Starting the week out well

I'm starting the week out well with getting the two snail's trail blocks and two of the Rhododendron blocks done as part of my required blocks for the week.  It doesn't seem like much, but the paper piece blocks take quite a while to sew, fold back paper, trim seam allowance, place the next piece and sew some more.  I'm happy to say, that I am further along with the Rhododendron blocks, than I thought I was.  I counted and I only have ten more blocks to do!  Whoohooo!!!

After I decided to quit for the evening, I went upstairs to relax some.  That's when I saw the temperature block sitting there, pinned and ready to appliqué.  Just to keep this real and to explain the situation with the less then perfect picture.  I don't have a bunch of fancy equipment.  I take the pictures where I am, at the time of day it happens to be, and with no staging.   The block below is on a banana pillow, that I put on my lap to support my wrist, while I do hand appliqué.  

This is why the block looks all wavy....lol....and to add to this, if I want to do appliqué in the evening in my chair, I have to turn on the floor lamp, which is the yellow tone of light on the right hand side and the extra Ottlite daytime table lamp, which is the white tone of light on the left.....lol.  Then if I need to write up my evening post on my computer and the battery runs low, I need to unplug one of the lights to plug in the computer....lol.  Oh, boy...confession time or what!  I didn't realize how ridiculous/pathetic I have it set up, until now....lol.  Going to have to do something about my set up.

If anyone has any suggestions for lighting and how you store or put aside your work until you want to work on it again later, please share your best practices (pictures would be nice too).  At the moment the side of my chair looks like an unkept mess of various handwork items that I am working on.  They're all laying on my footstool.  Looks like an accident waiting to happen....lol.  There must be a better system.....  Let me know!

Take care everyone.

February's temperature block

As my daughter would say, I did all the adulting things....lol....so with all that stuff done, I decided to take some time to play.  There are a few required blocks for January still not done, but oh well.  I can catch up on those pretty easily some time this week.  

I got a late start yesturday, but I am still happy with what I got done.  By the time I went upstairs to make dinner, I had about half of February's block pieced.  I made this paper template that I shared with you a couple of days ago.  Today, I thought I would share with you a bit of the process.  All the wedges are roughly cut into a rectangle, until I determine the position of the seam, at which time, I then trim the one angle and sew it to the paper on the wrong side.

Because this is a circle I made a slit along the 1st and the blank 30th date, so that I can fold back the paper more easily and work with the wedges.  Above is the picture of the good side, or what will be the finished side.  When all the wedges are done, I will then fold the paper along the slit and sew the last wedge to the first one.  Then the circle will be complete.

This next picture is the back side of the completed circle.  I almost took all the paper off, before I thought that maybe some would like to see the process.  The middle seams are ironed up or down, alternating with each wedge, which helps if the position of the seams are the same when they are side by side.  In that case they would then nest easily together.

It was a bit late when I got this circle done.  I still have a few tucks to make here and there, but the circle is pretty much ready to be appliquéd to the background now.  It looks a bit odd at this stage.  Especially when there is a blank space, up toward the top, which represents the 30th day of the month.  Being that the block is for February, means there is no 30th day.  Hence the blank.  I did insert a wedge there, though you can't tell as it is the same colour as the background.

I have all month to get this appliquéd, however as I am excited to be back working on this quilt, I expect to have this done within a few days, baring having to do the adulting things....lol.  I just love that term.  It's a way of making fun of things that can sometimes seem like drudgery.  A positive spin on it....lol.

Take care everyone.  Have a great week.

Striking colourful tree branches (QW)

I'm still working on the pieces for the temperature quilt.  Yesturday I managed to sew each days high and low fabric together, for each month.  They are all in baggies ready to go.  Now I have all the fabric cleaned up and put away until I need them.  I kept February's block pieces out, as today is already February.....where did the time go!

Anyways, rather than bore you with another picture of just pieces, I went onto the achieves and came up with this beautiful quilt.  This quilt was made by a friend, way back in February/2024!  I've been holding on to these two photos since then.  

This friend really likes using batik fabrics.  This was a really nice use of the fabrics.  I love the meshing of colours at random and I really love the organic style tree branches.  The individual blocks are all different, as the pattern uses a rectangle to start off with, but then slices them up randomly for each one.  

The blocks are slices down the middle or there abouts.  Then you treat each side individually.  You can slice the one half twice or just one time, making a steep angle or a smaller angle.  It is completely up to you.  Then you insert a 1" strip to form the branch.  Once you're done both sides, you then attach both sides back together with a 1" strip.  Once your done, you would trim the blocks to a common size.

