Friday, September 8, 2017

Busy, busy!

I thought I had a good plan yesterday, but all good plans beg for a glitch. I started a big quilting project and it took longer than expected to get it programmed in and quilting. Each row took way longer than I thought it would to quilt, so I fell behind on my schedule quickly. Then, I had to pick out a big portion of a row because I forgot to put the clamps on and got a tuck...rats! I made a speed trip to the quilt shop to meet a customer with a repair, and also got a baby quilt from her that she needed done ASAP. I figured I could get it quilted and the binding done by the next day, and told her so. Oh dear. Now, I am working against the clock to get it quilted and bound before the quilt shop closes today, so she can pick it up. I measured the project last night before quitting at 10:30, and the backing is too small. I gave up and went to bed, figuring I would deal with it today.
So, I had better get to it! Stay tuned for the update...

This s the kind of thing longarm quilters hate to see. The backing has a big chunk out of it! I had to cut off almost 4 inches of the length to get it straight!

I finished these two throw pillows for the boutique

They have envelope backs

My placemats are ready for my binding demonstration at the show. Birds on the front, feathers on the back...or is it the other way around?

24 bandana bibs


Molly just had to photobomb the second picture.

The giant quilt in progress. I thought I would never finish it!

But I did!

Panto: Feathered Hearts

The backing was big enough to compensate for having 4 inches cut off. Whew!
I have a full day ahead, so I better get to it! Bye for now.

Thursday, September 7, 2017

Sometimes its good to change direction

While quilting customer projects, I have diverted my attention to making things for the boutique. Today, I made 24 'Drool catchers'. They are bibs for babies that are meant to be worn over their clothes to catch the oodles of drool. I saw the pattern on line, and knew I had to make them. Tomorrow, I will make the matching 'Binkie keepers'. (they are mitten clips that attach to an elastic with a loop at the end to keep the baby's binkie attached to her clothes) I got the bib pattern free from the blog Stitched In Color. Her baby is so cute wearing the droll catcher!
This is a picture from Stitched in Color of a beautiful baby wearing her 'Drool catcher', or bandana bib.


I should have mine all done tomorrow and have pictures to show you.
I also worked on the two throw pillows. And...I quilted some fabric to make into placemats for my binding demo during the show. Pictures of all my finished boutique items tomorrow!
Here is what I did in the time spent actually working! I quilted matching baby quilts with an allover meander requested by the customer. I love the color combination.

The quilts are both for boys



After finishing those, I quilted this elegant quilt.

Beautiful reproduction fabrics.


I used an equally elegant feathered panto for the quilting.
Every day brings diverse projects for us to work on, and even though I changed direction a bit these last couple of days, I am still true to my passion...quilting!

Sunday, September 3, 2017

Custom quilt finished

I finally finished quilting on the beautiful machine applique quilt for my customer in Florida. She likes my freehand quilting better than lots of ruler and formal type quilting. That makes me happy! So does her quilt.

This is another lovely quilt from my customer

It has birds, flowers and butterflies. What could be nicer?!

Some of the birds live in these houses!

Lucky birds!

Bluebirds in the trees

A really bright back, pieced from strips.

Some of the quilting shows back here, too!

Good night, little bird.
I will be doing some hand sewing to finish this quilt tonight. The binding is on and I am settled in with my PBS favorites.

Let's catch up!

Because I have been working on the same quilt for a few days, I haven't posted here. I am still quilting that quilt, but I took a bit of time yesterday to make the samples for my demonstration at the quilt show. I will be demonstrating the 'Easiest Quilt in the World' which I have done a couple of times before. I like making this quilt ( the top takes about 40 minutes to cut out and construct!) and picking fabrics from the stash to sew up into either a baby or lap quilt. Here are the two I made yesterday.

Lap quilt for nursing home resident

Juvenile prints in this kid friendly quilt

Panto: African Samba

Panto: Flower Power

cool Hawaiian backing

Animals in cars backing
Today, I'll still be quilting the custom project. I hope I finish soon...

Stitching background fill

Tight stipple in the central blocks

I started on the main elements yesterday.
The start of quilt show week is now just 14 days away! A few of us took another trip out to the venue to measure spaces for various displays. The size of the space is what hooked us in the first place! If you're in the Blairsville area September 22nd or 23rd, come out to the House of Prayer Church and see the quilts, You won't be disappointed!

It is HUGE!!

Miss Molly has had a vigorous week here at Wazoo. She greets customers, curls up on the batting, plays fetch and watches out the window for rogue squirrels and deer. No wonder she's pooped by 9 pm! Don't fret, though, she's ready for action this morning, and raring to get to the studio.