Sunday, October 31, 2021

Last Quilt on Thomas the Longarm

The quilt
At the beginning of October, I had a quilting session on Thomas the Longarm. I selected a quilt that had been hanging around for awhile. . .turns out it was large. . .60 inches by 80 inches. This was the ninth charity quilt that I quilted. Alvera said that the charity quilting volunteers often chose to quilt smaller quilts. I wanted to practice grouping quilting passes so I chose it. It takes time to load the quilt. Quilting a larger quilt means I quilt one instead of two in a day.

The quilting pattern
When I opened it up, the lime green reminded me of my friend Joanne. Turns out she constructed the top! I quilted the project in lime green thread because lime green is her favorite color!

A print in the fabric inspired the quilting pattern. With each project that I finish, I feel a little more comfortable with the process. It amazes me at how fast one can quilt a project on a longarm!

This was the last project I quilted on Thomas because the board received an offer from a member to purchase him. The president opened the purchase to the membership. No other bids were presented so the board accepted the member's bid.

View of the prints in the top
Perhaps, there will be other quilting opportunities with Alvera's machine. If not, I'm thankful for the experience I had. I enjoyed stretching the skills in my quilting "toolbox!"

If only there was space in my home for a longarm. . . .big SIGH!!

I'm linking to Cynthia and Oh Scrap because my friend made this project out of leftovers from previous projects. 

I'm also linking to Angela and the Rainbow Scrap Challenge because lime green was the color of the month.

If you missed the blog post that Gertie, my inner squirrel, wrote on Friday, you can read it here. Gertie had a fun party. It was her first time to participate in a blog hop. She has enjoyed replying to all the comments to her post.
Finished view
Regarding COVID:

Worldwide: 247M cases; 5M deaths

United States: 45.9M cases; 745K deaths

Oregon: 365K cases; 4,372 deaths

This week Phizer doses were approved for children 5-11 years. It has been reported that vaccinations could be available in about two weeks.

The hospital said that Moderna doses would be available to staff beginning last week. I attend a fire safety meeting early next week so I'll check in to the process of receiving my booster. I likely will choose to get it when I have a few days of unscheduled activity in case that I feel at least as awful as I did with the previous doses.


18 comments:

Darlene S said...

Lovely quilt and quilting. I've never used a longarm, but if I had the space I would definitely get one. With respect to boosters, friends just got their Moderna boosters and no reaction to #3 (but they did have a reaction to #2). I am waiting for a scheduled physical with my doctor to see if I should go ahead and get the booster asap or wait till January/February. (long saga all about 2022 what if topics).

TerryKnott.blogspot.com said...

Darlene, as I sit and work in my studio, I'm always thinking of how I could fit a 12 frame into a 11 foot room. . . .and still be able to use the space! Fingers crossed that I won't have a reaction. . .but, we just don't know!! Health sagas generally are a journey that encourages us to make different choices and to explore options. I hope the effort your journey takes doesn't keep you away from your studio.

Cynthia Brunz Designs said...

Great job Terry. Too bad you are not going to have Thomas around to quilt on. I would certainly miss mine. Thanks for linking up with Oh Scrap!

TerryKnott.blogspot.com said...

Cynthia, I did enjoy working and learning on the longarm. I already miss him. Perhaps, I'll figure out a way to fit one in my studio!

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

That's a beautiful quilt, and so great that you were able quilt as many charity quilts as you did! I know I would finish quilts faster if I were able to use a long arm, but there's definitely not space in my sewing room (or budget!) to get one!

TerryKnott.blogspot.com said...

Diann, Someone will be warmed with that green quilt. It would be a good one to wrap around yourself. As far as the long arm goes. . .I'm thinking maybe some construction is in order. . . Gertie thinks it is a fine idea and she tells me not worry about the budget!

Vicki in MN said...

What a fabulous quilt, nice quilting too!

The Joyful Quilter said...

What an AWESOME quilt, Terry!! Glad that you were able to quilt one last quilt on the longarm. You did a lovely job of it!

TerryKnott.blogspot.com said...

Vicki, The person that made the quilt took some scraps a friend gave her and created the top. I'm glad that you liked the quilting! It was fun.

TerryKnott.blogspot.com said...

Thank you, Joy. I hope there will be future opportunities to quilt on a longarm . . .somewhere sort of regularly!

Preeti said...

I believe Gertie has great instincts. Do nurture her. This will be one fabulous finish.

TerryKnott.blogspot.com said...

Thank you, Preeti. Yes, I'm realizing that Gertie has many good ideas and instincts. Seeing what happens next will be a fun journey.

JanineMarie said...

I hope you find another longarm to quilt on because you sure do seem to have the knack for it. I like the contrast between your design and the design of the quilt.

TerryKnott.blogspot.com said...

JanineMarie--Thank you for your kind comment! The quilting part of the process is the part of the process I usually enjoy the most. I sure hope that there will be an opportunity to continue quilting on a longarm. Thomas was a computerized longarm. I sure enjoyed quilting a quilt in five hours or less. When I'm quilting on my domestic machine, I spend many hours!

Pat Curtis said...

Thank you for the cute towel I won on Gertie's introduction blog. It looks nice hanging on my oven door. Love the veggies in it. My inner squirrel (yet to be named) has me digging in my stash for many projects lately. Hope to finish at least a few before the holidays.

TerryKnott.blogspot.com said...

Pat, You are most welcome! Squirrels are good diggers. I hope your squirrel will take a break and let you stitch some of that stash!

Kathy S. said...

The quilt is gorgeous. I too would have picked a larger quilt to learn and practice. It takes a while to get the muscle memory in your brain working. You did a fabulous job! LOVE the greens in this quilt.

TerryKnott.blogspot.com said...

Kathy, Thank you, It isn't so much muscle memory because Thomas is computerized, It is more about practicing setting up the rows to be quilted. Working on him stretched my technical skills. . .which I have a tiny amount of skills! I too loved the greens.