Friday, January 19, 2018

Getting Back on Track

It seems almost anti-climactic to say my main machine is back, following a stay in the repair shop that lasted from August 9 until almost Christmas. By that time there wasn't much opportunity to quilt, with all the holiday prep and celebration going on and the sea of wrapping paper and Christmas storage boxes covering every surface in the studio.

Then on New Year's Eve the flu came to stay for about 10 days. But this past week, work has resumed at last. Yay!!

One quilt did get made on my vintage Singer during fall season, but was waiting for a finishing touch. As soon as the big machine came back I sewed one of its decorative stitches, a tiny evergreen tree, in the middle of each block, and the quilt was ready in time for Christmas.




Then, during the week between Christmas and New Year, before the flu struck, the Wyoming landscape, previously pieced and waiting for the machine's return, was quilted. (These landscapes are too big and too stiff to quilt on a regular-size machine, so this one had sat waiting for a couple of months.)


Next time I post, this will have been bordered, steam-blocked and bound...in other words, DONE!!! My first finished landscape quilt in 5 months.

Feels so good to say that. Landscape quilting is my passion, and I haven't felt like myself for some time now, with this forced hiatus. The one saving grace--and thank goodness for it--was that my interest in knitting has revived, big-time. But it feels great to be getting my quilting bearings again. There are some other pieced projects that were also waiting for the machine, so time to get moving on those, too.

Have a great weekend!

Linda

6 comments:

  1. Hooray! I'm so happy to hear that your machine is finally back home where she belongs and ready to work her magic again. You must be so excited! So sorry the plague paid a visit - it's a nasty bug for sure. I love log cabin quilts so I like your wonderful Christmas one, but have to say it's the landscape that wows me. The colours are absolutely spectacular!

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    1. Thank you so much! I'd have replied much sooner, but just now found your comment in the spam folder (why in the world, I've no idea) and freed it up to go on the blog. I will start checking that folder on the reg. Thanks again!

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  2. I'm so glad you're getting your sew-jo back! I love that little tree stitch on the Christmas quilt. Makes me wish I had a machine that did something more exciting than just zig zag :)

    Looking forward to seeing Wyoming finished!

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    1. Thanks, Louise! Those decorative stitches are so much fun and can be combined with others for a lot of interesting effects. I need to experiment with them more. The WY quilt got trimmed today and will get its binding tomorrow. Sleeve and label are all that's left. I can't wait!

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  3. So sorry you've had such a time of it. That is one cute decorative stitch from your machine. Love the landscape.

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    1. Thanks, Angie! It has definitely been a trial, creatively, although I thank my lucky stars it wasn't illness that kept me from quilting. Things could have been worse, for sure. Yes, it was fun to have an excuse to use that little tree!

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