Friday, December 8, 2023
Saturday, July 16, 2022
The latest quilt top on my frame
I've taken a week off from stitching because I stretched a ligament on the side of my knee. Not wanting to make it worse I rested my leg for several days to give a chance to heal. Today I'm gingerly walking around my longarm frame to start a quilt for a customer. Here's a photo! You can't see it in the photo but I'm stitching the Linda's Daisies pantograph on it with pink thread.
Tuesday, June 7, 2022
A recent customer quilt
This quilt top is from a friend of mine who is also a customer. She found this top for $15 at the Scrap Exchange! The Scrap Exchange is a thrift store where any type of leftover materials can be donated. You might find a microscope, pool noodles, beakers from UNC or anything you can think of! Businesses, individuals and Colleges donate their leftover scrap/materials and you can buy it for a song.
Thursday, May 5, 2022
Old blue jeans
I love May in the Carolinas. It's always a wonderful day in May. This is the latest quilt on my frame. It's made out of old blue jeans. It's for someone who lives in Tennessee. I'm doing hand-guided quilting on this one. On my design wall is my progress on the ForeverMore BOM quilt. I haven't had much time to work on it lately.
Tuesday, July 20, 2021
Under my needle today
I'm having a fun day of longarming! This is under my needle this afternoon. A king size quilt 116" x 116" and it's getting the pantograph called Double Bubble stitched on it. The top was made by a friend of mine in Iowa and I'm shipping it back to her on Thursday!
Wednesday, May 19, 2021
A Great Buy Found on Marketplace
I recommend buying used machines! You can find some pretty good deals if you're patient enough to wait for them to come along!
Saturday, December 5, 2020
Ruler work
Tuesday, November 24, 2020
Great day to be quilting!
Back to longarming! I have a Quilt of Valor on today. On the wall behind the frame you see my current quilt top in progress. It's the Circa 1880 quilt I've been working on since last January.
Sunday, November 1, 2020
Perfect day to spend time quilting!
My first quilt on the new longarm is a customer quilt. I used a basting stitch for the first time and it was a dream! I'm going to love using this machine. This weekend it is cold and rainy in NC, a perfect day to quilt!
Friday, October 30, 2020
King Quilter Elite is set up and ready to go
My new longarm is set up and running. It took 10 hours total to assemble and level the frame, mount the machine and get it ready to sew. The shipment weighed 440 lbs and now I know why! The frame is all steel and is extremely well built. It is a very heavy frame.
I bought furniture sliders to place under the frame to make it glide over my wood floor. If you are buying a new frame I would recommend furniture sliders over the heavy duty casters. You'll save about $200 and the frame will glide effortlessly across the floor. Mine does and it is extremely heavy!
The only thing left to do is to attach the cloth leaders to the rails and I'll get that done today. After that, I'll load a quilt and be off running!
Update: All set and ready to go!
Monday, October 26, 2020
King Quilter II Elite longarm is here
I am happy to say 700 blocks are finished! If you've been reading my blog you'll know I've been making 2-1/2" blocks for quite some time. They will be assembled into the Circa 1880 quilt but not for a few more months. I'll need to assemble the frame and then get to know my new longarm machine that was delivered today. After that, I have 7 quilt tops from customers waiting for me so it will be awhile before I can piece the 1880 quilt together.
Tuesday, September 1, 2020
On the frame today
I've been longarming for several days and just realized I haven't posted a photo in awhile so here's the quilt top I'm working on today. I'm stitching the Pretty Posies pantograph on this king size quilt top.
We took a short trip to the mountains of NC last month. It's always so cool in the mountains and we had a wonderful time. We visited the Daniel Boone restaurant in Boone, NC and saw the sights near Grandfather mountain as well as Blowing Rock.
Saturday, July 18, 2020
Jolly July stitching
I'm longarming now, after a 2 week shut down due to repair needed on my machine. The covid delays made it longer than it would have been if times were normal. But I did get a lot of cross stitch done during that 2 weeks.
I'm working on a customer quilt this weekend and have 3 more customer quilts waiting for me. After they are finished I need to get busy on the 6 Quilt of Valor tops I've had waiting for me. I hope your summer is going beautifully and you get in a lot of fun stitching time!
Friday, May 22, 2020
Ruler work on a baby quilt
Sunday, November 3, 2019
Under my needle today
Thursday, June 20, 2019
Tip for Longarming: Check your Wide Backing
When I load backing on the quilt frame I use the grain of the fabric, not the cut edge. Here is an example of why it's important to check your wide backing.
This backing was wonky when it was wound on to the bolt. I'm sure the person cutting it did cut it straight as it came off the bolt. But as you can see, the fabric is cut way off the grain.
Be sure to check the backing and straighten the grain if it is off. If you don't want to straighten the grain, there is a simple solution...buy an additional 4 or 5 inches more after you've already added the 8" the longarmer needs.
Fortunately, this client sent a backing that had plenty of extra fabric so I didn't have to send it back.
Saturday, January 26, 2019
Is there a better way to spend a Saturday than quilting?
Monday, December 24, 2018
Home Tweet Home
The pdf download is on the right side of the page. This pattern calls for 1 jelly roll and yardage for the background and border. Her directions are spot on, too! I plan on making another one!
I made this wallhanging over the summer and it's also a free download. It's called Home Tweet Home, found at ModaBakeShop website. It's an easy pattern! You use the paper piecing technique to make the birdhouses.
Sunday, October 14, 2018
UFOs are on a roll at my house
But Northcott didn't put a kit together for the blue/brown colorway, so I had to put one together on my own. I found all the stonehenge fabrics to make this quilt.
Update: The quilt is finished and has been delivered. Here's the final product!