DESIGN WALL MONDAY

There is nothing on my design wall, but I have a redwork project waiting in the wings.

I have stitched the centre medallion, the four corner triangles, and the four border units.  They all need to be pressed, then trimmed to size before I can continue.  I also need to make approximately 289 red and white half square triangle units to complete the project.

Currently, I'm machine quilting for a friend.  Her quilt top is like a giant puzzle right now, with me trying to find designs to stitch in each area!  Lots of fun

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

STASH REPORT SUNDAY

Nothing new to report this week!

We had a house full of company for 5 days - 4 extra adults and a 19 month old whirlwind!  We loved spending time with our grandson, but by the end of the visit we were nearing exhaustion!  We had trips to the playgrounds in the area, as well as an afternoon at the splash pad, playing with lots of water.  We all slept well every night.  DH also played tour guide for some of the time.  We were sad to see them leave.  My DIL is finding their home empty without her sister and nephew in residence.

After they left, I had to deal with the seeming mountain of sheets and towels, and we took advantage of the days to catch up on some sleep.

Wednesday was my guild executive meeting.  We have some new members, and lots to discuss about the upcoming season.  I returned home with items to update on our website.

Friday I finished the final quilt for community quilts.  I only provided binding for the first 3 - the final 2 came with  prepared binding.  Now they have to have labels stitched on each and have a picture taken before they'll be sent to their new homes.

Saturday morning we headed out to another family reunion.  This time it was DH's side of the family.  We all come from his grandmother's side and his great-aunt's family.  Our grandson was introduced to everyone, and was his charming self.  He had a cousin who was almost a year older, so he enjoyed his afternoon, playing in the sandbox and running around the yard.  The cousins who were graciously hosting, raise alpacas, so he got to feed carrots to one of them, and was able to pat both its nose and neck, but the fun ended when he wanted to grab the ears!  I came home with a bag of alpaca yarn to knit into some more items for them.  They especially asked for small shawls and hats and scarf sets.  I'll have to find my patterns, but I'll probably try some new ones this time - I like the variety!

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

STASH REPORT SUNDAY

Fabric used this week  1.125 yards

Fabric used year to date  168.625 yards

Fabric added this week 0 yards

Fabric added year to date  33.75 yards

Net used 2016  134.875 yards

I'm still not getting any of my projects completed, but I did provide the binding for 3 of the smaller "community quilts" that I machine quilted for my guild.  The 4th one is about 2/3 quilted, and then there is one more to complete.

Reorganizing my sewing room and family visits took a huge bite out of my month!  Our son, daughter-in-law and grandson, along with her sister and nephew from Russia arrived on Friday afternoon.  DH took them for a short driving tour of Kingston after we had dinner.  We've been taking care of our grandson this weekend, while the other four headed for a weekend in Ottawa.

We spent most of Saturday with our wee one, (just 19 months old), visiting a couple of parks to play on the slides and then to a water play area in the afternoon, so he could run and splash in the puddles and squirting water with all the other kids.  Today we've had showers off and on all day, so we've had a quiet day, playing with toys, and we watched the Winnie the Pooh movie before he headed upstairs for his afternoon nap.

A good friend from my guild asked me to quilt her latest quilt - not something I usually do, other than for community quilts, but I like a challenge, so she is bringing it over tomorrow morning, so I can get started as soon as the last two quilts are completed.  I'm sure I'll get around to my own projects soon enough, and I don't really have any deadline!

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

STASH REPORT SUNDAY

No Change!

 

No sewing going on in my world.  Once I finished the quilts for my community quilts group, I decided it was time to tackle my sewing space.  It has become very disorganized over the past few years, and there is lots of craft stuff, and miniature supplies from hobbies that are on the back burner for now.

Lots of sorting, cleaning, re-organizing, seeming to make more mess that I started with.  DH joined me yesterday and we pulled everything out of the old kitchen cabinets that fill one end of my room.  Sorting, tossing, donating, cleaning and labeling kept us busy.  DH sorted all the paints and tossed those that had become solid, and also checked out his collection of glues (I had already done mine).

