heck did those come from??? 

Tula fabrics

Hmmm --- I guess with this variety, I don't really need to buy more. But I might stop by that store just to check it out. And I might be remaking a block or two that are way too crazy. I don't have a lot of background fabric left, so I'll see how that goes.

I need to get all the blocks that have been assigned DONE and get them on the wall and see if anything needs to be redone. I've made one of each, but there were five or six of some of the blocks. I haven't got all those finished. 

So guess what I'll be working on at the Virtual Retreat? Yep -- I WANT ALL of these ongoing projects up-to-date. They need to be up-to-date! I'm so close, and I think I can make good progress this weekend. 

OH -- and in the midst of sewing, I had to wind more bobbins and clean the machine and supposedly change the needle. This morning when I started working, I could hear that needle. It desperately needed to be changed. For whatever reason, I did the cleaning and winding, but not the changing! So LISTEN to your needle or your machine, whether that's the embroidery machine, the long arm, or the sewing machine - you WILL hear when something is going wrong! That's how I realized the long arm had an issue with those loose threads that I missed - I heard it and ran! 

I guess that's it for me this morning. I was going to go to the gym but thought I'd better get some sewing done. Then I'm NOT going to let this craziness happen again. I know - I say that every time, but this is a bit too close for comfort. But not too close, or I wouldn't be goofing off today. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!