Bumbling through my workday

Back at work, I was feeling pretty good quilting with only a clumsy left hand to let me know I had done something really dumb just a couple of days ago. I was able to change to a smaller bandage (two bandaids in a T configuration) and a protective splint to keep from bumping the wound. That, and pain medicine, had me in control and making quilty progress!

Soft, cloth bandaids with a coating of triple antibiotic ointment underneath

My finger armor over the wound.

This is the quilt I was trimming when I had my accident.

I worked hard to remove all the blood splatter, and am happy to report it looks fine!

Cute backing shows off the panto: On the Road Again

I didn't bother to take a picture of the next two quilts because they are identical to this one, with different color borders and thread choices for quilting. The last of the four quilts was a baby quilt. I did one row before having a problem. It wasn't noticeable until the quilt rolled up far enough to see there was a tuck in the center portion of the backing where it had been added to make the backing wider. I spent the next couple of hours picking out three rows, cleaning up all the stray threads, and re-quilting it.

The quilt isn't trimmed in this picture because I had a large repair quilt on the cutting table, but you get the idea. The small patches have fun patterns of airplanes, trucks, cars and dogs!

I chose the panto; Conduit, because of the squares and circles that echo the pattern in the sashing and border fabrics. 

The quilt is for a boy.

Same coral thread on the backing.

After loading the quilt that I couldn't do a couple of days ago because of the too small back, I worked for a while making repair pieces for the next project I'll be doing. There are 61 pieces to replace, so I did about a third of them and carried it upstairs to work on. I'll do this in  sections so the pieces don't get too wrinkly or messy before having a chance to sew them down.

My next sewing adventure awaits.

Tomorrow I will be forging on with this big beauty.

106 x 113"! There are only a few inches of free canvas at each end of the rollers. Yikes! I'm just glad I don't have to do the binding on this one!!

Hey! Maybe this is the guild I'll attend when I'm in Texas.

My rotary cutter bit me!!

 If you're not a quilter, you won't understand just what happened to me today. I was happily trimming a finished customer quilt, and my rotary cutter jumped the ruler edge and sliced a big chunk off the top of my left middle finger, including half of my fingernail down into the nail bed. Needless to say, I let out a profane scream of pain. I must have sliced a small artery, because the spray of blood droplets went in a wide arc over the pristine quilt.

This is the exact model of cutter I was using. A 60 mm Olfa.

If you aren't familiar with them, A rotary cutter is like a pizza cutter but with a razorblade for the wheel.

Trust me...it really hurts!!

Mr Wazoo sped me over to the ER and I got cauterized and patched up. Needless to say, It will take a long time to rejuvenate skin and regrow the nail. Did I say it really hurts? It really hurts! I have been fortunate to never cut myself before in thirty years of quilting.

Back in the studio with my new attractive dressing.

I got a nice message from my eldest daughter who will be having a birthday on Friday. She said she really liked the men in hats quilt, so I decided to do this...

Binding on and ready to go!

Happy Birthday!

No more quilting got done. I spent an hour or so spitting on the blood droplets (FYI: only the enzymes in the bleeder's spit will remove the bleeder's blood) and using a bit of Oxyclean liquid and elbow grease to get the last shadows of stain off the customer's quilt. Thankfully, the blood all came out. I will take a picture tomorrow. Right now, I'll leave my hard core quilting friends with this.

A new flimsy and some design changes

*Insert a big sigh here...After making all those swags for the customer quilt, I laid out the border and prepared to get them sewn on. Oops. When I couldn't figure out why they didn't fit, I looked at the book where the customer got the pattern and saw why.

Here is a picture of what she made.

Here is a picture with the swag border.

Duh! Silly me, in my excitement to find the same quilt with a border, I didn't notice the difference in the two quilts. Hers has the 5 inch wide sashing and border and the swag one has narrower sashing and inner border. Even with the flower and leaves (yes, I made those, too...sigh again) the area between the blocks was too big to cover and look decent. After all that work, I wasn't going to mess with it further. I chucked the idea, jumped in the car, made the speed trip to the fabric shop and bought some fabric for a new border. I was able to use some of the white borders I had made, and cut new blue floral ones from the fabric I bought. The borders will be the only part of the quilt that has pattern, but I think they'll look fine. I'll get them sewn on tomorrow.

This is the quilt

I am planning a three part border that will have some nice quilting in the white part.

The print has three of the quilt's colors and the blue is just a tad darker than the solid blue.

The rest of the day went well. I quilted two quilts from the same customer, but couldn't do the third one because (drumroll here...) the back is too small. Too bad. The quilt will be beautiful when it is done, but the customer needs to fix the back first.

First up, this lovely, soft baby quilt

I used a pale yellow thread and a panto of flowers and feathers.

It shows up nicely on the back.

Next was this bright appliquéd quilt with flowers, birds, bugs and dragonflies.

