The Best Kind of Email part 2 - AKA "And they thought I forgot about them"

Several weeks ago (okay, maybe months) I asked/begged for photos of finished projects you have made from my designs. Because sometimes we designers just need a quick ego trip. And also I wanted to use them as the basis of my post on NEQDC's blog for June. The ego trip was nice, though, no doubt about it.

I was actually quite surprised to receive more than one photo. Not only did I get enough for the NEQDC site (Make a Designer's Day), but plenty for a post of my own (The Best Kind of Email). But the photos just kept coming, and I want to share some more today so that those quilters will also know how much I enjoy them and feel just as special and loved as they should.

First up is "Feelin' Hot Hot Pink", purchased as a kit by my non-quilting friend Lee Ann and given to her quilting mom Lorraine. (Side note, Lorraine is Greta's middle name and I never can remember if there are two r's or two n's in it. Ever. I apologize if I got it wrong here, Lee Ann's mom. Imagine how my own child feels.) Lee Ann loves bleeding hearts and was hopeful that by giving this kit to her mom for her birthday, she might get a little gift back for herself. Truly a gift that gives back. I love the addition of the pink piping border, and it especially makes me happy that she used one of my favorite cheapo tricks and used up the background fabrics to make a scrappy binding.

Nice work, Lor(r)ain(n)e!

This version of "Quite Contrary", made by Kyle M. of Texas, is to die for. Those fabrics make me want to grab a spoon and eat them.

Delish. And I love the fence used as backdrop. So quilty kitchsy fun.

This next woman slays me. Merlene T. was in the audience of my "Plays Well With Others" lecture at A Quilter's Sampler back in May. She became obsessed with the little quilt I made in the debut of my "Round Robin in a Day" workshop a couple of years ago. Now, hotties, this workshop is not for the faint of heart, as you have no idea what you will end up taking home, but it is way fun to create an entire quilt for every workshop participant in 6 hours. Anyway, I chose some terribly blendy fabrics for people to use on mine, so although the other quilters did some great stuff the fabrics were not their friends, but I show it anyway.

Well, Merlene loved the quilt so much she made a special trip down to the show the next day just so she could beg me in person to send her a photo so she could recreate it herself. How could I not send it to her? Less than a week later, she sent me a photo of her interpretation, which is way better than mine.

Seriously, hw awesome is she, and can I convince her to be president of my fan club?

I know I am not the only designer to be tickled when someone sends me a photo. Don't be shy - consider showing off what you made and I know they will thank you!

Quilting at the speed of light

Is there anything more fantastic than a sewing machine that goes so fast it has a brake on the foot pedal? Would owning one allow me to piece an entire quilt in 45 minutes? Would it at least allow me to beat out my friend Angie for the title of Most Prolific Retreat Go-er? These are the questions that have burned in my mind every time I encounter and salivate over a Juki 98E or Q.

For many years now, I have polled everyone I know has or find out has a Juki 98E or Q to see if they love it to pieces or want to throw it across the room half the time, because in doing some simple research the first thing I found out is that they can be really temperamental when it comes to tension, and I have enough bad temperament in my home with two preteen girls. All of my research was completely useless to me as a potential buyer, since the "I love it so much that it pains me that my husband will not let it sleep at the end of our bed so I can stay always close to its" were dead even with the "It makes me want to leap out of my sewing room window with my hair on fires". So that did not help my decision.

Earlier this week, I decided the only way to know for sure was to finally give one a test drive. Newsflash - I'm not one to make a quick decision on big purchases.

So Tuesday I borrowed my friend Michelle's Juki, and yesterday I spent 5 hours fighting with it because it desperately wanted me to be in the hair on fire group, and then once I was done with the 25% grade learning curve, another one hour to completely quilt a twin sized quilt.

Michelle's Juki is very much at home on my dining room table. 

Note that I did not say "one hour to completely quilt a twin sized quilt with award winning stitchery". But still. Holy love at 1500 stitches per minute. I'm now officially in the market and hoping Santa is kind to me.

