Hand sewing, quilting and recovering

 Hey, all! This week has been a take-in week. About half and half quilting and repairs. Of course, we had the eclipse to view as well. It wasn't total coverage here, but I enjoyed zipping outside periodically and watching it develop to 80%. I'm glad I hung onto my special eclipse glasses! We had lovely weather for eclipse watching, so it made for a great day.

The first project that needed to be done was a beautiful custom show quilt. The quilt was perfectly done and a joy to quilt.

Stitch in the ditch took two days, but always makes a quilt look better. Big Gammill was in top form after a rather long hiatus.

I started with the appliquéd elements, then moved on to the background fill.

Six days later, it was done!!

Here's a peek at the back, quilted with light gray thread.

Here is a better look at the back.

A nice break from custom quilting was this whimsical herd of elephants!

Just lacking their eyes and tails, and not sure which way to go!

Panto: African wave

The light gray thread shows well on the dark backing.

This geometric, and monochromatic with a burst of color, quilt finished up a busy week.

The offset of the dark and light blocks creates an optical illusion of size difference. I assure you, all the blocks are the same size!

I can never remember the name of this panto...I call it 'Potato Masher'.

Another cool look for the back.

No quilting yesterday or today. I went to my appointment in Gainesville and had the offending tooth removed. It had fractured and was harboring a nasty abscess below the gumline. Soup and rest last evening and hand sewing today. I'm feeling so much better!! It is a little sore today, but tolerable. I'll be back in the studio tomorrow. One tooth lighter.

Time to post!!

 Its been a while since I posted here, but I haven't had the time... We got our tax return, so I figured I had better make time to post because the last post was about finishing the taxes!

I have an abscessed tooth that has given me grief for almost a month! The dentist has referred me to a specialist, and I am waiting for my appointment next week. On the up-side, I lost 4 pounds not being able to chew without pain. Ha ha.

I've been quilting right along and doing repair in the evening (slow progress there), so there are some quilts to show you.

Wow. I took this quilt top apart, removing the patterned alternate blocks, and put the resulting blocks on the design wall. No two blocks were the same size!!! The forth row, first block was the smallest, so I trimmed and measured it for reference. It was a long slog, taking blocks apart and trimming the components, then sewing them back together, often times cutting off big portions of the points.

Look at the different sizes of the components!

Trimmed up, but sewn wrong. Oops, more picking ensued.

21 blocks later, the quilt was beginning to take shape.

I am doing this project with another quilter, who got it from a friend. We are supposed to make it wonderful for her. I added the cream colored alternate blocks for my friend to hand quilt in.

Then, I added a small inner border of a blue plaid and a border of the cream fabric.

Now, it goes to my friend for quilting. I'm embarrassed how awful the blocks are, but it couldn't be helped. No amount of finagling could add points to blocks that were sewn with the points at the very edges of the blocks!

There were a few quilts done as well. I try hard to keep up with my queue of quilts while I work on repairs, but sometimes it's hard to do both things at once.

I quickly finished my I Spy quilt and got it bound.

I used a meander for the quilting and perky alligators for the back! Quick finish!

This is a customer quilt using a great panel

The recipient must love motorcycles. The panto is Freedom, and the ribbon backing completes the look perfectly.

This quilter is fairly new, and I think she did a terrific job with this Delectable Mountain variation. The colors are very nice together.

I had to load it sideways because the backing was too small lengthwise, so I used this zig-zag pattern to mimic the points in the piecing.

It came out well and the backing shows the quilting texture well.

Here is a picture my daughter took from her apartment window yesterday afternoon. In Wisconsin they are having a thunder-snow storm that is expected to drop 12 inches! I'm glad I don't have to drive in that.

My friend and award winning art quilter, Kay Donges, gave me this quilt she did of my grandson a few years ago. I am so grateful for her generosity! I called my son and asked if they would like it for their home and he was happy to have it. It is safe in a mailing tube and ready to go. A wonderful gift.

This is the original photo (without the bubble wand).

Isn't Kay a phenomenal artist?! I think so.

