A studio tour on an ordinary work day

We are in the rhythm of completing projects for customers, and really not keeping the place tidy...but that's when quilters should show you their studios! On an ordinary day...when things aren't put up and perfect. The quilts we are working on are beautiful, but they do come and go. The studio is the heart of our enterprise, and is always here for us. So let's take a look!

Here is my stash! I love this wall of the studio. I get a feeling of calm just looking at it.
Must be love...

My sewing area is not very tidy right now.
Poor old Pfaff foot pedal died this week and I have one on order. Miss Bernina is up and working,
so I never have a lapse in sewing ability.
Behind them is my less-than-half-yard storage unit from Ikea. The top is cluttered with ironing supplies, the music machine, rulers, design stuff (pencils and markers) as well as Mr Frog and a basket of sewing machine parts and small rulers. My ironing surface and design wall are at the left side of the photo. The folding ironing surface is for pressing while piecing. It is really handy for paper piecing.

These bins from Ikea are bursting with various widths of fabric strips.
Each is labeled by size. Handy for string quilts, trip quilts, log cabin quilts, or just scrappy rail fence quilts.

This is in the bathroom!
I store my trunk show quilts and utility quilts here.I fold them right side out to make it easier to find the one I'm looking for easily. We also store the vacuum cleaner, molly's bath supplies (the deep sink is in here) and some cleaning stuff.

Thread!! We have a lot of thread! The shelves roll out so we can see every wonderful cone. Packaged batting is also stored here, as well as in a cabinet in the garage next door. The bobbin winder and my longarm rulers are on top of the short shelves. Out of the picture, on the right, is a dorm frige and microwave. We could live in here, if we wanted to! Ha!

Paper pantographs. Sorted by theme.
Oh yes, Go Packers!!

Molly's domain. My books are here, as well as Molly's bed (she prefers the chair, of course),
My hand sewing supplies are on the table. The clock announces the hours with a different bird call every time. Mr Wazoo's longarm supplies are in the rolling cart.

He had this patriotic quilt in progress in the morning when we started working.

pretty quilt for a teenage grandson.

All finished by noon!

Panto: Star Spangled Banner

I am still working on this appliqued custom quilt, and will be for at least another day.

Mr W'a second quilt of the day will be there today for him to finish. You can see it was dark outside, so we quit for the day, and enjoyed a quiet evening of Midsommer Murders on the TV, and hand sewing the sleeve onto my show quilt.
The only thing I forgot to take a snap of was the cutting table. Ooh la la...one end is a foot deep in scraps waiting to be cut into strips, or to be re-stored in their proper place, and the other end is always kept clear for cutting, trimming quilts, and previewing and writing up customer quilts.
I also have a desk in the studio with the laptop and writing supplies. Bo-ring!!!
Let's just go back to the studio and have more quilting fun! 

Staying busy

We have been busy here at Wazoo, with quilting, physical therapy and preparation for the Florida show. I finished the quilting on my last show quilt, and got the sleeve, label and binding done, too! I can finally stop feeling nervous!!

Mr Wazoo is taking PT three times a week for his injured shoulder, and still manages to get at least one quilt done a day! Here are a couple of adorable quilts for grandkids of the customer.

Another pattern to try...my customers are all so talented!!

I love the triangles in the corners! And it would use loads of scraps, too!

The backing is wonderful!!

And then, there are Minions!! My brother loves them, and so does the grandkid of my customer!

Speaking of my brother...he had his Quilt of Valor ceremony and got the quilt I made. My son held his phone up while I was on the other end, watching on facetime!! Cool! It was almost as nice as being there. Almost.

There is my son with the phone on the left. Two of my brother's nephews held up the quilt.

Karen Demaree from QOV did the presentation.

Here is the quilt.

I also finished my door panel or skinny quilt for the silent auction. Mr Wazoo put it in the mail today. It turned out so quirky and fun. I hope it does well for the guild.

Machine applique in progress.

