Whoops...Time to Rip

I left the extra backing  when I layered my split 9 patch quilt instead of trimming it off.  In hindsight I probably should not have left such a wide piece of fabric just loose.  I am sure you all can see where this is leading....yes it got folded back when I started quilting after a break and I quilted two feathers before I realized I had been stitching it too.  I hate ripping out quilting, well I hate ripping anything to be honest.  I am just glad I figured it out before I stitched any more.

It didn't take me too long to get it ripped and started on my way again.  Paid closer attention to make sure I was just quilting sandwich after that.  I did get the quilting finished and will show you the last border and finished quilt soon. 

Happy Quilting,
Lynn

One Step At A Time

Thomas A. Edison
I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward. 

 Peter A. Cohen
There is no one giant step that does it. It's a lot of little steps. 

Jack Penn
One of the secrets of life is to make stepping stones out of stumbling blocks. 

 Barbara Bush
You don't just luck into things as much as you would like to think you do. You build step by step, whether it is friendships or opportunities. 

I am getting my split 9 patch done little by little, step by step.  The small one inch border is finished now and next is the last wider border that is 5".  You can see the chalk marks still on the border where I quilted these nested teardrop shapes.  I marked an X at every inch and tried to make them all that size.  The X is marked in the center so it gives me a place to aim for and did work pretty well.  As you can see everything is not all exactly the same but over all when you look at the entire border you don't see those inconsistencies. 


I had a comment on how well I quilt .... well, I hate to admit it but that is because I take photos of the best parts.  What you don't see are the wobbles and places that could be better.  For instance this photo shows what I cropped out of the first photo.  Will I take this out?  Probably not, as you really can't see it and this is a "for fun" quilting project, not a show quilt.

I use the BSR  (Bernina Stitch Regulator) on my Bernina 730 machine so that keeps the stitches even, now if I can just keep my driving smooth.  Sometimes it works well and other times I am all over the place.  Any of you that have the BSR, what stitch length do you use?  Do you change stitch length for different weights of thread, different projects?  On this quilt I am quilting with Sulky 30 wt. thread, using a 90 topstitch needle and stitch length of 2.

Have been doing my PT exercises pretty regular until yesterday when I had a Dr. apt. and then went plant/flower shopping and didn't get home until 3 pm.  I got lazy and only did the exercises a couple of times and today I am paying for it.  My shoulder is aching and the exercises didn't go as well first thing this morning so guess I had better be more diligent.  Am trying to keep from having surgery so had better put my best effort into the PT - right?

Will keep plugging away, step by step, whether it is quilting or physical therapy!

Lynn

Machine Quilting the Split 9 Patch

I have been working slowly at getting my split 9 patch quilt machine quilted.  I can't spend too much time all at once doing the machine quilting as I have trying to deal with the physical therapy and not stressing my shoulder.  I am doing physical therapy here at home 6 to 7 times a day and going twice a week to PT so far anyway.  I did wait to go to PT until after I got back from Paducah and my therapist wanted to know why I waited a week to come in after I saw the Dr.  Of course he just didn't understand the importance of the Paducah trip but I filled him in of course.  Even though the exercises only take about 15 minutes each time it adds up to a lot of time at the end of the day.
 
I am feeling much better after I do the PT and am feeling better each day.  I can move my arm so much better and farther without pain and the pain has gone down tremendously.  I sure am praying that I don't have to have surgery on this shoulder as I have been through that before on my left shoulder and don't want to do it again if I can help it.

Ok, back to the quilt - this has been fun to machine quilt so far.  I am quilting feathers on each of the light and dark diagonal strips across the quilt. The feathers on the light go towards one end and the dark towards the other.   I thought I was being so smart to quilt the light strips with light thread and the dark with a dark thread but will think twice if I do that again.

Can you think what the problem might be?  Well, to keep everything flat I have to change thread after each strip instead of skipping over and continuing.  Thank goodness I have a needle threader on the machine as it takes no time to thread the needle.  I am using the titanium size 14/90 topstitch needle and it is working really well, I am impressed with it so far.

Working on the small green first border right now then need to get an idea for the outside purple border.  Am thinking I will just do another feather design as I can do those pretty well now.  Sometimes my stitching is a little wobbly but am not thinking I will enter this piece in any shows so am just going with the flow and leaving those wobbles.

On to bed now for me.  I have been nurse maid to John today - hubby has some sort of flu bug and has run a temp. all day and stayed in bed sleeping most of the time until 3 this afternoon.  He never sleeps or stays in bed past early morning so knew he felt bad today.  I think he was sick yesterday too but would not admit it until last night.  He was pushing to get the last of the corn planted which he did and was not going to stop even though he felt lousy.  I do have to qualify that as the sweet corn isn't planted yet but know it will be soon.  Of course he has to prep. the fields and plant the soybeans yet soon.

Happy Quilting,
Lynn

Paducah Flowers

My last Paducah report is dedicated to all the pretty flowers in bloom while we were there.  The dogwoods were still in bloom but a lot of them had dropped their petals since they had been blooming for a while so I really had to hunt for some that still looked pretty good.  The flowers are so beautiful and so large.  Sure wish we could grow them in Nebraska but it just gets much too cold here in the winters.

 Our hostess BJ had azaleas in front of her house that were just beautiful.  The flowers are so dense the bushes look like balls of bright color.  Driving around Paducah we had a chance to see many colors of azaleas.  All are so pretty I am not sure I could pick a favorite.

We all look forward to this trip to Paducah each year and then the time goes by so fast.  I wish we could make time suspend for a while so we could savor the experience more.  Our drive home is long, dropping off people as we go - Columbia, Mo then Kansas City, Nebraska City then home for me.  It took 13 hours from when we left at 7:30 am in the morning until 8:30 pm when I got home.  I was so tired of sitting but very glad to get home before dark.

Lynn