Home again, home again, jiggity jog

Retreat is over and I am unpacked and back in the studio. I made four tops there, and brought them home for quilting.

I showed Debbie the pattern ( my favorite 2-3-2-6) and she made a patriotic one. Mine is a goofy kid quilt with bugs.

Debbie is helping me hold theses to show you. A nice lady's quilt and a kid quilt with dogs on it.

I cut the bits for this oriental quilt before I went to the retreat. Unfortunately, I didn't cut enough! The fabrics were mostly purchased in Japan from my two trips, some from my daughter-in-law, and some from her mother.

Mr Wazoo quilted while I was away having fun, and finished this quilt for a happy customer.

Wow! I don't have enough purple scraps for something like this.

Panto: Quirky

Cranes fly across the purple backing.

I Quilted a large Tula Pink quilt for another customer. I changed thread with the colors changes on the quilt. It turned out nice. This is the second quilt like this for the same customer. The other one went to a granddaughter.

Hmmm...someone is photobombing my picture! What a ham.

Panto: Chevron

Blue waves and seashells on the back.

Here are the charity quilts, done and ready for binding.

This is even too bright for my tastes. I tried to match the bug colors, but that made it a bit too wild.

Panto: Modern twist

I had this starry fabric for the back in my stash.

I love the soft color combination in this one.

Panto: Small Splat

The backing as another stash find.

Here are some trendy dogs.

Panto: Stipple

Another stash find for the back.

While the Millie chugged through rows on the charity quilts, I sewed and added the last 29 blocks to the Japanese quilt.

The centers are bits of Japanese fabrics, and the sashing and borders are supposed to look like Indigoes. I didn't have many of those, so some of my big Batik stash was added to fill in. I thought it needed a pop of red, so I added the inner border as well as a piano key border, too.

I have to stare at it for a while to decide on how to quilt it...

Right now, I am so tired I can hardly think to type this. I am off to bed and a good night's sleep. It's good to be home!

Prep for retreat

After taking a couple of days off to rest and ice my back/shoulder, I am back in the studio and working up a storm. I'm glad the problem resolved without a visit to the doctor, but frustrated at how creaky I'm getting. Aging is not for the faint hearted!
My evening guild is having their annual retreat this week, so the prep for that has occupied my studio time. I like to have things already cut out so I can arrive there and sew, sew, sew! Yesterday, I cut out the 792 pieces for a quilt I have had wanted to make for a while now. It will use a tiny portion of my Japanese fabric stash.

It sure doesn't look like this will make a 54 x 66" quilt, does it?

Today's plan is to cut out the pieces for a Chicken quilt. I pulled the needed fabrics, and will begin the cutting after breakfast.

As you can see, it will be a colorful bird!

I did finish the men's ties quilt, and have it quilted and ready for the sleeve and binding. Hopefully, I'll get that done today, too.

The father, whose ties they are, wanted a wall hanging. This is 50 x 50, and I think it looks terrific.

I used the rounded squares panto because it looks manly.
The background fabrics came from the shop in  Dahlonega.

The ties are sewn down with a decorative feather stitch, using bronze colored Glide thread. It gives the project a bit of shine. The Dresden plate center circles are from one of the ties that is a solid black silk-satin fabric.

I found this plaid fabric in Cumming, and I think it is perfect for the back of this quilt.

That's the whole story of what I have been doing. Father's Day passed with phone calls and gifts from the kids and a hamburger cook out. Mr Wazoo spent the day outside (where else...) doing repairs on the cobblestone walk. It had settled on one side and had a crack open where the ground was lower.  It is back to 'like new' status, and he's on to some planting and weeding today. A happy man!