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.

This weeks required blocks, new list

Let's start off the year right, shall we!  The date is January 1st/2026.  The start of a new year.  I read a comment sent from a friend which said, 365 new days, 365 new chances.  It sounds so positive.  It's true.  Each day we have new possibilities.  Wishing everyone an amazing year!

Let me share with all of you, my required blocks.  Keep in mind that this can change at any time, as this is a self imposed target based on my wishes to finish these quilts sometime this year.  I'm going to try hard to stick to this list, but won't be too hard on myself, if I decide to change it up some.  In my viewpoint, so long as progress is being made, I am happy!

Here is the new list of required blocks for 2026:

On this list I have, Deb's Quilt (2 blocks per week), Alex's Quilt (1 block per month),  Smith Mountain (4 blocks per week), Temperature Quilt (1 block per month), Rhododendron Trail Quilt (1 block per week), 30s Omigosh Quilt (1 block per week) and lastly Welcome to the North Pole (1 block per month).  As you can see from the list four of these quilts are estimated to be completed by the end of July/2026.

I took care of making the two easier blocks first with 1-Rhododendron Trail Quilt block and 1-30s Omigosh Quilt block.  I already have all the units made for both of these quilts.  All I have to do is assemble the blocks.  The first block in the picture below is the Rhododendron Trail block, which I have 17 blocks left to do.  The second block is the 30s Omigosh block, which I have 26 blocks left to do.  Two blocks done and two checkmarks!!

Once these were done, I moved on to the next two blocks.  These were for Deb's Quilt.  The blocks are part of the Sea Swept quilt, and this particular block is called Snails Trail.  I have 57 blocks left to do, to complete all the units for this quilt.  Two more blocks done and two more checkmarks!!

I was on a roll, so I didn't stop there.  Next up were the Smith Mountain Morning blocks.  I am trying to finish this quilt by the last guild meeting of 2026, which is in June.  That is why I have this one listed as requiring four blocks per week.  I have 85 blocks left to do, to complete all the units for this quilt.  Four blocks done and four checkmarks!!  Whoohoo!

What's left......  One, I have Alex's Quilt (1 block per month).  This quilt is all hand appliqué.  It is going to take time to do these blocks.  I am hoping that one a month is not too much.  When you see the other stuff that is still left to do, you may question how I am going to do them all......I question myself too....lol.  You can't achieve anything if you don't set the goal.  So I set the goal and I am going to make a good effort to achieve it, baring life getting in the way....lol. 

Two, Temperature Quilt (1 block per month).  This is a paper piece block that is then appliquéd to the background.  I am going to start this in February, as I have January's block already complete.

Three, Welcome to the North Pole (1 block per month).  This quilt is also all hand appliqué.  It too is going to take time to do these blocks.  I've come up with a plan for this quilt and completing it in sections that can then be put together in a quilt-as-you go method.   To be honest though, I am not worried if I don't get to these blocks each month.  If I run out of time and have to cut corners, it will be to delay making this block.

This year is going to all be about "balance".  My sentence goes like this, "Balance in life will be the trick in 2026".  I am striving for balance in all aspects of my life, from spending time with family and friends, my health, meal planning/prepping, work, slowing down to smell the roses, as the saying goes, with better sleep, exercise, mindfulness, and all the things one needs to do, to live a happy, healthful life.  It's a tall order, but one that I have been working on for the past year and a half already.  I am just taking the time to expand in different areas of my life, with intention.  I have to keep my eyes on the ball.  In this case, for now it will be to practice balance.  

No stressing, just do what I can, when I can.

Take care everyone.  Don't forget to take some time for yourself.  It's important!!

Burgundy and sand coloured quilt

When I made the two blocks for this quilt, I got the itch to continue sewing it!  The blocks are looking really nice.  Other than the cutting of scraps, which takes a bit longer then cutting yardage, the units themselves are going together easily.

Since I was playing in the burgundy scraps and knew the sizes I needed, I proceeded to cut out the triangles I needed for all the burgundy hourglass units.  After sewing them together, I then cut out all the burgundy squares I needed for the nine patches.  All the rest of the burgundy units will be coming from strings.  These two units are for the alternating blocks.  I need 18 of the alternating blocks.

I also made some headway on the straight string units to go with the units above.  I won't be able to make the blocks just yet, until I cut out all the sand colour squares that run down the centre of the nine patches.  There is some progress happening though, so that makes me happy.

Thursday/New Years day, my daughter came down to my sewing space to hang out and draw some more of her embroidery designs for the Snow Day quilt she is working on.  While she did that, I made more of the above sting units.  I needed a total of 68 (four are already in a block).  I've put all of this aside for a bit, as I needed to get started on this weeks required blocks.  More on those in another post.

