Starting off my 2018 early

The hype is already in motion on Facebook to finish up those UFOs (UnFinished Objects).  I have decided to join the American Patchwork & Quilting's UFO Challenge this year.

Basically, you pick twelve of your UFOs and number them from 1 to 12.  Each month they will pull a number.  Whatever number they pick, you are to work on the corresponding UFO, that month.

Below is my full list.  There are really only 27 UFOs to do, but I have decided to add back onto the list all the quilts that I still have to bind, before I can gift them, and those that I want to go back and make a label for.

As you may have noticed from the list, I have a lot of labels to make and all the recently finished quilts to bind.  I've numbered everything, because on top of the American Patchwork & Quilting's UFO Challenge, I will also select my own number.  My number will be selected when I finish the quilt for that particular month, and I can get other things done too.  Basically, whenever I don't know what to do with myself or don't know where to start, I will select a number and just start there, until my mojo kicks in and takes over again.  

So.........I've cleared off my design wall, cleaned up my quilting studio, and I am ready to go.  Like many on the Facebook group, I've also decided to start early.  According to the American Patchwork & Quilting's UFO Challenge Facebook group the number for January has already been picked.  It could have been just for an example, however everyone is going with it.  January's number is 12.

According to my list (above and below), that means I will be working on my paper piece Xmas pineapple blossom quilt ***AP&Q UFO#12-JANUARY***

I started yesturday, in the afternoon, taking out all the blocks and Christmas fabric scraps for this quilt.  I already had 14 blocks completed and throughout the afternoon, I made an additional 6 more.  In total there are 80 blocks to do, which means I am now 25% of the way done on the blocks.

I am sure many of you have realized by now, that I work in numbers.  They motivate me.  The way I look at it, is like this.....I have 20 blocks/25% complete (glass half full), I only have 60 blocks/75% left to do, and that works out to only 2 blocks per day to have them all done by the end of the month.  Two blocks is very manageable.  So now I start out with a positive attitude and feel motivated and have a sense that I can succeed and accomplish this.  LOL...just try and stop me!!!

Believe it or not, it works!  You know the mind over matter business..... Try it and see.  You can and will succeed.

Here's to another great year!! Cheers!

**My 2018 UFO list - Starting the year with 27 UFOs, goal is to reduce this to 15**

1. Quilting-Reconstructed Dresden plate quilt (my own)
2. Quilting-Stashbuster's ugly/sunshine BOM quilt (no destination, yet)

3. Quilting-Tiny town quilt (my own)

4. Main work-Drunkard's path quilt (my own) ***AP&Q UFO#2***

5. Main work-Red hearts quilt from Sharon (charity)
6. Main work-Brown bear paws quilt (my own) ***AP&Q UFO#3***

7. Main work-Tumalo squares quilt (my own) ***AP&Q UFO#4***

8. Main work-Farmer's wife sampler quilt (no destination, yet) ***AP&Q UFO#5***

9. Main work-Texas braid quilt (no destination, yet) ***AP&Q UFO#6***

10. Main work-Xmas/Solstice star quilt (my own) ***AP&Q UFO#7***

11. Main work-Mel's romance & roses quilt (family) **AP&Q UFO*#8***

12. Main work-Scrappy Carolina chain quilt (charity)
13. Main work-Reconstructed bright 6-point stars quilt (my own)

14. Main work-Reconstructed 1st & 2nd bow tie quilt (my own)

15. Main work-30s fabric Omigosh quilt (no destination, yet)

16. Main work-Monkey wrench quilt (my own)
17. Main work-Silk triangles quilt from Carol (no destination, yet)
18. Main work-Witch/pumpkin wall hanging (my own)

19. Handwork-To grandmother's house we go (my own) ***AP&Q UFO#9***

20. Handwork-Green & red appliqué quilt (my own)

21. Handwork-Hexagon quilt (my own)

22. Handwork-Line Gallery cross-stitch (my own)
23. Paper piece-Xmas pineapple blossom quilt (my own) ***AP&Q UFO#12-JANUARY***

24. Paper piece-Scrappy flying geese quilt (charity) ***AP&Q UFO#1***

25. Paper piece-Pineapple quilt (no destination, yet) ***AP&Q UFO#10***

26. Paper piece-Wild & goosey quilt (no destination, yet) ***AP&Q UFO#11***

27. Paper piece-Mini blocks log cabin (my own).  

Final totals for my 2017 UFOs -- GREAT YEAR!!!

On my 2017 UFO list, I starting the year with 45 UFOs, the goal was to reduce this to 25.  The final numbers:

Total number of quilts completed - 26

Total number of quilts/wall hangings added to the list - 9

Total number of quilts removed/dismantled - 1

Total number of quilts left to be completed to achieve my goal - 2

Final total of my top 12 priority list for 2017........ I completed 8 out of the 12 and made some good progress on a couple of the others.  I think those are good ratios.

