Choosing a Name

I am not in the habit of naming things

like cars and sewing machines, 

but I don't want to keep referring to 

my new APQS George as "George."

(not to be confused with DH's good friend 

George who lives near Atlanta)

After considerable vetting of names,

I have settled on Max.

Why Max?

REASON NUMBER ONE

Max was a large Siamese cat

who moved in with DH's family

back when DH was in middle school.

I first met Max over Thanksgiving break

during my junior year of college

when I went home with DH to meet his mother.

Important Notes:  

DH grew up with cats.

I grew up with D-O-G-S.

After a 10+ hour drive

from Michigan to Pennsylvania

I left my suitcase open on the guest room bed.

Later, when I stepped back into the room,

there was Max, sleeping in my open suitcase.

- I - totally - lost - it - 

"THERE'S A CAT IN MY SUITCASE," I shrieked.

DH and his mother fell over laughing

at how nonplussed  I was.

Max raised his head, flicked an ear,

washed a paw, and went back to napping.

Turned out that Max was ever the gentleman cat

who loved nothing more than fetching a small paint brush

that had been tossed down the basement steps.

Those memories of Max still make me smile 40+ years later.

REASON NUMBER TWO

Need I say more?

Quiltdivajulie

Meanwhile On the Other Side of the Room

Max, my sit down long arm, 

lives in the sewing studio

along with my Bernina and my pressing table.

I never intended to add "bling" to Max

but somehow the time just seemed right.

The Mind over Matter sticker is 

such a good reminder when I sit down to stitch on Max . . . 

and the power tool sticker makes my family laugh.

These are the other new stickers . . . 

If you supersize the photo, you'll be able

to see the name MAX on the boat's hull.

Great visuals that remind me to relax and enjoy the process.

(I named my machine for the character Max

in Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are)

So this is the new look Max is sporting.

That's Jingle Bells peeking through Max's throat area.

I'm hoping to get it quilted  this week.

Since I've leader-endered enough segments to make

all of the blocks for Dumpster Diving 10 - Do Tell,

I have pulled out Gerful as my next leader ender project.

Gerful means wild and wayward

which is a most suitable name for a quilt made with

scrappy brights on blacks and assorted colorful prints.

My original design called for a mix of 6" and 3" HSTs.

After the larger blocks (above) were sewn together,

I changed my mind and decided to go with all 3"

 using the tried-and-true "depression" block instead.

Truth be told, I have several HST quilts in the works.

I used my die cutter to prep a variety of projects

during the early months of the pandemic.

(you can read about them near the bottom of THIS PAGE)

Since the case count in our county 

is now increasing by 300-800 a day,

we're quickly reaching levels for

restrictions to return once again -

which means it is time to make some

 "wintery" masks to supplement our summery ones 

for the few times that we do go out of the house.

Quiltdivajulie

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“Put your ear down close to your soul and listen hard.”

Anne Sexton

 

Shifting Gears and a Grandson Update

Max (my APQS George sit down long arm) at work

Wilkommen has been sandwiched

and marked using Barb's Baptist Fan stencil.

As I quilted the first couple of rows,

it occurred to me that I hadn't shared

Max's revised/upgraded set up.

DH hung two light bars overhead.

Older tracking lighting pieces/parts

updated with a fresh coat of paint

and new not-hot lightbulbs

definitely reduce eye strain.

We also designed an extension table

hinged from the back of Max's table

and supported by two fold-up legs.

(the extension section can be folded down flat 

against the back of Max's table when not in use)

That additional space and support

for the quilt behind Max's stitching area

makes a huge difference.

(the unit near the front of this photo is Max's bobbin winder)

After watching Christina Cameli's Craftsy classes,

I tried her idea to remove the thumb and forefinger

portions of my quilting glove.

SO much easier to pick up stray threads,

remove basting pins / Pinmoors,

and change the bobbin/thread the needle.

Still some more quilting stitches to complete

but I hope to have a finish ready to share next week.

Mr. Adorable holding his daddy's finger

And now for an update on our grandson --

Mr. Adorable is 2-weeks-old today.

His IVs have been removed

and he's beginning to gain weight.

3 lbs. 7.5 ozs. at birth,

he dropped to 3 lbs. 6 ozs.

but is now at 3 lbs. 12 ozs.

