Stories from the Sewing Room

It's time to set a new monthly goal. As always, I am very appreciative of Patty at Elm Street Quilts for helping me stay on track and try to accomplish anything in my sewing room. Here are some of the options I have.

1. Make a backing for last month's Tall Tales quilt. I'm planning to use my existing fabric and piece a backing. Possibly quilt and bind. I was lucky enough to win the last prize offered for the QAL!

2. Bind Flower Patch SAL.

3. Bind the pink and green baby quilt I re-did.

4. Assemble the top for my guild BOM.

5. Finish piecing Chalk. Possibly quilt.

6. Grassy Creek border.

7. Quilt & bind Gemstone test quilt.

8. Add border and quilt the art quilt.

9. Finish last two blocks from #Trending quilt.

My official goal this month is to assemble the guild BOM top. This has been hanging around since late 2020, but I couldn't actually assemble it until December of 2021 since I had to show each block individually. I have left it because it needs sashing and I don't like sewing sashing. It's time to finish it. Well, at least the top because I'm not sure if I want to custom or edge-to-edge it. My blocks are all square and I really did put them on the design wall super crookedly. Also, the background fabric is a beautiful dark blue print, not black.

Ideally I can get a few more of those things finished too, but one is enough for this month.

Meanwhile, I have an actual finish. Finally! This is my Macaron Mystery quilt from last year's Meadow Mist Designs mystery. I finished binding it the other morning while our power was out again. Anyway, I finished it just in time for the next clue in this year's Melodic Mystery that comes out tomorrow. That should be cutting. Have I ever mentioned that cutting is one of my favorite things? It is, for real. 

I only did a few quilts last week. I just couldn't get it together. 😐

Amber's Pokemon/Red Sox quilt. This has the cutest Pokemon fabrics ever!

Susan's HST quilt, quilted with Stipple. This is a multi-generational quilt which includes scraps her Depression-era grandmother couldn't throw all the way through her own scraps.  My grandparents also went through the Depression and that mentality has made its way to me on some things. We are fairly thrifty here. How about you?

I also quilted and fully bound this one for Jess.

Last week I talked about going to APQS for the maintenance class. I thought I'd share a bit about it. The class is 1.5 days, though you can stay longer the second day if you'd wish. We didn't because we had a 9.5+ hour drive and I wanted to get home that night. We got home at 1:30 am, so technically it was that night. The class is limited to 10 people. Ours had nine because someone got sick and couldn't come at the last minute. You get a printed and bound maintenance guide, some hands-on practice with some of the things, and a bag of goodies (spare parts like screws, pigtails, bobbin case, check spring, etc.

Some of the things I learned were that you should never use anything containing ammonia on the machine or table (no Windex). Use rubbing alcohol for cleaning. Only oil the wicks if they are completely dry. I have been over-oiling mine. I knew to clean and oil the bobbin area at each bobbin change, but I have not been doing that. I'm making more of an effort. Do a WD-40 bath once per week, or up to 3-4x/week if you quilt a lot. Check the motor brushes once per year and blow out that area. I only knew to do that because one of my friends shared the page in her manual that explained it (not in my manual). It's really important to put the brushes back in the correct orientation. You should also remove the top covers and blow compressed air throughout on an annual basis. How you do this depends on which generation machine you have. I have had my machine two years and this is how mine looked after two years. Pretty gross. Now I know to do it on an annual schedule.

We also learned about the importance of having a UPS on the machine. I do have one, but it turns out mine isn't powerful enough for the current generation of machines if there is a computer attached, so I will probably need to invest in a better one. 😞 💸

I purchased the adjustable handlebars while I was there. These are an option for MY19 machines. It looks like all current MY19 come with these since they were on all of the machines in the showroom. I think it looks like the machine is in a dancing pose with the way I have them configured currently. :)

I was coveting the light bars, but those are out of my price range. I'm trying to figure out an attractive way to recreate them for a much lower price point.

I mentioned the importance of cleaning and checking the motor brushes each year. My son and I had done this a few weeks before we went to the class. Mine were fine and I do use my machine heavily. I debated purchasing a spare set while I was there, but since they should last eight to 10 years, decided to wait. Got home and double-checked them while I had everything torn apart to clean. My son had put his back in the wrong way and I needed a new set. 😫 They came last week and I switched them out and put everything back together. I then cleaned and oiled in preparation for the next quilt. I was talking on the phone to my mom while oiling. I turned on the machine to let the oil cycle through and the machine sounded terrible. My mom even noticed. I couldn't figure out what it was. Finally I realized that I'd forgotten to tighten down two of the screws on the top back cover and the vibration of all the metal was the cause of the horrible noise. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ I felt so stupid. At least it was an easy fix. 

