Custom finish, yard work and big rain

Work started at 9:30 this morning and finished at 6:30 this evening. I was determined to get the custom job done and be ready to move on tomorrow. Mr Wazoo spent his day on the slate walkway and some garden tending. All in all, a good day.
I don't know about you, but I am so tired of the political yap on the talking heads channels, that it was a breath of fresh air to have the science channel on in the background today. You don't have to watch it to know what's going on, just listen to the stories. From UFOs to Yeti, it was entertaining and kitchy.
I guess I should show the finished quilt...I did what she wanted and custom quilted it, but even though I used fluorescent threads, the quilting is very hard to see. The quilt fabric is just too busy. Oh well, I like the borders.

It really is a beautiful quilt

I couldn't get a nice picture of the border quilting...it looks way better in person

Part of what you can't see is the swirl from the big flower's center with fern feathering in it.

She put a swath of the fabric down the back so people could see where the kaleidoscope
blocks on the front came from.

I really was out of gas at the end of the day, but a gal in my guild gave me some tumbler blocks and I wanted to see how they look and what I could make with them. You know I'm pooped when I can't get up enough steam to play with quilt blocks! Maybe tomorrow afternoon.

The man didn't quit until nearly 7:00, so after his shower, we had a quick supper of bacon, eggs, fried potatoes and biscuits. Carb load deluxe, but easy to make and clean up.
He spent some time watering everything before coming in, and during supper it poured rain . It figures.
Oh well, the yard will be happy. It has been looking a bit brown. Molly and I sat on the deck in the perfect 85 degree evening, listening to the wind and loving the view.

Hosta and lilies blooming torether

He has turned the corner with the walkway!

The back yard is mostly greenery that doesn't need much attention.

Watering and enjoying a brewski.

The sweet potato vine is bright and lush again this year in the front garden.

Rain on the way, the air is warm and breezy. Sitting outside is so relaxing!

Everything wooly and how I figure out what the heck to do in a wide border

This morning I went to the applique group to get the skinny on wool. Oh my! So much to learn just to get started. Procuring wool (from thrift shop clothing finds...watch out for little holes and bugs) taking the garments apart (on the deck, because of all the fuzz and lint) felting the wool (in the washer? on the stove top? in the oven!?) and how to prep your pieces for applique (fusibles vs glue and pins). Some of the members had finished work that was so awesome it made me wonder if I am going to be able to do this. The tiny stitches and little pieces were beautiful. Then we had a primer on dying. Onion skins and casseroles. Its a bit of a foreign language so far, but I think I'll get it if I can see and do it. I'm a fairly visual learner, so maybe I can find something on You tube! Anyway, it looks like fun hand work, and I'm up for a challenge.
When I got home, I worked on the custom quilt from yesterday and finished the interior section. The quilt has 10 inch wide borders, so I set out to divide and conquer.

Ready for border quilting.

This is a mock-up of the star for the corners.
I outlined and quilted several of these in the quilt center.

First, I drew a bunch of mock-ups and settled on repeating the diamonds from the piecing. I subtracted 1/2 inch from the border (to leave the space for binding to be applied), leaving 9 1/2 inches to work with. With my handy chalk pencil, I drew a line 4 3/4 inches from the inner edge to find the center of the border. Taking off 10 inches from each end for a corner treatment left me 54 inches to fill. I could make 9 equal diamonds 6 inches long, so I divided the line in 6 inch increments and drew the first diamond. From there, I could tick off 6 inch increments on both outside lines and just connect the dots!

Connecting the dots from top line to bottom line

And likewise from bottom to top!

This is what you get.

I added another line 1 1/4 inches from the diamond row above and below. This will give me another space for quilting.

Voila! The border is now in manageable sections.

No fancy tools; just chalk and a ruler!

I forgot to show you a picture of the vintage quilt I did last week. It has been washed and is now in use in the office on the day bed.

Independence Day fun

Mr Wazoo had the best day ever for him. He played outside all day, digging and moving rocks around. Its amazing to me that he finds this fun, but he does!

Egads!! He was really dirty! But smiling...

I got to do just what I wanted, too. I sewed! First, I finished the little quilt from the day before and got it quilted and the binding on. Later, I did the hand sewing while watching Yankee Doodle Dandy with James Cagney. A bit sappy, but the dancing was fun to watch.

