Finished!!

I am nearly out the door to quilt camp for the Blairsville 4H, so I'll make this short. I finished the applique quilt! I will post more later, but here it is.

I'll be back n the studio this afternoon, back at work and feeling good!

Progress!!

Remember where we started?

Half finished when I quilt yesterday.

I finished the quilting and have it all trimmed and ready to go home.

Patriotic quilt for the customer's guest room.

The new panto is called Starstruck and has pretty swirls and stars.

It really is a lovely quilt.

All day I worked on the applique quilt. I am at the last row and starting the filler there. Hopefully, tomorrow I will have the borders going. Done by the weekend? We'll see how it goes.

Mr Wazoo was on the phone a lot again today taking care of his mother's business. It looks like we can't have the memorial service in NC until late this month. Next week he meets in Greenville with his sister to make those plans. He is holding up well, and doesn't seem as down as he was yesterday. We'll be fine.

Quiet day...slow progress

Both of us worked inside yesterday because of the heat. 90 degrees is too much for Mr Wazoo to be digging and hauling, so he happily quilted a threesome of table decorations for a customer.

There were two of these table runners, both made with the same fabrics.

The panto is Feathers with a twist.

Both also had this backing.

The card table cover is the same fabric selection, but a slightly different pattern.

A better look at the quilting. Nice neutral projects.

I am in the process of quilting two things; the big applique quilt, and a red, white and blue star quilt.

I'm on the third row of the family oriented Baltimore album.
I'm still in awe of the detail in this quilt. It is beautiful.

The star quilt is getting a new panto I downloaded just for the project. You'll see a photo of it when I finish the quilt.

After a show meeting, I will be back working on these and making progress. I hope to get a tee shirt quilt made over the weekend for a customer who has been patiently waiting. The older I get, the quicker the time flies by.

The angels are singing

Our day began like any other, with a walk through the yard and gardens to the studio. We had a wash of rain last night, so everything was green and happy looking. Even an overcast day is beautiful when there are flowers blooming!

Black eyed Susans (I never liked the name...) finally blooming in the rock garden

The side yard has these frothy white flowers. I don't know what they are, but they are pretty. The Butterfly bush must be seven feet tall!

Roses, ground covers and hydrangea fill in the rest.

This variety of hydrangea is looser than the globe ones.

A bit of bee balm.

The front garden is blooming, too.

These are the rocks Mr W uses for edging and drainage.
Many, many, many bags of them...

Coleus and potato vine. And Miss Photobomb.

Mr W did this one, too. Nice.

We worked indoors today due to on and off sprinkles and thunder. I finished the windmill quilt from yesterday, and it turned out beautifully.

The vintage blocks look modern on their crisp white background.

To mimic the shape of the wheels, I chose the panto: Flower Power

White on white print backing.

Mr Wazoo stuck to the man cave, and quilted a charming lap quilt.

French General fabrics are always lovely.

Mr W chose a rose pattern for the panto: Ribbon Roses

A peek at the back.

I also finished the king sized binding job and sent it home with the quilter. Then, I quilted this small wall quilt for a baby's nursery.

Mother and Grandmother worked together to create this for baby.

They requested a modern panto, so I chose Trinity, to mimic the organic feel of some of the fabrics.

I love the clamshell backing.

Late in the day, we received the call we were dreading. Mr Wazoo's mother passed away peacefully. Tomorrow, we will travel to South Carolina to take care of the business of gathering her belongings and thanking the staff for taking such wonderful care of her.

I have known my mother in law for several years more than I have known my husband. We worked in classrooms next to each other for years; me in 4 year kindergarten and she in first grade. I have been her friend for 42 years. Now, the angels are rejoicing because Pam has come home. We'll miss her forever, but we know she is in a better, more wonderful place.

Mr Wazoo and his mother.

Mystery solved!

The reveal! It's a chicken.

I finished the project on the design wall, and now, I have the borders to contemplate. I spent the day putting away all the bits of fabric left from the project and vacuuming the studio. Now that I have it back to normal, I can get on with the quilting in an area suitable for company to see.

From this...

to this. A bit better, but newly messed up with the next project's stuff.