Today, I'm finishing the laundry, and doing some kitchen chores.  My basil was calling, so I made pesto from my favourite recipe and it is stored in the freezer.  I just pulled some cookie bars from the oven.  I'm trying to stock up in preparation for my visit from DS2 and extended family.  His wife's sister and nephew will be visiting from Russia, and her middle sister is joining them from California.  They will only be with us for a few days, but they are planning on an Ottawa visit, and our grandson will be staying with us for 2 days.  My little townhouse will be packed with 7 adults and our little guy, but we always make room for family.

Next weekend we head back to Kitchener, to help them get their house ready for visitors.  Some furniture needs to be relocated, and a few organization chores that we'll assist with as well.  Hopefully I can get some stitching done soon.  I have placemats to complete for "Meals on Wheels".  Our guild donates some every year, and I made the pieced tops over a year ago.  They just need to be backed and quilted.   Sounds like a simple task to do when we have company, in between cooking, visiting, etc.

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

STASH REPORT SUNDAY

Fabric used this week  7.375 yards

Fabric used year to date  167.5 yards

Fabric added this week  0 yards

Fabric added year to date  33.75 yards

Net used 2016  133.75 yards

I completed my one block wonder this week.  I had fun quilting with black thread on black fabric.  Boy, is it hard to photograph.  I finally lightened up the colour to show the quilting.....   The fabric is really a true black!

Now I just have to decided how and where I'll use this quilt!  The remaining piece of the original fabric is on the back.  When I began laying out the blocks, DH said it was giving him a headache - but now that it is completed, he loves it.

Now my time is being used to machine quilt 4 quilts for my guild's community quilts group.  Someone offered to add the binding, but I don't mind having some evening hand work to do.  I must say that I had to sew the black on black binding on during the day - no matter what combination of lighting I used, it was just too difficult to see in the evening.

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

 

DESIGN WALL MONDAY

Now that my community quilt projects are completed, waiting for the next workshop, I finally pulled out the stack of "one block wonder" blocks that were waiting.  I cut and stitched the half blocks while South last winter, but I don't have a big enough design wall to play with the layout.

I spent a couple of hours, arranging and re-arranging the blocks until I was happy with my choice, and yesterday I began stitching them into vertical rows.  Of course, DH took one look at the blocks and asked for his sunglasses!  I love bright, funky "what were they thinking of" prints for stack n whack blocks!

I managed to stitch a few of the rows before we headed out for dinner with friends and a concert in the park.  I began stitching on the darker side of the quilt....

Making stack n whack style quilts always puts a smile on my face.  Now back to stitching!

Check out all the creativity shared at Judy's blog, Patchwork Times , and  Monday Makings at Love Laugh Quilt.

STASH REPORT SUNDAY

Fabric used this week  12.125 yards

Fabric used year to date  160.125 yards

Fabric added this week  0 yards

Fabric added year to date 33.75 yards

Net used 2016   126.375 yards

I managed to finish 2 wheelchair quilt tops with binding for my guild's community quilts program, using the remaining strips that I had cut for a previous strippy border.

I also quilted a wheelchair quilt that I brought home to complete after our last workshop day, but none of the fabric was from my stash.

I finally completed another project, that began with orphan half- square triangle units that were leftover from my guild's BOM quilt.  They were stitched into pinwheels, then I used fabric from my scrap bins to add corner squares.  Then more leftovers were used to tilt them left and right.  The only "new" fabric used was the funky striped fabric for sashing strips and the black cornerstones and binding.

Now I have to figure out what I want to work on next, from my huge list of possibilities.  But the decision will be left for another day.  I'm off to enjoy our long weekend - a pool party, then dinner at our friends' home, then off to the first concert in the park - what more could anyone wish for.....

Share the progress with Judy at Patchwork Times....

STASH REPORT SUNDAY

Fabric used this week  7.625 yards

Fabric used year to date 148 yards

Fabric added this week 0 yards

Fabric added year to date 33.75 yards

Net used 2016   114.25 yards 

My "used fabric" was from the "Out of the Box" quilt tops and binding that I completed for my community quilts group.

I was left with lots of 2 inch and 1 1/2 inch strips - leftover from the strippy border, so I decided to use them rather than put them back into the bin. I have two large blocks pieced that will become the centres of wheelchair quilts.  Now I have to get back to work, adding borders.

