I’m guessing I started sewing when I was in the 4th or 5th grade.  But my first patchwork happened when I was in 7th grade.  I made this pillow cover as a visual aid to a math project. I’ve got the project paper around somewhere.  This was another find as I opened up a box of stuff that I’m not taking to Mississippi.

This quilted pillow cover was also in the box.  I’m dating this one to 1980 based on the inner border.

It’s the same fabric that I used in my first quilt.

Both of these pieces are going with me.

Moving a piano is challenging – especially when it’s a grand piano vs an upright piano.

• The piano has to be broken down to move
• It has to be moved
• The piano has to be setup in the new location

I only found one company that could do all three steps – Modern Piano Moving.  Yesterday was the day the process started.

It took about an hour to breakdown the piano and load it on the truck.  Since this company only moves pianos, there are many pianos on the truck. That means many stops before they get the piano to me.  I think the last estimate is that it will be delivered in October.  That’s not an issue since I need to get the flooring down before the piano comes in. The only question is will I have the floor down by then!

If I can cut a 1-1/2″ square out of a scrap — or get a 3/4″ wide string out of a scrap, I don’t toss it. I started quilting in the early 2000’s and by 2009 I had a huge pile of scraps, plus scraps given to me by friends. By the end of July 2009 I managed to tame all of my scraps.  I even kept them caught up as I generated them until January 2012 when I got lazy again.  So, here we are 10 years later and I’m moving.

As big as my new Quilting Studio is, I have not worked out the fabric storage yet. So, I made the executive decision that any scrap not currently tamed has to go.  After all they do multiply when your back is turned.  I some of the scraps sorted by color, some bags were not.  There was that whole drawer of shirting scraps under the ironing board. I simply cannot believe I have 5 big bags of scraps!

Fortunately with a Facebook post I was able to find takers.

I’ve lived in this house for over 21 years.  It’s now a mad dash to sort through 21 years of accumulated stuff (well, really closer to 40) and get it sorted before the movers show up at the end of August to pack.

I talked to a realtor on April 8th.  Flew down mid-May to look at 3 houses – 2 which hadn’t hit the market and 1 which I was out bid by 2 different people — after I made an offer of $10K over asking!  I ultimately bought this house, even though it needs LOTS of cosmetic work.

This is the room which sold the house – my future Quilt Studio.

I closed on the house mid-June and spent 2 two weeks working remotely — although I work remotely all the time – and working on getting quotes for various projects.  All but 2 outlets were replaced (didn’t know about them), all light switches were replaced, 3 ceiling fans were replaced, the stove switch was fixed, I have gutters scheduled for installation in August, the rotted fascia and soffit was repaired, and discovered the AC for the bonus room is not hardwired.

When I got back to Kansas City, the Great Purge ramped-up with a 96 hour interruption to see just how much water damage there was in the new Quilt Studio.  My brother and I few down to Ridgeland and then next thing I knew the Quilt Studio and Sunroom is ready for the electricians to come in September 1st.

We spent the weekend ripping out the paneling & insulation. Then my brother repaired the exterior walls on the patio side of the Quilt Studio and Sunroom.

While he was at it, he moved the wall into the storage area so I’ll have a 96″ wide design wall.

We took out two windows (left is my office, the right is the den) and framed them for doors.

He also took out the window from the master bath over looking the Sunroom. Other projects that weekend included ripping out the built in bookcases in the bonus area, the bookcases in the Den, all of the trim in the den, living room and dining room, and setting a toilet in the master bath. We also talked to the electrician about wiring the bonus area. Needless to say we were exhausted when we got back to Kansas City.

Projects are happening in Kansas City as well.  The last picture I posted of my house the shutters were bright blue.  I had the exterior painted in Sherwin-William “Steamed Milk”.  The painter suggested painting the shutters black, which worked for me as I had not picked a color for them.  He started the day before I got home.  The garage doors & openers were replaced the day I got home.  The rooms which have not been painted recently will be painted after I move out, the hardwood floors refinished and new flooring put in the kitchen. Then the house goes on the market.

So that means I have 28 days to finish the Great Purge of 2021.

I’ll worry about the new house when I get there.

The sorting and sifting continues.  Decisions on cost of replacing vs. cost of storing and moving and maybe using it.  Friday the focus was on batting scraps. This pile did not make the cut.

This week I’ve made 6 ‘Frankenbatts’.  Two of them have been used.  The two on the right I prepped to use with my Easy Breezy quilt tops. – one is 48 x 64 the other 52 x 64.  The two on right are “speculative” batts.  One is 76 x 103, the other 75 x 80. The piece on top is 44 x 50 and is not pieced. I already have a tote bag of 2 1/2″ strips to make jelly roll rugs. More scraps will be generated, so it’s time for the remaining scraps to go.

Since I last posted, I’ve made some progress unpacking and sorting through the boxes in my husband’s office. I finally got all of the books unpacked and sorted through.  There are books in the car to take to the thrift shop along with a bag of shoes.  I have 2 more bags ready to take to the car later this morning.  In the meantime I’ve finally started refolding my quilts to put on the top shelf of the linen closet.

