Wow! What a time we've had.

Well, I'm back from Texas and we stayed for longer than we thought we would! I'm sorry for the radio silence, but we were too busy and tired to do anything but work and sleep.

My 99 year old dad is now safe in an assisted living apartment in the city he loves. My sister and I had to go through all his stuff (yikes!!) and move it to his new digs. We left him a few days later, happy and unpacking some boxes, ready for the next adventure in his life. Needless to say, My back took a beating and after the two day ride home, I am more than ready for some serious physical therapy. I'l be calling there tomorrow.

When I thought it was going to be a three day visit, I worked hard on the antique top repair I prepped before leaving. It is fixed and has to be quilted and finished before being  given back to the customer to use as a real quilt, instead of a top languishing in a box. Makes me happy! I'll get a picture tomorrow.

Penny was a perfect little lady on the trip, playing peek-a-boo and tag with my sister's little dog, Chloe. They were a fun distraction from all the packing and cleaning.

Chloe would peek out to taunt Penny, then they would run all over chasing and growling.

She thought Mr Wazoo would hide her, but that didn't work.

After a big run and chase, both were ready to lay down and rest.

Penny liked looking out the window at Chloe's house, watching the people and dogs walk by.

The masks I made have all reached their new owners, and I got a few pictures of them in use. My Portland daughter wants a couple more, so I will be making some to send around the country again.

Grandson sent me a picture in his Marvel mask, so I sent him a picture of Grandma in her doggie mask!

Oh Grandma!!

Arizona daughter sent her picture, too!

After a hard week of pack and move, we were all ready for a good night's sleep. Mr W beat us to it when he took a brief snooze at Dad's house. We were so busy, I forgot to take some pics at his new digs. Hey, I'd live there... He has a kitchen, living/dining combination room, large bedroom with room for his desk and computer and a giant bathroom with a huge walk in shower! They make his bed every day, clean the apartment and take out the trash once a week, provide three hot meals a day, provide a big flat screen TV with 100 cable channels in his living room, daily finger stick and med handling, as well as numerous activities and outings to local stores and events. Like being on a perpetual cruise! With high speed internet, all those programs to choose from on TV, and his own furniture, it is like the old home only tidier. All of us will call frequently and the quarterly visits from us Georgians will  continue. I'm comfortable with the decision.

Mr W dropped off during a lull in the moving, but was soon back at it.

Penny rode like a champ in her quilty nest in the back seat. 

Late today as the sun was setting, the Georgia mountains came into view and I was washed in peace, ready to be home again. I am beat and the back pain needs attention. Tomorrow I will be calling the therapist and the doctor, and returning 23 customer calls. 

Tonight, I'll be snug in my own bed.

Countdown to Texas

Only one day left to get everything ready for the trip tp Texas. All the laundry is done and the bed has fresh linens. I spent yesterday tidying up the studio and organizing things so I can work comfortably when I get home. I just started back to quilting this week, and have already taken in 8 quilts! I don't think I missed a step with my customers. They're the best!

Mr Wazoo surprised me with two more drawer units from Wally World! I took out the horrible wooden shelf and swept up dust bunnies as big as my fist from under the cutting table. We attempted to move it to clean further underneath, but it wouldn't budge. The drawers on both ends are chock-a-block full of fabric and, we all know, it weighs a ton.

The other unit will live in the back of the table and holds kits I have assembled as well as some vintage linens. My scrap catching bag is on the left side, and my bag of bags on the right.

This is as clean as the table will get for now. Most of the stuff has been put away or went to the scrap bag for a lucky person in the evening guild. My BOM fabrics are still out because I have to cut a piece of each for the dogtooth border  in  month one's instructions.

A few days ago, Penny amused herself by chewing through the power cord on my new Forte!! Needless to say, I was not amused. My dealer has ordered a new cord, and Mr W helped me form a blockade around the machine to keep her from being able to get behind it and chew a cord. Penny is a big chicken when it comes to any type of obstacle  in her path, as well as going from carpet to bare floor. She doesn't go in shady spots or down the basement stairs. She is a real scaredy cat! With the three rolling drawer units and some plastic bins, we have stopped her from coming back here.

I prepped the first repair of 2022 by marking all the pieces I need to replace, and then set about making the pieces. Today, I safety pinned them all in place and put the top in an old zippered package from a set of sheets. I hope to get much of it done while we're away.

It's a pretty log cabin top, made by the great Aunt of the customer. Two tops were unearthed from the attic, in a box, where they have languished for years. One was in good shape and is off being quilted by one of my longarm friends. She recommended me for repairing and finishing this one.

This particular fabric is worn clear through. It is a thin silk that didn't do well in storage.

Here it is again, looking even more moth eaten.

There were also many patches of this green fabric. they have lost a lot of their color, as well as having holes in them.

This floral was only in one spot on the quilt, so I only have to replace the two logs you see here. Altogether, there are about 50 logs to replace.