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

OUT OF THE BOX QUILTS

During the past year, the volunteers who meet once a month to work on my guild's community quilt projects, spent time to sort all the donated orphan blocks and pre-made parts.  Each group of similar size and or shape were placed in a raspberry box.  (These boxes were salvaged from a local supermarket, and are cardboard, built to stack while holding quarts or pints of raspberries).

At our last get-together, our fearless leader asked if everyone would take a box home and figure out how to use the contents for a quilt.

My first box held 60 9-patch blocks that were 3 1/2 inches, and I made this quilt top.

I wrote about it on Design Wall Monday.  I had difficulty getting the true colours to show in the pictures.  The light borders are really a darker beige, the blue-ish border is much darker, and the final border is a deeper rust colour.

 Box number 2 held 29 pinwheel blocks that had been squared up to 8.25 inches.  I made one more block, then set them with sashing and cornerstones.
I decided to make a strippy border, so I sorted through my 1.5 and 2 inch strip bins and pulled all the strips that had colours found in the blocks.

I made binding for each quilt top, but don't have fabric for backing.  I'll take them to our next community quilts workshop, and hopefully I'll find backing fabric for each of them, then after pin-basting both, I'll bring them home to machine quilt.  This is a win-win - I get to use some of my fabric scraps, and there are 2 less boxes full of parts waiting to be used, and soon 2 more quilts ready to donate.

DESIGN WALL MONDAY

Here I am, posting late again, but better late than never!  First a picture of my guild's BOM project for 2015-16.  I finished mine a while back, but finally got around to taking some pictures!
The final border is from Judy's book, "60 Pieced Quilt Borders"
Here are some close-ups of some of the quilting in blocks...

 

Several of the quilting fills were inspired by the free tutorials at The Inbox Jaunt.

At my last get-together with our community quilts group, the coordinator asked people to take a box of quilt blocks, and make them into a quilt.

The first box I picked up had 60 small 9-patch blocks, made from gold, rust, tan and brown fabrics.

I began by adding triangles in tans and rust to make the blocks larger.  Then sashing and cornerstones.  The centre used 48 of the 60 blocks, so I used the remaining blocks as corners in one border and corners and centres in the final border.  I have the binding made, and it will head to the next community quilts get-together to find a backing and get pin-basted, ready for quilting.

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

STASH REPORT SUNDAY

Fabric used this week  15.875 yards

Fabric used year to date  140.375 yards

Fabric added this week  0 yards

Fabric added year to date   33.75 yards

Net used 2016  106.625 yards

I finished my BOM  for my guild group!  (Pictures to come later....) It went into the washing machine for a cold water rinse and spin, and is hanging to dry.  I had used a blue wash-away marker in one of the blocks, and wanted to make sure it was completely gone!

I had a busy week, with my guild's annual spring dinner on Wednesday.  The executive members do the catering, with two of our social committees providing dessert.  We had the ArtWear group from Ottawa visiting, and they provided us with a wonderful fashion show!  It was a great way to finish our quilting season.

Today we are waiting for the gas company to show up to change our meter.  We've had problems with readings for the past two winters, so it was past time for a replacement.  Of course we have a window between 8am and noon!

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

DESIGN WALL MONDAY

I'm still quilting my latest project, but I took some time off this afternoon.  After teaching a workshop on clothesline baskets, I came home and started wrapping some for myself.

I was inspired to try a new edging after watching a tutorial at Ami Simms website.  She made hers with cotton clothesline that was dyed, but I used the regular wrapped clothesline. 
The edging takes way more line that you might think, but it creates an interesting edge.

I also had a shorter piece of clothesline, so I kept wrapping.....

This used some leftover fabric from my grandson's quilt, along with the selvedge and some narrow strips of a multicoloured stripe that I used for the sashing in another project.  I decided to finish with some swirls on the outside this time.

Now back to quilting.

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

STASH REPORT SUNDAY

Fabric used this week 2 yards

Fabric used year to date  124.5 yards 

Fabric added this week  0 yards

Fabric added year to date  33.75 yards

Net used 2016  90.75 yards

My community quilts group was busy trying to complete as many quilts as possible, so we could send them to the Ft. McMurray fire victims.  I brought 2 baby quilts home and quilted them, and added the binding.  I also made 3 blocks to be donated to the BOM draw at our next meeting in June.

