It's been a while!

 I have been cruising along here at Wazoo and slowly making progress with my quilting. It is starting to be a routine of a few hours of sewing and quilting, then a long rest. A couple more hours in the studio, and then quit for the day. I may not get the quantity done that I used to, but I'm happy having something to do.

I got the first Day of the Dead tee shirt quilt put together, and today, I finished the quilting.

I added a small border to make it the size the customer requested.

I found this colorful backing on Backside Fabrics, and it was on sale!

I used the panto: Rounded Squares

The next quilt's blocks are prepped and are now staged on the wall.

This one is just as spooky-wonderful as the first one!

I have been trying to get some charity quilts done, as well. This top was donated and I got it quilted over a couple of days. I have two more donated tops still on the rack, but I don't know when I'll get to them.

I love scrappy quilts, and this one used calicos to make the pleasing arrangement.

Panto: Jetty

I had this green backing in my stash. 

I had to leave the quilt and binding unfinished when it was time to make supper. I have to go pick out my new glasses tomorrow morning, but I will get this done when I get home.

Last Thursday, we had a wonderful demo of the Amish star pot holder at guild. Robyn expertly showed us how the block is assembled and finished. She had printed directions for us, and I can't wait to find some time to try it out! It is really cool how it comes together.

Robyn had mock ups of each step of the construction.

She brought all these tantalizing samples for us to see.

Here is one close up so you can see better how it is constructed.

This was my set-up on the weekend for my Zoom presentation  about repairing quilts. Twice (yes...two times) I tripped over the leg of the quilt stand and fell between the chair and the table. I got a long scrape on my left shin, a bruised elbow and knee on the right side, as well as a tongue lashing from Mr Wazoo who witnessed me falling both times!! Like I meant to do it! Give me a break. He did apologize later, but I still feel stupid. Thank goodness I didn't hurt my back even more.

I leave you with our latest yard ornament. A purple Bigfoot flag. I don't know where he got it.

We are a strange couple.

The stars aligned and all is well

 Today I got out all the stuff I have from the many times I contacted Quilt Path tech support. I started at the beginning and went through every step on 15 pages of directions, tapping and swiping the tablet screen. I had missed one  small step, to turn on screen lock. One tiny thing...it was fixed. The QP head honcho called me later in the afternoon to see how I was getting along, and I told her the machine was running like a top and the screens change quickly! Everyone was happy.

I was so happy!! I finished the quilt on the machine, loaded another one and almost finished that one. 

My shop dog is looking more like a bear cub than a sweet puppy.

The backing is a pretty toille

A feathery panto makes it much more elegant

Quilt for Nancy. Soooooo many mistakes!! It was sewn when I got to Texas and didn't have my mojo going.

Millie finally cried Uncle and decided to cooperate. 

This quilt is almost done. It went smooth as silk. 

Mr W had to come and check up on my progress.

In case you haven't seen my studio set up, here is where Millie lives.

Here's where big Gammill lives, just across the room.

I sew here on my Bernina, in the messiest corner of the room.

I'll be here tomorrow, putting interfacing on the next batch of tee shirts. I prepped them all this morning.

I'll see you on the flip side.

Switching gears

There have been ups and downs for a few days; the APQS (the computer, really) has been fighting me on every quilt. I have contacted Microsoft again and done everything they recommend, but the computer still has a long lag time from screen to screen. I am trying to sell the machine, so this isn't good. I was able to finish a couple of small quilts, but I am dead in the water on one right now. Sigh...sometimes I just want to scream!! There will be more phone calls today.

I did get a couple of quilts done, but it took three times as long as it should have.

                                         

                                               First, I quilted and bound this batik BQ2

The panto is a leafy vine pattern.

                           I got this batik for the backing on a shopping trip to Cumming.

The 30s quilt is also ready for hand sewing!

I used one of my favorite patterns, Splat, for the quilting

I found this sweet bluebird fabric at my local quilt shop. I love it!

Outside, it has been glorious! Mr Wazoo has the yard looking ready for it's close-up with everything trimmed and beautiful. I thought I'd show you the new house numbers I bought in Texas at the Mexican pottery store. The house has the nicest curb appeal!!

My friend, Nancy, found the number holder on a day trip to Mexico. Thanks, Nancy!

Here is the house. My studio is in the lower  part.

I've been sewing tee shirts for a few days, and have the first of two long twin ones ready to quilt. The customer collected Day of the Dead and Frida Kahlo shirts for years to get this collection. She requested bright colors for the sashing. Frida is famous for her art as well as her sayings. The ones on the quilt translate to: "What doesn't kill me, feeds me", "Everything can have beauty, even the most horrible", and finally, "I hope the exit is happy, and hope never to return ". In the shirt with many skeletal people it says, "For there to be rich, millions of poor people are needed". So pithy and deep. Frida was eloquently outspoken.

The poor people

"The life of the dead endures in the memory of the living."

Live and dead Frida. The man in the heart on her forehead is her husband, Diego Rivera, a famous Mexican artist and staunch communist. They were married, divorced, and married again. He was quite a ladies man. The saying is, "I hope the exit is happy, and hope never to return."

Quilt top number one. I sewed the skull in the bowler hat to the shirt with the ribs for some continuity. The headless ribs seemed a bit strange to me.

I also finally got a haircut!! It feels so much better.

Think of the most annoying thing you cam...like fingernails on the chalkboard...then picture this happening a few times a day while you are trying to read and understand how to fix your computer. 