I didn't want to obscure the appliqué with a busy panto, so I opted for this dragonfly pattern that went perfectly with the motifs on the quilt.

Here is one of the appliqué dragonflies.

Bright lime green backing swallowed the yellow thread, but still has some texture.

Once I had the dilemma of the border solved and Millie doing her thing, I was able to do a bit of fun sewing. Instead of the wide border of triangles, I opted for piano keys of the plaids I used in the men in hat blocks to make the outer border for the quilt. It took a while to cut and sew the bits together, but not was totally worth the fuss! Hopefully, I'll get it quilted yet this month. The pattern is Oklahoma Boomer.

Ta Da! Please excuse Penny's pen in the picture. The quilt is pretty big.

The real OK Boomers, 1889

 

Busy, fun weekend

 Another week has passed and I am getting closer to my goal of finishing the quilts in the queue. I did a couple of customer quilts over the weekend, and another of the nine tee shirt quilts.

This lovely Storm at Sea quilt was made by the same customer as the baby Einstein and Peanuts quilts.  

Panto: Bora Bora, which looks like rolling waves

The backing is the same as the background fabric

This oriental style quilt is the last of five quilts for the same customer. (Peanuts, et al)

Panto: Blowing Grasses

The backing is this wonderful crane print.

This quilt is totally done. Binding is on and it's ready to go

Same panto as the others.

I quilted this tee shirt quilt, making my finished pile seven quilts. Two to go!

Same rounded square panto

Different backing, looks like hashtags or number signs.

I am getting closer to having a completed flimsy of men in hats. It needs a final pieced border and then some quilting.

The blocks are sewn in and a finish is near!

My assistant spends some of her time resting between bursts of naughtiness. She had three walks and one zoom session outside on Sunday, and still pooped on the rug! Sigh...

But, isn't she cute?

Moving along with projects

 I have been quite busy these past few days, quilting customer projects as well as doing some sewing. The next tee shirt quilt flimsy is finished and ready for quilting, and I have the swags cut for a  customer quilt I am enlarging for her. Last night, I cut them out and turned the edges so I can begin the appliqué.

The black border is also on, but I took this picture before I sewed it.

14 long swags and 4 corner ones, all ready to be trimmed, turned and appliquéd. I have the 18 flowers ready, too, but need to press them better before turning the edges.

My customers have been busy at home, sewing up some pretty tops.

First is this spectacular hexi quilt. Most of the flowers are fussy cut, making it even more special. The colors are wonderful, too!

The maker chose this panto that I think looks a lot like the hexies! I don't remember the name of it, but I call it Covid...

The backing is appropriate for the design, too!

This customer has made several of these controlled color, plaid looking quilts. Her use of dark-medium-light to give the illusion of a woven plaid is very clever.

Panto: Lockets

The hears are sweet and feminine. The quilt is for a granddaughter.

Charlie Brown!! I love Peanuts, and had the book Happiness is a Warm Puppy when I was in High School many moons ago. The customer said she has had the kit for this quilt for ages and was finally determined to make it. Good job!

Panto: Simply Swirls in bright yellow thread

The quilt is  "big-boy" bed size for a grandson.

Remember Baby Einstein? I had some of these fabrics way back when, and made a couple of baby quilts from them,. The customer had the panel and supporting cast of prints and finally put them together.

Panto: Stars and Swirls in fluorescent green thread.

I love the red dot fabric for the back.

All week, I have been slowly making the men in hats blocks. I now have 20 of them, but think I need one more row...

I had them laid out four across and five down, but the quilt looked too long for the width. One more row, some sashing and a border will make this a fairly large quilt. Not sure yet where I am going to end up with this one, but I like it so far!

Here is the last photo of Penny in her soft collar. I took it off yesterday and gave her a thorough brushing. She still looks like a ragamuffin, but at least she has no mats or tangles in her super soft, curly fur.

Today I hope to get the borders with the swags ready and maybe sewn. I also need to get pieces cut for the spider-web repair. 

I'll be going to Texas in April for six weeks to look after my Dad. My sister needs a respite, and my brother and I will be splitting the time in the Summer to give her a well needed break. I hope to take a few projects to work on as well as a couple of repairs to finish. I can mail them back when I'm done, making everyone happy.

My Dad's 14 year old dog, Millie, passed away this week and I'm sure he is acutely feeling the loss. That dog was the world to him. Maybe my sister's dog and Penny will give him his pup fix to get him through this difficult time. I hope so. Dad is 98 years old, lives by himself with assistance from my sister and home health, and manages pretty well. I'm happy to step in for a while and cook for him as well as ferry him to doctors and shopping. Mr Wazoo has decided to go along, so it will be a family affair.

Millie and Dad at her graduation from obedience school

Millie doing her tricks with Dad

Miss Millie