Sunday 11 August 2013
August Already!
Cheryl Arkison, has collected 1,630 slabs (15.5 inch blocks - see prior post) to make quilts for people in Calgary who lost everything in the floods. The 30 that my friends & I sent helped. She was going to start sewing them together as of August 3rd.
As you have probably guessed my plan of two hours a night did not work. My life keeps interrupting my quilting. I did finally complete the charity quilt. First here is the one Joyce quilted and Carol did the binding. Thank you so very much ladies!!! 
The quilting was done 1\4 inch either side of the seams where the blocks were joined and then around the appliqued hearts and in the ditch both sides of the first border in each block.
Here is the charity quilt that I quilted and bound.
I did my quilting in the ditch between the blocks and the first border in each square. Then I quilted around the appliqued hearts. On every other block I quilted diagonal lines both directions . On the alternate blocks I just added eight hearts around the outside border.
This shows it fairly well. How about the back?
With the charity quilts out of the way, I finally got back to my tulip garden wall hanging.
This is the main body of it. I have two more borders to add and hope to get those on this week.
We have decided to add a puppy to our family. We pick him up on August 17th and are rather excited.
His kennel name was Orange Boy. His actual name will be Max, short for Mad Maxx (Max to the extreme). He is a medium size Labradoodle. I have a feeling that he just might slow my quilting down. Oh well, it has been really slow this year anyway, so can't get much slower.
We also just finished watching the final matches of the Rogers Cup Tennis and have Cincinnati to look forward to this week, then in two weeks the US Open. It is a good thing that I am doing some applique work in front of the TV. I am back to my two fabric Hawaiian style zebra from the Pacific Rim Company that has been on the go off & on for the last two years. I might just manage to stick with it this time!
I hope you get some time for your quilting this week! Have a good one!
Sunday 21 July 2013
July Already?
I don't know where the time is going. Gardening, housework, etc. all continues to need doing. July is over half over and I don't have anything to show for it other than some pictures. The bags and pillows got finished for the cancer group at our local hospital. Then it was on to a new charity project.
I have been working on some "slabs" as in Sunday Morning Quilts. Cheryl put the call out for these blocks that she would sew together, have quilted by volunteer long-arm quilters and then get them bound at a binding party with all her sewing friends helping. I made the above 10 and then made one more purple one, but forgot to take another picture. Cheryl lives in Calgary & is going to see that the finished quilts go to people who lost everything in the Calgary and area floods.
A friend of mine made these nine.
Some members of my quilt guild made these! Sue at thimbles & things donated backing & everything got sent off to Cheryl today. According to Canada Post she should have them by Friday. I hope so as the deadline is July 30th.
Now I can get back to the quilting of one of the charity quilts. The other one got quilted by a friend and bound by another friend. It was lovely to see it finished. I will take pictures of both when I get the second one done.
It will be really nice to get back to sewing for myself & my family again. Maybe in a couple of weeks! Oh, my friend & I did get signed up for the classes we want to take at the Houston International Quilt Festival at the end of October. I have my confirmation already! We are going to be away for seven days, six nights. I am really starting to get excited!
I hope you all get time to do some sewing this week. I am going to push myself and try to get two hours done every night. At that rate I should be able to get back on track! I will let you know next week!
Monday 20 May 2013
Different Things
In the past two weeks I have not worked on my tulip wall hanging (fabric from my sister arrived on the Tuesday after my last blog post) or my block of the month bed quilt. I had to get ready for guild. I managed to get the fabric cut out for six pillow & bags to go to the Cancer Clinic here in Orillia. We spent the last part of the meeting getting lots of bags & pillows sewn. Four of my pillows are done, but I still have two more plus all the bags to do. I promised them for the next meeting. This also meant that I didn't get last years charity quilt blocks sewn together. That I managed to do today. It took me over two hours this morning to get them squared up and ready to sew. The sewing I started right after lunch and finished around five PM.
This is the one I had to sew all the blocks together after squaring them up.
