Switching gears

There have been ups and downs for a few days; the APQS (the computer, really) has been fighting me on every quilt. I have contacted Microsoft again and done everything they recommend, but the computer still has a long lag time from screen to screen. I am trying to sell the machine, so this isn't good. I was able to finish a couple of small quilts, but I am dead in the water on one right now. Sigh...sometimes I just want to scream!! There will be more phone calls today.

I did get a couple of quilts done, but it took three times as long as it should have.

                                         

                                               First, I quilted and bound this batik BQ2

The panto is a leafy vine pattern.

                           I got this batik for the backing on a shopping trip to Cumming.

The 30s quilt is also ready for hand sewing!

I used one of my favorite patterns, Splat, for the quilting

I found this sweet bluebird fabric at my local quilt shop. I love it!

Outside, it has been glorious! Mr Wazoo has the yard looking ready for it's close-up with everything trimmed and beautiful. I thought I'd show you the new house numbers I bought in Texas at the Mexican pottery store. The house has the nicest curb appeal!!

My friend, Nancy, found the number holder on a day trip to Mexico. Thanks, Nancy!

Here is the house. My studio is in the lower  part.

I've been sewing tee shirts for a few days, and have the first of two long twin ones ready to quilt. The customer collected Day of the Dead and Frida Kahlo shirts for years to get this collection. She requested bright colors for the sashing. Frida is famous for her art as well as her sayings. The ones on the quilt translate to: "What doesn't kill me, feeds me", "Everything can have beauty, even the most horrible", and finally, "I hope the exit is happy, and hope never to return ". In the shirt with many skeletal people it says, "For there to be rich, millions of poor people are needed". So pithy and deep. Frida was eloquently outspoken.

The poor people

"The life of the dead endures in the memory of the living."

Live and dead Frida. The man in the heart on her forehead is her husband, Diego Rivera, a famous Mexican artist and staunch communist. They were married, divorced, and married again. He was quite a ladies man. The saying is, "I hope the exit is happy, and hope never to return."

Quilt top number one. I sewed the skull in the bowler hat to the shirt with the ribs for some continuity. The headless ribs seemed a bit strange to me.

I also finally got a haircut!! It feels so much better.

Think of the most annoying thing you cam...like fingernails on the chalkboard...then picture this happening a few times a day while you are trying to read and understand how to fix your computer. 

 

Sewing, quilting and coasting through life

 One of these days I will have to clean house. Not today, though... The woman who cleans for us every other week has broken her leg and is out of action. It's not that I am a snob about cleaning, but with my back pain and un-fixed breaks, I am having trouble vacuuming and getting the bathtub clean. I keep the toilets clean (nobody tolerates a yucky commode) and clean the sinks and counter tops throughout the house. I dust and swiffer, and tidy up when it gets way to cluttered. Maybe Mr Wazoo will come inside and help change the sheets and vacuum...we'll see.

Meanwhile, I have been sewing and quilting in spurts and getting the Texas tops done. I just finished this lap quilt and feel good with how it turned out.

I like this pattern! It is made with a jelly roll, and an enormous amount of background fabric.

The panto is Frolic, with flowers and hearts.

I had this lime green raindrop fabric for the backing, and a lime and green stripe fabric for the binding.

I haven't finished the hand sewing on that yet.

I also worked on the 30s top, and have it all sewn and trimmed. I chickened out on the setting triangles after wasting two fabrics making the triangles and later rejecting them. I am going to finish it like the pattern calls for. I should be able to get it quilted in the next couple of days.

I have spent quite a bit of quality time on the phone with Microsoft and APQS this week, getting the long lag time between screens resolved. Sometimes I want to throw in the towel, but I need the machine and computer to like each other, so I keep trying. I hope it cooperates today.

Quilt top in progress, the last rows sewn on and now it has also been trimmed and stay stitched for quilting.

On Labor Day I ventured over to Meeks Park here in Blairsville for a long hike around the trails. We are so fortunate to have this lovely, and gigantic, property here for the people to enjoy. There are 4.6 miles of trails, both easy and difficult, and I spent the afternoon trying them out. At the midpoint of one trail is an outdoor exercise area where you use your own body weight for resistance to do exercises found in the swankiest of gyms. I tried most of them, giving a pass to the twisting ones for fear I would further injure my back. Actually, it was kind of fun!

There is a beautiful creek running through the lower parts of the trails. The water is shallow enough for this father and daughter to cool off their feet.

A scenic span of rapids flows under a walking bridge that connects two portions of the trail.

Near the creek is a grist mill. I didn't stop to check it out closer.

Here is the exercise area. There was one other lady there with me and we giggled and groaned our way through the different pieces of equipment.

After the stop at the exercise area, I took the upper trail that went into the woods and then along the creek on the other side.

Going uphill was a lung workout, as well as a leg burner!

The trail follows the perimeter of the baseball fields and then turns to parallel the main road, back into the woods. My phone was dying, so I don't have pictures in the dog walking area where there are two trails through the woods where dogs are allowed. The planners thought of everything! There are stations with waste baggies along the way, so people can pick up after their pets. There is also a frisbee golf course! Wow! I am so impressed with the entire place. I'll be walking here a few times a week if all goes well.

Now, back to the studio!

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More road tripping and quilting

I have made some progress on the 30s quilt. I finished a load of blocks, but I didn't need them all for the size quilt I intend to have in the end. I'll have nine blocks left over to make a child's quilt with. Yippee!

