The Smiling Quilter BLOG - BLOG

The Smiling Quilter BLOG

What's Happening at the Cabin

12/18/2018

Longarming Queue

Jipco's RWB - Ship Dec 26
Frances' 16-Patch - January
Paula's Shades of Blue-Green

Piecing Queue

Crystal's WoW Quilt - TODAY

Joan's Quilts For Sale

How Long Will It Take?
The infamous question, no?
Think 2-3 panto quilts per week depending on
unforeseeable circumstances.
We all know how those can be!

About Blogging
To me, blogging is showing off
your quilts & sharing the process.
Anytime anyone is uncomfortable
with anything I post,
please let me know & out it will go!

4-Star Mini Quilt

12/13/2018

Photo by Denise

Nov 19: First contact.
Dec 13: Quilt is in my mailbox.
Dec 16: Was able to get out of my driveway late today. So glad this quilt is safe & sound.

RWB #16

12/12/2018

Dec 12: At the post office due to weather.
Dec 17: It's here. Amazing artistry.

Frank's Quilt - Finished 11/28

11/25/2018

Nov 26: Frank is a once in a lifetime friend. He'll be 99 next April. Now in assisted living, we got away for an afternoon here at the cabin. When I showed him this fabric his eyes it up. He agreed to accept a small quilt if I made it for him. Top priority. Quilted & binding.
Nov 28: Bound.

Jipco Table Topper - Quilted 11/30/2018

11/24/2018

Nov 24: Got a gorgeous preview.
Nov 30: Doing overlays. Quilted.

Shades of Blue-Green Jelly Roll Quilt

11/23/2018

Nov 23: Pieced by Paula Ginn.

RWB #15

11/23/2018

Tis still a mystery

Steelers - Quilted 12/02/2018

11/21/2018

Nov 21: Wow.
Nov 30: Prepped. Loading.
Dec 01: Programming.
Dec 02: Quilted.

Nautical Flags & Logo

11/20/2018

Medical Practice Logo

Nov 20: My friend, Narciso Gomez, is here from Florida for the family's annual Thanksgiving hiatus from all things medical. The whole Gomez Family is rather fond of my quilts. Narci designed his ideal quilt last night using nautical flags to spell out family initials & including his medical shield. He also wants just the shield for his office. Thinking embroidered fleur de lis, letters & shield border. Metallic gold fabric for the border & binding.
Nov 21: Spent the day drawing Narci's ideas.
Nov 22: Narci stopped in long enough to choose his favorite. Later I joined the family & friends for Thanksgiving dinner. I polished off the design & I have located fabrics I think will work. Just need Narci's final OK. And some lettering if I dont decide to longarm those.
Nov 23: Fabrics, t-shirt & fleur de lis patches are ordered.

Quilt

Wall Hanging

Three Heirloom Quilts - 1st Finished 12/11/2018, 2nd Finished 12/15/2018

11/12/2018

Frances Hunt's heirloom quilts were pieced and given to her by her Aunt Emma. She wants them finished & used.The 1st two are to be Christmas presents for her daughters, the 3rd is for herself. She wants all three of them enlarged with enough border to make them queen size with an 8" drop. She took them home to select fabrics. She & her husband want to participate in the longarming process when their schedules allow. Any assistance I can get handling, pressing, loading and rolling such large quilts would be welcomed, especially at this late date.

Nov 12: Frances & husband dropped by with the pieced tops. We worked well into the evening measuring, planning and shopping for backing & border fabrics.
Nov 13: Spent the day canceling an order, locating fabric options, doing quotes, emailing & chatting on the phone.
Nov 14: Started this BLOG post.
Nov 15: Added backing images selected/ordered by Francis.
Nov 17: Backing fabrics are here. Will pre-wash after Frances confirms this is what she wants.

Charmed 9-Patch - Quilted 12/10/2018, Bound 12/11/2018

Nov 28: Frances & Mac came by. I prewashed the backing while my quests started removing the blocks we want to rearrange.
Dec 03: Putting this quilt back together.
Dec 05: Prepped ready to load.
Dec 08: Programmed.
Dec 09: Quilting.
Dec 10: Quilted.
Dec 11: Binding is finished.

Nine Patch - Quilted 12/15/2018, Bound 12/15/2018

Dec 11: Pre-washed.
Dec 12: Quilt top is prepped. Loaded ready to quilt.
Dec 14: Quilting.
Dec 15: Quilted. Bound.

16-Patch

Fire Doggies in the Window - Quilted 11/24/2018

11/10/2018

Nov 10: Quilt arrived. Wow.
Nov 19: Prepped ready to load. Using pattern Minaret with Tan thread.
Nov 21: Quilting.
Nov 24: Quilted.