Here is a close up of the blocks.  All sorts of fabrics were used in here.  Enlarge the photo and you will see the variety that went in here.  The pictures do not do this quilt justice.  You'll have to trust me when I say that it was gorgeous!!  Up close, my eyes kept feasting on the assortment of combinations.  Fabrics that you wouldn't think to put together mingled quite nicely.

I would like to make one of these quilts, but using my scraps.  The largest piece of fabric needed would be the rectangles and I have plenty of strings that can be cut into 1" strips.  I'll have to add this one to my bucket list.  Mine would likely be a bit more tame, as I don't have all of these gorgeous bright batiks like my friend has, but I still think it could be affective.  I think I will like doing the improve piecing.

Take care everyone.

Star appliqué block complete

I've been working on a lot of things lately.  Mainly trying to get all of my required blocks done for each week.  That has been my priority.  This star appliqué block was the last block to be done for the month and just in the nick of time.....lol.  This is part of the Welcome to the North Pole quilt.  You'll notice that the stars are a bit organic....I don't know how else to describe it.  The shapes are not intended to be perfect.  The whole quilt is a bit on the organic side....lol.  Something I am going to have to get used to.

My next block for February is called Slick's Sleds.  Here is a sneak peek of the colours and pieces.  I've already rough cut all of the pieces for the block.  I have my overlay and I am ready to get started!

As the theme of this post started with stars, I thought I would throw this quilt in here too.  This was part of the show and share from one of the ladies in our monthly Saturday sew day.  She made stars.  This quilt is a gift to her friend who is retiring.  The quilt is lap size.  The maker knew that her friend liked things that are more on the feminine side, which is how she selected the fabrics.  I don't think there was an actual pattern for this quilt, or I wasn't told what it was, if there was one.  

It's interesting how it has the background pattern that creates radiating diamonds from the centre star block all the way out to the perimeter of the quilt.  It adds movement.  The play of light and medium fabric colours to make this subtle effect.  Then the maker added in a burgundy flange before adding the last two borders.  Very pretty.

Take care everyone.

Short update

Just a short update.  Yesturday I finished cutting all the fabric wedges I need to complete all the months for the temperature quilt.  It was interesting cutting them all at the same time and seeing the mesh of colours change throughout each block.  The picture below shows the warmer months.  The top page is July.  As I was cutting, I noticed that the hottest day of the year was in June, but the hottest month of the year was July.  Interesting....  I am sure there will be other things that stand out, as I actually put it all together.

Just for fun, I decided to take another picture of January's block that is already finished.  What a contrast to the months you see in the picture above!

I am happy that I am finished all the cutting for now.  The only cutting left to do will be for the months that have 31 days in them, as I will need to cut two circles to go in the centre.

Today after work, I am off to my mom's place for dinner, so the sewing of the highs and lows pieces will have to wait until the weekend.  I have some quilting to do as well, but when I need to take a break, I'll definitely work on these blocks.  I am enjoying preparing them.  This will also make it faster to assemble each month....I'm all for that!!!  lol

Take care everyone.  Have a great Friday!!  

Moving along with my temperature quilt

I started tracking the daily temperatures for 2024 in Jan/2024 and continued for the first few months.  I did a detailed post about making the first block for January, back on Dec 13/2025 called Started a temperature quilt for the days of 2024, in case you want to read more about it.

I mentioned on Jan 4th's post, that this is a paper piece block that is then appliquéd to the background fabric.  I was going to start this back up in February, as a BOM, as I have January's block already complete, however as you can see, I am getting a head start on it.

In the picture below, the top sheet of paper shows all of my colours to represent the temperatures.  The bottom sheet is the paper template I made for the month of October.  Over the past few days, I've been working on finishing off the paper templates for the whole year.  I had most of the outlines done from before, and all I needed to do was draw the lines in each date, to show where my highs and lows were going to be positioned in the wedge.  Those are now all done for each month.

Now I am starting to cut the coloured fabrics.  Yesturday I started and finished all the days in December.  Today I did the same for October.  If you want to get an idea of what these blocks will look like, check out the post of Dec 13/2025, where I posted the finished block of January.

This next picture is the top half of the wedges that will represent the temperature for each day.  The first day starting at the top of the circle.  As this is paper piece the colours are currently in reverse.  They are laying on the sewing side and when sewn will be on the other side of the paper.

This circle look quite different than January.  This one is where the temperature is starting to cool off in October, with some nice days in there too.  The above picture is of all the highs in October and the picture below is where I have introduced the lows in October.  This is where you really see that the temperatures are getting cooler.

