A Good Reminder

I am blessed, spoiled, living with abundance, however you want to phrase that. DH and I are working on details for retirement, and my quilting budget will be reduced drastically, but I already have so much, I can quilt for at least a couple years without buying anything. Eventually I'll need batting and thread, but I could likely go several years without buying fabric. My vintage machines will likely outlive me, but my computerized machines may need replacing at some point, depending on how long I have on earth. The fact remains, I am blessed and I know it, I'm thankful for it, and I try to not take that for granted. It's one of the reasons I to to make so much for donation, as a way to give back. 

This week I've had a good reminder of how blessed I am. Since my Janome is in the shop, and I've got to finish a baby quilt within the next week, I'm quilting it on my Bernina 440. The machine I had before the Bernina 440 only had a 6" throat, and the 440 has a 7.5" throat. I was amazed at how much more space I had, and the stitch regulator really helped me out as someone who was new to FMQ at the time. I've been pretty faithful about getting my Bernina serviced, and it's a fantastic machine. It's still a fantastic machine, and although I do some piecing on it, and all general sewing on it, I haven't quilted with it for years. 

Way back in 2017, I bought a sit-down longarm. I went from 7.5" of space for the quilt to 18" of space. I had that longarm for about three years, then in 2020, I traded it in toward the Janome M7. The M7 has a 13" throat, but since it's a sewing machine and NOT a longarm, I could also use it for walking foot quilting. I've never regretted trading in the longarm. Now the Janome is the only machine I quilt on, and I can easily quilt a king on it. I've quilted a king sized quilt on the Bernina too, but it's a chore! When you take into account that I haven't quilted on the 440 for seven years, it's really no surprise I'm having a hard time adjusting, even though I've quilted dozens of quilts with it in the past. 

Can I quilt with it? Absolutely, it does a great job FMQ. I, however, have lost the habits I had to juggle the bulkiness of a quilt through a smaller harp. It's not that I can't do it, it's that I'm finding it much more difficult, and really having to spend more time planning my stitching path to best accommodate bulk...and this is just a BABY quilt!!! It does have a minky backing so that adds to the bulk a bit. I honestly didn't think it would be so hard to adjust back, so this is a really good reminder how blessed I am to have a larger machine. I should be able to finish quilting the baby quilt tomorrow, then I can sew the binding on this weekend. I finished the burp rags, so once the quilt is done, I can wrap the baby gifts. 

I think the burp rags match the quilt pretty well, which is fortuitous since I was working from stash. 

Another deadline quilt is started. I need 108 blocks pieced just like this, and I only have 30 left to piece. I had already cut out a bunch of squares from Star Wars fabrics, 10.5" squares, 8.5" squares, 6.5" squares (my favorite size for I Spy quilts) and the smaller sized pieces were cut into 2.5" squares. For one deadline quilt I needed 24- 10.5" squares, so I chose the squares I wanted and that quilt is ready for the design wall.That quilt has plain blocks but pieced sashing and cornerstones which I already pieced. For this quilt I needed 108- 8.5" squares, and I had a lot of squares to choose from. I decided to first divide the squares by fabric so I didn't end up with 6 of the same fabric but missing several fabrics. Boy, was I surprised I had 50 different Star Wars fabrics! I've been collecting Star Wars fabric for a while, and I make a lot of gifts with it. I don't even like Star Wars, I'm a Star Trek kind of girl. There are several people in the family who are Star Wars fans, and always up for a gift made from Star Wars fabric. If I see some Star Wars fabric in a remnant bin, or a sale priced Star Wars fat quarter bundle, I'm likely to buy it, and eventually, I ended up with 50 different fabrics. I had no idea I had that kind of variety. I don't buy big pieces of Star Wars fabric, so it's not like I could make Star Wars quilts for years and not run out of fabric. I might be able to make a dozen quilts though, depending on the size, pattern and how much background is used. These two quilts are definitely making a dent. 

DS the Younger surprised me with flowers for Mother's Day. I can't remember the last time I got flowers, so it was a really nice surprise!