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I was just notified that a local community theater is doing and original play entitled THE OTHER SEWING CIRCLE and they have chosen one of my quilts to be part of the play. It was paper pieced and free-motion quilted. There will also be an ad in the program with my business card so maybe I'll get some business out of it all. I am just a little excited!!!

I was looking back through my quilty photos of 2014 last night and thought I would share this quilt with you. I was given these scraggly blocks by a family that had cleaned out their deceased grandmother's house. None of the kids wanted any of her fabric so her niece offered it to me because she knew I made Quilts of Valor. A grandaughter had graduated from nursing school and was getting married last summer. I knew the family on both sides pretty well, so I decided to rummage through her late grandmother's blocks and fabric and made her a quilt. I dug through 5 garbage bags of fabric and found 12 blocks that matched each other and 8 more that sort of matched each other. However 4 of those 8 blocks were 1/2 inch smaller than the other 4. I put this chaos on my design wall (I don't do scrappy very well) for a couple of weeks and looked at is as I was working on other quilts. I had also found some 36 inch wide solid teal and about 8 yards of newer watermelon polyester. (Hey, the quilt police have no idea where I live) I decided to use it for the back since grandma bought it with something in mind. Here's what I came up with...I think it turned out pretty awesome for what i had to work with. I also wrote the bride and groom a letter explaining all about the blocks, the fabrics, etc. They had the quilt and the letter displayed at their reception. I used So Fine thread, hobbs 80/20 batting and did a freehand funky flower. The yellow border was the only thing I actually pulled from my stash to complete this quilt.

Maybe time for you to cone to Florida? You deserve a vacay, too! Lol

I shared my customers Day Break quilt a few weeks ago and now I finished my own. I quilted them the same but the fabrics in our quilt are so different that I thought i would share mine as well. I love batiks and bright colours and love how the star design really pops with a light background. This is on its way to a quilt shop to be hung on display for awhile so I hope it helps the shop sell kits for this quilt. It was a frosty day out when I took these pictures, -30'c!! Winter is here but you can see in a few of the pictures that the cold doesn't keep me indoors as we like get out and walk on the lake.

My Millie is going on a vacay to Iowa in a couple of days. Not my choice for a winter outing, but she needs a spa treatment. She'll get to meet all the talented techs that I've only talked to on the phone. My plan (you know about plans, right?) is to dig out and re-do the studio. New leaders will be attached, design books organized, stuff donated and tossed, tools analyzed as to which I like and use and which were a bad idea, piecing books moved into the sewing room, some deep cleaning, and maybe some painting. I'll be offering some things for sale and some things free for postage. I guess January is the best month to start fresh!

Yep, I'm with Vickie, you should take a vacation, too!!!

What a great idea to be able to make more than one and only load it once. I think it is kinda like when the quilt is cut out you feel half done, when I have it loaded I feel half done! I guess you could load it and stitch 4 at a time also! Thanks for the idea!

Well it didn't get here by Christmas but I got to open it today Thanks again Lora for organizing the swap to bad some had to drop out ...Oh well thats how it goes sometime. Happy New year to all

What a caring thought, Cheryl. I bought extra wide cotton sateen (120" wide) and made two at a time as I had two gifts to make at the same time. You could do similar for the smaller ones. It is just a bit more work, but the bonus is you just have one loading to do.

Here are some pics of the mounts.

I have seen this quilt, it is so beautiful. I am a nurse and am thinking of making a few for our fetal deaths at the hospital. My question is can you make the pattern smaller and which web site did you find the pattern at? Thanks Cheryl

I love the way you put it all together and you said that you didn't do scrappy. Looks like better than perfect! I know they will treasure it always.

