Ok it's late....

but a lot has been going on today.  I did write the pattern for the quilt as you go placemats - so I am ready for the class on Monday.  Lots got done in the studio this week - the snowmen custom quilt is finished and I am working on Roz's Clemson quilt.  

The Open House for the PQ3000 is on Sunday and there is still a lot to be done.  It's very scary getting this off the ground, but I am sure that it will all work out in the end.

Bandit, the quilter's dog, is doing well and ate well tonight.  Cherios, milk and Alpo!  Good taste.

I would love to post photos from the iPad, but I haven't worked how to do that yet!!  But I'll work on it - so much to learn.

So it's definitely bedtime.  I have never been an early morning person, so I need to be in bed by 10pm.  That doesn't make sense really - seems I need to go to bed early and get up late!  Oh well - bed now and get up at 6am means 8 hours sleep - pretty standard.  

      

Sleep well everyone - it's a wonderful thing to be able to sleep - so if you cannot, I understand!

Good night All.

Nearly there......

It's been a frantic week and today - three days before the launch - we came up with a really neat enhancement to the frame, so tomorrow will be a busy one, adding the new attachment and modifying the manual.  I'm very happy about the change.  I was already sure that the frame was everything it needed to be, but now I am confident that it's the best!  PQ3000 rocks!!

My lovely assistant Lindsay has been packing the first six frames into boxes and fighting with the box stapler.  Now that's a beast of a stapler!

We are organizing to vend at shows and we may be in Rock Hill SC at the end of October.  We are just waiting to hear about a cancellation - that would be fabulous.  Just before Christmas - can I say Christmas gifts!!  Then in November we will be in Tampa FL, January is Lake Worth FL and March sees us in Charlotte NC.

Running a little behind on the Lancaster Project, but hopefully once the Open House is done and the class on Monday has half a dozen placemat sets made I will get a chance to catch up a little.

On the whole life is busy but very good and I will get some pictures up next week.  And next week we hope to start on the how-to videos, beginning with the PQ assembly instructions.  But I really want to get together a comprehensive set of videos on things like binding, borders, triangles and all sorts of other stuff that give niggly little problems.  And then Block of the Month and mystery quilts!  So many ideas, so little time.

And that leads to the final thought for today - I realize that I really cannot do everything myself and that I am probably a bit of a control freak, so I need people to help and I need to lean on my friends for support sometimes and it is not a show of strength to do it all myself.  Strength is knowing when you need help and accepting that help from those around you - and a huge thank you to everyone who as made this venture possible.

Oh boy........

I think I am in real trouble with my favorite EQ7 student, S.!  I didn't get around to blogging yesterday and so much happened over the weekend! 

My friend and I like to hit the garage sales on Saturday morning but I didn't find anything that I wanted to buy.  However when we went to Ace Hardware to pick up all the hardware for the new batch of PQ3000s I found a key blank with martini glasses on it so, of course, I had to get a new house key cut!  So I put together the hardware kits and we are on schedule for 6 units for the Open House this coming Sunday.

Apart from being lax on blogging I have also been a bit behind with the Lancaster blocks.  But I managed to get 8 done tonight, so now there are 22 and I can get back on track tomorrow. 

In order to finish the PQs and pack, ship and promote them, there has been a flurry of activity.  Boxes, box cutters, box staplers, packing paper, a camcorder for how-to videos, a smartphone for the credit card thingy (it's so tiny I can't fathom the technology!), spiral binding things for the manual, special paper, smart tags (see below - they are amazing!), new business cards, new brochures, shiny advertizing flyers and lots of wine!!

Smart tags - if you have a smartphone you can take a scan of a smart tag and it will take you to a website or video etc.!  So I have a smart tag on my business card and anyone can scan it with their smartphone and it will take them to the website www.quiltersexpress.com - amazing!  So when we finalize the manual there will be smart tags that take people to the how-to videos etc.!  Very exciting and very up there don't you think?  I can't believe that I have been missing this amazing technology for so long!

 

So this is a bigger quilt ready for the PQ3000 - I really want to quilt it and enter it in a show - watch this space!

 

 

 

Ok - this is very haphazard at the moment, but it will come together!  I have to believe that it will be a quilt worthy of entry into Lancaster - I am working on precision, quality and color.  The quilting will be a different challenge - it will be outside my comfort zone since the quilting required will be a whole different level from the work I do for my customers.  They are not looking for show quilting, just lovely quilting for bed quilts or throw quilts.  Apart from 'Lofty' this is new ground!  Remember 'Lofty'?

 

 I was so thrilled to get a 'Best machine Quilting' ribbon for this work!  I know Roz knows that I am so proud of all the recognition that 'Lofty' has recieved, but now I want to produce my own famous quilt! 

So - finally - my final thought of the day!  Believe - just believe - without belief nothing can be achieved. So - Go PQ3000 - it rocks!!!!  Bedtime......

Fire and Ice....

is coming along very nicely.  Pictures don't do it justice, as I have said before, but I am really pleased - and those who know me, know that that is fairly rare.  It's hard being a perfectionist and a quilter!

