Yes! I'm still here!

 A lot has happened since I last posted, and most of it is good. I got a message from a friend that I hadn't posted in a month...my bad. Preparation for the quilt show occupied most of my time, and working my way through the customer quilts that backed up while my machine was down. Hopefully, this won't happen again. So, welcome! Let's get caught up.

Our quilt show was a great success, making enough money to operate for another two years. I was fortunate to be awarded three ribbons! Some of my customer quilts had ribbons, too, but this guild doesn't recognize the quilter as a contributor to the final product. Too bad.  Anyhoo, here are my quilts and the customer quilts that I quilted.

Snowbirds at the beach

Usagi

Oklahoma Boomers

I dreamed of pinwheels

(it was held for quilting...but lost to a computer...again!)

Pretty birds

My self portrait

Here are the quilts from my customers.

Bunny's Christmas quilt

Judy's butterfly

Ruth's Delft dishes

Audrey's chickens

Barbara's chevrons

Audrey and my 9-patch and embroidery

Kathy's bunnies

Kay's swimmer

Liz's wool penny mat

Sally's cardinal

Sally's colorful circles

Barbara's Covid quilt

Kathy T.'s lovely sampler

Sally's Lillies

Teresa's posies

Judy's life sampler

My talented friend, Kay, won Best of Show with her Cuban street musicians.

She does magnificent work.

Kay also won the guild challenge with her "Jack" Sparrow jack of diamonds! I love that he's cradling a seam ripper! 

Missing the top prize in a squeaker was my buddy, Carlene. She made 

this fabulous EPP quilt. I had the honor of quilting it. She also won viewer's choice!

Here we are, looking as happy as we feel!

My quilt turning went well with standing room only both days! It was fun, but I'm glad it's over and we don't have to go crazy again until 2025.

The final diagnosis (after replacing every component of the computer system) on the HandiQuilter was a fault in the tablet software. The tablet was erased, re-programmed and is now behaving well. I even tried doing custom computer work on one quilt. Baby steps... It turned out okay!

My customer brought in this vintage quilt top that a relative made. She wanted it done custom instead of an edge to edge pattern. I studied the book, watched You tube and made a plan.

Overall, I used four pattern motifs to do the quilting.

Nothing too fancy, but still pretty.

She had white backing. I'm glad it looks nice!

There is quite a parade of quilts I've finished, so I will leave you with photos with few captions.

Enjoy!

Pam's Christmas raffle quilt for her church

Vintage quilt top from customer's great aunt

My job was to finish the job. The puffy polyester batting was sure different from what I'm used to!

Binding and label on.

Thanks for stopping by!

Downtime activity

 Because the machine is out of order, I have had time to prepare my talk for the quilt turning at the quilt show. I've been using Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of pieced quilt patterns to research the quilts and find out just what they are! It has been so interesting and fun. I'm learning a lot!

Here is a sample of some of the quilts people have turned in so far.

I love these string stars. I think the maker meant to make 8 pointed stars, but something went awry. Barbara doesn't have a single entry of a seven pointed star, so this is a one-of-a-kind quilt!

My first guess was Dresden Plate, but that pattern has pointed sections. Who knew? Duh! Barbara knew.

This pattern is called Friendship ring, a mid-19th century offering by Coats and Clark in their booklet Heirloom Quilts.

Doll quilt and pillow

two generation quilt

Baby quilt from 1944

Improved nine patch

This was a boggler! It looks like Monkey Wrench and Snail Trail had a baby.

I think the maker was going for one or the other, but when she added the alternating plain blocks, it went goofy. Plus, many of the blocks are constructed differently! Another one of a kind. The Prarie Points add another bit of whimsy to the quilt.

This Hummingbird quilt is from my collection.

So is this 9 patch on point.

A sweet 1940s baby quilt, probably from a kit.

My Mom started this in 1944. She did the shoe... I finished it in 2019!

It is a kit from a company called Paragon, still going strong today.

This postage stamp Trip Around the World is from my collection, too.

The Ladies Art Company came up with this pattern around 1898. This specimen is likely from the 40s.

This is called Crazy Patch Bouquet. It was a free pattern in the Chicago Tribune, 10/24/1933.

This is a Goosetracks pattern first seen in 1895

Broken Star

This is an old pattern called Crossroads. It was also in a magazine in 1969! Quilt patterns are forever.

Maple Leaf was first published Wallace's Farmer periodical in 1928, but has been around in Iowa since 1898.

No name here! This is a tied utility quilt made from funeral flower arrangements. I don't understand how that is done, but it is silky-like fabrics

I have 35 quilts to show, so this is just a teaser. If you are in North Georgia on the 22nd and 23rd, come and see the quilts, and the quilt turning.

As for the Handi Quilter...the part came today. Mr Wazoo will be using these photos to re-assemble everything. Fingers crossed I will be back at work tomorrow afternoon. Stay tuned.

That's all for now. I hope to have pictures from the Cumming quilt show, if I can go. It is Next Friday, and the quilt week here starts on Saturday and I will be busy until late on the 23rd. I must get some rest!