Overall it was a very good year with progress on my UFOs.  They got out of hand for a while there, but now they are getting more manageable.  I feel great, and I am looking forward to reducing my list a bit further.

More progress on To Grandmother's House We Go quilt

On the second evening of handwork, I did some of the trees on the left of the evergreen tree.  The progress is slow going, but with every needle full of thread I sit there and admire the progress I have done.  I am liking it and I am enjoying the calming process of one stitch at a time, one after another.

On the third evening of handwork,  I am filling in the branches of the trees and a few sprigs of grass.  The picture is starting to take shape.  I am guessing, that I am more than two thirds of the way done, on these trees.

I just had a thought.....as I am looking at these pictures, I remember when I was in school and we did these books with flip pages.  They would have pictures of objects that when flipped would move across the page.  Does anyone else remember these?  If I were to take these picture to make a flip book....wouldn't it be neat, seeing the picture grow?

Anyways, I really like doing this handwork, though I've already had to put it away for a bit, as I am on a deadline, to finish my Canadian Northwind quilt by the end of the year.  I want just one last finish, so I am pushing toward it.  In the New Year I will start back up on the handwork.

Wish me luck.

My daughter's Christmas present to me

My daughter has been busy, making me my Christmas gift.  Isn't it pretty?  I love it!  This will be my winter wall hanging.  My daughter has been working on this for a while now, as these hexagons take time to do.   They are all hand pieced hexagons, which measure just over 3/4" per side.

She designed the wall hanging on her own and all five snowflakes are different.  It's beautiful!!!

I already have the quilting of it, planned out and can't wait to get started on it!

Yesturday, my daughter and I spent some time together and we went for a ride out to Kitchener, to check out a sale at a quilt store.  My daughter is just finishing off her Remember Me quilt.  That quilt is made with signature blocks and pinwheels, using civil war type fabrics.  My daughter calls them warm colours.

This is what we found for the borders of her quilt.  Very pretty.  This is going to look great on her quilt.  That small border really brings out the colour and design of the larger border.  My daughter also found her backing fabric, so this one will be ready to quilt once she adds the borders (pictures of the quilt will follow, once she has completed the whole quilt and it is quilted).

Hope everyone is having some good relaxing family time during the holiday week.

Xmas/solstice star quilt

I've been working hard getting ready for Christmas, making up the business samples, a bit of hand work, some of the Xmas/solstice star bocks and a whole lot of Canadian Northern wind blocks.

Now that Christmas is done, I have a few days between to putter around in the quilting studio getting things done before the New Years celebrations start.

I am still hoping to finish the Canadian Northern wind quilt, before the end of the year.  There is still a chance of it, with only 20 blocks left to do.  The blocks should take me approx. 4-5 hrs and the three borders maybe another 3 hrs.  It is possible to get the quilt top done.  

The quilting part of it....well, not sure I will have the time for that.  My machine may still have the large panel on it for the samples.  We will have to wait and see, though I am not going to push it too hard, as I want to spend time with family too, but they too have plans of their own, so we will see....

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and best wishes for the new year.

Started the To Grandmother's House We Go quilt

I was so excited to see the Sampler Cross-stitch done, that I..........started the To Grandmother's House We Go quilt.  This is a pattern by Crabapple Hill.

I've had this pattern for a while and have been collecting my black fabric and creamy/beige fabrics.  All my pieces for the blocks and the flying geese border have been cut out for a while too.

Right after I finished the cross-stitch, I started to iron the natural unbleached muslin.  It took me a couple of days on and off to iron and trace the design.

The next evening I couldn't hold myself back, I started stitching the design.  This is the bottom design.  The one with grandmother's house.  It's not the most complicated, but also not the easiest.  It took me all evening just to get the top of a evergreen tree done, plus the start of the line that marks the land going across the design to meet the house.

I am liking it so far, but this is going to take a long time to finish.  I will keep you posted with my progress.

Finished my Sampler cross-stitch

On Friday, right after work, I went to bed sick.  Hubby brought me a hot water bottle.  I just could not get rid of the chills.  Runny nose, major headache, achy bones and chills spells cold/flu to me.  I have been fighting it for going on two weeks, since it entered the house starting with my hubby, and to my son.  My daughter is still fighting it, but I now have it.  I slept and slept.  Slept in on Saturday and took it easy the rest of the day.  I guess my body was sick of resting, that this morning it woke me up at 5:00 am.  I woke up wide awake, the kind that you feel upbeat and ready to tackle the day.  The way I was feeling, there was no falling back asleep.  I still have the runny nose and now a soar throat, but everything else is gone.......for now anyways.  Let's hope it was a quick recovery and I am done already.

