Last November Sunday!

a little free-motion quilting

It has been a busy week indeed and today is no exception. I did groceries and some other shopping so that tomorrow I can do Christmas shopping alone without having to stop for groceries.  But also this  week I hosted my knitting group on Wednesday where we quilted, sewed and even knitted. We had a delicious pot luck supper and then we all headed out to a guild meeting(we just happen to all belong to the same guild too).

all walking foot quilting even circles

my colour choices

I have finished two quilts this week. Both are the Chic Sister pattern with the curved ruler from Sew Kind of Wonderful.






I also completed the first clue of Bonnie Hunter's mystery which started on Friday. Boy that was a lot of 4 patches. We are also doing a mystery at guild so that clue was completed as well. Just tying up loose ends in the sewing room. I am responsible for giving the pattern for the next few BOM at guild so I have to get them done. It is hard enough to do Christmas in July but I have to do a block in December for Easter!!! yikes!!
I am going to try to keep the Christmas sewing load light this year. Maybe a little knitting is all I will have to do.

This is what is next on my table. I received this fabric from a mysterious donor(who was at our potluck and won't say who she is). I found soome in my boot at the door and some was tucked in a closet. I wonder if there is more somewhere else in the house? I think there is enough with the other fabric I have added, to make two charity quilts. I think a couple of young girls will love them.
After supper I think it will be a slow stitching evening. I have checked in with Kathy's blog already today and will be back to see what everyone else is up to. She is talking needles and pins today. I don't have a favourite, I just use which ever one will get the job done and that I can see to thread the eye on!!
Hope everyone has a great week!

Keeping sane......

one of the Chic Sister quilts

How do you keep sane? Well there is no end to the ways a person finds sanity or relaxation. Me it is sewing and quilting. This week I will cover all the bases in how sewing helps me out from doing it for myself to teaching to enjoying a few moments of fun with my daughter. It is all here today with pictures too!!

Metro Hoops

Our guild(where I am on the program committee) has been working with the It's Sew Wonderful curved ruler. We have had two workshops so far with one more to come. I taught one class the Chic Sisters with spinning flower-looking blocks which I did with 1930's fabric. I decided I didn't want one large quilt so I have with some ingenuity created two quilts that will become Project Linus blankets some day! I have also taken a class that my friend Mallory was the teacher(she is on program with me).She taught the Metro Hoops. I wasn't keen on the round looking hoops so I gave the blocks a quarter turn and SURPRISE!! magic happened. You wouldn't even know it was the same quilt. I have fallen in love with this one, so I might be keeping it for me.

With Christmas coming quickly, I have decided to get all my "have to do" projects out of the way so I can relax and enjoy the season and the shopping I have to do. My friend asked me to make her grandson a stocking. It has become a tradition of sorts...I have made them for her other two grandkids. I think Winston will love Rudolph!!

pinning and cutting

working together

learning what a ripper is for!

My daughter was home on holidays for a week.  She was here to do some deer hunting but had some down time too. On the last evening she decided she would like Christmasy pillow covers for her living room and bedroom throw cushions. So after supper we started and in 2 hours with a simple pattern, we finished them. Six pillow covers in different colours and patterns for her to take home. It was fun for me because we don't normally do sewing things together. She ironed and I cut and sewed. Have to say I sewed one with the wrong side of the fabric out...so she also got to use the ripper too. Let's just say she was not too impressed!!! In all the hurry to get them finished to watch a movie, we didn't get any pictures. Although DH took some of us during the process! Some faces have been hidden to protect the innocent. And this all started because I showed her two pillowcases that I made for charity for another guild I belong to.

charity pillowcases in need of ironing

 So with all this going on today I am trying to slow the pace down a bit. I want to have some instant satisfaction so I will be putting together some blocks for some up-coming block lotteries that I am in charge of. They are snowmen and snowflakes...how appropriate for today as the white stuff is falling outside.
Later today into the evening as always I will pick up my needle and thread and work on the last block of my snowman wonderland quilt. I might even get it finished for this winter...I have been working on it for two winters already!! I will also check in with Kathy and see what she and everyone else is slow stitching on this week.

Here we go again!

sections to be sewn yet

Just as I finish a project, I begin another one. I was in a workshop yesterday that used the Sew Kind of Wonderful curved ruler. We did a lot of cutting and sewing. I am well on my way to a finished top but will have to do some sewing today to get it finished. I have lots of finished sections but no blocks as yet. I chose to downsize the quilt from the original pattern. I am making a lap size in the hopes that I can get it done faster and sooner!

almost finished block

This is also the start of my most favorite week of the year...opening of deer season! Now don't get me wrong, it's not that I want to see DH and the dog leave for a week and be left alone all week. BUT the plan is to get lots of sewing and quilting done this week. I have a couple of deadlines that I would like to see completed and I have some blocks of the month that need making for the coming months at the guild. Don't even get me started on how many kits or projects that are sitting in boxes and baskets waiting to be taken out and worked on, or just have their presence acknowledged!

pinwheels waiting to be sewn too

I have been working on the blocks from our first curved piecing workshop I taught a couple of weekends ago. I have made some changes and will probably end up with three smaller quilts using these blocks. I have mixed the colours to create a more pleasing pinwheel.My other blocks have the colours reversed with the white and they look kind of plain so I will have to think of some way to boast their appeal...maybe the quilting will do the trick.

 On slow stitching sunday I will be sewing at the machine till later in the day then I will join Kathy for some relaxing stitching with a needle and thread. I have taken out my embroidery once again to work on. This will be the second winter that I am working on these blocks. Why did I think I could get the project all done in one winter!!!I have made headway and have two or three blocks to go...but one is very large. They are a Crabapple Hill pattern called Winter Wonderland. Maybe this will be the winter I get to snuggle up under this finished quilt.
Have a great week and check back to see what I am getting done or at least sewing on!

Another finish!

lap quilt finished

There is another finish for me and the fifth one on my to-do list! It is a gift for my cousin's mother in law. I am sure they are all going to like it. I wanted to do some hand quilting on the embroidered parts and last week I spent 4 days at my friend's house so there was lots of sitting and quilting. I only needed one more day to finish the quilting and another day to put the binding on and stitch it down. It is very difficult to capture the colours in a photo.

My next  due date project is a Christmas stocking but that won't take too long so in the mean time I will continue sewing blocks together from my workshop the other week.You can read about it here. I also have to get some fabric cut and sewn into strip sets for this weekend's workshop. YIKES
My class was working with the Sew Kind of Wonderful curved ruler and this weekend is another class using the same ruler. We are getting our money's worth out of that ruler.

Next week is my Fall sewing week...yes DH is gone hunting for the week so that means late nights with movies and cereal for supper(not really but maybe one night)!

As a little bit of colour for the Fall, I bought a bouquet of flowers the other day. They were pretty and the lilies were closed but after a couple of days ....look at what I have!!!