Take care everyone.

New quilt for a new year!

This was a planned new quilt with a friend and my mom.  Mine is going to be burgundy and sand colour.  My friend and my mom will both be doing theirs in blues.  We were all going to start this quilt in Jan/2026, when we get together monthly to sew.  I started a block between Christmas and New Years, as the size of the units were bothering me.  

I needed to know for sure it was going to work, before the other two went ahead and started making units.  I am glad that I did, as the nine patch units would have all been too big for the rest of the units.  And as the nine patch unit has to be divisible by three, I had to reconsider the sizes of all the other units, to avoid having to cut ridiculous sizes. 

Above is the main block.  An eight point star, with an hourglass unit for the centre, diagonal strings for the corners and straight strings between the star points.  The background in this case will be the burgundy with highlights of sand/beige.

Then we have the second alternating block.  This also has an hourglass unit for the centre, nine patches for the corners, and straight strings for the rest of the units.

I first posted about this quilt on August 9th, called Burgundy scrap quilt, if you want to read more about it.  In that post, I have a picture of the full quilt, that I printed up using EQ.  I'm hoping this quilt will make a dent in my burgundy and sand scraps.  Two colours that I don't often use.

Take care everyone.  Hope you all had a great time celebrating and bringing in the New Year!!

I started a wool appliqué quilt called Of a Feather

I was sitting here reviewing some of the drafts I had, sitting in my folders and noted that I never did post anything about this quilt.  It was just before my life was in an upheaval, so I understand why.  I am writing this ahead of time to post on January 1st, as I doubt I will be up early after a long night, bringing in the new year.  Happy New Years everyone!!!  May this year bring you plenty of happiness and prosperity!

We, as in Halton Hills Quilters' Guild, had a speaker by the name of Sharon Fisher of Gardening Mum Quilts on Oct/2023.  Her trunk show was absolutely breathe taking.  She did many things, but primarily wool appliqué.  She does a lot of Sue Fargo patterns with loads of embroidery.  Sharon does do private workshops or group classes, and classes through the Creekbank Sewing Centre too.

I signed up for a class called Of a Feather.  This class started in March/2024 the 3rd Saturday of every month, for 9 months.  Or was that 10 months?  I can't quite remember.  This is the pattern book we had to purchase.  It's not my usual type of quilt or even the subject matter, and the in your face loud colours, but I really wanted to learn how to do all those fancy embroidery stitches.

As well as the book, you could use your own fabrics and wool, plus all of the embroidery floss/threads that you needed, or you could purchase a basic kit.  The basic kit contained all the background wool, the wool for all the appliqué, the black on white cotton used on the background and the various cotton colours used in some of the blocks.  

On top of all of that, you could also purchase kits with the rick rack, kits with the embroidery threads and kits with specialty threads for certain blocks.  Let me just tell you that it was extensive!  I've never invested this much into a quilt before......and hope not to have to in the future either.....lol.

Here is a close up of the first block.  Do you see the intense amount of embroidery on the wool appliqué?  Tons of knots on the berries and fancy stitches on the bird.  Many that I've never done before.

Come Sunday, the next day, I had the black on white cotton shapes all attached to the background.  The rick rack was also attached and I was just getting started on the wool appliqué.

By April 13/2024, all of the wool applique and cotton overlay were finished.  Yeah!!  I had it all done and ready to go to class on the 3rd Saturday of April.  If you compare my block here with the completed one above, you'll see how much of a drastic difference there is, when it gets completely finished.

We were instructed in the first class to have some extra wool on hand to learn and practice all the various stitches.  These are the wool practice blocks I made for all the fancy stitches.  I am going to use them like a sampler, for the various stitches.  I made one practice block per bird block.

In the end, I didn't make it to the class again.  That is when my life became an upheaval.  I have since though, met up with Sharon at Creek Bank Sewing Centre, when they were having a customer quilt show, from all the classes that were taken at the store.  

It was so nice to see her again.  She mentioned that if I needed anything to move forward with the quilt, she would be there for me.  I thought that was nice of her.  She also said that they have meetings every Thursday, for people who may want to come to do some sewing or get help with various stages, and that I was more then welcome to attend.

I may take her up on it at some point, but for now, I am concentrating on dwindling my Works in Progress list first, before I get into Of a Feather.  I may even attempt to do all the appliqué parts first, as I am pretty verse in doing that part, and then seek her help with the fancy stitches.  I also have Sue Spargo's embroidery book of stitches, that I can check out, to try on my own too.

Take care everyone.  This year I challenge you to try a new technique!  Whatever hits your fancy.