Rain, shop-hop, rain, quilting, RAIN!

The weatherman said it was going to rain, but we sure didn't expect this! I feel so bad that we get deluged when there is a horrible drought in the western states. Too bad we can't will the rain westward...
I had made plans to go on a shop hop with my friend, Stephanie, and certainly a torrential rainstorm couldn't  stand between a quilter and discounted fabric! So over Blood mountain we went to the city of Dahlonega, and then back over the mountain to the other two stores. The rain never abated, but we didn't care...there were 25% off bolts to fondle and prizes to be signed up for.

I have great plans for this Christmas jelly roll and these wonderful co-ordinates

(L to R) Backing for the Christmas quilt project, fun yellow cherries, dogs hanging out car windows, alphabetical foodstuffs, and a soft brushed plaid in jewel tones.

Soft, cuddly flannels from the Lumberjack collection. I am going to make some bumper pads and a quilt for my soon-to-be-born Grandson's bed.

Little cherries, plump red apples, candy stripes (they will make wonderful bindings) ,pine sprigs and chickadees...oh yes, a bag of old fashioned lemon drops. What can I say, I got hungry!

More flannel. Pups in space for charity quilts, bacon and eggs, sweet cars, and woolen mittens; the last three will be used on burp cloths for the baby.

Future backings!

I now it is out of focus, but I had to share this cute Farm market fabric, too.

There was so much rain, this dragon surfaced in the shop's garden! ha ha

After the shop hop, Stephanie and I met her husband at the local eatery for supper. One of the waitresses is a friend of theirs and brought a young lady and an elderly gentleman over to the table. It seems the man was the victim of a terrible crime and has lost everything. The woman was a social worker who had found him a place to live and is now trying to outfit his new home. The waitress knew Stephanie was a 'quilt lady' and asked her if she might have a quilt for the man. Steph said yes and after they left, we decided to come up with bedding for the man. She will be making him pillowcases, and I went through my stash of unfinished quilt tops and found a suitable one for his needs. I just needed to add another border to make it bed sized. Mr Wazoo quilted it for me and I finished it this afternoon. We'll get it to the man tomorrow. The warm feeling of helping keeps us making  quilts for people in need. (And sort of justifies those shop-hopping sprees)

I added the red border to make the quilt twin size.

I got the blocks and extra fabric at a guild yard sale years ago. I'm glad they will finally be somebody's favorite blanket!

Panto: Square Spiral, Mr Wazoo's favorite!

Meanwhile, I worked on my second show quilt and listened to the rain. Molly doesn't like to go out in the wet weather, but loves the toweling off and frolicking afterward. 

The festival we planned to attend tomorrow has been cancelled, so we will be in the studio again. More rain forecast for tomorrow.

Get out the snorkels and mud boots!!

Three days work.

I soldiered through knee pain that practically made my hair stand on end to finish a quilt that has been haunting me for months! Every time I took it off the rack and studied it, I went blank with what to do. Back on the rack it would go and languish another week. I finally had an idea and once I got going, it practically quilted itself! I hope the customer likes it...there was an awful lot of black background to fill, and I am not a black fan.The photos don't do the quilting justice (it's the darn black...) but it is covered with all sizes of circles with random patterns of bubbles stitched in the colors from the appliqué. All the filler is done in a really dark charcoal thread so it would show a bit against the black.

Did I mention, this quilt is really big, too!?

The rest of the quilt, hanging over the back of the table

Border treatments

Bubble quilting in the circles

More quilting

Gorgeous pieced back

Mr Wazoo dutifully quilted, too, doing these lovely Autumn flannel quilts.

I custom quilted the owl and Tim did the panto

Panto: Autumn Oaks

Soft quilter's flannel quilt

panto: Come Dance With Me

Second verse, same as the first

                                        

Tim also quilted this refreshing gulf stream-like quilt.

Panto: Ebb and Flow

Remember color wash quilts? This one is really nice and has oodles of fabrics in it.

Panto: Quirky

Tomorrow is my sewing group, so I had better hustle off to bed!

Shout out to Sandra Walker before starting my day

Thanks to one nice reader, I have added two new pages to my blog! Be sure to check out the raffle quilts I have done for various groups, as well as a compilation of quilts that I had quilted , entered  in shows.
Most times, once the quilt leaves the studio, I never see it again, but these were in shows! I love seeing the quilts finished and hanging, especially if they have a ribbon on them! One of my pet peeves is a show that doesn't acknowledge the quilter on the information card! Your quilt may be a work of art, but the quilting can make or break taking it to the next level where it is wonderful enough to merit a prize. Don't get me started on the ribbons...
Anyway, thank you Sandra, for leaving a comment! This Blogspot set-up makes it difficult to leave a comment, and even more confusing to find it and read it! Why is that? Some blogs have a running chain of comments at the bottom of each entry, and it is easy to add my two cents (which I am apt to do :o) ). If I ever figure it out, I will be a happy girl!
Now, I have to get with the program on this rainy day and start quilting!
But just to get you curious...here are a few of my own quilts in shows.

Good news, bad news...for one customer, that is...

Both Mr Wazoo and I took a whack at quilting the second alpaca batting quilt from our customer. The quilt top was made of homespun fabric, making it less stable than  a tighter weave cotton fabric. Putting in the thick, dense alpaca fur batting made doing a pantograph impossible. The hopping foot pushed the fabric in front of it because the batting forced the fabric flush against the foot. He removed the stitched pattern with minimal grumbling, and then I took a try just stitching in the ditch...no dice. I picked out the new stitching and Tim took the quilt off the frame. This was only the third quilt I have not been able to quilt. Not bad for nine years of doing customer quilts!

The good news is, the customer's second quilt was flat, square, pretty and had regular batting!

Panto: Rosie

I also finished the small McKenna Ryan wall hanging with the tulle overlay. Came out nice, and I was happy!

I settled in to watch the Pope's last appearance in the U.S, a mass in Philadelphia where 850,000 people came!! I'm not Catholic, but I think this Pope is the finest Christian I have ever seen in action. While watching the mass, I sewed the embellishments to my appliqué quilt. I just need to sew down the sleeve and it will be done!
One down, one to go!