I'm in the middle of quilting my guild's BOM quilt project, that was shared this year.  I've done most of the SITD quilting, and now have to figure out interesting designs for all the blocks and areas.

I've spent the weekend getting caught up on laundry, and making soup.  One of our grocery stores had skinless chicken breasts on sale for the long weekend.  Sales were slow, even though they were a great bargain.  My friend called on Thursday to tell me that they had marked them down to half of the sale price, so DH and I headed over and picked up 5 packages of 4 breast, each for just over $2!  I boned all the breasts, and we packed them up for the freezer.  I made chicken stock yesterday, and this morning after skimming all the fat, I made chicken veggie soup with a few noodles.  I'll have lots for the freezer too!

Check out everyone's stash progress at Judy's blog, Patchwork Times.

 

WORKSHOP ON THURSDAY

I was asked to take over a workshop on Thursday.  The person who was going to teach it had to be out of town.
Thursday morning I headed to the fairgrounds in Odessa ON, where we use one of their buildings for large workshops.  I was there about 8:45, and helped set up tables and chairs.  Soon ladies started arriving with sewing machines, and lots of assorted stuff.

I had 2 helpers for the morning and part of the afternoon too.  The ladies were there to make some clothesline baskets.  I only had a couple to show, as most of mine have been gifted or sold, but my helpers each brought one as well.  It took a while to get everyone started, as it is important to get a good starting wrap of the clothesline.  Then the 3 of us were flitting from table to table to help everyone start their coils ( the hardest part, I think). 

I shared a couple of websites with the group, and everyone was off and wrapping then stitching.




Personally, I like to wrap the clothesline ahead of time, then just sit and stitch.


By 4pm, there were some finished baskets, and some great progress by others, who had decided to make a large basket to hold knitting.

There was lots of chatting and visiting to see what other's baskets were looking like and seeing how different fabric choices were working.  







I explained that I save all the selvedge edges from the fabric I buy, and make scrappy baskets, so I think I have people looking a the selvedges with "new eyes".




I must say that I was tired by the end of the day - my first full one since I was ill, but when I returned home, I sat and wrapped some selvedges around some clothesline!

DESIGN WALL (MONDAY) - WEDNESDAY

Sometimes I wonder where the time goes..... 
 It was Victoria Day weekend in Canada, and we spent a couple of days with our son, daughter-in-law and grandson.  I was busy doing this.....  He is a bit too small to reach the pedals, but he loves to walk and steer.

I have this completed top on my new design wall.  My sewing room is in the basement of our townhouse, and there is a long, narrow hall leading to the room.  I needed a larger design wall, so DH and I put this up.  My other "wall" is an old pin board that we rescued from a garbage pile.
The pinwheels were made from the bonus pieces while making the pieced border for my guild BOM quilt.  The setting triangle were all cut from my 2 1/2 inch strip bin.  The light and dark blues were leftover from the BOM quilt.  I pulled a funky strip for sashing and thought that the black cornerstones helped to pull it all together.  My only difficulty with the design wall, is taking pictures from an extreme angle, but I'll take a full picture once the quilt is completed.
I'll be teaching a workshop on making clothesline coiled baskets all day tomorrow - looking forward to a fun day!

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

STASH REPORT SUNDAY

Fabric used this week  0 yards

Fabric used year to date  122.5 yards

Fabric added this week  0 yards

Fabric added year to date  33.75 yards

Net used 2016  88.75

 

I'm still struggling with my cold and cough!  I don't think I was totally better and have been a bit sick since February.  I'm on the uphill side of it this time, and my cough is almost gone.

 

I've been working on my guild's BOM project.  I finally stitched tht top together, and then planned the borders (my choice).  I used a border from Judy's book "60 Pieced Quilt Borders Mix & Match", adjusting the size to fit my quilt.  I only have one more border to stitch, and then the top will be complete.  Now I just have to find the energy..... 

I'm catching up on the laundry today and making a pot of soup.  We hope to visit our grandson and family next weekend, but I don't want to take my germs along.  They've had a tough time with illnesses, since my DIL returned to work and grandson to daycare.

