A Time of Tears

Last week, our community lost 4 young lives in a tragic car crash.  One of those beautiful teens was my friend’s daughter, Kelly.  There are just no words.    We’ve pulled together, we’ve arranged, we’ve coordinated, and we’ve been there for my friend.  Our community, schools, and kids are grief stricken.   It has been such a tough week here – in fact, one of the toughtest….

Here is a photo of our beautiful children – at the Celebration of Life for their friend- happy to see each other again, but wishing the occasion was different.

I wish I had answers.  I wish I had words of comfort.  I wish there was something, anything, I could do to make the pain and sorrow less.   I hope I never, ever have to help another close friend make funeral arrangements for their child.   The outpouring of love and support from the community has been overwhelming.   Kelly’s school, Sarasota Military Academy,  handled two funerals this week with a dignity, grace, and class that is beyond words.  

Life is so precious, valuable, and fragile.   We are blessed in our community, we are blessed in our friends.   Treasure it all….

I Couldn’t Make This Stuff Up If I Tried…

While I was desperately trying to figure out what was going on with the machine, my friend Teresa in CA was having the exact same issues!  We’ve burnt up the e-mails trying new ideas!   Now, I figured we installed the new wheels wrong – if you are off the space of a small washer, it is enough to throw the balance off.  I ordered yet another set of wheels, just to make sure!  The Edgeriders arrived, and my wonderful hubby got them installed.  We tightened down everything, and nothing!  Still claketing, still vibrating.  

He listens to the motor, and realizes this noise is in the motor.  We pulled it apart, again, and replaced the belt, instead of tightening – and now we’re in business!  The noise is gone, but the vibration, to my horror, isn’t!   I’m just under $400 in wheels, and freaking! 

Teresa’s husband discovered that if he put workout weights on the motor of her machine, the vibration stopped, so she’s back in business!   So, my son added one of his adjustable ankle weights to my motor:

They are the adjustable weight – weights, so you can add or subtract weight via the little metal tubes:

So, now I’m thinking I’ve got it!  It worked for Teresa right?  Nope.  It’s better, but still vibrating pretty badly in certain spots.  I’m ready to apply for the night shift job of stocking shelves at Wal Mart!  Teresa said no!  LOL!    I’ve changed, adjusted, weighted, tightened and invested gobs of money in wheels – it’s not the motor, it’s not electrical, it’s not the stitch regulator (because the stitches are fine) it’s not the wheels, so my last ditch effort centered around the table.  I went to Home Depot, had 2 x 4′s cut, and here’s what we ended up with:

That is the front view.  Here’s a picture from under the table:

Now, the vibration has stopped!  And she’s running fine!  I’m of course, exhausted….LOL!!!  I’m really glad that there are so many longarm quilters that are so ready and willing to share ideas, and help each other.   For whatever reason, machine vibrations seem to be the topic of the month, so if this post can help some else regain their sanity, that would be great – then maybe they could help me find mine!!  LOL!!

I’m really looking forward to getting back to normal!  It has been a slow process, and I’m not fully recovered, but am really looking forward to quilting!   Schedule wise, I have a custom/show quilt to do for Pam, so stay tuned for the pics, and will be accepting quilts after that!

I’m Still Alive!

I know – it’s been way too long, but am back among the living!   I had some health issues, and had a surgery to correct.  What I wasn’t aware of, is the second subsequent surgery and bone graft, a week after the first.  Trying to recover from two really knocked me for a loop, and I aplogize for the absence.  I’m on the road to recovery, and have had all post op visits and clearance from surgery 1, and surgery 2, well the jury is still out! 

So, maybe 2 weeks ago, I decided to try quilting on the machine, finally!  First, prior the first surgery, the machine started acting funny, and was losing power, so I couldn’t use it!  Luckily, I have wonderful friends here, and Rose generously allowed me to quilt a few on her machine!  And Eileen Barchi of Kindred Quilting also jumped in and did a couple quilts that I was not able to complete!  My family was wonderful, and my Dad flew down and hung out for 2 weeks.  That was cool because we’ve never had the opportunity to just hang out!  So, despite health issues, I am surrounded by Blessings!  I would also like to thank the following shops (in alphabetical order) for being so wonderful, and letting everyone know what was going on:  Cotton Patch, Patches Galore, and Sew Worth It – you guys have been a wonderful support! 