Do you remember when I talked about my king roll of Hobbs not being 120"? They had me flip it the other direction to stretch it. I got it from 115" to 117" and then it shrunk back to 116". Here is my replacement roll compared to the stubby roll!

Moving over to the garden, I had enough cucumbers to make freezer pickles. My recipe calls for a generous 16 cups and I used all but one cucumber. I forgot to take a pretty picture, but here they are, ready to go in the freezer.

Almost all my baby pears have been eaten. They are mostly just gone and the one big one had huge bites out of it. 😭

The clouds looked so weird the other night. Like a bunch of ping pong balls in the sky. My photos don't show it that well.

Finally, if you know someone who uses PremoSoft thread from Hab & Dash, I have quite a bit I'm looking to sell. Five are unused, six partially used, plus a thing of new M bobbins. I can throw in some green Super Bobs too. I just don't use it and I don't have any drawer space left for it.

Over the weekend, we visited a local conservation area to see migrating birds. We typically go during the kids' spring break (well, in the before times), but looking at the Facebook page, I could see we needed to go much sooner or there wouldn't be any birds left to see. In the past, it seemed to always be freezing cold in mid-March when we'd visit. Well, it was March 5 and in the 70s. And most of the birds had already left. Global warming, I guess.

I managed to forget the binoculars--I'm out of practice! I didn't even realize I forgot them until we were outside the visitor center and saw a large party of Amish visitors with a serious bird scope. We looked through the viewing scopes at the visitor center to see a nice amount of swans, though not in any detail because the viewers had poor focus and magnification. I'm not even sure what type of swans they were. We went off on the back roads to where we usually see pelicans.  We found a fairly small amount of them. We used the zoom on the camera as binoculars. One kind lady let us borrow her binoculars, but the camera zoom actually gave a better view. So we passed around the camera. We were lucky we got there fairly early in the morning, because they all took off and flew to who knows where while we were standing there.

We also were able to see three whooping cranes--parents and a juvenile. There are 78 whooping cranes in our migratory zone, and only just over 800 in the world, so seeing three is amazing! Someone else let us look through his camera to see the cranes since they were on the other side of the pond.

We also saw several types of hawks, an eagle, loads of coots, Mallard ducks, Canada geese, killdeer, and Canvasback ducks. We did not see any snow geese or Sandhill cranes. It was so nice to get out, see different scenery, and enjoy nature.

I haven't gotten much shareable sewing done this week--most of my test quilt is assembled. I did make this Peace for Ukraine block the other night, along with the appropriate donation to relief efforts. It was so nice to just sew something because I wanted to, with no deadline or any other pressure. It got my creative juices flowing, but alas, I have very little time for pleasure sewing right now. I do wish that things were such that this block was not needed. And while people whinge on about masks, gas prices, perceived slights, and such, and waste gas driving around in protest convoys, I am choosing to be thankful that I currently live in a safe area where my life and livelihood are not at risk. 

I made a little progress on my Macaron mystery quilt. I'm ready to join the rows together and trim the overhanging pieces. At that point, the pattern would technically be considered done, but I don't really care for smaller square quilts, so I will add strips to the top and bottom to make the quilt oblong. The top and bottom are actually the partial blocks, but those are going to be my sides.

See my bird fabrics in the center? I have more to use for backing and I call this quilt "For the Birds". How should I quilt it? I'm currently suffering from decision fatigue.

Moving on to the business side, I met my goal of five quilts for the week. I'm not sure I'll hit that for this next week. I had to order thread for four of the quilts I had lined up and everyone will be home next week. Anyway, here's last week's five.

Keetah's throw quilt, hand-guided loopy meander.

Keetah's Christmas quilt, also loopy meander.

Here is one of Elle's, quilted with In the Swirls.

Another of Elle's, quilted with Saffron Blossoms.

And Annie's steampunk quilt, quilted with Bora Bora.

Meanwhile, I harvested the last (I think) of the lettuce from the hydroponic garden. I actually had a fairly large head from it! We had enough for 3.5 servings of Riviera salad. There is a restaurant at home that serves this salad. It is usually made with leaf lettuce or mixed greens, pecans, strawberries, and sweet poppy seed dressing. This recipe is fairly close to the Arnie's dressing. I quarter the recipe. I'd like to experiment with reducing the sugar some time. Side note: I just looked up their online menu and they have rebranded and overhauled their menu. 😩 The Riviera salad is still there, though. And I can replicate it at home whenever I want. Also: I have not lived at "home" in 25 years, would not want to live there now, but still call it home. Weird.

It's time to pick another monthly goal. So many possibilities and no clear direction I feel moved toward. Spring just makes me  want to be outside. Here are my possibilities.

