Sep 21: First contact. Patricia wants 2 simple identical quilts made from fabric she had printed up on Spoonflower.  She wants a simple plaid type grid for the quilting. We are thinking silver is the best thread choice.
Sep 24: The project arrived today so I am trying to get a feel for what will work best.
Sep 29: We have agreed on the right grid pattern. I am thinking I will sew all lines horizontally which means after sewing all width of quilt lines, I will unload, turn & reload to do the length of quilt lines now horizontal. Some extra work but worth it to get a nice clean grid.
Oct 07: Squared the tops and the backing. Split the backing between the two quilts. Sampled both white & silver threads. Natural White looks best. Batting is cut. Quilt #1 loaded ready to quilt ... tomorrow. 
Oct 09: I have made one last try to get the pattern closer to Patricia's original specs. Quilting. Finished stage 1 - horizontal lines. Loaded quilt 2.
Oct 10: Finished stage 1 for quilt 2. Re-loaded quilt #1 rotated left 90 degrees. Quilt #1 quilted.  Re-loaded quilt #2 rotated left 90 degrees. Will finish quilt #2 in the morning & ship both quilts to CA.
Oct 12: Finished.

Sep 23: This Dresden Plate Fall theme table runner is Paula Ginn's creation. She has asked me to suggest how to quilt it.
Sep 24: Spent a copy of days offering suggestions & working with Paula to get an idea of what she wanted.
​Sep 25: We settled on a plan using Maple Dance Wreath on the plates & Curly Maple everywhere else. Since it is such a consistent pattern, it will make a great filler.
Oct 17: Prepped & loaded ready to quilt.
​Oct 18: Quilting.

Sep 22: Babies grow up into toddlers, yes they do. Three years ago, I made a pair of quilts for baby boy twins. I hope they love this one too & can share it.
​Sep 27: The fabric is here. Prewashing. Started with the dark fabric to see if it would bleed. Woah yes indeed! And this is a Robert Kaufman fabric. I emailed Kaufman & got an immediate impressive & caring  response. We are working through the issue. I love quilters! And our suppliers. The fabric is fine.
Sep 28: After pre-washing & because when I bought fabric, I didn't take into account directional borders & backing, I had to adjust my quilt dimensions. I also wanted to utilize the extra backing width for the side front borders. Tricky stuff out of the norm. My quilt is now 61 x 84 & I am using every square inch of the fabric. After all that complicated work, I went ahead & cut out everything while the details were fresh in my mind and then started adding borders. Still have one left plus the backing seam which I am going to try to align.
​Sep 29: Added final border & thus the quilt top is finished. Pieced the backing. Loading. You may wonder why I am going forward with longarming this quilt. The pattern I am using is one that gave me fits on the last quilt using the same design. The machine is now perfect for this design. I am taking advantage of this before I make adjustments for the next quilt. Doing the design rather small at 1" rows. Quilting my ZZag pattern using Warm & Plush batting with Bottom Line gold thread.
Sep 30: Got back & batting loaded. When loading the top, I realized I didn't have enough backing. It was barely 1-2" wider than the top, not enough to allow for the clamps. (I had forgotten that I intended to add leaders.) I went ahead and basted the top trying to convince myself I could be the clamps. After a sanity break, I came back home & unloaded everything. Now adding leaders all the way around for good measure. (Don't tell my longarmer I don't know how to properly piece a backing.) The leaders are on so back to loading. Loaded.
​Oct 01: Quilted.
​Oct 06: Squared & attached binding.
Oct 13: Finished binding.
​Oct 14: Delivered.

