Sewing and quilting

It has been a time of sewing for me, with a bum arm and a throbbing heel spur keeping me from standing at the longarm for long periods of time. The quilts for the family of the deceased quilter are almost all done. and her husband was thrilled to pick up two yesterday. A Daughter in law and a sister in law will be getting quilts this weekend! Here is quilt number three, waiting for the binding to go on tomorrow, and the quilt I made today. It needs the outer border and the backing assembled. Once it is quilted and bound, my job will be done.

Here is the flimsy before borders...

and after borders!

After quilting

panto, Climbing ivy

Pieced back

This is the flimsy I made today.Not my choice of colors or fabrics, but I think its okay.

I laid the final border on the corner to see how its going to look.
Tomorrow I'll add the border and see what I can piece together as a back. I may have to wait until Monday, and get a back from the quilt shop.

Mr Wazoo has been busy with four quilts for the same customer. They all have piecing issues and wavy borders, so he was grumbling in the man cave. I'm happy to have a good distance between us when we are working! For what he was given, I think he has done a stellar job so far.

Number one is a partridge in a pear tree! The fabric, that is...

Panto: Trailing vine

The triangles in the border were all cut and sewn with the bias on the outside edge! Oh dear!

Panto: Featherize

This one features cats front and back!

Panto: Cat's paws

I worked on other customer quilts with the APQS, so I didn't have to stand at the machine the entire time.There are some good things about computer guided quilting...

This is the quilt that had the too small back. I fixed that and got it quilted without going off onto the added fabric. It was a bit fiddly, but worth it.

Panto: Frolic

Yippee! The back is perfect.

This is a comfort quilt for the guild. Comfort quilts are made by our members and given to any member who is coping with an extremely stressful time in their life. The fabrics are soothing and calm, and the quilt is a warm hug from the sisters of the cloth.

I always quilt them with happy patterns, like Flower power.

The binding is on, and I will finish the hand sewing tonight.

I snapped this picture after work. I always walk outside to get a breath of fresh air before starting round two of work...making supper. I converted the photo to black and white because I think the contrast between the blackening sky and the sun on the dead tree is cool looking. Just a bit of fun at the end of another work day.

Yup...it rained buckets right after I took the picture.

Plugging along

Yesterday, I achieved my goal of quilting the tee shirt quilt, getting the blocks made for the next customer commission, and quilting one customer quilt. I will put the binding on the tee shirt quilt and make the top of the commission today. Hopefully, I can also trace the motifs for the African quilt, as well, and get that going in the right direction! I do have a couple of customers coming with quilt tops, so that will take some time away from work. We'll get there.
Mr Wazoo will be inside today, doing some quilting to keep up with his quilts. the siren song of the beautiful weather and the blooming garden is strong, but he is resisting. For that, I will be making his favorite, meatloaf, for dinner. One hand washing the other!
Off to work!

My octogenarian customer, Ruth, made this batik strip quilt 

I quilted it with the panto Time Warp

A peek at the back

The tee shirt quilt is ready for binding. I did a lot of picking on this one.
The pockets I added got distorted when the machine sewed over them.

Panto: Dazzle

The back is a dusty purple which doesn't show well here.

Block parts ready to sew for the next commission.

The last task of the day was to add to all four sides of this customer backing to make it big enough to load on the machine. I will quilt it today.

More flower pictures from Mr W's gardens.
Just for you, Georgia!

The back garden is mostly shrubs and ground covers. That is to keep maintenance to a minimum due to the extreme slope of the land.

A touch of color on the back porch.

Pink Knock-Out roses blooming. Mmmm! The scent is wonderful.

Clamatis and roses blooming together in front of the propane tank.
For some reason, the red roses come out dark pink in pictures...

Roses and daisies in the side garden

The yellow roses are the most fragrant. They start out with dark yellow buds, and turn more cream color as they mature. I can smell them from the studio when the window is open!

The two planters by the back steps. The first flowers we see in the morning and the last we see when the workday is done.

Finished! ...Ouch!

I couldn't help myself... I had to get that customer quilt done and off the machine. So, in little bursts, I finished the borders and did just that. And boy, does my arm hurt. Oh well, I will rest it again tomorrow while sewing the next customer quilt in the line of five- for -siblings. Remember those? I have to make two more and then, I will be finished with that task. While you figure out what the heck I'm talking about, here is the finished quilt that had  the wavy borders.

It really is a beautiful quilt. I would love this on my guest bed!

Quilting in the body of the quilt is fairly simple.
Circles, lines and feather wreaths.

The borders are a different story. Free hand quilted with flowers, feathers, leaves and swirls.
Then, outside the stem, they have piano keys, too.

Sucking in the fullness with quilting.

Corner detail

The backing really hides the quilting...too bad.

I took in a couple of quilts as well as another repair job. The customer has had this quilt her entire life and wants it to last another 50 years. Just a bit of TLC and it will be good as new!

So simple, but so modern for a quilt made in the 1930s! The quilter was an artist ahead of her time.

It needs new binding desperately.
(yes...the African quilt is still under there...I'm getting to it next)

A big rip here...

a little rip here.

I'll get to it after the trip around the world quilt I am currently working on. There are a couple of other repairs in the cabinet, too. Hand work for many evenings listening to murder mysteries on TV.

When I finished for the day, I walked around the house to see what Mr Wazoo has been up to. He put in a screen in front of the generator, planted some shrubs there, paved around it with slate, added a small hosta garden on the slope above it, and potted up some ornamental grasses as an accent. He also weeded the gardens and mowed the lawn! Whew!! It all looks fabulous. He's a keeper!

The roses smell heavenly

The front garden