What I've done with these fabric pieces, to keep things organized is taken, in reverse, each day and sewn the seam for the high and the low, to keep them together.  I didn't break thread, just kept sewing them, day by day, until I finished all of them.  I folded them, stacking them on top of each other.  The little packet in the picture at the very top, is how I am storing each month.  This way if I have them all cut, I can put all the fabrics away and only have to handle the packet when I need to work on it.

I'm hoping to make the packets for all the months in the next few days, so that I can find my sewing room again....lol.  I really do know how to make a "creative" mess....lol.  At least that is what I am calling it...lol.  I'm enjoying this process.  Taking my time to put everything together.  After this part is done, I can then make February's block.  It will be so much easier to do each block with all the prep work done.

I am looking at the last picture above and I like the play of the colours that make up the circle.  I can't wait to see how the other months turn out!!

Take care everyone.

Scrap Attack quilt progress

I received these blocks as a gift from the Guild members, as a thank you for my work as president.  I posted about it back on Aug 27/2025 if you want to read more about this quilt.  

During the Christmas break when I had the week between Christmas and New Years off, I pulled out the blocks for this quilt and put them back up on my design wall.  I am making this my main, primary project, after I complete the blocks from my list of required blocks.

I wanted to make the quilt just a bit bigger then I would have had with the gifted blocks, so I am making some along the way to fill in the areas to complete the quilt.  Since I put these quilt blocks back on the design board, I made four more blocks and was able to then assemble the bottom two rows of what you see on the wall.  It's coming together!  There are now five rows put together.

Here is a sample of a single block.  The members only instructions were to think of me and make it bright....lol.  I'd say this person succeeded.  This particular block is going along the perimeter, as I am trying to make a secondary design that merges into the first border.  

If you look at the first picture above, in the top left hand corner, you will get a glimpse of what I mean.  All the perimeter block's strings, that run along the border are going to be blue, and they will mesh with the first small blue border.

There is no rush for this quilt, so I am enjoying doing it at my leisure.  A block here, a block there.  No stress, no deadlines.  I want to start doing more quilts where I can slow down and just enjoying the process.  It's much more relaxing.

Take care everyone.

Screw This quilt

At our sew day on Saturday, one of the ladies brought this quilt top to work on.  She had assembled most of it and was working on finishing the borders.  This is cute.  The quilt is called Screw This.  Obviously, per the name, there are different types of screwdrivers and screw heads that make up the design.  The middle border also show the profile of screws.  So playful.  Did you notice that the screw driver has the corresponding screw head at it's tip.  There's a flat head, a phillips, and a cross screw.  

I like the bright, but not overly bright colours of the fabrics used to make this quilt and I love the dark background that make the pieces pop!  The maker used some of her own hand dyed fabrics to make this quilt for someone special to her.  I am pretty sure he will love it!!  

Below is a close up of one screw head and a profile of a screw.  So cute!  The handle looks just like a screwdriver that I own....lol.

I took a picture of the pattern in case anyone would like to make one.  The information about this design is below.  You can enlarge it to get all the details at the top and the bottom.

Take care everyone.

Red String quilt

During our Saturday Sewing day, I was working on my Red Strings quilt.  I've posted about these in a few other post already.  I had all of the units made for these nine patch corner blocks and they were sitting patiently waiting to be sewn into a block.  On Saturday I managed to sew 15 blocks!!  That is the most I have ever sewn during our sew day......lol.  

There is always so much chatter, show and share, and some sewing, that I get distracted from the task at hand....lol.  But I am not complaining.  I love it all!!

Now that I am finished all of the 18 blocks above, I can start working on the units for this next block.  This is my sample block.  I need a total of 17 of these ones.

So far, I have all of the centre hourglass units done.  I have the sand coloured star points all cut out.  Now I have all the red string units to make.  The diagonal red string corners and the middle of the star points.  I have two little bundles pinned together to make two blocks.  I am seeing a lot of red in my future.......lol.  Though they shouldn't take too long to sew up.

After I get my required blocks done, I can get back to these red string blocks.

Take care everyone.

Assembling the Omigosh quilt!!

On January 17th, I posted about finishing all the nine patch blocks that were on my weekly required blocks list.  I had all the other alternate blocks done for quite some time.  I used to take this quilt to retreat and work on this, after I did the other stuff that I wanted to get done first.  So this has been in the making for a while.

Well, I am finally starting to put this quilt together.  After the ladies went home, I was energized and felt like doing some more sewing.  My son made dinner, which gave me plenty of time after, to lay out these blocks.

I didn't want to give up for the day yet, so I started sewing some of the rows together.  I managed to get the first three rows assembled.  I am now considered one third of the way done.  Whoohoo!!

It's not looking bad at all.  I am liking the overall soft colour palate.  In person, they are just a bit more vivid, but not by much.  For reference, the block on the top righthand side is a soft red coloured block.