This one had four rows completed, so I just had to sew on the top row. I think that I will quilt one of these and see if I can talk someone else into doing the other one. I really want to get back to my own projects. We also learned how to make a new square, from two 10" squares of fabric. Mine is the orange one and I have four others that got completed at guild. We have asked that they all be completed for next month. We will have a draw & the winner gets all the blocks. This will go nicely with our Christmas in June theme, as some lucky person will receive over twenty completed blocks, all colour coordinated, as the colours are all from one "layer cake" package (10" x 10" squares precut), with all the white on white fabric the same. They work out to be about 12" square.
These blocks haven't been trimmed yet, but it gives you an idea of what they look like.
It has been a busy weekend with gardening Friday and Saturday, a bit of housework on Sunday and then sewing on the holiday Monday. I don't know how I managed to read all of Dan Brown's new book that I just purchased Thursday night. I didn't even start it until Friday night as I was determined to finish "The Historian" first. I also managed to get the first four rows of my afghan sewn together while watching the final matches of the Italian Open Tennis from Rome. Now you know the truth of why I was not more productive in the past two week in my quilt studio! I will take a picture of the afghan when it is finished! I probably won't have anything to show you next week, as I will be away to my sister's Friday & Saturday and then have a date with my youngest daughter on Sunday, to pick up some annual flowers to add a bit more colour to my perennial gardens. It should be safe to plant them outside by then. Have a great couple of weeks and enjoy whatever you are up to!
This is the one I had to sew all the blocks together after squaring them up.
This one had four rows completed, so I just had to sew on the top row. I think that I will quilt one of these and see if I can talk someone else into doing the other one. I really want to get back to my own projects. We also learned how to make a new square, from two 10" squares of fabric. Mine is the orange one and I have four others that got completed at guild. We have asked that they all be completed for next month. We will have a draw & the winner gets all the blocks. This will go nicely with our Christmas in June theme, as some lucky person will receive over twenty completed blocks, all colour coordinated, as the colours are all from one "layer cake" package (10" x 10" squares precut), with all the white on white fabric the same. They work out to be about 12" square.
These blocks haven't been trimmed yet, but it gives you an idea of what they look like.
It has been a busy weekend with gardening Friday and Saturday, a bit of housework on Sunday and then sewing on the holiday Monday. I don't know how I managed to read all of Dan Brown's new book that I just purchased Thursday night. I didn't even start it until Friday night as I was determined to finish "The Historian" first. I also managed to get the first four rows of my afghan sewn together while watching the final matches of the Italian Open Tennis from Rome. Now you know the truth of why I was not more productive in the past two week in my quilt studio! I will take a picture of the afghan when it is finished! I probably won't have anything to show you next week, as I will be away to my sister's Friday & Saturday and then have a date with my youngest daughter on Sunday, to pick up some annual flowers to add a bit more colour to my perennial gardens. It should be safe to plant them outside by then. Have a great couple of weeks and enjoy whatever you are up to!
Sunday 5 May 2013
Borders Left to Do
I didn't get as much sewing done as I had wanted to do this week. Life kept interfering!
My lawn is dethatched and raked, my baseboards have all been cleaned, my cold air return grates have all been washed, laundry is done and I don't know what all! I was good!
I did get the squares and sashing sewn together for last year's block of the month project.
The left side is actually the top. Now I just need to add two or three borders. I haven't decided on how many yet. The pattern calls for two, but since I am turning a twin into a queen size quilt, I may need a third border. I am thinking of putting a border of the sashing fabric, then a brown, the same as the corner stones and then the fancy sunflower fabric that has all the colours that are in the blocks. I will be checking on the required size this week and then make my decision.
My tulip wall hanging has been put on hold by Canada Post & Storage Company. My sister mailed the additional fabric that she thinks might work for a border last Tuesday. It hasn't arrived yet, so Canada Post must have decided to store it for a while.
Oh well, as my sister didn't pay very much for storage, it should be arriving soon. Canada Post wonders why so many people have stopped using its services. Any guesses?
London to Orillia is four hours by car, so why six days for the mail to arrive, assuming that it gets here tomorrow? I will keep my fingers crossed, as I really want to finish my quilted garden before I have to work on the real thing!
It is back to work for me tomorrow. I am going to try to get the borders for the block of the month quilt cut this week and hopefully sewn on next weekend. I still have to buy the backing for it, but already have the batting.
Have a good week!Happy quilting!
