Productive weekend

I had a wonderful, productive and relaxing weekend. I spent hours in the studio doing different things and enjoying Spotify classical music, whistling along to pieces I know. Sometimes, we need to tack in a new direction to achieve inner peace. I feel great!
Our QOV group is not having mass  ceremonies, but is still handing out quilts to the many deserving vets. I quilted two of these, and have them ready to go to the people who keep us safe, our veterans.

What better acgtivity for Flag Day than to work on a patriotic quilt?!

The backing is this red, white and blue circular pattern.

Panto: Ribbon Stars

Here is a split nine patch, making beautiful use of patriotic fabrics.

Panto: Simply Stars

Same backing on this one, too.

One of my customers made good use of donated fabrics from a member of the evening guild. She made these two charity quilts, both using plaids, and I think someone will love to recieve them from Family Connection. 

I love this scrappy look. I studied the block to see how it was made. It is an easy sew, using a square, one 2 1/2 inch piece the length of the square, and one 2 1/2 inch strip the length of the first sewn side. ie: 5" square, 5 x 2 1/2 inch strip, and 7 1/2 x 2 1/2 inch strip. Then, the blocks are arranged by making one 90 degree turn on every other one. So easy, but so effective. I will be making this pattern soon! Think charm pack for the center and jelly roll for the strips...

Panto: Dazzle

The quilt is so soft and drapey with homespuns front and back!

The second quilt is this log cabin, set in the rows and furrows pattern. Again, she used the donated homespun plaids for the blocks.

Panto: Baptist Fan

The backing is an Eclectic Elements fabric, printed with cigar bands. Perfect!

I worked a few hours on the custome quilt, and hope to have it finished later today. It really looks nice. I don't have a new picture, but will by tomorrow.

The Australian fabric quilt is sewn together, and I am contemplating whether or not I will add a border. Because of the secondary 'spider' pattern, I will call it Aussie arachnids. ha ha

Do you see the black spiders formed by the background fabric? They sure jumped out to me.

My son has requested a new bed quilt, because the one I made many years ago is getting tattered from constant use (both for sleeping and pillow fort making during the Covid crisis). All he requested was that it be colorful, so I set tyo work making blocks from batiks and Kaffe fabrics. It takes 60 big blocks to make a king sized quilt, and I powered through making them yesterday. My design wall is too small for that size project, so I will be figuring it out by color and value on EQ, and then sewing it in quarters. I hate making giant quilts, but when one of the kids requests one, I am happy to oblige.

Piles of dark, medium and light blocks ready to assemble. It was a free tutorial  on line for a project called Ernie's quilt.

Out in the garden, I spied with my little eye this wierd flower blooming. I don't know what it is... I'm sure Mr Wazoo knows, but he was nowhere to be found when I was taking the photos. Every day there is something else coming on out there, and I always take a walkabout to see what's new. It is wonderful to have such a beautiful variety of flowers and plants to enjoy every day. 

This, I know, is Bee Balm. We have loads of therm in one part of the garden.

If this is Bee Balm, it is like no other variety I have seen before!! Three tiers of bloom coming from one flower. Interesting, but strange.

I finished the first huge batch of repairs on the vintage quilt while binge watching The Office every night, and will be making  some more patches for the places needing repair that I found when doing the hand sewing. Two sides need new strips, and it also needs new binding. A few more days and it will be done. Stay tuned!

Same old...same old?

Mr Wazoo got up early and switched out the new motor on my Millie for the old motor. Because the machine problem was in the computer components, he figured we could send the new motor back and get a refund. I went to the studio, loaded up a quilt and the machine was back to the grinding and malfunctioning. Needless to say, we spent the next two hours on the phone having our new tech friend at APQS remedy the situation. I am keeping the new motor, and Mr W will NOT be employee of the month!
By noon we had things back to normal and humming along. Here is the first quilt hot off the working machine.

Another giant quilt! But, oh, so pretty!!

I would like to make this colorway into a quilt. I think it's really beautiful.

Panto : Texas Fan

It has a pieced back as well.

Yesterday, I finished this customer whole cloth, pre-printed quilt from Minnick and Simpson. I bought the same piece, and now I can't wait to quilt mine!