Here we are.....the finished Sampler Cross-stitch wall hanging.  Last week I finished the floral border.

I am so excited that I have this done.  I put it up on my design wall for now, until I can figure out how to frame it.  Doesn't it look pretty?  It took me since 1993 to get this done.  I worked on it on and off, but obviously, mostly off, considering it only took my four full evenings to complete the whole bottom section.

Well, at least it is done!  I am excited!  I was so excited to see this done, that I..........

My Xmas/solstice star quilt is coming along

I have so many things on the burner, sometimes I just don't know what to do and where to start.  That is when I make a plan to keep it simple.  So I have decided that during the day I will work on this, and during the evening I work on my hand work.  I have a couple of secondary blocks done for my Xmas/Solstice star quilt.  It is starting to take shape.

I wanted the blocks on the design wall, but the Canadian Northwind quilt was there.  That's ok though, as it forced me to put the top two rows together.  So, in a sense I am working on these two quilts at a time.

While I was assembling the two rows of the Canadian Northwind quilt, I was using my units for the Xmas/Solstice star quilt as the leader/enders.  I will just keep working like this, as long as I can, and make a dent in both quilts.  It's a win win.

I am still trying to get just one more quilt top done before the end of the year.  Who knows, maybe I will be successful and get both done.

Enjoy your weekend everyone.  Next weekend we are heading into Christmas, hope you have all your Christmas shopping done.

Back to my Sampler cross-stitch

At times when I don't have the energy to piece on my machine and just want to relax, I take out some hand work.  Sometimes I take out some handwork when I want to veg in front of the TV with a movie.

While I was going through my list trying to be realistic with what I can get done, I realized that I haven't done much hand work.  This time of year is great for that, as I like to rewatch the Christmas movies.  So......I took out the Sampler cross-stitch to work on.  This is where I left off.

In a few days of concentrated stitching and numerous Christmas movies, this is how much I accomplished.  I am excited to see it this far along.  And it was painless, just stitching while relaxing and watching movies.

I am at the bottom of the cross-stitch.  The only thing left to do is the floral vine that goes around the perimeter of this section.  Nothing more than a few more movies won't solve.  Stay tuned, I am so excited that I will not let this one be put aside, until it is done.

Making some progress on a Christmas quilt

By this point in the year, one has to realize what is reasonable to get accomplished and what is not.

I realize that there is nothing on my list of 12 priority quilts, that is near to the finish line.  All the quilts I have to assemble still have a ways to go.  Not including the quilts only needing to be quilted, and of the three that are left to be assembled, the Xmas/Solstice star quilt is the closest to the finish line.  At this point, I have half of the blocks done (blocks in the picture on top left).  I also have about half of the units, that make up the secondary block, done (at the bottom of the picture).  So.......I am really making an effort, to try and get just one more done, before the end of the year.

I have all the units sorted and counted.  The pinwheels are all assembled (bottom left).  I have all the parts of the chevrons sorted and in the process of being assembled (top right).  The last unit that makes up the block is all together with the half square triangles (bottom right), are waiting to be sewn.  I even have the red and black pieces that make up the border started (left middle).  They are probably two thirds of the way done.

Let's see how far I can get on this one.......

Keep cheering for me, I am going to need a lot of good vibes!!

Sharing my quilting studio

With the online Longarm Quilter's group, we got together on the 10th to celebrate the season.  On top of all the inspiration, from various members, this time we also shared our quilting studios.  As I have the pictures, I thought I would also share them with you.

This first picture was taken while I stood at the doorway to come in the room.  All of my stash (ie yardage, strips and scraps) are behind closed doors, in the cupboard on the right, the one behind the machine on the left, in the unit under the window and in numerous containers under the sewing machine table.

I try to keep most of it hidden behind closed doors, in order that I don't get overwhelmed by the volume of stuff.  Below is a picture of the other end of my studio.  The door is on the left hand side, but not shown in the picture.

I am not really getting a lot done in here right now, otherwise the room would be messier.  I've had to break to look after stuff for the business and get ready for Christmas.  I only left the one project on the table, in case I get some free time to sew.

This next picture is of my second quilting studio, down in the basement, for my longarm machine.  This is the room that I recently (just less than 1 year ago), fixed up and painted to set up my longarm.

Again all of the clutter is behind closed doors.  The quilt sitting on the longarm is a guild quilt waiting to be quilted.

Hope you enjoyed this small tour of my quilting studios.

Xmas pineapple blossom

On my list of Top 12 Priority, I have a quilt that hasn't been started until recently.  It is my Xmas Pineapple Blossom quilt.

Back in July, I did make an attempt to start the blocks, but I was stuck on the corner pieces.  The first choice I made was a dark grey with stars all over, but you couldn't really see the diagonal line affect.  The second choice was the opposite, when I chose white on white with Christmas theme fabric, but that one was too stark.

