STASH REPORT SUNDAY

Fabric used this week  14.75 yards

Fabric used year to date  83 yards

Fabric added this week   0 yards

Fabric added year to date  35.5 yards

Net used 2013  47.5 yards

As I reported earlier this week, I finished a quilt (finally) that I made totally from my stash!  Pattern was in an older Quiltmaker magazine, and was called Daisy Pops.  Mine, due to fabric choices, looks nothing like the original!  You can find the post, with pictures of the quilt here! 

My other sewing this week was finishing tote bags for "Every Child Counts", but the only thing I contributed was thread and sewing time!

I gave my daughter-in-law a sewing machine this weekend, so we spent most of this morning giving her a "tour", trying all the features etc.  Her previous experience sewing was done on a hand crank machine.  Her family came from Russia when she was a young teen, and these were common for home sewing.  Her mother ordered a new one, made by Singer shortly after they arrived  in Canada.  It has a beautiful wood case, and lovely gold decals, but she finds it hard to coordinate the right and left hands.

She tried many of the stitches, made 3 different buttonholes and even sewed on a button, just to see how the different jobs were accomplished.  The machine came with a walking and free motion quilting feet, and although she isn't a quilter, you never know.........

Since she wanted to try all the different feet, she tried both.  She managed to stitch a petalled flower, a leaf with veins, and a bee on her first try at free motion!  She reallly has to be a quilter!!!!

DH and I have enjoyed having her and our two sons for the weekend.  My guys like to play lots of different board games - the more complex the rules, the better they like it!  Its great to hear them laugh, and tease each other while they enjoy their time together.

Head over to Judy's blog, Patchwork Times, to see how other's have fared on their stash reports for this week.   

GOOD NEWS THURSDAY

Our two sons and one daughter-in-law are arriving tonight, and staying until Sunday!
I love when they visit.  The guys put all the leaves in my table and set up board games, laughing, and teasing each other the whole time.  I love having time to get to know my newest daughter-in-law!

I've been cooking and baking - cooked ribs yesterday, and they'll be reheated tomorrow.  Tonight I'm making pizza - one traditional and one Alfredo with chicken, along with a salad.  I also made a large snack cake, as well as stocking up on fruit - apples, oranges, grapes, bananas and blueberries.  Have to have some healthy options!

I finished the 3 remaining tote bags for "Every Child Counts", and I'm making a small purse/wallet to test the pattern.  Probably won't get much done once the gang arrives....I can hardly wait.

Check out other good news at Judy's blog, Patchwork Times.   

FINALLY.....A FINISH!

I put the final quilting stitches in one of the quilts that travelled north, pin-basted.

The pattern was from a Quiltmaker magazine at least 2 or 3 years old.  Two years ago, I made a kit from my stash but ran out of time to make it.  It finally arrived at the finished mark this winter. 

I found the technique for some of the units to be easy, but very wasteful, so if I made this pattern again, I'd find alternate methods.

I inherited some stencils a couple of years ago.  This one was too large for the block, but I just omitted the last feather on four of the swirl arms, and it fit just fine.  I stitched it in a variegated rose thread on the yellow blocks, and a variegated gold thread on the dark green ones.

 The border quilting is difficult to see, but there is a rose in each corner, and zig-zag leaves in the centre of each long border.

I made a pieced back for this quilt, using leftover fabrics, and managed to add 14.75 yards of fabric to my "used from stash" report for next Sunday! 
 

DESIGN WALL MONDAY

Yesterday I was assembling tote bags for ECC.  The coordinator of the group had quilted two decor fabrics together, and she wanted bags made with the yellow print on the outside.  There was extra blue print for binding, handles etc.  I managed to finish one, and cut out and began the assembly of 3 more.

I've also been adding the rest of the quilting on one of the quilts that came home partly finished.  More to come on that one....

This is the first row of my hexie quilt to be finished.  It still needs the burgundy border row added to each end, but I have to press the fabric after its time in the washer and dryer.

