A repair finish and a look at the garden.

After a couple of marathon sessions, I finished the double wedding ring repair for a waiting customer. I washed the quilt and it is now ready to add a few patches for the final repair. I decided to wash it first because I needed a true sense of the color I need for the patches! The quilt was quite dirty from years of use without being washed.

This shows how I prepped each center for the repair. All the ring centers were pulled away from their rings and needed to be re-sewn. It took a really long time to do all those rings! I'm so happy to be finished with this part of the repair. The few torn patches will be a piece of cake to fix after this huge project!

After washing and partially drying, I laid the quilt on the guest bed overnight to get it completely dry and ready for patching. I took the picture late at night by the overhead light. Trust me, the large centers are now white!

We've  had a daily rain shower for a week now, so the flowers are happy and healthy. Lots of bees and butterflies, too. 

Last night when I took the dog out before bed, there was a pair of hooded skunks ambling across the garden in the back yard. Fortunately, Penny didn't make a sound, which is great for me! If you haven't seen, or didn't know there were different types of skunks, I looked them up since they were not like the striped skunks I am used to seeing. They were very fluffy and silvery white in the darkness. Nice looking...if you can say that about a skunk!

Wow, I love these petunias!

The hosta are all in bloom, with their tall lavender spikes.

This variety is really beautiful, lime green and vibrant next to the dark mulch..

The bee balm, hydrangea, butterfly bush and day lillies are all putting on a show in the side garden.

This is what a hooded skunk looks like. No stripes!

All quiet on the machine front

 No news from HQ. 

I put the borders on the quilt in progress, and started a big project that will certainly take a while to finish. It is the Moda color quilt, but I am making it without color! I don't do neutral, so this is really out of my box. I saw the quilt in the fabric shop in Ooltewah, TN and bought the pattern and fabrics there. Here is block number one, and the finished comfort quilt top.

Today, I take a break from sewing and work on the repair of the double wedding ring customer quilt. I want to have it done by Friday!

The top is done for the comfort quilt. 

Block number one of the neutral project. It's a giant; finishing at 36" square!

The pattern is a booklet. The cutting instructions alone take up 10 pages!  Lots of trimming again. I'm getting used to having to trim everything!

There is another episode of the congressional hearings for January 6th today, and I plan to watch and listen while hand sewing the customer quilt. I find these hearings compelling and riveting. Time to get organized and get to the studio.

Familiar routines back in control

 Mr Wazoo had a tough couple of days in the blistering heat cutting up and removing the fallen tree limb. He discovered it wasn't a small tree, but a giant limb off a really big tree! A shopping trip to Home Depot for a bigger chain saw, and he dominated the limb. It is all cleaned up now after two trips to the dump.

Before

Almost Done. I'll get the after shot today if it doesn't rain again!

I put the border on the charity quilt and began cutting the next project. This one involves a layer cake pack and background fabric. I didn't have enough of the polka dot fabric, so I used a stripe for the sashing. I have absolutely none of the dots or any of the layer cake fabrics left. Yippee! Stash busting at its finest.

Finished charity quilt top.

It was another trimming marathon with all these half square triangles.

I furiously chain pieced block components, but had to stop at this point to make supper.

Penny made herself at home in the nest of batting under the non-functioning machine. That's another story...still dead in the water with the Forte, waiting for a part.

Day two, I finished the blocks and sewed the top together. After auditioning several fabrics for the border, I decided to bite the bullet and use the leftover bits to make a piano key border.

Top all done! I like it. Very cheerful.

There was a big sale at the local quilt shop on Friday and Saturday, so I spent some quality time there picking out backing for all these tops I've made as well as background fabric for up-coming projects. I spent my limit, and came away with some nice buys!

Back home, I started a comfort quilt for the evening guild, as I am on the committee who keeps a stash of quilts for members in need. We have sadly used all the quilts we had and I am trying to get our supply restocked. This quilt used a charm pack and the white background for the members to sign their names on.

I made simple rail fence blocks, then arranged them into pinwheel 4-patches. Setting these blocks on point made the inner part of the quilt top a decent size.

I added blue sashing and yellow cornerstones to coax a bit more size, and used a floral print for the setting and corner triangles. I know I'll have a small yellow inner border, and have auditioned two possibles for the final border. I like the blue solid. This top should be finished today.

It's time to get going and fire up the machine and sew! I hope I hear something from my HQ dealer today, but I won't hold my breath...

Darn! It looks like rain again.