Taxes done and filed...back in the studio

 I finished doing our taxes after two days of trying to figure out our money manager's packet of forms. Thank heavens the IRS accepted my return. Last year they bounced it back for revision. I'm happy we'll get back enough to cover the cost of the Turbo Tax and a meal out!

Back in the studio, I finished some customer quilts and a couple of QOVs, as well as getting my quilt for Arizona finished. I've had a good week! Physically I feel great, too!

My customer's aunt made this quilt top years ago and she wanted it quilted to pass along to the next generation. I love the cute doggies, and the fun fabrics used for the appliqué.

It is large enough for a queen bed.

I used Baptist fan for the quilting to stay in tune with the 1930's when it was made.

The back is a mottled tan.

The maker signed the quilt with a felt tip marker! 1939.

One of the evening guild members finished her Rows-Parade BOM ahead of the game! She used lively Aboriginal prints for the blocks, substituting kiwi birds for the hearts! I love it!

The panto is African Storm, one of my favorite ethnic patterns

Here is the pieced back with a peek at the row of kiwis.

From another guild class, we have this kaleidoscope beauty.

I thought the Fantail panto mimicked the fan pattern in the fabric motif well.

Another pieced backing, featuring the focus fabric used for the kaleidoscope blocks.

The first Quilt of Valor was this super cool strip quilt. The red background make the pieced triangles really pop.

I used the panto Simply Stars for the quilting

Blue backing to complete the package.

This has to be one of the prettiest QOVs I've had the honor of quilting. The eagle blocks are wonderful, and make the arrangement of stars and bars stand out.

Simply Stars again. Why mess with what works?!

Plain blue back to show off the quilting pattern.

I finished one quilt and got a flimsy made this week, too. I'm enjoying rooting through my stash and my orphan blocks to make quilts. I figure I have enough fabric for several lifetimes. I need to pick up the pace!

I met a woman at my daughter's party that was fun and interesting to chat with. She and her husband were so affable, I liked them very much. I asked her what her favorite color was and she told me it's orange. Too much orange can kill a quilt, so I added purple and teal to cool it down a little.

Geometric panto to echo the square blocks. The quilt pattern is from the book Happy Hour. I have made every quilt in that slim book, and they are all fun and easy.

I had to add a stripe of orange to have the rain pattern in the teal fabric go the right direction. ( it doesn't rain sideways...) I love the fabrics together. Batiks are so saturated with color...yummy!

If you have followed my blog for any time at all, you know my go-to charity quilt is Warm Wishes, a free pattern from the Quiltmaker magazine website. I have made at least 200 of these quilts, all different and all fun. I always have some 6" squares left when I finish these quilts, so I keep them in a ziplock bag until I get enough for an I-spy quilt. It's fun to make a quilt for kids without repeating any of the fabrics!

The top is done, and I will quilt it some time this week. I have a busy week ahead, so I don't know when I'll get it done. This is a close-up of some of the fun fabrics.

I couldn't let you go without showing what's happening outside. Mr Wazoo has been out in the yard getting the gardens uncovered and some new plants and trees planted. Spring is coming!

There's still lots of brown, but the green, yellow and red are waking up. The tiny tree in the near center is new, a flowering crabapple. The bigger one behind it, next to the driveway, is a redbud. Pretty soon, the dogwood will bloom and join the party.

This is the best our forsythia has ever looked. We were almost ready to pull it out after 9 years of little or no blooms. It gets a reprieve this year.

The iris and echinacea are busting through and looking good. In the front is the low growing creeping Jenny.

Only a smattering of phlox so far. I hope they didn't get too blasted in the cold night weather we've had.

Inside the house, we have a new lamp. My daughter had one like this in her living room and I loved it! I ordered one for behind our sofa before I left Arizona. It came from Amazon.Very swanky, it has a remote control to turn it on and off or dim the light. Everyone on the sofa can read or do handwork now.

For a slim profile it sure puts out nice light. This was always a dark spot in the big open room.

(try not to envy my massive magnet collection on the fridge...)