Finished and More

The king quilt with embrodiery is finished and delivered to Debbie Neubauer, the person who pieced this lovely quilt. What a great experience it has been to quilt Debbie’s quilt and she was gracious enough to let me take photos and post them here so that you could see her handiwork.

I also completed a cute monogramming project for another client. She had added ribbon trim to two towels for a new grandbaby and asked that I do the monogramming. The new baby’s middle name is Rose, so I decided that a monogram with a rose would be a great way to show off the new baby’s name. You will also see these posted today.

Next on my list is a lap quilt for a client in Colorado Springs and then 2 art quilts for ladies here in San Antonio. It is so much fun to have the opportunity to quilt different ways and have the challenge of deciding how best to get the “feel” the client wants for his/her quilt.

I am not going to be able to go to Houston for the Quilt Festival this year. My husband had to have spinal injections last week, so I decided it would be a good idea for me to stay close to home in case he needed to get back to his doctor. The injections have helped…any one who has ever had back or neck pain certainly knows how painful it can be.

Can you believe it is almost Halloween? I noticed that the Christmas decorations are already being displayed in the local department stores, so I will need to get my gift suggestions posted…stay tuned for ideas for holiday gift giving.

Back in the Saddle, Yet Again!

Well, the AC is fixed and the quilt has been turned FOR THE LAST TIME!!!I am so excited that I will be able to finish the king size quilt before the weekend and deliver it to the customer! Because each of the 500 smaller blocks had to be stitched in the ditch and then 1/4 inch stitched within the blocks (and some of the blocks had two rows of 1/4 inch stitching), this quilt took quite awhile to complete. However, the simpler quilting really made the embroidery blocks pop so it was worth the time and effort. The quilt has a folk feel to it and heavy quilting would not have been the way to go, although it might have been a little faster!

I think it is very important to look at the quilt and truly ask the client what is the “feel” they want for the quilt? Will it be for a show, a gift or for their own personal enjoyment? The answers to these questions certainly help the longarmer determine what would be the best route to go with the actual quilting that will take place. If a quilt is very busy (lots of fabric changes, etc), custom quilting would not be appropriate…an edge to edge design to give the quilt texture would be the best “recipe” for that type of quilt.

Diverted by the Compressor

Well, I had great hopes to finish the elusive king size quilt this weekend but, unfortunately, our air conditioner had other plans for me. The compressor passed on into AC heaven and, alas, took my well laid plans with it. Before I succumbed to the heat, I did get to finish the first two side borders, so, if we get the compressor today, I might be able to finish everything by the middle of the week. I share this simply because sometimes what we hope will be a deadline just doesn’t happen…certainly not because of laziness or lack of interest but because of physical restraints not under any human control.

Meanwhile, I am living like a character in Little House on Prairie…we are using a borrowed portable air conditioner (thank you, Lord!) and basically are living in the living area/kitchen of our townhouse. Our labradoodles are loving the close community…(they would love for us to be in their kennels with them I am certain), but sleeping on couches and chairs isn’t a particularly great way to prepare for an upcoming day of work. Nevertheless, in the humidity and heat, a little AC is better than NO AC!

Blogging with Community Education

Along with quilting and embroidery, I LOVE to teach. Last night I had the opportunity to teach a business blogging class through the North East ISD Community Education program. What a fantastic and interesting group of folks were in the class! Authors,a Golf Instructor, Travel Enthusiasts, a Home Improvement business owner and a professional photographer were part of the class and made for great questions and a great time for me. Next week, we will meet again and I am truly looking forward to visiting with them again.

Meanwhile, back at the studio, I have turned the lovely kingsized embroidered quilt so I can to the last borders so I am excited to be finishing it. I also have a cute embroidery order for a baby gift so I will upload photos of that when it is completed. It’s great to have so many varied projects to work on…that is the great thing about having both services available.