Some quilting and a grand day out

I am posting this a day late, but it is because I was out and about on a shop hop today. Mr Wazoo held down the fort, and quilted a king sized quilt in my absence. I'll post that tomorrow. Here are the quilts we finished yesterday.

Mr W did this nice tee shirt quilt for a customer's grandson.

Panto: Dazzle

Here is the small wall hanging I started a couple of days ago

The back is pretty cool, too!

Quilting detail

I decided to show you the first of the three quilt repairs I am doing for the same customer. It is a utility quilt, found in a cabin the customer bought furnished. The former owner of the cabin said her mother made the quilts. I think it's wonderful that the new owner is having them repaired with the aim of having them displayed in the cabin.I finished this one a few days ago.

I didn't take a before picture...oops.
Can you spot the replaced blocks?

Here are three of them. Hint: The dark gray one is original to the quilt.

Today, I went with a friend to Dahlonega and Cumming on a mini shop hop. I needed some fabric for two customer commission quilts, and a few small pieces for a quilt I am planning.It was hard, but I   resisted buying all the wonderful fabrics I saw today and drooled over. I did get a couple of new seam rippers to replace the ones I broke trying to dismantle the horse blankets! Ah! Fond memories...

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A finish and a start!

Yesterday, I finished the feathered star quilt, and it will go out today to Michigan, and its owner.

The center medallion. I should have taken a closer picture. 

After the quilt was off and trimmed, I spent the rest of the afternoon prepping a repair project for evening sewing. This little quilt has about 90 spots that need repair, and some that need all new pieces. Thanks to my friend, Marlene, I have the old fabrics to do the work! I put a safety pin in wherever I need to do some repair.

Because both front and back need repairs, I think this will be at least a week long project...there are lots of places where I have added batting, too! Here are a couple of pictures of what it looks like in progress.

I stick the pins in the chair arm as I go along...
probably no good for the chair, but it works for me!

One of the new pieces waiting to be appliquéd in and quilted over.

The bottom of the picture has been repaired,
the top shows pins in places I need to work on.

Before the day was done, I did load the next quilt and do about half of the stitch in the ditch. Mr Wazoo was working on a tee shirt quilt a customer made for her son.

The man at work.

I sincerely hope my Florida friends are hunkering down in preparation for hurricane Matthew, and that it doesn't cause the damage predicted by the weather channel. Living in the mountains makes us feel safer, but our hearts still break for the people in harm's way. By tomorrow, we'll know how it went.

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Quiet, nice day in the studio

The autumn weather has made working nicer! We have had the windows open for a couple of days, and the breeze has been wonderful. It helps to be in a comfortable room when quilting something nerve wracking. That was me today. The feathered star quilt has been a difficult one from the beginning for me. It is an intimidating pattern in that it has such formality to it, and I am not a formal type quilter.I have spent many evenings looking at pictures of other quilts trying to devise a plan for this one. Once I got started, I was okay, but did a lot of picking out along the way. I finished all the magenta thread quilting before calling it quits for the day.

The only color besides black, gray and white in this quilt is magenta.I decided to use it in the black areas 

I used it in the patterned fabric, too, but its hard to see.

You probably think I was fooling around all day to get such a small amount done, but you are wrong! We had four customers come with quilts and one with tee shirts for a quilt, and that takes time away from the quilting machine. I love my customers, and try to give them the attention they deserve for bringing their treasures to me and trusting me to make them special.

Mr Wazoo did some yard work before starting in the studio. He quilted this summer spread for a customer today. This was the first time he did a quilt with no batting. The project has flannel on the back. I think it came out great!

Pretty quilt with decorative stitching over all the seams!

See the stitching? So sweet!

Flannel backing, panto: Quirky

Tomorrow, we start fresh...windows open and ready to roll. A customer is coming at 9:30, so I can't sip coffee in my pjs too long!

Quilts out the door!

Its always a happy day when people come get their quilts. Today had plenty of distractions, but they were all welcome ones. Horse blanket quilts went out first, then the quilt and pillow fronts from yesterday (see it in the photos below), and then the three small seaside quilts. After lunch, the red and black quilt with the variegated thread front and back was carried off by the overjoyed quilter who made it. We spent the rest of the day quilting and getting on with work!

Deja vu? No! It is another of the batik block of the month quilts like the one I just did!
This one is a little smaller, but just as pretty.

Panto: Big Splat

A beautiful blue back. The other one had a copper colored back.

I did manage to get all the stitch in the ditch done on the custom feathered star quilt I started today. Tomorrow, I'll begin the quilting in earnest.

This quilt is so complicated, the directions fill an entire book!

Mr Wazoo quilted a big project today. If it had been one inch bigger, I would have had to quilt it on my machine! Whew! I dodged a bullet there.

I love the color combination on this quilt.
The block patterns are nice, too!

Deja vu again?! No! This is the panto Small Splat.

Before I leave this topic behind, I just have to show you the finished thread shelf-drawers. Mr W outdid himself with this project. Thank you. dear man.

He arranged the thread by type and color.

I get excited just looking at all this rainbow goodness!

Unless there is a major meltdown...Mr W will be Employee of the Month for October for sure.
Stay tuned!

Mr Wazoo does some 'Studio Improvement'

Things were buzzing in the studio yesterday...literally. Mr Wazoo made me a happy girl by adding more thread drawers in the studio. We got a shipment of thread last week, and had no space to store/display it. We have been putting it on a shelf that doesn't roll out, but this makes it hard to see what's there. Problem solved!

This is what we have for the thread.
Mr Wazoo made these when we got the shelf units.

Here is what the shelves look like empty.

Mr Wazoo in the garage next door to the studio, making new rolling shelves for the thread

Its always like Christmas morning when the new thread comes!

Two more done and installed!

I love that they roll out so I can see all the thread choices.

Some of the thread that has been on a stationery shelf.

Meanwhile, I had work to do! Despite the loud sawing and banging behind me in the garage, I quilted this monster block of the month beauty.

This is how far along I was by lunch time.

At 3:45, it was done!

You can see how big this quilt is from the back of the machine!

Panto: Primrose Swirl

There was another quilt in the queue that was slated for Primrose Swirl, too, so I loaded it up and quilted it before stopping for the day. I'm sure Mr Wazoo will have all the thread put away and be back at his machine later today. ( I think he is vying for Employee of the Month again...)

My customer made this quilt for a raffle to benefit the Chippewa Nation.
She sewed the top while living in an RV! 

She requested variegated thread on the front and the back.

I chose a King Tut thread with red, yellow and orange in the mix.
Looks good!

After supper, I settled in and finished another hand project, repairing an old quilt for another happy customer. I'll say it again...I love my job!

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