On Machine Quilting, Old Red Barns, Old Houses and Sunrises

Yep, that was a mouthful and a handful of work!

Remember my machine quilting table for my frames that Danny made me? They ended up in my bedroom as a storage rack for clothes and junk for a long time now?

Well the reason behind that was we had a glitch in them and all we ever did about that glitch was to discuss that one of these days we would do something about that glitch.

Last Sunday was that day!

I just had an epiphany of sorts and decided that I knew exactly what would work on that glitch and that I was way past ready to have these frames up and running and OUT of my bedroom.

So off we trek to Lowes and spend $8 on the glitch parts and then just simply move them........simple? ha! Simple in the fact that we just dropped everything that was on them and moved them!

I moved them to another temporary home in the side of my hair studio........ I know you are thinking that I am crazy but it works for now. Climate controlled and the lighting is superb!

Cramped yes, but right now is a really slow season for the business and I went for it and carved out an area and this building seems to have been built to be a quilting studio! LOL It's been everything, a greenhouse, a hot tub room, a hair salon and now a quilting studio! That's what you call getting your money's worth!!

This Fence Rail Quilt was started way back when he first built the tables so I could have a quilt ready in a flash to practice quilting with my new Juki and the frames at the same time.

Now after all this time, I have become really acquainted with the Juki TL98Q and love her! So when I put her in the frames this time I was very comfortable and I quilted this quilt in no time flat. I was so proud! I now have all the parts to the Juki HZL600 and she is wonderful too!

I have started a king size modern strip quilt in polka dots....giggle giggle... for my bed and the machine is awesome. I have another quilt in the frames now which is a made up pattern that I threw together one day and it turned out a bit wonky but not wonky on purpose.....get my drift? So I am practicing with a new pantograph on it and it's going quite well so far, seems there are some booboo's that you can quilt out!

I also have several quilts on their way here to "quilt for hire"!!!!!!!!!!!

That's always been my goal but it's been a glitch part away for a long time!

I have been spending a lot of time shooting the beautiful sunrises.

Yesterday morning instead of running outside in my PJ's to catch it, I got some clothes on and ran down the road about a mile and parked in front of this old farm..............well, the sunrise was pretty but the farm was prettier! This is owned by Danny's boss. I LOVE IT!







A bit of playing around with the editing!

With my macro lens.

heart

Have I ever told you that I love red barns?

Well I do!

This is the sunrise that got me started on my chase.......1/4/2012

Totally unedited!

This one made it to our local TV news channel for their evening weather!

I didn't know it but one of my neighbor/hair clients told me.

He works on this farm that is thru that gate and he said he knew where this was taken immediately!

1/14/2012

A Saturday morning and Danny was leaving to go cut firewood. As he left i was standing in the road in my PJ's and it was 14 degrees or so, as I started to shoot I noticed an orange line coming up horizontally and then in a few moments a vertical orange line crossing it. It kept getting bigger and bigger and I kept shooting............you should see all my pics in the timeline..........and suddenly there was a gorgeous orange cross in the sky overlooking my little town, my little farm and me!! Danny tried to call back to tell me to shoot it if I hadn't seen it. Morgan thought I edited it in my pics.........Oh no, there's only one person who could do that and we all know who HE is!

I felt so blessed and privileged to be able be standing here that beautiful morning!

1/25/2012

1/25/2012

1/25/2012

Yet another one made it on the evening news!

Of course I posted them on their Facebook page but they picked mine twice!!!!!!

This was yesterday, beautiful but not as breathtaking as the previous days!

Just this....

that's all.

My Quilting Frame......

Here it is!! Yay!!

He is finished with constructing it but we now have to get it into the house.

They are 12' long and are built in 2 pieces...pretty smart huh?

At least we can move them in sections.

How about that great storage shelf he added underneath??

They are soooo loooooonnnngggggggg!

The tracks are one continuous board so as not to have any bumps while moving the machine along the tracks. They will be screwed in place once we set everything up exactly where I want it.

We used most of the Handi Quilter frame that I already had.

These end pieces will be adjustable with some bolts with wing nuts.

I will be able to quilt up to a king size quilt on them.

All I have to do is sand them down really good and then get them put up tomorrow evening.

I can't wait to actually use them!!

He did such a good job!!!!

Jelly Roll quilt....

I have to get ready for my new frames!

Danny is doing such a great job on them, he is really into this project for some reason?!?!

Is it to get me quilting and let him hunt as much as he wants to????
Yep! That will work Honey!

