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Monday, April 21, 2014

Retirement...More Time to Work?

It still feels a bit like vacation, maybe more like my summer vacations.  I have a list two pages long of everything that I need to do around the house.  I haven't yet made my list of pleasurable things I want to do... like design new wholecloth quilts or take classes or hikes.

I have been incredibly busy.  This is just the tip of what I have been doing.  

Tension Issues.......
First, I tackled an issue that has been plaguing me for months.  I have been having a LOT of tension issues.  I dealt with the problem by only buying Omni thread by Superior Threads.  It is the most maintenance free thread I have ever used.  I love it. However, it is thicker, and if I want to do heirloom quilting with backtrack feathers, I surely don't want a lot of thread buildup.   So for my everyday panto and e2e quilting, Omni is the best, and it is great because I don't have issues with it.

I finally had time to call during normal business hours to my Innova dealer, Teryl Loy, in St. George, Utah. She is so patient, and knowledgeable, and she talked me through an easy fix!  I just needed to loosen the entire tension assembly - not just the tension, but the assembly itself.    I loaded up some practice sandwiches and went to town with Glide, one of my favorite threads.  I must have 30 cones of Glide that I have not been able to use for months, so this was a happy day for me...
 I was not aiming for pretty stitching, just lots of stitching, fast stitching, and stitching without breaks!!  Yes, I believe (cross my fingers and knock on wood) that I have solved that issue.

Home Improvement...
Now, here is my solution for covering my brand new Skechers with memory foam and little mini trampolines on the bottom.  Duct tape!  I didn't want to spill paint on my brand new shoes.  (I read the reviews for these shoes on amazon and everyone claimed that they could wear these shoes all day long while standing).  They are great!
 This is just one of the rooms that we painted this weekend.  We painted a bath, a laundry room, two hallways and tons of doors.  Add to that the first coats of primer and paint to a bunch of cabinets.

One of the projects on my list is to do something about these really comfortable wicker chairs that have been scratched up.  Do you know how to repair the wicker so that the scratches are not noticeable?  Do I need to just buy new chairs?  


I'll be back with more results soon.... I hope!

5 comments:

  1. You are so lucky to have an Innova... I was interested to read your thread preferences. I did wonder about you shoes for a bit...but what a great idea :) You have been busy with your painting... it .looks terrific!

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  2. haha! Everryone always says they don't know how they got anything done before retiring - sounds like you are super busy! Glad you were able to sort out your tension issues, now you'll really be able to go to town with your quilting. I love my Skechers - in fact I'm off to buy another pair today (my third). Wanna come do some painting at my house???

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  3. Gosh I had to laugh looking at your protective feet!!! It makes you wonder how you coped before retiring? It's almost like your running on auto. I'll be interested to see if you can repair those chairs........... I have some similar, and I really don't want to part with them,...... all I see when I walk into the sitting area, is the scratches, family and friends say they even notice them until I point out the damage. I'm with you on the OMNI threads, I love using this thread for the practical side of machine quilting, however, it's far to thick to be using for the traditional feathering, backfill work. These longarms should include a three day instructional sessions on dealing with thread and tension issues! All brands seem to have difficulty with various threads so it's easy to stick with one type when you know it works,! Enjoy your painting!

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  4. DO NOT THROW OUT THE WICKER CHAIRS! Spray paint them! So many great paints and colors especially for wicker and so easy to do...they'll look brand new! Be sure to show us the before and after! <3

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  5. Painted rooms and the chairs are really good.... It gives a new feel trend fabrics

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