Day of rest.....

blocks for paint chip challenge

said no quilter EVER this close to Christmas!!!It has been a crazy busy week, two guild meetings, trip out of town for one day and scheduled doctor appointment with my mother. I sure could use just a day to sew. Hmmm...but there is laundry and floors that need a little tending to first.

Today I will be working on my paint chip challenge for guild. We were to chose three paint chips and use them to pick our fabrics. We were allowed to have a fourth colour for our background. Although it is winter I went with a Spring theme....thinking of daffodils and crocus with bright blue skies!

blocks waiting to be made

They start with 3" finished nine patches and then 2" logs all around.

fabric for On Ringo Lake Mystery

So if I get these done today I can start on my Bonnie Hunter mystery. I should be well practiced as the first clue is to make 3" finished nine patches...haha!!!I will be doing nine patches in my sleep soon!

 I will also be joining my friend Kathy for some slow stitching later today. Although I am not knitting like she is trying to do(keep at it Kathy, practice practice practice)...there are some slow stitches that I need  to complete!
Have a great Sunday everyone!

Guild day

Yes it was guild day today and I did a presentation on squaring up blocks. It went quite smoothly unlike the start of the day. We ladies were all ready to start our meeting but were unable to get into the building...no keys!!!

Swoon blocks

After a few phone calls and talking to the superintendent of the building, we were able to get a tenant who lives in the adjacent apartment building to open our hall for us.(the hall and apartment building are joined) Thankfully the rest of the day went much better.

I have finished these two quilts too. They will be donated to the Children's Mental Health Center at my local hospital. I made these quilts in memory of a friend who passed away recently. I believe that she would have loved them being donated there.

Metro hoops

Tomorrow I am playing chauffeur for a friend and we are going shopping to one of my favorite quilt stores and lunch!! Sounds like a fun day...I only hope the weather co-operates!!

The snow has arrived!!

coffee looking outside

The last two days we have had snow and now my neighbourhood looks like a winter wonderland.So that also means back to the routine of shoveling everyone out and then I can sew. Only problem is once I sit down after being out in the fresh air....I just want to fall asleep!!!Oh well an afternoon nap is a good thing!!

slow stitching with Kathy today

So this is my view from my sewing room window today. My favourite coffee mug and working on some binding. That is my slow stitching for this sunday along with some embroidery that I will do later this evening.


I have been working on my tumblers, trying to get them to a point where I can use them for leader/enders for another project  that I have to start as part of another guild challenge. These tumblers are my nemesis these days. I precut a lot of the pieces over 1 1/2 years ago. It seems that with the design I have created, I am going to have enough pieces to make a second quilt!!! OH boy!!

tumblers coming closer to a design

fabrics for the mystery quilt

And like I don't have enough projects on the go....this week Bonnie Hunter will start her annual mystery quilt...On Ringo Lake! I have my colours all picked out. I am staying with her colours as I had lots of batiks in those teals and corals...add in my favorite chocolate brown and I am set to go.

It is a busy week ahead two guild meetings and a shopping trip with a friend and another friend coming to visit for one of those guild meetings. By Friday(release date for the mystery) I will be ready for some sewing.
Have a great week everyone!

Snowy Sunday

my back door

We woke to a winterery wonderland. We had snow on Friday but more fell this morning and the grass is covered and the shovels are out!

four patch

I am excited today because I just finished this quilt top. I have been working on it for two years. The four patch centers were the start of a leaders and enders projects I started in 2015. The retreat I was at in October had me finishing the patches and getting them into columns. I dragged my feet for a couple of weeks trying to decide what colour to use to separate the columns. One chat with my quilting buddy Mallory and red was the winner. A little deep stash diving one evening and I found the perfect piece of fabric. This is a big one 90x97. It is definitely going out to be quilted, I am not attempting this one!

3 from class, one I already made

Belle's new bed

tumblers,starting to join them together

I finished the three bags I started for my class the other weekend and my dog Belle has a new bed.Today I am trying to figure out a pattern so I can complete my tumbler quilt. It was a Bonnie Hunter leader and ender from a couple of years ago.Tomorrow I have a UFO day at our guild and this will be the project I am going to work on. Bonnieholics are joining together to send prayers and thoughts to her on the passing of her father in law. May he rest in peace.

