Cat print quilt

Some people are so organised.  This quilt maker made this quilt for her son, who adores cats, for Christmas.  I have not even thought of Christmas, and I know it will end up being a matter of last-minute rush as it always does.

Having done a couple of edge-to-edge quilts recently, it was nice to get to do a little custom work again.

Shweshwe quilt

This vibrant fabric, with its distinct smell, originated in India but was introduced to South Africa in 1858 and is now produced locally.

The quilt maker decided to go bright and bold, making an all Shweshwe quilt. It does not show texture as she used flannel instead of batting, as she plans to use this as a tablecloth.

As for my ear, it turned out it was not wax as I thought, but severe sinus inflammation.  The nurse at the clinic gave me medication for 10 days. If my hearing does not return, I need to see a doctor.

Furthermore, my eczema has flared up again, this time really bad.  Previously, it was mostly my back and neck that took punishment; now I have rashes and itches all over my body. My hands are especially bad. I can barely work with water as it burns like hell.  I now know with certainty my eczema is not caused by products I use on my skin, but rather certain foods.  I had a deluxe (extra of everything) anchovies pizza on Friday, and obviously, anchovies contain sulphites. I seriously have to rethink my love for this.

There is no school for the little one today, so she will be coming over to spend the day with us.  I am not expecting to get too much quilting done.

Double bed colourwash quilt

I mentioned this quilt in about 2 prior posts, and I finally got around to doing this.  What made this quilt rather special is that the quilt maker’s husband was almost bragging about it and eager to have it on their own bed.  Sometimes I do think men/husbands think quilters are wasting their time with this hobby.

Planning to use it on their bed, the quilter did not want elaborate custom quilting, which would anyway have disappeared on a colourwash quilt.

Yesterday morning did not go as hectic as I anticipated. By the time we had to attend the dress rehearsal, I had everything and more done, even did the laundry.  The rehearsal was short and sweet, and when we got home just after 9 am, it was into a clean house with most everything done.

Granddaughter was just as mellow and not her extremely active self.  We saw her yawning at the rehearsal a couple of times, and after having lunch, she fell asleep until it was time for her weekly swimming lessons.  I pretended to go to the doctor when I had my pedicure, knowing she wouldn’t be interested in tagging along.

I therefore got to finish this quilt that was on the frame.

Wonky blocks

A wonderful example of how to use up all those remnants.  The maker just wanted edge to edge quilting but the more I looked at this, the more the linen-coloured sashing screamed at me for a little more attention.

Remembering the maker overpaid me for her previous quilting, I took law into my own hands and did just something different on the sashing and I don’t regret it.

As for news on my deaf ear, I’ve started with softening the wax last night, will continue this evening and go to a local clinic to have my ears rinsed out on Wednesday.  Hoping for a good outcome.

Today is one of those hectic days.  I’ve made an appointment a week ago for a pedicure, not knowing how this day will turn out.  Then we were informed the youngest grandchild has a dress rehearsal for their year end concert and grandparents may attend as we are not allowed the evening of the concert.  Trusting this will finish in time, so I can still have my pedicure done.

Then, the part that bowls me out totally, is that the little one can come home with us after the rehearsal.  I am not sure what other grandparents do while on a pension but hubby and I lead rather busy lives with always something to do.  Once this little one is here, everything comes to a halt.  So, I had to start my little auto vacuum machine just after 4 am this morning, just to feel as if I at least did something.  I’ve started dinner, planned lunch for the little one and will mop the floor once the autovac is done.

With me quilting, I guestimate how long it will take me to finish a quilt and then inform the next quilter on my waiting list when I will be ready for them to bring their quilt to me.  Some of them wait for days or a week and I am sure will not be too pleased if I phone them and say they should come later.  Oh well, let’s take it one day at a time or as my daughter says, we don’t have much of a choice, it is not as if one can say “okay, I’ll simply skip Tuesday”.

Left-over colourwash blocks

The quilt maker made a stunning colourwash quilt for their own bed.  I plan to start quilting that one soon, and she had a couple of blocks left and decided to use them to make this smaller colourwash quilt.

