Appliquéd machine wall hanging progress

I've done some more appliqué.  It's coming along really nicely.  It's coming together quickly too.

I guess my work with the quilt Tiny Town, really made a difference in my skill level.  I forgot how enjoyable it is to just sit and hand stitch. 

This time around, I finished the base of the sewing machine, the feet and the side plate by the needle at the top of the picture.

Looking good!  Can't wait to have this done.  The excitement in me is building.  The more I do, the more I am liking it.

Do you like the fussy cut fabric used for the base of the machine?  This was a gifted kit.  The store was considerate to include some fussy cut pieces.  I thought it was a nice touch.

This appliqué has been put aside for a bit, while I try to finish quilting my navy blue and cream quilt, as well as do a crash coarse in operating a small business and watching all the information available for the longarm quilting machine.

I feel like I am back in school cramming for exams coming way too fast.  Isn't that funny....

We never stop learning.  It adds spice to our lives.  Sometimes I feel like one of those circus jugglers, juggling balls in the air and someone throws in another, and another......not that I am complaining, really.  I am looking forward to the adventure.

Quilt Guild meeting

In October my mom, my daughter and I went to the Halton Hill Quilt Guild meeting.  This is close to my mom's new home.  I thought she might like to participate in a group with people that enjoy quilting too.  They have speakers and get together some times to make charity quilts and have classes.

On this particular meeting night, we had a guest speaker by the name of Joni Newman.  She was quite nice and had many beautiful quilts and wall hangings to show us, as part of her trunk show.

These two here were just a sample of her traditional quilts.  They are much better looking in person.

Jodi's specialty is her stain glass quilts.  Most of them are of scenery.  They are gorgeous and because she uses batiks the colours are vivid and do actually resemble stain glass.  The two wall hangings that are held up in the picture below are the same pattern, done using different colours to give you a slightly different mood to the wall hanging.  Jodi had many more stain glass samples to show us and all of them were beautiful.  

I am more of a traditional quilt maker, but I was so inspired by what I saw.  I purchased the pattern of the canoe wall hanging shown above.  I would love to try this technique.  I'll have to build up my confidence to make this one.  This technique is really outside of my comfort zone, but one day, I will try it.  That is why I chose this pattern, as it is a small wall hanging that can be completed quickly, or at least quicker than a full sized quilt.

I enjoyed my visit to the guild that day. Everyone was so nice.  All were very welcoming with numerous people approaching us to introduce themselves and welcoming us in person.

I brought my mother to the guild, as I thought she might enjoy it, but I have decided to join the guild too.  Our next meeting is November 28th, my husband's birthday.  He still wants me to go, said we can celebrate his birthday another day.  Isn't he sweet.

Progress on the navy blue and cream quilt

I am making some progress on my navy blue and cream quilt.  Slowly, but surely.  I would say that I have about 95% of the centre of the quilt done, about 15% of the first border done and about 5% of the last border done.

Above is the picture of the quilting around the star.  I wanted something simple for this quilt, something that would be neutral.  I didn't want anything too feminine.  

At first I was a bit hesitant on using navy thread for the cream areas, but I wanted something to show as quilting, not just blending threads, like I've done so far.  I also didn't want any of the navy thread from the back poking through.

When it came to the square blocks in the alternate squares, the cream border and the last blue border, I wasn't sure how I was going to go.  In the end, I settled for this simple design, which brings in some curves and some straight lines from the other quilting designs used.  The border is a variation on the two patterns with only half of the square pattern used repeatedly.

I am liking the quilting so far and I think I will like the texture the quilting on the blue border will give me.

I am hoping to have this quilt done soon.  Right now, I am still busy with work, family, my mom's place and trying to get my basement ready for my long arm.  

In the basement I have only one more coat of paint to do on the second half of the room. I'll have to really get down and clean up and clear out some stuff.  Why is it that all the stuff that you no longer want gets stored in the basement instead of just decluttering it.  I hold on to thing that are still in good shape, thinking that maybe I can find another use for it, but most stuff just sits there taking up space. 

Out they must go, because the long arm needs a minimum of 9' X 14' so that you can easily move around it.  I am getting excited for the day it comes.

More of the appliqué wall hanging

Yesterday, was work, groceries and come home and do paperwork.  On days like this I feel like I am spinning my wheels and going nowhere.

I've been looking into things related to starting up a small business with a long arm, and let me tell you, it is very time consuming.  All for a good outcome in the end.  Though, I miss sitting down to sew or do some more handwork.

I realized that I didn't show you my latest progress on the appliqué wall hanging.  So far, I completed the three balls of yarn and the top half of the basket.

I am sorry that the posts will be slim for the next little while, but just know that I am working toward something great.  I am excited and look forward to the challenge.  I will keep you posted.

Look what I picked up at the craft show

On the last weekend of October, my mother and I went to the Creative Needle and Craft Show.  There were a lot of vendors, from beading, knitting, cross-stitch, quilting, rug hooking and more.  I enjoyed the show.  There was a lot to see, but not too much that it would be overwhelming.  