Even given all the love, I can totally see why my polling of Juki owners was so split down the middle. Because even if I am already making a pallet at the end of the bed for one, the pros are still even with the cons:

Cons:

1. The tension is, as advertised, a beeyotch. Both needle and bobbin tensions have to be adjusted, and adjusted, and adjusted.
2. The bobbin runs out very quickly due to the high number of stitches per minute.
3. The old fashioned bobbin case is not only awkward to insert, but it quite literally gave me an infection under my thumbnail because it was so hard to get out that I jammed the flap under my nail when taking it out and woke up at 3am with it throbbing.
4. It seemed that every time I had to change out the bobbin, the top tension would get screwed up too, so I had to rethread the entire thing. Again.

Caveat to 1 and 4 - I was using Sulky thread, which I have always had terrible luck using and once again it was very difficult. It is up to all of you to please, if you see me even glancing at Sulky displays anywhere at any time to slap me. I am sure they are a lovely company and I love the look of their thread, but we just don't get along.

Pros:

1. It is utterly and completely astounding to me how much difference a mid-arm makes when quilting as opposed to a domestic.
2. For a machine that is going faster than a race car, it is surprisingly quiet, so I would not be in danger of missing the call when someone loses their shoes/backpack/screwdriver/sunglasses and I am obligated to whip out my womanly finding powers.
3. One hour to quilt a whole quilt? Wowza.
4. Nice even stitches, and did I mention the brake pedal? You have to love that, truly.

I feel fairly confident that Cons 1 and 4 might work themselves out as I got to know my machine. Con 2 might be solved by using really thin thread (metrolene) and Con 3 might entail I wear a thumb condom of some sort, but it could be done.

My simple, but finished and decent, quilting.



Every now and then you find the perfect backing.

Anyone know of a good Juki deal?

Camp praise and a campy photo

Please tell me there is nothing at all wrong with having a hot fudge sundae in the middle of the day, because there was nothing that could stop me today from celebrating - IT'S CAMP WEEK! Camp Week! Glorious, fabulous, everyone-in-the-car-we're-off-to-camp week! Plus there was a can of whipped cream left over from when the kids were away for real.

And we had strawberry shortcake. Come on people. Heads out of the gutter.

Several weeks ago Mr. QH, in a clear effort to seem as if he was going to offer to provide child care if necessary but secretly hoping he could instead go fishing or lie in the new gravity chair reading a book this summer, casually asked what EPQD's summer plans entailed. When I rattled off the three things I most wanted to get done in the sewing room:

1. Project for Quilter's World

2. Rewrite/rework of Quite Contrary for self publication - and

3. Get underway with a custom job

as well as the three things I wanted to accomplish outside of the sewing room:

1. Figure out how to get a shopping cart on my blog

2. Petition possible sponsors for DaGMT 2013 - and

3. Read books while lying in the new gravity chair, which is conveniently built for one

I could almost see him crumble, much like a shortcake. Perhaps if I had made "Find new and creative uses for the leftover whipped cream" a goal, he would have been happier.

A hat for an elf, perhaps?

But lucky for him and for me, the girls are now of an age where they actually entertain themselves (read: fight in another room) in between camp weeks, playdates, vacations, etc, so I am able to accomplish a few things here and there without having to call in Captain Stubing for backup.

Just today I can check off "finish quilt top" from the list, having finished sewing the twin/lap sized version of my reworked "Quite Contrary", which I am hoping to have done in time to be in NEQDC's booth at Maine Quilts later this month. I'm trying to decide what to call it...."More Contrary"? "Even More Contrary"? "Mary Mary Quite Contrary"? "Mary Mary, Why You Buggin'"?

As you can see, it's a process.

You can also see I've changed up the middle a little and kept the borders, which were my favorite part anyway. Now to get it quilted and off to the printer before camp week comes to a door-slamming conclusion.

Another thing I would love to accomplish this summer, but don't dare tell Mr. QH quite yet, is to put together all of the log cabin blocks I got from my guild's latest swap, which was completed in June. All of us provided our own center squares, and then each month we got a new person's blocks to work on. Being the total PITA that I am when working on a group quilt, the only direction I gave was "have fun". I really didn't care what fabrics were used, although I may have suggested blues. The end product will be for my cottage and will likely be eaten by mice over the next 25 years, so really, why be picky?

These are the blocks I got back, 64 that all look like this one:

And this is the setting I have chosen. I think it is kind of cool. I promise to do something a little more fun with the borders, too.

And paging Mrs. Panny....I finally have yours done too! So here's a sneak peak for her and a photo for all of you of the very last blocks I got to work on in the swap:

So here's to a successful start to the summer, sewing-wise anyway.