Some good...some very, very bad

 Good news! The 'cheeseburger cheeseburger' bird is a Carolina wren. I finally saw it and looked it up on my Merlin bird finding app.

Ta da!

I finally finished the huge custom quilt and am ready to change gears to doing pantos and charity quilts on the Gammill while the Millie is out of commission. (that bad news comes later...) I didn't think this quilt needed custom quilting because the patterns on the fabrics are so busy and conceal the stitching. The customer wanted custom, so here we are. A week and a half's worth of work, and I am correct. Cant see the quilting on the front at all. The back is nice, but who cares about that? Not me. It will be  beautiful on a bed, though.

The finished quilt.

See how big it is?!

All that work...I can barely see any of it.

Here is more.

On the back, the quilting is more visible because the thread is a lighter color.

There are wiggles and wobbles. Hesitation causes these. I couldn't always see where I was going on the quilt, but I think it turned out pretty despite my failings.

A bit more of the back.

After taking the quilt off the Millie and dismantling the machine, carriage and most of the table, we tested all the cables and their connections. We then put it all back together (minus the roller bars) and tested it again. Same trouble. Tech says they are going to send a new leg motor. $500 please. This machine is three years old...am I dumb or something? Anybody out there want a used APQS? I'm ready to sell it and move on. The $500 part will bring the cost of the machine (bought at the show sale price) to $30,000. It took the first two years after buying it to pay it off. We may cut our losses and sell it, going back to hand guided quilting on both Gammills. Okay, I've vented enough.

Here is where it all started. The machine messed up and then had this screen.

Tech had Mr Wazoo crawl under the table (quite a feat for a 75 year old geezer with two fake knees) and take off a motor under there. After that, we had to take off the back two roller bars, the machine and carriage. After lunch, we hooked it all back up again (without the roller bars) and did a test. Nope...same warning box came up.

So here we are. I made the quilt hanging over the front bar while Mr W did his thing under the table. The other big folded quilt is the one I took off. I will have to remove the first two rows of quilting before I can go back to quilting it.

Millie is now bungeed to the carriage and table so she won't accidentally fall off.

On the brighter side, it didn't rain today! We had a pleasant, cloudy day. I had the studio door open and we heard the gentle ding-dong of the wind chime  on the deck. I sewed a lap quilt while waiting for more instructions to text through, and to pass the time. Mr Wazoo watched the talking heads going on and on about the virus. I'm sure we are all realizing this is just the beginning...
Outside, the garden doesn't know there is anything wrong. It is slowly waking up and showing signs of life. Molly is happy to sniff the grass without being soaked through by rain. We're washing our hands more and staying close to home, but a small distance from each other. Every tickle or cough makes us wonder if we have been exposed somehow. I hope you are all calling or emailing your friends and family. I know I am so grateful to have kids who FaceTime with me and text fun jokes to my phone. As Winston Churchill  once said, "Keep calm, and carry on."

Peeky blue flowers jus popping up.

Blue sky!! And fluffy clouds.

Molly getting a snootful of good smells.

Even the potted flowers perked up!

New normal

Yesterday was another slow paced day at Wazoo. One customer came and dropped off three quilts, and we politely distanced  ourselves from each other. I worked on the big custom quilt and am slowly getting through the five parts of the giant border. I quilted this batik quilt, and loaded another gigantic quilt when I finished it. The new one should occupy my time today.

I like this pattern. My eye sees either four petal wheels or the stars. It is a bit of an optical illusion.

The panto is another one that came with my software update. They don't have names, just numbers, so I am calling this one Loopy loop.

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Isn't this backing interesting?!

What??!! When this happened, I called APQS and spent the rest of the day trying to get it figured out and fixed. No dice. Mr Wazoo picked out a big portion of where the quilting went crazy before we got this message. Did I mention that I have a love/hate relationship with Millie? Mostly hate.

Mr W is as frustrated as I am with the APQS machine. We used the tools in the box to the max today! They are calling us back tomorrow at 10 to try again.

I'm on the second to last border part on the giant custom quilt. I should have finished it today but Millie decided to act up...

How are you all doing with the staying at home? Mr Wazoo watches too much TV with the talking heads scaring him. I go calmly about my business, listening to music or watching HGTV renovation shows while slow hand stitching. What good does it do to panic? None. Be calm, sit and sew or email friends. This too shall pass.

If there is a birder out there, there is a bird calling to me every day but I have yet to see it. It is driving me crazy trying to get a glimpse of it so I can look it up and see what it is. The call sounds like "Cheeseburger, cheeseburger, cheeseburger, cheese". Email me  if you recognize it. wazoo4u@gmail.com
I am really tired this evening. I don't think I will hand sew anything tonight. A movie in my jammies sounds good...