Piggies Quilt for a Newborn - Quilted 11/29/2018

11/10/2018

Nov 10: Just waiting on the baby's birthday.
Nov 21: The baby is born.
Nov 29: Quilted.

Hop, Skip & Jump!

11/6/2018

Making this quilt for Alicia Miller
Dec 24, 2016: Purchased 3 charm packs from Ye Olde Forest Quilt Shop during their annual stocking stuffer promotion.
Nov 06, 2018: Today, my friend & very special lady, Alicia, selected this for her quilt. We've been working up to this for several months now. Can't wait to get started.
Nov 07: Working on a rendition.
Nov 08: Ordered fabric for background, borders, binding & backing.
Nov 13: All fabrics are here.

Hoops Quilt - Quilted 11/11/2018

10/9/2018

2 of 2 quilts pieced by Debra: Basketball and hoops - for my nieces who are sisters and play basketball

Circles, circles everywhere & not a square in sight.
Oct 09: Quilt arrived.
Oct 17: Programmed.
Oct 18: Cutting batting.
Nov 04: Fixing top & bottom leaders.
Nov 05: Backing is prepped ready to load.
Nov 06: Backing is loaded. Showing how leaders work. On this quilt, only needed them on top & bottom with the backing centered between them.
Nov 09: Top is prepped ready to load. Have a pending question about the batting.
Nov 10: Quilting.
Nov 11: Quilted.
Nov 12: Final pictures. Will ship tomorrow since today is Veterans Day--a public holiday held on the anniversary of the end of World War I (November 11) to honor US veterans and victims of all wars. It replaced Armistice Day in 1954.

Basketball Quilt - Quilted 10/26/2018

10/9/2018

1 of 2 quilts pieced by Debra: Basketball and hoops - for my nieces who are sisters and play basketball

Oct 09: Quilt arrived.
Oct 14: Programmed.
Oct 18: Cutting batting.
Oct 23: Prepped, loaded, quilting.
Oct 26: Quilted.
Oct 27: Final pics. Shipped.

Noah's Ark for a Baby - Quilted 10/08/2018

10/4/2018

Oct 08: Quilted

Rozie's Quilt - Quilted 10/02/2018

10/2/2018

Sep 20: First contact. Since Roxie lives in nearby West Jefferson, we set a date to do her quilt together.
Oct 02: Rozie is here today helping longarm her quilt. We are using a meander by Nancy Haacke with Bottom Line #610 Light Blue thread and Warm & White batting.Yeah! We finished!

Patriotic Quilt - Quilted 10/06/2018

9/26/2018

Sep 26: Quilt arrived. Prepped the backing.
Sep 29: Top prepped ready to load.
Oct 03: Loaded. Using Bottom Line #623 Silver thread to quilt Stars pantograph by Dave Hudson.
Oct 04: Quilting.
Oct 06: Quilted.

For a Newborn - Quilted 08/26/2018

8/22/2018

Aug 23: Prepped.
Aug 26: Quilted.

Tracy's Quilt for her Dad - Quilted 08/20/2018

8/17/2018

From Tracy

Linda, I cannot thank you enough for helping me complete this project for my father. My father announced to the family on July 6th that he had a health issue that was progressing quickly and that he was unsure of what the next few months held for all of us. This rocked our world. The thought of losing him was not something I wanted to entertain. I realize that each day we are given by our Creator is one to cherish. I try to stop and smell the roses, tell the ones I care about that I love them and be kind to other people. These things I learned from my Dad. Over a months time, he has declined rapidly. not sure how many "see you tomorrow" 's we have.
I have not been quilting long and my Dad has always loved the ones that I have created. It takes me TOO long to hand

quilt one, so I contacted Linda with questions and she said she would help me as much as she could. Her guidance is valued. When the quilt top that I pulled from my stash did not work out, it was Linda that suggested that making a new one might be easier than fixing the old one. I decided on a new pattern and using fabrics that I loved in my stash, I made a Quilt for Dad. Praying that Dad gets to use the quilt that I made for him. My apologies to anyone that I may be inconveniencing on Linda's to do list. Thanks to Linda for understanding the importance of this gift.
Prayers for my Dad are appreciated. Prayers of peace for him, strength for my Mom and the others of us that love him so.

Jul 22: First contact.
Aug 17: Quilt arrived. Started on overlays.
Aug 18: A lover of guitars and music, Tracy & found the perfect Ellen Munnich pattern, Free Motion Guitar. Programmed. Prepped ready to load.
Aug 19: Loaded. Quilting.
Aug 20: Quilted.
Aug 24: From Tracy: "His smile says it all!"

For a special friend - Quilted 08/30/2018

8/17/2018

Aug 17: Quilt is here. Considered off white thread, decided on Bottom Line Gold & Modern Squares.
Aug 28: Loaded.
Aug 29: Quilting.
Aug 30: Quilted, posted in Gallery, shipped.

