Going into withdrawal

 

My longarm isn't working and rather than put money in to fixing it I decided to get a new longarm.  I bought a King Quilter II Elite made by Handi Quilter.  The day after I paid for it they told me it would be backordered until sometime in November.  So I'm out of work for a few weeks.  I'm going into withdrawal!  The good news is I've been able to spend time piecing quilt tops, something I haven't had time to do in a few months.

I'm working on my Circa 1880 quilt.  This is a quilt with 2-1/2" blocks when sewn are 2".  It a beautiful quilt made with reproduction fabrics.  2 friends of mine from online groups finished their quilts and had them appraised.  One appraised for $5,700 and the other one was $7,000.  Both quilts had custom longarm designs and that's what I plan on doing to my quilt when I get it finished.  

I started the quilt in January.  The pattern designer said if you work an hour a day, 5 days a week, the quilt will be done in a year.  I'm making a queen size, which will need over 700 blocks and I have 375 finished now!

How to clean your iron using vinegar

It's just like using vinegar to clean a coffee maker or a steam humidifier. It softens the calcium deposits that can gunk up the vents or cause particles to break loose and cause leaks where once water was kept tight.

Step #1
Pour half water, half white vinegar into your iron. (Vinegar will not hurt your iron). Fill the iron, turn it on and let it sit for an hour. The auto-shut off will turn it off eventually, this is ok, just let it sit to soften the crud.

Afterwards, take the iron to the sink, hold it upright and shake it gently to loosen the crud. Then turn the iron upside down and pour the vinegar out of the iron.  Fill with water, shake and pour the water out.  If you've never cleaned your iron before repeat step #1 two more times.

Step #2
Add white vinegar to the iron, fill it to the top. Turn the iron on high, turn the steam to high and hold the iron horizontal over your sink.

Let the steam vent out until the iron is about half empty of vinegar. Then turn the iron upright, shake it gently as before and turn it upside down to pour the remaining vinegar out of the iron.

Fill with plain water, empty, fill with water again and repeat the process of venting steam until you're satisfied all the vinegar is out of the vents.  Now you've just added another few years of service to your iron! 


Note: This is the cutting board my husband made for me.  A tupperware colander fits perfectly.  I place a plastic cutting board on top of the colander and slide the veggies into the bowl of the colander as I go.

​

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.

Jolly July stitching

It's Christmas in July and I've started up cross stitching again, after a break of several years.  I made my daughter some Christmas ornaments, a pillow for my mantle and am now working on a piece that has 4 seasons I'll display in my kitchen.

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!

Professional Tote or Diaper Bag

I took a break from quilting to make my daughter and grandson a diaper bag.  I used a pattern called the Professional Tote by Laura Martell from the Creative Thimble.  I'm impressed with the quality of this bag!  It is durable and will last for years to come.  If you are looking to make a tote bag this one is high quality and feels just like a piece of luggage.  The pattern is written very well, it was easy to understand and follow. 

Note:  I didn't use decor bond as the pattern suggests.  Decor Bond didn't 'bond' and shrank when I tried using it.  I used Shape-Flex fusible woven interfacing (Pellon SF101) and it worked much better.  

Ruler work on a baby quilt

I made a baby quilt last summer called Color Therapy and I'm doing ruler work on it today.  Since it will be washed often I'm only doing a simple design on it.  It's a quilt for a baby girl.  I made it when I first heard my daughter was pregnant, not knowing if it was a boy or girl yet.  Wouldn't you know, she had a boy!  So this one is being put in my hope chest when it's finished.

Pocket Prayer Quilts

I found a sweet project tutorial that I had to pass along!  I hope you enjoy watching this tutorial and I hope you make a few for your friends!

I bought the cross charms and pins at Etsy online. I printed out the card on my computer!

Click here to download the prayer print out!

Here are 4 of the 12 I've made so far, they are easy to sew!

True Story