Chopin – A Passionate Quilter From Texas – I love to share my Quilting projects with other Quilters. My goal is to share my progress on projects that I am working on. I would love for you to follow along with me during my endeavors. I hope you enjoy watching me tackle new techniques and projects. Hopefully you can learn from my "hiccups" and mistakes and make your journey easier.

February 1, 2023

OMG and PHD for January 2023

Winter time in South Texas. We need new weather forecasters, Sunday it was 88 degrees and then on Monday it was 38 and has stayed in the 30’s and will be in the 30’s until sometime tomorrow IF they have it right. They have missed the boat for the last 2 years! Today we have mild ice on our trees, rain, and the Pines (about 85) have ice. Hate to see this and hopefully this will end tonight – Prediction for tomorrow 60 – today it is freezing – go figure. I am using my walking time to catch up on emails and posts and working on lovely Income Tax.

Rather than re-hashing what I have been working on in January and what goals I have accomplished this month can be found here where I have listed all the quilts I have quilted this month. I am now left with 10 quilt tops to hand quilt and this will be a project started slowly and probably take some time. I will decide if I select one to start on next week.

Saturday I finished the last of the tops that I was quilting (13 were sent to Rebecca for E to E quilting and she does an exceptional job to finish my quilts)! Check out the latest finish here.

Sunday I finished going through my fabrics in the Studio by putting back all the fabric I was pulling making backs for the 10 quilts I did. My room looks so neat and back in order, just a few more things to relocate! You can see I have 2 large rooms to play in. So spoiled.

I can finally see this wall without all those quilts that were hanging around to be quilted! LOL

Monday was back to walking and working on paperwork.

Tuesday morning I went through all my quilts, moving some to the overflow room in the house where I keep extra fabrics, yarn, embroidery thread and now folded quilts. I have found about 25 that require Labels (won’t let this happen again) and this is the room where I am putting the 13 quilts that Rebecca is working on. So far I have 3 from her to square, cut binding, and hand sew the binding with 3 more coming in a couple of weeks. Then there are 4 more waiting for me to bind from November/December. They are all large quilts. This was also my goal for January.

Of the 9 that I quilted, I have 3 finished binding, 2 that I am working on, and 3 that I need to cut the binding, sew them together, then sew them on the quilts and yup – they will be put with the other 2 that I am working on. Lots and Lots of hand work, but that is fine as all my quilts are quilted!

My one goal that I have not accomplished is to dust both rooms in the Studio, but I will put this one in my February to do list after I have finished the binding on the last 3 quilts!

For February I will start with adding binding on 3 quilts, dusting the Studio, and working on bindings.

Have a wonderful February and enjoy stitching!

Hugs,

Nanette

© Nanette Chopin Cook at Doitrightquilter.com 2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Nanette Chopin Cook and Doitrightquilter.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Linking To: My Quilt Infatuation; Confessions of a Fabric Addict; Finished or Not Friday ; Em’s Scrap Bag; BOM’s Away; Sew Fresh Quilts; Crazy Mom Quilts; Oh Scrap; Scrap Happy Saturday; Slow Sunday Stitching Quilt Fabrication Mid Week Makers; Peacock Party; Design Wall Monday, Scrap Happy Days, Quilting Patch Linky Party, To Do Tuesdays

January 30, 2023

OMIGOSH is Finished! – 30 January 2023

Just received an update from Rebecca! What a fantastic job, and a sweet compliment from her on my Quilt. “The piecing on this quilt is amazing!!!! That you could have so many tiny pieces, so many seams, and come out with a perfectly flat and square quilt top is so impressive, and made my job so much easier!”

Thank you Rebecca, my goal when I make a quilt is that out is square and flat and without issues because it may be me quilting it and if I send it out I want the quilter to enjoy quilting, not fight with a top! But you are the one with the talent – to be able to produce a quilt Edge to Edge that has the look of a Custom quilted quilt is just absolutely unbelievable! Thank you for doing my quilts!

Have a great week – Hugs

Nanette

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another. If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.
Kathy, Margaret, Deb, Nanette, Sharon, Karrin, Daisy, Connie, and Cathie.

https://www.elmstreetquilts.com/2022/06/one-monthly-goal-june-link-up.html

January 30, 2023

Happy Day was 28 January 2023! – Today is 30 January 2023

This post covers HQAL for 29 January 2023, To Do Tuesday, and would have included Slow Sunday Stitching, but I do believe I might have missed it!