So, back to the machine!  Luckily, I have the absolute best Gammill dealer in the world, Pat’s Calico Cottage in GA.  I called Richard, and told him my machine was losing power.  He shipped a box of parts for the repair.  We were thinking it was electrical, so the odds on getting the machine up and running weren’t very high!   A couple days later, Richard calls, and he said, this has really been bugging me – I don’t think it’s electrical because Gammill had my machine a few months ago, and all that was checked.  I think it’s your motor belt.  Sure enough, when my husband got home, he took everything apart, and the belt was loose, so we tightened it up, and thought we were good to go! 

The other thing I did while the machine was down was purchase new wheels for it.  When I did my test run a couple weeks ago, the machine was making the worst clackety clack sound I’ve ever heard, and it was bouncing around and vibrating pretty bad.  So, we checked, re-checked and no results….

I’m going to end this post, and start another, with pictures so you can see what a longarm quilter goes through to get quilts finished!

Thoughts on Quilt Shows, and Avoiding Quilting Disasters

I’m running around desperately to get ready to leave for the World Quilt Show in Palm Beach!  I’m looking forward to leaving the guys at home, and shopping for new threads, rulers, and ideas for quilting!   Mancuso puts on a beautiful, professional show, and I’m pretty excited to be attending! 

What I love about attending the professional shows is that full credit is given to all participants on the quilt in the showbook, and on the winner’s list.  It is really frustrating for many longarm quilters to pour your heart and soul into a quilt, and walk into the show, just as excited as the quilt owner, and NOT see your name in the show book, or the winner’s list, when the quilt has been entered in the GROUP category.    The opinions on this issue are pretty strong, but I know for fact that many of us in the business of quilting want our local guilds and groups to succeed in quilting, and many of us contribute toward that end.  But, to then be excluded from something you are really excited about seems like a kick to the stomach.   It is really devastating to many longarm quilters when this happens.  It is not about the business, but about the excitement of working on a beautiful quilt,  and being excluded. 

So, that is enough of my soapbox for today – I am looking forward to the World Quilt Show, where all quilters are recognized for their hard work! 

Below are some photos of a beautiful quilt, here with very gracious permission from the quilter.  I wanted to get this information out to everyone before I left.  I don’t know how many times I’ve used a marker in quilting, but it’s been a lot!  I’m pretty sure I’ve also used one to mark batting before using it for trapunto also.  This quilt had batting behind the appliques, and when water hit it, the marker ran.   She has been unable to get the ink out of this beautiful quilt.  I am one of those people that remembers things when you show it to me, so here are the photos of what happens when we use a marker to construct our quilts: 

Marker used to trace heart on batting behind the applique

Full View

Bullseye!!!

Full Quilt

It’s been a great week here in Pink Feather world!   Pink hair, show quilt, and a whole bunch of bullseyes!  

 I had a great time quilting  Will’s show quilt!  It is a quilt that I call all borders!   Very challenging for the longarm quilter!   I learned lots from Carla Barrett at MQS this year, with an on-line refresher, that now makes borders and sashings fun to do!  I added a little creativity of my own in the bird strips, and the end result is stunning! 

Close Up

 

Even better was the delivery of this quilt!  No one could actually belive that this crazy quilter would actually go out in public with flourescent pink hair with bats in it!  Yep, I sure did!  This time of year, a longarm quilter doesn’t get out much, so we have to really enjoy it when we do! Will was mortified, but he was a good sport about it!  That’s why I love him! 

Am I Will's Dream Come True? Or his Worst Nightmare?

 

I also finished Linda’s Pumpkin Quilt!  This one is stunning!  I was so excited about being able to quilt the border designs she drew, that I didn’t get a very good picture of the rest of the quilting – but it’s a cool quilt, so here it is! 

