Machine struggles...again

 Of course I can't have more than two days together without having machine trouble.Fortunately, my dealer is coming tomorrow to see what she can do to fix it. Meanwhile, I have done a few quilts and a lot of hand sewing and quilting. We had some whopper thunder storms this week and a huge tree branch fell in the woods just out of our property. The herd of deer have been coming daily and feasting on the tender leaves conveniently served at mouth level! The branch is almost stripped of greenery, but we had a good time watching families of deer having a picnic out back.

Tim had his 79th birthday and we celebrated by eating out. Four days later, we celebrated again for our 41st anniversary. Penny got a haircut. Tim got a truckload of mulch. I quilted. That's the synopsis of life here at Wazoo.

This is one of two baby quilts for grand babies soon to be born. One will be a boy and the other a girl, so grandma got busy and made them quilts. Now they just have arrive!

I used my Animal Crackers panto on both quilts, in a larger size because grandma wants them to be soft.

So cute!

Here are both of the quilts

The girl quilt

Same panto

Bright pink backing.

I ordered some pretty pastel, satin finished beads to sew on my pinwheel quilt as flower centers, and this is what came. No, no, no... They're going back. I went to the nearest bead shop and found some nice beads to use instead. Sometimes, online shopping isn't the best way to get what you want.

This customer loves Tula Pink fabric. She likes more modern patterns that really show off the Tula motifs.

Leafy vines panto

Quilting shows well on the back.

Same customer, more Tula fabric in another contemporary style.

Zig-zag quilting

This is a pieced backing, big chunks of the turquoise and white fabrics from the quilt top.

Well, I had better jump in bed and go to sleep quickly! My dealer will be here between 9 and 9:30 and I need to up, caffeinated and ready to go.

Some quilting happened!

 I'm sorry I haven't posted for a while, but the closer we get to the quilt show, the busier I find myself. I am done with all but the buttons and beads on my main show quilt, and as soon as they come, I'll get them on. All the sleeves are on, and I need to get the label coverings on for the judging. I'm also in charge of the judging room,  demos and the quilt turning. Lots of the members have entered quilts for the turning, and it should be a great show! Only a couple of them date before the 1930s, but then, that was 90 years ago! I really love the happy quilts from the 30s and 40s, so I will enjoy talking about them

Enough blather! Let's look at some quilts.

This is my friend Audrey's quilt. She hand embroidered the chickens. I did the quilting.

I made this quilt at the retreat. I have made quite a few of this pattern, boxed squares.

I will be putting Usagi, Japanese for rabbit, in the show. I'm proud of this one, because I hand quilted it with big stitch. It won't win anything, but I like it! 2023 is the year of the rabbit, so it is a fitting entry.

My evening guild finished my row-by-row Seminole piecing challenge, and we all had fun making our quilts. This is my class sample, made right along with their quilts.

Not everyone who participated brought their finished quilts (or tops), but we did get to see these.

Well done, ladies!

This is a customer quilt I finished this week.

I chose a pinto that mimics the Lillies in the focus fabric.

The back was a coordinated lily print.

The same customer made this bee quilt for her beekeeping husband.

What better quilting pattern than bees?!

The back shows off the buzzing bees.

All my show quilts are piled on the guest bed to keep them flat until I have to fold them for the take in.

My 'almost finished' pinwheel quilt is on the top of the pile.

In the diffused morning light, you can better see the quilting.

Pretty nice!

These are a few of the thread colors I used on the pinwheel quilt. In all, I used 14 different colors!

This is the selfie I used for my self- portrait for the Art Quilters group challenge.

This is my entry...a covid portrait.

Velcro holds the mask in place, but undone, it looks like this!

I had to change my hair a bit to get the part on the correct side!

I snapped this photo last night. Penny was all worn out from her run-run in the sweltering heat. 

Poor girl's tongue was hanging out to her knees! Puppy supper and a large drink of water led to this snooze. She'll be back in the studio today.

A big finish!

It took a week of quilting, but the custom quilt is finished. It is really beautiful. When I think of the hours and hours she must have spent hand sewing, I am amazed. Lots of pictures.

The back.

Today, I went to the hand stitching group at a local quilt shop. There were 11 ladies there, all with pretty projects on the go. I took along a small quilt I was given by the family of a quilter who died before finishing hand quilting it. I am using it for my learning curve as a practice piece. I'm doing okay so far, but my stitches are much more clumsy looking than the original quilter's tiny, perfect ones. I hope I get better at this by the time I finish the project!

Two ladies in the group made this gorgeous Quilt of Valor. It is all hand quilted by them and will go to someone very deserving of their year of work.

My goal is to be even half as good at hand quilting as they are!

 

Machine running smoothly and I am happy!

 I have been a busy bee in the studio, quilting all the projects in the queue. I was totally caught up (except for the custom job I am working on) when I took in three more quilts. A manageable number. Here are the latest finishes.