The left side is actually the top. Now I just need to add two or three borders. I haven't decided on how many yet. The pattern calls for two, but since I am turning a twin into a queen size quilt, I may need a third border. I am thinking of putting a border of the sashing fabric, then a brown, the same as the corner stones and then the fancy sunflower fabric that has all the colours that are in the blocks. I will be checking on the required size this week and then make my decision.
My tulip wall hanging has been put on hold by Canada Post & Storage Company. My sister mailed the additional fabric that she thinks might work for a border last Tuesday. It hasn't arrived yet, so Canada Post must have decided to store it for a while.
Oh well, as my sister didn't pay very much for storage, it should be arriving soon. Canada Post wonders why so many people have stopped using its services. Any guesses?
London to Orillia is four hours by car, so why six days for the mail to arrive, assuming that it gets here tomorrow? I will keep my fingers crossed, as I really want to finish my quilted garden before I have to work on the real thing!
It is back to work for me tomorrow. I am going to try to get the borders for the block of the month quilt cut this week and hopefully sewn on next weekend. I still have to buy the backing for it, but already have the batting.
Have a good week!Happy quilting!
Sunday 28 April 2013
Sashing!!!!
My sister came up with what I think is the perfect sashing for my tulips! What do you think?
Isn't she amazing? She found it, bought it & mailed it to me. I took the above picture and e-mailed it to her. The pattern calls for the outside border to be the same fabric as the sashing. So I had laid it out with some showing at two of the edges. That is when she told me that she thought that the border should be slightly darker. I looked all over my area and she looked all over her area & we decided that there is no such fabric! I did manage to find a blue and purple one that I liked with it in the store. When I got home & laid the whole thing out I decided it was too dark. What I am going to do is put a little quarter inch flap of it in between the garden and the border. Once I have that done, I will make the decision on what colour to bind it with. I am thinking the blue & purple, but will wait and see.
I really didn't get any other sewing done this week. The end of my busy work season ends on Tuesday. I have asked if I can catch up my statutory holidays Wednesday & Thursday and go back to my usual Fridays off. At this point I think that is going to work out. I will end up with five days off in a row. I hope to catch up on my sleep and do some serious sewing! I will just have to wait & see how it works out.
I hope you all have enough time to get some sewing done this week. Very soon we will all be busy with our real gardens, so I hope to have my tulip wall hanging up on my wall by them! Have a good week!
Isn't she amazing? She found it, bought it & mailed it to me. I took the above picture and e-mailed it to her. The pattern calls for the outside border to be the same fabric as the sashing. So I had laid it out with some showing at two of the edges. That is when she told me that she thought that the border should be slightly darker. I looked all over my area and she looked all over her area & we decided that there is no such fabric! I did manage to find a blue and purple one that I liked with it in the store. When I got home & laid the whole thing out I decided it was too dark. What I am going to do is put a little quarter inch flap of it in between the garden and the border. Once I have that done, I will make the decision on what colour to bind it with. I am thinking the blue & purple, but will wait and see.
I really didn't get any other sewing done this week. The end of my busy work season ends on Tuesday. I have asked if I can catch up my statutory holidays Wednesday & Thursday and go back to my usual Fridays off. At this point I think that is going to work out. I will end up with five days off in a row. I hope to catch up on my sleep and do some serious sewing! I will just have to wait & see how it works out.
I hope you all have enough time to get some sewing done this week. Very soon we will all be busy with our real gardens, so I hope to have my tulip wall hanging up on my wall by them! Have a good week!
Sunday 21 April 2013
Still No Sashing
I still don't have sashing that I like for my tulips. I have taken them into two other quilt stores and was convinced that I had found something good, only to find when I got home that it wasn't right. Oh well! I did finish my project for guild.
It is a mug carrier, to take my mug to guild! I am pleased with the way it turned out. I can't decide if I want to shorten the laces or not. I just tied the ends together in a single knot until I decide. Then I will trim them or not, but will finish the ends so they won't fray.
Until I find some sashing for my tulips, I started sewing the sashing on my block of the month blocks from last year. This sashing I like!
Do you remember these? It has been a while. They are just Thangles Buck a Block Series #8. I am pleased with the way the corner stones make a pattern with the corner triangles. The brown is just some leftovers I had from a wide backing that I used a few years ago. In case you really have forgotten here are the two borders I am going to use.
