This is the next finished quilt. It's all about sports.
So I did a sport theme for the quilting. This is the first border.
The second border.
The third border.
And the fourth border. The extra lines all over the designs are quilter's chalk.
The pieced blocks got line dancing.
The inside border got flying geese. There could be geese flying over a ball field of clover.... right? The clover is on the sashing.
I got the next quilt ready and onto the machine. Started working on it; but, I realized I would be fighting the machine again. That means a bit of lint someplace. It also occurred to me I will be gone this weekend. Friday, a doctor appointment that could take all day. Saturday, going to the cemetary to visit my sons and my father. Sunday, going to visit Mom in the nursing home.
Rather than just track down one piece of lint to keep quilting, I decided to go ahead and do the thorough cleaning of the machine and table. Hmm.... I don't want anyone thinking I don't take good care of my machine. I do clean the bobbin area at every bobbin change. Not thoroughly, just a general cleaning. I oil my machine regularly too. The cleaning I'm talking about doing is the not so routine cleaning. The taking apart everything, clean really well, and put it all back together again cleaning.
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I have a problem with black dust dots. On the table the dust dots look white but on other things they look black.... like these dust dots on this cabinet.
Or these black dust dots on the floor.
The black dust dots get onto the bottom of my shoes and are carried all over the house. Here are some that ended up on my bathroom floor. I dust mop the studio floor two or three times a day but these dust dots re appear like magic. The floors in the other rooms don't get dust mopped as often. Heck, in the time it would take to dust mop all the floors, I can get a whole lot of quilting done. Besides..... who's gonna see the other rooms but furkid Dylan and me?
I find lint and threads wound behind a couple of wheels. All the wheels get removed, cleaned, and put back on.
The table.... geeze, how long has this been here? Ok, only since the begnning of xmas season... but that's too long. I move everything from under the table, get down on the floor, and start cleaning.
Aaaah.... that's much better.
Hmm... can't have a clean table with dirty velcro now can I?
The velcro gets cleaned when I'm cleaning the rest of the table. Much better now.
The bobbin area is cleaned more thoroughly than the regular day to day routine. I take the cover off and get to all the tiny hidden areas. 
The tracks and wheels get this really awful black residue on them. I clean the tracks and wheels with crome polish and tissues. See what I get? Just looking at the tracks they seem clean enough but geeze..... clean them with crome polish and you'll see they aren't so clean after all.
I never got around to removing the leaders to wash them. It would take too much time. Down time for the sake of clean leaders is not something I have right now. Maybe this is something I can get done this weekend since I probably won't get much quilting done.
Or these black dust dots on the floor.
The black dust dots get onto the bottom of my shoes and are carried all over the house. Here are some that ended up on my bathroom floor. I dust mop the studio floor two or three times a day but these dust dots re appear like magic. The floors in the other rooms don't get dust mopped as often. Heck, in the time it would take to dust mop all the floors, I can get a whole lot of quilting done. Besides..... who's gonna see the other rooms but furkid Dylan and me?
I get started cleaning the machine. I find bits of lint under here. I remove the pointer holder and clean it really good.
I find lint and threads wound behind a couple of wheels. All the wheels get removed, cleaned, and put back on.
The table.... geeze, how long has this been here? Ok, only since the begnning of xmas season... but that's too long. I move everything from under the table, get down on the floor, and start cleaning.
Aaaah.... that's much better.
Hmm... can't have a clean table with dirty velcro now can I?
The velcro gets cleaned when I'm cleaning the rest of the table. Much better now.
The bobbin area is cleaned more thoroughly than the regular day to day routine. I take the cover off and get to all the tiny hidden areas.
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What I save for last is the dirtiest job of all. Cleaning the tracks and the bed. Wiping the bed off is not a big deal but just look at all the teeth and placement marks. It takes time to clean all these with a q-tip.
The tracks and wheels get this really awful black residue on them. I clean the tracks and wheels with crome polish and tissues. See what I get? Just looking at the tracks they seem clean enough but geeze..... clean them with crome polish and you'll see they aren't so clean after all.
That's where the black dust dots come from. Dust from the tracks that somehow finds it's way onto everything else in the room.... especially the floor.
I never got around to removing the leaders to wash them. It would take too much time. Down time for the sake of clean leaders is not something I have right now. Maybe this is something I can get done this weekend since I probably won't get much quilting done.
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So why is it so difficult for me to find time to clean the table more often? Well, it seems when I'm running really far behind schedule customers don't want to hear me say..... "I couldn't finish your quilt by the deadline because I had to clean the machine table." I delay the task as long as I can. I only stop for the thorough cleaning when it's causing many quilting problems.
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Oh geeze.... look at the time.... I'm loosing quilting time sitting here type-talking.
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