It has been a very productive hunting season in the sewing room but now it is my daughter and my turn to try our hand at deer hunting. She is home for a week...so I get to visit and spoil her for a week. We might even get in some Christmas shopping one day!

It is going to be a busy week as my local little quilt store is having a sale too. I am hoping to find more fabric to add to my pile for Bonnie's Quiltville mystery-On Ringo Lake that will be starting later this month.
So many things to do and there just doesn't seem to be enough time to get it all done. All this and joining Kathy for some slow stitching this week. She wanted to know about lighting while we are working/quilting. I have the same Ikea light as she does and two different Ott lights. I even have found a LED light bulb for my sewing machine. What a difference that made when I put it in. I use whatever light helps with the current project I am working on.
Have a great week ahead and come back for a visit to see how much I got done at the workshop tomorrow.

Workshop and teaching

my pillowcases

Yet another workshop at our guild. Our guild only meets once a month but we make up for that with all our workshops throughout the rest of the month. Yesterday three teachers taught 4 projects. On the agenda were pillowcases, a tote bag, iron caddy and a jewellery travel case.I was teaching the tote and in between group sessions, I was able to get three pillowcases sewn. It was a very productive day for everyone in attendance.

three students and their totes

Kathy(standing)our trooper of the day!

Just as a reminder to us all, one of the members showed up today with a cut finger. She had done an oops the night before with her cutter. But with a little nursing from my fellow teacher, she was undaunted and joined in on the workshops yesterday. Way to go  Kathy, hope your finger is doing better!

Today I am game to go! I was very tired after my busy day yesterday and just manage a bit of embroidery last night. So this morning....I will finish my totes that were my steps for teaching the class. I have three of them at various stages of completion. After that I have a dog bed to finish and a quilt to machine quilt.
That should fill my day fairly well and because the lighting isn't so great in my sewing room since I took over the living room, I will spend the evening working on my hand stitching/embroidery. I will also be linking up with my friend Kathy and her slow stitching Sunday back to basic with a needle and thread...no machines!!

Have a great Sunday everyone!

Where did that week go?!!

cross hatched and binding on

I keep trying to be a better blogger and then a whole week goes by! I have been doing lots of things but I don't seem  to get anything finished.Well I did quilt my table runner which was a class I taught a couple of weeks ago. It will be ready for the holiday season to put on my coffee table in the family room.

180 mini churn dash blocks

dog bed cover to be

Then began the long road of half done things. I finally finished sewing 180 - 3 1/2" churn dash blocks for an upcoming class I will be teaching. They can rest for awhile.This is code for... I haven't chosen a colour to be the alternate square that goes with them.
 Moving on I also cut out the pieces for a simple small quilt which will become the top of a dog bed. Yes a dog bed!! It will match the quilt I have already made for our dog Belle.

4 patch onto the next step

I have squared and trimmed the panels of four patches that I have been making for 2 years. I thought I had chosen the other fabrics for the quilt but yesterday I had my mind changed again. I went deep stash diving last night and came up with this burgundy colour. I think this is going to look great.Do you ever keep putting off a decision like fabric choice? I have come to realize that if you are putting it off....it means that you haven't found the right fabric yet!!

one bag done, 3 to finish

Lastly I worked the other day on step outs for a bag I will be teaching this weekend. It is a simple one but does require a few steps to finish. I have three in various stages and I hope to get them all finished this weekend after class is over. There are three other small projects being taught on the same day.

On top of all this Bonnie Hunter has released her colour choices for this year's up coming mystery quilt.I am so doing this one. I have been collecting beach, sunset, and water batiks for awhile now with no particular plan for them. So now I am finally going to use them. I may have to search out some brown batiks to go with all the others but that won't be so bad! Besides there is a sale at my LQS in s couple of weeks...good timing!

I once again have another week of quilting/sewing ahead of me as hubby heads out hunting again. Hopefully by the end of the week I will have more finished things to show for my efforts!
Happy sewing!