I wanted the quilt to have some warmth to it.  That is when I set out to find a soft yellow or gold.  I didn't want beige and I didn't want too dark of a gold, so I ended up with this.

  

This yellow seems to work very well.  Do you like the little blinking owl in the small strip?  That was a part of a name tag fabric that someone had given me.  This quilt will have a large selection of fabrics in it.  It is an assortment of fabrics that I collected over the years, and a good portion of fabric scraps given to me by friends, who no longer wanted their bits and pieces of scrap Christmas fabrics.  I will have a lot of old mixed in with the new.  It will be so great!

So far I managed to make two full sections, which consist of four blocks and sashing.  The sashing fabric I am using is left overs from making a Christmas tree skirt, oh.....about ten years ago, if not longer.....lol.  I actually think it was from closer to fifteen years ago, prior to when I started quilting.  

I am not sure why, but some of the fabric was cut down to 2" strips, but never used.  So, when I was looking around for something to use as the sashing, I came across this pile and thought, why not.  It is not a solid or fabric that reads as a solid, which would be my usual choice, but I think I am going to like it.  It is still dark enough to hold it's own, and the consistency will help it stand out, in a not so in your face sort of way, if you get what I mean.

We are getting really close to Christmas.  As I only have this much done so far, I can pretty much be assured that this quilt is not getting done in time to be used this holiday season.  I am fine with that.  I'm just glad that I finally made some progress on it.  It has been set aside for now, but not put away, so maybe during my holidays, I may get a chance to work on it.  We will see......

Today, I am off to the Online longarm group meeting in Oshawa, at Whirls N Swirls.  They are a group of inspirational quilters.  All are willing to share ideas and motivate each other.  We are doing a 'tis the season celebration at the get together and will be sharing food and pictures of our quilting studios.  We will be playing a game of guess who's quilting studio this is.  It should to be fun.  I will share mine in another post.

Progress on the cross-stitch sampler wall hanging

I am trying to finish at least one more thing, before the end of the year, from my UFO list.  Everything on the list is in various stages of completion.  I could just pick one of the quilts just needing to be quilted, but I wanted to make more progress and, besides it had to be something I could pick up during small bits of found time.

That pretty much meant it had to be handwork.  So.....the lucky contender is my Sampler wall hanging.  I actually started this waaaaaayyyyyy back in 1993.  I used to do a lot of cross-stitch at that time.  That was before I found quilting and haven't looked back ever since.

Here is where I left off the last time I touched it.  It is the bottom half of wall hanging.  The top section is completely done, outlines included.

I have been disconnecting myself from the internet this past week.  I have a lot to do around here and I am get more done when I don't have the distraction of the internet.

After I have accomplished what I wanted to get done that day, I sit relaxing to watch Christmas movies and doing some cross-stitch work.  Below is how much I was able to do in the one week.  Nice.  I am so happy with the progress.

Now the only thing left to do is complete the vine that continues to go around the perimeter.  I am very confident that this will be done by years end.

Early reckoning with my UFO list for 2017 (December/2017)

My design wall for December.  Still haven't had much time to sew at the machine with these blocks.  I've been working on the samples for the business.  It may not happen until right after Christmas, when we are all off during the holidays.  

It is always rush, rush, rush leading up to Christmas and all the family get togethers, that between Christmas and New Years our family likes to lay low.  We do activities together and also take some time to relax.  The kids with their gifts, my hubby and I putter around getting things done during the day and relaxing in the evenings.

We are ALREADY in December and this is usually when we take stock of everything that has happened throughout the year.  Quilty wise I am feeling accomplished.  I will not meet my goal set out at the beginning of the year, but I feel that given everything that has been going on, I did a great job.  The year is not over yet, so I can still get some stuff done, but if not, I will still be happy.

At the start of December, according to the list below, so far I have 19 quilts/wall hangings completed and only have 9 left to do, to meet my goal to reduce the projects down to 25.  That is pretty good, I think.

**My 2017 UFO list - Starting the year with 45 UFOs, goal is to reduce this to 25**. 

Note: **#** refers to a quilt that is on my top 12 priority list

Total number of quilts completed - 19

Total number of quilts/wall hangings added to the list - 9

Total number of quilts removed/dismantled - 1

Total number of quilts left to be completed to achieve my goal - 9
  

Completed quilts:

45. 16-patch pinwheel quilt (for friend)

