Machine struggles...again

 Of course I can't have more than two days together without having machine trouble.Fortunately, my dealer is coming tomorrow to see what she can do to fix it. Meanwhile, I have done a few quilts and a lot of hand sewing and quilting. We had some whopper thunder storms this week and a huge tree branch fell in the woods just out of our property. The herd of deer have been coming daily and feasting on the tender leaves conveniently served at mouth level! The branch is almost stripped of greenery, but we had a good time watching families of deer having a picnic out back.

Tim had his 79th birthday and we celebrated by eating out. Four days later, we celebrated again for our 41st anniversary. Penny got a haircut. Tim got a truckload of mulch. I quilted. That's the synopsis of life here at Wazoo.

This is one of two baby quilts for grand babies soon to be born. One will be a boy and the other a girl, so grandma got busy and made them quilts. Now they just have arrive!

I used my Animal Crackers panto on both quilts, in a larger size because grandma wants them to be soft.

So cute!

Here are both of the quilts

The girl quilt

Same panto

Bright pink backing.

I ordered some pretty pastel, satin finished beads to sew on my pinwheel quilt as flower centers, and this is what came. No, no, no... They're going back. I went to the nearest bead shop and found some nice beads to use instead. Sometimes, online shopping isn't the best way to get what you want.

This customer loves Tula Pink fabric. She likes more modern patterns that really show off the Tula motifs.

Leafy vines panto

Quilting shows well on the back.

Same customer, more Tula fabric in another contemporary style.

Zig-zag quilting

This is a pieced backing, big chunks of the turquoise and white fabrics from the quilt top.

Well, I had better jump in bed and go to sleep quickly! My dealer will be here between 9 and 9:30 and I need to up, caffeinated and ready to go.

Some quilting happened!

 I'm sorry I haven't posted for a while, but the closer we get to the quilt show, the busier I find myself. I am done with all but the buttons and beads on my main show quilt, and as soon as they come, I'll get them on. All the sleeves are on, and I need to get the label coverings on for the judging. I'm also in charge of the judging room,  demos and the quilt turning. Lots of the members have entered quilts for the turning, and it should be a great show! Only a couple of them date before the 1930s, but then, that was 90 years ago! I really love the happy quilts from the 30s and 40s, so I will enjoy talking about them

Enough blather! Let's look at some quilts.

This is my friend Audrey's quilt. She hand embroidered the chickens. I did the quilting.

I made this quilt at the retreat. I have made quite a few of this pattern, boxed squares.

I will be putting Usagi, Japanese for rabbit, in the show. I'm proud of this one, because I hand quilted it with big stitch. It won't win anything, but I like it! 2023 is the year of the rabbit, so it is a fitting entry.

My evening guild finished my row-by-row Seminole piecing challenge, and we all had fun making our quilts. This is my class sample, made right along with their quilts.

Not everyone who participated brought their finished quilts (or tops), but we did get to see these.

Well done, ladies!

This is a customer quilt I finished this week.

I chose a pinto that mimics the Lillies in the focus fabric.

The back was a coordinated lily print.

The same customer made this bee quilt for her beekeeping husband.

What better quilting pattern than bees?!

The back shows off the buzzing bees.

All my show quilts are piled on the guest bed to keep them flat until I have to fold them for the take in.

My 'almost finished' pinwheel quilt is on the top of the pile.

In the diffused morning light, you can better see the quilting.

Pretty nice!

These are a few of the thread colors I used on the pinwheel quilt. In all, I used 14 different colors!

This is the selfie I used for my self- portrait for the Art Quilters group challenge.

This is my entry...a covid portrait.

Velcro holds the mask in place, but undone, it looks like this!

I had to change my hair a bit to get the part on the correct side!

I snapped this photo last night. Penny was all worn out from her run-run in the sweltering heat. 

Poor girl's tongue was hanging out to her knees! Puppy supper and a large drink of water led to this snooze. She'll be back in the studio today.