Anything but routine

Off to the doctor this morning to have my blood pressure checked after beginning a new medication last week. Everyone there was wearing masks, and there was a blue tent in the parking lot with lanes marked with pink plastic streamers and cones leading to it. The skinny is that they are preparing for drive by testing. Not for me! Not today, at least. Now I have to go to the cardiologist and have an EKG. Wonder what's shaking over there?
Next, a short stop at the grocery store to get water. Our water went off (again) yesterday and we ran out of the bottled stuff during the day and by making supper. There was plenty of water at the store, but most other aisles were decimated. There were trucks there unloading more supplies, and a note on the door saying they would close at noon to restock the shelves. With not much food there, the store was practically empty and I checked out quickly and went home. I think this will be the new normal for a while.
Back at home, I finished the quilting on the bunny-ear quilt from yesterday. I had to stitch down the ears before I got to them, but the machine was a able to quilt right over the bulky places. Yippee!

Ta da! I need to add the dark green binding but otherwise, it is done.

The winking bunny had her butterfly knocked off during quilting. I'll sew it on while doing the binding. Note to quilters...don't rely on glue to hold things down on your quilt tops.

Here's the backing. And an angel with no face...yet!

I used the stipple Panto to quilt it.

I also worked on the custom quilt some more, but I am still not finished. It sure is big!

What will tomorrow bring? More quilting and no customers. The phone has been quiet and I have had some down time to look at books and patterns for my next project. Do I feel isolated? Not yet.

Everything grinding to a halt!

Geez, this corona virus is a bummer of Goliath magnitude. The grocery store was an ordeal and I was just there for my regular shop. I got everything I went for except a box of Kraft original Mac and cheese. We'll have beanie weenie instead of weenie and mac. No big whoop. Thankfully, I didn't need TP, bread, or hamburger. All missing in action. Standing in the checkout line took 30 minutes. I'm happy to stay at home!! Guild is being canceled and the other two churches we sew at as a guild are closed to group meetings. I'm one of the lucky ones who already works from home. And I have enough quilting to last weeks!
Remember I told you I would show you my finished dot to dot quilt? Well, here it is! Binding on and ready to go. I am really happy with how it turned out.

Here it is! Quilted and batting sewn on but not finished.

Panto: Stacked Snailz

The backing is a mix of Wisconsin fabric (Go Badgers!!) and the sewing city scene.

Here it is with the binding finished.

I used the half square triangles and leftover bits from making the body of the quilt for the border between the circles and the red  border.

The big outdoorsy quilt is also done. The snowflake pattern was the perfect touch.

The customer came and picked it up today. She liked it, too.

Panto: Snow Flurry

Hiking backing.

Next on the list was this quilt from 1970. Someone gave the basted quilt to the customer, and she brought it to me to quilt and finish.While removing the basting  I was amazed by the perfection of her hand piecing and the meticulous fussy cutting of the block elements. Aside from the fabrics, which were what was available in the 70s, the quilt is a lovely example of a sampler quilt. I wish it was mine...

A bit old fashioned, but well constructed.

Panto: Baptist fan
Look at the fussy cut star points. What a nice touch.

Another block with fussy cut elements and numerous points converging perfectly.

Bottom left star all fussy cut.

Oops! Even sideways you can appreciate the deliberate placement of the green stripes.

More fussy cutting and more converging points.

Pretty green bow tie with flowers.

Even the striped fabric is all the same!

Remember, this is all  hand pieced.

This card trick block is masterfully sewn. Look at the stripes!
Can you spot the seams?

A better look at the quilting.

Small floral calico on the back. I think most of these fabrics are Thimbleberrys.

I had  this peach stripe for the binding in my stash. I laughed when I read the selvage and it was a Thimbleberry fabric. Oh dear...how long have I had this? I am going to hand sew it tomorrow.

A friend of mine is taking a quilting skills class and everyone is making an assortment of different blocks to practice the skills they learn. Most of the students will make a sampler quilt, but my friend made a set of beautiful placemats! What a good idea. I had to squeeze them on the backing, but they all fit!

Eight different placemats, all well made, too!

The Panto was a freebie when I upgraded the computer software on Millie. It didn't have a name,  just a number. It is big leaves.

I love this backing fabric. The customer will get plenty of practice applying binding eight times!

I'm making progress on the king size quilt, finishing the center part. I'll be doing the big border next.

I'm getting there.

Just a couple of other things before I sign off. I loaded up a charity quilt made by a guild member, and I am thinking about how to avoid the bunny ears on one of the blocks. More on this tomorrow. Also, the first student quilt from my cats on the stairs class finished her top! I think it is beautiful. All batiks.

The quilt is loaded and the bunny is rolled up on the leader for now.

Here is Sue's quilt top! She loves cats and these look like her past and present ones.