It was a Squirrel Party this Month!

I really haven’t been planning much in my sewing space other than some hand stitching. For reasons I won’t go into, my motivation and inspiration is still at an all time low. The this happened:

I was lucky and had an email from Sandra regarding her new pattern and was visited by a good friend that urgently needed a gift for his wife’s birthday.

That meant I needed to drop everything and make not one, but two projects in about 10 days! 😄

First up, find the flimsy my friend picked from my photos. He did know what he wanted so I just needed to pull the quilt top from my bins:

Here it is:

I had some drawing, doodling and designing to do to figure out how to convert this to the larger size. I made some different blocks to try for borders but nothing worked. Then Samantha whispered in my ear and a plan was formed.

Back to my stash I went to pull the needed fabrics and while I was there I pulled some special pieces to use for Sandra’s pattern which had become a DrEAMi by Sandra needing it quickly and my granddaughter needed it for her friend who is decorating a nursery for her first baby.

It was time for me to head to the studio. K and D have additional issues as well as his Mesothelioma and her heart, so it was time to do a house clean and meal prep trip for my friends.

Luckily I have my favourite sewing machine at the studio (it and the table are too large for my sewing corner at home😢), so I was able to get the borders made as well as the blocks for Sandra’s quilt in between the chores I had set myself to help my friends.

Borders were added to the log cabin quilt top and I put it on the longarm. Then I realized my backing wasn’t the right size so I had to consult with my friend. He had seen this piece of fabric in my stash and asked if I could incorporate it in to the quilt:

The backing was made with this fabric in the middle, then piano key strips on each side of it and then strips of the pink/orange/ yellow border fabric from the front on the edges. I had originally planned on using that fabric from the front border as the backing and binding. With adding another foot on each side of the quilt top, it wouldn’t be the large enough. I was content because it meant I could embroider my label information on the piano key strips on the back and not need to add a separate label.

After putting the backing on the frame, I loaded my batting and topped the batting with a layer of wool batting. This quilt needed to be warm for the upcoming fall and winter when we often have 12-14 hour power outages. 🤔

Meanwhile the blocks were finished for the other quilt top.

It’s so good to have both the longarm and my Janome at the studio. It means I can alternate between the quilting on the longarm (standing) and piecing on the Janome so I get a chance to sit for a bit.

Finally my quilt was done on the longarm:

Time to square it up and get it ready for binding.

Then the baby quilt was ready to be loaded on the frame. I had the perfect backing:

Disaster struck and my Avante started doing weird stitching and making horrible sounds. I took it apart, and cleaned it again (I had after finishing my other quilt). I added a new needle again thinking the one I had just put in might be a dud or have a burr on it. I rethreaded it and put in a different newly filled bobbin. Still got the noise. Called my tech and he said it needed to come in to the spa.

So my second DrEAMi still sits as a flimsy and is incomplete. I love it though and can’t wait to finish it.

After everything was done I could do at the studio I headed back home. I finished embroidering my label info on the piano key strip on the back, and hand sewing the binding on the back just a few minutes before my friend came to pick it up. I didn’t get pictures of the finished quilt or backing before it was picked up. I did however get emailed a photo of the quilt in its new home:

So for June I had two quilts to get done which were not planned and I also had a DrEAMi hit me when I was at the Guild. I put a rag rug on one of the looms at the Guild. I’ve never woven anything before but it just seemed like I HAD to just Do It! I’ll get a photo when I’m at the Guild next and finish it.

June was a Drop Everything and Make it kind of month and I am grateful to have had these projects keep me busy.

I’m heading over to Sandra’s site to link up on her DrEAMi 64 post and see what everyone else has been doing.