I am BACK to the real world! Yea! The HQ16 is now put up and covered up! I have finished quilting 11 Quilts 4 Wall Hangings and 1 Table Runner. I have finished the binding on 3 of the quilts and all of the wall hangings and table runner! – Yea for me. I started on the “goal” of getting my backlog of quilt tops in 2022, but still had over 40 left to quilt. 12 were sent to Rebecca for Edge to Edge quilting (she is the Queen of E to E – absolutely no one else can do what this Lady can provide in professional long arm quilting!)

When I started in 2022I had over 40 quilts to be quilted. Somehow I did get some of the quilts finished earlier in the year! In November I sent 12 of the quilts to Rebecca for long arm quilting! That left me with 4 Wall hangings, a Table Runner, and 12 quilts to quilt on my long arm along with 10 quilt tops that will be hand quilted.

Of the 12 quilts, 5 are completely finished complete with binding. I sew my bindings on and then do handwork on the back side. I was having issues with my walking foot, and after speaking with my Husqvarna dealer we decided that I need new feed dogs and I knew I needed a new panel for the push buttons. My D1 is 20 years old now and really have not had a lot of problems with it. Clay cleans it for me. But this time it will go to the shop and they will do the maintenance.

I then set up my Husqqvara Sapphire Quilt 870 Quilter and will be adding the binding to the last 4 quilts I quilted last week. I started quilting the 23 December 2022 and finished 3 of the 16 that I would be quilting.

On 24 December 2022 Rebecca had finished York Lodge – it took 28 hours to quilt it and she is a beauty (I received it in January).

Here is where I started with some finishes on 1 January 2023.

For OMG for the Month of December I listed finishes on 2 January 2023.

On 3 January 2023, I listed where I wanted to be by the end of January with long arm quilting.

On 8 January 2023, I had made a lot of progress with getting bindings completed on the wall hangings.

By 14 January 2023, Rebecca had finished York Lodge, Radiant Feather Star, and Irish Mist and I had finished quilting binding some of my quilts.

On 16 January 2023, I was down to 6 more quilts to quilt.

By 18 January 2023, I was at a point where I needed a break from the long arm. I also knew that I had to finish preparing backing for the remainder of the quilts. I also had decided to start using bias binding for the quilts. When I do the binding for the 13 that Rebecca is quilting for me I will do bias binding, as most of the quilts are Show quality quilts. Especially York Lodge.

On 20 January 2023 I took a day off to look at the progress in my 2nd room in the Studio. I still have 10 quilts that will be hand quilted and wanted to move them to the Den. Then Clay took down the ‘portable cloths rack’ where it seemed all of the tops landed when I finished them. With it being gone forever, maybe from now on when I make quilts they will be quilted by me immediately, or send them to Rebecca!

Now this brings me up to Saturday, 28 January 2023. I finished all of the quilts with the exception of one quilt. It is called Capital T. She is 66″ x 66″ and I just could not bring myself to meander this quilt, so by bestest Quilter Rebecca will be receiving it on Thursday and will add to my 12 quilts. Additionally, I had just run out of steam for long arm quilting and refused to put the last one off for another month!!!

Here are the last 5 quilts from 21 January through 28 January 2023 that I have finished.

I have 3 quilts to cut binding for and after I complete sewing all the binding on the quilts they will go in the stack for hand stitching!

I have completed sewing the binding on 3 quilts, with 2 more that I am currently doing the hand stitching on the bindings.

I am hoping to be finished with them by mid-February or sooner!

I have two more projects to complete before I even begin thinking what I will do next! I have a overflow room in the house where I stash more fabric, batting, yarn, embroidery thread, etc. I want to straighten the closet and store some ‘utility’ quilts in it. I moved a large roll of Warm and Natural Batting to the Studio and it is now on the rail under the long arm table. After that is completed, I will put my Show quilts on the large quilt rack Clay built me a few years back. I am using my Z44 to display the quilts to be hand quilted in the Den.

