Urban Abacus Quilted

I finished my Urban Abacus quilt today!   You can find the pattern here at Jenny's website.  This is the third quilt I have made using her Quick Curve Ruler, I think it is just the best!

  I used all bright batik fabrics and the backing is batik as well.

I used Lava Threads and did multiple thread color changes to match the threads to the fabrics.

I used light blue thread in the bobbin for the whole quilt.

I did a free hand wave on the colorful beads to give the appearance they are spinning. I decided to leave the background unquilted and just SID around the beads.

Just need to add the binding, that will be a good weekend project.

Tumbler Done

Had a good test run with the new Bliss upgrade today and the verdict is in, my machine feels like it lost 20 lbs!!  I just have to get use to the new feel so hope to work on a few more of my own quilts before September rolls around and I start taking client quilts again.

I used the panto Rhapsody on this one, Dream Blend batting and So Fine thread.

I had planned on quilting first thing in the morning but became distracted when I saw how calm the lake was.  There is just something about being out on the lake on a day like today that is so relaxing and peaceful.

Love the reflections in this picture.

The lake's water level is quite a bit lower than last year.  I posted this picture last summer of a rock reef.....

....and here it is today.... 

...with a fresh coat of 'paint'!

Upgrade and Discovery

I am keeping up with the Just Takes Two mystery and have finished the August 1st blocks....now to start the August 15th ones!

So my Bliss upgrade arrived yesterday and to my disappointment one of the items was damaged during shipping.  The boards for my new table top were warped so I contact APQS, the company that makes my machine, and they offered to send a replacement boards right away so that was great. 

We could still do the upgrade without the boards so the first challenge was to get the 12' long aluminum rails into the Shack. We thought we would have to take the screen off the porch to get it though the door but Tim though we could save some work and just get it in through the window. Worked very well.  New rails in, old rails out.  Changing over to the new rails and carriage took 2 1/2 hours, so not to bad.

I put a practice piece of fabric on the machine to practice some free hand quilting and WOW what a huge difference in how it moves, it needs such a light touch now. LOVE IT!  

I just loaded my Tumbler quilt so I will see how I do with a panto design. 

 I also want to share with you something I learnt about my machine during all this.   I have had my machine almost 4 years and never knew it had a black light.  See the tiny toggle switch just above the LED lights....switch it to one side you have the regular LED lights on, switch it to the center and lights are off, switch it to the other side and voila you have a black light!   I had no idea it was there all this time so I am wondering if I am the only Millennium owner that didn't know it was there?

Thimbleberry Tumbler

I seem to be on a roll with getting some UFO's finished this week.  I had cut out these Tumbler blocks using my GO cutter about a year ago and the fabrics are a collection of Thimbleberry fabrics I won at our guild's xmas party 2 years ago.  

I pulled out this bin of blocks last night and figured out a pattern.  I had won 16 half meters of each fabric and was able to cut 10 Tumbler blocks out of each piece  I then arranged them in a 12 by 12 block layout using up all the blocks.

I was surprised how fast this one came together and had it all pieced this morning.  I wasn't sure I liked the fabrics but once it was pieced it started to grow on me.  I think I'll quilt this one first after installing my Bliss upgrade as I just want to put a panto on it and that should get me adjusted to the new feel of my machine.

I am now down to 2 UFO's (my Presidents quilt and a Ragtime quilt), 1 Work in Progress (my Just Takes Two blocks) and have 4 tops to quilt (Giant Dahlia, Urban Abacus, Yellow and Brown Pinwheel, and this Tumbler).  Not a bad start for a quilter who never had UFO's a few years ago :)

5 Minute Block

I whipped this quilt up yesterday as I finally got my sewing mojo back!  This is made from the Lily and Will collection that Linda sent me a few months back.  I decided to use the 5 Minute Block pattern and it went together very quickly.  Here are what the blocks look like and they are made using the One Seam Flying Geese Method.  The YouTube video for the 5 Minute block can be seen here.

I then stitched down the open sides just like I did with my Mexican Star quilt to create a curve.

There are a lot of layout options but I chose to arrange them in this Pinwheel pattern.

I got a call this morning that my Bliss upgrade has arrived in town and they can deliver it to my door on Wednesday!! I think I'll be doing a lot of piecing to keep me busy until it gets here. 

You can see my post on the finished quilted quilt here.

Ladies Please....

...you know I'm closed until September! 

*giggles..couldn't resist taking that photo*

I invited a few quilting friends over today as my friend Lori is back in town and it gave her a chance to see some of her guild friends again.   We had a fun afternoon and even a bit of rain didn't bother us. The rain wasn't why they are all in the porch of my Shack though...there was some serious Show and Tell happening with the last guild comfort quilt I finished.  I had to squeeze my way in to see what was going on  :)

Thanks for coming out today ladies, it was a great afternoon.

On the Water

Daniel has been my kayaking partner this summer and it has been a great way to get him away from the TV and computer on his summer holidays! I had to smile when I saw him glide with his hand along the surface of the water, I love to do that too!

Not much quilting going on right now, still waiting for my Bliss upgrade but it should be here any day now as it has just cleared customs :)

I really enjoy it when my clients send me pictures of their quilts with there happy new owners!  I couldn't resist share this one with you as it is just so cute!!  This is Barb's Angel Baby quilt that I blogged about here and this is her granddaughter Adel. She gave me permission to show this on my blog.

