The last day of a horrible year

 2020 will be over at midnight tonight, but the virus will rage on and Trump will still be desperately trying to destroy the nation. 2021 looks to be another tough year. I am grateful Mr Wazoo and I have managed to dodge Covid so far, while people all over are falling to the illness without abatement. The news says a person dies every 10 minutes in California, and the virus has mutated into a more virulent strain that is more easily transmitted. We will stay home and wear our masks whenever anyone is close to us. We have let our guard relax around friends, but will be more vigilant in the future.

I spent a couple of sewing days in the studio, trying to revive my mojo for quilting. I think all quilters must be feeling the slump, because we have been isolated from each other and unable to compare and brainstorm our ideas for new projects. I forced myself to plunge in and see where it takes me.

I drafted out a block on EQ and chose a jelly roll for the wider strips. Some of the blocks will be black and white, because I  didn't have enough strips of color for the whole quilt.

I made a bunch of blocks and put them on the design wall. I have already moved them around twice since taking this picture. I have an idea where I am going with the design, but am still mulling over what will go in the blank spaces.

Meanwhile, customer quilting goes on, and I am slowly catching up with their quilts.

The table cloth is done.

This one has a particularly beautiful backing. 

The same panto as the others; Bush Berries

This attractive split nine patch has been on the rack since November 16th! The quilter is excited too come pick it up next week.

She requested a pattern with hearts and flowers, so I chose Frolic, using the blue-green thread

It shows nicely on her backing.

This was a kit the quilter had for 10 years before sewing it together. The fabrics are pretty, but a bit busy next to each other. 

The pattern of quilting gets lost in the florals.

I used the panto, Espallier with green thread. It is a handsome quilt.

Penny woke us up at 4:30 and I couldn't get back to sleep, so I got up and now, I'm dragging! I am NOT a morning person! There may be a nap later today, or I won't make it to midnight for the New Year's ball drop.

I wish everyone a happy and safe New Year, with brighter and happier days ahead. We've made it this far...let's hang on and carry on.

Quilting my way into the new year

 Over Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas, I quilted a huge rush quilt for a customer whose family would be visiting for a short time. The pattern took 30 minutes a row to quilt, and the quilt had ten rows. To make a greater challenge, the batting was one inch wider than the quilt on both sides. It took a long time to do, but its done.

I had it loaded on Christmas Eve. You can see how little leeway I had for the quilt sides.

The day after Christmas I worked a half day and got the quilt almost to the end by 6:00.

Finished today! It has all sorts of Holiday themed fabrics, many fussy cut.

Panto: Let it snow using gold Glide thread

The gold thread looks wonderful on the back.

The customer also had a smaller Christmas quilt, so I quilted it today so she would only have to make one trip to pick them up.

This quilt had ample backing and batting, so it was a piece of cake to quilt.

Panto: Lorien's Trees in Green thread front and back.

The next quilt is loaded and ready for tomorrow. It is another of the many table cloths I am doing for the same customer. I think I have done four so far, and there are eleven altogether.

A few most snow pictures since I think the white stuff will be gone by tomorrow night. It has been melting slowly all day.

Penny has had more fun plowing around and getting covered in the stuff.

Much of the snow has fallen off the trees, but the curbside view of the house is still pretty!

My sister sent me this sparkly bear. It looks very cute on my shelf of honor, right in front of Molly's ashes.

Penny got her last puppy shots today! I gave her a bath and a thorough brushing before we took her to the Vet. She looked like a toy bear! Her grooming appointment isn't until the 28th of January! She will surely need a heavy shearing by then.

Speaking of bears...

Another good reason to have your hot tub  indoors!

Inventory

 The year 2020 is coming to a close, and I have taken an inventory of what was accomplished this year at Wazoo. I was surprised by how I could track Covid by the number of projects people trusted me with during the year. From February, with only 7 customer quilts, to August, with my all time high quilting number of 45 quilts in one month!! July and October both had 39 quilts done. I knew it was busy, but even I am impressed!

The final counts are: 311 customer quilts quilted, and some were also bound. 19 Quilts of Valor quilted. 43 Repairs and commissioned quilts done. Plus, I made 34 quilts both for charity and for family and friends. 18 went to Family Connection in Blue Ridge, 7 were gifted to family members and friends, and I kept 9. I also went through my quilt stash here at home, and donated another 5 quilts from there.

My favorites? Hard to pick one from each category, but I will show you what I think.

My favorite customer quilt is this one. The number of different fabrics used and the precision of the piecing and the appliqué of all this circles blew my mind.

It was a huge quilt

I custom quilted it with a motif in each circle, changing thread colors with the colors of the circles

Finished, the customer was pleased.

The backing is perfect ct for the project.

An all around wonderful quilt!

My favorite Quilt of Valor:

This quilt is a beautiful tribute to a veteran's service.

Someone took a lot of time and skill to make this lovely star sampler.

My favorite commission job was the quilts made from a mother in law's saris. Each quilt was gifted to a family member of the woman whose saris were used. It was a fun challenge, and I think they turned out wonderfully.

This quilt is all made from one fabric! Turning the silk in different directions changes the color slightly. I used the border of the fabric for the quilt borders. The lightweight silk was stabilized with fusible interfacing before cutting and piecing.

I was asked to make two child quilts from the second sari for a set of twin granddaughters. The silk was again stabilized and then I used the elephant print from the fabric as the inspiration for the design.

I cut the elephants from purple fabric and appliquéd them onto the quilts. Each elephant has a different blanket on his back so the kids will be able to tell their quilt from their sister's.

I found elephant fabric for the backings, too.

The second twin quilt.

A different print on the back

For an older granddaughter, the customer requested a wall hanging . I stabilized the silk and carefully cut the different patterns from the sari. I made the center medallion from sari fabric and a blue fabric from my stash.

The inner and outer borders were cut from the sari's border.

The blocks in the second border were fussy cut from the sari fabric.

As far as repairs go, this one is my favorite job. Not because out is the prettiest one...it sure isn't that! I chose it because of the touching story. It was a wedding gift 75 years ago, and the 'bride' wanted it repaired so they could continue using it. The couple has used this quilt all those years. It was made by her aunt. My customer and her husband are in their 90s.

I know there are a lot of pictures, but it shows the progress over months of making the pieces and appliquéing them in place and hand quilting them. Washing the quilt gave it new life.

The repair took months, but was worth it to make this couple happy.

Choosing my favorite quilt that I made is easy; it is the shabby chic quilt I gave my daughter for Christmas. It was a challenge for me because of the fabrics selected, but I knew it would be lovely in the end. There are many pictures, but it shows my thought process and how I progress with the construction.

I put it on our bed for a picture before sending it to Wisconsin.

There you have it, my year in a nutshell. The only thing ng I didn't add was the many masks I made for friends, family and the local nursing home staff. There were over 100 made and handed out. I kept four for Mr Wazoo and I and they have been washed and worn for months now. I hope to see the end of Covid in 2021.

the only real PPE wearer is my daughter the P.A.

My daughter in the army had to have black masks

This is how I have looked to all my customers these many months. Covid free and staying as safe as possible.