Hitting on all cylinders

The motor came yesterday morning and Mr Wazoo installed it right away. Nope...machine still not working. I put in a call to the corporate office of APQS and they assured me someone would contact me shortly, A couple of hours later, I got a call from a woman named Amy, who was very apologetic and sincere about wanting to make it right. She had the record of all my troubles with the machine, and was ready to help me get satisfaction. It took hours over the phone exploring the inner workings of the computer that powers the quilting. I'm not a computer geek, so I just tapped stuff when she said and followed her directions. Voila, it was a computer problem. All the maneuvering and parts replacements we did were moot. She has me keeping the motor for a week to be sure the problem is solved, and then I can return it (again) for a refund. This had better be the end!
Back to work!

First to test the waters was this tee shirt quilt.

The recipient came to the USA from Latvia.
Panto: Rounded Squares

The guy also does triathlons, so the quilt maker found this perfect backing fabric!

It's Christmas!! No, its isn't, but the customer will be ready to decorate when it is!

Panto: Swirling snowfall

The quilting shows up nicely on the back.

I broke out some fabric fort a quilt I saw on the Butterfly Threads blog. It is called Twirla, and is a free pattern. I'm going to give it a 'Twirla' and see what it looks like. Here are the fabrics I chose, and what I have done so far.

I stacked my fabric in piles of eight squares in preparation for block making.
I'm going with the Aboriginal Aussie look.

Hmmm...I don't like the background. It doesn.t do a thing for the other fabric. Rats! I stopped everything and cut new background squares.

Oh yeah, that's better. Each stack of squares make two reverse image blocks.

Here are the next two block components made and trimmed.

Outside, things have been fixed, too. The old barn quilt had to come down. The plies in the wood were separating and it was falling apart. We had one made up in Hayesville, NC out of aluminum so it won't ever rot. The only hitch was that we couldn't talk anyone into putting it up under the peak. We settled for having it outside the studio where it can still be seen from the road. The entrance to the studio is nice and homey, don't you think?

Same pattern and colors as our original block.

I love having the screen door. I can get fresh air and hear the birds singing and the fountain burbling.

I know it's too big for the space...would you like to come over and hang it up top? I'll hold the ladder for you.

BYO Ladder. I'd love it better up there...

I'm almost done with this quilt on the machine. I will finish it tomorrow. I loved  Nancy Drew as a kid. I still have quite a collection of the books somewhere in a box in the garage.

Gloomy and raining

Our day started with hard rain and gray skies. My mind is telling me to go back to bed and enjoy it, but my common sense is urging me to get to work. Sigh...
Yesterday, My son sent me a picture of Dechen's lunch. He arranges the components into faces to amuse the kid, but something funny happened.

Papa made a growly, unhappy face...

Kid re-arranged the stuff and made this.  I like it!

I'm going to try to be more like the optimistic child today, and get on with work. The motor should arrive today and we will be doing some repairs. Meanwhile, I will be doing the stitch around the elements on this quilt. It should take a couple of days, but has to be done. Then, it will be another background fill marathon.

Very pretty, but...Oy! That's a lot of boring quilting ahead.

I made many more repair parts for the old quilt, and took it upstairs to work on in the evening. I have five or six done, and many more to go. Then, I'll bring it back to the studio and make more patches.

Making a mess with prospective patch fabrics.

Patches pinned to the quilt.

A year ago we all went to a quilt show. How things change... No shows happening this summer.

That's my quilt in the center bottom of the picture.
It was a nice show down in Cobb county, GA.

I'm off to the studio and will see what mischief I can get into.

GRRRR!!! Another breakdown.

Yesterday started out very badly. I loaded a tee shirt quilt on Millie, picked and sized the pattern I wanted and tried to quilt. Nope. Grinding noise...jerky movement and warning message. Mr Wazoo came to my aid after I tried over and over to get the computer running, and even he wasn't able to get it to work. I texted APQS and after some discussion, we decided to replace the motor. We did this in March, but it didn't solve the problem, so we sent the motor back and put the old one back on. Since then, we have replaced the two long belts and the cables that run the thing. We have taken it apart, jiggled everything, repositioned stuff, tightened everything and had it limping along for a couple of weeks. Every once in a while it wouldn't go, so Mr W taped the connection between the new cable and the motor, which solved the problem. We tried that yesterday, but it didn't work. The $545 motor will be here Friday. If it doesn't work, I will be calling the corporate office.
Meanwhile, I made some replacement pieces for the new repair job, finished the small custom job, hand sewed the binding on the citron quilt and also made the blocks for a commissioned wall hanging.