I did make six extra blocks from the leftovers from the rest of the blocks. I also did the border around each square wider, as is the sashing. The borders are going to be wider as well, turning a 67" x 93" quilt into a queen size.
Have a good week and I hope we all get some time to sew!
It is a mug carrier, to take my mug to guild! I am pleased with the way it turned out. I can't decide if I want to shorten the laces or not. I just tied the ends together in a single knot until I decide. Then I will trim them or not, but will finish the ends so they won't fray.
Until I find some sashing for my tulips, I started sewing the sashing on my block of the month blocks from last year. This sashing I like!
Do you remember these? It has been a while. They are just Thangles Buck a Block Series #8. I am pleased with the way the corner stones make a pattern with the corner triangles. The brown is just some leftovers I had from a wide backing that I used a few years ago. In case you really have forgotten here are the two borders I am going to use.
I did make six extra blocks from the leftovers from the rest of the blocks. I also did the border around each square wider, as is the sashing. The borders are going to be wider as well, turning a 67" x 93" quilt into a queen size.
Have a good week and I hope we all get some time to sew!
Sunday 7 April 2013
Colour Problem
I am rather out of sorts at the moment. I managed to fall and break two ribs last week. NOT TOO BRIGHT!!! Then, I am not sure if I like the sashing colour that I had picked out. I think it is too dark. That is a real problem!
Maybe a close-up will help me decide.
Maybe something lighter.
Another close-up?
How about a different colour flower?
If you could picture the sashing with rail fence quilting and even some thread play on the rails it might be OK. To bad I didn't just want an OK wall hanging. Of course if done right it could be better than OK. I just can't make up my mind. I should know better than to even try when I am tired & cranky. I had better leave it for a week or so and then try again. It is just too hard to scramble around changing the background as I am not cutting any more sashing strips until I am happier with the colour.
Anyway, I need to make a different project for my next guild meeting in a week and a half. We had a free motion quilting expert in to speak at our last meeting. I need to free motion quilt four 8 1/2" squares and get them sewn together and the backing on to make a finished 16" square. This is to practice free motion quilting and to have a 16" square to use in a craft at the next meeting. No, I am not putting my tulips away or I might never get them out again. I am going to let them stare at me for the next week or so & see if inspiration hits. I hope you are having better luck at whatever project you are working on. You could leave me a comment, telling me which colour you like better for the sashing! Hopefully, I will be less cranky by next week. Have a good one!
Maybe a close-up will help me decide.
Maybe something lighter.
Another close-up?
How about a different colour flower?
If you could picture the sashing with rail fence quilting and even some thread play on the rails it might be OK. To bad I didn't just want an OK wall hanging. Of course if done right it could be better than OK. I just can't make up my mind. I should know better than to even try when I am tired & cranky. I had better leave it for a week or so and then try again. It is just too hard to scramble around changing the background as I am not cutting any more sashing strips until I am happier with the colour.
Anyway, I need to make a different project for my next guild meeting in a week and a half. We had a free motion quilting expert in to speak at our last meeting. I need to free motion quilt four 8 1/2" squares and get them sewn together and the backing on to make a finished 16" square. This is to practice free motion quilting and to have a 16" square to use in a craft at the next meeting. No, I am not putting my tulips away or I might never get them out again. I am going to let them stare at me for the next week or so & see if inspiration hits. I hope you are having better luck at whatever project you are working on. You could leave me a comment, telling me which colour you like better for the sashing! Hopefully, I will be less cranky by next week. Have a good one!
Sunday 31 March 2013
It's A Garden
I finally had two days off and my garden bloomed!
That is all eight that I needed to make. I also got the cornerstones for the sashing picked out and cut. Now I just have to get the sashing cut and I will be all set for the next time I have a bit of spare time.
The dishwasher is cleaning up after a good dinner, the laundry is done and put away. I am free to do a bit more on this project before I have to get to bed. The five in the morning alarm seems to come very early some days as I am sure that it will tomorrow.
While I am cutting sashing out, I will be adding the pieces to my design wall, along with the 17 different coloured cornerstones. I am not sure if the flowers are in their final arrangement. I will have to play around a bit to be sure. At least I have a photo of this arrangement in case I want to go back to it.