Linda's Pumpkin Quilt

 

Then there is Susan’s Bullseye Quilt!  I am so excited about how this one quilted!  I had a great time working on

Bullseye Borders

it, and she will pick it up tomorrow.

Bullseye - Full ViewBullseye Borders

It’s been a great week here, and the momentum is going strong!  I will be at the Mancuso show in Palm Beach next week, leaving hubby, teenager, and fur kids behind!  I’ve got some gorgeous quilts coming up this week also, so stay tuned! 

Quilt Talk Radio!!!

I’ve had quite a few people ask me about this, so I’ll post it here for everyone!  As most of you know,  when I quilt, I always, always, always, have the radio on!  I listen to talk radio most of the day because I just hate to miss anything!  At night, it’s usually obscenely loud rock and roll music, and I tend to play the same songs over and over, which drives my husband insane! 

Recently, I became aware of a new talk radio show by Mark Lipinski!  It’s called Creative Mojo, and it is beyond fabulous!  I find it so refreshing to be quilting away in the studio, and listening to quilting talk radio!   If you are not yet familiar with Mark Lipinski, you should be!   He’s funny, upbeat, creative and is bringing issues to all quilters on this new show. 

I do not have an i-pod yet (gasp!) and my teenager flat refused to let me download “quilty” stuff to his!!!  I can’t imagine why, but there it is…..So, I listen to the stream on my laptop.  All the episodes can be found at the link below, and for those of you with i-pods or i-phones, you can subscribe direct at i-tunes and get it as a podcast. 

Check it out because he has guests that discuss art quilting, traditional quilting, embellishing, and issues we all face as quilters, like organizing our stash!  He’s had excellent guests on how to stimulate your creativity, and as a quilter, I really appreciate the variety of segments.  If you want to know what is going on within the industry, from how to get magazines, to new tools, new fabrics, to upcoming cotton pricing, then this is the show!  Enjoy! 

http://toginet.com/shows/creativemojo

Challenging Quilts – Post 2

There were too many pics for one post, so here are the finished photos!

Finished and Beautiful!

 

Finished!

 

View of Quilting on the Back

Back - Block View

So, you can see that despite running into problems on an older quilt, they can be finished, and beautiful!  I hope my quilting has done an honor to Genny’s work.  Sometimes, there are un-forseen issues, and sometimes they just pop up, especially with an older quilt, but with creative solutions, good friends, and changing up a quilting design to accomodate any piecing issues,  you can finish a project with a beautiful outcome for all! 

Happy Quilting!  Cindye

Challenging Quilts

Yes, I know, it is embarrassing how long it’s been since I’ve updated this site!  It was a summer filled with losing the longarm from a power company issue, an injured kid, a blown up hot water heater, and an air conditioner that just died – I’ve had better summers!   I’ll try to get some pics up of my machine, and it’s travels! 

Today’s post is going to be about a very special quilt.  The quilt was dropped off, almost completed except for two borders, to a church.   The box was marked “Genny’s Quilt.”  The ladies at that church saw how beautiful the quilt was, and decided to have it finished, and auctioned, to benefit the charity funds for the church.    The blocks were all hand pieced, and the sashing and borders are all machine pieced.   We also know the quilt is pretty old, because the thread and the fabrics in the seams had started to come apart. 

This presents a unique challenge to the quilter!  LOL!  I did receive permission to post the pictures of the problems, and their solutions, and understand, this is a post on how to solve technical issues in quilting, not to bash them.  This quilt did have several problems, but it is just so beautiful, and the amount of work that went into it, my intention is to show that these older quilts are absolutely worth saving and finishing, and maybe I can show others how I accomplished the task!

A common problem in quilts is extra fullness in the borders.  What made this one challenging is that there were 3 borders sewn together!  After one frantic plea,  Deborahhhhhhhhhhh, (okay, maybe 2 or 3) how do I fix THREE at the same time without making it look bad?   She very patiently explained how to do it, and voila, it worked!  Below are pictures of before, during, and after.  The extra fullness was tucked in, on all 3 borders, and not easily seen on the finished quilt!  YAY!!!