 

Sewing, quilting and coasting through life

 One of these days I will have to clean house. Not today, though... The woman who cleans for us every other week has broken her leg and is out of action. It's not that I am a snob about cleaning, but with my back pain and un-fixed breaks, I am having trouble vacuuming and getting the bathtub clean. I keep the toilets clean (nobody tolerates a yucky commode) and clean the sinks and counter tops throughout the house. I dust and swiffer, and tidy up when it gets way to cluttered. Maybe Mr Wazoo will come inside and help change the sheets and vacuum...we'll see.

Meanwhile, I have been sewing and quilting in spurts and getting the Texas tops done. I just finished this lap quilt and feel good with how it turned out.

I like this pattern! It is made with a jelly roll, and an enormous amount of background fabric.

The panto is Frolic, with flowers and hearts.

I had this lime green raindrop fabric for the backing, and a lime and green stripe fabric for the binding.

I haven't finished the hand sewing on that yet.

I also worked on the 30s top, and have it all sewn and trimmed. I chickened out on the setting triangles after wasting two fabrics making the triangles and later rejecting them. I am going to finish it like the pattern calls for. I should be able to get it quilted in the next couple of days.

I have spent quite a bit of quality time on the phone with Microsoft and APQS this week, getting the long lag time between screens resolved. Sometimes I want to throw in the towel, but I need the machine and computer to like each other, so I keep trying. I hope it cooperates today.

Quilt top in progress, the last rows sewn on and now it has also been trimmed and stay stitched for quilting.

On Labor Day I ventured over to Meeks Park here in Blairsville for a long hike around the trails. We are so fortunate to have this lovely, and gigantic, property here for the people to enjoy. There are 4.6 miles of trails, both easy and difficult, and I spent the afternoon trying them out. At the midpoint of one trail is an outdoor exercise area where you use your own body weight for resistance to do exercises found in the swankiest of gyms. I tried most of them, giving a pass to the twisting ones for fear I would further injure my back. Actually, it was kind of fun!

There is a beautiful creek running through the lower parts of the trails. The water is shallow enough for this father and daughter to cool off their feet.

A scenic span of rapids flows under a walking bridge that connects two portions of the trail.

Near the creek is a grist mill. I didn't stop to check it out closer.

Here is the exercise area. There was one other lady there with me and we giggled and groaned our way through the different pieces of equipment.

After the stop at the exercise area, I took the upper trail that went into the woods and then along the creek on the other side.

Going uphill was a lung workout, as well as a leg burner!

The trail follows the perimeter of the baseball fields and then turns to parallel the main road, back into the woods. My phone was dying, so I don't have pictures in the dog walking area where there are two trails through the woods where dogs are allowed. The planners thought of everything! There are stations with waste baggies along the way, so people can pick up after their pets. There is also a frisbee golf course! Wow! I am so impressed with the entire place. I'll be walking here a few times a week if all goes well.

Now, back to the studio!

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More road tripping and quilting

I have made some progress on the 30s quilt. I finished a load of blocks, but I didn't need them all for the size quilt I intend to have in the end. I'll have nine blocks left over to make a child's quilt with. Yippee!

All the blocks together on the design wall

I took this so you could see the different fabrics better

The pattern said to sew the blocks together and then cut them off on all sides to make the usual rectangle shape. I didn't want to cut my pretty blocks, so I made setting and corner triangles from another 30s fabric from my stash. I'll work on it over the weekend.

Later in the week, I was on a spontaneous road trip with a friend to deliver some of her quilts to a longarm quilter in Franklin, NC. Its a pretty drive there, so I went along. After all the quilts were safely dropped off, we moseyed  next door to the fabric shop where my friend picked up next month's block-of-the-month, and I bought a jelly roll, some glue stick refills, and two pieces of fabric.

We had some lunch and stopped on the way home at the shop in Hayesville, but I didn't get anything there. My back was really hurting by now, so the fabric wasn't appealing to me.

My friend also needed to stop briefly and pick something up at a fellow quilter's home. It was one of the most beautiful properties I have seen. While admiring the yard, I was surprised to see a small graveyard in one corner! I thought that was a real novelty, and had to go take a closer look.

While admiring the two tiered tree house, I spied the graves

Most of the graves were so old and worn down, it was impossible to see any names or dates.

The tall grave stone was the best preserved one

William F Davis

Born: 1858, Died: 1907

Under a nearby tree was the oldest legible grave.

Andrew Barnard; Born: 1799, Died:1869

Wow! Too cool to have this in your yard. It was part of the property, so the homeowners keep it maintained. It must be an old family plot, long abandoned by the remaining family members.Kudos to these people for respecting the resting place of people they don't know.

On the property they have the wonderful barn, where the husband has his workshop and the wife (quilter) has her sewing studio.

The view from the house in all directions is stunning. Prairie grasses roll down the slope in the front with mountains in the distance. In the back, is a lovely wooded valley with more mountain views.

It was worth the stop just to see this.

Back at home, I added the binding to a quilt from the day before, and did the hand sewing before retiring for the night.

I made this BQ2 quilt in Texas, and quilted it with a swirly water pattern

I've had this koi fabric for years and am happy to finally use it in a quilt that shows off the print

On the back is the star Grunge. I used the green batik from the top for the binding.

Today, I quilted this cheerful lap quilt

The panto is Funky Fans

The backing is one of the prints from the top. I bound it in this happy stripe.

I'm making slow progress on all the tops I made in Texas. As long as my back holds out, I should be able to get them all done in a month or so and take a rest.

Have a happy and safe Labor Day weekend!