6. Green spiderweb quilt (my own)

3. Amish shadow quilt from Carol (charity)

11. Spools quilt (my own) **3** 

28. Purple & blue squares quilt from Carol (charity) **12**

1. Grandpa's star quilt (charity)

27. Log cabin quilt from Sharon (charity) **11**

7. Flower garden quilt (my own)

4. Split 9-patch quilt (no destination, yet)

2. Flo's upholstery blocks quilt (charity)

33. Mini pumpkin wall hanging (my own) **7**

9. Lise's Dresden plate quilt (commissioned) **1**

44. Machine wall hanging (my own)

51. Log cabin wall hanging (guild donation)

10. Sabryna's yellow nine patch quilt (my daughter's creation) **2**

14. Small Dresden plate quilt from Carol (charity) REMOVED
12. Beach ball quilt (charity)

53. Starry night sky NICU quilt (charity)

13. Random coloured log cabin quilt from Carol (charity)

25. Purple stars quilt (my own) **9**

Dresden plate top being assembled

My mom and I have been working like mad the last weekend of October and the first weekend of November on my living room and dinning room renos.  I had taken a few days vacations to extent my weekends into long weekends and we needed it.

We finished all the bulkheads around the perimeter of the rooms for the pot lights and added the two levels of crown molding to trim the bulkheads.  We did the facings around the windows and doors,  all the plastering throughout, primed two coats everywhere, painted the ceiling two coats and all the walls one coat.

We often worked from morning into the night.  Sometimes to 9 or 10 pm.  We were both exhausted.  I am grateful she was here to help me, as I am sure I would have given up, long before it was done, and I could not have done a lot of it without the second pair of hands to handle the long or awkward stuff.

The second weekend of November I had another four day long weekend, but this time I was on my own.  I managed to get the second coat of paint on all the walls the first day and started cleaning up the mess.  It took me the majority of the next day, with steel brush and scraper, to scrub down the fireplace, that I had refaced in natural stone, wash up all the plaster and paint from the floors.  After a third day of work, washing down all the furniture, light fixtures, nik naks, and steam cleaning the area rugs, I had it.  I decided to quit.  I felt like a work horse, put though the ringer.

I declared the last day of vacations to be a "me" day.  I really, really needed it.

This is what I worked on.  This is a picture of my Dresden plate quilt partially completed on the design wall, but I did manage to finish the whole top.  I set it aside for quilting at a later date.

After spending the day quilt making, I decided to iron all the curtains that will be hemmed later for the livingroom and dinning room.  I crashed on my comfy chair and zoned out with a movie.

What a weekend.....all three of them.  Well worth the effort.  I am so happy this is all done.  It has been a long time coming.  We have been living in a renovation zone since we moved here five years ago.  Other than little odds and ends we are almost done.  The only major things left to do are the downstairs bathroom, hall, basement and hardwood floors throughout the house.

Yay!!! Almost there!

More progress on the hexagon quilt

Here we are again, making more progress on my hexagon quilt.  This piece is the bottom row of hexagons.  I was so inspired by the progress that I made from the previous post, that this time I just took some time to sit and sew on this.  I needed the break from all the demands of my time.  

  

I got the corner unit done, plus the two units needed to finish the length of this red gingham floret. That is where I ended.  I folded and pinned the row to the design wall behind my chair, and that is where it will stay, until I can make more units.  

It may be a while, but one at a time they will get done.  In the meantime, I am still trying to take in all that I learned through the online Quilt Path coarse that I took.  I am saving this picture for future reference.  I want to make this pattern and try it on a quilt.  I believe it is called basket weave.

There was soooooo much to learn.  My head is still spinning.  The great part of the online coarse, is that we still have access to all the class material.  The instructor recorded all the classes and saved them, for use, for future needs.  She knew we would not be able to retain the extensive amount of information that is covered in class.  This way, when we have a need for a particular technique, we can just bring up that video and review it to jog our memories.

The coarse was well worth the money.  All the information we covered, will help us maximize the Quilt Path, helping us be productive and more proficient.  We also covered ideas on how to work through different quilting challenges.  Angela, the instructor, was knowledgeable, professional, patient, and willingly shared her own experiences, in her business adventures, in hopes to help us with our own journeys.

Thank you so much Angela, you would make a very good mentor.

The last two Dresden plate blocks

Some time along the way between everything else, I found a bit of time to slowly work on these last two Dresden plate blocks.  It's hard to believe they are done....    

I don't know whether I am happy to have them done or sorry that I will not be working with them anymore.  I enjoyed so much working with these old fabrics.  Most of the fabrics are cheerful.  The patterns are so unique and the texture of the fabric so different.  As I would appliqué them by hand, I'd admire the different fabrics and wonder about the people who may have worn garments made of some of them.

Now to iron all the blocks, trim them to size and assemble the quilt top.  But.....that will have to wait a while.  I have other priorities.

Soon though....   