All the blocks together on the design wall

I took this so you could see the different fabrics better

The pattern said to sew the blocks together and then cut them off on all sides to make the usual rectangle shape. I didn't want to cut my pretty blocks, so I made setting and corner triangles from another 30s fabric from my stash. I'll work on it over the weekend.

Later in the week, I was on a spontaneous road trip with a friend to deliver some of her quilts to a longarm quilter in Franklin, NC. Its a pretty drive there, so I went along. After all the quilts were safely dropped off, we moseyed  next door to the fabric shop where my friend picked up next month's block-of-the-month, and I bought a jelly roll, some glue stick refills, and two pieces of fabric.

We had some lunch and stopped on the way home at the shop in Hayesville, but I didn't get anything there. My back was really hurting by now, so the fabric wasn't appealing to me.

My friend also needed to stop briefly and pick something up at a fellow quilter's home. It was one of the most beautiful properties I have seen. While admiring the yard, I was surprised to see a small graveyard in one corner! I thought that was a real novelty, and had to go take a closer look.

While admiring the two tiered tree house, I spied the graves

Most of the graves were so old and worn down, it was impossible to see any names or dates.

The tall grave stone was the best preserved one

William F Davis

Born: 1858, Died: 1907

Under a nearby tree was the oldest legible grave.

Andrew Barnard; Born: 1799, Died:1869

Wow! Too cool to have this in your yard. It was part of the property, so the homeowners keep it maintained. It must be an old family plot, long abandoned by the remaining family members.Kudos to these people for respecting the resting place of people they don't know.

On the property they have the wonderful barn, where the husband has his workshop and the wife (quilter) has her sewing studio.

The view from the house in all directions is stunning. Prairie grasses roll down the slope in the front with mountains in the distance. In the back, is a lovely wooded valley with more mountain views.

It was worth the stop just to see this.

Back at home, I added the binding to a quilt from the day before, and did the hand sewing before retiring for the night.

I made this BQ2 quilt in Texas, and quilted it with a swirly water pattern

I've had this koi fabric for years and am happy to finally use it in a quilt that shows off the print

On the back is the star Grunge. I used the green batik from the top for the binding.

Today, I quilted this cheerful lap quilt

The panto is Funky Fans

The backing is one of the prints from the top. I bound it in this happy stripe.

I'm making slow progress on all the tops I made in Texas. As long as my back holds out, I should be able to get them all done in a month or so and take a rest.

Have a happy and safe Labor Day weekend!

 

Slow sewing, new projects

I'm sorry for being slack writing the blog posts, but there isn't much to report! The last quilt I showed you (with all the fruit fabrics) is finished, as well as a layer cake quilt I put together in Texas. One day last week I spent two hours on the computer chatting with a techie from Microsoft trying to resolve the glitch in the computerized system. He was very helpful, and we resolved almost all the problems I have been having. Almost...  More about that after some finished quilt photos!

Tutti-Fruiti is quilted and bound!

Panto: Yodel

The backing is this snail print that I thought was fruit! I also bound it with this fabric.

I loved the 10 inch squares pack I got at the shop in Dahlonega, and made one of the patterns from a leaflet I got in Wisconsin! The border is a Kaffe Fassett floral from my stash.

I used a diagonal potato-masher type panto that I can't remember the name of. 

It looks nice on the bright colors.

Speaking of bright...how about this Tula Pink fabric?! I knew it would make a statement on the back. The same Kaffe fabric from the border made up the binding.

The computer froze only once with this quilt, and woke back up on t's own after a ten minute pause in quilting. I thought it was all fixed, but it seems something still isn't right.

A man called wanting his favorite quilt from his childhood repaired so his grandkids could use it when they come to visit. His mother made it for him when he was a lad, and he used it throughout his life until he married. Wow! And with bunnies on it. He is one self-confident man.

The worst damage is in one corner. I will add new batting and then sew back the torn pieces.

It wasn't very heavily quilted, making it vulnerable to ripping with constant use.

I laid the torn top piece over the gaping hole to see how difficult it will be to repair. Not so bad!

There are a few of these 'corner' tears, caused by his pet cat.

This one is a straight tear with two smaller claw tears at the top and bottom.

Oops! A seam has also been torn open.

Here is the entire quilt with the bad corner folded over the hole.

I have made some progress with the 30s fabric blocks, too. It has been piecemeal with that quilt because of all the other things going on. The Microsoft call, running the longarm, and a couple of road trips to shops out of town with my Traveling-Trio. Life is different but not as boring as just sitting here waiting for the doctor to see me.

Pieces-parts organized for construction.

Time out to sew the binding for the colorful quilt

The first set of blocks arranged in the layout of the pattern. I have loads more  to sew, so the color distribution will certainly improve!

Outside, new things are blooming, replacing the spent blooms of the mid-summer plants.

This planter gives me pleasure every day because it is right outside my window!

The hummingbird feeder has been busy, too, with three birds fighting over the two nectar pots. Mr Wand I sat on the porch bench and watched the battle for 20 minutes or so before each returning to our work. It was a nice break.

Hmmm...One reason you may not want to eat dinner on a tray is the scavengers that hang around, ever hopeful something will fall on the floor. Tough luck, Penny! I'm good at precision eating.