Progress!

Last night I finished sewing the binding on the ugly fabric quilt! This morning I put it through a short wash cycle and it is ready to give away.

Quilted and ready for binding.

I opted for a simple Baptist fan quilting pattern because the fabrics are pretty busy.

I found the backing in my stash.

The binding is the same bird fabric as the outer border.

The remainder of the day was occupied with arranging the appliqué on the raffle quilt border and sewing it all down with invisible thread and the narrow zig zag stitch. I have two flowers to finish tomorrow, and then the quilt will have two borders!! Progress!

We talked with Carolyn last night, and she is unpacking and getting settled into her new apartment. She is a bit dismayed that the new place isn't as big as her place in Charlotte was. Putting everything away is becoming a challenge. At least her cat is happy to see her perch again.

Maxine enjoying her new window view.

Testing another view from the side table.

A custom finish, and the ugly duckling on the frame

I finished the Halloween quilt, and it is wonderful! I think the customer will love it, too.

Cute, cute, cute!! 

A good look at the borders and the pumpkin house.

The Ghoul School on the right has stacks of books like  Potions,  Embalming and Poisons!!

Some of the sashing and blocks

The witch house with it's hat, broom and witchy legs.

I quilted spooky words into the blank sidewalks in front of the structures.

I'm guessing the haunted barn gets yo-yos or buttons for the spiders and windmill.

" I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!"

I added some ghosts in the sky.

Mr Wazoo got a quilt in the mail from one of our Florida customers, so he had a project for the afternoon. He'll get it mailed out tomorrow, along with the Halloween quilt.

I spy a green frog!! What a darling I spy quilt!

Panto: Popcorn

Cute alphabet backing.

I sewed the ugly fabric quilt together and have it loaded for quilting! I also finished all the bits for the next border of the raffle quilt. I'll be really busy tomorrow!

Loaded and ready!

Snowy day fizzle, and quilting progress

Everything was supposed to be closed in anticipation of five inches of snow yesterday, but we just had a dusting that melted quickly. Oh well, it was exciting for a minute or two...

Early morning, and it's snowing like crazy.

This continued for a couple of hours.

The snow petered off to a light flurry, and then, stopped completely.

Even our sun sculpture smirked at the weenie accumulation.

I don't care what it is doing outside as long as I can quilt in my warm studio and listen to Eva Cassidy  and Paul Simon on Spotify. I worked all day on the Halloween quilt, and I am nearly finished with it. Woo-hoo!

Nearing the finish line with this quilt.

An evening of murder mysteries on TV and turning the edges of the second border's bits. All done and ready to apply to the next raffle quilt border!

I'll be in the studio today, finishing the Halloween quilt and sewing the ugly challenge quilt together. Should be a fun day!!

Busy in the studio, and an "ugly" challenge

The machines are humming in the Wazoo studio. Sunday was a double duty day, quilting two identical customer quilts as well as starting my "ugly fabric" challenge from my evening guild. Everyone brought a yard of "ugly" material cut into 2 1/2 inch strips, and we all made an "ugly" jelly roll from the member's strips. The challenge is to make a quilt from the strips. I figured one way to make them less offensive was to cut them into smaller pieces. So I made 25 patch squares! Then I messed around with alternate blocks to further tone them down, here's the progress so far...

I was able to make 20 blocks from the strips, but wanted a bigger quilt, so I put them on point.

What I came up with for the alternate block.

Blocks and alternate blocks.

I pieced the setting triangles so there would be the illusion of an inner border.  I'm planning a border of the bird fabric, then I'm done! Hopefully, I'll get it sewn together tomorrow.

While I was doing laundry and changing the bed linens, I admired my quilts again. I don't know if you have seen any of our stockpile of utility quilts. We have two on the bed for the winter, as well as flannel sheets! I like the room cold and the covers warm.

I saw a quilt in a fabric shop once on a shop hop, and liked it so much I decided to make one like it. I figured out the rhythm of the pattern of squares without even sketching them!(no cell phones with cameras back then...) Straight sets of hourglass, four patch and plain squares that form the secondary stars. I made mine bigger because I wanted a king sized quilt. The only fabrics I bought at the time were the roses fabric and the border fabric. The rest is from my stash.

It's a bit faded from wear and repeated washing, but the pink, yellow and black is still a wonderful combination, don't you think?

This quilt was totally from my Kaffe Fassett stash. It covers the black and pink one.

I cut ten inch squares of the various colors of the fabric and made HSTs from them to form a zig zag pattern. This quilt is huge! We needed a cover that had a good drop all around because of the 'covers war' that goes on every night. Mr Wazoo likes to roll up like a burrito in his side of the quilt, leaving me with very little coverage. Not anymore!!

Mr W took this picture the day I finished the quilt. I'm not kidding...it's BIG!

Back in the studio, I cut out the next batch of appliqué for the raffle quilt, and pressed it to the fabric bits. I am in the process of turning the edges for appliqué later. The first border is all sewn and applied to the quilt center. Progress!! More to follow.

Pressing the parts to the fabrics.

All done, and I put all the fabric away. I really do try to be tidy in the studio, but I think it is a losing battle.

First border, all bits sewn down and attached to the quilt center.

Tiny zig zag with invisible thread and a size 60 needle.

The Millie ran in the background while I sewed, assisting with the twin quilts.

This customer is an artist, and her quilts are always fun and different. Remember the ballet shoes? Yup! Same lady. These were so modern, I picked geometric patterns to compliment the piecing.

Panto: Techno

Swirly backing.

Second verse, same as the first!

Panto: Take five

A different swirly backing on this one.

I'm also working on a Halloween quilt on the big Gammill. I'll have to show you that later because I didn't get a picture of it. 

That's it for quilting...how about this crazy weather?? We are supposed to have a big storm tomorrow, so Mr W went to the store for a few supplies, and to the hardware store for a big bag of bird seed for our feathered friends. I ventured out and shot a few chilly pictures.

I couldn't resist pressing my hand in the frosty windshield of the car..

A curious, deep footprint made in the soft ground before it froze. Wonder what it was...something with toes, not hooves. Raccoon, maybe?

Frosted sedum

Ornamental cabbage doesn't care. 30 degrees?! A coating of frost?!! Bring  it on.

Update: Our daughter has made it to Portland after an over 3000 mile journey. Unfortunately, her furniture didn't arrive as planned, so she will be sleeping on a blow up mattress tonight. At least she's home!

A brief stop in Medford to connect with her friend there, then on to Portland and her new adventure.

Home sweet home...so far from here.