I'm hoping to get the top, minus the borders, done today.  Then I'll have to fold this up and put it away, until I can get out to shop for some border fabric.

Take care everyone.

Three Smith Mountain Morning quilts

Today we got together to sew.  What fun!!  I really enjoy when we all get together.  It is so relaxing and exciting all rolled into one.  Everyone was working really hard today and we had quite a bit of show and share.  This post I am dedicating to the Smith Mountain Morning quilts that four of us are working on.

This first one you may recall from another post.  This was on the maker's design wall.  She brought it here today to start assembling the blocks.  This is fabulous!!  These are the the top four rows I believe.  Taking a picture of this smaller section, allows us to see the blocks a bit more clearly.  There are a mix of pieced blocks and lots of different bird blocks.  So pretty in blue/aqua and magenta/purple/burgundy shades.

Then this next one would be the first time that I've been able to post about this progress.  This maker was primarily cutting fabric each time she was here.  Over the past few weeks she was assembling the chimney blocks and has them all done!  Her colourway is green and burgundy with an undertone of magenta.  There is a warmth to these colours that does not quite come across in the picture.  This is going to be beautiful when it gets done.

Here is an update on this maker's quilt.  I showed the top in a recent post.  Now she has the border on!!  How exciting.  She is the first to get her quilt top done!!  Hooray for her!!   This quilt colourway is light aqua blue to darker blue and peachy coral to darker almost magenta or burgundy, but not quite.  A lot of variety.

 

Mine, not shown here, is Chocolate brown and darker blue.  I still get a kick out of seeing all of the different options.  Each variation is so different.  Especially the top picture where the maker has substituted many of the star blocks for different pieced and appliquéd blocks, that she made as part of a block of the month.

Two of the participants are almost done their quilts and two of us are still working on assembling the blocks.  We're all hoping to have them done by the last meeting of the guild, which is in June.  If I keep up with my required blocks from my list, I will have my top done by the end of May.  I am doing good so far.  I have all of my January blocks done, aside from one appliqué block from my Welcome to the North Pole.  There is still hope for me.....I still have tomorrow to work on it, to make the deadline.

Take care everyone.  Stay in, say warm and take time for yourself.

Year end progress

I almost forgot to track my year end progress!  I like doing it here.  I consider my blog a place for me to look back and reflect sometimes, to see what I have done over the years, get ideas, and find those (QW) Quilt-Want-To-Be.....lol.  I also share everything here, as I treat all of my readers as my accountability buddies.  It drives me to move forward in order to provide some content.

This past year started off rough, but ended off really good!  I feel that in this past year, besides spending many hours with family and friends, quilting has been a large part of my healing, and I am grateful to have this creative outlet.

Now brace yourself......you know it's not always good when you see two pages for my Works in Progress sheets and the second one is almost full.....lol.  But it's not all that bad....honest!

Just a reminder for those that are new, or just can't remember.  The pink is what was done the previous year and the blue is for what was done in the current year.  I have a darker line between the quilts that I started the year off with and the quilts that I started/added throughout the year.

So, to summarize it all, I started the year off with 24 quilts that remained from 2024.  Then in 2025, I added a total of 52 quilts to my list!!  Yes, you read that right.  Fifty-two!!  It does sound bad when I write it down, but this was an unusual year.  The second in a row.  There were time periods in this year that have a story.....a reason behind it.

At the beginning of the year, in January I started seven quilts which usually happens each year as I get excited for the new year, but then, I didn't start any quilts until later, in late April after my surgery, when I started another five quilts.  Things dwindled down after that, while I took the time to look after my health.

But when I was getting closed to the time of going back to work, I went into this nesting thing where you have to do a bunch of things to get everything in order.  Similar to when you're pregnant and just before the baby is due, you have an urge to do some deep dive cleaning and setting up the nursey.  In my case, August was when the urge hit me and I started plastering the holes in the ceiling from getting some pot lights added, which lead to priming and painting, followed by installing the baseboards, finally finishing the peninsula with my cupboards and painting all of that as well.

Then, when I had to put all the furniture back, I decided to wash everything down and go through all of the stuff.  All the cupboards, behind the doors, in the drawers, on the shelves, you name it, if I touched it I went through it!  By September when I was pretty much done, I added 26 more items to the list.  Initially it was 36, but I realized that 10 of them were not actually stuff that was started.  They were only panels, so I put those aside.  I wrote them on another list, so that I wouldn't forget about them.

September was when I did that big clear out.  Pulled everything out to evaluate it and figure out if it was staying or not.  Then in October, I added 5 more that I had missed or things that came up.  But that was it.  I was good after that!!