I bought some quilting thread and I picked up some business cards to quilt stores in Ontario, for future road trips.

I also bought this beautiful quilt related cross-stitch pattern with the background fabric.  The picture does not do the cross-stitch justice.  The background in the picture looks faded, but in reality is the same colour as the material folded up at the corner of the pattern.  The colours in the cross-stitched quilts are also more colourful.

This was a must have at first sight.  Do you see the little head sticking out from behind the quilt, up top over the clothe line?  There is so much detail to this pattern, that the first quilt pattern itself was enlarged, just so you could see the difference colour placement.  Can't wait to work on this one.

While at the show, I got to take the APQS Millennium Longarm quilting machine for a test drive.  I am so excited.  She, Millie for short, was very smooth and easy to handle.  I have been dreaming of owning a longarm for over 5yrs.  Now my dreams are about to come true.

On Saturday, I went to Whirls N' Swirls Quilting for some training on the longarm.  Tracy was fantastic!  She was so patient with all of us.  In the time that we were there, we used Lucy to learn how to load a quilt, quilt it using a pantograph and operating the machine from start to finish.  I even got a chance to quilt a small charity quilt by myself, from start to finish, on Millie.  It was great!  I am really excited!!

In the meantime, I continue to work on finishing the painting in the basement, hopefully before the longarm arrives.

No quilting yesturday

There was no quilting yesturday and none happened today either.  I am in the process of trying to get the basement ready for my long dreamed of long arm quilting machine.

This is one corner of my basement.  We moved to this house four years ago and started renovating the house from top to bottom, however we are not at the bottom yet.

I am not ready to gut the basement, tear down the cement walls and install the steel support beam just yet.  I don't have the time or the energy to do it, and besides, I want to finish the upstairs first.  Upstairs I still have the livingroom, hallways, the second full bathroom and all the solid wood floors left to do.  I just finished doing the laundry room recently.  Once all of the upstairs is done we were going to tackle the basement.  BUT.....I have to make room for my new toy.

So....somehow I have to turn these dingy walls into something cheerful and inviting.  I am not a fan of paneling and I am definitely not a fan of painting paneling, but for now that is the only thing that I can do to get this room in order quickly and with little expense.  I am saving the expense for when we fully reno the basement.

Here is the other corner.  My daughter decided that she would like the coach and tv to be moved to this end of the rec room.  That means that this side of the room will get painted first.  That way, once it is painted, I only have to move the couch and tv the one time.  After that, I can empty the other side of the remaining furniture, to paint and make room for the long arm quilting machine.

I haven't decided yet what colour to go with, but I have to prime the room first.  Due to the age of this paneling, I am thinking it will slurp up the primer big time!  I will be lucky if I can get away with just the two coats.  This paneling is so old, it is the type that you installed and sealed it with a clear coat, but this stuff is mostly bare now.  Probably from numerous washes.  

I have such a vivid imagination, that I can already hear the paneling slurping the primer, as it drinks it all up. Lol.

Maybe tomorrow I can take a break and do some quilting and try to finish the navy blue and cream quilt. I have at least 2/3 of the quilt quilted in blue threads, maybe a bit more, and I can finish off the borders.  I will post a picture of that when I am done.

Started quilting my daughter's nine patch quilt

This is the backing of my daughter's nine patch quilt.  I pinned this.....probably a couple of weeks ago.  Actually, I just went back through the posts and found the date.  I pin basted this quilt on October 10th, over three weeks ago.

I pinned the quilt when I pinned two others.  My daughter made this quilt and thought she would quilt it herself.  However, her trip into the world of quilting, made her realize that quilting is not for her.....or I'm of a mind to think that, at least it is not for her, yet.

Quilting is a learned skill.  It takes time.  You have to practice, practice and practice some more and you have to let go of perfection.  At first there will be a lot of wobbly lines and pointy curves, but that is all part of the learning process.  However, my daughter, who is a lot like me, is a perfectionist.

Being a perfectionist and learning to quilt, just do not go well together.  There is usually a lot of frogging going on (ripping out of stitches) and a lot of frustration and a few choice words.  In the end, as you practice some more, things just start working themselves out.  A rhythm is formed and you get the hang of it.

As you can see in the picture above, my daughter's quilt backing is pieced.  The quilt is being made for someone who's favourite colour is purple.  As it is for a young girl, we both decided to make it a lavender purple, with a touch of pink. 

This is the next quilt, that I have to get to, when I finish quilting the Navy blue and cream quilt.

If you do not remember the nine patch quilt, it was in an earlier post.  You can go look for it or you can be patient and wait until I start quilting it.  Your choice.

I am not sure how I will quilt it just yet, but I do intend to get my daughter's input on it.

This last picture from Bonnie Hunter's blog/Quiltville.com, goes along the same theme as this post.  You have to let go of perfectionism in order to move forward.  Let go of expectations!