How many quilt tops are in your "to be quilted" pile?

By Jove -- I think we may have an answer to the comment situation for the blog. I'll go back and read the comments in greater depth. Thanks to everyone who commented, and I received some e-mails - I still need to look at those. 

We had Monday sewing, and I got stuff done, but not much. I'm not very productive on those Zoom calls. I can sew, or I can chat! I can't seem to do both. Part of the reason is I need to get my earbuds back working. Otherwise, no one can hear me if I don't speak directly into the computer mic. So I'm tied to the computer, which I hate. 

I had a lot of prep work that needed to be done before I can continue writing, and I accomplished a lot yesterday, so I was happy. And when it comes to software, I can make it do what I want, but can I explain that to someone else? I'm not there yet. So back to the drawing board to try and find the most efficient way so I, in turn, can explain it to someone else. 

But I'm getting there. Slow and steady and try to understand the logic -- it's all about the logic!

I have another trip to Diane's house to get the last quilt top for community projects. We have decided to STOP producing quilt tops until I can get some quilted! And let's face it: Diane has been a miracle worker, and it's time for her to take a well-deserved break. I can't thank Diane enough for all her work; since the pandemic started, she's made hundreds of quilt tops. I didn't count. I don't know if she did, but my guess is well over 300! That's insane. 

The latest batch of quilt tops. 

Community project quilt tops

And now this is what faces me. Those boxes, the laundry basket, and the plastic tote are filled with quilt tops. Some backing as well, and almost every quilt has the binding made. 

Quilt tops to be quilted

That would be huge, but that's not all. Nope! There's another stack in the storage room as well. And yes -- the bottom two totes are filled with quilt tops. 

More quilt tops to be quilted

The shocking thing is that I did NOT buy any fabrics for those tops. Some came from my stash, some were donated to me, but it was EXCESS fabric around the house. How obscene is that? 

Now wait -- before you think I need help to quilt them -- wait until the end of my blog to see what will happen to them. 

I need to get this writing assignment off my plate to return to the long arm. I have a couple of customer quilts that need to be done, and then I hope to start scheduling these quilts. A few at a time -- I'll do what I can. Making these quilt tops is way better than having boxes and boxes of fabric! It's all about how you look at it. I also have batting and fabric for the backings, and it's just a matter of time. I hope to practice some computer techniques when quilting some of these quilts. I'll see how that goes. But it's not for today. 

And we won't go to how many of my personal quilt tops are waiting to be quilted. 

The other thing I've been working on is finishing some UFOs. There's my last Jen Kingwell quilt that I want to finish. The center is done, and I have the border to do. I want to do the border, but I hate the border on the original. 

This is the original Green Beans and Sweet Tea by Jen Kingwell.

Jen Kingwell's version of Green Beans and Sweet Tea

I don't feel that the border has enough oomph to it. That's OK -- we each have our choices, and I want to make it different. I've struggled with this darn thing, and I had made all the vine and had some of it glued in place and some stitched in place. I HATED how it looked. I sort of free-formed the vine, and it looked awful. 

Good grief -- mine was worse than the original! 

My first attempt at the borders - ICK!

So all the vine came off. I have a plan, and I sewed the borders to the quilt. GASP --- to do applique? Am I crazy? Nope - I have a plan. I pressed all the bias stripes back into shape, and they were ready to go. 

The bias stripes are ready

Then I got a long piece of paper. Well, I had to make a long piece of paper. Where did I get the paper? I just happened to have some packing paper on the table in the office. I knew I was "saving" it for something. The rest of it needs to be flattened and stored away. I haven't got there yet. 

Making a template for the border

Then, while listening to an audiobook and using templates from the long arm, I was able to get a shape for the vine that I could live with. 

I cut the paper template and got things laid out and ready to go. I LOVE having this empty work table to lay stuff like this out. It wouldn't have fit on my cutting table, but the layout of this group of three work tables makes the table surface longer. 

Laying out the border and the template

Then, I got the glue and started pinning and gluing. It was a glorious day, and I was loving what was happening. 

The vine is glued in place using the template

I wasn't sure if I had cut enough bias strips as I had never put the entire vine down. I was left with this! 

The leftover bias strips

And there is the quilt with the vine attached.

This looks MUCH better

WAIT -- there is one more part that I'm NOT happy with. So I fixed it yesterday and have even less bias stripe left over. 

But you'll have to wait to see any more of it. It's a secret, and I'm pretty excited about it. I am hoping to have it finished by this weekend? Let's see how that goes!

There'll be no heavy mental thinking today. Just light fluff and quilts! 

I love puttering without deadlines (mostly), and well, it's glorious. If this is what retirement is all about -- I'm in! But I enjoy what I do, so I'm not ready to throw the towel in completely, but backing off has been wonderful. I have ZERO intentions of filling that with anything. Many people say they will volunteer for some organization when they retire. My volunteer work will be quilting all those quilts that Diane made! Once that is done -- I think I'll have done my duty! 

I've been on my share of committees and learned that I don't play in the sandbox well with others. They think I'm way too opinionated (and they are right!), and they don't want to change (and I do), so it's best to find ways to volunteer that don't require working with others! I figure it'll take a couple of years to get rid of that backlog, and more quilt tops in my personal stash can also be donated. I can't wait for retirement!! And there's ZERO urgency for quilt tops to be quilted. 

DH was away last week, so on Sunday evening, we sat down and did THREE more puzzles in the current EXIT game. Oh boy --- we needed BOTH our brains for them. Where my logic failed, his kicked in. We are halfway on this one, but he's away mostly this week and me next, so it might be a while before we finish. But super loads of fun! We have yet to look at the clues ONCE!!!

Anyway -- it's time to get moving! A lot of work needs to be accomplished today, and I have to stop at the pet food store because a certain little guy has food for today but not tomorrow!

Have a super day!!!

Caio!!!