In my previous post, I talked about old age, and now it seems that with every new day, there is a new ailment.  I got home on Thursday after a Swedish back, neck and shoulder massage and constantly heard a fan running somewhere in the house.  With it not being that warm yet, we do not have fans switched on, but the sound persisted.  I walked through the house, checked everything that could make a similar sound, and I found nothing.

The next day, the fan sound disappeared, then it felt as if my ear closed up, like when you are near a coastal city or the sea.  That evening, trying to fall asleep, I turned on my left ear, with the TV timer set and the TV in the room still on and realised I couldn’t hear a thing.  My right ear was totally deaf.

A day later, while blow-drying my hair and when I got near my ear, I got the sound of a tree branch touching an electric fence.

Saturday, we went to a party. Whenever someone to my right would talk to me, the sound came from my left side.  I would look at the person to my left, just to realise they’re not even looking at me. All the while, the poor lady to my right waited for me to respond.

Hubby thinks it’s hilarious. When he realises I can’t hear him, he pretends to use sign language to communicate with me. I am not yet sure what to do about this. Wait a couple of days to see if anything changes, or start with the most basic and try to soften any possible wax in my ear, and have that removed before going to a doctor.  Nowadays, it seems as if one doctor just wants to send you off to another to make it his or her problem.

Chevron quilt

This was surely the hardest I’ve ever struggled with a quilt, and a clear indication that old age is creeping up on me.  Seeing black thread on black fabric was nearly impossible (for me).  I tried every trick in the book, bright sunlight, artificial light, very little light and after unpicking 4 days more than I actually quilted, I decided to simply do the best I could.  Spending almost 2 weeks only doing the parts in black thread was not my intention.  Luckily, with every advance, I knew it couldn’t get any worse.

This quilt maker also did something special with her backing, as the quilt will travel all the way to her kids in Australia.

Table topper

I guess this quilt-maker did this in her group or as part of a technique class.  Now finished, she has no real use or plan for it, but still wanted it quilted and opted not to spend too much money on custom quilting, but just edge-to-edge quilting to keep the layers together.

I think this would look nice as a table topper.

Squares only

 

After the death of her husband, this quilter moved to a retirement village but also gave up quilting for a couple of years.  In her new community, she met a lady with some fabric who wished to make her daughter a quilt for Christmas.  The quilter then helped her cut the squares, have her piece the blocks and then assisted in joining the rows.

I just had to do the easy part and stitch the 3 layers together.  I must admit, after doing the previous dense quilting, having this one on the frame was a breeze.

Sampler quilt

I don’t think I’ve ever worked this long on any other quilt, but being a sampler, I loved every moment of it.  The quilt is large, with blocks that are big and plentiful. Whenever I have decided on a motif in an area, I have had to repeat it over and over, and it often felt as if the end of this quilt would never come.

This quilt also posed a couple of problems in that I found lots of puckering in the blocks themselves, as if the sashing around the blocks was cut too small, or it could even have been the diagonal sashing between the blocks.  I had to make a decision between keeping the sashing flat when quilting, moving the puckers to the blocks or keeping the blocks flat and allowing the puckers to gather in the sashing.

I planned rather dense quilting in both sets of sashing, so I decided to do less quilting in the blocks to move the puckers and give the illusion of loft instead of puckering.

As much as I enjoyed working on this, I am glad to finally have it off the frame.  I think my machine now needs plenty of TLC and a new needle.

Shop or class wall quilt

One of our local quilters will be moving to a coastal city towards the end of the year and has one extra-large spare room in her new house.  She intends to use this not only to teach quilting but also to sell fabric.  How fortunate are those people?

One of her quilting friends made her this beautiful quilt to put up against a wall, not only to show how the same block in different colours looks, but also how shifting a little bit can make a huge difference.

The recipient asked for not too dense custom quilting.

Sage green quilt

 The daughter of this quilt maker asked for a sage green quilt, and mom had no other choice but to oblige.