Of course I already have a stash of pieced tops awaiting quilting but I just couldn't help myself and start another one today. I got this idea from Natalie, The Hideaway Girl....if you haven't been to her blog you should go. She has the most amazing pictures EVER!! I told Danny I was going out to the west coast soon!! He laughed at me, again!

I am using a Batik Jelly Roll that I got at Joanne fabrics for a steal last year. I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do with it til I saw hers and this fabric is perfect. You use a 2 1/2" Jelly roll strip and alternate rows with a 1 1/2" solid, I am using an off white cotton. You just go around and around with a long strip of pieces sewn together end to end. Easy Peasy!

Now I have a dilemma....again........ I need another sewing machine!

I am so dagum in love with this Juki that I don't want to give it up and put it in the frames to quilt with it. I know it will be wonderful for the frames but I love piecing on it. I don't know what I like the best about it either....probably the heavy duty-ness.........or
the thread cutter? Or the throat space? Not sure but I think it is a dream package for a quilter/piecer.

Do you think if I sell a couple more machines that he will let me buy another one?

After all I do work hard for my money!

I am having a "GIVEAWAY" ..............This week in history.........pay really close attention........

My little Snuggle Bug (LOLOLOL) and I will be married 34 years on Saturday.

9/25/1976

(look at his long skinny fingers!)

This was my Grandpa and Grandma Wray...(I don't remember them {I hope this was long before my time} but that must be where my gardening, flower loving genes came from! At least I didn't get their nose!)

I wonder how long they were married?

I wonder if my marriage will last that long?

Maybe if I can stay out of the fabric stores and stay out of "time out" it will last a long time!!!

I threw this one in for fun!

Grandma Goldie, Mama, Me and Robin. Not sure what was up with Robin's shoes, I do not remember them!! UGLY!!

Look at my really long and skinny fingers!

This is the cute little fellow that I married!

Always an animal lover!




Now look again at those long skinny fingers and those long but very skinny legs!!
How about those T-straps???
Love me some T-straps to this day!!
I would wear them every day if they made my legs look like that again!
~

I always get emotional during the week before my wedding anniversary.
Way back in 1976, on the week before my wedding day, I would walk from my house to Danny's every morning to help him and his family make molasses. Of course I just walked out there to be with him and to eat his Mother's GREAT country cooking!!!
The weather was beautiful that week, there was a nice chill in the air and it was really misty each morning. As I walked through the hayfield to his house, I was thinking that
"I Was The Happiest Girl in The Whole USA!!!"


As I have been traveling to work this week, I have noticed that the early mornings have been sorta misty just as they were 34 years ago. Almost brings tears to my eyes when that happy feeling comes back to me. I just knew way back that it would be the most awesome thing in the world to be "Mrs. Danny Moran!!!!!!!!!!!

It is pretty awesome.....most of the time!!!!!
Of course I was only 14 at the time, what did I know??


Now.........
like I said.....PAY ATTENTION......
I have never done a give away on here and it is LONG over due.
I am so sorry for being such a slacker in that department too.
I hope that somehow I could make it up to you though.
In honor of my anniversary....(well can you think of a better reason??) I will host a giveaway!!


I have never been a fan of those giveaways that give you all those rules about if you do this and do that then you will be entered....yada yada yada........HOWEVER.....I have something in the works and I regret that I have no choice but to ask you to do a little legwork here.
I can't tell you as of yet what that is all about but ALL you have to do to win is become a follower and leave me a comment telling me how much you would like to be entered in this drawing!
See Easy Peasy, right???
A drawing for what, you are asking??
You will be entered in the drawing for a table runner just like the one above!
(only it will be completely finished, lol)
A Moda French General ~ Lumiere de Noel Table Runner hand made and quilted by me.


RULES:
1. The deadline for entries will be October 23rd, which just happens to be my prince Charming's Birthday!
2. Become a follower of my blog. If you are not a follower you can not be entered into the drawing.
3. Leave me a comment on this post. Anonymous comments are not allowed. If you can read this blog you can get you a Goggle Account set up painlessly and securely that will allow you to follow me and leave comments with out having a blog yourself.
4. You will only be entered once for the drawing even though you are a follower and leave a comment too. Once per person but you have to do both.

GOOD LUCK!!!

Moda Lumiere de Noel by French General Table Runner

Now that was a mouthful and don't make me type that name out again!

I do love me some French General fabrics though! If I were rich

I would buy them, every thing they design and manufacture!

They are my Anthropology!

I made this runner Saturday from a pattern that Robin gave me for table runners to be made out of charm packs. It's called Triangulations.