Canadian Northwind quilt coming along

I have been working on some samples for my longarm quilting business.  Quilting up designs that I have available to use.  Just in case there are those who have a hard time visualizing the design in 3D. So far, I have about 25 of the 16" X 19" samples.  I've made up some binding and will work on that too in the next few days.  Not a lot to show you there.  Pretty mundane stuff.

So instead, I thought I would share with you the progress on my Canadian Northwind quilt.

When my daughter decided to clear off my design wall, this one was put front and centre.  I really do want to try and at least finish the top before the end of the year.  I have just over 60% of the blocks done and about half of them sewn in sets of four to make the larger unit.

I have a little bit more completed than what you see in the picture, since it was taken, but it has been slow going.  The picture was taken at night, so the colours appear faded.  In day light the wall radiates with brighter red pieces.

We are getting close to December, have you got your Christmas shopping started?  I haven't event thought about it, until my daughter mentioned she only has her Dad left to get for!  Can you believe it!  She is almost done and I haven't even started.

Happy thanksgiving to those in the States.

More progress on the hexagon quilt border

Since the last picture of my hexagon quilt, much more time has passed, and I have rearranged my design wall.  I took down everything, or rather, my daughter took down everything.  

We were sitting in my quilting room enjoying our tea and chat time, when I told her, that the next time I get some time for me, I want to declutter my design wall.  

The wall was getting congested, just like I was feeling, with too many pokers in the fire, and I am not only referring to quilting wise.  My daughter, who like her parents, likes to putter and organize things, so she decided she wanted to help take everything down and rearrange them.

She even took down my monkey wrench blocks......I am still not sure how I feel about that, but for now I have left them in the jar, where she put them, until I have time to start them back up.

Since the last picture, you may have noticed that I got two more final border pieces done, and have attached them to the mothership.  The purple border is two hexagons wide, but once all quilted and trimmed, it will be closer in size to the borders surrounding the floret row.

You might also notice that the top row of florets is no longer on the design wall.  That is so I can make the final border pieces.  As the top row is all in one piece, it will be easier to finish it, and put the whole thing back up.  I haven't started on that yet though.

While taking everything off, my daughter took all the miscellaneous bits and pieces of florets and placed them at the bottom of the design wall, in the corner, behind my chair.

Here I have four small florets started, one lefthand side floret unit for later down the side, and four righthand side floret units waiting their turn to be attached to the mothership.  These units were made while I was waiting around for people or appointments.  They are the pieces that were in my "grab and go" bag.

I always have stuff ready to take along, when I know I will be waiting around.  That is how stuff gets done.  It helps pass the time and keeps me sane at the same time. LOL!

More progress on my Dresden plates

At the last quilting bee meeting, I was complaining about how ridiculous it is that I only have four more Dresden plate blocks left to do, yet they continue to just sit there collecting dust.  No sooner were the words out of my mouth, that I made a pack to myself to get them done.

I love these blocks.  They are estimated to be from the '30-'40's.  Many of the petals are feed sacks.  The Dresden plates were previously appliqued to feed sacks that were disintegrating. The blocks were also assembled into a top, but never quilted.

In order to preserve the Dresden plate fabrics, I am reconstruction the quilt.  I washed the quilt top first, figuring that if the material could not make it through the wash, it should not be used.  I gently unstitched all the plates,  ironed them, trimmed them a consistent size and reassembled them.  There were only a few of the fabrics that were disintegrating.  I was able to replace them with other authentic period fabrics from my small reserve.  

To keep the quilt as close to the original quilt, I am using unbleached muslin, which closely resembled to feed sacks that were used.  I also found an identical blue for the sashing and borders (not shown here).

Since our meetings are on a Wednesday's and Thursday's are my late night, I had a couple of hours in the morning to work on these, and since it was going so well I decided to continue them into the evening after work.

So now, I have two more done and only two more left to go!

I am getting so excited about finally finishing this quilt!!

A couple of quilts from the Halton Hills Quilter's Guild 2017 quilt show (QW)

Last month was our Halton Hills Quilters' Guild quilt show.  The show was very good with many in attendance.  I was so proud of all the quilts in the show.  Many of the visitors thought so too.  The quilts were beautiful.

There is no way to include them all, but they can be seen on our web page.  For this post I wanted to show two quilts from the show.  I want to keep them for future reference.

This first quilt pattern is called Primitive Garden by Lisa Bongean.  The quilt was hand appliqued in wool by Marian Baidacoff with minor design changes and hand quilted by Ester Beringer.  Below is the artist statement.  Sorry for the bit cut off on the right.

I was blown away by all the intricate pieces.  It is truly amazing!  It took Marian 9 years to make this quilt.  I can believe it.....all those small bits and pieces.

This next one, unfortunately I cannot give credit to the maker, as I cannot find the information for it.  The blue curtains are not part of the quilt obviously, but at first glance it is hard to see what is the quilt.  This quilt does not have borders.  I think this quilt will make great use of all the half square triangles you may have.  There is only one small square and the rest are half square triangles.  Very nice!