Fun day playing EQ7 with S. - we got sidetracked so many times we ended up with a squillion quilt patterns, all impossible to make, but truely fabulous.....and this was where I had to stop and leave for the Home Depot to pick up the supplies for six more PQ3Ks!

So now it's Friday afternoon and after a productive day, we have pictures of the PQ3K, a more complete manual and Fire and Ice is off the frame and ready to bind, label and get a hanging sleeve - then it's off to NC for the show.

 

Stilll in progress here, but I love this feather pattern!

 

Fire and Ice and the PQ3000 - a good day's work.

 

Just a little quilt to show what the PQ3000 looks like in action - once this one is done I will load a big quilt on the frame to show that it is able to accomadate much larger quilts.

 

It's been another lovely day here - sunny, bright and not too hot.  So I'm going to stay out in the studio for a while, tie up some loose ends and some paperwork, and then head to the hot tub with my glass of wine.  The next few weeks are going to be hectic - first the Open House for the PQ3000 at Pieces and Patches in Lexington, then all the preparation for the first show for the frame in Tampa FL in November.

 

So my final thought for today is an old one - if you want to eat right don't keep junk food in the house!  Waiting for a pizza to cook for 16 minutes (and then cool down for 5 minutes) is no way to handle midnight munchies! (Oh did I do that last night? No, well maybe.)

Rain, rain, go away.....

my sunny SC was dreary and damp today.  So the trip to Charlotte NC for Ikea was cancelled and I decided to order online - shipping was expensive, but not as expensive as a tank of gas and my time.  Well, that was my justification!

All the stitch in the ditch is done on Simply Fire and Ice so now I need some inspiration for the patterns to use.  Got a picture below.

 

The plan for another 8 blocks stalled after the cutting out was done - it's been a long day!  But it's a good start for tomorrow and if I end up with 22 blocks at the end of the day I will still be on track, or even slightly ahead. 

 

It's difficult to show the vibrant colors of Fire and Ice in a photograph.  The darker fabric glows and the lighter fabric sets off the darker fabric beautifully.  I think it will be gorgeous when it's finished.  An important lesson learned as well - I have seen it often in quilts made of a lighter fabric with darker fabrics next to it - called fabric bleed, it's when the darker fabric is pressed towards the lighter fabric (due to construction limitations) and the darker fabric shows through the lighter fabric.  There is a little bit of that going on in Fire and Ice, but I will have to live with it!

 

So, final thought for today - Bandit says it's time for bed (or at least supper, which is Cheerios for him, and maybe me too!) - Christmas is coming (sorry!) and how to fit twice as much work into the same amount of time, always the question at this time of year.  I would never complain about having work to do, so onwards and upwards and it will be done!

It's all coming together.....

slowly but surely.  The PQ3000 is in production and trade shows have been entered.  When it's all firmed up Lindsay will post the schedule on the website www.quiltersexpress.com .  And lots of pictures.....! 

The Lancaster project is underway - 14 blocks done.



 



That's some of them up on the design wall - not sure that the pictures do them justice so tomorrow I will try to take pictures in the daylight.

 

The first block is the 'Mother's Dream' block and there are six of those.  And this is the log cabin block times eight.  I am very pleased by the way these turned out.

 

So the next block is 'Square in a Square' and there will be eight of those too.  So by the end of the next session I will have completed 22 block - only 28 to go!

 

Lindsay fixed the projector screen problem today, so I can use the laptop to demonstrate EQ7.  That means the class is on!!!  I also send out quilt show entry forms for a show in NC and for West Palm Beach.  I will have to wait to find out if they accept "Oodles of Sensations" at West Palm. 

 

Hot tub time - it's been a long, productive day and it's time for a glass of wine.  My thoughts are totally taken up with what quilt design I can come up with for Paducah.  The deadline is January 2nd 2013, and there has to be pictures of the completed quilt by then.  Which leaves about 13 weeks to get it done - oh boy! 

 

Oh to be organized.....

would be a dream come true.  I don't think I do to badly, but improvements in organization would help get more done - my pet peeve is to spend time looking for something that is not in its place.  Today's search was for a magazine that had prize winners from Lancaster and Paducah earlier this year - all my magazines are filed in the bookcase, except this one!  It was under a pile of paperwork waiting to be filed - another peeve.

 

See the blank spaces - I cleared out all the cross stitch magazines - I've moved on! and now I can get all the magazines into one bookcase.

 

So the EQ7 class went well.  And thank you S. for bringing your completed Simplicity Six - it's a stunner!  I have been so pleased how all these quilts have turned out.  I should probably get a gallery together to add to the website.

 

 

And since Simplicity Six did so well as a class and a pattern, I have started a new project deemed the 'Lancaster Project' - to be whispered with awe.  The plan is a queen size Simplicity Six using the fabric selection below.

 

Now the entry deadline for Lancaster is mid November.  A queen size Simplicity Six has 50 blocks in it, and the quilting will take three weeks.  Watch this space for updates!

 

So since it is the middle of the day, I don't have any ponderous thoughts to share, but the sun is shining, the air is cooler and life is good.