Check out all the progress shared at Judy's blog, http://www.patchworktimes.com/2016/05/15/stash-report-may-15-2016/

DESIGN WALL MONDAY

I was feeling a bit better this morning, so I decided to get back to work on my guild BOM project.  I had made the blocks each month, but hadn't finished the last one, as I had to decide what I wanted to add to the basic blocks.

I finally decided to make some small Dresden plate pieces.  I made an open circle on the left side, and then played with the pieces to make two looped shapes on the right.
Pardon the cut off picture.  My sewing room is small and that is the best I could do.  The top right block has the woven pattern that is a mirror image of the top left.
I machine appliqued the Dresden parts to the block using monofilament (invisible) thread.  I challenged myself to make the whole quilt in shades of blue and white, and I've been enjoying the process.  I still have a few more borders to add - they were not provided with the pattern.  It will be interesting to see all the finished quilts.  This time I'll remember to enter mine in the next quilt show.

Check out all the creativity shared on Judy's blog, Patchwork Times.

STASH REPORT SUNDAY

Fabric used this week  13.125 yards

Fabric used year to date  122.5 yards

Fabric added this week  0 yards

Fabric added year to date  33.75 yards

Net used 2016  88.75

 

My quilting seems to go in "fits and starts" this year.  I am suffering through cold number 2 for this year - a personal record.

 

My guild's block of the month program is going back to normal, after offering 2 complete quilts starting in the fall.  This month's block had a floral centre, with definite colours in the other pieces.  They will be handed in at the June meeting, and the participants names go into a draw for all the blocks.  One block, one entry.  I decided to make 3 blocks this week.  I needed to have a small project to work on during my few good spells. 

The other yardage was used in the Oriental Strip Quilt I completed on Tuesday.  It will be heading to my Community Quilts group for donation.

 

Happy Mother's Day to everyone.  I had along conversation with my older son this afternoon, and this morning we Skyped with our younger son and his family.  Our grandson loves to "talk" to us via the computer.  It will be great when he uses real words, but we have fun chatting with him and watching him play with his toys.

 

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

A FINISH FOR MAY

I've come down with a cold - as bad as the one I had in February!  I'm blaming all the variable weather we've been having since our return. 

While in Florida, a neighbour gave me some 2 1/2 in strips of oriental print fabrics.  I added a few of my own and made this quilt.

I decided that it should be wider and longer, so I pulled an oriental print that was leftover from a project a few years ago.  I found a stack of fabrics that had been lined up for a stack n whack block with just 4 repeats, so I cut them up and made interesting 4Patches.  I set them on point, using a neutral fabric, and then added green spacers to make them wide enough for a top and bottom border.  Then I added more side borders, and the leftover oriental print is leftover no more!  
 
Here is a closeup of one of the borders, showing the 4 patch stack n whack blocks and the quilting in the neutral areas.  The rest of the quilting was very simple.  This quilt will be donated to the community quilts program at my guild.

Now I have to get back to my guild's block of the month quilt.  I still have to invent a couple of appliques for the final block, and then start piecing and figuring out what kind and how many borders I'll add.  Lots of fun!

STASH REPORT SUNDAY

Fabric used this week  0 yards

Fabric used year to date  109.375 yards

Fabric added this week  0 yards

Fabric added  year to date  33.75 yards

Net used 2016  75.625 yards

 

 Nothing completed so my numbers are the same.  I do have a quilt top and pieced back waiting in the wings to be basted and quilted, but I'm still working on community quilts.

This is another small quilt top that was pin-basted at the last community quilts work day.  The centre block was an orphan that had been donated by a guild member.  It is a fused applique, and it was stitched using a built-in embroidery stitch on a sewing machine.

The inner green border is quilted with heart shaped leaves and loops - very simple, using a variegated green thread.
The red border has bows connected by ribbons - from The Inbox Jaunt tutorials.

The final wide border was stitched using my favourite hooked feathers, and I also added a frame around both sides.  It was also stitched with variegated green thread.  It is difficult to photograph the quilting, especially in my basement sewing room!

Now I'm off to begin the quilting on quilt 3 of 4 - this one is quite a bit larger than the previous 2 quilts.
Check out the progress shared at Judy's blog, Patchwork Times.