Casually custom

I found a very interesting article yesterday that I'll share with you hopefully tomorrow.  It relates to what I posted yesterday. 

Even though I seem to be burning the candle at both ends, I'm loving every minute.  I still have customer quilts to get quilted. The key is how to get things done in a reasonable time frame. 

I'm down to quilts for only TWO customers.  Although there are more than two quilts!  There are some tasks about quilting that I'm not fond of and I procrastinate about them. Putting bindings on for instance - hated it. Now with my nearly perfected machine applied binding, I'm happy as a clam. None of these quilts are technically for me, so I'm Ok with that. 

Custom quilting used to be a chore as well.  Everything needs to be precise, lined up and super pretty. Custom quilting used to scare me. Well the more I do, (like everything), the more I'm happy with the results. Remember - 10,000 hours in order to be a master of a technique.  And for the record (and since I love numbers), 10,000 is the equivalent of 416.67 days.  Not EIGHT hour days, but TWENTY FOUR hour days. If we look at the 10,000 hours in view of a 40 hour week, that is 250 weeks.  Or FIVE years of full-time concentrated effort to become a master of something. Just saying.......

So back to the custom quilting - I had this great modern quilt to do for a customer.  I wanted it to be nicely quilted, but also not spend hours and hours on it.  The customer picked it up last night and I'm happy to say that I'm really happy with the results. Why???  

Customer quilt - DONE

Detail of quilting

My new motto is work SMARTER, not harder.  So instead of measuring all those lines with a ruler, I did, in fact, use a ruler to get the straight edge, but I did NOT measure. I free handed the entire quilt.  And I LOVED doing it.  I think it turned out just great and I've now coined the term - casual custom which is going to become my new best friend.


Once that quilt got done, I had to do some cleanup.  I cleaned out my purse which was a disaster and I found the last charm for my Missouri Star Charm collection.  Now all I need is to replace the flower shop pin for the charm!

Collection of Missouri Star charms

With all the cutting and trimming, my scrap basket was overflowing. Time to get some pet mats together. I don't even know if I should continue with them, but hopefully, once winter comes, the kitties will appreciate them.  If anyone knows of a feral cat project - let me know.  I'm not even close to touching what's under the long - arm, these scraps are just from my own cutting.

Overflowing scrap basket

Which is now empty

I made one new cover for a cat bed and sewed three others closed that had been sitting around for a while.

New cat beds

The studio is somewhat clean. Oh, who am I kidding. It's not even close!  When Heather, Jane, and Helen Anne were over on the weekend, I did NOTHING to clean up - no time. I'm sure they all went home with a greater appreciation for what a huge mess I've gotten myself into!

I washed the backing (flannel) for the next quilt (which is MINE!).  Hopefully, I'll finish the top tonight and get it all loaded on the long arm. If I'm lucky, I might even get to quilt it tonight. That would be the icing on the cake if that happened.

There are a few more URGENT quilts to make before next week, it's going to be crazy, but by the 15th - it'll all be over. The rush will be done!  DH says UNTIL you pick up the next contract. Well after the 15th, there are still TWO more quilts for contracts, but they are spread out and the ONLY ones that are due.  Can't wait!!!!

On that note, it's time to get some work done.

Have a super day!

Ciao!