Another week passed! How time flies.

 We had another busy week here at Wazoo. I traveled to Gainsville twice for treatment on my back, which shot an entire day each time. We did a Sam's run while we were there, and the freezer is now full of goodies. This is because my daughter and her husband are coming to visit all the way from Arizona! I haven't seen her in two years because of Covid, so this is a major event for me.

She sent this photo from the airplane while waiting to take off.

I can't believe they will be here tomorrow!

Meanwhile, in the studio on the few days not spent running around, I sewed and quilted a bit. Mostly quilting took place. I finished quilting and binding the charity quilts I had from the guild, as well as quilting my mystery quilt and getting it bound. I am ready for show and tell later in the month.

Charity #1

Panto:Paisley

here's the backing. I didn't take another picture after binding it. Sorry.

Charity #2

Panto: Rounded square plaid

The back. No binding pic again...

My finished mystery quilt.

I forget the panto name, but to is a swirly pattern.

I had this fabric in my stash for the backing.

Binding on, all done!

I used the same blue batik to frame the border.

While enjoying my morning coffee, the hummingbirds have been frenetic in their preparation for migration. We have had up to 10 at a time trying to get to the nectar before anyone else. They peck and bump each other while chirping and humming. It is a dance worthy of my attention. All of a sudden...whump! A bird hit the screen next to me and passed out with her beak stuck in the screen and feet grasping it as well. She was out for about 5 minutes, and I feared she was dead, but then she started moving a bit. I gently pushed her beak back through the screen and she opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue. Once she had her wits about her, she flew to the fence and recovered a few minutes more before resuming the fight for food with the rest of the gang. Never a dull moment!

Unconscious and stuck. The poor thing really took a hard hit!

Another day, we had a praying mantis visit. It was on the screen just hanging out, turning right side up and right side down over and over while preening its head and feelers. It was fun to watch.

Our daughter in Oregon sent Mr Wazoo a bonsai tree for his birthday! He set it up outside my studio where it will get acclimated before being set into the final growing spot. I love the little guy fishing!

I sewed a few more of the neutral blocks. I'll be happy when this quilt is done. It is really boring to sew.

Well, my assistant is getting a little crazy and wants to get going. We're off to the studio for Funday-Sunday! I'll be sure to post what happened one this rainy September Sunday.

Running here and there...and some quilting!

 Last week was spent doing all sorts of fun and interesting things. Mr Wazoo had a birthday on Monday, so we took a ride to his favorite nursery for plants, then to Home Depot for a new cabinet for the porch. I made meatloaf for supper (his favorite), and we had cake and ice cream, too! 

Tuesday, I had guild, with Tammy Silvers of Tamarinis presenting a great trunk show and talk about using color in our quilts. Wednesday was the only day I had to quilt and sew. Mr W took the car to Cumming for new brake linings, and I played in the studio.

I got another charity quilt of my own quilted, and also quilted two of the quilts for the guild.

I finished this one and applied the binding .

Panto: Flower Power

I had this fabric in my stash for the backing.

Our mystery quilt for the evening guild is due in September, so I thought I would get caught up with last month and then, finish the top. I have some glaring errors in this project, but I have pressed on and kept apace with the clues. I added the last border only to discover it doesn't fit! Whether I did something wrong, or the pattern has an error I don't know. The top border was 1" too short! My fudging of this consists of two narrow green strips. I wasn't going to take apart all the components to make it fit, so this was a good addition. My lower triangle block of the star is wrong, also. When I squared it up, I think I missed the center by 1/2" Oh brother! I must have been totally distracted. Here is as far as I got on Wednesday.

I am adding a mall inner border of the dark blue to contain the card trick blocks, that stick out like sore thumbs! It would have been better with the focus fabric and either orange or yellow in the blocks.