I thought I would keep these pictures for inspiration.

Progress on my hexagon quilt

Slowly, one at a time, throughout everything else that has been going on, I have been working on my hexagons.  More off than on, but still puttering away on them.  One day not so long ago, I am sitting in my chair, beside the design wall, and look up to see, that even though it has been slow going, I managed to have a good chunk done. 

I have part of a corner done, minus the final borders.  A while back, I believe I showed you the container of pieces all sorted out in groups of diamond, corners, triangles etc.  Well, I wanted to do one of each.  I made a diamond, as seen above, and a side diamond, plus a top triangle diamond.  Add the white row between them and you have the inside corner done.

As this quilt centre is primarily diamonds, it will be easier to assemble on a diagonal.  It's best to make all the full diamonds and attach the bottom left side to the next diamond's top right side, all the way down the row, and add the floret that corresponds to that row.

However, as I have decided to add in another full outer border and a final purple small border, I am giving the centre a rest.  I am going back to the already completed top and bottom rows of florets, to add in the final two borders.

If you look closely at the picture, just above my armor, you will see two pieces of outer border already attached to the top two florets that are attached to the centre diamond piece.  I am calling the whole centre piece the mothership.

It is certainly coming along.  Slowly and one at a time, but nonetheless, it is progressing.

Enjoy your day everyone and make it a good one.

What a great meeting of the Southern-Ontario Longarm Guild

Wow!!!  What a meeting we had.  It was great!

This meeting was about brain storming ideas from the group regarding what to quilt.  Basically, many members brought in quilt tops, otherwise known as flimsies, that they would like help with, for ideas on how to quilt it.

There were so many, it was amazing, and all the quilts were varied in their design, technique and challenges.  Each person added their take on different ideas to work with.  I was blown away by all the options suggested by many.

This was the quilt I brought in.  I call this my monster quilt or "the beast".  I have had this quilt top completed for years and just did not know what to quilt on it.  I was so overwhelmed by the blue, that I could not see past it.  It is so bright and there is so much of it.  A lot of negative space.

Up until recently, I have been mainly a traditional quilter.  That is what my client base is.  However, there is nothing traditional about this quilt, other than they are traditional sampler blocks.  The colours, the setting, the layout and all the negative space is modern.

Different people saw different things.  A lot of them liked the negative space and got excited to share what they would do.  One person thought the inner black border square, on the diagonal, stood out too much, and made suggestions to help make it blend a bit better, to let the blocks themselves stand out more.

One of the experienced ladies took the protector sheet and started drawing the feather example that some had suggested.  She drew different feather types all on the same section, just so that you could see that any of them would work.  The plastic was only so big, but she suggested you could take the feathers all the way to the end to meet the black border, and fill in the whole corner.

The protector sheet is a piece of plastic that is edged with green painters tape.  You can use this to audition different ideas.  The green tape is to make sure you know where the plastic ends, so you don't write on the quilt.

Throughout this meeting, as each top was laid down on the batting on the floor, people took the plastic and dry erase maker to draw what they thought would look good in the different sections.  One by one breaking down the elements of the quilt top and making it more manageable.

Like I said earlier, it was amazing!  I sure hope we do this again.

Old maid's puzzle NICU quilt top done

I have been working at the Old Maid's Puzzle units for a while now, using them as leader/enders between making other quilts.  Well......one day, on a day that I was in desperate need of some do not disturb me time, I just didn't know what to do.  I was so unfocused that I just sat down at my machine and gabbed a unit to sew, and another, and another......  I just kept sewing, until eventually they were all done.

By this time, my internal systems were coming back into order and I was starting to feel more like myself.  There is nothing like some mindless sewing to get your mind off things and put things to right.  Things were going so well, that I gave myself permission to putter in my quilt room for the rest of the evening.

I started trimming all the blocks, sorting them into colour groups, and finally into sets of blocks.  This container holds all the sets of blocks to complete my quilt.  Here they will stay, until I find some time to put them together.

In the meantime, while I was sorting the units into groups for blocks, I noticed I was left with some additional units.  Not one to waste, I sorted them right away into a small NICU quilt for Project Linus.  

It only took four blocks to make the top and a small 2" border to make it the size required at 25" X 25".

Isn't this cute?  I will practice some new free motion edge to edge quilting design on it when I get a chance.

It's nice to see something happening with this quilt.  This quilt is my oldest UFO (UnFinished Object).  I started cutting the material back in September 2004.  This was my first curved piecing.  As the pieces were curved and small, I found it difficult and sometimes frustrating.  It was still outside of my skill level.  So....I put it aside, for a long time.  