Then I went into panic mode!!!  YIKES!!!  Thirty-one quilts added to the list in less than two months!!  I didn't dare add another quilt to my list.  Instead I was driven to get as many as I could done, before the end of the year.  In September I finished six, October six, November six and December another six.....whoohoo!!  Twenty-four completed in four months!  Now keep in mind that many of these quilts were small items with a handful of larger ones.  

After reviewing all these numbers, what really made me feel good, was that for the whole year of 2025,  I managed to finish a total of 46 items and finished off the year with only 30 items remaining!!  That is only six more then I started the year off with.  That's not bad!  I can live with that.....lol

And there you have it!  All the progress of 2025.  I am leaning toward a very different year in 2026.  I am looking to control the amount of quilts I add to my list this year, and try really hard to make a big dent in finishing more of the quilts already on my list.  Hence the task list I've started, for my required weekly blocks.  To help me keep focused.  We'll have to see how long I can keep that going.....

Take care everyone.

More Smith Mountain Morning blocks

Yesturday I did some more of the Smith Mountain Morning blocks.  I have to assemble four blocks per week.  For this week I did four blue star blocks.  As it was going so well, I decided to get a head start on next weeks blocks.  I finished those as well!!  Eight star blocks ready to add to the pile of completed blocks.

It was going so well, that I decided to take out four more blocks, but this time the chimney blocks.  Of the four, I got two done.   All in all it was a good day for working on these required blocks.  I was able to tick off ten blocks off my list!  

After getting these all done, my brain was getting distracted.  I cleaned up my rulers and put that sticky grip tape on the commonly used rulers.  Then I was looking for other things to do.....one of the ideas was starting another quilt....and it was a very strong urge...   Even during those same thoughts, I knew that the idea was not a good one, but I couldn't rid myself of it.....  This time though, I decided to get out of my studio, go upstairs and do some cooking instead.  It worked.....for now....lol.    

I am trying to be striker on myself when it comes to starting new quilts.  I am very serious about getting my list of works in progress down.  Starting new quilts is like a dopamine hit for me, and my brain knows it, and tries to waylay me all the time.  I averted it this time!!  (insert rolling of my eyes....lol)  

Take care everyone.  

Some of my required blocks

I made some progress on some of the other required blocks from my weekly list.  Next, I worked on the Rhododendron blocks.  I only have to do one of these blocks per week, however I find it easier to do two at a time.  This way I used them as the leader/ender for each other.  Two more blocks done and now twelve left to do.  I am happy that these are finally getting done.  

This was one of Bonnie Hunter's Winter mystery quilts from at least three years ago.....I think maybe closer to four.  I have all of the other blocks assembled and the sashings cut out and sewn to those blocks.  Once I get these twelve blocks done, I will be able to start putting this quilt together too!!

I still had the white/cream thread in the machine, so I thought I would then work on the snails trails blocks, for the Sea Swept quilt that I am making for my sister-in-law.  Two more blocks ticked off the list!!  Yeay!!!

Now the only blocks that I have left to do are the four Smith Mountain Morning blocks and the Welcome to the North Pole block.  I still have today to get them done.  I consider the week to be from Monday to Sunday, so I'm not behind yet...lol.  Nothing like cutting it close though...lol.  No sweat, no stress, just do what I can.  I do also want to get back to quilting Tiny Town, however I have to really be in the mood or right frame of mind to work on it.  We'll see....

Take care everyone.  Done forget to take some time for yourself.

Omigosh progress

After almost a full week of no sewing, I was really glad to get down to the studio today, after running errands and all those things that you just don't find time to do during the weekdays.  I have a bit of a confession.....  I was so happy to sit and sew, that I ignored everything else that could have...should have...but didn't get done!  LOL.

I was having such a relaxing time of it.  I figured I'd start on my required blocks, and as I had the white/cream coloured thread in the machine, decided to start with my double nine patch blocks for the Omigosh quilt.  I had all the units done, so all I needed to do was assemble the units into a finished square.

I'm not sure if you recall, but the last time I worked on these, I did extra blocks to get them caught up with my Rhododendron squares.  I had 14 blocks left to do.  Well....I just couldn't help myself....  Instead of doing the one required block....I did them all!!!

I am very surprised that I did get them all done, considering all the running around I had to do.  I didn't get down to the studio until 4:00 pm and even then, it wasn't without constant interruptions.  My son decided that he wanted to make a large pot of spaghetti sauce, to jar up and have at the ready when he feels like it.  Since he hasn't made this before, I was constantly required to talk him through all the steps.  He did well and did do all of it himself, until it was time to put in the spices/herbs.  