I like Minnick and Simpson fabrics, and this whole cloth is representitive of them. Plus it's a great sampler!

Panto: Frolic

A peek at the back.

I contracted out the embroidery for the commission project with the bowties, and got it back on Friday. I finished the construction and just have to finish the custom quilt on the Gammill.

Here are a couple of pics of the custom quilting in progress. It may be slow going, but it is turning out well.

I think it will make them very happy. 

The blocks are done for the Twirla quilt, too. I'm not sure if there will be sashing or not. The intersections between the blocks look like spiders! Hmmm...I'll have to stare at it a bit longer to make a decision.

I plan to make another version to see if changing colors of the twirls would look better. I'm not in love with this yet.

Out in the real world, the pandemic is not going away and the numbers are continuing to rise. Our rural county has 53 confirmed cases and 2 dead. We look daily at the Health Department's Covid 19 site to see what's happening. Mr W and I will be wearing our masks in public and staying home as much as possible. My daughter in Oregon is doing testing in the parking lot of her clinic, and sent me a photo with all her protective gear on. It is a little scary to know she is exposed to all the affected people every day, but I know she is being careful.

The gardens took another beating during the heavy rains we had, but there are some new blooms coming on, and everything is still lovely. Walking through the yard and gardens each morning and late afternoon makes me happy and relaxed. Maybe I should reconsider the Employee of the Month after all...

She says she was sweating her can off with all the stuff on.

Ther St. John's Wort is starting to bloom. We had heavy dew last night, so the plants were shimmering in the sunshine.

I love the delicate stamen.

I have no idea what this is. Maybe I'll have an idea when it fully opens. Isn't it  crazy looking?

This is another lily variety we got at the farmer's market here in town a few years ago.

I have a lot of balls in the air right now, so you'll have to come back again to see what transpires here at Wazoo. Never a dull moment, always a surprise.

Shingles shot slowdown

I had my second shingles shot on Monday and on Tuesday I had the same reaction as with the first one. My arm has a swollen, hot lump and bruise at the injection site, and pain in the upper arm and on up into my neck. Last time it took a week to get better, so I am not going to freak out over it. I also felt crummy and fatigued. Work was a slog, and I quit early at 5PM. At least I won't get shingles!
The big batik quilt from Sunday is finished, as well as a bright unicorn quilt. Young girls love unicorns and rainbows, and this customer's granddaughter is no exception!

This quilt turned out especially nice.

The panto is hard to see, but looks like an old time hand potato masher. It is called AC Geometric, but I will call it Potato Masher!

Perfect backing for the quilt's colors.

 

Here is a straight on photo.

I sewed another block for the Twirla quilt. I'm thinking it is just  "meh..." so far.  A bit too blah for me.

Here are the eye popping unicorns. Wow! That's colorful.

Panto: Butterflies

The customer's tween girl will love this.

It is pouring rain again today, so I think I will be happy in the studio. The custom quilt is slowly coming along, although it is boring to do. I am outlining every element and doing background fill. That's it. Slow and steady wins the race!

A pleasant Sunday sew day

I stayed home yesterday and sewed while listening to my classical music playlist. My sewing was slower and more methodical, making the stack and slash blocks. They require three cutting and trimming steps during the construction so it takes longer to make one pair of blocks. Here is what I have so far.

The blocks are big, 14" square, and I only need 20 for the quilt.

With Millie back in business, I was able to quilt at the same time as I was sewing.It felt good to get some of there backlog of quilts out of the way.

The first Nancy Drew quilt is done.

Panto: Posh

Here's the back

This Nancy Drew is a bit smaller.

Panto: Woven Wind

Same backing

The customer's husband wanted a flag for his man cave. I think she did a really good job with it!

Panto: Star Swirl

Great backing, too

This bright quilt is underway and should be finished today. I have a doctor appointment for my second shingles shot, and will be in the studio after that.

I realized yesterday when Molly and I went up to the living area, that I had never shown you the back of the house. We have a nice, big screen porch where we can sit and enjoy the back garden.
I'm off to the doctor! She is doing her appointments in the parking lot. I'm hoping there isn't a weigh in...I have gained a bit of weight staying home and enjoying all manner of comfort food. Bad Susan!