Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Toss-UP Tuesday Finishes! w/Updates

Getting to check a few things off the 'ol To Do List!

First - the two lower level entryway doorways to the Betty Boop Quilting Studio are now officially Lipstick RED:

Front entryway is 'officially' Betty Boop Lipstick RED!
The beatles and I had a fight over just how much RED paint I was going to get to paint onto this door - looks like I got to win this one ;-)

Next - the latest Quilt of Valor comes off the Betty Boop frame:

Let the Stars Shine Quilt of Valor coming off the frame
A couple of close-ups:

Superior's NEW Fantastico Cornsilk show-cased throughout in the needle side of quilting...
quilted out Fantastic with not one single thread break!

The quilted back - looks almost as good as the front.
And third - the upper level of the quilting studio is 98% complete!  EVERYTHING is organized and put away.  Just need to get the kitchenette installed and the sewing cabinet put together and we're golden! Was beginning to think I was NEVER going to get to write those words!!  Pics coming soon.

UPDATE 11/04/2015:

Remember This?


Before...


After!  Kitchenette all organized and ready for cabinetry and a sink!

Guest bed/quilt display - one of the vintage 'pepto bismol' quilts we quilted awhile back

as organized as we can be for now until the lower level is complete, will then reorganize into additional fabric groupings w/the extra room ;-)

Bobbin winding area w/extra bobbins and maintenance items atop a vintage chest freshly painted Betty Boop Lipstick RED - one of our very favorite colors!

Complete template/ruler organization...At Last!


Time for bed.

Later,
~Deb

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

A long overdue QOV gets loaded!

Miss Betty & I have been wanting to quilt this quilt (and several others) for quite awhile now.  Finally got it loaded today!

Gold & Blue Stars Quilt of Valor just loaded onto the quilting frame
Typically, we would quilt this quilt with one of our very favorite machine quilting threads, LAVA Diamond Head.  For those who have followed our quilting journey for any length of time, you know, we've quilted more than a few Quilts of Valor with this luxurious thread.  As you can see, we're just about to run out and went to place another order BUT:

Our last thread bit of LAVA Diamond Head

Superior Threads decided, in their ALL-knowing thread wisdom, to retire this entire LAVA line.  At first, we were NOT happy to hear this.  However, after consulting w/Superior and the very nice young lady over the phone to give us a 'comparable', Fatastico was the ultimate choice:

Superior's NEW Fantastico
As a farmer's wife, I had to choose the NEW Fantastico Cornsilk #5087 and Grain Acres #5088. We're leaning towards the Cornsilk for this QOV since this thread is a tad lighter and brighter and should suit this particular Quilt of Valor, with ALL it's golds and blues quite nicely...keep your fingers crossed for us that we LOVE this new Fantastico as much as we loved LAVA...we'll keep you posted.

Hopefully, will get to start quilting soon!  Been consumed w/Fall cleaning/organizing.  The first photo shows the result of much needed re-organization but, still have LOTS to do:






Still trying to come up with a fantastic solution to handle ALL our batting pieces and chunks - we save these for charitable projects and especially youth to use for practice quilting.  IF you happen to have an amazing solution, besides 35 gal. leaf bags, Please let us know...Thanks!







And Please join me in saying a final Goodbye to one of our beloved Golden Bears/Retrievers.  We think he was hit last Wednesday morning. It was really foggy and so...

Baxter & Theo - two brothers who loved and wrestled w/each other EVERY day...
A sad farewell to our Theo - you will be missed.

He loved laying in the sun on the landing outside my quilting studio.  I will miss seeing him cuddle w/one-eyed cat and wrestling w/his brother.  His brother is really feeling his loss right now.  He howls every night at the same time of his final passing.  Hopefully soon we'll find a new playmate for him...BUT, our Theo will be very hard to replace...


Quilt ON!
~Deb