Sep 20: I've known Shannon for years. Yesterday I learned she needs a soft, cuddly quilt for these moments in her life. Her favorite color is yellow ... oh and orange (... and blue & pink--I tried but couldn't work them in).
Sep 21: Originally, I planned to come up with a whole cloth quilting design. Found a Donna Kleinke sashing pattern Joyful Teardrops that I really like.
​Sep 23: The fabric is here. Pre-washed the flannel and border fabric (everything except the charm squares).
Oct 03: Started cutting & piecing.
Oct 04: Quilt center is done. Added 1st border.
Oct 05: Added last 2 borders and thus the quilt top is finished. Loading. Decided to use wool batting.
​Oct 06: Quilted. Squared the quilt. Attached the binding.
​Oct 09: Binding is finished.
​Oct 10: Delivered.

Sep 14: RWB#4 is here. I must say the bits and pieces of red, white & blue fabrics I found scattered in my boxes of remnants & donated to Joan for her RWB quilts have been put to amazing use. Yes, the colors are as rich as in the photos. Just don't ask me which I like best...the top or the backing. Most of all it is that special expansive feeling that certain quilts have ... well, this is one of those.
Sep 16: Been programming some of the patterns Joan suggested plus a few similar other geometric ones. Didn't realize these patterns would look so nice on this quilt. (Joan knew though.)
Sep 20:  (They are all gone now from this post but you may see them again sometime somewhere.) We have a plan--ZZag w/Bottom Line Statue thread.
Sep 22: Prepped top and back. Next cut batting and load.
Sep 25: Loaded ready to quilt.
​Sep 26: Quilting. After a couple of false starts and some thread issues, this is quilted. Hoping for much better pictures in the morning.

Sep 13, 2016: Chloe is happy with the first sample. We are doing a round two to iron out more details.
Sep 29: The wool is here--grey this time. I have ordered 2 yards of Kona Cotton Black for backing (hat lining). Will do a 1" x 1.25" diamond this time.
Oct 01: Today Todd Brown of Legacy Quilting made us a pattern that will exactly fit our fabric & my machine -- 12 x 60 diamonds that are 1.25" x 1.0"
Oct 05: The black backing/lining is here.
​Oct 13: Prepped. Loading. Setting the tension is tricky since I dont have any scraps. Wait! I have small trimmings where I squared the wool. Quilted first 12 x 60 hatch. I wasn't clear as to inches vs. diamonds I need so I have asked again for what I need.
​Oct 14: I have the new pattern.
Oct 15: I am not satisfied with the new pattern & brainstorming as to what to do.
Oct 16: Learned that to get a contiguous cross hatch pattern, the number of diamonds across may be 59.5 or 60.5, either of which is acceptable. Thanks so much Todd Brown of Legacy Quilting for your patient persistence in getting us the hatch we need. Programmed IQ so ready to complete the quilting.
Oct 17: Quilted.
Feb 18, 2018: Never heard from Chloe again but this was not the way to go for them.

Sep 09: It's Here. I am showing you Michelle's preview pictures until I get a chance to work on this, hopefully tomorrow or Sunday. Need the usual specs: thread, pattern & density.
Sep 13: Michelle will embellish with embroidery when she gets this back so I am only going to quilt the background. She is looking for a pattern.
Sep 14: I am too ... all 26 sites I have earmarked. Looking for a background filler. Thread is Light Blue (#610) w/Silver bobbins.
Sep 15: Michelle selects Puppy Paws. Started working on the Intelliquilter program for this project.
Sep 16: Hmmm. Finally decided to get the wall hanging out and do some measurements. Didn't realize the faces take up a huge amount of the quilt leaving only a 2" or so border to be longarmed. This won't work unless a very floppy loose faces are what is wanted here. Have suggested that my partner do a bit of playing too. Too many ideas to detail here or by email. Time to get our heads together & talk this through.
Sep 17: Posted lots of densities spelled out. What we carve out, what we quilt at what density--these are the unanswered questions. Been working on/thinking about this little 23 x 46 project for a week now. Can't go any further.
​Sep 19: We have a plan.
Oct 02: After a week of intense planning, I needed to back away from these little guys for a while. Now I'm ready. Prepped. Loaded. Quilting. Finished 2 of the 3 dogs. Will finish in the morning.
​Oct 03: Quilted.