He asked me before he started where he could get the recipe.  I just looked at him, tapped my finger on my head and told him it was all in there.....lol.  He just shook his head....lol.  Anyways, he was able to follow my instructions for each step and then I went up to add in all the spices/herbs once he had everything cooked and ready to assemble.

It smelled so good!  I am looking forward to having some of that sauce tomorrow, on some steamed cauliflower rice or maybe some steamed shredded cabbage.  Tomorrow I'll see if I can finish some of the other required blocks.

Take care everyone.  Have a great weekend.

To Grandmother's House We Go wall hanging

Thought I would share with all of you, the slow progress being made on my hand embroidery from the To Grandmother's House We Go wall hanging.  I started this a while back and I take this with me, as my grab and go project, if I don't have anything else on the go.  It has taken a back seat to many hand projects along the way.  Since I recently finished my required appliqué block for January, and watching my daughter progress on hers, I just had to take this one out for a bit.

This section I am working on, is one of three that require handwork.  The rest of the wall hanging has pieced blocks, which I have completed already.  This is where I started, since the last time I posted about this wall hanging. 

Here is the progress I've made recently.  It's a nice chunk that I've completed.  I can now say that I am a quarter of the way done this section.  Whoohoo!!  That makes me happy.

I'm going to leave this section out for a bit.  I'm going to see if I can spare some time to work on it here and there.  Though my priority will still be, my list of required blocks.  

In the evenings, I like to shut things down in the studio, and head upstairs for some quiet time, to relax and settle down before bed.  I've been doing a fair amount of reading lately, but I could consider doing some of this instead.....maybe.  I do really want to get this one done soon......but then again, I really want to get every one of the quilts on my list done too.....LOL.  So much to do and so little time....  

Take care everyone.

Smith Mountain Morning

I've been sick for the last few days, so haven't been doing any sewing.  Thank goodness for friends who do quilting and allow me to share their progress!  This is one of the ladies from out Saturday sewing group.  We all try to meet up once a month.  Four of us in the group are working on Bonnie Hunter's Smith Mountain Morning quilt.  

This person is doing hers in different shades of blue and coral.  The last time we were all together, she managed to finish sewing all of her remaining blocks.  Hurray!!  What an accomplishment!  I am still working on mine.....and have a long way to go still.....lol.....but I will get there.

She went home that day and sent us a picture of it all laid out on her design wall.  The true colours are the picture above.  Goes to show you how different settings and devices, can affect the quality and colours of the objects.  It looks so pretty.  I love how the two blocks come together and make a secondary design.  It looks like the blocks are on point, but they're not.

The maker was so excited with the progress of her quilt, that she already has the border blocks done and starting to sew them onto her quilt top.  She can't hold herself back.....LOL!!  

One of the other ladies has really made some headway too.  She has almost all of her blocks done.  I am not sure about the third person and how far she has gotten along.  I know I got a text to help explain one of the blocks and construction, but no pictures of what her progress has been.  I'll just have to wait and see when we get together again later this month.  

As for me, mine is going to be King size, so I still have about 70 more blocks to make.  My colourway is dark blue and chocolate brown.  I've done all the brown stars, started on the blue stars and some of the courthouse step variation blocks, that Bonnie calls chimney blocks. These blocks are on my list of required blocks to make weekly.  If I keep up with my list, these will all be done by end of May.

Take care everyone.

Star appliqué block in progress

As I was writing my post yesturday, about finishing the Gathering Flowers appliqué block, I realized that I hadn't share this block with you.  I started this a couple of weeks ago, during the winter break, when I needed to sit with my cup of tea to relax some.  

This is a block from the Welcome to the North Pole quilt.  There are three stars to this appliqué block.  I have one and a half done.  I am looking at maybe tonight, after work and getting all the domestic stuff out of the way, sitting and doing the rest of this small block.  I am not going to stress about it, but I think I should be able to manage it.

You'll have to excuse the clarity of the picture.  These dark blue backgrounds don't turn out well when I take the photo at night.  I don't have any fancy lighting equipment, so it is what it is.  When I finish it, I'll wait until daylight to snap a shot.

Take care everyone.  Hope you all had a great weekend.

Saturday sewing

Yesturday, I woke up with the desire to do some sewing and that is exactly what I did.  More and more I try not to pre-plan my leisure days.  I find I get more enjoyment out of it.  Just going with the flow.  I know there are a lot of things to do, but there are really no particular deadlines.  I have the whole year ahead of me to work on reducing my list down to only ten items.  I still have to share my year end progress, but that will be another post.

