Radiant Star quilt

Again with the keeping it real business.....we had a workshop at the HHQG back in April/2018, for this radiant star quilt.  I believe we were 9 in attendance making this quilt.  My quilt just got got finished in May 29/2022.  That is 4 yrs.  Granted I had the centre blocks done for some time and the border got put on not long after.  It sat in the cupboard for a long time after that, as initially I had intended to custom quilt it.

But since I've moved here and set up my sewing room and longarm space, I have been trying to be truthful to myself on all that I can accomplish or what I really want to spend my time doing.  It was just not in the cards to custom quilt this one and it sat around long enough, so now it is done and one of my nephews is the lucky recipient of this quilt.  I am working on the label before I ship it out.

This is the centre block, which is all that I accomplished in the workshop that day.  I had a bunch of units started, but only a couple of rows together of each.

I quilted this one back in Nov/2019 for one of the recipients of the workshop, she chose to do a different layout.  It looks nice like this too.  She used the cut off corners to do her border.

While I was at the workshop I took a couple other pictures from two of the other participants.  This first one was Maryann's radiant star.  She got a lot done during the workshop.   She did hers with chocolate brown for the background.  That was pretty.  Blue and brown is always a winning combination.

We had this variation of the radiant star from Sue P.  She decided to add in the corner stones at each intersection of the star points and she was the only person to us a vivid background.  I didn't get to see this one finished, but it must have been stunning.

 

I did show a couple of other quilts that I quilted a while ago.  Not long after the workshop.  All of the quilts turned out beautiful.  It didn't matter what colourway you chose, it seemed to all work up into a beautiful quilt.

Enjoy your evening.  Take care and don't forget to take some time for yourself.

My Maypole Quilted Floor Pillow

Yesturday after a pretty productive day with quilting customer quilts and cleaning up around here, I went to my mom's place for dinner.  I brought along my Maypole quilted pieces and assembled it there.  I had to put in a zipper and hadn't done that in a long while, so I was able to have my mom there in case I needed some help with it.  

It went well with putting it together.  The tutorial was very detailed and a bit of humor in there too.  I would recommend any patterns from Suzy Quilts.  They are detailed and if there is something that she feels may be difficult, she makes a YouTube tutorial to refer to.

This is my finished floor pillow.  I made this pillow with the fat quarter bundle that I won at the 2022 Acton Fall Fair.  The prize was sponsored by Norcott Fabrics.  The only extra fabric I used was the purple going down the middle, as that piece was bigger than a fat quarter and the fabric for the bottom of the pillow.  May not have been my first choice in colours, but it is only a pillow after all and I wanted to us up what I had on hand. 

Here is a picture of the top of the pillow.  I think it looks cute.  It is definitely comfy with the height.

If anyone is interested, this is the pattern that I bought from Suzy Quilts.  This is for the floor pillow only.  If you want to make the Maypole design for the top, you would have to purchase that one separately or you could just use any block that would give you the measurement of the piece you need.

Mine looks a little fatter, but I do like how comfy it is....lol.  I'll use it some and see if it works.  I didn't do a lining pillow yet, so if I find it is too fat, I can make the lining pillow and remove some of the stuffing.  The type of stuffing used is per Suzy's instructions.

I plan on using this as a booster seat when I go on retreat and as a yoga/meditation cushion.  

Hope everyone is having a great day!  Still some daylight left of this day, so take advantage of it, especially since the temperature is so nice (for Canada in February anyways).

Take care everyone and don't forget to take some time for yourself.

Leftover jelly roll quilt and two reversable (quilted blocks) quilts

When I made my Daybreak quilt back in 2021, from a jelly rolls of floral fabrics and one of plain solid white, I had enough left over strips to make this quilt.  I finished this quilt just this past August.  I even had enough of the same border fabric that I used for Daybreak, though it was a close call.

I do love a simple quilt of squares.  Small squares or large, it doesn't matter.  They are all pretty.  this next picture is a close up of the fabrics.  These are the ones that didn't make the cut to go into the Daybreak quilt.  I quilted this using Mum's the Word quilt pattern from Urban Elementz.  I do like the texture.  When this gets washed, it will crinkle up really nicely. 

