Nativity panel

When I did free motion quilting on my domestic machine, I always thought a panel to be the best exercise for different motifs as it has so many interesting elements in one panel allowing you to do plenty of things.

I haven’t done that many panels since I got the frame but when this nativity panel arrived, it just confirmed my opinion about panels and practice again.

Every little shape/animal/figure posed a challenge as to what should be quilted in it.  Some worked better than others but I still got in all the exercise needed.

Here a couple of quilted pictures/motifs can be seen.

Most of the other characters/trees were simply outlined, so more thread painting than quilting.

 I did a wide rope around the border

This panel with added border finished at 44” x 51”

Little houses quilt

Up early one morning I got to watch a quilting video by Adria Good on stitching out the Ribbon all over free motion design.

Later that morning (with my ear acting up badly again) I got this darling little Houses throw sized top.  I’ve done a similar but larger one a while ago but on that the quilter only requested basting as she wanted to hand quilt it, which she did.  These blocks were leftover and she finished it as a throw with soft fleece as backing.

When she requested an all-over design, I showed her this brand-new idea I got from this video.  I got the quilt loaded but then I first had to play around on paper and my whiteboard marker to get familiar and comfortable with the design.  Building memory muscle is still a trusted tool I always rely on before trying something new.

I loved doing the design as it is a simple meander done twice with the lines crossing over occasionally and it took me back to my starting days with free motion quilting where it was very clearly stated that lines should never cross when doing meandering.  I am so grateful for the new generation of free-motion quilters who simply threw out all the ‘fake’ rules as to what can/should or must be done.  How on earth would one be able to do this beautiful ribbon design without crossing lines?

The additional puffiness seen on the front is the result of the fleece backing inevitably stretching while on the frame and once released it jumps back to its’ original state and the fact that the quilting was less dense thus not all the top pieces were thoroughly quilted down onto the fleece backing, so it could not stay flat once the fleece relaxed.

However still a warm and cozy look and feel to this quilt.

Tuesday movie mornings and another quilt

My weekly cleaning-crew comes in on a Tuesday and in the past, the dogs had to be put outside while they did their thing.  Turns out, I too now get the same treatment as the dogs.  I have to stay outside too.  A massive mission, to say the least, I have to take all I need outside before they arrive, water, laptop, something to chew, jacket (it becomes colder daily), snacks for the parrot, nibbles for the dogs and have an extension cord running from inside the house to power my laptop.

Now as much as I envied people who were able to simply sit and relax, doing it too often, can become somewhat of a bore.  To make it more interesting, I’ve decided to either watch a movie on my laptop or some quilt videos, so Tuesday mornings are now my movie mornings. After relaxing for two hours, it is wonderful to walk into a clean house.

My quilt-frame doesn’t face the sliding door in the room and even if it did, I would not be able to stare outside as I am focused on the job on the frame.  However, with soft rain drizzling outside, I couldn’t resist and again realized hubby can be so proud of his garden.  A sight for sore eyes.

I received a mostly blue block quilt and the quilter requested I only do circles on the quilt and not too dense.  Using 3 different sized circle templates I started but what a slow-moving job.  One has to clip and bury threads after every circle, painstakingly tedious.  However, after finishing a take or two I could not help noticing the amazing texture these circles created.

Only after 7 hours of quilting I was able to see the end of the top and at that stage, if I had to guess at least 3 more hours to go. I decided to at least give the quilter a fair warning as to the time which obviously influences the price.

Eleven and a half hours later, I could call it done and I am still in awe about how one simply motif can create such beautiful texture.

Farewell day and an all backing quilt

I wanted to give my two female co-workers at the office a decent farewell and it turned out to take up a whole day.  It started off with a full body massage for the two of them that should have taken an hour but afterward while bathing their feet in a pebble foot bath with champagne, the two ladies took much longer than anticipated

Then we had a rather late breakfast where hubby joined us to give them each a small hamper with lots of girly stuff

Then off to a game drive, just us 3 girls, another little food hamper for the road and a little bottle of something stronger but by then, Zelda (the one in yellow) already spoke in a different much friendlier voice after the two cocktails we had at breakfast and obviously the champagne at the Spa

A tall glass of R & R after the game drive before we returned to our house.

