I'm thankful for quilting!

I know I said I would post regularly, but the time gets away from me and I missed a day. Many quilts are being done, and customers are home making more. I will be busy for a long time. Thank you for sewing and quilting during the pandemic, because it allows me to continue my business where many others are struggling to make ends meet. I am truly grateful for quilters.
Here are a few  pics of what happened yesterday.

This the third of the 1970s quilts from one customer. The use of the sunflower focus fabric with the supporting players is quite effective.

Panto: Borneo

 

The gold thread I chose shows up well on the dark brown backing.

I worked all day to finish the tee shirt quilt. I think it looks really nice.  The binding is on and I did the hand sewing last night while watching stand up comedians on Netflix. If you have Netflix, the new Jerry Seinfeld 23 hours to kill, is clever and funny. John Mulaney is also hilarious, even though he does swear at times. Neither use gross topics, and both use their personal observation to make us laugh. We all need a laugh right now.

Panto: Rounded squares

I had this gray patterned wide backing in my stash for the back.

This little quilt is the first attempt to make a quilt by a new customer. She did a good job with the piecing, but I am having to do some quilting gymnastics to get it finished. First, she cut the backing the exact size of the top. I picked another fabric for the back and used it. The quilting has been a bit tricky because the top and batting are also the same size. I think it will be nice in the end, though. I cut her binding strips down from 3" to 2 1/4" and re-sewed them with miters instead of straight seams. I should have it bound and ready to go out the door tomorrow

Today, I will be constructing the second tee shirt quilt for the same customer. It will be a good sized lap quilt. My intention is to reverse the color palette for the sashing and borders to change it up a bit. Pressing all the stabilizer to the shirts is the tedious part, but it moves along quickly from there. I'm excited to get going!

One of my quilting friends discovered a website called Jigsaw Planet and emailed  thinking one of the contributors was me! I went to the site, where you can make puzzles for free, and looked it over. Well, I'm hooked. There are puzzles for all levels of ease, from kiddie ones to beautiful pictures with loads of pieces. They are fun to do and I worked a couple of them a few nights ago in the evening. I joined (free) and opened an account, putting some of my quilts on there as puzzles. I also put pictures of Molly as kid puzzles and some of Mr Wazoo's flowers as pretty puzzles. Here are a few of the pictures I haven't uploaded yet, but I think would be fun to work as puzzles. 

Enjoy the pictures, and check out the site if you like doing puzzles, or just like looking at pretty pictures.

Some of my quilts, stacked in the bathroom of the studio

Another stack of quilts

Oriental and brights fabric  on the shelf

Blue fabric

My favorite color!

Stripe and dots

Plaids

quilt books on the shelf

More titles

Thread

Items on top of the bookshelf

I'll be busy today, but giddy with anticipation for my Wisconsin friend who is breaking up her journey from Florida to Wisconsin with a stop at Wazoo. We have been friends since High school, and I can't wait to see her again in person, even if we will be 6 feet apart. 

Take care and quilt on!

Is it May...or am I crazy?

We woke up to 39 degrees and more rain. Yeesh...I thought it was supposed to be Spring! We went from AC to heat in 24 hours. Oh well, cool and rainy is good for quilting.
I have a customer who was cleaning out her garage for something to do during the self quarantine and found a box of quilt tops she made in the 70s and never finished. She brought four of them to me, and I have been having a good time quilting them.

On the way to the studio, I had to stop and admire the iris again. They are so large, and sparkly with rain.

Mr Wazoo's roses were hanging low after the hard rain, so he was busy tying them up to the trellis. There are so many roses on the bush, it was dragging the ground under the weight.

I got to this point with the tee shirt quilt yesterday at quitting time. I spent my work day appliqueing  circles from the shirts, and making the sashing.

  

This is the first of the four quilts from the 70s. It is all hand pieced, yet it lies completely flat!

All scrappy bits on a beige background. The panto is called Chantilly.

Most of the backing is this sweet green and pink calico.

Pieced into the backing was a big chunk of green. It is easier to see the pattern here.

