An evolution in long arm quilting

I had some major running around to do yesterday, so I didn't get much accomplished, but I did manage to sort more crap. I'm happy to report that only this much remains to sort. 

What's left to sort

None of the three containers are super full, but it's now down to the crappy stuff so I might just do a bit a day. I know - I shouldn't do that. Just get it done, and then it's done! OK -- I'll try to focus a bit more on it today. I need to move on, as I have a lot to accomplish today. 

There is room on the supply shelf for three more containers, and of course, a lot of this will fit in the existing containers. If I EVER buy another supply without checking those containers first, that is grounds for execution. OK - that's a bit drastic, but you know what I mean. The best part is that it will be easy to find something, since everything is organized. 

I had two spots where those templates could be, so I tackled one this morning. Good grief - I found a ton of stuff that is set aside to do. Since I'm not doing any of it, they are technically UFOs. I don't have room on the shelf for them, so they will stay on my rolling cart. And loads more supplies, but I left them here for the moment. I'll tidy up that area another day. 

More supplies on the rolling cart

This is what happens when you think something is cute. You buy it TWICE!!!! Since the price and the location where I purchased them are the same, it was likely very close in time that I bought two of them. Sigh......

Why buy one when you can buy two?

And how much ribbon does one person need? Good grief - I have one container for ribbon on a spool and one for loose ribbon. I should NEVER have to buy ribbon again. 

Two containers of ribbon

I found more fabric for making bags - this is nice stuff, a bit heavier than cotton, and features some fun prints. Again, I never need to ever buy more fabric, for anything, except maybe some backgrounds; but even then, since I make scrappy quilts, I'm set for the rest of my life. 

I still have a small pile of UFOs and fabric to attend to, but I can incorporate that into my day. I no longer have the luxury of time to focus on this stuff. I have a LOT of writing to do and some projects to make. 

More UFOs to deal with

If you have a long arm, you know there are different ways to load the quilt onto the leaders. The most common method is to pin the quilt backing and the front to the canvas leaders, allowing you to quilt. I don't mind pinning, it's kind of therapeutic, yet people make a big deal about getting poked, but seriously? I've never drawn blood with the pins. It's not that slow either, despite what you hear. 

However, it can lead to the disintegration of the leaders. I mean disintegration. The center of my pickup leader is gone. It's so threadbare, the threads are no longer there! See what I mean? 

The threads are gone! 

And the ends of the leaders can stretch with use. Keep in mind that this machine and those leaders are almost 20 years old. I think I bought the machine in 2006. I could be wrong about that. I purchased new leaders several years ago to replace the old ones, but I never got around to installing them. 

Years ago, it became fashionable to use zippers to attach quilts to the leaders. This was especially helpful if you quilted custom quilts and needed to switch between a custom quilt (which takes eons to quilt) and an edge-to-edge quilt (which takes a couple of hours). Instead of unpinning, you unzipped. I bought a set of zippers in 2012. I paid $70 for them and they are still in the package - never opened. 

A new pack of zippers

At some point, rods (inserted into a channel on the edge of the leaders) and clips became the big thing used to hold the quilt backings in place. Yes - I bought that too and paid $120 for it, and it was never opened. 

The leader grip system

My little journey yesterday was to buy a new system for loading quilts on the long arm. I know - you're thinking, ' Why bother? ' I don't think I ever used either of the previous two systems because it was too gimmicky, and I could never understand why it was easier. I only worked on one quilt at a time, so zippers weren't really necessary. The rods and clips just seemed too cumbersome to me, so I never installed them. OK - so why did I buy them? 

The new trend is to use magnets. OK -- if you are into machine embroidery, you know that metal or magnetic hoops (yes - they are NOT the same) are the best thing since sliced bread. A friend of mine started using magnets on her long arm about a year ago (they were introduced about four years ago), and my initial impression was that it was another gimmick, and this one wasn't cheap. So I didn't even look into it. 

