Hiatus Happenings Part 3......301A

I had been taking my Juki TL 2010q along but it is such a heavy beast to be bring in and out of the RV. A friend in my guild got me started on eBay and this is my one and probably only purchase on eBay. There just seems to be too much of an opportunity for dishonesty in the bidding process. This machine was not a bid or make an offer buy and was less money than any of my losing bids or declined offers.

She's not pristine but she suits me just fine and sews a really nice stitch. I like winding bobbins on her much more than the Juki.

Sweetie has made several times for the RV....one is the wine rack. It rides right where you see it and doesn't budge as we go done the road.

New Project From Sweetie's Shop

Fresh from Sweetie's shop...we had been using a dresser that had been Sweetie's as a single guy and I was only able to lay claim to two small drawers. Just enough to hold my undies.

Yes, I'm showing the cyberworld my underwear drawer...this was my must have in the top drawer design...I love it. Plus I have two drawers to spare.

Another Sweetie Project

We finally got feed up with the lousy builders grade dishwasher and splurged (our Christmas present to each other) on a new Maytag...does a great job on stemware and crusty dishes.

I thought this was such a cute picture of Sweetie and his shadow Bear.

My order from Superior Thread arrived today...ordered Bottom Line in #623...it really does almost disappear.

I think the Juki prefers a heavier thread for FMQing though...just a prettier stitch.

New Foot Pedal Stand For Juki TL-2010Q

It's always been a pain having the pedal skidding all over the cement floor. In the picture above it's corralled in between a big hunk of lumber and the power supply (which is butted up against a big paver block). My guilds first all day Sew In is next week and I didn't want to be constantly chasing this over the newly tiles floor at the church.

So....I grabbed the board and the pedal and headed down the path to Sweetie's shop. I handed the board and pedal to Sweetie and said I needed a rectangle made to go around the pedal. As usual, Sweetie thought my plan was flawed (he usually always does and usually concedes that my plan was pretty good after it's all said and done). However, this time I will concede...it would have been heavy and bulky.

So...I told him to get creative and make it more portable, but with the stipulation that board height was perfect for a comfortable foot angle while quilting...plus it completely took the thread cutter out of the equation while FMQing!!!

Less than 30 minutes and whaa-lah...Sweetie appears with my new pedal keeper. Now that's customer service!!!

Quilting Table Assembly For New Juki TL 2010Q

 

Here's my new machine again before opening is cut.

A quick cut with a jig saw.

The openings edges cleaned up nicely with sandpaper. I had Sweetie cut the opening 3" longer so I could slide the machine back to access the bobbin and allowed for power cords to feed under the table.

Set up how I intend to quilt.

 

I think when the permanent set up is done, I will have Sweetie cut an opening in the back left corner to set the machine in for piecing. Sweetie also wants to put locking rollers on the legs so I can move the set up away from the wall easily.

New Juki TL 2010Q is here....WooHoo!!!!

I thought it was time to resurfaced in Blogland...went through a rather long stretch where I just didn't have anything to say...got some quilting done, read a whole lot of books and blogs...no apologies here, there's ways to much of it out there in Blogland...as if all bloggers we follow owe us a post of a regular basis...let life get in the way!!!!

 

 

Anywho...BELATED SQUEAL!!!!!  This actually came Christmas Eve...UPS was so busy that it arrived via a black pickup.

 

Here's a sneak peek at (just realized I haven't named it/her/him yet) sitting on the quilting table that Sweetie is putting together for me. The surface is permanent (may be some future modifications) but its base is a work in progress.  More pictures soon.

There grand kids (DS) over the holidays for a short visit...we're the halfway point on the way to Florida (his fathers residence) so they stopped on the way there and back.  Thanks to some super glue the snowmen are almost good as new.

The mat was a quilting doodle that turned out pretty good and I'm not into wasting fabric (even out dated mauve), so I slapped a totally machine applied practice binding (more out dated fabric) on and was please with my work.

There are more pictures in the que for future posts...It feels good to post!!!!

Later....Lainee

Changing The Seasons

 

When the Christmas decorations were put away, I needed something for the frames. 

 

 The Pineapple block is an experiment in making a 12.5" block versus 9.5" (like in the book) or my really big 16.5" version that will go into my extra big king size quilt.

 

The heart block was made especially for the frame and the only quilty valentine thing that I have so far.

 

The hexie-ish block was also an experiment of sorts. At first I was just sewing various size strips around a hexagon. Then I decided to square it off and use it for a pillow...and there it sat...until I needed something springy for the frame.

 

The hexie-ish block and the heart block were both quilted through just the batting...maybe I should get some muslin and add it just in case I want to join some of these blocks into something down the road.

 

I'm not sure what I will do with the Pineapple one...maybe I'll do an all over quilting just to see how I like the effect on the block.



Male Bonding

 

DS Brett and Sweetie having some Guy Time on the back porch....didn't Sweetie do a great job on the fireplace!

The Shop

Here it is as virgin space!

Then Sweetie set up his shop.

 

In July, he had the shell put up,did the finishing details and then moved his shop in here....need to paint that white eye sore now.

 

My storage/stash closet....

 

....that mainly came about to hide the wooden box that houses the PS3,DVR and tuner for the surround sound in the pool room. There are more shells to the left of the door from floor to ceiling.

 

After I have spent some time in here, I'll have Sweetie build counters for me.

