Nine weeks after bringing Lucey 2 home and six weeks after buying the used iQ, everything is finally all working together. The last remaining cable we needed was set to arrive last Friday, so I thought I'd update the tablet to the current software version. Well. I got an error that required the coin battery inside the tablet to be replaced. After replacing it, you were supposed to follow a set of instructions to get to a menu that allowed you to reset the date and time to whatever day it is. We were able to reset the date, but it didn't go past the error message upon restarting. I was having a meltdown because I'd already spent so much money and I didn't want to have to buy a new tablet (plus wait however long the wait currently is) right now.
I contacted support and she had me do the same thing we had already done. 😩 Oh, I forgot to mention that you also had to attach a corded keyboard to the tablet. I don't have one, but my tech-loving son has a few. He had left to go pick through computers to be discarded at school with his friends. I had small quilt guild, so it was at a standstill. The next afternoon, he was urged to look at it again. And fixed it in a few seconds. His fix was to set the date a year ahead. Why that worked, I have no idea. But it worked, I was no longer locked out of the tablet, and I was able to update it.
We finished hooking everything up and reassembled the rest of the frame and ran cords and such. I quilted a small panel of fabric and then cut it up and serged the edges. I use these instead of the clamps for the sides of the quilts. I just pin this fabric to the backing sides and then the other end of the fabric is pinned to the elastic of the clamp. This way I don't have to worry about the machine hitting the clamps.
Yesterday morning I finished doing the calibrations and quilted a small quilt! Huzzah!
I feel like I haven't gotten a ton of work done over the past week. I had an unfortunate incident with someone's backing and had to go buy new fabric to replace it. Luckily there is a store about 1/2 hour away that stocks every single Kona color (Indiana Quilt Depot), so I was able to make it right. That put me a day behind. Monday morning I had my one allotted annual appointment with my regular doctor. I spent the afternoon prepping some of the quilts I need to get done this week. I had to trim one and add borders and prepare binding. I had to enlarge a too-small backing for one which spilled into Tuesday, make a Frankenbatting for another, and I still have to make a backing and binding for one more. Plus quilt everything!
Here's what I've completed since last week:
Susan's Pete the Cat, quilted with Stipple.
Susan's star quilt, quilted with Baptist Fan. (Susan, if you're reading this, please check your email 🙂.)
Maria's hand-sewn hexi, quilted with Ginger Snap. This quilt is the first to be quilted on Lucey 2. I still need to trim and attach the binding to the front.
It was interesting to see the differences between Lucey 1 and Lucey 2. Lucey 1 has an M bobbin and Lucey 2 has an L. Lucey 2 is older, quieter, and has a different frame, so the available quilting area isn't as big. The difference in the tablets is strange to me. It's all good though.
I was able to attend the big guild's sew day for a bit on Saturday. I made some good progress on my Forever Neverland quilt. I'll need to square up a few blocks and change the sashing on at least one, but still, I was pleased to get a tiny bit of personal sewing done.
Meanwhile, my husband was busy demolishing the front porch. The cement came out way easier than I expected. He made some cuts, hit it with a maul, and it crumbled apart. He loaded it into a dumpster for cement recycling.
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| Oh look, we found the rebar that we provided the original contractor. Mostly just thrown in the hole. 😒 |
He's now removing the siding. We'll need to evaluate the damage. We know there's a least a little water damage and we think there is insect damage too. We also need to determine what to do with the hydraulic cement/mud jacking cement that we had inserted as a temporary fix several years ago. It reminds me of drywall mud.
After addressing whatever there is to address, he'll form it back up. We've hired a cement contractor to actually install the concrete. You may notice we got a delivery in front of the sawhorse. The first few days, they would step around the sawhorse, step down into the hole, and back up to the step. Weird.
Happy sewing to you.
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