Here it is, all quilted and binding applied

My favorite block. The pig in a pickle car!

I used up the rest of the state map fabric for the back
and added some of the stripe to make it wide enough.

After some lunch, I tackled the blocks made by guild members for charity quilts. I chose a Mary Englebreit print for the sashing and a bright green for cornerstones and inner border. Now I have two tops done for the guild! Soon, I'll have to quilt them.

These blocks were the ones without faces on them.
The rest of the blocks (there are six more!) have faces and will go into quilt #3.

Today, it was back to work. Mr Wazoo quilted a Quilt of Valor for the guild and I started custom quilting a pretty one block wonder. It is slow going, but I'll get it done in a couple of days.

Panto: Patriot

Even the backing is patriotic!

What I'm working on.

Tomorrow, I am going to try to learn something new! I will be at the applique group where we will be trying our hand at wool applique. I bought a small kit at the show last year and don't have the faintest idea what to do. The kit maker assumes you know how to do the applique, so there are no instructions, just wool, a pattern and some thick thread. I'm gonna learn!!

Sunday sewing

The internet is still beating me up, but I have prevailed! At least, I hope so.
Mr Wazoo started his day quilting a customer project, and then he went digging.

Panto: Weatherize

 I spent the day doing the laundry and sewing. Well, mostly sewing...

I sewed the rows together on the quilt from yesterday. Then, I auditioned numerous fabrics for an inner border before giving up and hanging it up for later.

I still had the second transportation panel, so I found a nice plaid shirting for the sashing  and finished the top before lunch!

After lunch, I quilted it with the same backing as the other one. I just finished hand sewing  the binding during Endeavour on PBS.

Next, I cut apart a cloth book panel and made some wonky blocks from the pages by adding wide strips to all sides and then cutting them with the square ruler tipped to the side. Tomorrow, I will add the red sashing and striped cornerstones. I think it will be a cute charity quilt for very little effort.
To all my friends and blog readers, Have a happy Independence Day. Fly the flag, if you have one!

Three days with spotty internet!

We have bee frustrated with our internet lately, not knowing if it going to transport us to the sites we want to see, or bog down and taunt us with the 'spinning pie of death'. You know, the twirling circle that tries your patience and ruins any dream of posting on the blog...
Oh well, it seems to be cooperating this morning, so lets plow ahead!
First, work continues, and we have had a good week with both customer quilts and twiddling around with some blocks of my own. Mr Wazoo has divided his time inside and outside, since the weather has been beautiful and the gardens growing more lovely by the day. How could I make him stay inside and sew? I couldn't! He is more happy for it, and I had some stolen moments to play on my own in the studio.

Mr Wazoo quilted this table runner a few days ago and it is already in its new home!

Panto: Trellis Vine

I worked on this custom medallion quilt for a couple of days. It has also been sent to the maker in Florida.

One of our steady customers is getting a new great-nephew and made this Nemo quilt for the baby. She needed it right away because they are going to visit the family over the holiday weekend.

I also did a red binding on it, but didn't get a picture before she picked it up on the way out of town!
Panto: Bubbles

After work on Thursday, I made this charity quilt from a panel.
I have another one just like it, and will make it very similar to this one. I used binding ends all stitched together for the binding.

I'm liking this states fabric I found for the back!It kind of goes with the travel theme.

Out in the garden, the flowers are going great guns in the warm weather. Mr Wazoo is disappointed the bee balm he put in isn't the red variety. I like the purple ones.

The echinacea  is almost the same purple, and looks good towering over the clump of bee balm.

This is the new walkway on Wednesday afternoon.

The dahlias are a lovely orange red that contrasts nicely with the green and white flowers behind them.

I imagine in a couple of yers this will be a full fledged English style garden.

The flowers on the porch outside the studio have come into their own, too.

A very inviting business front for customers!

These are the blocks I started at the retreat. I played with them on the design wall untill I found the 'right' combination. One that made me happy. This isn't it...

This is! I have the rows sewn, and need to connect them and then decide if it needs a border, and what it should look like. Loads of fun for me, but not conducive to finishing customer projects. Oops.

The man in his element! Planting two new hydrangea.

The progress on the walkway as of Saturday afternoon.

I wish you could see the true color of these flowers! Simply beautiful dark, velvety red-orange.

A man and his garden.