RitaR: Thank you for all the information, it was not too long. While I am new to free motion quilting, I have done a number of quilts on my DSM. I have learned how to fluff and stuff/shove the part of the quilt I am not working on through the throat of the machine. I have learned to start from the center and work out though the quadrants to lessen the extra fabric in the throat. While I will have more throat space on George, I believe I will still do it the same way. So as I read your statement, you would suggest getting the shorter rulers, as the longer rulers get unwieldy as they get longer. So bigger is not always better. I was asking about the bracket that attaches to the actual circle hopping foot, as it looks to me to rise up from the circle and then angle up into the machine. My concern was that bracket itself might struck the rule when on the inside which might distort the line or pattern of the ruler/template. Other machine hopping feet I have looked at have the bracket that attaches to the ring hopping foot go straight up on towards the inside of the circle, and thus unable to interfere with rulers/templates. The did not see this as just an issue with George but all APQS machines as how their bracket attaches to the circle/open toe foot. I did not know the needle did not come down into the center of the hopping foot. I figured it would be pretty much exactly centered inside the circle foot. I will have to check that out on my George, before I use a template that uses all sides of the hopping foot to complete the design. On my DSM, I always used a walking foot to SID, and to stabilize the quilt before free motioning inside the blocks/open areas. With the larger throat, I figured it would be easier to use George for this verses my DSM, but was not sure if you used a ruler for this or just TLARed (that looks about right) it. I normally use monopoly for this to cut down on the noticeability of any poor piecing or when stepping out of the ditch. I have learned that it is a great idea to get a small pocket notebook, and record all your thread/needle/tension/fabric/batting combinations to make it easier to properly setup the machine for the next quilt. There are just too many combinations to remember in your head. The notebook truly speeds up the process, and makes it much more enjoyable when things workout easily. Since you seem to simply increase or decrease upper tension on longarm machines, do you use any type of gage for upper thread adjustments/setups? I plan on getting lower bobbin gauge, but was not certain how to do it with the upper setting. Its much easier to set a digital upper thread adjustment on my DSM. Thank you again for your comments. Madelyn: Thank you for sharing our comments with me and the group. I will check out the rings/square. I do not like wearing gloves when quilting as it seems difficult for me grasp the thread tails. For this reason, I use batt scooters on my DSM. I will have to see how they work on George. Until this afternoon when I called APQS to ask some more questions, I was under the impression that I could not upgrade to the interchangeable feet without going through an expensive gearbox upgrade. Amy at APQS told me that I can install the interchangeable bracket myself, and that I would only have to upgrade the gearbox if I wanted to use M sized bobbins. As I do not quilt for business, but for pleasure I can handle the approximately 20 yards smaller L sized bobbin. I had been told during previous APQS discussions that the representative felt the L bobbin provided slightly better stitch quality when doing small stippling or small detail work. I am sure this is a matter of opinion. Though, I can use saved funds for rulers/templates or other things that I am sure I will "need" for George. I was trying to stretch those funds by getting in on the end of year deals. Thank you again for your thoughts and comments. Patsy: Thank you for the thoughtful, and informative reply. 1. Yes, when I referenced the earlier edition small hopping foot, I believe I was/am referencing the "Flip Flop" foot. As I stated earlier, I just learned today that I can upgrade to the interchangeable hopping foot bracket much cheaper than expected as I do not actually have to upgrade the gearbox. That makes it much less expensive, and affordable to do ruler work on George. I am very glad that I spoke with Amy at APQS to learn this today, as it looks like I will simply get the ruler foot for George, and not have to worry as much about messing up the machine by attempting to quilt the ruler. 2. Since I am just starting out with George and ruler work, I will take your suggestion and try the 1/4 inch rulers. 3. I asked the question about the inside of the foot, as I was wondering if the mounting bracket would hit on the inside if quilting on the inside of circle, square, etc. template. It just looks like it might his the template and distort the design. 4. I will have to practice my ruler and SID quilting on some NICU blankets like I have been practicing my free motion quilting. It helps the kids, and helps me build my skills. 5. I guess I will start with those three rulers you suggested. I have had good luck following my instructors inputs, and learning from yours and other nationally renowned quilting instructors. I thank you again for all of your YouTube videos, and training videos. They have been truly helpful, as I have only been quilting since February. A year ago, I never thought I would be spending my free time quilting, but I have grown to enjoy giving of myself and my time to others through my or my guilds community quilts. I have truly learned how much more a homemade gift means when someone opens it. If my work is 1/5th as good, as yours I will be truly blessed. Please keep your videos, blogs, and posts coming for all of us to learn from you. Again, I thank all of you for sharing your thoughts and comments. I look forward to learning more on George, and on this forum. Take care, and have a Happy New Year. Cagey