Beautiful finish and progress on another

I worked on the beautiful Christmas quilt yesterday for my customer in North Carolina. She requested the puffiest batting, so I chose Quilters Dream wool.It is puffy, but still drapeable and washable. I love how it turned out. Very elegant and will look stunning on her bed.

The pantograph, Paradise Feather, is a real thread eater, but it is so dense and lovely I knew it would look wonderful on this quilt.

The quilt is king sized, so there were a lot of rows to quilt. It took from 10:30 in the morning until 5:30 in the afternoon to quilt!

Isn't this beautiful!! All that background makes a real statement now.

Red backing. This backing was a bit stiff. I hope she has a plan for when she washes it the first time since it was not pre-washed. Bleeding on this quilt would be a disaster!!

While I quilted , I worked on making the remaining blocks for my shabby chic quilt. I worked all day and got the rest of the star blocks done, as well as all the half square triangles needed for the alternate blocks. I need to sew those and make more double four patches. This quilt is taking forever!! I am an impatient quilter...

Stars all done. HSTs waiting to be pressed and (ugh) trimmed.

I'm getting there...

Here are the fabrics I got while on my shopping expedition for the repair. Don't fret over their intensity. They will look fine in the end.

Outside, the hydrangea have started to turn this pretty pink. I can't get over how giant the blooms are this year!

Mr Wazoo mowed and trimmed yesterday before another rain shower. Those pesky septic tank bare spots are driving him crazy!!

The side garden is really full and colorful. This is my favorite peaceful walk...up the yard, smelling the perfume of all the flowers before fixing supper and contemplating what to do the next day.

Seeing triple!

I finished the last of three beautiful log cabin quilts from the same customer, and they are going to be wonderful gifts. The customer requested 'No trim', so this is a good time to show you what quilts look like hot off the frame. A bit messy looking, but still nice!

I really like the star pattern made by this block placement

Panto: Flower Child ( I have been calling this Flower Power, but looked closer at the name and I was wrong!)

Bright purple back.

Another star, but in these hot colors, it gives a totally different vibe.

Panto: Amethyst

The backing looks sort of like the covid virus...or maybe I just have covid on the brain...

This one is my favorite! The fabrics have more sparkle to them and the colors are perfect together. I love it!

Panto: Splat

You may wonder why they all have curvy, loose patterns...it was the customer's  request for the quilts to be soft and usable and not have geometric patterns.

Lovely white on white backing.

I went on a road trip yesterday to Cumming to drop off two sewing machines at Sewing Doc, and look for the fabrics I need to do the next repair. One of my customers has an ancient Sears machine in a cabinet that hasn't been serviced e-v-e-r!! Mr Wazoo went to her home and removed the machine from the cabinet and brought it here for me to take to the shop. I also sent along the Singer 401-A that I got free from a fellow quilter whose daughter didn't want it. I have a 401-A that runs like a top, and think it would be nice to have another one for when I finally have a room for sewing friends to come over and sew with me.

The Sears machine must weigh 50 pounds!! Lordy, it is heavy. The Sewing Doc said this is a sought after machine that is a workhorse when it comes to longevity. I'm sure my customer will be thrilled with it when it is tuned up and spanking clean.

The repair is for the same customer whose machine I took in. She got it as a wedding gift from her aunt, and the customer is in her 80s. The quilt is old and has been loved to tatters. Here is a look at the fabrics I was trying to mimic with new ones.

I found fabrics for both the blue floral and the little flowered background.

This patterned fabric was the hardest to find a good substitute for. I have something I think will work, and also bought some solid fabric that I guessed would match the background after the quilt is washed. It is a bit lighter than this background, but you have seen first hand how different the solids look after cleaning!

I'll have two of these blocks to re-make.

I also found a good substitute for the floral here, but struck out on the stripe. I will have to hunt further for that particular one.

Someone already replaced the corners of this block with a calico that doesn't match the rest of the fabric in the background. I found a yellow flowered fabric that will do nicely for the remaining worn pieces.

I'll take some pictures of the new fabrics today, beside the ones that I am repairing. Some are quite different in intensity, but I think they will all look fine when all is said and done.

Off topic...if you have a Freddys fast food joint in your area, I recommend the patty melt. I love patty melts, and had one yesterday (eaten in the car) that made my day even better. The three of us in the car also indulged in dessert, and I had a turtle sundae. Heaven! That stop made a great day even better. Now, it's time to go back to work. 

Happy to feel normal!

The drops from the eye doctor have been therapeutic, and I am on the mend. My eyes are still red and a little itchy, but nothing like before. So I am back to the quilting, and having a great time.

