Getting ready

 What a beautiful day it is today! Mr Wazoo has every right to be proud of his gardens and yard, and I can see why he is so worried about leaving them for such a long time. He will certainly have a load of work to do when we get back from Texas, but today, everything is perfect.

Some of the iris opened up this morning, and there are many more still sleeping. 

The little lilac bushes he planted are loaded with buds and should be in bloom in a few days. I wish we would be here to see, and smell, them.

Looking across the front of the house, the grass is coming up green and pretty and the pots of flowers are bursting with color.

The red bushes, jasmine and pansies make a sweet picture at the end of the porch.

Wow! Look at all the new growth on this evergreen shrub! It is one of my favorites with it's blue color.

Things are blooming in the rock garden. Penny is enamored with the bees and butterflies.

The native flame azalea is blooming, too!

Pretty nice curb appeal!

In the studio, I packed up all the kits I made and cleaned up the cutting table. The Bernina has a beach towel keeping the dust off her, and the longarms look ghostly. Everything is staged in the garage for loading on Sunday. I went to Walmart, (what a zoo! I hate going there...all the maskless people and only three cashiers open for the lot of us) also the bank and the grocery store for the stuff we needed for the trip; then came home to continue to stage stuff for the car. Tomorrow, I get a haircut and bake some cookies for snacking along the way.

A sheet and a shower curtain will keep the longarms tidy while I'm away.

Goodnight, ladies.

Yessir, yessir, three bags full...of kits! These should keep me busy for a while.

I made a huge mess cutting and packaging all those kits.

I'd much rather come back to this than the other mess!

I think I'm right on schedule with preparations.

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Everything is finished!

I am finished with everything I set out to do!!  All three tee shirt quilts have been bound and finished, and  I quilted the two baby quilts, and made and applied binding on  the last of the repair quilts. It was given a wash, and looks great.

Today, I will be tidying up the studio, and working on taxes. I have to get the taxes done!

Take a look at what happiness looks like.

The first baby quilt is made with the pattern I also used for my scrappy quilt!

It is a fun thing to sew, and looks terrific.

Panto: Funky fans

The backing is a coordinating print in flannel.

The collection is so whimsical. I love the monkeys and cows!

The second quilt is made from the same fabrics, but see how different it appears when the dark alligator fabric is the focus.

Here are the little alligators swimming on a black field.

Panto: Jetty

My favorite is still the loving monkeys...

This one has white background flannel on the back.

I finished the last repair, replacing 13 diamonds and mending eight open seams. 

I made wider binding for this quilt, too, because that is what was there originally.

Here is a closer look at the wide binding.

I sewed it like a reverse facing, turning it to the front at the seam line.

Here is what it looks like from the back.

The last tee shirt quilt is finished!

The members of the customer's running club are sure getting swell gifts from him!

I made eight of these. 

This one has the hash tag backing and binding.

The repair quilt is now washed and ready to go home. 

I have done five repairs for this customer!

I wish I had some family quilts, but there were no quilters in my family.

I have remedied that by quilting like a woman possessed and will leave quite a legacy for the next generations. I will be long gone, but my quilts will live on.

Now...taxes. Yuk!

Sunday Fun-day

In the last couple of days, I have finished the last two QOVs, two more of the 9 commissioned tee shirt quilts, the big custom job and three repair jobs. I'm almost ready to leave it all behind and go to Texas for six weeks. I have taken on a couple of baby quilts for a new soul set to arrive in June, but then, I am a sucker for baby quilt projects. I hope to get them quilted today while I'm in the studio.

This quilt was sent to me by a woman who found the top in a chest and wanted it finished. Her mother made the top.  I replaced only two of the fan blades and repaired a few open seams, otherwise it was a trim, quilt and bind project. After washing, it really perked up!

It is nice and soft.

Here is the fourth of five QOVs. I really like the block pattern and studied it so I could make a quilt like this some day.(along with the other hundreds of patterns I would like to do!)

This is the same panto I used on all the QOVs last week. This one in blue thread.

The last QOV was this colorful one. I had already quilted it once, and all the quilting had to be removed because of the lack of proper tension on the back. My friend helped with that part. Thanks, Sue!

Same panto, gold thread.

This backing is rather stiff. I hope it softens up with washing.

This repair was the longest in duration, having 72 pieces to replace. I did a wide binding like the one I removed to keep it faithful to the original.

Another repair from the same customer just needed repairs around the edges and a good cleaning.

Tee shirt quilt number 7, quilted and ready for the binding. I will get these quilts bound today.

Panto: Rounded squares in dark gray thread.

I like the movement in this swirly patterned backing. It is made in many color ways, too.

Number 8 was quilted with the same panto.

The backing is actually black, but doesn't photograph well. It has the little hashtags all over it.

Ta-Da!! 2882 leaves and 1600 designs in the green bits, and the big custom job is finished. The border is a bit of a disappointment because it is too busy of a fabric to see the leaf, berry and flower vines I did. Oh well, I know its lovely...

Great backing.

You'll have to enlarge this to see the quilting. The texture of it all is wonderful. I'm glad I don't have to bind it!

We are planning the load for the car and getting a list together for the trip. Penny will have her furry bed in the back seat to ride in. I think she will spend some time in the front on my lap, looking out the window, too. I have a bunch of crossword puzzles from the paper to work while we travel, and a couple of new playlists to enjoy. My kits are ready, and all I have to do now is finish the taxes...

And wish my sister a very happy birthday!!