Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold.

 I learned that song in the Girl Scouts. We sang it as a round, sitting around a campfire. Make new friends but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold. A circle is round, it has no end. That's how long I'll be your friend. I felt this today when an old friend called to say hello and thank me for the Wisconsin quilt. We were Girl Scouts together and are still friends these many years later. I think about her often, so it was good to hear her voice. Just knowing the quilt is in Wisconsin with her makes me happy!

This quilt is home where it belongs; in Wisconsin!

Back in the studio, The customer came and picked up his grandma's crazy quilt, and he was thrilled with it. A couple of days later, I got a call from his sister who also has one of Grannie's tops and wants hers to look as marvelous as her brother's. She is posting it to me next week. I wonder how many are out there?...

Gone home!

I also finished the queen sized tee shirt quilt. I managed to squeeze all the shirts on the front! 

I chose lime green for the binding to keep the color going clear to the edge.

There are a lot of shirts to look at in this one!

Panto: Rounded Squares

Swirly turquoise backing.

The last of the charity quilts has been quilted, and I'm now doing the buttonhole stitching on the bunny blocks. I have four more to do before I sew it all together.

I quilted and bound this lovely shadow quilt.

Pant: Watercolor flowers

The backing is the same as the binding. All ready for a nursing home resident.

I talk with my grandson a few times a week, and his latest excitement is the pace at which he is losing teeth. He is becoming a well funded boy!

Happily showing off the latest hole and the newest tooth poking through.

My son finds these little secret places for the family to go and cool off. 

Doesn't this look refreshing?

At my house, the temperatures have been cool in the mornings and warm in the afternoons. No scorching heat wave here. We have had a huge amount of rain this summer, so everything is full and lush. The deer come every day. The babies are growing and getting more inquisitive. This fawn came right out onto the driveway to give me a look. Then she scampered into the deep darkness of the woods. 

Mama is never far away. I suspect she was eyeing me, too.

Deer and skunks and bears...oh my! In the summer it is so dark in there, I don't venture in often.

At night, it is even scarier! Penny and I don't stray far from the sphere of light from the yard light.

My pots like the rain and sun, for sure!

Poor Penny got a close shave at the groomer. She probably jerked when her nose ws being buzzed with the trimmer. Silly girl. Thankfully, it grows back. She and I sit in the screen porch and have the morning coffee every day. It is so peaceful then. We watch the hummingbirds fight over the feeder, the deer pass through as if we weren't there, and squirrels and bunnies scampering through the crunchy leaves on the forest floor. What more could I ask for? Quilting!! Of course!

Slow stitching and works in progress

 This week was a bit slower than usual. I didn't have to go anywhere, and got a good bit of sewing and quilting done. Very s-l-o-w-l-y. When I take little breaks during the day, I find my back doesn't hurt as badly and I can accomplish more in the end. So I did some slow sewing and quilting, getting some projects closer to the finish line.

I finished the stitch-every-ditch quilting done on the crazy quilt, and I admit that made it way more stable. I did notice some split silks, and will be repairing the quilt when I'm done with the binding.

My favorite assistant photo bombed me again...

She loves to pose in front of the quilts!

Muslin backing and Hobbs 80/20 for batting.

Outside, the birds, bugs and butterflies are plentiful. The herd of deer come through daily with a big buck and two teen bucks with short antlers. The twin babies are getting bigger and their spots are almost gone.

Tiger swallowtails and these beauties (I think it is a spicebush swallowtail) come to my porch flower box daily.

All the small birds and the butterflies love these black-eyed Susans.

Pretty butterfly just wouldn't open his wings all the way.

On the quilting front, I have been working my way through some charity quilts for the guild.

This pretty quilt will go to a nursing home resident

Panto: Argus

The leafy panto really shows on the back.

This small quilt shows the love, doesn't it?

Panto: Heart struck. I had this backing in my stash.

Also from my stash is this lively stripe for the binding.

Last, but not least, is the tee shirt quilt. I received a note from the customer that she would like it to be queen sized. Hallelujah! There are 40 shirts to use, and it is much easier in a bigger quilt. I am assembling the rows into a top. Hopefully, I'll be ready to quilt it tomorrow!

Two rows to do today, then I'll be ready to quilt.

I'm off to the studio and more quilting adventures!

Time to go to work

Just a short post to keep you up to date. Yesterday, Mr W's sister came over from South Carolina to visit before returning to her home in Germany. We hadn't seen her for two years and had a nice (if very short) visit. She loved the studio and described it as "insane!". Oh dear...I guess it does look over the top to a non-quilter.

