A Surprise in My Machine, I Spy Fabrics, A Pink Reminder, & Harvest Update

I bought a used backup sewing machine for a really great price.  I was told by the previous owner's daughter-in-law that it hadn't been used at all.  It sewed perfectly when I received it and I decided to take it to my local Bernina dealer to have it serviced earlier this month.  When I picked it up, my repair person just had to show me what she found inside my machine.  It was thread that had gotten caught on my fly wheel and it must have unwrapped a whole spool of thread!  My guess is the previous owner had two spools of thread on the machine and the one that was not in use had gotten caught in the fly wheel.  I am so happy that I didn't use this machine hard or it could have melted the thread right into the plastic inside of the fly wheel.  I wanted you to be aware that this could happen if you have an extra spool sitting on your machine that isn't in use.

Below are some of my fabrics that are in the I Spy Fabric Swap before giving them to Sandi.  I am collecting I Spy Fabrics now before I need them.  I'm excited to see what fabric I will get from the swap.

I was shopping at Jo Ann Fabrics and found this pink rotary cutter and thought that all of us need a pink reminder to be screened every year.  We all have people that depend on us and we need to take care of ourselves.

About half the trees have lost their leaves, but there is still a little color out there.  Everything this last week has been at the last minute.  There have been last minute visits, last minute surprises, and last minutes running around, but it was a great week!

Even though it's not really fit to be out in the field because it has rained so much, it was decided that we couldn't delay combining corn any longer.  I'm happy that we didn't get stuck in the mud!

Happy Quilting!

Kay Lynne

October Friday Night Sew-In Results & Beating the Rain

Actually I have been sewing a few hours every afternoon this week.  It has been gloomy and rainy here since Wednesday.

I've been working on one block at a time.

Here is what the back looks like.  I will have pictures when it's all done.

Early this week there has been a mad rush to beat the rain that was coming.  We did get all the soy beans in the river bottom field all combined before the rain came and flooded the field.

During harvest season it's not unusual for the neighbors to see me driving loaded wagons or following Dean with my four-way flashers.  If you live in farming country where there is slow moving equipment, please leave a few minutes early and be patient with us.  We don't enjoy blocking traffic and being in someone's way--we're just trying to get our crops in.

After all the rain, it will be a while before we're out in the fields.  Every year is different in farming and this year sure is different!

I did have quilt club this week and had a wonderful evening with the girls!

Happy Quilting!

Kay Lynne

Taking the "Drag" Out of Free Motion Quilting Part 2 & Harvest

I have had several quilting friends ask me to keep them up-to-date on my thoughts on hanging up quilts as you free motion.  This size is a lap quilt, which is a lot larger than the baby quilt that I worked on a few weeks ago.  There has been no problem.  The clamps give me the extra hands to keep things going smoothly.  I really think that more people would quilt larger quilts if there wasn't so much drag.  If you have some better ideas, please share :)

Thank you Leah for such a great idea!  It has changed my way of free motion quilting!

This week has been a blur of activity.  We started combining beans and things were going really well until a main shaft in the combine broke.  Taking things apart and putting it back together all takes time.  It can be very upsetting when you find that you put a part in backwards, which Dean did.  These things happen when you're tired and in a hurry.  Sometimes in farming there is a small window of time in which you need to get a job done or you just don't have an income.  So if you know a farmer that is a little stressed, give him a friendly smile which will make his day :)

 These pictures were taken within a few minutes of each other--just different directions.

Happy Quilting

Kay Lynne

Baby Jack's Quilt & Fall Is In The Air

Here is Baby Jack's quilt.  He is due in early December.  I wanted to do something special to welcome him into the family.  All I have to do is to finish the binding.

This is only a fabric panel.  It was fun to just play around free motion quilting on Teddy's pants.  I like the way Teddy's paw turned out by just quilting pebbles in only the white areas.

Below are our double crop beans, which look great!  Dean planted them after he harvested the wheat in July.  Our other beans are just about ready to be combined.  Everything is late this year, but every farming year is different and full of surprises.

Fall is definitely in the air and we are blessed with beautiful rich fall colors.

Happy Quilting!

Kay Lynne

Taking the "Drag" Out of Free Motion Quilting

This post is not my original idea.  I give the whole credit to Leah Day.  She posted about how she attached dresser pulls on her ceiling along with a few bungee cords and clamps to hang her quilt as she free motioned.  I thought about this for a long time and didn't want to put any holes in my ceiling so I came up with a similar idea, but with a little different equipment.  I have an old snap together quilt frame that I received for Christmas years ago from Dean.  I hand quilted one quilt in this frame.  Well I found a different way to use it this week.  I put it together a little differently and still used Leah's idea.  I'm only doing a baby blanket right now, but I'm sure that a larger quilt would work just as well.  I didn't buy a thing.  This was stuff that I already had in the house.  If I want my frame a little bigger, I will have to go the hardware store and get longer PVC.  Please let me know what you think!

Now I can have it both ways--no holes in my ceiling and no drag.

Hmmm--I can have my cake and eat it to...as the saying goes.

 My friend, Sandi, at Sew in Peace is having an I Spy Swap!  I have my blocks from a previous swap and received some really unusual and fun fabrics that have given me enough blocks to make an I Spy Quilt. If you have a child in your life that just needs an I Spy Quilt, here's your chance at getting a large variety of fabric.

Happy Quilting

Kay Lynne