Baby Chicks......3 Weeks

The Peeps are 3 weeks:

They are no longer little cotton balls with legs...

They are all feathered out.....even tail feathers!

They take turns roosting on top of the chicken waterer

and sleeping on top of their feeders

They run, flap their wings and try and fly across

the 8 foot brooder box.

They are a constant source of entertainment for Gunnr!

I continue to machine quilt the

Feelin' Groovy Quilt...

3 more days and it should be done.

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

CLICK HERE to view: Chicks at 2 days

CLICK HERE to view: Adventures in Art Quilting

CLICK HERE to view: Tips & Techniques

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full of Peeps,

LuAnn Kessi

Feeling Groovy.....Machine Quilting Tips

Day 9

Machine Quilting.......continues:

I thought I would answer a few questions I have been

receiving from blog readers...

This drawer sits right next to the

Sweet Sixteen:

Tools of the Trade...

The Sweet Sixteen

BIG Class M Bobbins

TOWA Bobbin Gauge

I struggled for a few weeks setting the bobbin tension.

Then I found out a Long Arm secret...

This bobbin gauge makes life so easy!

I set my gauge between 180 - 200

CLICK HERE: Towa Gauge Tutorial

Curved Tip Squeeze Scissors

Trim your threads close to the quilt without

the worry of snipping into the quilt.

Pin Point Oiler

I feel clumsy wearing quilting gloves.

Instead I use Neutrogena (greaseless) hand cream

to get a better grip on the quilt.

It lasts for hours before I need to re-apply.

Make Up Brushes

work great for cleaning out the bobbin and housing.

Flower Pincushion by Fons and Porter

works great for organizing needles by sizes.

Spiral Eye Needles

I use these to bury my thread tails

The Open Toe Hopping Foot

gives me better visibility right to the tip of the needle

CLICK HERE to watch Video

I rarely mark quilting lines,

but when I do I use a Chubby Crayon.

The mark irons off easily.

Sketch Book

I work out all of my designs in a sketch book.

I also practice on paper before I go to the machine.

It improves my muscle memory.

CLICK HERE to view my Sketch Books

I quilted for 8 hours today....

I will be back at it tomorrow...

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

CLICK HERE to view: Sweet Sixteen You Tube Video

CLICK HERE to view: ALL Feeling Groovy posts

CLICK HERE to view: Painted Fabric Tote Bags Tutorial

CLICK HERE to view: Slide show of my Quilts

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

Feeling Groovy......Under the Needle

Day 8

The green border fabric has been added:

I chose this pale green fabric to lighten up the

overall look of the quilt.

The quilt is spray basted and ready to be machine quilted!

Thread Audition:

The yellow on the left is too bright.

The fawn in the middle is too pale.

The Teddy Bear Brown on the right is just right.

Feeling Groovy is under the needle of the

Handi Quilter Sweet Sixteen

This is a sit-down long arm machine.

This is the quilting motif I will use:

It has a funky feel just like the rest of the quilt.

I am pleased with the thread color choice:

This quilt is ALL about these groovy Marcia Derse Fabrics.

I don't want the thread competing with the fabrics...

The machine quilting adds a great deal of texture

without taking anything away from the surface design

on the fabric:

5 hours of machine quilting today...

2 rows of blocks quilted so far.

I will be back at it again tomorrow morning.

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

CLICK HERE to view: ALL Feeling Groovy posts

CLICK HERE to view: My Thread Tips

CLICK HERE to view: Wedding Ring Quilt

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

Baby Bubbles Quilt...

My sister put this quilt top together:

We basted it yesterday...

When I look at it all I can see is feathers quilted

all over the pink background area...

Today I played around in my sketch book:

Can't wait to get this quilt under the needle !

Maybe next week...

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

CLICK HERE to view: Class Sample Quilts

CLICK HERE to view: Winding Ways or Wheel of Mystery

CLICK HERE to view: Handi Quilter Sweet Sixteen

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

Feeling Groovy.....Piecing the Quilt Top

Day 6 & 7

I spent the weekend

Feeling Groovy...

Saturday I completed Sashing & Piecing all 9 rows

Sunday I spent the day piecing the horizontal sashing:

Lots of pinning to keep the vertical sashing all lined up...

By 6pm tonight all of the sashing was pieced...

The quilt measures 82 inches square right now:

I plan to add an 8 inch border.......tomorrow.

Then I will be ready to spray baste it.....yeah!

I just might have this done by my son's birthday.

More to Come~

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

CLICK HERE to view: ALL Feeling Groovy posts

CLICK HERE to view: Fabric Painting

CLICK HERE to view: Flour Paste Resist

May Your Bobbin Always Be Feeling Groovy,

LuAnn Kessi

Morning Chores....

Climb on in the pick up...

We're on our way to do the Morning Chores:

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts


CLICK HERE to view: Gunnr's Quilt

CLICK HERE to view: Cattle Drive in the SNOW

CLICK HERE to view: Oregon Snow

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

Thread Shed.....in the Snow

The snow is taking it's toll on the

Thread Shed

This 20 x 16 building is my happy place...

When I head through this door,

all is right in my world!

This little building brings me so much joy!

All of this wet and heavy snow is just too much

for the new gutters Brad installed last autumn...

The heavy snow is ripping the gutters right off the roof.

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

CLICK HERE to view: The inside of the Thread Shed

CLICK HERE to view: Improvements to the Thread Shed

CLICK HERE to view: The Big Board

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

Sketch Book.....Quilting Designs

To keep my free motion quilting skills tuned up,

I practice designs in a sketch book:

Many Sketch Books...

I keep sketch books in the pick up...

Sketch Books by the computer...

Sketch Books in my tote bag...

I draw out designs in waiting rooms...

Whenever I see something that I think might work

for a quilting motif, I draw it out while I am inspired.

Drawing out quilting designs with pen and paper

helps your muscle memory...

Then, when you sit down at your machine,

the design just flows out of your hands and onto the quilt surface.

The more you draw the better your quilting skills

will be...

This is a design I have been practicing for the last

couple of weeks:

This is the quilting motif I will be using on the

Feelin' Groovy Quilt

When a Sketch Book is filled up,

I store it in the drawer next to my Sweet Sixteen machine.

When I have a quilt under the needle and need a design idea,

I just thumb through the Sketch Books.

We woke up to more snow today:

This is the view out the front door...

It has been snowing for 18 hours non-stop.

The yearling cattle would rather have sunshine and tall grass.

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

CLICK HERE to view: Bed Frames in the Garden

CLICK HERE to view: Quilting on the Nature Walk Quilt

CLICK HERE to view: Surface Design Techniques

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full of Quilting Designs,

LuAnn Kessi