There is a quilt in each of those pillowcases.  From the bottom up.

• Pink & Black Chain of Stars
• Metamorphosis  – a Dresden Plate made mostly from a recycled skirt
• Three Sisters Choice
• Carolina Chain
• QIAD Birthday Swap
• Simply Squares
• Narragansett Blues
• No Blue Geese
• Egg Money Quilt

There is no more space on the top shelf, but yet I have more quilts to prep for moving. The quilt not in a case is En Provence. I still haven’t made the pillowcases to go with this quilt.

These have been washed and need to be stuffed into a pillowcase — once I figure out where I’m going to stash them.  At one point I had quilts in an old glass front stereo cabinet, but I’m not going to take the cabinet with me.

I thought I had all the quilts gathered up, but realized Allietare was not in this stack.  It’s in my husband’s office along with Wonky Dishes and Alphabet BOM.

But there are more!  There are 2 quilts on the sofa which need to be washed, 2 on the daybed in my office, 1 in the dryer, 6 hanging on the walls, and 2 in the sewing room. There are also smaller quilts/wall hangings under En Provence in the closet.  This does not include family quilts which have been passed down to me.  It looks like I need a 4 bedroom home after all  — longarm/sewing room, my room, the office, and a quilt storage room, which will double as a guest bedroom.

Each one of these quilts has a story and memories. And I haven’t gotten to the crocheted & knitted afghans and fleece blankets which have been given to me over the years or I’ve made.

I continued working on the backing for the wedding quilt last night.  I now have 6 of the Dream Big Dance panels sewn together and the 3rd strip ready to sew to the larger panel.  It’s all carefully laid over the belly bar of the long arm since I’ve pressed the sections.  In the meantime I started thinking about what to use for the back of the 2nd Test Quilt. I found 1 yard of this Red Hat fabric and think I’ll use it.

I was asked about my longarm last week only to discover I hadn’t written about it.  So this is the LongArm post.

I quilt on a 26″ Innova longarm with stitch regulation, Lightning Stitch and AutoPiolot Mach3. It sits on a 12-foot table. Although a longarm was on my dream list, it was just that a dream.  Where would I put it, how could I afford it? It was through a series of events (both good and bad) that this fully loaded machine came to live with me.  Never in my dreams did I think I would own a machine with all the bells and whistles.

The architect calls this room the Den. It is 13′ x 18 1/2′. I think the room was used as a den for about a year.  Then it was a bedroom for my nephews for a year, then my sewing room and office (I’ve worked from home for 20 years), and now it is just my quilting studio, my office desk moving to the spare bedroom when the long arm arrived. These pictures are from shortly after the machine was setup in December 2019.  My room is no longer this clean.

Under the machine on the “back side” I have built a couple of PVC batting racks.  The batting on the roll in the foreground is 120″ wide and the other roll is 96″ wide.

Since the machine moved in my cats are not happy.  They are no longer allowed in the space.  To assist with that, I’ve hung a screen door in the opening going into the kitchen.  I now also keep the door going into the living room closed. It was hung when the room was used as a bedroom.

I started longarming in September 2010, renting time on an HandiQuitler a little over an hour away from me.  In June 2012 I found a shop about 15 minutes from me which rented time on Noltings. I don’t think either shop rents time anymore.  I started quilting on the Innova in August 2018.

My quilt guild is now selling tickets for this beautiful red and white quilt. It measures 64″ x 84″. Tickets are $1 each or 6 for $5. For more information about the quilt or to purchase tickets check out the Guild’s website. starlightquilters.com/2021_opportunity_quilt.

As of 8 PM Sunday night, this is as far as I have gotten on the 2nd quarter of the wedding quilt.  Each cross of units contains 2 lavender broken dishes, 2 seafoam broken dishes, and the 5 neutrals squares necessary to make one block  in the quilt. It doesn’t seem like much, but much of the weekend was spent doing non-piecing quilting.

This year I’m my Guild’s Quilt Registration Chair to the Kansas City Regional Quilt Festival, so Saturday morning started off with a call with my co-chair. Afterwards, I visited a friend to try and figure out how to load the bobbin to the new to her Bernina 820. That machine is smarter than I am.

Afterwards, instead of coming straight home, I headed off to Stitch-On Needlework in Lawrence Kansas. They do Facebook Live Shows on Mondays and Thursdays.   A few months ago I fell in love with a quilt they had hanging in the background.

This is Fairy Floss with Maggie Sashing from The Block-Maker II for Half-Rectangle Triangles by Janna L. Thomas.

The last time I was in the shop they didn’t have it in stock, but Saturday was my lucky day and I was able to pick up a copy.

Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon was spent working on the Guild’s website, bringing the content up-to-date. I also watched the video on how to use the Bloc-Loc Half-Rectangle Triangle ruler.  I fell in love with the quilt in the background of the video.

This quilt is Star Fusion with the Serena sashing.  The video can be seen HERE.  It was after this that I finally sat at my sewing machine.

I haven’t decided if I’ll try to assemble a few blocks tonight or not.

• 350 Challenge = 16
• Easy Breezy = 93