 

I finished these two next two in August/2022 as well.  This is what I call being frugal.  When I am making samples of different pantographs (quilting patterns), I do them on white fabric, so that it makes it easier to see the texture of the quilting, without the distraction of a design on the fabric.  

Sometimes, the pattern that I am doing doesn't turn out quite right, like the size may be to small or too big. the pattern may have started out right, but there was some sort of hiccup that caused me to stop the pattern and redo it.  I don't throw these misfits away.  Instead I cut out the good parts into usable squares, and once I have enough, I make a reversable quilt.

The quilt above is a child's lap size quilt, with a blue background and multi coloured squares for the sashing. The one below is a NICU size quilt, with a multi coloured strip sashing.  I see a couple of quilted butterflies, some flowers, swirls, etc.  I think it make it fun to look at.  Yes, the blocks are just white, but not all quilts need to be flashy.  These ones are simple and the sashing provides the bit of colour.

Have a great rest of the evening.  Take care and don't forget to take some time for yourself.

Keeping it real with small progress on a few quilts

I recently realized that I have been, for the past little while, posting about primarily finished quilts.  So, as the title of this post indicates, I want to keep this real.  I want you to first keep in mind that not all of the quilts I share here on my blog are my own.  I have very creative and productive customers who allow me to share their work with you.

Yesturday, I shared the process of one of my quilts that I just started and I made some good progress on it.  Today I worked on it some more.  Did I finish the top like I had hoped to....no.  Am I beating myself up able it....no.  I take making a quilt in strides.  I have many on the go and I work on many of them simultaneously.  That's how I work.  So, sometimes I may have a lot of finishes to show you and other times I won't, because as any quilter knows, it takes a lot of time to make a quilt.  

Part of the reason some quilts take more time to make, even if they are simple in design, is due to what life throws at you and I don't mean all bad.  I just mean in general.  We have lives to live.  Work to do, houses to upkeep, children to raise, parents to care for, and the list goes on.  I am as die hard as the next person, when it comes to quilting.  It is my passion and my life, but I do also have another life I live and that is with my family at home, my family at work and my friends.

Though I have many other pictures of finished quilts to share with you, on this post I am going to keep it real.  I am going to show you my progress on a couple of quilts I am currently working on.  

Besides the quilt blocks that I shared yesturday, I am also working on my leader/ender that starts with four patches that I am calling Scrappy Deliciousness, a kaleidoscope quilt, the quilt parts that I worked on during the weekend and the top I recently finished using half square triangles.

This first picture is the block I will be making with my leader/ender four patches.  This is going to be an everything but the kitchen sink type of quilt.  The only parts that will be controlled are the cream parts that form a square when all the blocks are together, plus the dark beige, burgundy and black rows that surround the coloured four patches.  This will be a long term project, as I am currently only sewing these in between rows, of whatever I am currently sewing on as my main work.  Last week it was getting all the kaleidoscope parts together, the half square triangle top, and now it is the Grandstand quilt, plus this is not my only leader/ender project I am working on.

If you look closely at the above picture, on the bottom left hand side is my low volume chevron block that I recently made and beside it, on the right hand side, is what I am also using as a leader/ender that I am making with all the parts that I worked on during the weekend.

Below is the starting of me assembling the vertical rows of the kaleidoscope quilt.  This one I started back in March/2020, when I temporarily moved to my mom's place while we had the house up for sale and while renovating our new home.  The first two rows are sewn together and to each other.  The third row is only sewn together, but not attached to the first full column.  This quilt has taken a back seat to the half square triangle top and now the Grandstand top.

In the above picture you will also see to the left, my Rhododendron Trails quilt that is half way to completion and to the right on the table is one of the borders to my wool wall hanging.  This is what I mean by keeping it real.  Aside from the recent starts, all of these other quilts have been on the go for a while now.  I may bore you if I showed you just how slow each of the steps takes to do, day in and day out.  Can you imagine if I showed you four or five, four patches in every post.....that wouldn't be exciting.