We are having a display of woodland creatures at the quilt show, and I dressed mine today. All I have to do is get the props sewn on and she''ll be ready. Betty Bear.

Betty is ready for bed, with her bear slippers on!

She was much more comfortable in the recliner.

I loaded up the next customer quilt and got a few rows done before it was time to quit for the day. I also sewed the binding onto another customer quilt. I'll finish that tomorrow.

The customer sewed these antique Dresden plates to background squares, and made a quilt!

The first go-round is finished, and the binding will be pressed and sewn on the other side tomorrow.

Mr Wazoo and I spent the morning on the phone and the computer filling out forms and talking with the hospice nurse, the nursing home people and the final arrangements man at the funeral home. After all was done and dusted, we talked about our own futures and decided to start our final plans, too. We don't want our kids to have to do what we are doing now, especially when family is under a lot of stress and things are chaotic. Mr W will sleep better tonight, and face whatever comes tomorrow with a clear mind and a plan.

Molly is back in her element after the cleaning woman finished picking up all her toys and putting them away in her toy box. Molly picked through the pile of furry goodies and took out her three lambs. Huey, Dewey and Louie, with various limbs missing and mended. The planets are realigned.

Mixed up day

Mr Wazoo journeyed to South Carolina to see his mother and talk about arrangements with the nursing home staff. It was a tough day for him. We had a call from there yesterday about her quick decline. He said she is in bed all the time now, and sleeps most of the time. They were excited when she opened her eyes for a moment when he was there, and actually took a drink of water and a bite of applesauce. Otherwise, she didn't speak or acknowledge his being there. The hard decision was made and the admission started for hospice care right where she is. No more hospital trips. Comfort care has begun. Needless to say, he is heartbroken.
I stayed home with Molly, and took a small trip to see a man about a computerized Millie, but was unhappy to learn he does not have the same software as I do. Rats! The big adventure was Molly's, She rides in the truck with MrW to get the mail and tour the neighborhood, but today, we took a real ride into the countryside and back.
In the afternoon, I worked on getting malware off the computer and phone. Someone hacked me and I am ticked off about it. I think it is fixed, but took hours to scan and remove the offending bugs.
The light side of the day was an email with pictures of the little girl who I gave a quilt to at my trunk show. You may remember her...she was so excited and happy. It made my day. Later, I saw her at the Cobb County show and she hugged me and said she had slept under the quilt every night since getting it. Her Mom sent a picture today. Made my day again!
Tomorrow has to be better.

Here we are at the trunk show when little Harmony got her quilt

Typical little girl. Stuffed animals and princess posters.
I don't know why she has a towel on her head, but she looks happy, the quilt is nice and fits her bed.
What could be nicer?

A little field trip

Yesterday, I took a break and went to Blue Ridge for their annual Fiber Arts Show at the Blue Ridge Mountains Art Association. It is a small show, but is always lovely because of the setting in the old courthouse courtroom. Here is a slideshow of the quilts. Some are mine, some are my friends, and some are from artists I don't know. Enjoy!

This photo slideshow personalized with Smilebox

When I got home, I worked on the mysterious quilt I am making. Can you guess what it is yet? I bet you have a good idea!!

I'm getting there...

Happy Independence Day!

Day two of the mystery quilt progress

I passed the morning adding and sewing down bindings on customer quilts. After lunch, I worked on the mystery quilt from yesterday, adding two more blocks. It is really slow going, even though it looks easy. The applique pieces are tiny!!Just making them with my fat fingers is hard work.
Here are the results of today's labor.

My studio looks like a fabric bomb went off.

All for this little bit of progress. Do you see it yet?

I did the ditch stitching on another row of the applique quilt. One more to go!

I think this quilt ranks in the top three of the most beautiful quilts I have ever worked on.
I hope I can do it the justice it deserves. It will be a precious family heirloom for generations to come. It's a big responsibility and I am being very careful with the quilting.

Tomorrow is another work day! We will be taking the fourth off, but will be back in the studio on the fifth.

Happy Independence Day to everyone out there. We are all blessed to live in this country, even with the bumpy ride we're on now. E Pluribus Unum. Out of many...one.