Thankfully, my giant stash saved me again, and I found fabrics for all the logs that are disintegrating with time. You will surely see the progress as I go along, as well as the finished quilt. Stay tuned for that!

While rooting around in boxes and bags that have been buried under the cutting table, I found a bag with a half finished class project from about twenty years ago. I took a class to learn stack and slash, and improv piecing. I hated the process as well as the things I made in the class. I did make a small wall quilt from some of the blocks for my grandson's nursery, but these blocks stayed in the bag. There were only 9 blocks and the weird rows of improv black and white bits. I kept adding fabric until I figured it was big enough to be a child's quilt, about 40x52". I'll quilt it and give it away. Unless the quilt provokes a seizure, it should be a nice cuddly blanket for little tyke.

I made this from the useable blocks. It hangs in my grandson's room.

Here it is! Bright and cheerful, with an assortment of novelty fabrics.

I alternated the pieced blocks with squares of fabrics from my stash.

I love this fabric! Happy cats. Of course I added monkeys and strange looking dogs to cheer it up even more.

All that cheerfulness is in sharp contrast to what was happening outside when I quit for the day.

Spooky pinkish-gray sky and a steady rain falling from the low hanging, thunder rumbling clouds. Penny beat feet to the back door and didn't stop to water the grass on the way!

I hope tomorrow is a nicer day.

.

 

A little road trip and some tweaking

 Yesterday I decided to change the things I had a problem with on block #1 of the BOM. The yellow flower and bud changed to pink, and there is a proper stem for that flower. I added one more berry to the right side flowers, too.

I'm happier with this. I think it can now be sewn .

I took a speed trip to Dahlonega to pick up glue stick refills and some fabrics for the BOM that I really wanted. My stash is huge, and I have loads of possibilities, but I decided to make all the vessels for the blocks blue. I needed interesting fabrics with bigger patterns. (any excuse to add fabrics to the stash, right?)

Here are the fabrics I selected for the vessels. They may change as I go along, but I really like what I picked so far.

I also got a few more leaf and stem fabrics, some interesting backgrounds, and a few other flower colors.

These are the fabrics I used in block #1. I need to cut some squares from them for the future dogtooth border.

Here is the view outside at 7:30 this morning. It looks like something from a horror movie!

Later today, it is supposed to rain, sleet and snow. 

I'll be inside sewing!

TA DA!!

Everything is glued down and now, the hand stitching and machine appliqué starts!

The only thing I'm not sure about is the yellow flower on the left side of the picture. I changed the berries on the right to yellow-orange ones, looking for balance . I also added the yellow bud to the top of the branch the yellow flower sticks out of. I also don't like the way the stem of that flower just disappears behind a leaf. I may change that, too. I added a short stem to the flower on the vase that was just hovering there.I guess that's all the changes...we'll see.

The extension next to my sewing area is piled with the fabrics  used in the block. I need to cut pieces from them before putting them all away for the dogtooth borders. What a mess I've made!!

I took in two repair quilts yesterday and need to attend to them today. Something to work on tonight! After I fix them, I'll start on the BOM appliqué. I see a lot of fun ahead!

 

BOM underway

 Wow! This block of the month is more difficult than I first imagined. Some of the pieces of appliqué are teensy. I originally cut circles for the little berries, intending to use Karen K Buckley's Perfect Circles and starch to form them. No dice! I switched to my travel iron to get better control over the gathered and starched bits, but it was nearly impossible to hold them down with a pencil eraser and pull up the thread to gather the edges. I made three berries in an hour. There are 40 of them on block one!! No way. I re-grouped and made fusible berries instead. These, and the 1/8 inch stems (that's another fiddly bit), will be sewn down by machine.

Here are the first bits of appliqué. The dark pink circles are the berries. I did the running stitch on all of them while watching TV.

I have the background chosen and prepped for the first block, and was just getting started on motif placement in this picture.

Of course, the studio is a giant mess, with the pulled fabrics all over the place. These are stem fabrics, being cut and put through the bias maker.

In the end, there will be 300 inches of stem on this quilt!

Over at the sewing area, I have a small ironing station set up for the prep of the appliqué bits.

I didn't take a picture of how much I got done, but will do that today when I get home from the longarm group meeting. I'm showing some free motion patterns to the group to hopefully get them excited to play on their machines, and not just do computer guided stuff.

Thankfully, the ice and snow is mostly gone today, and I don't fear the trip to town. It was certainly beautiful, though!

At 7:30 yesterday morning, this was the scene.

One last look at the Christmas tree, while it really looks like Christmas. Mr Wazoo spent the day disassembling it and putting everything away. Christmas is over.

Later in the day, the sun came out and gradually melted the snow away.

I made a big pot of potato-corn chowder, and Mr W enjoyed his bowl of steaming goodness for lunch. 

Sometimes staying inside is a wonderful thing!