This next picture is what I did on the weekend.  What you see there is several hours worth of work.  It doesn't look like much, but between the sewing the pairs together, than ironing them all open, it took time.  Today, before I started sewing my current main work, I sub cut a small pile into 2" squares for the next step of sewing them together into columns.  These are the parts that will make up the quilt from Bonnie Hunter called Bitcoin.  My pieces were shown in the first picture above, on the bottom right hand corner.  So far, I only have about five columns completed and need a lot more, but I am hoping this little pile will make some headway on that.  My quilt is being downsized, from what Bonnie made.

I hope this post provides you with some motivation, to not get discouraged when the going is slow.  Just keep persevering, one seam at a time, and it will get done.  In the meantime, enjoy the process.  Admire the colours you chose, fondle the fabric, watch a movie while you sew.....whatever, just take your time and enjoy the process.

Take care everyone and don't forget to take time for yourself.

I started another quilt today call Grandstand (QW)

I started another quilt today.  I thought I would share with you the process of how things happen around here.  It happens so fast, I usually can't stop myself from doing it.....lol.  Not sure that I want to anyways, but my goodness, all of a sudden I am starting quite a bit....  It starts out innocently enough. 

Last night while I was on my computer looking at pictures that I saved for future use, I came across the one quilt pattern that I saved for using up large prints.  I drafted it up and I'm saving it for my cats and dogs fabric, that I just picked up recently on sale at The Hobby Horse Quilt Shop in Georgetown, ON.

That would have been that....however, while I was looking around, I also came across a quilt picture called Grandstand from A Bright Corner.  This pattern is versatile and can be a real stash buster.  It can be converted to whatever size blocks you want to make, depending on how big you want the quilt or how large you want the blocks to to be, to showcase some novelty prints. 

For myself, I am aiming for a charity quilt for Quilt of Valour or Quilts for Survivors.  This would be approx. 50" x 70" give or take a bit.  So to achieve this, I am using 4" strips with 1" sashings (finished sizes).  This morning while having my tea, before work, I drafted this one up too.  I was so excited about this one that during my 15 minute morning break at work, I ran downstairs and pulled out my scrap folder that holds my yellow, orange, beige and brown chunks of fabrics.  These would be smaller than a fat quarter, but larger than my strings or small scraps.

During my lunch time, after I ate, I started sorting the scrap chunks to see what I had and what I could use.  In the end, I only edited 3 fabrics.  One was too bright in comparison to everything else, one was just not doing it for me, as it was too plain and the third piece, I really like it and wanted to save it for another quilt I am making.

By my second break, in the afternoon,  I had all the fabrics lined up and I figured out how many of each block size I needed to cut for the pattern.  I prepared my cutting surface (ie picked up all my other things lying around waiting to be worked on).  So, come 5:00 pm, the end of my work day, I am ready to get started.  I cut out all my blocks and a bunch of sashing strips to get started.

This is the layout of the blocks.  The picture quality is not the greatest, as it was taken in the evening, in the basement with no daylight.  In person the lighting is good, but for some reason, it does not pick up in pictures, in the basement.  In person, the browns are more orange in tone.  When I am done the quilt, I'll get a daytime photo.

Above is where I left off, prior to getting something to eat for dinner.  Below is after dinner and how far I got on assembling the quilt, before having to take the dog for a walk at 9:30 pm.  I almost got half way done!  Not bad for a few hours.  When I look at both pictures, I can't get over how much lighter the blocks below look when they have the taupe sashing, versus the black of the carpet to separate them.  Quite a difference.

Tomorrow I am hoping to continue where I left off.  Hopefully I can have the top done by the end of day.  At the rate that this one is going, it should not end up as a UFO.  Overall this quilt was pretty easy to cut up with only the two sizes of blocks and very easy to assemble, as there are no seams to match.  I would definitely do this one again.  I didn't do much of a dent in the scraps with this size quilt, but using up some is better than none.  

