When plans go awry

 Yesterday did NOT go as planned. Where have you heard that before? I would be embarrassed to check the date the box of long-arm supplies arrived at my house (Nov 21, 2021), but let's say it was a few years ago and it's been sitting there in pristine shape ever since. 

So imagine my surprise yesterday when I opened the box to pull out the leaders, only to discover that I had bought ONE leader, not a set of three. Good grief!!!!! 

Here is the situation with the long arm. You can see that the bottom leader is in bad shape, as with 20 years of repeated use, the right-hand side is badly stretched. The quilts still load OK, but the leader has seen better days. 

The bad shape of the leaders

Thankfully, I had only pulled one leader off the machine; otherwise, I would be in trouble while I waited for new leaders to arrive. I've already put in a request for TWO new leaders. I pin my quilts to the leaders - I do NOT float them. At first, everyone used to pin; then people floated because it took less time. But I think people are moving back to pinning (or attaching the bottom of the quilts somehow) because it is way more accurate than floating. 

But what I found under the leader wasn't good news. Those things are glued on with an inch-wide swath of glue. Oh joy!!!

The leaders are attached with a wide swath of glue.

That means the glue has to be removed somehow. I was going to use my GooGone to make that happen, but when I went to the laundry room to find the bottle, it was GONE! Seriously? I can't even blame anyone in the house for that because DH probably doesn't even know what the stuff is. Obviously, I was using it for something and never put it back. I still haven't figured out what that was. 

As I was sewing in the morning, I decided to try scraping the glue off with my screwdriver. I was changing the stitch plate on my sewing machine and had a screwdriver in my hand. That will work, but I need a wider tool. I opened the door to the cold storage room under the stairs, but it is filled with boxes for the sewing machines, and I had no desire to wade through them to reach the paint supplies and tools at the far end.  

Scraping the glue with a screwdriver

Did I mention that I was exhausted even with a nap and had zero desire to do anything? I contacted my friend and said I had a problem, and we settled on a plan where I went to her house to reload TWO leaders for her! 

When I arrived, her husband had scraped all the glue off her two rails, and they were nice and clean, with a touch-up of Goo Gone to remove the remaining residue. I need a husband like that. I mentioned it at dinner, and I got zero response!

Between what she had seen on YouTube and my tips from Jenny at Quilt Canada, we quickly got those new leaders on!! Yep—it works best with two people, but as we were working, I had an idea, and I will share it with you as soon as I get all the glue off my rail. 

The new leader on the long arm

I brought home their scrapers and Goo Gone in hopes of getting the glue off my machine and then loading the new leader. This will allow me to get back to quilting. That will be my goal for today. 

I found scraping to be a very messy, hard-on-the-hands job. So I'm going to take it in baby steps. 

I managed to get this section done with my supervisor watching. I used the old leader to protect the stuff under the long arm from getting covered in little bits of glue. It's going to be a long slog to make that happen, but I have all day. Then reloading the new leader shouldn't be an issue, even if I tackle it myself. I have a secret weapon. Plus I have an extra pair of hands if I need them. 

MOM - you are doing a great job!

And I still need to sew the metal bits into a channel on the bottom edge, to help load the quilts. It will take all day, but I have all day! I'm OK with that. 

It's just the procrastination that shocks me. I'm happy to wait things out for a very long time. Why is that? However, I am happy in a way because I didn't know about the magnets when I got the new leader, and I was going to install channels for the dowels and plastic clips. So it was good to wait, but I didn't need to wait that long. 

This is how Murphy handles the heat. The second we came inside from her walk, she ran outside and plunked herself in her small pond. We have a larger one, but it's so unwieldy to handle, and she manages just fine in this one. I think she went in multiple times because when I came back from Lexi's walk, there was water all over the floor.

MOM - I LOVE my pool

And then she sat outside with me in the evening. It was beautiful outside, and I was really thinking I should tackle some weeds, but I did not. I had a decent sleep, so I should be good for the day. And when it cools down a bit this evening, I can tackle one section of the backyard and those weeds. 

Murphy and I hanging out in the backyard.

I managed to put together a scrappy quilt backing for one of those eleven community project quilts I promised to do for someone. 

I started off with this stack of fabric and ran out, so I grabbed a bit more from the stack for the next quilt. 

Making a scrappy quilt backing

And here is the scrappy backing. 

The scrappy quilt backing

I still have this blue flannel to use on the remaining quilts. It's the small stack of blue on the left, as I had to use the piece in the middle for the backing above. After this one, there are still four that need backings. I may or may not have enough blue flannel for them all. And if I run out, then I'll grab another color from the storage room. 

The remaining four quilts

My goal is to use up all the blue flannel. The small bits go in the white bag and will be used to make scrappy quilt blocks for another quilt. Then the blue flannel will be used up! I'm getting there, and there are still several baskets of flannel in the storage room. Slow and steady, and it will get used up. 

But as I was looking around Studio B, with no immediate project pending, I spotted this. Actually, I was looking for something specific, which prompted me to go into this laundry basket. 

Two laundry baskets of clothing for T-shirt/memory quilts

Actually, there are three laundry baskets of T-shirts for three different people. If I were smart, I'd start by hacking off the bits I want to keep and get rid of the bits that I will not be using. That would reduce those baskets to possibly ONE. That would be a good mindless thing to do. I may do some of that in between scraping glue off the long arm. 

One more basket of T-shirts

And this was my quote in my morning tea. Yep --- so true!!!

Quote of the day

Oh my -- I have a date with Brooke this morning, and I'd better get this post edited and scoot out the door. 

Have a wonderful day. Stay cool - however you manage and travel safe, wherever you go. 

Ciao!!!


PS --- There is a Virtual Retreat on Saturday (starting at 6 PM) and another on Sunday (starting at 3 PM). I'll post the links on Friday.