1. Test quilt--Must be done this month, but cannot show, therefore, poor choice for OMG. I was able to pull everything except background fabric from stash, so that's a win. I'm hoping I have enough spare yardage to piece a back from stash as well.

2. Macaron Mystery--I really had hoped I'd be further along than I am. I'd love to get it assembled and quilted this month.

3. Guild BOM--I've received two to quilt and mine is still in pieces. Sorry for the lame project photos. Everything is piled in my closet and I didn't feel like moving it all around.

4. Finish ripping stitching out of baby quilt--I originally planned to remove only the poorly done border stitching, but then I realized that the embroidered blocks were really scratchy on the back of the quilt. I'm undecided at this point about leaving the ditch stitching or not. I might just remove it all since I don't know what thread this was. That way I can steam out the holes in the fabric before re-quilting.

5. Quilt apple quilt--not sure I have time. 

6. Keep up with Flower Patch SAL--three blocks I need to complete for this month, I think.

7. Catch up on #Trending--two blocks to complete.

8. Make a shirt--I've had a pile of fabric to make shirts laying here for several years. What's another few months or years?

9. Grassy Creek off design wall--I'm tired of looking at it, but not really feeling it. 

10. Stop signing up for things! Easier said than done, but a worthy goal.

I've been feeling really overwhelmed by everything lately, so I think I will make it easy on myself this month and commit to finishing all three Flower Patch blocks and catching up on the two #Trending blocks--so a minimum of five blocks to sew. I usually try to choose something that will really push me, but looking at how my schedule is shaping up for the month, this is enough.

                            Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal March Link-up

Bonus points if I can get some of the other stuff done too. I'll certainly be trying.

Since the pattern has now been released, I am able to share a quilt I tested last year. This is called Redeemed by Lindsey at Yellow Umbrella Quilts. I was able to create the quilt top from stash. I only purchased backing and used the trimmings to make the binding. This is the baby quilt size from the pattern. It's pretty generously sized.

For quilting, I used a pattern I found in Pro Stitcher Designer that I edited in IntelliQuilter to include the shapes I wanted. The thread is Glide in Mint, or maybe Magic Mint. I can't remember at this point.

As always, I've been quilting. Here are this week's projects.

Carol's Penguin Party quilt, quilted with Diagonal Plaid.

We haven't started greening up outside yet, but the weather's been much more pleasant and the days are lengthening. There is a very tall tulip poplar on the property behind ours and it has blossoms. Most of the trees are budding. My daffodils are about 2" out of the ground right now. The migratory birds are all at the nature preserve now, so I'd love to take a day and go down and see them.  We didn't go the last few years. 

I'll see you all next week.

Another week has passed. Here is what I was hoping to accomplish:

• start sewing my bird mini
• work on my Flower Patch SAL blocks 
• sew some burp cloths
• put together my Macaron Mystery quilt. 
• get five customer quilts done

I did start sewing the bird mini yesterday, but my day went quite off track and I just didn't get as much done as I'd hoped. Yes, the pieces are still attached to the sewing machine. 

Failing at making progress on the Flower Patch, but feeling confident I'll get this done before next week's link-up. I did notice that my little seam roller gives me a much better press than my actual iron does. Might be time to replace the iron yet again.

The burp cloths are done and have arrived in Michigan. Years ago, I wrote a tutorial for these. 

I have started assembling my Macaron Mystery, but set it aside because time is running short to get the bird mini (February OMG) and Flower Patch blocks done in time.  All the blocks are sewn and waiting to be assembled into a top.

Sorry for the lousy picture, but I'm not feeling up to laying it out and making a nice picture right now.

Am I the only one who stores partially completed quilts draped over batting rolls? Maybe you have a different spot in your sewing area you use for draping.

Here's what I worked on. First, Barbara's quilt, quilted with Unwind. 

Another of Barbara's, quilted with Diagonal Plaid. Both her quilts had really cute backs. Glide Lemon Ice matched her background fabric perfectly.

And Elle's Pickle Dish/Wedding Ring, quilted with Sugar & Spice. I used Glide Pink Rose on this. It ended up matching her peach fabrics and I was surprised how well it blended into her white fabrics.

We are starting to see signs of spring. Some of the daffodils are just starting to poke out of the ground. Some bush in my neighbor's yard is actually blooming. It's been rather cold lately, so I am surprised by that.  I'm starting to think about thinking about the vegetable garden for this year. I was hoping to plant some fruit trees on our spare property this year, but didn't get my act together enough to research what I need. 

Speaking of my son, he won 3rd place in an essay contest for Black History Month. We actually had to file a W-9 for him with the city because he has apparently won some cash. And I had a whole one day to complete the paperwork and submit a portrait of him. I didn't even know he wrote an essay. Good news though.