When I have completed that project, I will have to dust both rooms in the Studio as there is white dust everywhere from the batting and long arm quilting. Yesterday I straightened all the fabrics in Studio Room 2 so that is a task that needed to be accomplished. I still have to decide where to move my printer paper, but that is for another day. But for now the room looks great to me. (Want to know what is in the white cabinet? it is filled from top to bottom with crochet yarn! When this room was first built I was not yet 100% into quilting and only did crochet! But that did not last long!)

Rebecca has finished quilting Stonefields, Pat Sloan’s Globetrotting, and working on OMIGOSH! She sent me pictures of the 2 finishes. They are beautiful! Perfect pattern selections.

Stonefields!

Pat Sloan’s Globetrotting BOM

Now you might know why I am always late in leaving comments to bloggers I follow. Starting 1 February I will be able to relax a little and just read what is going on in other’s quilting projects! Until then, have a great week, it will be cold and damp here in South Texas – like in the 30’s and 40’s with rain. Bet ice is coming to San Antonio and the Hill Country if the temps stay below freezing.

Hugs, and enjoy stitching.

Nanette

https://www.elmstreetquilts.com/2022/06/one-monthly-goal-june-link-up.html

January 21, 2023January 21, 2023

One Down – 6 to go and Slow Sunday Stitching – 22 Jan 2023

This is my 660th post! Wonder if I can make 1,000 someday! LOL Things are moving right along in getting the finishing the huge backlog of quilts quilted, Today I finished quilting a BOM that I made in 2013!

I used a backing fabric that has a very pretty swirling pattern and compliments the quilt. I also decided to do larger meandering rather than the smaller meandering I had been doing on the other quilts. I do free motion quilting on my HQ16, which is not computer driven. She is now 18 years old and with Clays assistance she runs better than when I purchased her! Now as the Operator if I would quilt forgetting things I should before quilting a quilt…….The mistake I made on this one – I did not run a stay stitch on the border and I had a small issue while quilting. I do wish I would have done the smaller meandering, but the quilt is quilted and I am happy!

Tomorrow I will do the binding and load the next quilt for quilting on Monday. Not sure which one it will be!

Have a great Sunday and do some Slow Sunday Stitching !

Hugs, Nanette

January 20, 2023

Happy Lazy Friday! – 20 January 2023

Happy Friday – I love Fridays as it provides me time to look back over the week as to my accomplishes! This week I have quilted all but 6 of the quilts that I am clearing out.

Yesterday I finished the last of the backs for them and then decided to do some rearranging. I moved all the applique quilts that will be hand quilted to the Den where I have my Z44 hand quilting frame. I decided it would be nice to have them displayed rather than hanging on a hanger. I may start on hand quilting sometime this summer after all binding is finished!

Now I only have 6 quilts hanging (along with the backing and the batting for the 2 white quilts not he left) waiting for their turn on the long arm! The clothes rack is destined to the garage for storage when all I am finished with the quilting.

I then moved all quilts that need hand binding to the Music/Overflow fabric room in the house. I have the 4 quilts that the binding had to be redone in December that I have to hand bind, along with the 3 that Rebecca sent me a couple of weeks ago.

When I have caught up on my quilting, a major dusting will take place in my 2 Studio rooms! I also need to straighten my fabric stash as I have been pulling fabrics here and there and they need to go back to where they belong.

So today – I have nothing planned except to just do what I feel like doing. I will start quilting tomorrow and hope to have the 6 quilts completed by the first of February!

Have a wonderful week-end – we will be watching all the NFL playoff games! Especially the Dallas Cowboys.

Hugs, Nanette

January 18, 2023

Moving Right Along!

Happy Hump Day! No walking today – yesterday I did over 13,000 steps so I figured I could take a day off since it was high high humidity and warm temperatures before the cool front decides to cool things off. No rain though.

Monday evening I decided that I needed a break from quilting. With the remaining 6 quilts to finish I also had 6 backs to prepare. So yesterday I selected and completed 3 backs for the following quilts.

I will finish the backings for these today or tomorrow. I will be using matching fabric for Boo’s and Bat’s but Moda Muslin or Bella Solids for the 2 quilts with a lot of white.

I will start quilting again either tomorrow or Friday. I hope to have one of the quilts loaded this evening.