On Thursday, Mr W and I went to Franklin, NC for the HQ Longarm club. I met the September speaker for the day guild, and we chatted about what she is going to present. She has a sit down longarm. Andrea ( the HQ expert and shop owner) had a presentation about tension problems, and I learned a lot. After the club meeting, Mr W and I drove to Clayton, GA to another plant nursery, but weren't inspired to buy anything there. I did see this skink there, and snapped a photo. I think his blue tail is the bomb!

I have never seen a two-toned skink before. So cool!

I had a girl's day out at a friend's house on Friday, where six of her English paper piecing group meet to do some hand sewing. She invited me to come, even though I don't do EPP. I took along my latest repair project and worked on that. We sewed on her screen porch and by 2:00, I was sweating! I sure am not a hot weather gal. The views from the porch were breathtaking, and that made it tolerable, as well as the conversation with new people. 

Friday was also our 40th wedding anniversary! Mr Wazoo gave me a glass hanging terrarium with a small plant inside. He hung it on the back porch where I enjoy my coffee every morning. He also found a tall wooden vase with a plastic lining that we will get a plant for. My son sent a gift card for a local restaurant, and we enjoyed dinner out for a change. Mr W had salmon, and I had a steak. Yummers! And no clean up! 

Saturday, I sewed! I quilted this wonderful delectable mountains project for Gail while working on the mystery quilt again.

Once again, Gail has made a beautiful quilt. Don't you love blue and white quilts?!

Panto: Swan's journey

The striped backing shows the panto very well.

Funday-Sunday was spent in frustration, trying to figure out something for the final border of the mystery quilt. I auditioned five different fabrics before deciding it needed  some of the orange dimples fabric carried out to the edge. I had 24" of the dimples, and 11"x50" left of the focus fabric. I had used the focus fabric for a backing on another quilt and had some big pieces left...so it became my focus for this mystery quilt. I did a bunch of math and decided to do a three piece border. I almost made it. I neglected to factor in the additional length needed to do the outer orange strips. Oops. A few bits of focus fabric made the last border fit. The other changes are the circles and the added points to the lopsided star in the center, I didn't like the square in the center, so I appliquéd a circle over it. Then I added the four small circles, all of them fussy cut to showcase the flowers in the fabric. The side points made the pattern more symmetrical and pleasing. I'm not enthralled with the final product, but think it looks better than it did!

I'll quilt it when I get some free time.

Today I am off to Gainsville for an assessment of my back pain and the result of the last ablation. My back pain has been pretty bad this last week, so I am interested in what the doctor says. On Thursday I have to return for my second round of injections. Ugh... Penny will hold down the fort from her favorite perch on the sofa. She's a good girl!

Funday-Sunday is here!

This morning's coffee on the porch with Penny was uneventful. It is gently raining and there is neither bird nor deer to entertain us. That's okay, though, because we have the whole day to sew and putter in the studio. I may go to see Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris this afternoon, but that depends on my movie friend, Leslie, and whether or not she can get away. It doesn't matter. I have lots of projects to keep me busy.

My trunk show on Monday was well received at the assisted living facility in Ellijay. The ladies were attentive and asked many questions.Thanks to my hauler-holder-folder buddy, Audrey, for her help with the heavy bags of quilts.

Back in the studio, I finished some customer projects and worked on a few projects of my own! First, was this flowery garden of Tilda fabrics. I thought butterflies flitting over the top would be appropriate to the subject matter.

So fresh and pretty! The maker tells me she didn't repeat any of the fabrics! Wow!

Butterflies, swirls and flowers in the quilting.

The backing is a lovely toile de Jouy. Idyllic scenes in the countryside.

I bought the pattern for the Mondo bag on one of my recent fabric shopping trips, and decided to give it a whirl even though I hate making bags. It turned out well, but it is really big! (I guess that's why it is the Mondo bag...) I had a box of leftover Kaffe 2 1/2" strips, so I used them in this project. The lining is a green and periwinkle dot fabric.

Here it is! I figure I can get a pretty big quilt in here for show and tell.

I like the lining, too!

