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.

Frances Hunt's heirloom quilts were given to her. She is not the piecer but wants them finished & used.The 1st two are to be Christmas presents, 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.

                                                          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.

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.

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.

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.

     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.

These quilts are commissioned by my neighbors, Tina Wiggins & Denise Munday, for a set of twin beds in their cabin.
The only difference will be the backings. 

Oct 2015: While working on the Grey & Grey, Please quilt ideas for Suej, I came across this fabric. Decided it was too cute to pass up so I have purchased enough fabric to make a version of my Red Flannel Quilt, a simple quilt with just three fabrics plus a backing, yet not boring. Ordered the fabrics & can only hope they will really match. If they don't, I'll use them &/or others in a different way.
Oct 07: Fabric shipped.
​Oct 09: Fabric is here & everything matches.
Jun 26, 2018: My neighbor, Tina, just stopped by. She wants me to use the fabrics here to make her a pair of twin no-piece quilts. 
Jun 30: Tina & Denise stopped by. Making progress.
Jul 14: Tina & Denise selected this layout over lots of other options. The quilts will be identical except for the flannel backings. Fabric not on hand is ordered.
​Jul 20: All fabrics came in yesterday & today. All set to start piecing.
​Aug 07: Pre-washed. Always a good idea and especially since these quilts will be used by young girls. Flannel backing shrunk a bit too so I am very glad I did this.
Aug 08: The backings are pieced ready to load. The bindings are ready to attach after quilting. The pics are awful but the best I could do. My camera has a mind of its own I can't always master.
Aug 09: Borders cut and ready to sew.
Aug 10: The women chose Acorns and  Oak Leaves for the panto. I choose Bottom Line Silver thread.
Aug 11: Both quilt tops are pieced ready to load.
Aug 12: Presented a couple of overlays at 10" & 7.5" rows for consideration. First quilt is loaded ready to longarm.
Aug 14: Density is settled. Quilting. First quilt done.
Aug 15: Second quilt is loaded ready to quilt.
Aug 16: Quilting in one room, attaching binding in the other, blogging in the third.
Aug 17: 2nd quilt is quilted.
Dropped the blogging ball here but can say I was hand binding until done with both quilts.
Aug 25: 2nd quilt is bound.
Aug 26: So glad Tina asked for pictures of the binding as I had completely gone brain dead. Realized I had a lot of pictures I hadn't posted. Now posting in the Gallery.