After Quilt Canada, I had another friend who bought them and raved about them even more than the first person I heard use them. OK - I need to look at this a bit more closely. Well, guess what? I came home with magnets for the long arm. I will NOT tell you the price - these things are NOT cheap. Which is maybe what made me think twice last year. 

My long arm magnets

I only need three of the boxes; the other two are for the two people who changed my mind. Remember - I'm an old dog and I don't take to change very well! However, the timing was perfect because I needed to replace those leaders, and now I can establish the proper channel for the magnets, and all is good. See, I waited for a reason! 

The other two items were left at the long arm store in case someone wishes to have one of those loading systems. Yes - people still use zippers and the rods and clips. They work well, but just not for me. 

I have one more thing to get, and then I have all the supplies I need for the long arm spa day. I'm going to wait until I have all the customer quilts done and my personal ones I need for September. Then I can shut it down and work on reassembling the long arm correctly. 

Supplies for the long arm spa day

On my way home from that journey, I had a lovely visit with a friend as I dropped off a few quilts for people in her area. I still have some quilts to return from borrowing them for Quilt Canada. Less than half need to be returned, and I hope to complete this by the end of the month. Then home and back to work. 

I got the next small quilt on the long arm and got everything set. It was only when the bobbin ran out on the second row that I realized I had an issue. Somewhere, the machine jumped and OH CRAP -- the pattern is overlapping. Not by much, but enough that it wasn't right. 

The primary concern is to identify the source of the error and determine its cause. My guess is that with barely enough backing, it likely caused the machine to hit the clamp and jump. That was totally my fault, and I swear what takes five minutes to stitch takes more than an hour to remove! At least, I know the tension is spot on! 

Can you tell where the error was? 

I had loosened the rollers to make it easier to remove the stitches, and since I had removed my tape reference mark, how was I going to get the quilt back in the correct spot? That's easy - when you've done as many quilts as I have, it was a piece of cake to get it exactly back in the right spot, and if you looked closely, you would never tell there had been an issue. 

ACK - the reference mark is NOT on the quilt

And there is the quilt - done. 

Customer quilt - DONE

While my list of customer quilts is getting smaller and no new ones are coming in at the moment, the list of my quilts I need to quilt is getting longer. I would love to complete all my quilts before the end of this month; otherwise, it'll be tight in September for the Buckhorn show. I found one of the quilts this morning, and it will be loaded next week. I decided that the quilt tops I frequently pull out of the "to be quilted" pile for show and tell should just get quilted! However, when I put this one away, I didn't bother to put it in the correct tub. But I found it! 

DH is doing a lot of traveling these days, and he was coming home last night. Oh my - I had been a bit lax in keeping the kitchen tidy. I just had a few things on the table and the counter - OK - it was a lot. I moved everything into the office, recycled it, or threw it in the garbage. And I washed everything down - it looks so clean and tidy! 

The kitchen is neat and tidy for DH

With this beautiful temperature and NO humidity, it was lovely to be outside last night, and I did some more weeding in the backyard. I see it's supposed to be hot and humid today, but we'll see how it goes tonight. I'd like to get all the weeding done before the end of the weekend. I don't think that's going to happen, but I can dream. 

I had to get to the bank yesterday morning, so Miss Lexi and I did that on our walk! She's pretty happy to stand outside and wait for me. She NEVER sits, unless she wants to. 

MOM - I'm standing on guard!

And someone had a bad night last night. Her mat is all topsy turvy, and when I first spotted her, her hair on her ears was all tousled! Oh Muprhy!!!!! She likes the dark, and she likes that cool floor. 

MOM - I'm good!!!

It's so cold in our house (no AC - just cooler temps at night and no humidity), I've worn a sweater for the last couple of mornings. I have a fan blowing in the hall, and it's incredible how much it cools the air off. Granted, there has been no humidity over the last couple of days, and that makes a massive difference. 

I'm off to work as there is no shortage of that! 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!