From Where Lola Sits Watching -

Lola knew my mood yesterday.

It changed in a heartbeat.

Not right off - but as soon as I set in to start machine quilting on that log cabin quilt - 

Oh, it takes so much longer to take OUT stitches than it does to put them in!

And I was in a quandary - do I STAND there and try to reach and unstitch, or unload the quilt from the machine and sit in my comfy chair with my feet up and something on the TV to distract me while I told myself to "Just Breathe!"

The chair won out.

Previously the quilt had been loaded, the batting partially basted to the backing.  That's when the circuit board blew - about half way down that basting line.

The circuit board fixed Monday evening - I set all systems go and completed the basting no problem, pinning the quilt top edge to the new basting line and then basted the quilt top through all the layers.

So far, so good - right?

YES!

And then - I started in on the quilting, and something happened and the pattern started stitching over itself....and.  Sigh.

It's a good thing I was standing there watching, because it only took an hour.  

I pinned in a test sample.

So far. So good.

I then reloaded the log cabin one more time....

All looks pretty good at this point, yes?

The first row quilted swimmingly.  The second row started off well.... but at the end of the row the machine bogged down and the stitching went wonky.  There was no explanation for it!

I checked everything, nothing was stopping the machine from rolling, or was there?

It turned out that there were some clips that hold the cords away from the carriage that weren't reclipped in during our evening reassembly.  The cords created some drag. 

The hubs came last evening to put things back together correctly again.  It was a two person job.  One to hold the cords up, the other to wield the screwdriver.

I think those are all fixed now.  But I won't find out really until tomorrow because today the power to the QPO will be out while they replace some electrical poles in the area.

Besides - I need a break from this log cabin quilt.  I need a time out from it at this point.

SO let's work on this instead!

My Purple Jubilee is now together - I moved sections around and around and around until I think I found just the right location for everything.

Yep.  That'll do!

But what next?

BORDERS!

Remember this guy?

It hangs on the wall here in my basement studio at home - made from left over crumb blocks and incorporated some forgotten purple triangles in the border.

Guess what?  That's not all of them.

I unearthed these in a bin while looking for other purple bits I could use in this quilt....and there are enough to use these half-square triangles as an inner border.

Borders going on!

Okay!  I like this!

I was worried that a purple sawtooth border that was scrappy would just blend in too much - but because this purple is a solid, it stands out enough to do the job.

Sometimes a constant fabric is needed...and putting all of these already made pieces in here to use them up?  That's a definite win!

The October Quiltvillians are arriving this afternoon. The inn will have power thanks to the Generac.  If I'm lucky, the power will be restored to everything by the time the quilters arrive.

In the mean time - I'll be taking up space in the Quilting Quarters where there WILL be power, though there won't be power to the QPO next door.

There will be no internet.  There will be no phone reception.  The modem for all of that is in the QPO. But I have audio books and music on my phone's memory card and today I'll be putting an outer border of purple strings on this quilt.

Most of the purple strings are already made - another unearthing from the purple string bin.  I'll see how far those can go around, and make more as needed and hopefully have a finished Jubilee top by the end of the day.

In other exciting discoveries:

This is the table my Janome 6500 sat in at home.  I wanted to know if the Juki would fit.

It fits the hole perfectly, but the bed sat 1'' lower than the edge of the table - 

So I asked the hubs if he could cut an insert for me to sit on top of those brackets and bring the machine up to level.

YES!!!

I love sewing with a flush surface. Especially when quilt tops get big and heavy.  Definitively when it comes to putting on borders or binding.

And in Bristol news! 

Bristol has been out for a week and OH MY GOODNESS! 

Gift-Away entries are at nearly 4,500! That's such a good indicator that I'm not the only one in love with star quilts, or plaids or plaid star quilts!

Thank you!

If you haven't gotten your entry in, please visit the Gift-Away Page and do so!  We will draw for our two winners THIS Saturday 10/29/22.

I will be drawing for 2 lucky winners that will each receive a Bristol PDF pattern from me and a Checks & Plaids Color Roll from  Cotton to Quilts!

Quilt Details:

Plaid Paradise!

For the star quilt lovers everywhere - Whether you sew with shirt plaids or scrap stash, Bristol is bound to be a favorite!

Easy to follow instructions, optional construction methods, full color photos and graphics to guide you from beginning to binding!

Quilt Size: 75'' X 75''

Optional but helpful: Bonnie K. Hunter's Essential Triangle Tool and either the Simple folded Corners ruler, or the Simple Folded Corners Mini.

Traditional rotary cutting methods are given for those who don't have access to these rulers.

Introductory Special: I have placed the PDF pattern for Bristol at 25% off in both the Quiltville Store and the Quiltville Etsy Pattern Shop.  No coupon needed!  Sale price good through 10/31/22.  Hurry now and save!

I've also placed the PDF pattern for Spider & The Fly  at 25% off in both the Quiltville Store and Quiltville Etsy Pattern Shop - no coupon needed!

The price is good through 10/31/22 and will revert back to full price on 11/1/22.

Quiltville Quote of the Day -

Every day is a brand new chapter.

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We can fill the pages however we want to.

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The past doesn't dictate who we are becoming.

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Vintage broken dishes in a nine patch quilt found in North Carolina.

It's Wednesday! What will you do with it?