It was very easy to make and I thought the above said fabric was going to be just perfect for this pattern but I wish I had used fabric with more distinct darks and lights.

I think the design would have been more prominent.
It's still just perfect for me and my dining room table!

Of course it was quilted on this!!

Yep, it came at 6:15 or so yesterday. I thought I would have a stroke waiting on that brown truck too. I got her in and all put together, played/fingered with/drooled over the accessories and then went to wind the first bobbin......OMG this machine is soooooo fast! I about fell out of my chair, scared me to death! Have you guys ever worked in a sewing factory? Well I have and those industrial machines are so fast that it takes a lot of getting used to. I was afraid that this was going to be way tooooooooo much power for me!

However when I finished the bobbin and got my sleeves rolled up and my courage built up, I stuck my tongue out the side of my mouth for concentration, I kept my hands way away from that needle and began to push down ever so slightly on the foot controller and she started off nice and slow! Whew!!! I can control the power of this machine with my foot after all!

It is a dream to sew on! Sews beautifully! I can't even describe the difference between this one and my other machines for quilting. Of course it only has a straight stitch but I have the other machines for the decorative stitches. This baby will be my Quilting Princess!

I AM SO HAPPY WITH THIS DECISION!!

Now I have to practice keeping my foot off the thread cutter button on the foot controller!

I hit it a couple times and cut my thread when I wasn't ready to stop, while quilting the table runner. That'll come with time! That's one feature that I loved about industrial sewing machines.

See "Becky leves here Juki!"

I am not very good at free hand cursive yet!!

I am out the door again today in class but when I get back I will try to post the pictures from the professional photographer who stayed at The Fairy's Rest over the weekend!

They are awesome and made me cry when I saw them.

She posted them on Facebook yesterday and they were quite the hit!!

In about a 3 hour period I had almost 400 hits on my website!!

woowoowooo!!

It's on the truck......

and it's somewhere in my county as we speak!

I can't hardly stand myself today!

I am just giddy in anticipation of hearing that big brown delivery truck whirling down my dirt road today. I will be out that door in a flash, choking down the ever widening cloud of dust that he stirs up when he races to my house to deliver my treasures!

Is it wrong to be in love with your UPS driver?

I don't even know his name but he sure does bring me nice gifts sometimes!!

~

I made it thru my first day of work, well orientation that is.

Other than getting lost it wasn't too bad.

I was on the schedule to be in the office today and a computer class the rest of this week.....5 days and I am only part time? So my manager called me last night and asked if I would just wait until tomorrow and come to class.....fine by me...I knew my Juki would be here today!!

In a few minutes UPS called to confirm that it would be here between the hours of 8AM and 7PM, and that someone had to be here to sign for it!

Good thing my manager knew that I needed to have the day off!

8AM til 7PM???? What sort of time frame is that?

Enough to drive me even crazier!

I won't be able to get a thing done while I am waiting to hear Frankie barking and that big ole motor hum..........

I guess I will just go upstairs and make another table runner to practice quilting on it!

I made a really cute one Saturday that I will share soon.

Can you quilt that out?

Funny funny video here about quilting!!

Go on over and check it out!!

That song was written by me!!! hahaha

Floyd French, Turkey Tracks and Juki Spiders.....

I had to show you this scrub top!

I told you that I had some cool new fabric from Michael Miller!

This is called Zinnia Path!

I fell in love with it when my eyes first hit it and went straight to the cutting table with the bolt!

I love every thing about it!

I am very proud of this one. This is probably my bestest one that I have ever made.
I cut it from another scrub top so that is always a risk. The other top was also an unfinished one from about 2 years ago so that was an even bigger risk! All I needed to do to the other one was sew the pockets on and yet they were not on there???? hmmm???

This placket area of the V-neck is always a problem area for me and a lot of others. I used to see a neat scrub on someone at work and I would go straight to see if the V was straight and I could tell if they were homemade or not!! Those girls probably thought I was staring at their cleavage!

I have over the years finally figured out how to make this placket come into a V and actually lay down! Big pat on my back from myself!

I was just pondering about a new quilting machine just last night.....pondering enough to dream really stupid dreams about it all night long too.......and I had decided that all I need is a powerhouse single stitch quilter such as this Juki that Amanda Jean has over at Crazy Mom Quilts. I decided that I do not need all those bells and whistles that my Baby Lock and my Bernina and my Kenmore already do and I never ever use all those fancy stitches anyway...................well why don't I use them? I was awfully happy when I bought all these machines because they did all these stitches but why??

