Naked ladies and a bear!

This morning I was looking out the kitchen window, and a bear walked by! A real bear!! I called out for Tim to come quickly, and we both marveled at how nonchalantly he (or she) strolled by, just at the top of the rock garden about 20 feet away. I guess it weighed 100 or 150 pounds or so and was 4 feet from nose to tail end. It was a black bear with a brown snout. Frightening, but so cool to see! We sat out on the back porch after supper waiting for it to go by again without success. Maybe tomorrow.

I worked on the naked ladies quilt all day and finished it this afternoon. There was sure a lot of skin showing!! I think the customer's son will love snuggling under this quilt. ha ha

Late in the day, Tim asked me to go with him and "look at something". That usually costs money, and this was no exception. We went to town to look at a fire pit he wants to build in the back yard. It is really nice, so I said sure. Next week Tim will have a new project. Outside, of course... Ah, men...what would we do for entertainment without them?

Ooh La La!

Today was a slow day at Wazoo. Tim quilted this pretty floral quilt, and I delivered it to it's owner before doing errands.

great color combination!

Panto: Alfresco

It was a yard work day for Mr Wazoo, and he finally weed whacked the front yard out by the road. I loaded up tomorrow's quilt...Ooh la la!! It is for the customer's grown son. He has a blue parrot like the ones in the quilt, and (hopefully) likes naked women! HA! She even put in photos of the actual bird. Pretty cool. What is even funnier, this quilt will be in the guild quilt show. You go, girl!

Peacocks and mermaids

Yesterday, we worked all day in the studio. I finished the peacock quilt and applied binding to another customer quilt before going for groceries, one of the dreaded tasks of life.

All stitched up!

Great feather backing

Tim quilted this little sampler, then did a cute mermaid quilt. Oops!! He put the backing on sideways and ran out of backing before he finished the quilt. This is why we measure, measure, measure!! Needless to say, no employee of the month award for September. I called the customer and offered to add another fabric that looked nice with her backing, and she was very forgiving and gracious about his faux pas. He took the quilt off the machine, I sewed some fabric to it, and . after re-pinning, he finished the job. No charge for the quilt, and a contrite quilter. Live and learn...I hope!

Nice sampler

Panto: Hearts surfing

Panto: Ebb and Flow

I got up early, too, so this is what the yard looks like in the morning. Much better time to take pictures because of the dappled light. Very nice. This morning, when Molly was ready for her first back yard foray, Tim stopped in his tracks and did not open the door for her. Why? A herd of deer was eating their breakfast on the ridge, causing Molly to go into a convulsion of barking on the back porch. I missed the whole thing, but was assured there were dozens of deer there. Rats! Maybe next time...

A Lo-o-o-o-ng day

What did you do today, Susan? I quilted...and quilted...and quilted. And I am not done quilting. Tomorrow, I hope to see the end of the quilting on this pretty peacock theme quilt.

Big peacock quilt ready to roll

I had a helper in the studio, too. When I tried to advance the quilt, it would barely budge. I looked under the table to see if it was stuck on something, and this is what I saw.

That furry lump resting on the batting is my pup Molly! She was quite comfortable there, and didn't want to get up and move. Too bad, so sad!! She was relegated to her pillow.

All the borders are finished and I am working the blocks surrounding the panel, and will finish with the panel quilting.

Lots of quilting

It looks like the bird is thinking, "What are you looking at?"
I'm looking at you, peacock! You're going to be stitched up tomorrow!

Alpaca batting!!

Yesterday, I had some fun...I think. A customer had called and asked if I could quilt a project using alpaca batting she had. Why not?! Bring it on. This was an experiment of hers, along with the alpaca owner, to make and use the hair as batting in quilts. The batting itself was a mat type consistency, and had to be handled with care because there is no scrim holding it together. She had fused the 18 inch sheets of batt together for two seams in this small batt. It quilted okay, but is really dense and caused the quilt to be rather stiff, even though I used a really open pattern on it. It was also unevenly thick to thin, and this resulted in areas where I felt the machine slogging along to quilt through the layers. In the end, it made a quilt that will warm your toes, no doubt!! There was some shedding during the quilting process, but using a lint roller would fix that. Also, the batting is dark brown, and would not be good in a light colored quilt. I would give it a C if I had to grade it. I will stick to Quilter's Dream!

Lap quilt using alpaca batting

It made for great definition in the quilting

the back

Meanwhile, Mr Wazoo did this exciting and bright Laurel Birch quilt. I have made this exact quilt for my Mom years ago. Love it!

Laurel Birch Jungle quilt

Panto: Jungle Fever

Wonderful backing, too!

I also quilted this braid quilt. I love the soft color palette.
It was an interesting day here, and that's why I love my job! Always a challenge in the wings, waiting to be tackled.On to the next challenge...a huge peacock themed quilt. Stay tuned!

Custom quilting

A peek at the back

Another weekend in the books

We had a fast paced, fun, quilty weekend here at Wazoo. I finished the tee shirt quilt for the customer who wanted it in two days. Whew! Two long days of sewing to get 'er done.

Tee shirt quilt, hot off the Gammill

Panto: Basket case

Backing: Boho Bandana

Mr Wazoo worked on quilts both days due to inclement weather, and got these quilts ready to go home.

Long, slim quilt for sitting in a recliner

Panto: Autumn Oaks

Really cool dish cupboard quilt

Panto: Nouveau shells

Today, I quilted a couple of charity quilts; one I made and one from the guild. I have been doing the hand sewing on the binding while watching a chick flick on the Hallmark channel. Total no brainer.

My charity quilt

I also got a start on the first of two quilt restorations I took in last week. The customer gave me permission to cut off part of the quilt, making it smaller, but easier to repair. She just wants to be able to display it at the end of a bed, so it didn't matter if it was smaller.

Antique quilt for repair

                                       

Oh no

I replaced one section (triangle) with some of the cut off part

Oh yes... here is the Employee of the month. He is so camera shy...

I had to pull on his ear to get him to turn his head enough for a picture!!

Congratulations, Tim. A whole month without a meltdown over a quilt project!

Tomorrow, I have a beautiful french braid quilt to do. I'd better go to be and get a good night's sleep so I'll be ready to quilt! Good night!