I bought each a 28L Hisense Air Fryer and these were loaded in their cars when they got to us.  Then it was time for me to demonstrate (as if I knew) how to use these and I sent them off with my specialty drink, the Banana Daiquiri.  I am sure their families were greeted by two very friendly ladies.

A quilting friend brought me a piece of 108” wide backing, told me to chop it in half, trim the top to be smaller than the back, and quilt it.  She was not in the mood to piece blocks to end up with a quilt.  So, I did just that.

Pension and a medallion quilt

I know it is still early days with plenty of my last salary left (no financial woes yet) but I love being on pension.

Before taking a shower in the morning, at a time that is convenient to me and not because I have to rush and get ready for work, I have time to leisurely walk through every room in my house, check that it is neat, empty dustbins, flush toilets (especially when the little ones came for a visit), wipe and dust a little (if needed).  I then wipe down my garden furniture (something I only did on weekends prior to pension) but now I use it all day and prefer it clean.

I entertain the parrot by taking her all over the house and having her sit in different spots in the garden or house and doing a binding while sitting with her by the Lapa is something, I always dreamt of but never had the time.  Bindings were done, early evening by the TV before having to go to bed.

I now have time to put different décor weekly on the outside table by the kitchen.

Making dinner can be done in sections during the whole day and food, such as fish back and bones that would usually simply be discarded now gets fried in a little dough to serve as a starter.

I made table covers (quilted, so not cloths) for the serving tables under the Lapa but made these from stain-resistant fabric and reversible.  Sadly, after washing, the fabric shrunk and the binding not, so somewhat wavy and smaller than the actual table but it will still, suffice.

While still having a private medical aid, I also had a biopsy done on a mark on my arm that in the last year started turning red.  Luckily just a little sun damage and nothing serious.

A customer quilt arrived earlier last week and it was a soft colored medallion with plenty of different shapes in which I could play to my hearts’ delight.

All scraps quilt

The universe does have a sense of humor or maybe some kindness.  When I purchased my frame end of November 2017 my thought process was that I would have a hobby and a little income once retired but it still seemed so far in the future.  Now that time has come and the people responsible for carrying my accounting program over from the office to our house arrived much earlier than anticipated on Monday.  Caught me somewhat off-guard as we still had a couple of things to finish up but grateful for the help, I couldn’t really complain.

I packed up the last bit of my office stuff and arrived home just before 10am, barely put the parrot outside when my phone rang and by gosh it was a quilter wanting to bring a quilt immediately.  Now, not a problem, previously I could only receive quilts after 2pm but I found it funny as the moment I entered the retired status I got what I envisioned all along.

This quilter has made (and quilted) this specific pattern many times before but she says with this one, she only used every scrap she had or what she had in her stash.  Initially, we talked about where and what the quilt will be used for and decided on an all-over pattern but the more I looked at the quilt, the more possibilities came to mind and I phoned the quilter asking if I couldn’t do just a bit more than an all-over pattern and she didn’t mind but gave me a budget.  Now, this will be the first time that I had to work within a budget but once I divided her amount by the amount, I charge to see how many hours I’m allowed to spend on the quilt, I thought it would be more than sufficient.  Had to wait and see though but it is always interesting to be challenged on a different level.

Have to interrupt myself here, the first days as a pensioner was hellish, to say the least.  I didn’t know where anything was, couldn’t find anything, my e-mail broke down (refused to send, can only receive), things the new owners were supposed to have in place were not done yet, and to top it all, I went to renew my firearm license and got the rudest female police officer ever.  Was so upset when she sent me home to complete the forms, whereas in the past you could complete it there and then, that I screwed up most of my own info.  I also now feel that I work twice as hard as before.  I get up rather early and already then start working and when hubby gets home at night, it continues.  So, the quilting did not go as fast as I would have liked it.

Finally the weekend I put my foot down and continued with this quilt and sadly I could not stay within the time frame for the budget but then again, I had fun doing the quilting and it was my idea to do a little more than an all-over pattern; therefore, not the quilters' problem.

I am however extremely satisfied with the outcome and I am glad I didn’t go for an all-over pattern.