Finished! Quilted and binding, sleeve and label attached.

I love this quilting design. Its called Inkblot.

The quilt name is 'Happy Jacks' and even the backing has them!

Mr Wazoo had a panto / custom project to do yesterday. He did the center pantograph, and I finished the borders with some custom quilting. There is nothing on our machines this morning, so we need to get busy again and quilt!!

Very pretty reproduction quilt.

Panto: Come dance with me

Two custom borders.

Sun up to sun down, we're working for you!

The sunrise today was so beautiful, I just had to take a picture...or two!

Early on, it looked like this

only a half hour later, it looked like this!!

With our company on their way home, we buckled down and quilted the day away. I got all of the stitch in the ditch done today on this quilt. Its one of my own, and needs to be done for the Florida quilt show in a few weeks.

It pained me to see all the mis-matched corners and mistakes on the quilt
while I was stitching. Oh well, I love it, and it will live in the guest room soon.

Mr Wazoo stayed on task, finishing two identical quilts after finishing a quilt he loaded yesterday. Good boy!!

This Blue Ridge Parkway quilt was finished first.

Panto: swirl and twirl

He quilted two of these, both the same.

He used the panto yodel on both pretty quilts.

Mr Wazoo also did me a big favor while my sister was here. He finally made my wide ironing board!! It is wonderful for pressing backs and doing some fusing on big projects. Like the door panel I need to finish for the silent auction!

Ready for action!

Huge fabric piece? No problem!

I need to get this quilted and finished.Its called Happy Jacks and will be auctioned at the quilt show.

Molly patiently waited, but with the sunset, we quit working and went upstairs for a supper of beef stew made from yesterday's pot roast, collard greens and cornbread. Yummy!, and the filling end to a busy day.

Starting the new year with a bang!

The weather here has been on again off again as far as cold and rain are concerned. We have spent more than the usual time in the studio getting a jump on 2017 and the quilts in the queue. No sunshine means the man is indoors!
First up yesterday, I did two quilts for a favorite Florida customer, who has been patiently waiting for her quilts while we blasted through the Christmas orders.
This swirling log cabin made my heart sing while I quilted it. The scrappy reds are wonderful!

The different size logs make the illusion of curves!

Panto: Funky fans

 After that, I did a snazzy quilt with jewel tone stars in the piecing. I like the little friendship stars in the bigger stars.

Panto: Starlet

Mr Wazoo was also very busy with both quilting and studio projects to help us work more efficiently. What a guy! He finally made my big ironing board, and I can't wait to try it out tomorrow! The glue has to set up overnight. Then he made holders for our new Red Snappers Santa brought us for Christmas.

Here are mine, all stored for the day.

He also got some quilting done. My sister is coming in a couple of days and we had 13 quilts to get finished for her to take home with her to Texas. They are all done now, and we are ready for a fun visit.

The last of 13 wonderful quilts

Panto: Yodel

I finished, quilted and got the bindings done on three charity quilts over the last couple of days, and made a quick 2-3-2-6 today. It's quilted, but I ran out of steam before making the binding. Leave something for tomorrow, Susan!

free motion quilted

quilted with double hearts

I had this jungle animal fabric in my stash! Perfect for both quilt back.

More stash busting. I've had the airplane fabric forever!!

Panto: Zephyr

Today, I also quilted two quilts for another customer whose grandsons need bigger quilts. Too cute!! Cowboys and cavemen, great subject matter for little boys, don't you think?

She calls this one 'Buckaroos'

Panto: Simple Stars

The cavemen and dinosaurs are so cute!

Panto: Two Simple

I love the backing she chose, too!

In my spare moments (and there are more of them now that I am using the computerized pantographs) I designed and started making blocks for a Quilt of Valor. I really enjoyed making my brother's quilt, and want to keep making them. Maybe one a month, if I can fit them in.

Steak on the grill tonight! Well worth working until 6:15...Mr Wazoo is also a super grillmaster!!