Saturday, May 5, 2018

UFO Busting #18


Pin wheel quilt finished?  No.  I don't want to talk about.  I've totally bailed on it for a bit.  However, I am trying to bust out another UFO, so I think that makes up for it.  I would have had a cool finish to show you, but I'm experiencing technical difficulties.

This week, I decided to forego working on the Pinwheel quilt (guess I'm going to talk about it anyway) to kick off the Fireburst Mystery Quilt.  I also figured enough was enough.  I need to get the long arm at my cousin's house up and running.  I've spent a year being afraid of it.  How ridiculous is that?

The first thing to do was get the tension working properly.  We spent quite a bit of time turning this and tweaking that.

A little before and after shot of the test quilt sandwich.
We worked until we had the tension darn near close to correct and decided to load a real quilt.  Sometimes you just have to jump in or you never will.  Who would be my first victim?  I chose this baby quilt version of the Star Blossom Quilt.


If something went horribly wrong, I felt I wouldn't cry myself to sleep.  I'm quilting it with an all over meander loop and man did it quilt up quickly.  Well, all but the last 5-6 inches. 


If you've been quilting for anytime you know you can usually tell when something isn't right just by the sound of your machine.  It almost sounded like it was slowing down and I found myself trying to compensate for that in moving the head of the machine.  Then it dawned on me, it has a stitch regulator, I shouldn't have to do that.  So we decided to stop for the evening.  I plan on going back over soon and giving it a go again.  Just curious, if anyone has had that happen before or has any suggestions?  So a finish next week...fingers crossed.

David returned home from being gone for almost two weeks.  He brought me flowers!

Won't this layer cake of Flower Mill and beautiful white on white make a lovely UFO?

Don't forget that the 2018 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop kicks back off on Monday.  We've got a fresh group of quilters to introduce and get to know.  I hope you will join me in giving them a warm welcome.

If you are participating in the Fireburst Mystery Quilt, cutting instructions were posted yesterday.  There is also a linky party open until the end of June to share your fabric selections with everyone.  Don't worry you have plenty of time. The next set of instructions will not be released until June 1st.

This week I would like to highlight Louise at Quilt Odyssey.  Not only is she kicking back and enjoying a cold one in one of the most scenic backdrops, but she is busting UFO's and chugging along on new projects.  Speaking of her new projects, she recently pieced this hot! hot! hot! version of Sandra's (mmm!quilts) Playtime Plus she is calling Five Alarm Chili.


And she has found time to finish up at least three lingering baby blankets to donate to Little Lambs.


If you missed this post last week, make sure you drift on over to Quilt Odyssey and enjoy the view.

Now it's your turn.  Is it smooth sailing in your waters with stacks of finished quilts bobbing all around you?  Or are you swimming in a sea of UFO's praying you don't get pulled out to sea by an undertow?  Link up below and show us what you've been up to.

   
   

11 comments:

Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl said...

My machine occasionally does weird hiccups with the stitch regulator. It's usually an indication that one of the electrical connections needs to be re-tightened. Once a grounding strap was disconnected. I hope you can find the source of your difficulty!

Tu-Na Quilts said...

Wow! Those flowers are perfect! I wish Tu-Na Helper gave me flowers like that. Give David a pat on the back for me, please. You're a lucky gal. I am so glad you started work on the longarm. It might become your favorite machine/method to quilt with. You took the first step. Yesterday I ran across this quote which so aptly fits this “A journey of a thousand miles, must begin with a single step.” Lao Tzu

BTW: I finally finished the elephant quilt. That UFO resisted finishing every step of the way. I mailed it earlier this week and that little girl has been hugging it since; her mom sent me pics and a video of her reaction. Thanks for all your encouragement in helping me get this one done. Now onto the next UFO.

Sandra Walker said...

i need to go check out Karen's elephant quilt, must've missed that post this past week somehow. As I said on IG, love those kind of flowers! And I happen to know you did get the tension straightened out, so I can't wait to see the quilt done! Thanks for the wee plug for my plus QAL too! :-)

Stitchin At Home said...

Those are the perfect flowers to have! Good luck with your longarming.

Louise said...

It's never good to hear the machine start to sound "funny." I hope you figure out what's going on before funny turns into something worse. Around here, I'm in charge of listening for stuff sounding funny, since DH is a bit deaf. So the slightest change in the boat's normal sounds makes me sit up and go Hmmmm....

Thanks for the spotlight this week! It felt great to move those little UFOs along. This week we're having a guest aboard, so the studio has to be turned back into a guest room, darn it. I found several more UFOs while moving stuff around but the good news is that I still like 'em and want to work on 'em soon :)

Louise said...

Oh, and I laughed at "won't this layer cake make a lovely UFO?" Yes, yes it will!

Pamela Arbour said...

Oh, I am sorry about that with your machine. It looks like you got some good suggestions. I have found that I do better without my stitch regulator!

What a guy! He knows the best way to give flowers!

helenjean@midgetgemquilts said...

beautiful flowers. He has good taste that man. And Louise, she's finished already. Does the woman ever sleep?
I am afraid when my machine plays up I want to throw it out the window

Anja @ Anja Quilts said...

I think I have that same backing fabric. Sorry to hear about the longarm problems. I didn't think I had a UFO finish, but my finish was definitely an UFO. Glad to have it done.

Anonymous said...

Gotta love a man who brings you fabric!

helenjean@midgetgemquilts said...

The best flowers . When my machine makes those funny noises I want to throw it out the window

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