When I went down to the studio, I bypassed the longarm and the quilting I am doing there, to sit for a bit with my tea and look at my list of Works in Progress.  There were a hand full of things that I kind of felt like I wanted to advance on.  Then I look up from my chair on the side and see my sewing space surrounded by a bunch of projects.  What to do, what to do.....

Instead of just straightening things up and putting it all away, to be forgotten again for a while, I thought to my self, what is the worst of the mess.  What can I do or finish, that would make the biggest impact, while moving forward, instead of packing it away.  

I was seeing red!  Literally, not in the bad sense of the phrase.  The burgundy and sand star quilt was taking over my sewing table, my cutting table and the ironing station.  So.....I had my answer.  I haven't made much more progress on this quilt, I just didn't put it away from the last time I worked on it.  At this point, I had to still cut the majority of the beige fabrics, which is what was occupying the cutting board and ironing station.  

Mess control....I sorted the small burgundy scraps to one side, for when I can use smaller pieces on the string blocks.  I took out a medium paper back with handles and dumped all the larger burgundy strings in there.  That alone made a big difference.  By this time I am feeling better and start evaluating what needs to be cut, so that I can finally put away the beige fabric.

I started by cutting all the star points and put them aside in sets of four for each block.  As I already had some string blocks made for the center of the star points, I decided to take a break and sew the two sets.  Then I moved on to the cutting all the pieces I needed for the hourglass units, and again decided to stitch those ones up too.  Time was moving along quickly, but I was content in what I was doing and taking my time to enjoy the process.

After a very late lunch/tea break, I came back down to the studio and started cutting the last of the beige.  I cut out all the small squares needed for the nine patch units that are in the alternate block.  That as well took me quite a while, as if you remember, I am literally using my scraps, not yardage, so all the cutting takes longer.  It took me a couple of hours alone to cut the 204 square I needed.  It's all done!!

I took another hour to sort them all out with the three beige blocks first into sixty-eight piles, followed by sorting all the burgundy squares.  I needed six of these per pile.  These are all ready now to start sewing the units, but by this time it was time to go make dinner.  That morning, I had decided that I was going to have a movie night.  So this is where these piles are still at this morning.  I will need to sort these piles in groups of four to make seventeen blocks in total.

I did get my movie night.  I enjoyed my day and decided to continue with relaxation.  I put on an old movie that I hadn't watched in a long time and pulled out my handwork.  I am glad to say that during the two hour movie, I was able to finish the last two flowers needed on the Gathering Flowers block.  Whoohoo!!  Another one done!

This was so satisfying.  Working on the burgundy and sand quilt allowed me to get some progress on the blocks and now my cutting table and ironing station are cleared off.  The burgundies are organized and contained.  Plus, I get to check off my required appliqué block for January.  All in all a very successful day!

I haven't decided what I am going to do today, but I am thinking of seeing what I am inspired to do when I get down there, and let things just flow....no stress, no sweat....just enjoying the process.

Take care everyone.

Moving ahead

Yesturday after work, I finally got some sewing time in.  It felt good!  I caught up on my last two pieced required blocks like the two snail's trails blocks.  Just have to trim them and remove the paper. 

And the four Smith Mountain Morning blocks.  This time I chose some blue stars.

But what I am most happy about, is the fact that I went back and pulled out nine of the Omigosh blocks and completed them.  Whoohoo!!

These are nice and easy blocks to put together, especially since the units are already made.  If you look at the chart, you may guess why I wanted to get these done.  I wanted to work on my one Rhododendron Trail blocks and the one Omigosh blocks together.  Like each one being the leader/ender of the other.  I knew though that as there were more Omigosh blocks I'd be left with more of them later.  So, just to motivate me, I decided lets do them!!  It was also nice working with these soft cheerful colours of the 30s/40s fabrics.  According to the chart, I now only have fourteen blocks of each left to do.

I haven't decided what I am doing today just yet.  I think I'll play it by ear and see what I am inspired to do.  I know I'd like to work on the two appliqué blocks on my list and I'd also like to move along on the quilting of the Tiny Town wall hanging, plus..., plus..., plus...!!  LOL!  So many things I'd like to work on and only so many hours in the day.....

Take care everyone.  Enjoy your weekend.

Quilting my Tiny Town appliqué quilt

I've decided not to wait until it is all done, to share this quilt with you all.  There are going to be a bunch of close up pictures of the blocks on this quilt, so I will need to break it up into two separate posts.  Here is a refresher on what quilt I am quilting.  This is Tiny Town.  It is all appliqué.

Just know that this is only the first pass.  What I am doing first is securing the layers by quilting the edges and the blocks all in the ditch.   Then before advancing, I am quilting the backgrounds.  I will be going back to do a second pass, to quilt the actual appliqué pieces and the borders on my way back up.

