Last quilt before vacation is done!

I have been working on this quilt for four days and I finished it just in time to pack and go to Texas! I think it is  beautifully made and very soothing to look at. A real winner, if you ask me.
Enjoy looking over the quilt. I will be sure to keep you all up on our time off having fun.

Gorgeous customer quilt

the borders

one corner

enjoy looking at some of the stars...

egg and dart border

center medallion

view of the quilting

more stars...

Happy Fourth! It's a sewing day!

I usually take off from the Gammill on holidays, and today I just did one small quilt for Mr Wazoo and then set off to the sewing machine.  My sister asked if I had seen the latest Missouri Star Quilt Company tutorial, the disappearing hourglass, and I had not. So I fired up the laptop and watched Jenny make a block. Nice star block. Thought I should be able to do this easily, right? Well, maybe...
The initial sewing went fast, sewing around all four sides of the ten inch squares and cutting them in quarters diagonally. Even the hourglass part was a breeze. Then you're supposed to measure the blocks and cut them into three equal parts in both directions. Easier said then done. Not all my blocks are equal in size, but close enough to square up to 12 3/4 inches square. So now, I am squaring them all up, then I will cut them into 4 1/4 inch segments. It's slow going, but I think the block is cool! I am taking them to Texas when I visit so my sister can see them. Meanwhile, back to work tomorrow.
Here is a picture of what I was working on before I stopped to sew the blocks. It is a beautiful quilt. I almost finished the stitch in the ditch, and will get going on the real quilting tomorrow.
Have a happy Fourth of July!

Pretty customer quilt, on hold for the day

massive amount of half square triangles

Yes, I really can sew in this mess.

All arranged and ready to go

Chain piecing makes for short work

Don't forget to press! See the little 4-patch? Perfect!

Stack of hourglass blocks to be squared and cut

I couldn't resist making just one block to see what they look like. Nice!

Mr Wazoo didn't take the day off. He quilted three quilts!

Deja vu or another dozen donuts

Over the weekend, I finished the dozen donuts quilt I made during the class. This one has only two fabrics, a real step out of the box for me. It's cute, though.
Also, I finished another Under the Sea quilt for a customer. You may say,"Deja Vu yet again!", but you would be mistaken. I did one for another customer just like it a bit ago. The quilt may look unfinished, but you need to imagine it with big, bright yo-yos on the sea creatures. Those get added now that its quilted. I'll see if I can snap a photo of the finished product when she brings it to show and tell.

another dozen donuts

lovely floral with tiny bugs

butterfly quilting

Sea creature quilt

'Watery' quilting

Seaweed border quilting

Watery backing, too!

One Dozen Donuts, and eight happy quilters

Today was my One Dozen Donuts quilt class at the guild. Eight guild members took the class, and I think it was the first time there was a man in a class! Thanks to John for being brave enough to step up and sew with the ladies! He turned out to be a great student and a wonderful quilter. I brought the appropriate snack for the class, a box of donut holes! We found some crazy glasses at the venue and goofed around a bit at the end of the day. Seems to me it was a good time for all of us.
Enjoy the slideshow!

One Dozen Donuts quilt

A free photo slideshow by Smilebox

Work and play at Wazoo

Last weekend we took some time to get other things done besides quilting. Sometimes, even us die hard quilters need to do something else to keep our sanity. Mr Wazoo mowed lawns, laid sod and pruned everything in the back yard. You won't catch me outside in the Florida heat digging in the dirt! I am not a gardener at all, but I sure do enjoy the fruits of his labors. We have four pineapples coming on, and they are so cute! Miss Molly chased a bunny all over the back area, in and out of the plantings and finally to the bunny's escape through the space next to the gate. That called for a two hour nap on her part afterward.
My day was filled with the chores nobody likes; cleaning, paying bills and doing the laundry...yuk. When its done, I feel better, but actually doing it is a drag. I'd rather be sewing.
Speaking of sewing, I got to quilt a lovely hand embroidered piece on Sunday and Monday. The customer has to have the best satin stitch I have seen on an embroidered project. Really wonderful.
I finished the zig zag quilt I started at retreat, and made my demo pieces for my talk tonight at guild. I'll be demonstrating the 'world's easiest quilt' that I saw at the Fort Myers show. Fast and easy and just the size needed for our guild's Head Start quilts.
Today, I am back at work and happy to be there. Did I mention, I love my job!?

Customer embroidered quilt

A look at the quilting

One of the beautiful blocks

Border feathers

Do you see all four pineapples?

Here's one!

All neatly trimmed

One of many pots

portulaca

Molly take a breather

The easiest quilt in the world

Queen Anne's wreath in it's full glory

It reminds me of lilacs bck home in Wisconsin

A look back

I was cleaning up my computer files and came across some pictures from our guild class with Bonnie Hunter. If you ever wonder what makes me so happy every day, it is this; quilting! A little chain piecing and pretty soon, a whole quilt top. Put it on the longarm, and soon, it's a quilt! Honestly, I just love making quilts. It is my Zen.

Sewing at my nifty Sew-Ezi table Mr Wazoo gave me for Christmas

Chain piecing blocks

Just keep adding the next one and ...

Voila! The finished quilt!

Easiest quilt in the world tutorial

I have never posted a tutorial before, but this quilt is so cute, quick and easy, I felt it needed to be put out there. I first saw it at a quilt show demo in Fort Myers, Florida, and would like to give them props for the idea. I have made at least ten of these so far, as they are the perfect size for two of my guild's charity quilts for kids. It is also a great size for a last minute baby shower gift.
So, without further ado, the easiest quilt in the world.

For a 38 x 48 inch quilt, you will need 10 width of fabric strips cut 5" wide.

Begin by sewing the strips together into a 10 strip wide set, pressing each seam in the opposite direction as the previous one.

See how the seams are pressed? This will be important later!

When the strip set is finished, sew the first strip to the last strip, making a tube.

Lay the tube with the strips vertical, and cut 5" segments. You should get 8 of these.

Pick a fabric to be your upper left corner of the quilt. Pick out the stitching ABOVE this fabric, releasing the strip from its tube shape. With the second strip, pick out the stitches between the corner fabric and the one just below it. Continue doing this until all the strip sets are flat, and not tubes.

Because you pressed the seams in opposite directions, the strips will nest together nicely when you sew them together! Sew the strips in the order you un-picked them to get the diagonal effect shown. Or, mix 'em up, if you want! They always look cute because of the variety of fabrics.

Press well (I pressed mine all to one side because that was fast), sandwich and quilt.

All quilted and bound, ready to be loved by a lucky child!

I used all sorts of fun prints for this one.

I dug into the stash of cowboy prints and made seven of these!

More cowboy prints.

Thanks for looking at this tutorial! I hope you like making this easy quilt as much as I do!