Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Winners and some thoughts..........

Winners first! Just email me your addresses at judi(at)greenfairyquilts(dot)com and we will ship out your prizes asap:

FQBundle: Mary Grace McNamara

JellyRoll: Jenny

LayerCake: Patty D from NC

Thank you, Thank you!! to everyone who participated in my giveaway and especially to all of you who donated to our cause. Your money will be a huge help to the people in Romania. We will be leaving in about a week and will keep you up to date on what is going on.

Now for some of my thoughts:

Crazy sisters!

Meet Jess - my sister! She is 7 years younger than me, but you wouldn't guess that. We get along so well, and we are kind of like twins. She has been living here with us for 5 weeks and let me tell you, it has been the best 5 weeks! She left today to go back up to Utah State for her final year of college. I can tell you I am so proud of her, but I am so sad that she is gone.

Having fun at the park!

She taught me how to laugh more and to not take everything in life so seriously. She showed me that cooking can be fun. She showed me how you can find humor in any movie - I mean any movie - its been such a blessing to have her with us. I miss her already!

First day of School

The school year is back in full swing and full days are here! My daughter was a little nervous about that, but she came home the first day from school telling me that school wasn't long enough. She is so grown up now, time really does fly - but I am so grateful for each moment.

My little boy turns 3!

So this little guy just turned 3! He is so grown up! His birthday is the same day as our business anniversary. Hard to believe it has been 3 years since we packed our bags and moved our family 300 miles away to Saint George. We moved 4 days after I gave birth and my first memory of moving into our home was a very large bug scurrying across the floor in the empty house. I looked at Clint in disgust and said "that's a cockroach, isn't it?" He told me not to worry about it and that it wasn't a cockroach - I had never seen one before - anyway, I learned real fast that the bug guy is my best friend and it was a cockroach and that Saint George is an amazing place to live. We plan on being here for a very long time.

So, in the past three years - Clint and I have learned to work together and be home together all the time. We have learned that hard work and persevering makes it possible to live out your dreams. We also learned that you need to keep your personal life and business life separate and that we need to date to keep the romance alive (another reason we are going to miss Jess, our built in babysitter!)

So, summer is pretty much over - life continues to go on, (reality will always be reality) kids grow up way too fast, but I will be focusing on enjoying the journey!

Well, if you are still reading this I wanted to let everyone know that I started a Flickr account and I would love it if you posted pictures of your quilts that you have made using Green Fairy Quilt patterns here.

Also - I am working on a little something that I am stumped on so I need your help. Okay - here it goes, just ask me what you would like to know about long arm quilting - leave a comment and that will help me out. I won't be able to answer these questions right away, but you will see the results of these questions at some point in the future!



27 comments:

Beeshebags said...

Congrat's to the winners. I did read ALL the post, sorry Jess had to go, but yes you would be proud of her. Lovely to read about your family and business life.....and now that I have all that out of the way...the real reason for me leaving a comment....is.....With a LAQ, do you prefer with or without stitch regulator? I'm thinking that I personally would need it, but then I've never used a LA before so jumping in the deep end and using one without probably wouldn't be a problem as I have nothing to compare it with! ok, for now, that's my question that you wanted/needed help with.

Hugs
Naomi

Gigi's Thimble said...

Your kids are DARLING!!

Anne said...

Oh my, can I ask only one question? I would have lots, but here's the first one that springs to mind: what would be the top 4 (or more) features you would look for in a long-arm machine.

Karen said...

Congrats on your business success and thank you for sharing with all of us. You are so generous and I am continually inspired by you! Enjoy this season of your life.

Sarah Craig said...

Hi, Judi! I think I'd want to know how you decide how much to charge for your long arm quilting services - it seems like it would be hard to price it reasonably enough to get customers without short-changing yourself!

Miki Willa said...

What threads do you find the most compatable with the LAQ? I am interested in weight as well as manufacturer.

Lynn said...

I just recently purchased a mid-arm machine and I'm wondering what size needles I should be using. The size numbers for long arm needles are different than for regular machine needles. So what size is best for your basic cotton top and back with cotton/poly blend batting? Guidelines for when to use which size needle would be nice. Hope these questions are helpful for you!

Deborah said...

You have a very beautiful family.

Karen said...

Always love reading about what family members are up to.
My question is about quilting patterns/ designs. Do you have any basic guidelines as to how to choose a design to suit a quilt?

Suzette said...

I have a bazillion questions about long-arm quilting-but here's just a couple. I'm currently shopping for a machine so-what are MUST have features? (a top 10 list maybe?). I'm short (5') so how does that affect my decision? Do I need to buy from someone where I can get support, etc. or could I buy used and find info on the internet? And the actual quilting-stitch regulator or no? Can you use different thread top and bottom? Panto or no? ..... Thanks for asking!