Monday I remembered that I used to do bias binding for my quilts rather than cutting 2” strips WOF. So, I cut a piece of red fabric for the binding for the R&G Easy Peasy quilt that was 18” x WOF, and then cut into 2” strips. There numerous ways to cut bias binding but this is how I was shown how to do it in 2005. I also cut my bias strips using this method for my applique (stems) but they are cut at 3/4” wide.

I like my binding to be the same size on both sides of the quilt and always hand stitch the binding to the back of the quilt. The bias binding will give more than cutting the strips on WOF.

I took a picture 2 years ago of all the quilt tops I had waiting to be quilted! I think I have it narrowed down quite a bit. There were 40 at that time and then I made a few more! When the last 6 are completed there are 10 left to be hand quilted!

From This:

To This: (includes 3 with backings and the 3 on the left need backing prepared)

Quilts for Hand Quilting Remaining

I am hoping that by 1 February that the Clothes Rack will be dismantled and stored in the garage.

Have a great remainder of the week and week-end.

Hugs, Nanette

January 15, 2023

Only 6 More To Go!

I really thought I had the day going my way UNTIL I started quilting my Red and Green Easy Peasy quilt that had a problem before getting it loaded. But I fixed it yesterday and the quilt was ready for me to quilt today!

But it wasn’t finished with me yet! Here are the problems I experienced quilting it! Evidently the backing was not measured correctly as I only had 2” on each side! I did not realize this until it was loaded. I refused to redo the back so I just had to live with the problems it caused me! There were 4 times I ripped out some stitches! Ran out of bobbin thread 3 times, and to top it off I was not happy with my meandering. It took me 5 hours and a tired back but it is quilted! I squared it and tomorrow I will cut the strips for the binding.

I will not quilt tomorrow, but will get the binding Sewn on R&G Easy Peasy and prepare the backs for Boo’s and Bat’s and Southwest Texas Stars quilt. Tuesday will be a quilting day. The next 2 quilts are smaller and should go quicker. There will be PLENTY of backing this time

There are 4 quilts remaining to be quilted after finishing the 2 above. They will be started later in the week as I am beginning to get quilting burnout!

Have a great and happy stitching!

Hugs, Nanette

January 14, 2023

Progress is Rewarding! – 14 January 2023

It is a nice morning with temps in the 40’s and a great morning walk! I took 2 days off and really enjoyed the walk today. I love the days when I can start with the walk and be able to stick to my daily “to do” list. Productivity is important in retirement along with a “mild” schedule. It keeps me young and healthy (well, except when the extreme weather changes happen) !! LOL. Yesterday I spent the early morning visiting HEB – and left them a hefty amount of funds but saved about $35.00 with store coupons. I shop for the month and hopefully won’t see much of them again this month! (HA! won’t happen)

If you keep up with me I am on a mission to finish my “to be quilted” stack. Rebecca has finished 3 of the 12 quilts I sent her and I have now finished 9 projects, with 2 in the process of getting the binding them. I received the following 3 on Thursday!

I first want to show you the beautiful work that Rebecca did on York Lodge, Irish Mist, and Radiant Feathered Star. She is an amazing woman who has perfected the art of Edge to Edge quilting. I know of no other long arm quilter who takes the time to do each quilt and have them turn out absolutely perfect! The quilts will be entered in a local quilt show this year!

York Lodge (Quilt, Quilting, and Back)

Radiant Feathered Star (Quilt, Block and Back)

Irish Mist (Quilt and Back).

Next on the list of completions that I am quilting. Of course, I am only doing a Free Motion meandering on the quilts that I did not send to Rebecca. These are the fun quilts I made that will not be entered in any quilt show.

My Celtic Table Runner – Completed and in place!

The Geo Quilt – I am half way through the binding.

Backing

Blue Breeze Easy Block Quilt – Binding on and being worked.

Mrs Potts is completed!

I have completed 9 projects with one more being loaded today and the remaining 6 hopefully can be completed sooner than later! Check out the previously completed quilts.

I also was having issues with the Blue Easy Peasy binding – I prefer to use a 2″ strip for my bindings. This provides the same size of the binding on the top and back. It is tricky but it really makes the difference, especially when those darn Judges are checking for full bindings. Quilting my backlog of quilts is allowing me to get back into the swing of things. There are so many things to remember.