Number one is this beautiful batik strippy quilt.

Panto is Feather swirl

The backing is a soft linen fabric.

Next is this Kaffe Fassett project, also using a jelly roll. Everything pops on the black and white background

Panto: Woven wind

Milifiore backing is really pretty, too.

This was a challenge at the customer's guild. They had to make a quilt with a pieced border. For a brand new quilter, she did a great job!

Gotta love a John Deere tractor!

Panto: Funky fans

Everything used to make the quilt was free! Scraps from a friend, the panel from the free table at guild, and the soft flannel backing from a family clearing out grandma's stash.

I did some sewing on the weekend and put together one of the quilts I made blocks for at the retreat. It is a charity quilt for Family Connection in Blue Ridge. The other quilt is also a charity project made by someone in the evening guild. I had two Quilts of Valor here, too, and got one of those done.

This is a lovely pattern for a QOV.

Panto: Simply stars

A real wowser of a backing, too!

I made these blocks from a 10" squares pack at the retreat

Flower Power panto.

I got this bright backing from the sale room at my local quilt shop.

Someone in the evening guild made this one.It is a simple but elegant looking pattern, don't you think?

Panto: One side feathers

Pink back and gray stripe for the binding.

I'll get that sewn down tonight.

I did one repair and two tee shirt quilts this week, as well. The tee shirt quilts are wall hanging size, and were a challenge because of the condition of the shirts. They were full of holes!! Big holes and small holes...lots of holes! After stabilizing the shirts with fusible interfacing, I mended the holes with the darning stitch on my Bernina. Once the holes were flat and mended, the projects were easy to put together. The customer provided the fabric for the sashing and borders. I used fabric from my stash for the backs and customer fabric for the bindings.

Have never heard of the band the customer's son liked. Probably either heavy metal or grunge.

I used my favorite tee shirt quilt panto, Rounded diamonds

I had globs of this solid from a lady who was getting rid of her sewing stuff. Perfect for this project.

Here is the second one. One for Mom and one for girlfriend. 

The guy with the shirts died quite unexpectedly.

Same panto on number two.

Same backing, too.

This was the dumbest repair I have ever done! I got a call from a woman in Ellijay that she had a quilt needing repairs. She said it is the quilt she uses on her bed, so it needs to be done quickly. I said okay and told her I would meet her at the fabric shop to get the quilt. She brought it in a pillow case and handed it to me, thanking me for doing this for her. Then she left...without us looking at the damage and making a plan for repairs and the cost. To my surprise, the quilt had only 5 small (nickel sized) holes and a small place where the fabric was worn on the edge. I did the repairs and washed the quilt . Here it is. It is a really nice, soft, hand quilted  and colorful quilt. I like it very much. I can't believe I have to drive 22 miles to Ellijay twice for a $15 repair. Oh well, it looks good as new!

This was a vintage top another customer bought from Ebay and wanted finished for a bed in her home. After starching the daylights out of it, I quilted and bound it.

The panto os Basketweave

I wouldn't have chosen this fabric for the back, but it's not my quilt.

After washing the quilt is brighter and softer.

A friend made this at the same retreat I was at. The fabrics were a fat quarter pack and look beautiful and restful together.

I used the swirly feather panto again. I like it!

Gorgeous ombre Gulf stream colored backing.

Another friend made this at the retreat for her niece. The fabric has ghosts and bats on it, so I chose ghosts for the quilting.

I like all the fabrics used in this quilt. I like the ghosts, too!

I also made and applied the binding.

My show quilt top is finally done and in the queue. I trimmed it today.  I have to do the customer's show quilt first, then will begin quilting mine. The show is looming! I have been organizing the demos and the quilt turnings, and preparing for the judging room. Before you know it, the show will have come and gone and will just be another memory. After the dust settles from the show, I hope to do some serious sewing! So many quilts to make...so little time to make them. Here is the photo with the bottom border on but not trimmed, and the customer quilt I am working on. It's a beauty!

I hope to get to this sometime next week.

Stitching the ditches is slow going. There are LOTS of ditches!!

My daughter has been in Wisconsin visiting the family before her three month trip to France. On a lovely Summer day, she took my grandson on a hike in one of the parks near Madison. Grandson face-timed me that evening, all a twitter about the day and his big adventure with his aunt! I miss my hometown, but I miss these people more.

Meanwhile, I'll quilt!

The view from the top of the hill at Pheasant Branch Conservancy

The state capitol is the bump on the horizon on the far left of the photo, next to the clump of trees. There is an ordinance in Madison that buildings within a number of miles from the capitol can't be over five stories tall. So, no matter what direction you are from Madison, you can see the Capitol. That is so cool, and I have loved spotting the dome every time I returned from a trip.

Two tired hikers taking a shady rest.