Wave On Wave

Wave on Wave is a new panto I ordered from Urban Elementz.

This quilt was pieced by Rae and she donated it to the guild for a comfort quilt. Since I am still waiting for my  Bliss upgrade to arrive I had time to quilt this one up. I am really not happy with how my longarm is moving on it's wheels anymore, I have a death grip on the handles and my swirls even following a panto are sometimes coming out square. I can hardly wait to have the new Bliss rails under my machine so I can have better control of my stitches again. 

We used Dream Puff batting on this quilt and So Fine thread.

Wave on Wave panto.

It is the August long weekend here which means summer is half over. We are enjoying a break in the heat but it is suppose to warm up again by the end of the week so I am looking forward to a few more days of warm swimming weather before the lake cools off again.

Just Takes Two Update

I have really been slacking on my Just Takes Two blocks and was 4 units behind when I got back from my holiday. They post a new unit on the 1st and 15th of each month.  But Lori gave me a little nudge with her blog post here showing all her blocks done and they looked so good. She told me not to give up on it so I got to work this week and now am almost caught up...well that was until Wed when unit 15 came out!  Haven't looked at that one yet, I want to feel caught up for at least a few days :)

The top photo is of all my completed blocks so far and the photo below is of section B.   I have 54 of the 56 blocks done, there are two that are hand pieced that I am really not looking forward to doing.

Here is Section A...hope I find the motivation to tackle those hand pieced blocks so I can fill in the holes in the layout.

And the Winner is...

 I had my youngest son draw the name and the winner of my hand dyed fabrics is....

*ytsmom* who's comment was:

"I enjoy staying inside where it is air-conditioned, and sewing! We have been having terribly hot weather here,with temps up to 106F, so I have gotten somethings finished!"

Congratulations ytsmom!! 

Check out her quilting blog at Downstairs Quilting

I have sent you an email so I can get your name and mailing address.

I was excited to see so many people enter my draw, I had a total of 75 comments with great stories so I guess I found the right topic and type of item for a giveaway! Glad you are all finding ways to keep busy and cool this summer.  I unfortunately don't have air conditioning in my house or a basement to keep cool but I do have a small air conditioner in my Shack so once I get my new Bliss upgrade I'll be back at my quilting!!

Lazy Angle Ruler

This is a guild comfort quilt that was made for a demonstration using the Lazy Angle Ruler at one of our meetings.  We cut out the blocks to make the Hugs and Kisses by Jaybird Designs but then started playing with the layout and changed it to this.  Thanks Audrey for reminding me of this, nice to know your still there to help me out as your traveling across Alaska! 

I took a few guild quilt tops home this summer to quilt for free as it is the perfect time for me to help out when I'm not so busy.

I used Popcorn for the panto and white So Fine Thread.

I also got another package in the mail from Desley in Australia. We have been having a lot of fun with our 'Goodie' exchanges and hope she like what I sent her this time! :)

Note the fabric roll of Japanese fabric, just as yummy as the candies!!!

Thimballina Bag

When I was at Gruber's Quilt Shop in Minnisota I found this cute bag pattern called Thimballina designed by Aunties Two.   On Tuesday I finally sat down at my sewing machine and made this little bag.  I changed the closure on it and used a magnetic snap instead of a button and ties. I used a Fat Eight bundle I bought at Sew Batik and it went together very quickly. 

This bag is very similar to the clothes line bags and bowls but you use batting instead of clothes line and sewing it is much gentler on your machine. Ask me how I know?  :)

Here is one of many clothesline bowls I had made alongside my worn out needle shaft from my Janome 6500!!  I'm sure all the quilts I quilted on my Janome before getting my longarm might have something to do with this needing replaced.  But if your at a retreat making these bowls and your machine is making a terrible banging noise and all your quilting friends question the condition of your sewing machine.....stop sewing!!  Don't just say "yeah my machine always sounds like that when I make these bowls".  They would agree I definitely worn that part out with a BANG!

I have really enjoyed reading all your comments on my Summer Giveaway post, thank you to everyone that entered, I honestly wasn't expecting this great of response after boring you with my vacation pictures :)

  If you haven't entered yet you still have plenty of time to leave a comment on that post, I'll make the draw on July 30.

I wanted to take a minute to point out that many of you that used your Google accounts to leave a comment are No-Reply Bloggers. That means you do not have your email visible on your account so I can't contact you if you win.  If you like to enter other giveaways and have never won this maybe why.

So here is a great tutorial to check if your a no-reply blogger.

Summer Giveaway!

 There's not a lot of quilting going on here as the weather is so nice and I am spending more time outside than at my sewing machine.  So I though why not have a Giveaway to celebrate the lazy days of summer.

The prize is this colourful Rainbow fat quarter bundle of my hand dyed fabric.   These fabrics definitely shout "Summer"!

So all you have to do is leave a comment and if you want you could tell me what you enjoy doing on a hot summers day besides quilting.  I need to know I'm not the only one slacking in the quilting department this summer.

If you comment 'anonymous' please just add your name and email so I can contact you if you win.

 I'll mail the fabric bundle international too and make the draw next week on July 30th.  :)

*Giveaway is now closed*