One down one to go

Finished one quilt this morning for Teri, have another to do, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.

Picked Wayne up from the hosp this morning, all is well for now. He had 3 stints put in 2 arteries. Now he is good for another 1000 miles, before his next tune up.

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Teri and I have to talk, seriously. The backing was just enough to get pinned to my machine.  I was sweating bullets before I did the final pass, wondering if I was going to hit a pin and break a needle.

Other than that, good job Teri, you always do such nice sewing and quilts are always squared up so nice. Never have a worry about stretching/puckering they lay so flat and roll so nicely.

Making Progress, Slowly

For the past few days, I have had much on my mind, which took away my energy and desire to sew and quilt.

Had to push myself just to do anything.  That's what mind stress can do to a person.

Wayne has been having problems again, and today he was in St Mary's Hosp in Madison, for a heart cath. Found blockages and had to put in 3 stints, but the good news is he is coming home tomorrow.

So now he is good for another few miles.

I did manage to do all of the Christmas Lazy Hourglass wall hanging blocks, Will have to assemble the blocks, add borders, quilt and bind, I feel I can get this done quickly, now that my mind is clear.

This year I made the decision not to put up a Christmas tree.  Its just Wayne and I here and nobody really comes to visit at this time of year.  We always do our celebrating at our daughters home.

I will put out some Christmas decorations here and there but no tree.

Now that I have made this decision, I am going to be giving my tree ornaments to our kids and grand kids.  I have been collecting crystal ornaments for years, and love the way they look. 

Pulled out the box of ornaments and looking through I realized I also have porcelain ornaments that I had made many years ago, when I was into making porcelain dolls.

I used to love making these, cleaning the bisk, painting the faces and assembling the dolls.  This was before I started quilting.

Both of these hobbies, are expensive, so gave up on the doll making and continued the quilting.

I get such pleasure out of making quilts, giving them to people I love.  Some I keep for myself, but most are gifts to others.

Then of course there is the quilting for others, that I really truly enjoy.  And lets not forget the designing of new patterns.

Quilting is a big part of who I am, and after I get Wayne home tomorrow, I can back to it.

Its A Do Over

Remember the Lazy Hourglass wall hanging I just finished???


Well I cant use it for demonstration anymore.  I had a brilliant idea to wash it and give it that "quilty" look.

The reds bled, washed it with color catcher and everything. I have washed this 8 times and it just gets worse.  I thought those color catchers would save the day. Nope.

So now I'm doing another one but this time I'm using Christmas Fabrics, which I like even better than the previous wall hanging.

Not gonna try being cute with this one, leave it alone. Don't fix what isn't broke, right?


Have 4 of 12 blocks done, and the rest of the fabric is cut and ready for me to sew together.

Maybe will get it done by Wed at the latest. Really should get it to Twin Turtle Quilt Shop by end of this week, seeing as how I'm using Christmas fabrics, would be nice to show it off before Christmas is over.

The push is on, but kicking in my "Jean Mode" and everything will be done on time.

Thanks Teresa @ Twin Turtle Quilt Shop

Teresa from Twin Turtle Quilt Shop Clinton, WI, wrote this about me and my patterns on Face Book. I appreciated it so much and her kind comments, wanted to share with you.



Stepping Stones by Jean Romack.

by Twin Turtle Quilts on Monday, November 28, 2011 at 12:54pm

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I met Jean Romack in September when I had my booth at Quilt Expo. She noticed my sign advertising my new quilt shop and asked if I would be carrying other designer's patterns besides my own. She had published a few of her designs and had not gotten into any shop yet. I remembered how hard it was just starting out and that fear of contacting those first few shops. I told her to stop by the shop and we'd work something out, without even seeing her designs yet. Well, Jean has a real eye for design and I'm currently carrying four of her patterns. They fit in well with my own patterns. Quite frankly, most are similar to my own designs; complex looking but very simple to piece.Stepping Stones by Jean Romack

