Lots of quilting...big snowfall!

It is snowing like crazy this morning, and Mr Wazoo and I are hunkered down for the duration. It has been a good week, and I have been in high gear getting quilts done and out the door.

Quilts of Valor came from Florida and locally, so I hurried and quilted them so they can be awarded. This one is from Florida.

Panto: Banner Stars

Another Florida QOV.

Panto: Log cabin star

My Grandson wished me Happy Birthday via Face time.

My daughter sent me these beautiful flowers for my birthday!
They make the cold, snowy weather outside a bit more bearable.

This soft flannel baby quilt was a hurry up project for another local customer.

Panto: Popcorn.

They are welcoming their first grandchild, and are going to Florida next week for the gender reveal.
I also made and applied the binding.

On Wednesday, I took a bit of time to get out some more orphan blocks and goof around with a layout. These were rejects from a Blooming 9-patch I was commissioned to do a few years ago.

The black patterned fabric has chickadees on it. I think I'lcall it the chickadee quilt.
The rows are now sewn, but not joined yet.

This quilt is from a local customer. Her quilts are always well made and a joy to quilt.

Panto: Bubbly

This happy outer space quilt is from the same customer with the perfect aqua quilt.

Mr W quilted it with the Panto: Blast Off.

The fabrics are colorful and cute.

I had two local QOVs as well, and set in to get them quilted quickly.

Panto: Banner Star

I really like the HST border that looks sort of like a barber pole!
Panels make a stunning, but simple design for these quilts.

Panto: Simply Stars

Wild camoflage backing.

Yesterday, I used another pile of 2-3-2 orphan blocks to sew this lap quilt.  I'll get it quilted and binding on today while I admire the snowy landscape.

Earlier this morning, this is what it looked like.
There is much more piled up now.

Mr pileated woodpecker was busy looking for bugs.  The snow makes it really quiet outside, so his knock-knock-knock sounds really loud.

Yup, it's snowing in the back yard, too!

I hope you all are where it isn't snowing and are having a wonderful day. I'll be back later with the latest on 'Snowmageddon'. ha ha

That !&%@##* Machine!!

My Sunday fun-day started out well, messing around with some orphan blocks and making a fun top from them, but then it took a dark turn. Millie was quilting a vintage top I have, and she decided to rear her ugly head and eat the thread again. This is the third time she has done this, and I consider it a major design flaw in the APQS longarm system. My Gammills (I have two of them) have never done this, and I have been quilting with them for 14 years. Mr Wazoo had gone off to Home Depot and I needed to handle the repair myself. I got the machine opened up and it took forty five minutes to get the wad of tangled and stuck thread off the needle bar shaft. I cleaned up the mess inside the machine, re-assembled and oiled everything and was back in business. What a dirty and tedious job!

Here is part of the quilt so you can see how well constructed it is.

All hand pieced with tiny, perfectly spaced stitches. I  marveled at the maker's skill in that the top is perfectly flat!

Meanwhile, here is the trouble...From the outside, it just looks like the thread entered the slot and is probably stuck on something inside the machine.

With the side of the machine removed, I found the problem.

This tangled and oily wad only took a few seconds to form, as the machine moves at remarkable speed.

After thirty minutes of careful cutting and pulling the threads away, I finally got to the shaft. Lighted tweezers really help with this tedious work.

All better. I cleaned inside the machine and re-oiled everything.

This is what I had to remove!!

The side back in place. Six screws and a hex nut on the black clamp part.
What an ordeal!

Good thing we have a box full of tools and parts!

After the delay, I finished quilting the top, and was pleased with the result. I decided to cut off the small green border because it had tiny holes on all four sides where it had been safety pinned for 60 or 70 years. They were big enough to have to patch, and I hadn't noticed them before the quilting.

The panto: Simple Chevrons

The backing is a thrift shop sheet.

I did the hand sewing while watching the super bowl game.

Blue binding frames it nicely

The finished quilt. A nice large queen size. I love the pattern and the colors she used. So cheerful!

I worked on the smaller orphan block quilt while doing the quilting on the vintage one. Here it is stage by stage. I need to put on the binding, but I think it came out very pretty!

I started with eighteen 6" blocks. I made two more  to be able to have a 4 x 5 grid to work with. I couldn't put it on point to make it bigger because some of the blocks were directional.

Adding the drop shadow effect made the blocks 7 1/2",
 and using 3 1/2 " sashing made it almost lap size.

I pulled this batik from my stash and  with the 5" borders brought the quilt up to 60 x 70"

All quilted and ready for the binding. I'm using the sashing fabric for the binding.

Panto: Woven Wind

The squiggly batik for the backing was also a stash pick.
The sashing fabric was left over from the back of another quilt project. I'm using from my stash to finish these UFOs!

Molly was in attendance as usual. Here she is, resting up after barking furiously at the four deer who dared to walk across the yard. All in all, the day wasn't too bad. I still have the love-hate (mostly hate) relationship with the Millie, but got the work done despite her fickle performance.

Zzzzzzzzz...

Another day in the mountains ends perfectly.

Everyone quilts at Wazoo!

Mr Wazoo gets stronger every day, and he has taken his recovery seriously. He exercises every day, eats healthy foods and works on his balance. I wish I had the same zeal for healthy living that he has...
We were both in the studio this week (mostly because the weather wouldn't cooperate with being outside) and he finished his first customer quilt since the stroke. With just the one quilt finish, I think he deserves Employee of the Month for January!