Have a good week of sewing!
That is all eight that I needed to make. I also got the cornerstones for the sashing picked out and cut. Now I just have to get the sashing cut and I will be all set for the next time I have a bit of spare time.
The dishwasher is cleaning up after a good dinner, the laundry is done and put away. I am free to do a bit more on this project before I have to get to bed. The five in the morning alarm seems to come very early some days as I am sure that it will tomorrow.
While I am cutting sashing out, I will be adding the pieces to my design wall, along with the 17 different coloured cornerstones. I am not sure if the flowers are in their final arrangement. I will have to play around a bit to be sure. At least I have a photo of this arrangement in case I want to go back to it.
Have a good week of sewing!
Sunday 24 March 2013
Another Tulip Has Sprouted
Just one more tulip has sprouted in my private garden in my sewing room.
It looks lonely by itself!
Aaah...that's better. I'm afraid that my garden is growing very slowly. I just hope that I manage to get it all done by the time the real gardening starts towards the end of May. Let's see...5 more blocks, 17 corner stones, all the sashing, 8 set in triangles, 4 corner triangles, at least one border, all the quilting and then the binding. I am not sure if I will make it or not. Also, I have to add in 4 - 8 1/2 inch blocks with my very own free motion quilting for the third week in April for guild. I think it just may be a busy week or four.
Have a good week sewing! I hope you are working on something that you really enjoy!
It looks lonely by itself!
Aaah...that's better. I'm afraid that my garden is growing very slowly. I just hope that I manage to get it all done by the time the real gardening starts towards the end of May. Let's see...5 more blocks, 17 corner stones, all the sashing, 8 set in triangles, 4 corner triangles, at least one border, all the quilting and then the binding. I am not sure if I will make it or not. Also, I have to add in 4 - 8 1/2 inch blocks with my very own free motion quilting for the third week in April for guild. I think it just may be a busy week or four.
Have a good week sewing! I hope you are working on something that you really enjoy!
Sunday 17 March 2013
One More Flower
I only had time to make one more flower this week.
I guess it is time to show you the material I have for sashing. I just can't decide which direction to cut it. Should the wavy stripes be up and down like a picket fence or
sideways like a rail fence? I am having trouble deciding.
Now, what did I spend my time on this week? I challenged my quilt guild to make fabric name tags back in January. I told them I would give them two months to see what they would come up with, lots of time for me to make one as well. Well I forgot how crazy busy time is at work and almost decided not to make one, then decided that it wouldn't be fair. So I got busy and used the idea of our guild logo. This really isn't cheating because I designed the logo in the first place. Here is the logo.
Now for my new name tag. What do you think?
It took me quite a while. I don't have an embroidery machine, so all the lettering was just me following the pattern I made with a satin stitch. At least I made one! I feel really good about that. I sewed two metal washers inside it near the top edge and then have a magnetic strip that goes on the back to hold it on. That way I don't end up with pin holes in all my clothes.
It is a busy week for me with two different quilt guild meeting this week on top of 58 hours of work. I am still going to try to get another flower made. I hope you have a good week of sewing!
I guess it is time to show you the material I have for sashing. I just can't decide which direction to cut it. Should the wavy stripes be up and down like a picket fence or
sideways like a rail fence? I am having trouble deciding.
Now, what did I spend my time on this week? I challenged my quilt guild to make fabric name tags back in January. I told them I would give them two months to see what they would come up with, lots of time for me to make one as well. Well I forgot how crazy busy time is at work and almost decided not to make one, then decided that it wouldn't be fair. So I got busy and used the idea of our guild logo. This really isn't cheating because I designed the logo in the first place. Here is the logo.
Now for my new name tag. What do you think?
It took me quite a while. I don't have an embroidery machine, so all the lettering was just me following the pattern I made with a satin stitch. At least I made one! I feel really good about that. I sewed two metal washers inside it near the top edge and then have a magnetic strip that goes on the back to hold it on. That way I don't end up with pin holes in all my clothes.
It is a busy week for me with two different quilt guild meeting this week on top of 58 hours of work. I am still going to try to get another flower made. I hope you have a good week of sewing!
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