WOW! Where has the time gone? We’re into JULY already! It seems like just yesterday I was putting away the holiday decorations and waiting for warm weather to open up the pool! LOL
Life has been quite busy and full here on several fronts. I’ve been quilting up a storm lately, but haven’t been faithful at taking pictures. I really do need to replace my camera soon. I have re-opened my longarm service business and am enjoying once again quilting for customers. There is a special joy in taking someone’s pieced top and quilting it, then seeing the look of pleasure on their face when they pick it up!
The garden is growing wonderfully. I’ve got tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and green beans all coming on, and my corn has not only tassled, but I have SILK on several stalks! This is the first year I’ve planted any corn in ages now. I’m not big into pesticides on my garden and the first time I planted corn it hardly seemed worth it for the bugs. But I’ve since learned if I’m not going to use pesticide, I just plant twice as much, half for Mother Nature and half for me and if it divides out evenly I’m pleased!
I’ve also been working on a commission quilt with a softball theme. This particular client likes bright cheerful quilts, so I’m using these fabrics.
The stripe is the border fabric, the embroidery will be central in some, but not all the blocks. I’m using a two block pattern set on point.
I’ve also been working on my entry for the Journal Quilt II Project for Houston. I can’t show any pictures of that, but I can show what happened this morning when I went to quilt it. In all my years of quilting, I have NEVER had this happen before.
Yes, that is a titanium needle. I was having tension issues with a combination of Sew Perfect Thread in the top and Permacore in the bobbin. I was getting major pokies on the back, and instead of checking my bobbin to see just how low it was getting (as that affects tension on my machine), I cranked the tension very tight on the top thread. Apparently too tight! That was a heart stopping moment! Thank goodness I always test my tension on the excess backing fabric it takes to load the quilt!
I have put in a new needle, and have switched my bobbin thread to Bottom Line Pre-wounds (which I prefer when I’m using multiple top threads) and my tension is back to the gorgeous tension I expect from my machine! But still no pictures allowed.
I’m off now to overdye some greens for the show in August that aren’t quite as deep and rich of colors as my customers expect, and then back to quilting. Since it’s a grey overcast day here, I may even put on a pot of soup for supper.
The perfect plan for a dreary day, a pot of soup and a cheerful quilt project!