A great quilt makes a long workday fun!

It has been a nine hour day with a half hour lunch because I couldn't tear myself away from this magnificent quilt.

English paper pieced, all by hand!
Cotton & Steel and Kaffe Fasset fabrics

The customer worked on this for two years, fussy cutting most of the pieces to make the kaleidoscope elements. I just love it! I chose to quilt it with a mid-tone gray Omni thread after auditioning eight colors and deciding they overwhelmed the pattern. I used my Gammill workstation, with the concentric spiral disk. It is still all hand guided, but with a template and stylus. It was extremely time consuming to do it without overlapping the circles, but well worth the effort. Then, I filled in the empty spaces with freehand swirls, and the border with simple piano keys in a variegated thread. It looks wonderful. Too bad it isn't mine...

Thousands of little matching bits of fabric, all making pretty flower- like wheels

Little birds, flowers, trees, horses...all carefully selected to blend nicely together.

Every hexie group is surrounded with the five pointed stars with smaller hexies for their centers.

King Tut variegated thread in the borders

The back is also pieced with an array of fun fabrics

At 6:00, I started doing the deconstruction of the first of two horse blankets to be made into throws. I broke my favorite seam ripper doing it, so I had to quit until I can get a new one. Rats!

I need a new picker to take off the cord and nylon binding before I can cut and resew this into a usable shape and size.

I thought I would show you how funny Molly was last night at supper time. She tipped the pillow over and sat atop it to get a better view of Mr Wazoo eating his spaghetti. What a little beggar!!

A big finish!

Yesterday, on my way to the studio, I put my Wisconsin trip souvenir on my car...

Go Badgers!

Then it was time to get back to work on this quilt. I had finished all the stitch in the ditch the day before and began the quilting in earnest.

Late today, I finished it! If you remember, I made this same pattern last year and had it in the guild show here in Georgia. I took it to Florida for show and tell at my guild there, and my customer saw it and fell in love with the pattern. She re-interpreted the design and made it her own. Both are beautiful, and the quilting isn't bad, either!

Barbara's version of the quilt, Forest Galorest

My version is on point. I called it, Backyard HOA.

Mr Wazoo worked along with me on his Gammill, finishing these pretty quilts.

The customer said this was called Path to the Cabin. I love the secondary
chain made by the dotted fabric squares.

Panto: Alfresco

This tee shirt quilt is the first  quilt Mr W did without any batting!
The customer just wanted a light blanket for TV watching.

Panto: Square Spiral on the soft flannel back.

The same customer made this quilt from a layer cake pre-cut and a charm pack.

Panto: Flamingo Sunset

This customer made a guitar quilt for her son. Pretty fabric combination.

Panto: Vanilla Cream

When Molly and I broke for lunch, we passed the butterfly bush in the side garden. It was teeming with butterflies! I wish the photos with lots of them on the bush were better. It is hard to pick them out in all that foliage. Here are a couple of the closer ones I took while they were drinking up the nectar, oblivious of my presence. At the foot of the garden is a pot of begonia on a stump. A nice way to camouflage an eyesore in the yard!

At quitting time, I took a few minutes to fuse a couple of blocks for the guild charity quilt challenge.  There are six in a quilt, and I only had four from other quilters. I need to do the buttonhole stitching, but they are ready and waiting. Now, its time for spaghetti!!

My two blocks, ready to fly onto a quilt with the other dragonflies!

Home again, home again, jiggety-jog

I arrived safely at home today at 2pm. By six o'clock I had quilted a name and date onto a customer quilt and made and applied binding to another.

Personalized Christmas quilt

Great quilt for a veteran for his birthday

Love the fabrics!

Panto: Star Spangled Banner

Mr Wazoo had been busy in my absence, quilting customer projects and working on his 'new' shed.

Mr Wazoo did this pretty bear paw quilt

Panto: Alfresco

You always wondered where the rainbow's end was...
it was in our front yard during a shower while I was gone!

The shed, as seen from the deck.

We decided the bird decoration and weather vane need to be repainted a
 contrasting color so they show up better.

On the drive, I saw some nice vistas and at the hotel, a funny post-it note for me on the headboard!

Wind farms in Illinois

While adjusting the thermostat, I spied a little note on the headboard

Oh dear! I should hope so!!

The trip was worth it for me. I got to see my best friend from High School, as well as the other classmates who came. I spent quality time with my kids and grandkids, and visited with relatives I haven't seen in years. The memorial for my mom was very nice, closing another chapter in my life.
It is good to be home!

A happy day at the reunion

A sad day at the cemetery

The depot and grain elevators in my family's hometown.