Quiltjane said...

I am really interested in preparation and loading of a quilt, including basting the quilt so it sits square and does not pucker. If you get a quilt that is not entirely square and it has a lot of give, how do you work with the quilt while you are machining?

Renea said...

I have a regular sewing machine (Juki) on my Hintenberg frame. When I want to do a particular quilting design I have a lot of starts and stops. Because of this I end up with little cut threads, (or nests) showing on the back of the quilt. How do you handle this and what should I do differently? I end up doing lots of stippling as this is something I can fit in the area that I have to quilt with.

Barb said...

Wow...what can I say....I believe that I have been with you the whole 3 years. I stumbled upon your awesome blog and have never left. I love your charity and will continue to do so. You have a wonderful family and yes, you are living the dream. May you have many more years of happiness and success because you are loved in this home!!

Megan said...

So my question's kind of abstract compared to some of the previous questions, but how do you decide which quilt designs to use and where to place them? Do you make the decisions one block at a time, or do you have an idea/sketch in your mind of how the whole quilt will look when it's finished and go from there? THANKS for being willing to share your quilting life with us!

Melinda said...

I would say my biggest question is how do you decide to purchase a long arm? I'm really frustrated with what my machine can do, as far as quilting goes, BUT, I don't even know if I should consider a mid-arm or long-arm in my future. It's a big investment with no idea whether or not I'll be able to figure it out!

Liz said...

I think you could have a whole new business just consulting new LA'ers on quilting design for their top. I have had one sitting here for a year while I contemplate what to do in the sashing, center of stars, borders. How long does it take to be comfortable "winging it" while you quilt? Do you do a test piece or just jump right in? Do tell...!

Sherry said...

I wished that you lived closer and that you gave classes on your longarm. Thats all I want to be able to quilt like you do. Is this asking too much.

Diane E W said...

is there any rhythm or reason to how you decide you want to quilt (design) a top? I do a lot of meandering because I don't know how to decide what to do where.

tellad said...

I know you free hand a lot but do you "trace" patterns on to a quilt to get them to "fit" within the quilt squares? It seems that yours always fit so perfectly whether in a square, strip, circle, diamond, or no matter what the shape. It would seem to me that it would be difficult to do this in freehand -

tnthomas1 said...

How do you ensure the back is straight with the top, that is if the back has a top and bottom?

IHaveANotion ~ Kelly Jackson said...

I need your sister to visit me....I know I could use more laughter and anyone who could teach me that cooking is fun....I just have to know her!!! Not kidding at all....I hate to cook.

I can't believe how quickly time has passed....you are making me feel so old because I remember when you moved...yikes!

Smiles,
Kelly

marcella said...

I like my quilts to have a different pattern in the borders than in the blocks like you do. How do you quilt that border - in little bits as you advance the quilt or do you re-load the quilt and do the sides later or something else? It all seems so hard to me :-) Also, since you quilt for customers how do you balance work and your own quilting and quilting for customers too and not get totally burnt out.

Snoodles said...

I'm so happy that you are succeeding in your dream -- my hubby and I work together, too. I love seeing your projects and finishes. I would love to know the answers to all of the LAQ questions above! Looking forward to your posts in reply to those!

Anonymous said...

my question: how do you decide about the color of the thread, do you sometimes really want the quilting thread to be seen, like a highlight? or do you mostly use a color that blends with the fabrics? or do you do what your custumer asks for?

and another one: what is the hardest part for you when you quilt on the LA?

by the way, I am an absolute admirer of your work, just a pity I live in europe

Mary Grace McNamara said...

Judi, I am thrilled beyond words about winning a FQ bundle in your giveaway! I do hope your little giveaway prompted lots of people to make a donation to your very worthy cause.

Looking forward to seeing what's in the works on long arm quilting. I know it will be good!

MGM

katier825 said...

When you are quilting, how do you work in obvious diagonal sections? For instance, if you were quilting feathers in a log cabin set in the barn raising pattern, how do you keep it looking continuous and not like you had to stop and start?

Love your quilts!

Pam said...

Love hearing about your family... your children are darling and they must be perfect angels for you to get so much quilting done!
I have SOOOO many long arm quilting questions. First, will you be at MQX West in October? Also, do you ever use dark thread on a white quilt? I just did a red/white/blue quilt and debated for a long time about switching thread colors or doing the whole thing with a color that really shows up on the white. Also, how long did it take you to quilt the Flea Market quilt? It is really fabulous, can you tell us how much you charge for something like that? How can you make it worth your time to do so much work? Love your quilting!