Maybe next one will be with all the reds and pinks that I have accumulated in my folder.  Or maybe the blues....or greens.....or......who am I kidding....I am a scrap quilter, so I have lots of scraps of all different colours and I wouldn't have it any other way.  I don't mind yardage, but I prefer my scraps.  The more the merrier....lol.  It just wouldn't be a scrap quilt without the variety of fabrics.

Take care everyone and don't forget to take some time for yourself.

Labeling and a green hexagon star quilt

Today was a slow day, when it comes to progress.  I received an email informing me that the drop off for quilts for Project Linus will be mid March.  That means I have to get a move on it and make the labels.  I counted twenty-four quilts to donate to Project Linus this time around and none of them had labels.

So my focus this week is to do as many as I can, as February is going to be fairly busy with customer quilts and the family day week, possibly away on a family driving trip, that before you know it, it will be time to deliver these quilts.  I made two labels on the weekend and today during break, I made six more.  

I write them up on solid white cotton with a black marker that you iron to make it permanent.   It's simple, which I prefer.  I fold under the edges and hand stitch the label to the back of the quilt.  Here is an example.  I just have the bottom edge to finish tacking down, to complete this one.

Tonight while watching a live streaming of Karen's circle on YouTube by Karen Brown of Just Get it Done Quilts, I managed to hand sew six labels on and I have the remaining two pinned to the quilts ready to be stitched.  That still leaves me with sixteen more to make and tack down.  I am almost 1/3 of the way done.  Whoo hoo!!

This little NICU quilt is one of the ones that needs to be labeled.  I finished this one back in August/22.  This I believe is the last of the hexagon stars that my daughter made and that I appliquéd to a white background block, and just added borders.  This border is a bunch of frogs and flowers.  It looks cuter up close and in personal.  

I hope everyone has been enjoying the slightly warmer weather we've been having.  Instead of minus 19, it's been plus 6.  Enjoy it, but don't get to used to it just yet.  Trust me, winter is not over yet.  We are after all only in the beginning of February. 

Take care everyone and don't forget to take some time for yourself.

A donation to Quilts for Survivors that I quilted

It's been a busy weekend, getting things done and trying to take a bit of time for myself and my own quilting needs/wishes.  Today I'll share with you this quilt that was donated to Quilts for Survivors back in the end of Sept/2022.  I have been working away at quilting all the 26 quilts that I took on for Quilts for Survivors.  My mom just recently finished the binding on it, and it is now ready to be shipped to the recipient.

I've been working away at customer quilts and trying to get my own things together here, with all my quilting endeavors.  I have bits and pieces of everything here and there, in different stages of completion.  Plus, in the process I am still working at my full time job,  quilting for others as my part-time work and trying to get some of my own quilting for pleasure completed, while making donation quilts for various organizations.

I hope I am not letting anyone down with the sometimes spiritic posts.  I do them when I can, though I do aim for daily.

Today, Monday, is my grocery shopping day and a trip to the bank, after work.  By the time I get home, put the groceries away and have my dinner, most of the evening is done.  Today was no different.  Just so you know, for anyone who may be new to reading my posts, I also have a dog that I have to take for a walk in the evening, before I can call it quits and head to bed.  Some evenings I have no extra time at the end of the day to do much of anything.

But that is likely like most people, as we all juggle, our daily lives and try to fit in some time to do those things that give us pleasure (our hobbies).

Hopping everyone had a great weekend.  Take care everyone and don't forget to take some time for yourself.

Weave quilt using men's shirt fabric

I knew a woman who made all her husband's shirts and he likes the soft cotton plaids.  As with in quilting, when making clothes, there are lots of scraps left over.  Maybe even more so with clothing, as the parts are generally not straight or cut from the width of fabric, but instead arranged in a certain direction along the grain, etc.

This friend from my old neighbourhood, was also a quilter, so she had a plan for all the scraps.  Part of her plan was to cut the leftovers into strips of 1 1/2" and some into 2" strips.  Like most of us quilters, we plan lots of quilts and save lots of scraps to make them.  We get into a habit of saving them, that over time we save enough to make several quilts....  I am sure you get the idea.