The little penny rug is done. I love the color combination as well as the precise hand buttonhole stitching on the pieces of wool.

I kept the quilting simple. I stitched very close to each element, then echoed a quarter inch away. Then, pebbled my way across the surface, adding a swirl every once in a while.

Here is what the back looks like. Not perfect, but cool to look at!

This is the mock up of the wall hanging on my EQ. The center will have machine embroidered lettering of the wedding toast of the couple the project is for.

The blocks are made with a 3D square for the knot.

The customer's sister is my friend and the groom's aunt, so while she was visiting, we selected the fabrics for the ties. texting photos back and forth to Florida, and  settling on the design and fabrics. Technology is wonderful!

I had to add a few more because I decided to make the blocks smaller. The bigger ones looked a bit clunky.

These blocks finish at 4 inches.

Aren't they cute?!

I tried this layout just for fun, but the bowtie shape gets lost when the eye sees the half circle secondary pattern.

Just right! Once the embroidery is done, I can put it together and add the borders.

I've been pinning the new pieces to the  repair quilt as I go along. What you see here are the freezer paper templates I make for each piece.

We also have clematis in front of our propane tank. Our deed restrictions state any  mechanicals in the yard have to have something in front of them so they can't be seen from the street. Mr Wazoo put a trellis in front of the tank and planted a climbing rose and a clematis there. Much prettier than a piece of wood fencing.

The Stella d'Oro Lillies are blooming like crazy!

The clematis on the front of the house are going gangbusters, too!!

Every Grandma's joy, a picture and caption from her 4 year old grandson. He dictated the  sentiment; "I hope you have a good nice day and will be okay and stay there and be there for love, because we want to meet you." He understands that he can't see us right now because of the Covid virus. He understands why he has to wear a mask and can't go to his pre-school...too much for a four year old to grasp, I think.
I don't think my son would show him what's going on now with the protests and violence. He might explain it, but they don't have TV, so the little one wouldn't see it . What do you tell children these days? Parenting was hard in the 70s and it is really hard today.
I added the new picture to the closet door gallery, and cried a little. I'll keep wearing my mask because I want to be there for love, too.

Lots of quilting and a big finish

Over the weekend, I finished the big custom job I have been working on for a week. It really is lovely. I may have too many pictures for you, but I just think it is so pretty!!

Done! The quilt maker will be here tomorrow to pick it up. I'm happy with the way it looks.

It is a symmetrical pattern with four of these flower motifs

Some of the border details.

Block details

The label was already applied to the backing, so now, it is really sewn down!

Here is another view of the quilt.

And another of the flowers.

There were other quilts being quilted on the Millie, after yet another cable replacement. Fingers crossed, the machine is working well for now.

I love these fabrics. The quilt maker says she has had them for years and doesn't think they are available anymore. Rats.

Panto: Stacked Snailz

The backing is equally wonderful!!

This cheerful quilt is right down my alley! I like blue and yellow quilts. 

Panto: Chantilly

She used the leftover strips for the pieced back.

I also finished two repair jobs. One I have worked on for what seems like forever, and the other, that took one evening of hand sewing to complete. I still have to hand quilt the squares I replaced on the never ending repair, but I prefer to think it is finished since I don't have any more squares to replace!!

This quilt only had three holes and some open seams. One night's work, and it was done!

The biggest patch went over this stenciled block. I patched the torn part, but left the stencil to be enjoyed. After a washing, it was good as new.

When the owner brought me this quilt, I told her it would be less expensive to have an entirely new quilt made to resemble this rather than repair all the torn and disintegrated blocks. She insisted she wanted the quilt her Gran made fixed. I never should have taken it on, but I am proud of how good it looks now. I replaced around three quarters of the squares, removed the binding and rebound it, patched several holes in the backing and gave it a good washing.

Good as new? Well...it almost is new.

I have a small penny rug on the Gammill today. I should have it done tomorrow because it is a small, but pretty, project. All wool hand appliqué.

I also slid in one of my UFOs into the queue to be quilted. I made it a month or so ago but didn't have backing. The sale in Hayesville solved that problem. I got the Tula Pink backing fabric from the sale room at $6 a yard! Score!!

I'm pebbling along after finishing the outlining of all the elements.

Here is my bright citron quilt. I'll be doing the hand sewing of the binding tonight.

This is a new panto called Malachite

The backing is called Tabby Road and is from the Tula Pink cat  collection.

Well, I'd better stop rattling on and get to hand sewing. Maybe I'll finish both projects tonight...

Say...What kind of skink is this? He could play a tiny piano very well with those long fingers!