As time went on, from time to time, I would take this project out and try it again.  Doing a few here and a few there, until one day it came to me.  I don't like doing curved piecing, but I really do like this quilt, so I decided to make it my leader/ender.  This way it would have a chance of getting done.  On and off it was my leader/ender, until recently.

Now all the curved piecing is done! Yay!!!  Now it waits it's turn to be assembled.  Soon...

Enjoy this brisk Saturday morning.

Argyle quilt top done

I realized it has been a very long time since I posted last.  I have been so busy with everything, from helping my mom get settled into her new place (still have some more renos to finish there), looking after my own home (currently in the process of finishing off the livingroom/dining room), getting my new long arm business up and running (still working on samples and advertising), taking online night classes & doing homework to learn more about my quilting system (just finished this last week, though still need to do some of the homework to increase my skills), participating in two guilds and a bee (which involves travel), working full time at my day job, and keeping the household in running order (at least trying really hard on this one).  The posts just got put to the bottom of the list.  When I did have free time, I needed down time with my quilt making.

Here is my Argyle quilt top finished.  In my head I am still flipping back and forth, with what to quilt on it.  When it comes to me, it will get done.

I like how it turned out.  In person the colours are a bit brighter than the picture and the border, that is reading as almost solid, has circles of all the colours in the centre.  I lucked out with finding that border to match the centre.......and it was in my stash.

I do have a bunch of pictures to share with you, so the lack of topics is not the issue.  It's having the time to write the posts that delays them.  As things start to settle down a bit, with the cooler weather, I should have a bit more time to post more regularly.

Enjoy life to the fullest and embrace all your experiences.

Finished the Purple stars quilt

I managed to get the Purple Stars quilt finished on the Thanksgiving Sunday just before the show.  In time to bring it to my mother's place.  My mom was looking after getting her quilts and mine to the show for Thursday set up.

I have my quilt back, from the show now and had some time to take the photos to share.  I am still very busy with classes, homework, family obligations, etc.  But....because I stayed up late last night to finish my 10 hours worth of homework, I have this morning to myself, or at least the next hour that is.  I have a longarm group meeting to get ready for and go to, which will take up the rest of the day.  I will be lucky if I get back in time for dinner.

Without further ado, here is the finished purple stars quilt.  I really like taking the pictures out in the garden, even if the flowers are spent and we are left with only greenery.

This is the close up of the top corner.  I was going for the texture of the quilting, not wanting the actual quilting to stand out too much, to distract from the drama of the quilt itself.  I chose matching threads for the black areas and a 60wt creamy linen thread for the rest.

Here is the back of the quilt.  I chose to do a white on cream design, because I knew I wouldn't see the quilting on the front, so this way you will see glimpses of it on the back when you cuddle up under the quilt.  On the back, I chose to use a cream coloured thread to blend in and give me the texture.

A close up of the back of the star block and part of the black sashing.  This is mostly freehand and some ruler work.

Lastly, here is a picture of the back of the large black border.  From the front of the quilt, you barely see the curved Baptist fan type design.  It's not an actual Baptist fan, but similar.

I am proud of this quilt.  I did a lot more freehand work and I did pretty much most of it using new to me quilting designs, on my longarm.

This Tuesday is my last Quilt Path Camp class.  Things should start to get back to some semblance of normal.  As normal as this family will ever get.

Back at school

I am back at school.  Like I haven't got enough on my plate already.....  I am taking an online class for the quilt path, which is part of my longarm system that I have.  The classes will run every Tuesday for 8 weeks.  I am looking forward to it.  The first class was a success.  Even though we went over some of the more basic information, I still picked up a few good tips.

I have been productive in a lot of areas around here these past couple of weeks.  Mostly getting caught up, cleaning up and getting ready for the quilt show.

You may find it slow for this month on post, as I try to cram everything in.  I will try not to bore you with the mundane stuff.

In the meantime, enjoy the fall weather, as we quilters get back into the real quilting season.

Another hexagon floret done

After playing around with hexagon pieces and bundling them up in sets to make my diamonds and the parts of the final border, I was bitten again with the need to make some florets.  I took out my travel container with the pieces and tools.

To my surprise, I already had a floret almost done.  I only needed three white hexagons and all eight purples to complete it fully.  I couldn't resist.  I finished it.  Now to add it to my right hand floret border.  I also have three other florets done, just waiting for the white and purple parts.

I really need to put this away and finish all the other handwork stuff that needs to be done.  I just could not resist.  I did a bit more with this hexagon quilt, but I will wait until those pieces are done before sharing them with you.

Today, I am catching up on all the loose ends and getting a lot done.  Tomorrow will be another day to get things done.  Tomorrow I should finish the quilting for the purple stars quilt, barring any unforeseen difficulties.  I am certainly enjoying the extra day in this long weekend.

Enjoy!