Quilts & Family

Carol here ~

The town finally got some sand down on our road on Monday so I managed to get a walk it yesterday.  Sunny, no wind, temp in the 20's, was very refreshing.

Dan mentioned last week that he pieced 45 quilt tops in 2025.  🙄 I have quilted 23 of them and bound 15.  Don't think I'll ever catch up.  Here are 8, 9 & 10.

2025-8

Lotsa Quilts ~ Part 2

Carol here ~ 

Are you ready to view the next batch of quilts? All of the following are quilted by me using Lena Longarm's computer system as opposed to last week's where most of them were free motion custom quilted by me.  Free motion quilting allows for intricate and creative stitching by the quilter. I always tell people that I use the needle like a pencil and create from there.

I think we are getting to the end of the large quilts, well, except for one that I know of that hasn't been found yet. Hopefully it will turn up eventually.  

I am saving all the "Show Quilts" until the end.  They are all here in the house so no musty smells but they should be periodically opened up and refolded. 

This and That

Carol here ~ 

Erin and Parker went to the Portland Symphony on Sunday afternoon so we met up with them in Auburn for supper as they were headed home.  We decided this was only the second time we've seen each other since Christmas ~ really?  They are so busy.

Lena and I quilted up both the graduation quilts, will get the bindings on in the next few days. I'm happy with how they came out, hope the kids will like them.  I used a neutral-ish fabric for the backing so they will be able to turn the quilt over if they want.

I also got the quilting done on 2024-31.

2024-31

Ta-Da!

Carol here ~

Annie, Lena Longarm and I finished up Annie's quilt over the weekend.

She finished up the stitching her blocks together, picked out a backing and we loaded it on Lena.

Monday Memories

Carol here ~

In April of 2019 I was working on this quilt ~ MOONLIGHT GARDEN ~ designed by Michelle Hiatt of Sew On The Go.

This was all custom quilted, free motion with the use of rulers when needed, by me.

Thank You Martha!

Carol here ~

Remember I told you a couple of weeks ago that our friend Martha volunteered to bind some of the donations quilts for us and we took her down four of them?

Well, she had all four completely bound in less than a week!  I went down to pick them all up.  Here they are, numbers 9, 10, 11 and 12 for 2023 all done!

2023-9

Cleaning!

Carol here ~ 

I've been on a cleaning spree.  It started with a couple of kitchen drawers but once I got started I just kept going.  Have cleaned all the kitchen cupboards and drawers, inside and out including the big pantry cupboard.  Cleaned the cupboard under the TV and cleaned all my dresser drawers ~ how do I accumulate so many socks?  Those that haven't been worn since we move here have now moved on.

When I was cleaning under the sink I discovered a leak so Dan had to put his plumbing hat on.  Got 'r fixed.

Even gave my Mr/Mrs Piggy a bath.

The Weekend

Carol here ~ 

Daugher Vanessa and grands Kailey and Jakob come over for a visit on Friday.  It was wicked cold and windy but we managed to get outside for a while.  We snowshoed on Mud Pond

and the kids went sledding.

Flashback Friday

Carol here ~ 

Five years ago yesterday I traded in my 1996 Gammill Longarm for a 2018 Innova.  My Gammill had served me well but it was time for an upgrade.

Best decision ever!

February 16, 2018

New Patterns for Lena

Carol here ~

I recently purchased a couple of new digitized quilting patterns for Lena Longarm.  Both are from Urban Elementz. The first is called LOOPHOLE.

I used this pattern on a couple of the quilts Dan pieced last month.  It stitches out fairly quickly and looks good.

Quilts & Storage

Carol here ~ 

We spent yesterday afternoon organizing quilts and putting them in the new storage cubbies we recently had made.

They held more than I thought they would, 27 in all. We put in several of our show quilts, all of the Rona collection and a couple others.

A New Retreat

Carol here ~ 

Our friend Michelle Hiatt of Sew On The Go is announcing a new retreat in June ~ Spring Quilt Camp in Rangeley, Maine, Friday June 2nd ~ Tuesday, June 6th.  

Here is what she says about it ~

Have you seen Maine in June? Join me for a fabulous retreat in the beautiful mountains of Maine! Rangeley is in the Lakes Region and is just stunning! The large and spacious Kennebago Ballroom will become our classroom/studio for five days. Tons of time for sewing and relaxing. Spend relaxing evenings with new found friends on the front porch of the Rangeley Inn or down by the pond!

Special project for this retreat only:

* Day at the Lake Quilt Mystery - Exclusive Quilt Mystery for Spring Quilt Camp (see inspiration photo)

* Or UFO from a previous event with Michelle

**Quilt Retreat Includes:**4 nights lodging, 4 Breakfasts (Thursday-Sunday), 3 lunches (Thursday-Saturday), 4 dinners (Wednesday-Saturday), sewing room and quilt instruction at Rangeley Inn, Rangeley, ME

Retreat limited to 20 people - So reserve now! Sewing Machine rentals are available. 

This and That

Carol here ~

I am not liking this time change one bit.  It's put me in a funk, I have no motivation to do much of anything.  Not that I have a lot I have to do, but I do have a lot I want to do.  Need to kick myself in the butt!

I did manage to get started on the quilting of the green Hunter Star quilt that I had loaded onto Lena Longarm last week.  Got it about half done.

Lena Longarm

Carol here ~

I got Lena Longarm up and running again, figured she had a long enough of a break as I haven't used her since the beginning of July.  I loaded a donation quilt on her and we quilted it up over the weekend.  Dan pieced this quilt back in the spring using a bunch of orphan blocks.  Read about it here.

I used the pattern "Chantilly" by Urban Elementz.

Green!

 Carol here ~

I love all the different shades of green that spring brings as the trees start to leaf out and flowers begin to bloom.  Everything looks so fresh and bright.

Old Country Road

A Close One!

Carol here ~

Remember that big-ass quilt I told you about last week that was 106” x 106”?

Morning Star, Pattern by Pat Speth

This and That

Carol here ~

The other morning we noticed a fox sitting out on the ice. At first we thought he had caught something and was having his breakfast but when he stood up we saw that what we thought was his breakfast was really the end of his tail. He must of been grooming himself. He sat in a few places before he finally decided to run across the end of the pond and up the banking to the ridge. Fun to watch the wildlife.

Ditto

Carol here ~

Yep, you guessed it, more of the same ~ binding and longarming.

I finished up the hand stitching of the binding on the TWO FAVORITES quilt.

We took it outside yesterday to get a picture of it completed.

More Of The Same

Carol here ~

Nothing new and exciting happening here just more quilting and binding.

I got the binding sewed on to Rona 20 which now has the name TWO FAVORITES because two of Dan’s favorite fabrics ~ the border print and the dark blue used in the sashing diamonds ~ are used in the quilt.

I love quilt-y gadgets. Here is my Binding Baby, she holds my binding, I place her on my upright thread holder.

More Quilting

Carol here ~

I have been getting quite a bit of quilting done. I finished up the binding on DOUBLE TROUBLE so that one is completely done. I love this quilt!  Probably because it has so many fabrics in it that we carried in the quilt shop.