Here is a look at one of the other sides. The blue fabric peeking out of the inside is the panel with the pocket in it. It's kind of a stupid pocket because it is on a slant in the bag. anything you put inn it would inevitably fall out. If I make another one, it won't have a pocket.

I recently succumbed to a dear friend's request to quilt her niece's first quilt. I figured it would be a small project, easily quilted and returned to the customer. Oh boy, was I wrong! It is 106x112". It took two days to finish, but it looks nice. She plans to use it on her king sized bed. I'm happy to not have to apply the binding!

One giant batik quilt. Perfectly square and flat! Pretty good for a first quilt.

I used a non-directional panto because I had to load the quilt sideways to fit it on.

The backing is this lighter batik, so I used a lighter thread than the steel blue one on the front.

A good way to switch gears is to make a 2-3-2-6 charity quilt...or two! That's what I did yesterday.

This fabric is from the sale room inn the Hayesville, NC shop. I think it will be a swell quilt for a gentleman in the nursing home.

Panto: Abracadabra

Solid steel blue on the back.

The second top is finished and will be quilted today. These fabrics came from Hobby Lobby.

If you want a chuckle every day and are on Pinterest, there is a guy from the UK who draws ridiculous pictures of reader's pets, complete with his take on their personalities. You should check him out. Here is my favorite so far, Patti O'Doors. Click the photo to see it enlarged.

                                       https://www.innstagram.com/portraitsbyhercule

Some finishes and prep for a trunk show.

Another week in the books, and a busy one coming up. I quilted a custom job for a friend, and have determined that I can't do this anymore...at least until my back is better. It was an easy project, but I had to stop a few times and rest when my back started to hurt too badly. Oh well, baby steps with my healing, which is so hard to do when there are quilts to be done.

This simple Chinese coins quilt is sophisticated in its use of color. The different fabrics are grouped by color family within the stacks of 'coins'. I love the soothing look of the quilt. These fabrics are all Tilda fabrics from a couple of different collections.

The customer requested ribbon candy quilting in the sashing and a double feather-leaf in the coins. It was a straightforward job, very zen to free motion quilt.

Lovely backing, too

The same customer also had this Edyta Sitar basket quilt to be done. This one used all Laundry Basket fabrics in the design. It is also quite beautiful.

Her piecing is precise and perfect. The hand buttonhole stitch on the basket handles added another level of expertise. The entire project is wonderful!

Panto: Alpine

The backing is one of the fabrics used in the construction of the top.

I worked on my Japanese indigos Usagi quilt, finishing the appliqué and adding the sashing, cornerstones and borders. Selecting the fabrics for the sashing and borders took a while, as I auditioned quite a few prospects before cutting and sewing. I am pleased with the resulting quilt top. I may hand quilt this with big stitch, but am apprehensive at how well I could do it. I'm not a stellar hand quilter.

Here is one block with the appliqué stitch shown

With the buttonhole appliqué done, I began adding the sashing and sewing the rows together

A few hours later, here is the finished top.

Around the yard, it is becoming evident Summer is on the wane. The hydrangea are getting their pink blush, and some are already turning brown. My pots are slowing down their blooming, and I have already emptied two that died completely. The hosta this year has been the biggest and most lush since we planted it years ago. Thankfully, the deer have left it alone this year. Mr Wazoo keeps everything weeded and trimmed, making our place a beautiful addition to the neighborhood.

We got another yard ornament at the Butternut Creek festival this year. This metal cut-out raccoon adds whimsey to the front yard.

The flowers may be slowing down, but the shades of green together  make a calm and soothing landscape.

Today, I have a trunk show to present in Ellijay and have my two giant duffles packed and ready to go. My friend Audrey will be with me again, helping hold and fold quilts. The last show was a big hit, so I am now engaged to go to the sister facility of the first place. There will be some napping done when I get home! It is a lot of work doing these shows, but worth it to bring some excitement and knowledge to people. Plus, someone gets a free quilt! It is a win-win situation for me and the audience.