Fullness in Borders

 

Fullness in Borders - Right side

Correction - Before Quilting - Thanks Deborah!

Finished Border - No Correction Seen!

Once the borders were corrected, it was on to the quilting!  Then, I discovered some wearing in some of the fabrics, causing them to seperate.  I did not want to quilt over them, creating more stress on older fabrics,  so I wanted to find some way to secure them before quilting.  Another friend, Rose, received a frantic phone call of one crazy, desperate longarm quilter, seeking the elusive Bo Nash polymer fuse, that we all SHOULD have, but don’t! LOL!  Luckily, she had some, and I set to fixing them before quilting! 

Fabric Wear - Separation

Now we are down to the fun part!  The borders are fixed, the holes are fixed, and I also changed up the quilting design in the pieced blocks to enable me to “hit” all the points in the piecing several times, to re-inforce all the separation in the piecing.  There will be a follow up post 2 to this one to show the finished pictures. 

Paws All Around!

Here’s a cute little quilt going to a very lucky baby!  The theme is Brown Bear, so we decided to quilt paw prints on it!  It is soooooo cute!  The photo below just goes to show that if the quilting designs are chosen carefully, and are appropriate to the quilt, and the piecer and quilter work well together, you really get something special.  This photo was taken during the quilting process because I was so excited about how cute the design is for this quilt!    And it gives a great visual for before and after!   A big thank you to Sandi for making such a cute quilt!

Here it is finished, but I had to crop the pic so you could see the quilting.  If I can get a better photo of the entire top, I’ll post later today. 

While we are still on the subject of paws, and how cute they are……  I had to meet a customer at the Cotton Patch Quilt Shop: http://cottonpatchquiltshop.com/ and look what I found!!!!!! 

Two pudgy little adorable basset pups!!   I work relief shifts at the Animal ER, and I’ve seen a lot of puppies, but  I simply cannot get over how precious these puppies are!   They are two of the cutest little potty factory’s you ever did see!  Tim & Laura are doing something right though, because they are already walking to the door to take care of their little puppy business!  Sweet, loveable and their fat little legs greatly increase their cuteness factor!   Puppy kisses with puppy breath can make anyone’s day!

My own little puppy was really cute too, until she figured out how to eat holes in the curtains:

So, I’ll have to end this post by asking:  Does it get any better?  Puppies and quilts!   Those paws, large, small, and quilted, always make their own imprints on our hearts, and smiles to our faces! 

What’s even cooler is I finally got my “smart” phone to do what I asked, so I was able to make this post!  In the next week or so, I’ll post some of the other pics I’ve taken!  

Have a great day!  Cindye

Finally!

Here’s another!  I got to play with design possibilities, and my new tablet stuff!  It is so much easier to e-mail design choices to someone on their quilt than me trying to describe what I’m thinking!    This is a beautiful quilt made by Will Owens.  He teaches several quilting classes and is a great piecer!  (No pressure there to do a nice job on the quilting huh?)   I’ll post pics in the next few days of the top he did for me – it is stunning!

The pics do not do justice to the beautiful shading effects he accomplished by using beautifully placed shades of the lighter fabrics for the backgrounds – you’ll have to trust me, this one is a work of art.  After seeing his fabric choices and placement, I now know why he offers a class in color.  If he is in your area, sign up!

Here is his quilt once I finished all the ruler/outline work on the stars.  I think there were something like a ba-zillion of them…

 

So what to do for the background?  Here are the two choices I drew and sent to him.  ***Important*** I quilt much better than I draw!  I’ll prove it to you here shortly! LOL!

Which did you choose?  Personally, I liked both designs, which is why it is so great I can now e-mail them! 

Here is what he chose, and is the proof that my quilting looks much, much better than my drawing!

Note the little feather/curl design between the stars in the border that I learned in Carla Barrett’s class at the MQS convention!

And finally, the back:

This quilt is gi-normous!  I’m so happy with the design he chose!  Although, I must admit, I’m still trying to decide if I am happier at how beautiful the finished quilt is, or if I’m just happy that my part is finally finished!  LOL!!