This pretty little strip quilt was Mr W's first effort after the stroke.

Panto: Ribbon Roses

A peek at the back.

I finished the Gammill portion of the custom quilt ( the hand guided parts), and transferred the quilt to the Millie to work the computerized block patterns. I can't quilt roses that are perfect and beautiful, and I think this quilt deserved some perfection. I'm glad to have it finished and move on to the next custom project. This is a beautiful quilt!

The pattern is Nancy Mahoney's feathered star. I took the same class as the customer, but mine is languishing as a UFO for now.

The center medallion was quilted by the Millie, and is more perfect than I could ever do.

All the borders were hand guided quilting.

The backing is fun to look at, too.

After the feathered star was finished, I loaded this customer quilt. More the norm, the backing came as a long piece of fabric, and I had to cut, sew and press it before beginning the quilting. I really like this customer, but charged her a small fee anyway. Thirty extra minutes to fix something I shouldn't have to deserves to be compensated for. My time is as precious as yours. Enough soap box...here is the quilt.

This is an interesting pattern that I may make in the future. It would be a quick quilt for charity. I also made, applied and hand sewed the black, sparkly binding!

Panto: African Samba

The notorious backing.

Later in the afternoon, I decided to take a little 'me time' and play with some more of the orphan blocks. Someone gave me 18 small batik blocks and I got them out to play with. I made two more to have enough for a decent sized project, and began to ponder how to make the quilt large enough to use. I struck upon an idea, and spent an hour or so adding to the blocks and planning the quilt. Time well spent? I think so. I need to stretch my creative muscle every day to keep from becoming bored with my actual job. I hope to get the little top put together today (my sew-for-myself day) and show it to you. 

I also have a vintage top, acquired years ago, loaded on the Millie to quilt while I'm sewing. I love it when a forgotten top is resurrected and made into a useful bed cover. This is a large quilt, and will warm not only the user, but acknowledge the contribution of the maker. It is all hand pieced and must have taken a long time to stitch together. It is also perfectly sewn, square and flat. Wow. You'll see it later.

Off to the studio!!

A good day in the studio

Yesterday was quilt guild, and I had arranged a program of members who do other things besides quilting with their spare time. Wow! These are some talented ladies. There were basketmakers, a master knitter, crocheters, a ceramics painter, a rug hooker, a master seamstress, one who made hardanger embroidery, chair caners and a rush weaver, one who made beautiful gourd vessels, cross stitch wizards, a scrapbooker, and two enchanting pianists. The whole program was a bit longer than I expected, but it was worth it to see the lovely things they made. I am so humbled!

Today, I had to go back to work and get things done! Mr Wazoo also returned to his man cave and quilted a nice lilac quilt for one of our favorite customers. I'll get the pictures tomorrow. He forgot...

Hey! I didn't forget! In the morning, I quilted a really pretty scrap pinwheel quilt for a customer's granddaughter. It was a breath of fresh air to quilt a perfectly square and flat, well pressed and securely sewn quilt! The back was plenty big enough, too.

This is a sweet quilt for a little girl.

Panto: Popcorn. I love this pattern on kid's quilts.

It looks nice on backings, too.

After the girly quilt, I loaded a customer tee shirt quilt she made for her daughter. It was a twin sized quilt, so while Millie worked her magic, I quilted on the custom project. I think I will transfer it to the Millie tomorrow to do some fancier quilting than I can do freehand. We'll see.

I sewed the other teddy bear together and got him stuffed and sewn up. It was a productive day all around!

Here are both bears together. The first one has cloth eyes and embroidered nose and mouth. I found some kid-proof eyes and nose in my storage cabinet and used those on the second bear.

Here he is with his turquoise bow.

The tee shirt quilt had loads of cool shirts in it and I loved looking at them while quilting. In the bottom right corner are two from The Dragon, a hair raising road in Tennessee. I have been on it twice, once while I was driving. It was a wrong turn that took us there on the way home from a Pigeon Forge quilt show. My two friends and I drove it with our hearts in our throats, believe me! 318 hairpin curves in 11 miles. Motorcyclists come from all over to ride it. Egads! Never again for me.

My go to panto is rounded diamond for these.

The customer sent a soft flannel sheet for the backing. I have the red binding made and will get that on tomorrow.

What is it with the gargantuan quilts!!?

Just a short post today, as I need to get Mr Wazoo to his PT/OT appointment for some  fine tuning of his recovery. I did another giant quilt yesterday that had some wobbly bits on one side. The maker had some problem getting her flying geese to fit, and the blocks were a little puffy where she stretched them to fit. This led to minor ripples in the quilting, but I was able to avoid tucks by manipulating the quilt as it was being quilted. Standing in front and pressing down with my hands around the puffy areas kept tucks away, but there are some noticeable wrinkly areas, for sure.

Here is the quilt, fashioned around a panel of horses.

The panto is Rounded Diamonds

Here is the back.

The stitch in the ditch is finished on this beautiful (and perfectly sewn!) feathered star. After we get back from the PT, and a trip to the movies to see Little Women, I will be starting the quilting. Tomorrow is guild, so there won't be much quilting going on. I hope to finish it by the end of the week!