Needless to say, now that she was in her 80's, she had come to the realization that she is buried in fabrics, kits and scraps of all the quilts she wanted to make along her quilting life span.  Many of us underestimate the amount of time needed to make everything we want to make, myself included.  We want to make it all.  So, a while back, she decided to be realistic and started finishing her kits that she had started.  Some of them were considered dated, but she still liked them and wanted to make them.

A bit later on, she got real with all the rest of the stuff she had and started getting rid of her scraps, fabrics she was no longer loving, and disassembled those kits that she truly didn't like, to work on those she did like.  It was a slow process, but she kept plugging away, and eventually she started clearing space.  One drawer here, one shelf there, which kept her motivated to continue onward.  When she finished a project, she would store it in the spare bedroom, so those drawers started to fill up, but at least now they were finished objects, instead of scraps and/or fabric.

This friend started distributing her scraps amongst friends, and she gave me her stings that she was collecting from the fabric she would make her husband's shirts from.  With the strings, I made this weave string quilt using an accent of black to emphases the weaving in and out.  This quilt measures approximately 54' x 70" and I still have a large amount of strings leftover, plus some larger pieces that came with the strings.    

So....the moral of this story....is to constantly evaluate what you have and be realistic with what you can make with them, both time wise and amount of actual fabric needed.

This quilt has been donated to Quilt of Valour.  I made the quilt top, the ladies involved in distribution provided the backing, I quilted it, and they took care of the binding.  The picture doesn't do the quilt justice.  The fabrics are so cozy looking and feeling, as the one side of the fabric was very much like flannel.  I made the blocks with that side up.

This is a simple way to use up your strings.  You can do it all in one colour way if you feel the need to be more controlled with your choices or you can use everything and anything.  Not only is it simple, but it is a fast quilt to put together and it is mindless sewing for those times you don't want to think  or just need to put the peddle to the metal and sew.  

Consider making one or two....or five and six, if you've accumulated that many strings......lol.  You may be surprised to find out just how many quilts you can actually make with one small container of strings....  Challenge yourself to empty a container of strings and see...  Let me know, just how many you can make with the contents.

Enjoy your day everyone and don't forget to take some time for yourself.

My design wall this month (January/2023)

Since the last posting about my design wall back in November, there's been a few changes.  My design wall is constantly changing, but some stuff stays there for a while.  I like working on a few things at a time and I don't know what I would do without my design wall.   

I've been working on the kaleidoscope quilt on and off These last couple of weeks, plus this 4-patch HST quilt on the design wall.  Between both of these, I have also been working on the below 4-patch blocks as a leader/ender.  The kaleidoscope quilt is a little more finicky, so when I needed a break from it I assembled the other one, and in the process I am accumulating lots of these 4-patches. 

 

Also new on the design wall is the bricks block (on the right hand side) and the low volume chevron block (on the left hand side).  As I look at this picture for January's state of things, I realize that there are already changes that have taken place in February.   That picture will come later in the month.

Can you believe we are already in February?  OMG the time is just flying by.  For instants, this post is late by two days, as I was inspired to re-arrange my room again, for the third time since I've been living here.  That went into the night.  By the time I was done with the majority of the moving of furniture, it was time to call it quits and head to bed.  

For the past couple of days, I've been re-arranging stuff.  Books, projects, containers, etc.  I have also pulled out a couple of things to review the status of where I am at on them.  In general, I am getting more organized with a plan of direction......we'll see how long that last......lol.

I am hoping that tomorrow being Friday, I can take some time to finally sew something.  I have binding to put on two Quilts for Survivors, so that my mom can tack it down by hand.  I want to get another couple of vertical rows of the kaleidoscope quilt done, or maybe I can finish the 4-patch HST quilt instead....  Still up in the air at the moment.  I'll just go with the flow come Friday and see what happens.

Take care everyone and don't forget to take some time for yourself.