I started the binding on Blue EP only to begin to have problems with the Walking Foot and keeping my seam line straight. I had to put blue tape on the machine for a guide, and then realized I had been using the walking foot for my Husqvarna Sapphire sewing machine – not the one for my D1 Husqvarna. Error corrected!

Some ripping had to happen to get it right.

I was very careful in ripping the sew binding because I had used the last of this Moda Blue fabric in the quilt. I set the machine for a 1/4″ (at least I thought it was accurate) but when I started sewing the binding down last night I found that it was off about 1/8″ all the way around. It was going to be very hard on my hands to get the binding correctly sewn down.

At first I thought that I would just continue on with the hand binding, but today I decided that the best fix was to trim the edge of the quilt by 1/8″ – and it works!!! I have now adjusted the machine to sew an accurate 1/4″ so I will not have that issue again. It will become critical when I start squaring and adding binding to the quilts Rebecca has quilted because they are my quilts for quilt shows. If you look closely, you can see how I like the back of the quilt to look when I finish binding. The binding is the same size on the top and bottom!

Easy Peasy in Blue.

My next quilt was scheduled for quilting Friday, the Red and Green Easy Peasy quilt top. But as I took a rest break before I started loading the quilt, I happened to see an problem with 2 blocks when I had put the top together! Whew! A Good Friday the 13th! I would have been screaming and pulling hair if I had not caught this before I started quilting it. So after correcting Blue EP, I took the 1 and 1/2 hour to rip the 3 blocks out of the quilt and correct the mistake. If you look closely you will see where I had 2 blocks turned the wrong way where the diamond pattern is not correct.

The 3 blocks removed.

All is corrected now and I am going to prepare the backing and load this quilt. When it is quilted I will only have 6 quilt tops to machine quilt! The remaining 10 quilt tops are candidates for hand quilting, but sometime in the future!!!

It is time for me to get with the program and fix a back for this puppy, get it loaded, and end the day with a quilt ready to go in the morning! After Red Easy Peasy quilt I have 2 smaller ones to quilt and would like to have them done by next Tuesday!

Have a great week-end and happy stitching!

Hugs, Nanette

January 8, 2023

Slow Sunday Stitching – 8 January 2023

Good morning! It is a great morning for walking. Yesterday it was more summer like, today – in the 50’s with the North wind blowing on and off. Good walk! It is Cedar Allergy time here and last week was not fun. Today maybe my body has had enough to let the immune system fight it as it did not bother me that much during or after my early walk. Once the count gets to over 15,000 I feel it!

For the next month and into the remainder of the year, I will be working on getting 20 quilts quilted, squared and the binding hand done. This count did not include the 7 projects I had been working on. Here is my list of quilts to be done and until the 10 that I will be quilting are completely finished I will not make any new quilts (but there will be a list of “want to” make will be done eventually).

I am happy to say that I have 5 of the 7 completed that I started in mid-December 2022.

The remaining 2 will be worked on today and I will be loading another quilt today for quilting. (Mrs Potts and Celtic Table Runner)

I am so happy how this table runner turned out. I started it in 2004 (I think), quilted it the first time in December 2022 (which did not please me at all). I ripped it out (4 hours) and decided it needed a border. I found this beautiful piece of fabric in my stash and added it. Clay fixed the Regulator on the HQ16, I used Warm and Natural batting, and decided to quilt over the Celtic Design. It is stunning. The Celtic Design is 1/4” bias binding and hand needle turned applique. A Celtic design is very time consuming, but so pretty. I took a Class from Nancy Chong when I was very new to needle turn applique. I learned from Robyn Pandolph, Nancy Chong, and of course Elly Senkiewitz (was the Queen of Applique back then) to enhance my needle turn applique skills.

I used a Screen Print from Hoffman that I had purchased about 15 years ago for the backing. I was trying to save more of the fabric for other quilts, so I chose to add the 1895 Hoffman Batik in the middle. The table runner measures 25” x 48”!

This is my next quilting project – getting ready to load it. The quilt is 60” x 60” and will take a little longer – I am hoping that I can complete it today! In between quilting (during a rest time) I will be binding on the above projects.