So I played with some of the many stitches on my Baby this morning and found a favorite of mine that I will call "Turkey Tracks" and I put it right across the tops of my pockets just because I wanted to!!

I also did a fold down stitch down edging on the pockets that I will call Floyd French!

I live in Floyd County Va and it reminded me of a French seam but wasn't really French at all!!

Funny how my mind thinks isn't it?

ie. the spider in my new Juki quilting machine last night...........

I made some very very nice side slits on this one too.

Gotta have room for the belly when I bend over!



These old drab numbers just pale in comparison to my new fancy smancy top don't they?

Danny said that I was going to have fun for the first week at work showing off all my new clothes that I made!!!!! Well, maybe so!



I used to work in a sewing factory...imagine that??......and I would go to the mall and see a top or dress, what have you, and I would go home and whip me out a pattern (a rigged up pattern) and make the same top or dress. I used to come home in the afternoons and just make me a new top to wear to work the next day like it was nothing! Those were the days......why did I stop doing that? Maybe the family decided that they needed meals prepared or laundry done??? I dunno! Maybe it's all their fault that I don't have a nice wardrobe today, maybe they broke my good habits??

Just like it's my kids fault that I am fat!

I used to get my workout wear on and slap an exercise vhs tape in the vcr

and in about 2 seconds I would have 2 scantily clad little girls right under me donning their "lidtards" (leotards) and legwarmers!! hahaha I would get so frustrated that they were in my way that I would just go to the fridge and make me a sandwich or something and sit on the couch and watch the two of them working out in their lidtards! They would figure out pretty quickly that it was no fun and want what ever I was eating!!!
Then they grew up got married and have kids of their own!!!
HAHAHAHA!!!! Paybacks are fun!!






Here is my Newspaper Quilt that is in progress.

I am in such a habit of this quilting stitch now. I used it on my pinwheel quilt too. I WILL try something different on my next pinwheel quilt that I am piecing now.

I can do others but this one just feels comfortable to me.

I have been watching videos on youtube of different quilting techniques so watch out!







I love the back!

No I am not quilting it this way this was just staged for a picture!!!

I am a little over half way thru with the quilting.

I just realized that I did not have any binding fabric so I will make a trip to Schoolhouse Fabrics for some matching fabric....come to think of it...I bought the fabric for the border and did I not get enough for the binding too??? I have to hunt for that!

This is where I am.....

.........although I am sitting in the dark right now!

In my fresh clean office/quilting room!

Whew, this room was a mess, and I will leave it at that!!!
I will spare you all the grimmy, dusty, cluttered details.

I thought my office was now deserving of a new wall quilt so I whipped this one up this afternoon!!

hahaha

This is the Moda Nest quilt that I made and it was my first project on my Baby Lock when I got her home! I think the quilt has now found a good home!

Pardon the 2 baskets plus of excess "stuff" that still need a new home. The table in the middle of the floor was used to sit my machine on before Danny got home and moved the red enamel top table down from my sewing room. I will finish tidying those things up tonight or tomorrow, I promise!

But just look at that view!!

The stupid welder with the flat tire and all the grease/hydraulic fluid buckets behind the garage in front of the machine! Men? The green fishpond from the other window!!

I have to say it sure is a nice bright place to sew. I did a lot of sewing in this room for Robins wedding. I made her wedding gown, 3 flower girls dresses and 5 bridesmaid dresses while sitting in front of that window!

The view from the front window, the grandkids toys and my fishpond that isn't too green to enjoy. It must not be too bad because there are about 200 baby goldfish in there this year! That is another first for Sunny Morning Farm......other than the big fish pond, we have never had fish to hatch out in the smaller ponds! Yay! Anyone need any goldfish?
I have all colors, orange, black, white and any combo of colors!

Yes I still have paint that needs to be scraped off of the windows too..........among my many other things that I need to finish around here!

I can sit this winter/early spring and watch the Eastern Bluebirds in the crabapple tree out this window!

Now after I finish getting this box of stuff filed......

I can finish this quilt. I sewed the binding on it and apparently stretched the binding while I was sewing it and it is smaller than the quilt causing it to curl!! The crazy things I do!

I will have to remove it and start over.....urgh!!

Then I am going to play with my baby!!

She looks new and shiny doesn't she?

I plan to use this room and this machine only for quilting and doing the rest of my sewing and piecing in my sewing room. This way I have freed up some much needed space up there and it takes a good open space to be able to swing a quilt around while quilting it, I hope this was a good idea!