 Some of the fabrics that I'm using came from my 1 1/2 inch strip bin, so I have limited amounts.  These petal units needed 24 hexies the same, so I made some with the limited fabrics before heading on to smaller units.

The next row is made of these star units.  I need 8 for each of the 2 rows, so I'm gradually working my way through the already basted units.  All the units in the interior of the quilt use the same mauve print in the center, and although the background looks whitish, it is really a pale blue fairy frost fabric!  There are two more background fabrics used, with one only used on the outer edges of the borders.

Check out all the progress at Judy's blog, Patchwork Times.   

 

STASH REPORT SUNDAY

Fabric used this week  0 yards

Fabric used year to date  68.25 yards

Fabric added this week  2.25 yards

Fabric added year to date  35.5 yards

Net used 2013  32.75 yards

I still haven't finished either of the pin-basted quilts that I brought north.  I'm working on one......but slowly.

I finished quilting my BFF's baby quilt.  She wanted simple quilting, mostly in the ditch, but I added a bow design in the final border, to mimic the bow fabric that is part of the quilt.   Most of the fabric in this quilt was donated by members of her church.

The fabric added was for my hexagon project.  I needed a large piece of a dark burgundy to form the border, and I knew that I wouldn't have any one piece that would fill the bill.  I also picked up two small prints, one in red and one in a rose colour to add to the project.  The original pattern called for 16 different coloured fabrics, along with 3 backgrounds, and one border.  I've finished assembling one row, and I'm working on the blocks for the next one.

Today I'm off to join a charity sewing group that meets once a month.  This is a new group to me,  and the local quilt shop offered their classroom, so more sewers could attend.  I'll report on the sewing and fun tomorrow! 

Check out the ups and downs of stash at Judy's blog here!

GOOD NEWS THURSDAY

My BFF came for a visit yesterday afternoon, and we basted two baby quilts!  She is finishing one, and I offered to quilt the second.   They will be gifts for a family at her church.  We finished our visit with a cup of tea, a cookie and some conversation.

I finally finished organizing my sewing room, finding homes for all the fabrics, some new and some returning, and I hope to get some sewing done today!

After months of struggling with a sore knee, I'll be seeing my doctor this afternoon.  DH called and the previous caller had cancelled their appointment, so I'll be seeing my doctor 2 weeks earlier.  My knee was manageable when we were south, as we live in a bungalow, with only 2 steps to worry about.  Our northern home is a townhouse with 3 levels, and I never realized how many times I go up and down the stairs in one day!

I'VE BEEN AWOL

We had an uneventful trip north.  We did stop in to visit Wilson's quilt shop in Hagerstown Maryland, so I'll have to report my small fabric purchases next Sunday.

We were greeted with an ice storm 2 days after our return, but we didn't have any high winds in our area, so not too many broken branches and power outages.  I took this picture through the window, and you can see the reflection of a lamp!

Last Saturday we packed up again, drove to Toronto and had lunch with DS1 & DDIL - managed to get caught up on all their news before heading north.  We checked into our motel in Orillia ON, then proceeded to Coldwater to help a dear friend celebrate his 60th birthday and retirement after 38 years in the Canadian Armed Forces!  Lots of family and friends made the celebration spectacular.  Since all the ice had melted, Mother Nature decided to add a bit of snow our way on the way back to the motel!
 
Sunday we headed to Kitchener ON to visit DS2 & DDIL, staying overnight.  They are doing some house hunting, so we checked out 3 homes that were having an open house.  They aren't ready to buy yet - still saving their down payment, but they are doing lots of research so they will be knowledgeable buyers.  They hope to find a home to last them a very long time!

Monday morning we headed back home, and we've spent today getting caught up on filing, banking, more grocery shopping, and shopping for a birthday present for a great-nephew.
  

The only quilting that has been happening is basting half-inch hexagons.  I pieced together some small medallions from the basted pieces made on the trip north, and spent the driving time during the past weekend basting more!  I think this will be continuing for a long, long, long time.  Hopefully I'll get to spend some time in my sewing room tomorrow (but only if DH doesn't decided to do our taxes, due April 30th)!    