This is the backing for the Geo quilt. I had previously thought I would use the green for one of the quilts that I sent to Rebecca, but changed my mind. I am happy to have found a use for it. When I finish this quilt today, I will be down to 8 quilts that I will be quilting. Rebecca has finished York Lodge, Irish Mist, and Radiant Feathered Star. I will post pictures of them next week after I receive them. Balance for quilting total – down to 16! (But those perky 10 that need to be hand quilted are still hanging around).

I am limiting my time on the computer, but still reading all the bloggers posts as time allows.

Have a wonderful Sunday and a great week ahead. Life in the country has finally returned to a normal, peaceful, non-eventful life and I am praying that it will stay that way the remainder of the year, which by the way appears to be racing ahead – already 8 days into January! WOW!

Hugs, Nanette

January 3, 2023January 3, 2023

To Do Tuesday – 3 Jan 2023 – Party #1

It is a NO GOAL year – only a List of To Do’s Everyday!

I have made many many quilts in 21 years, but things changed in 2014 and I fell behind in quilting all the tops I had made and continued to make through 2022. This madness has to stop. I have no idea what I am going to do with all of these quilts as I have at least another 40 in the house that are finished and numerous quilts that I have gifted to friends and my Cousin Susan. This year there will be no stated goals. What I will do is prepare a Post when I have a finished quilt to showcase. I love making quilt tops, but until I can get things under control, I will not be making tops for awhile. Here is where I am.

I found myself in a very big problem of having over 40 quilts to be quilted last year. I knew that 12 of the quilts would be entered into Quilt Shows, so I sent them to Rebecca to quilt. But just having a quilt quilted is not the end. There is trimming, making binding, sewing binding on the top, then hand quilting the binding down.

I will have a total of 21 quilts that will be quilted in the next 2 months and this includes the 12 quilts that Rebecca is quilting for me and 9 that I will quilt. I will be hand binding all of them. I will then have 10 more tops to quilt by hand IF my hands hold out. Altogether I have 31 tops to be quilted by Rebecca or myself and do the hand binding.

I thought about setting goals for this list, but then I thought, “well, that will be a stress bomb” to meet a deadline, and take the joy out of quilting. I do not want to sit all day and do hand work, so I am just going to list my 35 quilts to complete the hand work/quilting and just take one at a time and not work on goals, but actually finishing the job.

I will be quilting on the long arm during the day and when I finish a quilt I will immediately cut the binding, sew it on, and put it on the list for hand binding. I will only do the hand work in the evening, unless I am not feeling well or just want to sit in a chair all day (which is not me). After I finish quilting the 9 quilts and have them completed (binding), I will then think about making more tops. This is my list to follow as I do quilting and binding.

The following quilts are being quilted by Rebecca and will be returned for me to trim, prepare the binding, sew the binding on and then hand bind.

York Lodge
Irish Mist
Star of Chamblie (Feathered Star)
Pat Sloan Globetrotting
Stonefields
OMIGOSH
Brinton Hall
Cozy Christmas
Alexander Bean Pot
Stars Around the Garden
Sentimental Stitches
My Surprise Quilt (Blue)

The following quilts will be quilted by me.

Mrs Potts (quilted, waiting on binding)
The Geo Quilt
RSC Quilt
Capital T Quilt
Rosemary Young’s BOM
Boo’s and Bats
Southwest Texas Stule
Easy Breezy Blue Birds
Easy Breezy Red Birds

The following quilts are candidates for hand quilting.

Mount Mellick
Nesting
Stars Across Texas
A Year of Flowers and Holidays (Sierra Vista AZ Guild BOM)
Colonial Ladies
A Merry Christmas To You
Sweet Stitches
Jacobean Lights
A Quilter’s Dream (Linda Ballard)
A Bountiful Life

There is no way that all the hand quilting will be done soon, nor all the hand binding completed in the next 3 months, so instead of assigning a “Date to be Completed” I will take them one at a time. I will choose them from my list and work on them in MY TIME to prevent me from stressing over an artificial dead line. At least within the next month, all but 10 will be quilted and that is a big weight lifted off my shoulders. As long as my back holds up, I should be able to have the 9 finished by the end of January or before. Time will tell.