With only half a day to quilt, I managed to finish the quilting on another of my quilts. This will be a comfort quilt for a member of my evening guild. Members sign their names in the white block parts.

I made this quilt with the idea it would be given away.

Panto: Daisy chain

I chose the design because it is delicate and cheerful

Nice cherry backing, too.

I sewed the backing, pressed it and loaded up the crazy quilt while doing the quilting on the comfort quilt. I have decided it needs more stability, so I am following the edges of the block pieces as well as stitching the ditches between the blocks. It will take longer but look and age much better.

Loaded up and one row quilted. It may take more than one day to finish.

Mr Wazoo refilled the hummingbird feeder outside the back porch. I sit out there every day and have my morning coffee watching the deer, squirrels and birds start their day. We had three hummers fighting it out for a position on the feeder. Everyone took turns feeding, but the others would come chase the lucky bird away It is fun to watch their antics!

It was pouring rain when I took this picture. Today, the sun is out and everything is drippy.

Another warm day here in the mountains!

 

Rainy day quilting is the best!

You never have to feel bad about being inside quilting when it rains. I love the rain. When you see how great Mr Wazoo's yard looks, you'll know even the grumpy old man likes the rain. He just doesn't like to be out in it.

Lush, green and cool.

This came up in our wildflower bed

So did this!

I have a lot of work (play?) to do, so I have been spending time with the stash and the machines. It was wonderful to start up Big Bernina and do some sewing. I have a customer repair/finishing project I'm working on, and it is a delicate challenge. The customer's granny made several crazy quilts, and died before she could finish his. He wants it finished and a backing added. We discussed how people displayed crazy quilts without backs, but he wants it to be stabilized for display in his home. I will be replacing one silk that has split, joining the last five blocks into a row, and adding light batting and a muslin backing. The quilt will be stitched in the block ditches. I told him it would be baggy, but he is okay with that.

Today, I squared up and sewed the last five blocks into a row and attached it to the rest of the quilt.

The blocks are a whopping 16 1/2" square! Granny had skill with her needlework, and a nice collection of silks from old family dresses and scarves. The customer said she made this quilt (her last one) in the 1940s, but all the other quilts have the same fabrics.

One red piece has split. I have a stash of silks and will appliqué one here.

I like looking at her stitchwork. Lovely!!

I also started on a customer tee shirt quilt. I had the shirts prepped, so I squared them down and started arranging them on the design wall. This quilt will be two sided because there are 36 shirts and a bunch of small logos to use. I'll be working on this for a while!

Here are the shirts rough cut, waiting for their press on stabilizer.

Once I had the stabilizer pressed to the shirts (it took all day Sunday!) I was able to cut them down to size and get planning. There are lots of circle logos for this quilt. I hope to appliqué those on by machine tomorrow or Wednesday.

The other 12 shirts will be on the back.

Meanwhile, I quilted. I finished this Tilda-fabric-line quilt yesterday. The customer wanted wool batting, so the texture is wonderful.

I didn't have time to trim it before leaving the studio for the day, but it is all trimmed now and ready to go home.

Here's another look at the whole quilt.

Panto: Amethyst

The backing is pieced from more Tilda fabrics!

I also got a few charity quilts done, too. The binding and labels are ready. Things are piling up here.

This is a nursing home quilt. I figure it is for a man.

I used up leftover fabrics from my Wisconsin quilt and from other manly quilts.

This backing was in my stash. 

Here is a kid quilt with robots.

I got the fabrics in the Hayesville, NC shop. The panto is Geometric path.

I also had this backing in my stash.

This is another of the Texas projects I didn't get made while I was there last Summer.

The pattern is in the same little book from Wisconsin as the Minoquah Stars quilts.

I used a panto with pumpkins and leafy vines.

Another backing from my dandy stash.

I meant to post a picture of our Saturday supper. I have been making homemade pizza on Saturday nights ever since I got married way back in 1973. Two husbands, four kids and a few grands later, I am still making pizzas. Mr Wazoo isn't as fond of it as I am, so sometimes I have to make him something different. Not this week. He wanted to eat pizza, so I made him my favorite; sausage, spinach, mushroom, onion and olives. We ate the whole thing and finished the week happy. What have you been up to? I hope Summer is being good to you, too.

I wish there was "blog-smell". This was divine.

Yes, there is a fork on the tray, but I didn't need it.