I finished quilting the big quilt seen in the last post. The customer came to claim it, but decided she would like me to add the label and binding. It is for a wedding present, so she wants it to be nice. This is her first quilt.

The panto is watery, per her request.

I did a bit of instruction, too. She sent 3 yards of batik to back a 80 x 90 quilt. I added the other 3 yards from my stash and had a chat with her about backings and binding. I also gave her my handout about binding as well as my instructions for the 2-3-2-6 quilt for her to hone her skills with.

Moving on, the customer with the large hand embroidered custom quilt came, and also wanted binding applied! While she and her daughter went off to visit relatives in Hiawassee, I made and applied the binding. I sewed it down with the machine using invisible thread. It looked fine and she was very happy.

Meanwhile, I quilted two quilts for a fellow guild member. She makes the nicest quilts, all for her many family members. She finally made one for herself! I liked it so much, I think my next project should be a reproduction quilt.

She used a wide variety of reproduction prints and colors, all playing nicely with each other. She likes to trim her own quilts, so here you can see what a quilt looks like fresh off the machine.

She selected a feathery panto for the quilting.

A peek at the back.

The same customer's second quilt is for a Great-granddaughter. The brick and block pattern works well with the fun calicoes.

Panto: Frolic

Small, sweet calico on the back, too!

My friend, Audrey, came over yesterday and quilted another of her quilts on the little Gammill. Social distancing is easy when  she is in the man cave and I'm in the studio. I opened the door between the garage and studio to let some AC get in there, along with adding a fan at her feet. It got warmer and warmer as the day went on, and I assumed it was the intensely hot day outside. Nope...Mr Wazoo went to adjust the AC to a cooler temp and accidentally hit the wrong button, turning off the AC and turning on the heat!! By 6:00 I was sweltering, so I quit for the day. Imagine my surprise when I looked at the thermostat and saw 81 degrees in the little window! Sometimes you just have to shake your head in wonder.

Happy Audrey with her finished quilting job. 

Panto: Flower Festival. Good job, Audrey!

Our good friends in Wisconsin were blessed with their first grandchild over the weekend, so I threw together a baby quilt to send off to the new parents. I will make a nicer one when the grandson is a toddler, but I wanted to get something to them while the kid is still a baby!

Henry Oliver with Grandma and Grandpa

I had this panel in my stash, and added  the border to make it a nice newborn size.

Panto: Popcorn

This Buffalo check is perfect for a family who lives in the woodsy north of Wisconsin.

At the end of the day, I stopped to admire the butterflies who finally arrived here at Wazoo. Instead of visiting the butterfly bush, these were on the phlox! This pair was especially frisky and hard to get a good photo of. 

I hope you can spot both of the butterflies!

I took many pictures trying to get one with the wings open, but he was so excited, he fluttered the whole time!

We have some volunteers of Black-eyed Susans in the rock garden. Mr W and I like them so much, he went to the nursery and got a few more to add to the gardens.

Another problem slows down the quilting

I was back in the studio just one day. Friday, I woke up and my eyes were like big red golf balls with a slit just big enough to see out of. What the heck?! I called three different doctor's offices that were all closed on Friday. I guess the moral of this story is, don't get sick or need a doctor on a Friday! I found an Opthomologist in Blue Ridge who could fit me in, so off we went. Turns out, I have allergies that have plagued my eyes for weeks. I have been using over the counter drops to allay the itching, but did nothing for the infection that resulted from me rubbing the allergens into my eyes. No work done here on Friday. I took my new prescription drops and an oral antihistamine and sat it out. I have four different drops to instill at various times of the day, and two days later, it is a bit better. They still itch and are red, but less swollen and not draining anything funky. At least I could see! I quilted one project. Another has been loaded, but it is slow going. That's life!

This is a wedding gift for a couple who are both in the military. They requested the color combination, and the groom's grandma made the quilt.

I used my go-to military panto, Simply Stars, and a light gold thread.

The quilting shows nicely on the back.

This quilt is almost done. Two more rows to go.

I certainly hope this is the last of the health problems to rear it's ugly head! I'm ready for some healthy, happy days where all I potty about is having enough time to do some of my own quilting and sewing! 

On a side note: my Dad is in south Texas, right in the path of the hurricane. I called him yesterday and the few people who stay for the summer are riding out the storm in the RV park they live in. There is a shelter there if it gets bad, and my brother is next door to take Dad there. Thanks to the followers who have emailed to ask how he is. I appreciate it.