From now on when I make a quilt I will quilt it, bind it, and not hang it up to quilt later. If it is a special quilt, it will go to Rebecca!

For now I have finished Radiant Star Wall Hanging, binding and all!

Have a Great Week and enjoy stitching!

Hugs, Nanette

January 2, 2023

OMG for December 2022

I am on a mission to finish quilting the last of the quilts that have been hanging around for awhile. I have finished most of the older tops in 2022, but there are still another 10 to long arm quilt and 8 that should be hand quilted……oh well. I sent 12 additional quilts to Rebecca for quilting and when they return the binding party begins.

This month I have finished 7 projects (one is in the process of being re-done). I have had some issues with my HQ 16, but hubby worked on the Stitch Regulator yesterday and the machine is working better than it ever has. Today I will work on a practice quilt checking out the Regulator. I had switched to Manual mode and it worked OK for the projects, but that Regulator allows me to be a bit more creative, like writing my name on my playtime practice quilt.

I quilted 3 quilts and 2 of the have the binding completed, the remaining 5 require binding to be cut and sewn on. Of the 4 smaller projects, 2 gave me serious problems. The Table Runner had the stitches ripped out yesterday and I am planning to add a border today and then quilt it again. I will then start getting the binding process for the 5 quilts.

The Celtic Table Runner is the one that I had quilted, did not like how it looked and ripped all stitching out yesterday. I have found some contrasting fabric to add to the runner that will really make it stand out. The fabrics I used are batiks and it is too hard to hand quilt batiks. I made this back in 2008 and too much of a newbie to realize that.

The Feather Star and the Celtic quilts were quilted with Hobbs batting. I regret using it because I do not like the look. I have always used Warm and Natural Cotton batting but had purchased the Hobbs to try it, but I am not happy with the look, so I will only continue using cotton batting on the remaining quilts. In getting back to quilting on the long arm, I really had some “remembering the rules” moments. So the remaining quilts will probably go much better.

I will be working on my goals for 2023 this week. There are 2 goals that will come first – my everyday morning walk and taking time to just “relax” without deadlines. Goals and deadlines are wonderful incentives, but they can cause us all stress, of which no one needs.

Have a great week and enjoy stitching!

Hugs, Nanette

January 1, 2023

HAPPY NEW YEAR – 1 January 2023! and To-Do-Tuesday

HAPPY NEW YEAR and the enc of 2022! As usual, I am late with my posting, But I have a good excuse. Tuesday and Wednesday and part of Thursday was spent on the phone all day with my favorite people – Apple and Verizon. But by Thursday all was fixed – they were super fast – only 2 months to get thing correct! Clay has changed our Verizon Signal Booster back to what we had before Verizon sent us their 4G Booster. We get a better signal with our Yogi system that he put in a few years back. So the chapter is closed on iPhone problems.

This is the last time Linda will be our Host for TDT! She was great in her job as being our TDT Host. Somehow, even though I am late in posting, she kept me going and striving for achieving my wishful goals. I thank her for all the hours spent providing us a place to post and/or set small goals to complete our projects! Have a wonderful 2023 Linda!!!

When I started quilting again, my 2005 HQ Regulator acted up, so I went to the Manual mode. That worked great for the first 2 quilts. But I had issues with the 4 small wall hangings and Mrs Potts quilt. Today Clay worked on the Regulator. It was not staying on the track, so being the Genius he is, he fixed it and now it is working wonderful. In fact better than ever! I loaded a practice quilt and the tension and Regulator mode is working absolutely wonderful. Here are the first 2 quilts I have completely finished (includes Binding)

This quilt was made in 2019 with a SAL.

Bunny has been around a long time!

The next quilt was Mrs Potts. I had nothing but problems with it. I first loaded a backing of 200% muslin from Hoffman, but Ms HQ did not like it and definitely did not like the fabric I used in this quilt for the border and background! It takes about an hour or more to load a quilt on a long arm and getting everything set up, so you can imagine what fun it was to have to start over with different backing fabric. But I did get it quilted and I am not happy with it. One other thing I did was to change to some Hobbs polyester batting that I had bought a few years back. I do not like the look of the quilt with that batting. I have always used Warm Cotton Batting or the White Cotton batting from the Warm Company. I regret using the Hobbs. Mrs Potts will have binding tomorrow. It be sew on by the D1 and I will hand sew the remainder.