Jean, of Milton, Wisconsin, has also graciously let me borrow of few of her quilts and they are hanging in my shop. One of the patterns, Stepping Stones, has been intriguing me so much that I just had to stop what I was working on and try it out. Jean's quilt is done in a variety of greens, browns, reds, and golds; it's dark, earthy and gorgeous. I wanted to see what it looked like done in brights. Not having a lot of time, I decided to do just a portion of the full size quilt and make a crib size. I took 4 fat quarters of my pastel baby fabrics and paired them with 4 bright fat quarters. Wow, what a difference! Many customers don't believe it's the same pattern at first!Bright Stepping Stones by Teresa Popanz

The pattern was very simple to follow and the piecing was fairly easy. I quickly completed the crib size top in just a few hours. It's definitely one that I would make again. In fact, as I stare at it I picture it in other fabric combinations. I may just have to find time to play with it some more!

Besides Stepping Stones, I also have Jean's Floating Stars, Forever Diamonds (I get many compliments on this one), and Lightning Strike (I wish I would have thought of this design! It's so fun; I think I'm going to have to play with this one, too!). After the holidays I'll get Jean to come down and teach a few classes. She'll probably have a few more designs by then, too.

I appreciate so much her allowing me to have my patterns in her shop, and look forward to showing her more patterns as they are completed.
 
 
The next quilt I will give to her for display is the wall hanging
Lazy Hourglass that I just finished quilting and binding today.
 

As a free hand quilter, I am always trying to come up with stitching designs, and have been thinking about this one for over a month or so, finally decided to try it out on this quilt and I am very pleased with the results

Love doing freehand quilting and love it when it works out the way I imagined.

Cheryl's Wallhanging

This took all morning and part of the afternoon, but I think it was worth the work.

Roast in the oven, almost all the laundry done and I'm taking the rest of the afternoon off.

Why Did I Wait So Long

For the past 3 years I have been turning out beautiful quilts, but not an easy thing to do.

I have fought with over and over again, as most quilters do, tension problems. Getting eyelashes on the back and having to rip out stitches to get that perfect stitch.  Each time I change thread types, from Superior, Signature, Omni, King Tut I had to readjust my upper tension and bobbin tension, and do many test patches, off the quilt and using the excess on the sides of the quilt tops.  It was never an easy achievement, but with diligence and determination I would finally get that stitch I was looking for.   Even with all the testing, I would occasionally have an eyelash thrown in here and there.

My problem has been solved.  Through many posts and comments on Connected Threadz I purchased through Superior Threads, new TOWA tension gauges.  They are wonderful and have quilted 3 small table runners using my gauges.  I now can quilt without having to worry, what does the underside of the quilt look like. This doesn't mean I will never have to check, because there are many things that can throw off your tension, but I will know for sure it is not the bobbin or upper tension settings causing a problem.

Finished 2 table runners this morning:

I also finished the quilt top for Brooklynn.  She wants a fish quilt so this is what I put together for her.  Still needs to be quilted. and this is for another day.

I really like this quilt for her.  The colors are so bright, and the borders really look like water.

This afternoon, I need to take a trip to the quilt supply store in Beloit, to purchase more thread.  Still have a wall hanging to quilt for customer, but just don't have the right color needed to start it.

Wall hanging will have to wait until tomorrow.  Six hours in my sewing room is enough for one day.

MY BB Stockings

Finished my small BB quilt;


This is only a 36 x 46, that was enough.  Sometimes these Buggy Barns are more of a challenge than I anticipate.  They always turn out cute, but you just never know how much trouble you might run into.

We are having our meeting Dec 1st along with treats.  Looking forward to see what the other girls in the group did with this challenge.

I will probably use mine for a back of the couch quilt. Not big enough to cover up with, but it would be a nice way to decorate for Christmas.

Wondering if the group will come up with yet another challenge or maybe just do something simple for our next meeting 3 months from Dec.

For a Longarm quilter, one of the most difficult processes is getting the correct tension, top and bottom on the LA.  After seeing many comments on Connected Threadz, I decided to finally purchase the TOWA bobbin and upper tension gauges.  They arrived yesterday and had my first opportunity to try them this morning.

Not even sure if I know how to use them correctly, so watched a couple of videos and I think I know what to do.  This should really help me to be consistent with my tensions.  I certainly hope so.