Trial and error

 I managed to finish the quilting on the king size quilt. It took three days with all the interruptions to fix things. 

The quilt is so big, I couldn't get back far enough to get it all in the picture without it being a side shot.

The panto is Espallier done in blue variegated King Tut thread

The quilting shows nicely on the black backing.

There is nothing else quilting related to show you right now. Mr Wazoo changed the white belt on the Quilt Path unit and I tried it out. We still had the shuddering. He tightened the belt up, and I tried again. The machine began to move and then the motor completely froze. Everything undone, still frozen. I sent an email to the tech guru and haven't heard back. I think they are off for Thanksgiving. Rats!!

Calm down, Susan...there are plenty of things to be thankful for right outside the door!

Winter is coming. The temperature dropped yesterday and the sky looks cold, too!

The birds are here in great numbers enjoying the feeders in the yard. This one was a Christmas gift from friends. 

The fawns from a few months ago still come every day with their mama, and are now just about fully grown. We have quite a herd coming every day, including a stunningly handsome 8 point buck. I fear he will be a goner come hunting season. All around us, shooting practice is in full swing. It drives me crazy! It is one of the things we put up with to live way out here in the woods on a mountain.

Last night it got so chilly in the bedroom, I added the flannel quilt I made for Mr W to our bed. We were certainly warm and cozy with two quilts over us! Too bad I had to get up and take Penny out twice! 

Brrrrrrrr!!

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving. Mr Wazoo wants the whole shebang dinner, so we are having turkey with the trimmings and pumpkin pie. We will be enjoying turkey for a week! Exterior Christmas illuminations go up on the weekend! Thirty days left...

Hurry up and wait

I put my call into APQS at 10:00 eastern time and left a message for the repair expert. Nothing. I called the gal who helped us the last time Millie had a meltdown and also left a message there. Nothing. After another half hour with no response, I called the APQS 800 number and was put through to the service department. Voice mail again. I left another message there and decided to go about my day. By noon I was getting pretty hot under the collar with APQS. While feeding the puppy and having a bite of lunch myself, the phone rang and it was the service person who said she had sent me an email with a link to a video that would fix our machine's  problem. 

Mr Wazoo watched the video a couple of times and went to work. We removed a bunch more parts and tightened up others. After putting it all back together, I took the machine for a test run.

Still jiggling and shudderimng but able to sew. I hope we can figure this out soon. I plan to keep quilting as long as the stitching is good. 35 days unti Christmas...

Another row sewn. At this rate, I will have this 101 x 106" quilt done before the year is out. ha ha

Life with a puppy...

Bad time for a breakdown

I set about to start quilting a giant project today, and the Millie had bad hiccups. She stuttered and jerked over the first row, seemingly struggling to sew. Mr Wazoo to the rescue, but even his manipulations couldn't fix what ails that stupid machine. Dead in the water by 4:30, with the entire work day a bust, we gave up. I will have to call APQS tomorrow...again.

Meanwhile, yesterday I quilted with a vengeance and finished some of the pile of quilts to be done. Little consolation when today I got nothing accomplished.

First, I quilted the light custom Camelot quilt.

Big Gammill never missed a beat. Good Girl!

Here is one of the pictures from the quilt's story.

The backing is the same as the quilt from the day before.

New customer, new style! Kaffe Fassett string quilt with a floral accent fabric.

The panto, Posh,  is really only to add texture. I used it's swirly design to soften the straight lines and angles.

The backing is this bright green geometric print.

Next customer had three quilts. The first is this sweet retro-looking baby quilt.

I chose the panto Heart to Heart because it is not dense and kept the quilt soft for the baby.

Cuddly blue flannel on the back.

Quilt number two is for a grandkid for Christmas. They must be into music, wouldn't you agree?

I love black, white and red quilts. They have a vibrancy other combinations don't have.

The panto is Musical Notes

The back is entirely pieced with musical fabrics, too.

Here is a closer look at the music notes, done in red thread.

Starting to notice the wobbly quilting...

Today, I loaded the last of the customer's three projects. Oh dear...another very closely sized backing.

Too small... again. Read on and see what I mean.

Here, I have laid my pointer finger on the edge of the quilt. The backing is one finger bigger than the top on the right side.

It is also one finger bigger on the left side.

My finger is 2 1/2 inches long. When I put the clamps on, the carriage hits the clamps every time it gets close to the edge. It is very difficult to keep the edge of the top a continuous 2 inches from the edge of the backing as I quilt along

Of course, I didn't get to test my skills on the quilt. Millie rebelled and I am unable to progress with the job. Thirty two quilts are in line waiting while she throws her temper tantrum.

We took the machine off the carriage and removed the roller bars from the back of the set up. 

No amount of fiddling would solve the problem.

Tomorrow we go to war with APQS again, and hope to beat Millie into submission.

Something to make us smile.