(That's a tiny feeding tube in his nose -

he manages a little breast milk from a bottle

but the rest is fed through the tube)

Evenings are devoted to 

cuddle time with his parents

so we visit during the late afternoon.

NICU is an amazing place.

Quiltdivajulie

Studio Part 1 - Blame It All on Max

Max's arrival in the studio has had quite a ripple effect.

(Max is my APQS George sit down long arm)

One of the big changes is that my Bernina 153 

moved from the design studio down the hall

to the recently-vacated closet opening in my sewing studio.

You can see it in the heavy rolling cabinet above.

DH being who he is, 

agreed that the remodeled-three-times cart was indeed

clunky and not very user friendly.

So he designed a whole new table with larger work surfaces.

This table has adjustable fold-up legs and wheels 

AND it fits in the back seat of the car

for weekend or week long classes.

(it does need a two person carry up and down the stairs)

I added a bulletin board

to keep track of my projects and ideas.

The far left column is for "waiting to begin" 

and/or "seriously stalled" projects.

I really like being able to see this list at a glance

because it has already cut down on my

"I could do that" responses.

(sometimes known as the "Squirrel!" response)

The second column is for "Work in Progress"

which includes my RSC projects and others.

The third column is for tops/backs 

waiting to be quilted with Max.

The final column is for "finishing" details

like binding, photo shoots, reveal posts, 

and Quilt Album entries.

I have notes for everything in binders,

but having a comprehensive visual out in the open 

helps keep me on track.

(out of sight = out of mind)

There has been a LOT of doodling lately.

I'm working to build muscle memory

for free motion quilting designs.

(Max does not have a stitch regulator

so whatever happens stitch-wise depends on 

my being able to stay steady)

Quilts need batting . . .

I was delighted when I figured out that

the roll of Hobbs 80/20 fit perfectly

underneath my large drafting table.

(Gotta love DH's all-from-his-stash

pipe, rope, and carabiner suspension system)

As of Saturday's mail,

I now have two of Jamie Wallen's straight edge rulers.

(I want to break them in with some cross hatching on the runner)

Notice those Baptist Fans on the sample under the rulers?

I've doodled pages and pages of them

but these were the first batch I tried stitching

without any kind of marking.

I am quite pleased.

And this is also known as happiness in a box.

Twelve colorful cones of Glide thread.

These will make Max happy, too.

* * *

p.s.  

Check out the gently used books

that need a new home

by visiting my Possibilities blog.

Quiltdivajulie

Just 80 Minutes - Update One

photo courtesy of Google Images

I have spent hours and hours

 (and hours!)

aspiring, doodling, reading, and studying 

the quilting work of others.

(many of whom are big-time professionals

and use stand-up longarm machines)  

I have watched and re-watched

my Craftsy and iquilt online classes.

And this week I made a very big decision.

* * *

I can free motion quilt using Max

 (my APQS George sit down longarm)

AND 

I can do that stitching in a way 

that makes me happy.

* * *

I am, 

after all, 

a liberated quilt maker,

so I shall also be 

a liberated free motion quilter.

Front view - placemat number 1

Our younger son needed some new placemats

so he chose fabrics from the resource boxes.

This one features my version of a liberated spiral square.

I folded a 3" x 3" post it note into quarters

and traced around it to get my starting square.

The rest was done free form

without rulers or marking.

I like it.

More importantly,

I would be willing to try this

on a baby quilt or smallish lap quilt.

Front side

Next I tried a liberated circular spiral.

I traced a small round circle as a starting point.

From there, I kept stitching around and around

until I maxed out the circle at the upper/lower edges.

The corners were filled in one at a time

echoing the previous curves.

Reverse side

I have admired this design for a long time

but the online tutorials all involved 

the use of a walking foot and a DSM.

I wanted to see if Max and I could pull it off.

(there's a button for Max in the sidebar)

We DID pull it off and I really like the texture.

I will use this design again.

Front view

Next I tried my free form wavy lines.

I have done this for years 

with my DSM and walking foot

so I wanted to see how Max would take to 

what I have always called "Ripple Quilting."

I liked the texture using my Bernina

but I love the texture Max's stitching creates.

Reverse side

I will absolutely use this free form design

(that involves zero marking)

again and again and again.

This was the "before" look

for placemat number four.

I had stitched out several samples

using what I call my

 "Liberated Crushed Box" design.