STASH REPORT SUNDAY

Fabric used this week  12.25 yards

Fabric used year to date  68.25 yards

Fabric added this week  0 yards

Fabric added year to date  33.25 yards

Net used 2013  35 yards

I managed to finish the quilting and binding on the 2 smallest quilts of the four that I had pin-basted.  I quilted in the morning and packed in the afternoons!  Pictures of the quilts, Noah's Ark and Paddington Bear are found by clicking the "Quilts 2013" link that is under the banner on my blog!

I also did basic stitch-in-the-ditch quilting on the next largest quilt, and added the binding, and quilted the borders on my version of Dawn & Dusk, and added the binding to it as well.  Quilts are much easier to pack when they have finished edges!

I still have one more bin to load, then decide how I'm going to pack the finished quilts.  We also have to pack clothing and our stuff for the trip north.  Our "motel" bag, my computer, my activity bag (books, sewing projects etc.,) and the cooler will be packed in the morning before we do our final walk through of the house.  DH made a "closing the house" checklist for friends and family who had used the place for vacations in years past, and it works well for us as well.  This prevents thoughts of items forgotten when we are several hours away!

Check out all the reports at Judy's blog, Patchwork Times.     

I AM THANKFUL

for a wonderful group of women who meet with me every Wednesday from November until April to share our quilting addiction!

for my DH who takes such good care of me, and encourages me in everything I do.

for my family, who I will visit soon!

for a rainy day, so I don't mind staying inside and packing!

FINAL QUILTING DAY

Today was our final quilting day for this season.  Lots of farewells, and questions about when everyone was heading north.  Some of the group stay year round, and others go north to visit family for a month or so, then return home.

These are a few items that were finished this winter.....

There were still lots of projects being finished, and many questions asked before we all said farewell until the fall.  I keep in touch with everyone over the summer, sending interesting website links, etc., and hopefully some plans for quilts for next season.  Many have huge stashes at their northern homes, so like to choose fabric for winter projects.  I usually make up "kits" of projects that I plan to work on, and also make a shopping list of needed "go with" fabrics, so I can shop on the trip south if necessary (and it is always necessary!)

I did the basic quilting on pin-basted quilt #3 yesterday, then added the binding last night.  I'll add more quilting when I return north.  That left only my big "Dusk to Dawn" quilt, so I decided to quilt the borders and add the binding to it as well.  I was on the last round of stitching when I realized that it was time to head to quilting, and it was too hot and humid to continue when I arrived home.  I'll have to complete it tomorrow! 

DESIGN WALL MONDAY

I finished both quilt tops for my guild's BOM challenge.  Instead of just making blocks each month, the two conveners decided to design 2 quilt tops.  They are in the medallion style, with one having lots of paper piecing, and being a bit more difficult than the other.

Mine finished close to 70 inches square.  I chose this colourway, as part my personal challenge was to make it totally from my stash, and I had enough of all the colours.  I'm hoping to have it quilted to show at the June meeting.

This is version 2.  Once again, it had to be made completely from my stash!  The centre block is paper pieced, but I chose to use traditional piecing for the "square in a square" blocks.  The final "woven" border was also to be paper pieced, but rather than use 40 sheets of paper, I printed one copy, then made paper templates to tape on the back of my ruler for those unusual cuts.  All of the pieces were cut from strips, with the background shapes just using one template, one for the diagonal piece, and one for the small triangles.  They were irregular angles, so the paper template method worked great.

Sunday, I managed to machine quilt 2 of the smaller quilts waiting in the wings, and added the binding to both.  I also packed a small duffle bag full of leftover fabric from finished projects.  Since DH doesn't need my sewing room to store all the train buildings, bridges and accessories this year, I'm still able to sew a bit then pack a bit each day.

Check out Judy's blog, Patchwork Times for creative inspiration from many wonderful quilters.