Finished!!

 It was happy-hour last night at 11:30 when I put the last stitch in the binding and sleeve of the custom quilt. It is so beautiful and sweet; I love it! Thank you to Audrey for giving me such a lovely gift of time and talent by making the top for me. I enjoyed every minute of the quilting, all done free motion and without a plan. I just started in quilting and didn't stop until I reached the bottom. A true  Zen experience.

Straight way this morning I had Mr Wazoo hold the quilt next to a window so you could see the quilting better. It's a bit dark in my living room in the morning, so it doesn't look as white as it really is, but you'll see that later.

I quilted the entire center and blue border as I went along, then started at the top and quilted the borders top to bottom without rolling the quilt up and down at all. When I reached the bottom, I was done!

The piano keys aren't perfectly spaced because there wasn't a ruler involved. I eyeballed them.

No rulers here, either. I drew the circles and went from there. Lots of stitch in the ditch, but all freehand.

Here is the back. I freely admit, I quilted more densely than usual, but I was certainly enjoying the process. After months of pantographs, it was cathartic.

Audrey embroidered the label and I added the names and date.

I took down the big chicken quilt and hung my new one in its place.

Happy, happy, joy, joy!!

Meanwhile, Customer work goes on and I am trying to get these done so I can be free to explore all the quilts I want to create. This one is a panel from the same customer with the Ten Commandments quilt.

She requested an animal motif panto to enhance the Noah's ark design

The panto is Animal Crackers, with giraffes, lions and elephants.

The backing is the same fabric as the outer border.

I really needed a little retail therapy today, so I went to Hiawassee for some aboriginal fabric for a quilt I am itching to make. I have a good collection of Aussie fabrics but don't have the lighter, brighter ones I needed to make the quilt sing. Stay tuned to see what happens!

Slow progress

 I struggled half the day away trying to import a pattern into my Pro Stitcher. The big fat manual doesn't have one word about how to accomplish this task, and there are no videos on you tube, either!! I'm shocked. I finally chose to download it onto a new thumb drive, and look for it when I opened the program. Once I did this, I was underway and half the day was gone. The quilt is still on the machine, waiting for me to finish it today. Sigh...

I quilted a panel quilt for the same customer on Tuesday, applied the sleeve and binding and did the hand sewing. 23 days left and I won't have to do this for customers again. There is so much more to quilting than just making pretty tops. I enjoy every step of the process and can't understand why other quilters don't feel the same. Sure, I understand not quilting projects too big to maneuver under the needle of a domestic machine, but a small panel should be a wonderful learning project for any quilter. Anyhoo, it's finished.

This panel of the Ten Commandments will be a nice addition to the Sunday school room of my customer.

Panto: Rounded diamonds

Sleeve and binding done.

I also worked on the custom quilting job, and am down to the last border! More on that later. No pictures, I'm afraid. 

We ventured out in the afternoon to get our Covid boosters. Today, my shoulder aches and I'm feeling blah. I am happy to be well protected since there is a rise in cases of the new variant. Most people don't seem to be bothered by the prospect of contracting a deadly disease; we spied only four other shoppers wearing masks. I'm fine with staying home and quilting!

Outside, the phlox is putting on the usual Spring display in the back garden. even the torrential rain and high winds didn't discourage these hardy little plants! The garden is such  happy place...bursting with new life, promising beauty in the days to come.

Pretty mounds of lavender flowers.

We took in the bird feeders yesterday, too, after bears bent the stands and tore up one feeder. The bears are awake, and the deer are plentiful and hungry. We had a batch in the garden yesterday and saw another dozen in the fields while driving to town. A pair of Eastern Phoebes have moved into the yellow birdhouse. We'll have to see if they stay there because they usually nest on top of the yard lights. Spring is around the corner!

Custom quilting and a finish

 The floral stars and chain quilt is finished! I quilted it yesterday, put on the binding and spent last night watching the Grammys while doing the hand sewing. I really like this quilt!

All done and dusted!

The panto is pretty flowers and dragonflies. I don't recall the name of the panto.

The backing was a sale rack find! The binding is a small green and white gingham fabric. (not seen here)

I worked on the small custom quilt most of the day and am now doing the borders. The top border is done, and this is as far as I got on the side borders. I'm not marking anything, but just quilting whatever I feel like and having fun. More today!

Left side border. Feathers, flowers and piano keys.

The center of the quilt is done. This is the treatment in both types of blocks, and the inner border.

Right side border. Smaller motifs get the pebbles-in-a-circle treatment I used on the blocks. More feathers, flowers and piano keys, too.

After work, Penny and I took a walk-around to see what's coming up in Mr W's gardens. 

I'm excited to see the Lilly of the valley shoots along the side of the house.

Peonies are also making a start. Their life is fleeting when they bloom, but oh so beautiful.

The lilac bush struggles, but it will have a few clusters of blooms.

I'd better get busy and go to the studio. Tomorrow I'm off to Gainsville again for the new round of diagnostic injections in my back. These will take the shot total to 24. When they are finished, I will have had 30 injections!! It hurts like the dickens getting the shots, but the pain is brief, and I can persevere to get to the final result...no back pain. I have to believe this treatment is going to work.

Here comes another Sunday-Funday!

 Guess what? I finished the stars top and hope to have it quilted today! I bought backing in Cleveland, GA off the sale rack, and have the quilt loaded and ready to go. Hopefully, I'll be able to post pictures tomorrow. Meanwhile, I have made progress quilting the custom job, one row at a time, then a big rest. It's not a big quilt, but takes more time because of my back pain.

I am enjoying the journey with this pretty little quilt. I am also enjoying my last go-round with Big Gammill. I intend to sell its soon.

The other quilt done yesterday was this Autumnal paper pieced project. The quilting rolled along while I sewed the blocks and rows of my starry quilt.

The customer took a paper piecing class, and this pattern and fabric kit was a door prize for a lucky student. The person who won it said she would never make the project and gave it to my customer. What a lucky day for her!

Panto: Forest Floor, using Glide thread in the color Sand.

I smiled when I loaded this backing. It had a remnant of a sticker on it from Ben Franklin! I had the same fabric in my stash and probably bought it many, many years ago at then now defunct store. I remember buying Thimbleberry fabrics there and making placemats that we still use today!

Last night, I spent a few hours on the computer planning a May trip to Wisconsin to visit my family. I haven't seen my little grandson since Christmas 2019...the year Mr Wazoo had a stroke right before the big day. This picture was taken at the hospital on Christmas Day. Mr W recovered, but it was a dreadful time I will always remember. Little Dechen told me he doesn't remember being at my house. I certainly hope Covid  is a memory by Christmas 2022.