First finish of 2022

 What a wonderful day I had in the studio! New Years day was spent sewing and fondling my fabric. I finished the scrap quilt, hand sewing the binding during a marathon of Columbo episodes on the tube. It's a happy quilt, and we need some happy these days.

Here it is, quilted and binding sewn on. I finished the hand sewing in the evening.

Panto: Jetty. I'm still trying to conquer the sizing part of computer panto set up.

Still too big!!

The backing is a cute 30s reproduction. I think they look like Pez, the candy!

We were supposed to have a whopper of a storm last night, but it turned out to be just rain and some wind. Mr Wazoo put my car under the deck for safety because the garage is full of the boxes and bins for all the Christmas decorations. They belong in the closet under the stairs, but it is an ordeal to get them out, and back in! Bless his heart, Mr W did it all this year. Now that my back is getting better, I'll be able to help with the take down and storage bit.

This was the sky at 5:30 when I quit for the day. 

Today, I will be prepping fabric for the first block of the BOM on the Quilt Show. I've watched all the videos and read the instructions, making a disaster of the studio by pulling piles of fabrics from the stash. There is no better balm for the Covid blues than fondling fabric and wallowing in all those bright colors! I'm rejuvenated and ready for the challenging appliqué ahead. Bring it on!

I am also ready to start quilting for customers again. I'm going to start slowly...maybe one quilt a day, until my back tells me it can handle the work. So far, I can do a small quilt in a day, so bigger ones will take longer than usual. At least I can do it! Yippee!!

Off to the studio, and more quilting in 2022.

Happy New Year?!

2022 started with a thunderstorm here in Georgia. While I watched the festivities around the world on TV, the skies opened up and we had a deluge, pounding on the roof and scaring Penny onto my lap. Mr Wazoo retired to bed at 8:30, and I watched the videos of the first month's block construction of the Quilt Show BOM. It will be a lot of work, but it sure is a lovely quilt!

The plumber came yesterday and installed my Christmas gift...a swanky new faucet for the kitchen.We finally have a sprayer! It has a magnet that holds the head tight to the stem, three different spray patterns, and a soap dispenser. Yowza!!

Brushed nickel finish and a sleek design.

Pump up some soap for the many hand washings each day.

I didn't waste time on the last day of 2021, I was in the studio with the music playing and the sewing machine humming. First up, I hemmed the three new pairs of pants I got for Christmas. My legs are too short for the regular length, and too long for petite! Easy peasy fix.

Two pairs of jeans and one pair of corduroy.

Next, I finished up four more masks to send to family members. Two Wisconsin Badgers ones for Carolyn and two for little Dechen.

Happy dogs and Marvel heroes for the grandson.

This is the best pattern yet. It has a nose wire and is adjustable. No glasses fogging, either.

It starts with two flat pieces of fabric. No curved sewing.

It hugs the face and sits under my glasses for the no-fog action.

The ear elastics are adjustable, even fit my giant head!

Here's the link to the YouTube tutorial. I got the wires with the sticky side from Amazon .

https://youtu.be/qnyhsj21qrk

I have a bundle of lucious plaids coming this week from the quilt shop in Jasper, and I knew just what I want to make. I found this picture on Pinterest and have figured out how to make the blocks. I thought I would make a charity quilt to test the block size and construction, so I got out my 2 1/2" strip bin and began to play. I started the cutting at noon and quit sewing at 5:30! I think I will like the quilt when it is finished. It will be the first quilt of 2022!

This is the Pinterest quilt. I love it!

What's more fun than digging into a bin of colorful fabrics?!

I made some blocks and arranged them on the design wall.

Half of them were sewn wrong! I was in such a hurry to get something done, I failed to notice there were two different blocks. Oops. I took half of the blocks down, unpicked them , and re-assembled them correctly. No photos of the mistake...here is the corrected batch.

I picked some color-on-black fabrics for the squares, and randomly sewed the strips in pairs and cut them to fit. The block ends up a workable 8 1/2". Here, you can see the two different blocks.

This is the third iteration of the layout. 

I thought it would be a bit small when finished, so I did some more digging in the bin and cutting more strips. I made one more column for width.

I think this will be the final layout. I had to make four more blocks to make it a nicer size. The Pinterest one has 8 blocks across and 10 down and that's the size I'll make the plaid one.

This one, at 6x7, will be a nice lap size, finishing at 48x56.

 I'll get it sewn together, and maybe even quilted, today.

Our Texas trip is in jeopardy with the latest Covid surge. Mr Wazoo is worried about traveling and spending the night in the hotel. He also wonders if the visit would expose us, and my family there, to someone with Covid. We have a bunch of KN95 masks for the trip, as well as the homemade ones for while we're there. I  really want to go to visit my 99 year old Dad, but we'll have to see what the numbers are in a week. 

I wish all of you out there in the blogosphere a better year in 2022. I'd like to think it can't get worse than 2021, but I fear it could. Stay safe, and for Heaven's sake, GET VACCINATED!! Happy New Year? Let's hope so.