Sonata by Cozy Quilt Designs

8/9/2018

Aug 09: Saw this pattern in the Ye Olde Forest monthly newsletter that came out today. Love it! Bought it! Played with it. Drew it. Now searching for fabrics. Turns out that the hard part.

Musical Rail Fence - Quilted 09/05/2018

8/6/2018

Josie's First Quilt
Denise: Josie is a 7th grader who is taking sewing classes with me, Denise, her neighbor.
Josie plays clarinet, cornet, trumpet and piano, and is one of the fastest readers in her class.
The fabric was bought as coordinated 1/2 yard cuts at the Ontario Quilt show last January.
We added the gold batik to brighten it up and pick up the metal in the instruments.

Jul 31: First Contact.
Aug 06: The quilt is here. I recognize the fabrics as Quilting Treasures "Encore" line.
Aug 27: Met Josie today. She selected "Well Noted" pattern by Ellen Munnich. Thinking Bottom Line Silver thread on front and Bottom Line Light Yellow bobbins on back. Started prepping but have issues with the backing. And so it goes. Hey, I got the batting cut & the thread loaded & the machine rails cleaned. And a new backing has been ordered ordered. I'll pre-wash it as soon as it gets here.
Aug 29: Working on overlays so Denise & Josie can determine quilting density.
Aug 31: New backing is here. Pre-washed. Back ready to load.
Sep 01: Quilt is loaded ready to longarm.
Sep 02: Quilting. Uploaded a private YouTube video: https://youtu.be/9GCigMgZuow. Started having communication issues between IQ and my longarm. Shut down.
Sep 03: Still can't get IQ and longarm in sync. Decided to give it and me a rest. Happy Labor Day.
Sep 04: Quilting is going nicely. Almost done.
Sep 05: Quilted. Final pics here and in Gallery.

Mountain Stars - Quilted 09/26/2018

8/3/2018

Karen: I kept thinking about all of the colors of the southern Appalachians and tried to put them in this quilt - sometimes
the forests are so dark and close together, and then, there will be a little patch of light on the forest floor.

Aug 03: Was checking USPS website. Learned this quilt was delivered yesterday in the midst of pouring rain all week. The box was drenched but the quilt is fine.
Aug 30: Karen selected Easy Swirl with Bottom Line Silver thread.
Aug 31: Doing overlays.
Sep 24: Prepped. Loading.
Sep 25: Quilting. Finished first section before I realized I was not quilting what Karen asked for. An awesome good sport, she is happy with it as is.
Sep 26: Quilted.

Catching Frogs - Quilted 08/06/2018

6/27/2018

Karen: I made this quilt for my husband. He is a herpetologist (from Greek "herpein" meaning "to creep"); herpetologists study and teach about reptiles and amphibians. At the moment, my husband studies salamanders in the southern Appalachians and a critically endangered frog in Mississippi called the Mississippi gopher frog. We’ve been married more than 20 years, and during that time, I have spent a lot of time helping him study salamanders and frogs.
The fabric in this quilt is frog fabric I’ve collected over the last few years. I’ve also included dragonfly fabric because dragonflies use the same habitats that many species of frogs use. I also like dragonflies – a lot. The quilt itself represents the ephemeral ponds and wetlands where many species of frogs live. These are wet areas at the interface of water and land. I chose the “wedding vine” quilting pattern because, like any marriage, ours has had its ups and downs. Also, when you’re out catching frogs, you’re often creeping through vines and underbrush.

Jun 23: First contact.
Jun 25: Selected Wedding Vine pattern. Wants Magnifico thread.
Jun 27: Quilt arrived.
Jul 07: Measured & photographed. Slight problem to work out.
Jul 24: Done. Prepping.
Jul 25: Backing is prepped ready to load.
Jul 28: Top is prepped. Took care of a slight issue.
Jul 30: Programmied. Couldn't do overlay.
Aug 01: I use PIXLR to do the overlays. For two days I have not been able to get it to work. This morning, it is back. Great online tool! So now Karen & I both know we have the density she wants. Decided on Magnifico #2138 Lakota Blue thread.
Aug 02: I am glad Karen is no hurry. Got the back loaded. The batting is cut & loaded ready to baste after I wind a slew of bobbins. My vacuum was not working so well so I took it apart and cleaned it including washing parts that required 24 hours to dry. Darn...should have cleaned up the area around the work table and longarm so I could proceed.
Aug 03: Wound most of the bobbins I will need. Everything is loaded ready to quilt.
Aug 04-06: Quilting. Finished.
Aug 07: Decided to order boxes for the super sized quilts that have dominated my work lately. Karen doesn't mind waiting so it is time.

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