New Format and Blogging Errata!

I have come to the realization that blogging is quite behind and at this rate, it would be difficult to catch up. Lolah has been very busy and tweaking of the photos is most time-consuming. Since readers to this blog have come to enjoy the pictures of the work done on Lolah, I don't want to eliminate them. Instead, starting with this post, I will condense the blog posts to HIGHLIGHTS. 

March wasn't such a busy time because we were away for the last two weeks. I've already told the story of Hollie and Shannon. I mistakenly introduced them as coming to quilt in MAY; it should have been MARCH. Another error was in the last post. In it, I introduce the winner and tell you there are 5 more chances to win. That should read 3. Corrections have been made!

The first of the Highlights will finish Lolah's March quilting except for one: Marilyn's Past President Challenge quilt which I cannot show you until after the June guild meeting. So here we go:

Date: Mar 5th: 

Lolah's friend: Lorette

Name/Pattern of the quilt: Spruce Logs (top made by Hollie)

Thread: Filtec's Glide Celery on top, Coffee in bobbin

Panto graph: called Paris by Natalie Gorman for Urban Elements

Batting: Eucalyptus! This was a sample given to me to see how I liked it, how it quilted. It created so much lint that halfway through the quilting I had to stop and clean Lolah. I have never seen so much lint!! The manufacturers will have to make improvements to this product before I will buy it!

Notes: This is about the time I started adding binding while the quilt was loaded, a feature you might like to do on your quilts if you come with  your binding prepared.

Photos and a finish: 

Date: March 9th

Lolah's friend: Daughter/Mother team Amy & Debbie

Name/Pattern of the quilt: Olivia's Big Girl Bed quilt

Thread: Filtec's Glide Salmon on top; Pearl in the bobbin

Panto graph: Whole Lotta Love and freehand hearts around the outer border

Batting: silk

Notes: Amy had basted and stitched around the outside border. We chose not to remove the stitches and to load it since the basting was well done.

Photos and a finish:

Date:  March 11th

Lolah's friend:  Odette and Irene 

Name/Pattern of the quilt:  A Quilt for Mother

Thread:  Filtec's Glide Peppermint on top; Celery in the bobbin

Panto graph:  Easy Peasy (now a new favorite for Odette!)

Batting: 80/20 cotton/poly

Notes: Irene was to quilt a nautical lap quilt but there wasn't enough backing to make a 2-sided quilt. Remember the backing has to be larger than the top.

Photos and a finish: 

I hope you enjoy the new format. They say a picture is worth a thousand words so from now on I'll keep my words to a minimum! As always, if you have questions about any of the quilting, please feel free to comment below or email me... you know where to find the info: up there... on the header!

Be sure to stay tuned as there have been numerous gorgeous quilts leaving the shop. I promise to work on the next Highlights report sooner rather than later!

Toodles,

Lorette

PS: Watch for the Row By Row blog post...

Logging with Sally!

Sally was the first customer to play on Lolah in June 2014. At that time, I hadn't decided to take photos for the blog so I don't have anything to show.

Files and photos (2014) saved on that dead hard drive are being recovered (I hope successfully) by our son who brought it home with him. We'll know soon if the drive was damaged beyond recovery! It looks promising after diagnostic testing so we're keeping our fingers crossed.

Sally returned with a colorful log cabin pieced by her friend Hollie. We had a long thread-choosing session which, to me, is always fun because the color you think you'd like is sometimes not the one you end up using. Sally chose FilTec Glide in Celery, a pale green and a wool batting.

How do you quilt words on a dark fabric? Do you freehand? Do you mark it with a white chalk pencil? Sally wanted to write "Blessings are all around us" on all four narrow borders. In order to keep the spacing and lettering the same size, we made a template in Word, and traced the blessings on Glad Press & Seal, and "pressed" it on the border. The idea is that you can quilt over the Press & Seal. It worked but it was a little difficult to see the lettering perhaps because of the reflected light off the surface. So Sally used the template mainly for spacing.

And off she went... working freehand...

Sometimes, one handed...

Lights off... except for Lolah's lights...

Hollie kept busy making another apron...

We do have fun...

The backing is quite lovely!

But look at this beauty!! Hollie had left before Sally was done quilting so we had to enlist some help to hold up the quilt for photos! 

Writing adds a personalized touch to any quilt... this one is extra special to Sally! 

Well done Sally! This will keep your guests warm this winter!

The barn progress was spotty over the holidays but we are thrilled with how it looks. The garage doors have been installed, the power has been hooked up, all the siding is applied as well as insulation, the geothermal units are in although not connected (grrrr....) but the building is secure, and we've been able to move in some boxes from the farmhouse in time for our children to arrive! The wood paneling has been delivered and will be first order to finish the walls upstairs so we can continue to empty house and trailers. Sorting, tossing, keeping, and donating will be a bear! 

In this photo, the siding is not yet on the north wall... the two openings will get barn doors fabricated to look like the garage doors by our contractor using some siding planks. This should keep the north winds from wrenching the doors from our hands when opening them. 

I hope you all enjoyed a great holiday season! Happy New Year everyone!

Toodles,

Lorette