I knew that I could do it,

but that large flat for-real surface

can still be pretty intimidating.

Deep breath in.

Deep breath out.

Front view

Things went well for the first little while

 but as I stitched, it became painfully obvious 

that a needle change was in order.

Out came the instruction manual

(I had been stitching on the factory installed needle)

Completely do-able, 

but definitely trickier 

than a DSM needle change.

The needle change of course 

led to bobbin thread breakage.

Back to the instruction manual's 

troubleshooting section - 

I now understand

there's a very fine line between 

the "right" position for the needle

and the "askew" position.

A bit of tweaking and Max and I

were happily back to stitching.

Then it was over to 

my trusty Bernina

to attach bindings.

One side of the four finished placemats.

The other side of the reversible placemats.

* * *

I count this week's Just 80 Minutes effort 

as a complete success.

DS has his new placemats

which means I can now cross them off my list.

I have tested, practiced, refined and used

four different liberated FMQ designs

that I can and will use again.

* * *

My Just 80 minutes goals for this week

involve the AQS Chattanooga show.

 (1) preparation for and participation in my all-day class

Abstract Quilts in Solids with Lynn Harris,

(2) my Author Showcase presentation

for BUILD A BARN, 

and 

(3) experiencing and photographing the 

SSOBB Gallery Quilts Special Exhibit.

Quiltdivajulie

Delay of Game

Wednesday afternoon I started quilting 

Dumpster Diving 8 - Bella.

I stopped to change Max's needle but

when I took the first test stitches the new needle broke.

Arrrrgh!  

This was the first needle break since Max arrived in 2016.

Thursday morning, with an APQS video pulled up on his tablet,

DH removed Max from his table and got to work.

My pressing table has become the new work table.

I set up a small work station at the other end

of the pressing table and started trimming the large pile

of oversize four part units into 2.5" squares for Smitten.

(I needed to stay close by while "helping" as his assistant)

I am so grateful DH understands machines 

and has his array of tools to use.

By late Thursday afternoon,

Max's bobbin area been cleaned and

his re-set timing tested three times with far too many

loopy thread nests on the back of the practice sandwich.

So Friday DH and Angie from APQS Tech Support

will work together by phone and/or Zoom 

to figure out why Max isn't happy yet.

And by the time we stopped late Thursday afternoon

I had trimmed a total of 250 2.5" four patches for Smitten.

Fingers crossed that  Friday's repair session 

will have a happy ending.

Quiltdivajulie

-----------------------------------------------

“Your attitude is like a box of crayons that color your world.  Constantly color your picture gray, and your picture will always be bleak.  Try adding some bright colors to the picture by including humor, and your picture begins to lighten up.”

Allen Klein

Changes in the Quilt Studio

Quite a while ago, this folding black table

moved into this spot beside Max's table -

it helps support the quilt sandwich when FMQ-ing.

But it was also ALWAYS in the way when

I needed to access the thread drawers.

So . . . .

Since my birthday is next month,

I did some brainstorming/shared my ideas with DH.

This is my new nine-drawer Alex unit from Ikea.

(there were a total of fifty pieces to be assembled -

five for each drawer plus the outer frame)

It holds all of my threads -

Glide for Max lives in the four deeper drawers

and the Aurifil threads (and others) for my Bernina

live the the not-so-deep drawers.

 

And this is my new five-drawer Alex unit.

It lives to the right of Max's table 

and holds the timing and other tools,

my extra FMQ gloves and magnifiers,

and assorted other FMQ related items.

(this one only had thirty pieces to assemble)

Here it is from another angle

along with my rolling Ikea cart 

that snugs up beside me when I'm quilting.

One of the biggest reasons I wanted the shorter Alex unit

was so I could get rid of the hard-to-use Sterlite drawer unit

that used to live under Max's table.

Now the contents of that old unit are easier to access

AND the floor under Max is easier to clean.

(and those drawers that used to house my thread

have now been put to use holding items

that are far less frequently accessed

which happily reduced the creeping clutter)

* * *

I'm so glad that DH went ahead with my suggestion

and didn't make me wait another month!

Be back again on Monday -

hopefully with a finished kitchen table quilt

for September.

Quiltdivajulie

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“Working in white makes people look into. It.  White is ethereal.  There’s a purity to it, it makes things look elevated in a way.  There’s a whole palette of white . . ..”

Jonathan Milne