This is one of the beginning blocks.  This one I didn't quite get the shadows right, to show off the quilting, but you will see a corner of this block in the next picture, for a closer look.  You can also enlarge the picture to get a better look at how I stitched it.  

I am trying to come up with quilting motifs that use the fabric's designs to direct where and what the quilting will be.  In the above block, I followed the lines and did a boxed zig zag in the background, with the two side strip's lines to follow the stripes.  In the block below, I used the dots, or should I say the space between the dots to make a cross hatch, without having to mark my lines.  There are nine dots per full block.  Then for the second half of the block, I just did a squiggly line between the squiggly motif of the fabric. 

For this next block, I decided to also use the dots to direct where I was going to quilt.  These dots are further apart, so it looks like I've made rows.  I picked a centre point and quilted lines in a chevron from all four sides, meeting but not touching at the centre point.  Though the house in the block hides the path a bit.  I thought it looked cute, and different from what I've done so far.

As you can see, each of these backgrounds are different and they are each quilted differently.  I have more different backgrounds and they are all spread out across the quilt.  I plan on using the same quilting design for each of the blocks with the same background.  This way it will be equally distributed across the quilt.

I've already completed three "rows", though they are not technically "rows".  Blocks are assembled in sections and some sections are higher or lower then others.  I have approximately two more "rows" to do, to finish the ditch and background quilting.

I am liking how it is turning out so far and I am actually having fun doing it.  I just have to do it in blocks of time, as it's a bit more intense quilting.  Most of these lines are only 1/2" apart.  That's why it is taking sooooo long!

Take care everyone.

Just touching base

I can't believe it is already the end of the day Wednesday!  Where did the time go.  Monday was a running around evening after work, taking care of household stuff.  Tuesday my daughter was here so I spent some time with her, as we made dinner and such, and today we are now Wednesday.  Already!!

Sometimes, try as you might, but nothing gets done.  This week is shaping up to be one of them.  On Sunday evening, before heading up, to reading a book I got for Christmas, I did manager to get my required block for the Rhododendron quilt, plus an extra one and the Omigosh quilt block, plus and extra one.  These are up to date and I'm hoping to get them done a bit sooner.

Saturday and Sunday I was doing some custom quilting on my large wall hanging.  The appliqué one that I started back in Jan/2015.  It was a BOM so I finished the top on Nov 22/2015, called Finished my Tiny Town quilt top, if you want to read more about it.  I'll share more progress on the quilting with you when I have it done.  Likely won't get to it again until the weekend.

Just giving you a heads up.  My posts may be shorter or more sporadic for a bit.  I am trying to get into the rhythm of things, as my work load increases, things at home are needing a bit more attention, and I find I need a bit more down time.  Balance.....remember?  I am trying to figure it all out.  Plus, I don't want to bore you all with the same few "required" blocks.

I'll try to vary it up some, but stuff like custom quilting, takes a lot of time, so while I am doing that, there's not much I can share on the blog.

Take care everyone.

A NICU Snowball block quilt

I woke up one morning with a brain storm!  I wanted to try a new technique.  When I want to do a new technique, I often choose to do it in a small project, like this NICU quilt.  I am always looking for new ways to use up my scraps.  Strings are what I have the most of.  So, you may be seeing more string quilts in the future, as I try to use up the colours of stings that I have the most of.  Hence the burgundy and sand quilt that I just started.  

This quilt is using my red and pink strings.  This is the first block.  Note that this is the picture that shows the truest colours.  This is a version of a snowball block that is made up into large squares, as apposed to the traditional snowball block that I wrote about back on Aug 12/2017, called Finished the Beach ball quilt.  I like this version better as the curves are not as round and easier to sew.

I worked on this quilt throughout the day, between other household stuff and finally loaded the quilt on the longarm, sometime around 4:00 pm.  I quilted this using a pantograph called Painted Daisies.  Now all I have to do is trim the quilt and bind it.  I'll do that soon, as the binding fabric is already out.

This was my inspiration.  I friend of mine made a large quilt, from this pattern, which turned out beautiful!!  I thought it was very affective.  I on the other hand, have sooooo many quilts I want to make and not enough time to make them, that I have to stick to making some in smaller versions....lol.

This is not a new technique, just a retake on a traditional pattern, so you can find this pattern from many different sources, however if you are in Canada, you may find it less expensive from this source:

https://scrappygalquiltco.wordpress.com/string-snowball-quilts/.  

What's great about this specific pattern is that it includes the rulers you will need to achieve all the curved cuts, without having to make a cardboard template.  And the size of the block is also a nice feature.  Not too small or too big.

Take care everyone.