The second quilt is this log cabin star pattern. The colors and fabrics are typical of the 70s when burgundy, dark green and dusty pink were all the rage. Think of bank, lawyer and doctor's office decor...

The fabric had pink roses featured, so I chose Climbing Roses for the panto.

Plain muslin backing.

I got this far on the tee shirt quilt. When I laid it out, I saw that one of the rows was a squidge off where the sashing meets. It's still bugging me, so I will probably take it apart and fix it tomorrow. Then I'll finish the top and maybe, get it quilted! The customer wants two quilts, so the shirts need to be prepped for the second one, too.

Bad news from the day guild. There will be no meetings in May or June. I have cancelled my booked speakers and one class. I'm wondering if I will be able to teach my own class in June. This is sure an uncertain time, making simple decisions more difficult. I'm going to stay home and quilt until it all passes over. Let's all keep on quilting!

The Slatons step out

We finally left the homestead and took a drive to Hiawassee. Mr Wazoo wanted to go to the nursery there and get a few plants. I haven't been out for a couple of weeks, so I went along. Sunday morning was  glorious, and I took  full advantage by rolling the window down for the journey. My spirits revived, I set to work as soon as we got home.

Remember the hexagon quilt that was so mind blowing? Well...I have two more from the same customer to show you. Each as wonderful as the first one.

For this one, I chose the panto: Splat.

Here is the back

Prepare for eye candy!! Every block of the next quilt is fussy cut. The fabrics are adorable!!

Bicycles riding in a circle

A gang of foxes watching two bunnies. Yikes!

Yellow flowers in a pretty green field

Wily cats keeping a eye on the mice.

Some golden mice

Elephants

Silly mice

Spouting whales

My favorite...a flock of sheep

Sheep you can count when going to sleep

A celebration

All in one beautiful quilt. Well done!!

Butterfly swirl was requested for the panto.

Bright and cheerful. What child wouldn't love this?

Mr W worked in the yard while I was busy in the studio, and planted many of his new plants.

We finally planted our Mexican pot. It is one of the rustic type instead of the colorful ones.

The sun was low and Mr Wazoo ran out of gas with his planting spree. These will have to wait!

A view from the top.

Late day blue sky. With the trees leafed out, it is harder to see Epp Mountain.

More bearded iris have bloomed!

I bought this head planter in Wisconsin. I'm happy to see her with some 'hair'.

Golly, if you can stand some more pictures, I'll show you what's new! I went to bed in between posts, so now, I have more work done to show you.

I finally finished the custom quilt I have been struggling with for a week or more.

The center of the quilt was done with the pantograph Splat. The borders were done freehand.

A bit of quilting on the leaves and flowers, plus piano keys and some feathers.

My attempt at mimicking there appliqué wasn't at all perfect, but it served it's purpose.

I like to use what's already in the quilt as inspiration for the quilting.

The tiny inner border got simple leaves.

This scrap quilt was the next on the list, and took nearly two days because of its giant size.

You really get an idea how big this is when looked at from the side.

Panto: Flower Power

Light backing.

This little baby quilt was the next on the machine, and it was fun to do. The  animals are just so cute!

Panto: Wandering Daisies

Coordinated backing.

I quilted this while cutting out a tee shirt quilt for a customer. I'll be working on that tomorrow.

It is a lovely stack and whack. The fabric is so beautiful and peaceful looking.

Panto: Chantilly

My next personal project involves these 57 fabrics. I feel like making something sweet and cheerful. With the pandemic dragging on, I am somewhat depressed and need a mood lift. This may do it.

All cut and ready to go! It took a half an hour to clean up the mess I made while cutting!!

I quit today with this quilt half done. I had to get the lasagna in the oven. It takes an hour to bake,  but it is so worth it!

Well, that's enough for today. Whew! That was a load of pictures. I hope it wasn't too discombobulated to follow. I hope to keep up with posting and not let so much time pass before showing you all what I'm up to. Life hurries on, but I feel as if I am swimming in mud. I hope everyone is exercising patience and common sense and not rushing out to crowded places. We need to ride this out and keep isolating at home until it is safe.  Thank you for being out there and interested in quilting.