Taxes!!

Today the studio was silent and Molly spent the day snugged down in pillows on the day bed in the office. It was tax day. I hate doing the taxes, and this year was no exception.
By 5:30 I had the task accomplished and we are actually getting a refund! Oh my!
Not to leave you without a quilt fix, here is what I did yesterday on the Judy Niemyer project. I'm almost done, needing to do the last border. Yippee!!

It is really fun to do this kind of work. Very relaxing. I wish all quilting was like this.

I made a template of the arcs in the piecing and quilted them in the four corners

This is what I mimicked

I think this tax thing calls for a martini!! Lemon drops and chicken pot pie. Yum.

Easter work and play

  I hope you all had a happy Easter. We spent a quiet day at home, and later, with friends. The weather was wonderful at last, and Mr W took advantage of it to pull dandelions. I worked in the studio sewing a little quilt together for our Hugs and Kisses group. I used the string blocks I made at the retreat, along with some half square triangle blocks made to fill in and make the quilt bigger. It was nice to take a little breather from the hubbub of the previous week.

It just needs the binding sewn on.

Digital Panto: Spiral

I got the backing from a quilt shop sale room during a shop hop

Yesterday, I quilted the vintage quilt I re-assembled, and two Quilts of Valor. I'll get those sent off tomorrow.

The vintage quilt turned out quite pretty!!

Panto: Baptist Fan

The backing is perfect for the quilt

QOV number one

Panto: Starlets

QOV number two

Panto: Simply stars

Not to be undone, Mr Wazoo did his work as well, finishing the quilting on a few customer projects.

Simple squares, but a beautiful quilt

This customer and her friend made the same pattern quilt.

Panto: Shamrocks

The same pattern looks totally different in these soft colors

Panto: Retro leaves

Small colorful quilt, I don't know what panto he used.

Well, our work was done, and I did a bit of browsing in my photos on the computer, and came across a photo I took at the last Paducah show of a doll that reminded me of my friend, Pat. You decide. Pretty funny, eh?

Crazy cat lady doll

My friend Pat. Not a crazy cat lady, though.

See you on the flipside!

Kids and quilts

Up early and off to school! Quilt camp went without a hitch, the kids busily sewing up their drawstring backpacks. I like seeing their reaction when the bag is coming along and really looks like a bag! An hour of fun. Everything went smoothly with seven of us  guild ladies to help.
Back at home, Wazoo work began with  mending three blocks and making two new blocks for the antique quilt I took apart yesterday. Once this was done, I sewed the blocks into bigger blocks of four and then rows of five big blocks. Easy peasy. It is loaded on the machine for quilting in the morning.

It sure will be simpler now that the top is flat!

Mr Wazoo spent the day on a new quilter's first project. The top is quite pretty and a good pattern for a beginner. She will surely be pleased with the results.

The colors are very pleasing and soothing

Panto: Small splat

The back is pieced, too, and has some folk-style appliques.

I was also hired to do the binding, so before leaving the studio for the night, I got it sewn on and ready to finish tomorrow. 

Now its time for some supper!

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!

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