 

 

Eventually, I will double the size of my design wall.

 

My cutting table rolls around so much better on the cement floor. When I do cutting, I'll roll it right under a light.

 

Sweetie built these shelves for me...it took him a while to get his head around what I was wanting. A picture ledge is a new concept for him.

Where Did July Go?

July has been a long, and emotionally draining month for the both of us. Let's see...it started off with major water damage to a bedroom of the lower unit of the duplex that I own in Milwaukee. It's troublesome enough being a long distance landlord and you only have to deal with late rent checks ands squabblilng tenants...more than once I've wanted to say..."people...don't make me come up there!" Fortunately, the kids have handled some of the leg work, but the stress has been all mine.

Then, Sweetie's dog Maxine ran off. She's been gone 29 days and as I am writing this, Sweetie is at the pound (Gilmer County Animal Shelter) checking to see if a dog posted on their website is Maxine. This will be continued in another post.

My daughter was down from Milwaukee (New Berlin to be exact) for 5 days in the middle of the month...another post.

The building in the picture is Sweetie's new shop that was started at the beginning of the month. A crew came in and put up the shell (all in 3 days) and then Sweetie was out in the sweltering heat staining it. After that, he put on the deck and then did the wiring for outlets and lighting inside. As I'm writing this, I'm waiting for the county building inspector to show up to give his final blessing. There were 4 permits issued for Gilmer County this month...hopefully he won't be to strapped to make it here today.

And last but not least...I'm waiting to hear back from the attorney's office that handled my divorce back in the late 90's, to see if I really am happily divorced. He's suppose to get back to me tomorrow. This will also be another post.

Well, that was all the major stuff and there is light at the end of the tunnel!

My New Rotating Cutting Board

Didn't Sweetie do nice job on this!

The cutting mat is removable, so it can be used as a lazy susan on a table.

This is most of my current reading selection. My big print book, for on the treadmill, is in the car). I thing it's Tess Gerritsen's first novel that was written in 1993.

I just took two books back to the library and only thought of taking a picture when I was at the library (without camera), so...no picture. But I must recored them for my very short memory. They were...Ice Cold by Tess Gerritsen and Don't Look Twice by Andrew Gross.

Retired And Easily Distracted

Here I am again. Like the title states...I'm retired and easily distracted...seriously! I've been busy reading other peoples blogs, working out (5-6 time a week), reading novels, doing very little quilting although I did finally make order in The Room, and collecting rocks (more on that in another post). I was so busy doing really nothing urgent, that I'm just now getting around to doing my taxes!
This my new quarter inch foot and it seams (get it) to help.

To get the free shipping from Amazon, I HAD to buy more...so I bought this quilt book since I wasn't lucky enough to win it during the author's blog tour.

Sweetie made this turn table for when we play card. Our group is usually eight or more people and it was a drag always trying to keep the deck of cards and the discard pile in all the players reach. It's 24" and works just great...Joe Cool holds the dimes from the losers.

I also bought this pink cutting mat which is 13" and the largest square cutting mat that I found on line. It works OK on this big turn table, but Sweetie made me a square turn table just for the mat...stay tune for a picture.

Another Christmas Decoration Project

Here's another Waterford ceramic item. I'm pretty sure that I didn't pay more than $25 for the base and tree (including glaze and firing) and now they cost about 2 to 3 times as much (at least in Illinois), plus they're smaller.

I never was happy with the wimpy little light that came with the tree because it really didn't light up the top of the tree. So.....



...Sweetie put this light in the base...now that baby really glows!

Christmas Decorating (quilting distraction)

The day after Thanksgiving, I started dragging the Christmas decorations out of the little eve storage areas in my quilting room. It really didn't take that long since I'm not an overboard Christmas decorator. Since we didn't decorate at all last year because of the move, I felt the need to get them up as soon as possible.

The two Santa's above were made by my DD and I in the late 90's, when we were living in Waterford. Waterford is a small town in southeast Wisconsin and like a lot of small towns the shops in its little downtown areas was continually cycling through different proprietors and contents. In the late 90's, one of the larger store fronts contained a combination pet store and ceramic shop. They poured slip into their own molds and had an area in the back of the pet store/ceramic shop where you could prepare your purchased green ware for firing and painting or glazing and firing.



The Santa on the right was done by my DD and mine is on the left.



Being that they are tall and rather light weight, they are also very unstable and prone to tipping over...which they have done several times and sustained varying degrees of damage. My Santa broken in half in one fall (you may be able to see a crack running thru his star if you enlarge picture) and DD's Santa has had his bottom quarter pieced back together (minus a few chips of plaster..see darker spots of red).

I've always tried to keep them out of harms way (pets, small children, a breeze) and even used Gorilla Grip, that securing putty.


This year, while I was dragging out the decorations, and idea came to me as I was taking these guys out of their bubble wrap....they need a stand. Downstairs I went, with Santa's in hand, to find Sweetie and explain his next project. It became our next project.

Out came the left over wood from the lazy susan (more on that in another post) and we marked the oval the size that I wanted. Sweetie then cut it out, sanded the cut sides, and then routed the decorative edge. I sanded it, put on stain, and three coats of poly (with sanding in between the first two coats). The next morning, I used a little steel wool on the 3rd coat and finished it off with a coat of butchers wax. It's not one of my more stellar finishing jobs...but it still looks pretty good and is exactly what I envisioned.