Busy week

  Oh my goodness, it has been a busy time here at Wazoo. After the quilt show in Tennessee, we went full steam ahead to get ready for some friends from Florida. We rarely get company, so its always a treat to be able to visit with guests. However, it means I actually have to stop sewing and clean! Saturday, we cleaned.
Sunday, we visited and chatted and I worked a bit on the batik Judy Niemyer quilt.

Just the corners to finish now!

While I was out, Mr Wazoo took in the shirts for two tee shirt quilts. I have other irons in the fire now, so it will be a while until I get to work on them.

Pile-o-shirts

Meanwhile, Mr W took the cold weather in stride and quilted a hot rod and motorcycle diner with a flame panto called Hot Rod!

The customer chose Hot Rod to mimic the flames in the border.

Moda Grunge on the back.

On Tuesday, I had quilt guild, and enjoyed seeing my student, Ruth, with her table runner all finished! She was my only student at the retreat.

Ruth with her finished project. Good for her!!

After guild, we all went to look at the house our friends found in their property search. This is their second looking visit, and this time, they found what they were seeking. I expect their move in May.

On Wednesday, I took a class with visiting artist Karen Combs. Due to the late night out to dinner, I hadn't cut any of the pieces for my class, so I started the class behind everyone else who probably didn't stay up late... I did manage to get six blocks done by the end of class, and will definitely finish it in the future. The class was fun and I learned a bit more about value.

Karen Combs teaching us about value.

She had great examples of what we could do with the blocks we made

Another example

Today, I quilted this bright tee shirt quilt

I'm guessing the school colors are purple and gold

Or favorite panto for tee shirt quilts: Dazzle

I started a new repair job on a string quilt top that looked like a mountain range when laid on a flat surface. Ironing it with sizing spray didn't fix a thing, so I decided to take it apart, square up the blocks and sew it back together. It was a brilliant idea! The blocks range in size from 6 1/2 inches to 9 inches! The person who assembled this had to be talented to get the blocks sewn together. I don't know how she did it. The next pictures show how wonky, skewed and varying in size the blocks are.

Whoa! At least one inch difference here.

Oh yes, while taking the top apart, I was covered in these newspaper bits. She used newspaper as the foundation.

The fabrics are from the 30s up to the 70s. I really think two people made the top. Some of the blocks are really old and much smaller. Others are large and contain flannel, double knit polyester and some cotton blends.

The final pile of threads and paper.

After measuring all the blocks, I squared them all to 6 1/2 inches. Here are the tidy blocks and the trimmings. I will have to wait to sew them up because I have to go to the middle school tomorrow morning and help with the quilt camp class again. Young teens are fun to work with!

After work, I snapped these pictures in the yard. Maybe, just maybe...Spring is around the corner. The dogwood hasn't bloomed yet, but the phlox and redbud tree are open and pretty.

Lily of the valley poking out in the woods.

Mr Wazoo has the back garden ready to roll.
See you all later!!

Pigeon Forge Quilt Show

Yesterday the weather cooperated, so us gals loaded up the car and went to Tennessee. There was snow on the mountains, but the road was clear sailing, so we got there about 10:30. The place wasn't packed, but we still parked a long way out and put in our 10,000 steps easily between the parking lot walk and browsing the show and vendors.
You'll have to excuse my slightly tilted photography. I am still learning to use the phone as a camera, and am not always good at holding it straight. Also, I only took pictures of quilts that were exciting to me, so really only about half of what was there... Sorry. In fact, I really didn't get the best of show quilt selection, so there isn't a picture of it, nor the best of show wall quilt. (They have two best of shows) It was a recognized, certified judge, but I didn't understand some of the choices for awards. Not my place to quibble with the judge, so I will let it go at that.
Anyhoo, here is the slideshow of what I liked!

Another free slideshow design by Smilebox

What the heck! and other exclamations

Snuffling, coughing, sneezing, ears plugged, snot blowing greetings! Oh yes, I have a cold of major proportions. I think I picked up this bug at the retreat, where there was a fellow sewist doing all the aforementioned disgusting actions. Thank you, anonymous person, it is just what I need on top of seasonal allergy symptoms. Ah-choo! On with the post!

My way of dealing with a cold...along with soup and rest.

What the heck is going on with the weather?! We had to postpone a trip to Pigeon Forge, TN when this happened...

Snow?!

Snow!

Yup...snow.

No way a carload of old ladies need to drive over and through mountains in snow and ice. Even if it is a wonderful quilt show, we'd rather be alive to enjoy it another day. We'll try again on Friday. 

