WAZOO! May 2012 Retreat

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Deadlines and packing

Boy, am I ever happy to have the two quilts done that had to go out before I could go on the retreat! The black and flowery one was the difficult one. I had to sew down all the elements before quilting. It was fused, but not secured. The quilting was fun and went along nicely. The customer wanted echoing and is going to embellish it. I added some Swarovski crystals to the background to get her started!

The other quilt had yo-yos all over it, so quilting was tricky. It turned out nicely and is now going to New Jersey to be bound and sent off to a grandaughter. 

The last picture is my Mother's Day gift to myself! I sent for a kit from Quilting in the Rain after seeing it on Cluck Cluck Sew's blog. I loved it and thought I would like to make it for myself. A great retreat project.

The cookies are baked, wash is tumbling in the dryer and I have some of the sewing stuff staged and ready to go. Tomorrow I'll be on the road to Sebring for another fun WAZOO! retreat with 40 of my peeps! More to follow.

Happy Mother's Day to all you quilting Mamas!

Ramdom ramblings

My friend Becky has a small sewing group who make quilts for charitable causes. Someone stole 50 quilts these ladies had ready to give to the local Head Start center, and this made me furious. I don't know the particulars of who took them or why, but I knew I had to do something to help these ladies. I have a stash of charity quilts I donate to my two guilds each month, so I decided to unload what I have at home to Becky's group to get them started again with their unselfish work. If you come across someone on Ebay or some other quilt selling site...Esty? with 50 small quilts to sell, email me and I will pass it along to Becky. Anyway, I have added a couple of pics of the quilts I am giving her.

Wow! This morning when I took the pups out, there was a huge rainbow to the west. It was only a light rain, but the sun was low and caused the rainbow to appear. A nice way to begin my day! Now, it's off to work for me.

Weekend with some quilts

I decided to work this weekend and get closer to being on top of the work load; of course, it didn't do the trick and I still have oodles to do, but I feel like I made some progress.

The other thing I am now dabbling with is hexagons. I truly never thought I'd be making them, thinking it would be a tedious endeavor. it's actually a relaxing and very portable thing to do. Of course, I would have to make thousands of them for a quilt, but not so many for a few blocks or to applique onto another project. What do you think? Aren't they pretty?!

A week of work to see

Another week come and gone. Time flies by so quickly for me; I wish there were another couple of hours in a day. Anyhoo, I did get a bunch of quilts done for anxious customers, which also whittled down the line of tops hanging in the other room! Tomorrow, I will be making a tee shirt quilt for a customer. It will be a nice change of gears and a little diversion from quilting for hours and hours. Then, it's back to the Gammill and quilting fun. I really do love my job. The only downer is not having much time for my own sewing. Back to the time thing...if I could just figure out how to get some more time in a day. I bet you have thought the same thing, haven't you?!
Enjoy a few pictures of the quilts ready to go home with their makers.

Changing gears!

Today I did a pretty quilt for a customer. She hand embroidered it and I made the back, quilted it and applied the binding. It turned out quite nice, I think.

I looked out the window while working and there was the bright red cardinal on the bubbler! Mrs. Cardinal stayed under cover in the Queen Anne's Wreath vine, but she chirped at him to hurry up the whole time he was bathing. This pair is here all the time, and I think they are nesting now. I love my backyard view!

Work...and FUN!!

All work and no play makes Susan very sad; so it was a good thing I had a sewing day in the middle of a hard work week! I finished quilting two custom quilts as well as a few pantos, and then finished one of my own quilts. I hope to have the binding done tonight and send it to my niece as a surprise gift for her bed.
The strip pack came from one of my fav local quilt shops, Quilt Lovers Hangout, where they make a jelly roll size pack with fabrics from the shop. I love the mix and how happy it looks with the Kaufman Confection fabric. The stripe and the Kona white came from my other fav shop, Sandy's Quilt Shop. For the back, I used a perky striped sheet from Walmart. (yes, Walmart...and yes, a sheet) I will send the matching bottom sheet and pillow case to go with the quilt.
Tomorrow, I will be out and about to a show with the Red Hat ladies. Even this girl needs some fun now and again! Enjoy the pics!

Customer quilts

The quilt for my niece