Strange first day of quarantine

 It is past my bedtime and I feel weird. I'll be sleeping in the guest room for the next five nights without Mr Wazoo or Miss Molly. I don't know how it will go, but I think it will be a little sad. I need to go to bed...I'm pooped!!

After my early morning Covid nose probe, I worked in the studio my regular hours of 10:00 to 6:00, but didn't see anyone. I did some sewing and some quilting, and even had a couple of nice phone conversations. Mr W stuck his head in every so often to say hi, but dutifully wore his mask. It was a nice day.

I finished the quilting on the appliqué quilt from yesterday. Isn't it beautiful?

Panto: Keepsake daisies

I bravely used a very light lavender thread, and I'm glad it turned out to be the right choice. It's hard to see, but the background fabric is a pale, mottled pink and light lavender.

Plain white back to showcase the pattern.

I trimmed up all the blocks for the dots quilt, and started the sashing sewing. (you're saying that again in your head, aren't you? sashing sewing...)

Here they are, all sewn together. I love the happy vibe of these fabrics!

My second quilt of the day was this pretty blue and yellow quilt from a new quilter. She really did a good job keeping her seams a quarter inch, so the quilt laid flat for quilting.

Panto: Alfresco, with a medium blue thread.

She will be happy with the results, I'm sure.

The inner border is now on, and I spent a while messing with the leftover bits from the blocks to figure out what to do for the border. I have an idea, so we'll see how it flies tomorrow.

On the way upstairs, I shot the flower pots on the porch outside the studio. Everyone got the memo and bloomed at the same time! Wonderful!

Not to be out done, the back porch display is just as full and pretty!

Oh Lordy, I am tired! Good night until tomorrow and more adventures.

Oh my! This is a bit risqué, but it is sure funny. Thanks, dear sister, for the laugh.

Stocking up for quarantine!

Tomorrow morning I have a Covid test, and then I will be in quarantine for 5 days. It's time for the ghastly task of having my colon navigated. While in quarantine, I will be sewing and quilting happily in the studio.and spending the nights in the guest room. Poor Mr Wazoo is well stocked with all his favorite foods and ready to avoid me for a while. Being unable to meet with customers, I should be able to get a lot done. We'll see.

Today I finished three quilts for a customer from Florida, and Mr W mailed them off late in the day. A couple of customers came to pick up quilts, and another to drop off quilts. Seven quilts gone home, and another seven taken in to fill the rack! Here are the three Florida quilts.

I started with this holiday themed farm quilt. 

Once again, I used an old standby, Fresh Snow, for the pantograph

The quilting looks great on the charcoal backing, too!

A complete turn-about with her second quilt, wouldn't you say? I haven't seen this panel in a shop, but I really like it. It is so vibrant!

The pattern is maple leaves, but I am sure it has a more fanciful name than that...I don't recall what it is.

After spooling out several varieties, I settled on a green variegated King Tut thread.

The quilt has a pieced backing. 

The third quilt is a beautiful panel of a beach scene. The quilter added borders with small inset strips of contrasting fabrics. She also made the back as lovely as the front! It is pieced with more panel pieces and the left over border fabrics.

Panto: Ebb and Flow using a light variegated seafood King Tut thread.

Here is a part of the pieced back.

While Millie cranked along, I decided to do something that makes me really happy. I used a jelly roll I found in a drawer while looking for something else, and some white Grunge fabric to start a new quilt. The blocks are made, and I will add the sashing tomorrow when I get home from my test. It should be a fun day.

Whee! Click on the picture to see the polka dot fabrics!

The quilt for tomorrow is loaded and ready to rock and roll!

Working and keeping track of the date

 Yesterday, I made it a daily task to check the calendar in the studio and sear the date in my mind. I plan to do this every day for my own sanity. Tuesday! Now, what did I do with that wonderful day?

When I began to write up the invoices for the two embroidered quilts, I saw the notation for adding the binding. Oh, crap! I pulled them out of their go-home-bags and made miles of binding. Both have binding now, and are ready to leave. 

The happy spot of my Sunday sewing was this beauty. The customer is a fabulous quilter, very precise and  with a wonderful eye for color. Her quilts are always a joy to do.

I got right up to the last row on Sunday...

...and finished it on Monday!

Panto: Espallier, with a light green So Fine thread

You can see the design better on the back.

The same customer also had this Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt finished and ready for quilting. Again, the scrappy goodness was perfectly done to highlight the stars and the secondary pattern of purple and gold. Beautiful. I worked on this both Monday and Tuesday.

If you look from here, it seems to be only a few fabrics.

The closer view shows the myriad of patterns and colors in the quilt.

Panto: Beauty, in a light lavender Omni thread.

The backing was this rich purple. Nice!

I worked on my quilt for a couple of days, too. I am almost done with the stitch in the fake ditches. The quilt is a cheater from Minnick and Simpson. I added a border to make it suitable for a queen bed. Here is where I left it on Sunday evening. I am on the last row now and hope to add the decorative quilting today.

If you are familiar with Minnick and Simpson fabrics, they are usually these faded red, white, and blue colors in soft, reproduction type prints. Really pretty. I don't use cheater (pre-printed design) fabrics, but I knew this would be attractive on my guest room bed. Hopefully, I'll have it off the Gammill and will be back to customer jobs in a day or so.

Guess who showed up again yesterday? My pet spider is back. I'm getting used to him being there on the door to greet me. I wonder where he'll go when it gets too cold outside... please, not in the studio!

When I opened the screen door, he went flying on a silk strand, careening over to the door jamb, where he held on tight for most of the day. I wish he would move on...

Now, something just for fun. Have a great day!

Batting finally arrived...big finish!

 I have been waiting for a month for my Quilters Dream batting, so I gave them a call on Thursday to see what's the problem. It seems they are having trouble getting rolls shipped and I would have to wait another two weeks to get the three rolls I ordered. I quickly changed gears and ordered boxes of packaged batts to tide me over, and they arrived on Saturday afternoon! I eagerly loaded a big quilt that was waiting for wool batting, and finished it yesterday.

The customer used all aboriginal fabrics for this stunning quilt. The layout makes a fun secondary pattern with the black 'spikes' around the drunkard's path circles.

She requested a snake pattern for the quilting, and I was able to locate one on Urban Elements called Slither. I used a variegated King Tut thread in shades of dark purple.

The backing is large pieces of Aussie fabrics, broken up by half square triangles. Note the snakes.

On the big Gammill, I am working on a project of my own. I thought it was going to be a quick job and could be completed on my Funday Sunday. No such luck. It has been slow and tedious, and will occupy the machine for a few more days. Oops...I only have two custom jobs in the line, so I don't feel too bad about it. Pictures later.

Mr Wazoo brought home a new flavor of ice cream for us to try. Oh. My. Goodness!!! This is the best ice cream I have ever had. I am sorry to say it isn't made in Wisconsin, but still, I love it. The chocolate ice cream base is rich and has the depth of dark chocolate candy. Then, there are chocolate covered almond bits. Yum. Can you tell I love chocolate? If you can get Friendly's at your store, try it!

Oh my!

My sister sent this. Too true...and quite funny.