Finishing up and getting packed

It's the last day of readiness prep for me, since I have Nifty Fifty tomorrow, so I have been working like a mad beaver to get the jobs done. I got the ten quilts for the head start kids all bound and finished, as well as the quilt for my grandson and for the woman whose home we will be staying in. I did the math on the little quilts and was flabbergasted to realize I used 35 yards of fabric making them! A real stash buster. (More room for new fabric...)
Mr Wazoo has been mowing lawns and getting the outside ship shape, too. Once the laundry is done, the refrigerator is cleaned out and the car is packed, we'll be on our way! Miss Molly will be visiting her two buddies, Toby and Teddy over at my quilting friend's house. She will be wined and dined in grand style and I am sure come home fat and happy.
My folks are celebrating 70 years of marriage and we will get to visit with relatives we haven't seen in years. It should be a once in a lifetime happy event. Stay tuned for the details!

first five kid quilts

great backs, too

second five kid quilts...and backs!

all ten piled up. So pretty!

Choden's quilt

label

hostess' quilt

label

Miss Molly

Teddy and Toby

Yahoo, Wazoo! Another great time in Sebring

We're home again from the summer retreat in Sebring, and I am proud of my accomplishment...10 charity quilts and one big quilt for me.
On Thursday, I quilted eight of them while Mr Wazoo pitched in to do the other two. I made the bindings (do you realize, that is 50 strips of binding?!!) and have five sewn on and four finished so far. The guild needs them for the kids at a local school. I have to go for a mammogram tomorrow morning (ugh!) but plan to get the other bindings on so I can do the hand sewing in the evenings.
We leave for Texas soon, so I had better keep the nose to the grindstone.
Enjoy the slideshow. I will be posting quilt progress soon.

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What's new, Wazoo?!

It sure is the summer doldrum around here; people have left on vacations to see family or just try to find a place to beat the heat. Good luck with that! Mr. Wazoo loves the hot weather and has spent much of it digging in the dirt and mowing lawns. He does his quilting work and then heads outdoors for some 'yardwork'. His word for digging and fussing with the borders and flower beds. I don't know how he stands it! Walking to the mailbox just about melts my hair!! I prefer to stay in and quilt.

So quilt I did! I finished this HUGE quilt in one day (thankfully, she wanted a pantograph!)

I also did this beauty of a Hawaiian quilt. This one was custom and also took a full day to quilt. I love it!

I had a fun time on the weekend finishing another one of my UFOs, too. I can't believe how many of these boxed square quilts I have made. That should prove to you it is a super easy and fun quilt to make. I made this one with earthy batiks and an aboriginal fabric for the border. The pop of color in the inner border is something I love to do with my quilts. I bound it with a clay colored batik, but haven't taken a photo of that yet.

the backing

And last, I made a couple of charity quilts with orphan blocks and left over bits from other quilts. I really need to cull my scraps, and these used a pile of them! The blocks started out 9 patch, then split and turned so they formed the sashing and cornerstones. Cool! Binding from the bin finished them off. Hooray!

number one

number two

That's it for the week at Wazoo. Mr.W managed to do a few customer quilts, so I will continue to employ him. ha ha ha. 

I started my next project. I chose these fabrics and have everything cut out now and ready to sew blocks. I think tomorrow at my sewing group I will get them sewn. Gee whiz, I really love quilting!!

A weekend UFO finish

Things have slowed down here at Wazoo, so I have had some time to do some quilting of my own. I found a baggie with a bunch of four patches and half square triangle bits and couldn't remember what I made them for.(senior moment...) so... I put them together into blocks and made this quilt! There were way more four patches than HSTs, so I used them in the border as well. Only bad news was the lack of enough yardage of any white print fabric for the blank squares and border. There are three different ones used. The back is bleached muslin and it has Quilters Dream wool batting for loft and lightness.
I just need to get the binding on and it will be ready for action! Woo hoo! Now, I only have 30 UFOs in the closet. :o(

finished quilting

detail of one corner

block detail

border detail

I had to add a strip of blue check to get the back big enough. Unfortunately,it shows like a shadow through the front. Poop!

a look at the quilting

Ahead of schedule!

On Sunday I had a sewing marathon and made my brown bag challenge quilt! It isn't due until December, but I had some time and the inclination...so it's a done deal. I can't show a picture of the whole quilt since you might be my brown bag buddy and I don't want to spoil the surprise. I have included a couple of cryptic photos to pique your intrest until the big reveal in December. It was really a challenge, but once I got started, it came together well and turned out fabulous!
Upward and onward...

Pieces cut and ready to start sewing

Straight line quilting

Hmmmm...one tiny piece of the puzzle

banged up knee leads to a quilt finish!

I managed to hurt my knee in my exercise class last Wednesday and had to practice some R.I.C.E. (rest, ice, compression, elevation). This being said, I also got to do a little quilting...15 minutes up...20 minutes down. Fortunately, it was a holiday anyway, so there was a Twilight Zone marathon to break the monotony between quilting spurts. The quilt is Garden Path #2, made to try my written instructions for the up-coming retreat project. Everything came out fine and I got the binding on just in time for the Macy's Fourth program. Hand sewing to the music, and later to the fireworks, I finished at 11:30 and went to bed a happy (gimpy) girl. The Twilight Zone was still going on, but just how many times do I need to take the train to Willoughby? If you're a TZ freak, you'll understand.

Too rainy to go outside, this is the quilt draped over the couch

Border quilting, striped binding and some block detail

more quilting

even more quilting

yup...quilting

Great bird fabric. Perfect for this quilt back!

my retreat project quilt finished!

With all the sadness this week came some light moments, too. I finished my sample quilt for my next retreat. I think the ladies will have fun picking fabrics and making this easy, but classy, quilt. I chose bright fabrics for mine, but it would be really beautiful in florals or modern geometrics or even juvenile prints! I plan to make a couple more just for giggles because the pattern is so user friendly and fun to do. Kaffe Fassett perhaps...

Fresh off the machine

Cool triangle spiral quilting

The back is a sheet from Walmart...don't hiss!
I use them a lot and they work just fine for utility quilts.

Binding on and ready to go!

My friend, Flo Shannon

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Unbelievably sad day at WAZOO

My friend Flo died.
We don't know yet what happened, we just know she's gone and our quilty world will never be the same. Flo was a friend who not only knew everything about how to do hand applique and quilting, but she had the heart of a lion and the soul of a playful child. Fiercely independent and able to repair anything around her house, Flo was also true to her promises and could deprecate herself while poking fun at us when we did stupid things. I roomed with her at a retreat once and we talked about her life and losses. What a tough woman she had to be.
We will all miss her gentle guidance with our quilting projects, and especially her unconditional friendship. Dear Flo, sleep gently.

Flo doing some cutting at a retreat

Me and Flo hamming for the camera in Paducah

Flo hand appliqueing

Flo with one of her award winning quilts

A work in progress