This wall hanging was made from a block from a Civil War Bride Pattern. I am very pleased with how I quilted it on my D1. I will be doing the binding for it tomorrow. It will be sewn on with the D1 and I will hand sew the remainder. I used my Warm and Natural batting and it really turned out pretty! I love the grid quilting on it.

This is a French General pre printed Embroidery pattern. I purchased it in December 2017 and came home with the Flu to start 2018 sick! But this is another of my favorites and pleased with how it turned out. I used my Warm and Natural Cotton batting – it quilts up so nice!

Feathered Star was made in 2013 as a test block. I started hand quilting it and gave up on that because this block just needed to be done! I started machine quilting it with the D1, following the marking I had made for hand quilting. Well, that did not work out at all, so I decided to just pitch it. It stayed in the mesh trash “can” until later in the afternoon when Clay told me I should rip it and start over. So I did – it was not fun, but I did it and then decided to quilt it on the HQ 16. That was also a big mistake because I used the wrong batting again on this wall hanging. Hobbs and I definitely do not like each other. I think I have a new home liked up for the 3 packages I have remaining.

I do not think this top can hold up to another ripping as I know that I am not, but who knows. When something doesn’t look good to me, I know it would not look good to others. It too was sewn with Hobbs batting. I just do not like the look. Maybe it is better for hand quilting. When I quilted it I was still having issues with tension and overall quilting with HQ16!

This project is the 2nd quilt from Hell being quilted! I made this Celtic table runner around 2008. I made a bad decision on quilting this one – Yup -I used Hobbs batting. When I finished making it, I was going to hand quilt it. Has anyone ever hand quilted batiks? I did one time and that was enough. So it sat all this time waiting for me to do something, even if it was wrong (and it was). I had to add extra fabric on both sides of the beautiful orange backing fabric before I could load it. That took more time. I measured the batting, noticing this time how easy it stretched, but I was on a mission to complete this one so I ignored my gut feelings. After I loaded the quilt, I then decided that I did not want to quilt over the applique. What a mess I had. It looked horrible. AND when I got to the end of the quilt I was short 3 inches of batting! Grr. So today for the first day of 2023 I ripped it! It took me about 4 hours to do so, which included removing the lovely threads.

After ripping the quilting I knew if this table runner was to be quilted the correct way, I would have to fix a new backing, use Warm and Natural Cotton batting, and add a border. I found the neatest batik in my stash to use for the border and backing, so I quickly became inspired to try again with quilting it. With the Stitch Regulator working I may be able to quilt around the applique, or at the very least, the quilting will will look much better. I will also load the quilt differently which will make a big difference.

Each of these projects have helped me remember certain things about long arm quilting. First – it takes to prepare the quilt, time load the quilt, then to remember all the steps required before starting, things such as double checking backing and batting to make sure both are measured correctly. Then there is the “basting of the top and continuing to baste on the left side with each turn. Tops that have ‘piano keys’ for a border must have a stay stitch around the quilt.

I am happy that I have 5 of the 7 completed and they are acceptable. I loaded another practice quilt for Clay to check out how the Regulator is working. I will finish playing with it tomorrow and add the borders to the table runner. I hope to get it quilted tomorrow and start on making the bindings for French General, CWB Block, and Celtic Table Runner. Feathered Star is up in the air!!!

For next TDT I hope to have more quilts finished and I definitely need to go through my batiks and get them back in order. I really need to make a baby quilt and will start that – PROVIDING the rest of my quilting goes better than the issues I had with the first 7! I will be doing a lot of binding this year as I already have 4 waiting for me and possibly 3 coming in from Rebecca! I guess I will make it a goal of having all of the bindings done on the 12 that Rebecca is quilting and the hand work completed by June or July.

This is the next quilt to be loaded and quilted. It is not one of the important ones (they start after I finish this one). I will need to select backing fabric and cut the batting and then load the puppy! Wish me luck.

Have a great first week of 2023 and enjoy stitching. My goal for the year is to relax, stay away from any Drama, and just enjoy the safety of our home.

Hugs, Nanette