We did take a trip to Atlanta last Saturday for the arts and crafts show. Very swanky show, too. The items shown and for sale were of the highest quality and also the highest price points! We admired more than purchased. No photos allowed, so I can't show you what all we saw, but I can show a sample of what came home with me.

This pack mule made of screws, bolts, washers, gears and nails was one of the quirky items I got at the only booth where I could indulge my shopping Jones. I also scored a butterfly for Mr Wazoo's garden, a bat we hung on the fireplace (bat, the rodent variety), and a bee on a spring that I have hung over my APQS. 

Down in the studio, work pressed on.

My Block of the Month class has finished making the blocks, and has only the sashing strips to add. Here are my own sample blocks.

Mr Wazoo has been busy quilting. This baby quilt is the customer's first quilt!

Panto: Popcorn

This a quilt for the customer's best friend. I love the cascade of color from light to dark.

Panto: Flowers and feathers

This customer quilt is for someone who lives in northern Michigan where cherries are a major crop.

The cherry fabrics are perfect. Panto: Bush Berries

I quilted this snail trail quilt for an auction item. The customer donates something every year to a school auction to raise money for their arts program.

Panto: Forest floor

I also finished the Dresden plate quilt repair. It will be going home next week. Here are the 'Before' shots.

I was surprised how faded the green in the border was! The dark green is the original color, protected by the binding.

Someone's terrible attempt to fix a tear.

Another bad repair.

I picked out the first fix job.

There were 36 blades with holes, either from the mordant in the fabrics or just wear and tear.

I marked each one with a safety pin. Then I soaked and carefully washed the quilt.

Ready for repair!

Here is the quilt, all finished and clean.

So pretty!! I think the customer will be tickled with the results.

This is where the biggest tear was. I fixed the tear and patched over it for stability.

Everything looks good, and the quilting is more visible after washing.

I'm working on the next custom project, this Judy Niemyer hosta quilt. I have done two of these in the past, so I'm quite comfortable quilting it. Today is the second day of stitch in the ditch. I should be on to the quilting tomorrow.

Back to work,,,ah ah ah CHOO!!

Home again, home again, jiggedy jog.

Last week was, and the coming weeks will be very busy ones for me. The trip to Shelby, NC was wonderful, with stops at two quilt shops I haven't been to before. There is a lovely shop in Hayesville, NC called Just Stitchin'. We stopped for a brief visit, and I bought some pre-printed chicken placemat fabric and backing. One of the ladies with me on the trip is a friend of the owner, so the visit was a nice get-together for her, too.
On the road to Shelby, we stopped in Forest City, NC at Schoolhouse Quilts, and found the mother lode of reasonably priced fabrics and quilting supplies. The same passenger, Debbie, is a good friend of the woman who hired me to do the trunk show, and she was taking a class at the shop when we arrived. We all shopped and visited, enjoying the ladies there and their sewing projects. Debbie stayed with her friend Marie, and we drove on to the hotel in Shelby and then to the venue for the trunk show.
I don't have a photo of the trunk show, as I was busy setting up and giving the show! Needless to say, it was fun and a success. The ladies at the Foothills Quilt Guild were an attentive audience, and I gave away the quilt at the end, as usual.
The next day, we picked up Debbie at Marie's house and had a spontaneous trunk show of Marie's quilts! Here are a few of them for you to enjoy.

Marie has beautiful quilts to show us, and we enjoyed examining her remarkable work up close.

I have recently quilted this pattern quilt, but in reds and tans. Beautiful!

This quilt is the result of a shop hop. One block from each shop.

I love the scrappy and colorful look of this one.

This cheerful table runner was from a magazine, and the one on the bed was from a class.

Marie also does machine embroidery. This wall hanging is a stunning example of her work.

She is working on this Christmas tree skirt, one of her UFOs. Yup, we all have them.

I'm glad Marie and Debbie had some time to visit, and really thankful we could add the reunion to the trip!

Back at home, Mr Wazoo spent some time in the back yard leveling a path and adding a small rock wall made from the rocks dug out while he worked. All the digging exacerbated his shoulder injury, so he has been quilting for a couple of days instead of continuing to dig. 

The thin line of rocks just beyond the shrubs delineate the path Mr W has been working on.

He should be able to work in the upper parts of his garden without sliding or falling on the slope like he has before. That makes me happy!

These violas have been sleeping all winter, and now they are staring to bloom again.

I had better get going on the day's work!

Last night, I sewed the rest of the 36 replacement blades into the Dresden quilt repair, and hand sewed the new binding. I found a couple of holes in the background fabric that I didn't see before, and hope to have them repaired and the quilt ready to go this afternoon.

The camera and the cell phone are both in the studio, so I will post a picture of the finished repairs later.

Off to work!