And the winner is.....

We had our wrap up party for the guild year last night. With just having the quilt show the other weekend, there was lots to talk about.Although they didn't have final totals...our show had 400+ visitors. The raffle we did brought in $1000 for our charity committee and $2416.20 for a local hospice that is being built(they just broke ground last Friday)

Our dinner last night was a picnic theme with salads, cold meats and ice cream for dessert.Simple and delicious and then we presented our winners from the three challenges we had this year.

My own block of the month tied for 1st

First was a block of the month. You had to make the 12 blocks and add at least 60  two coloured only nine patches. The rest of the layout design for the quilt was up to you and the bonus the quilt didn't have to be finished. We had 13 entries and they were all so different and amazing. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures to share. The winners were Nicole and myself tied for first and Nicole's friend Pearl received third place.
Next was a paint chip challenge. You picked three colours your choice and one background then we gave everyone the same pattern. The quilt for this one had to be finished.We only had 4 participants in this one...so there was a 1-4th place. My friend Mallory with batik colours took first, second went to one of my sewing students Bernadette, our friend Linda got third with her southwest colour themed quilt and I received 4th.
The last challenge was finishing UFO. We made two categories....done all by yourself and done by you and anyone else. Three winners were presented in each category. Mallory, myself and Bernadette along with my friend Susan  and two other guild members Marg and Maragret each received $20.

CQA ribbon winner

It was a great way to end the guild year!
Also we had the winner of the CQA rosette from the quilt show there with her quilt and she told us some funny stories of the making of the quilt.

It has been a busy year...with being on program and having the quilt show and trying to get everything done on time. It will be nice to sit back and relax for awhile. Don't confuse that with having nothing to do though!!

One week already!

DH helping in the kitchen

I will be one week post eye surgery tomorrow! My week has revolved around naps and eye drops. You can read about my busy week in my last post here.

this was my yesterday +3 bottles in the fridge

I have been able to do little things and DH has been really good about helping carrying the laundry to the clothesline and vacuuming the house(you have to when you have a shedding dog)! He is even learning how I do pickling as everything seems to be coming ready in the garden this week! So yesterday I made pesto from the basil in my garden, dill pickles and dilled carrots. I had more cucumbers so I made some buckets pickles which just stay in the fridge indefinitely!
This coming week is our last guild meeting. We will be awarding our prizes for all the challenges we put on this year in our program. Being on program I know some of the winners but we have a couple random draws so I will tell you more about those winners later this week.

Last night while DH was out at a fundraiser, I did an Outlander marathon on Netflix and finished the binding on my Metro Rings quilt. It is similar to double wedding ring but it is stripped pieced and cut with a curved ruler. I had taught this class last year at guild. You can read about what when we started and getting the top done and how long it has taken me to get this finished. And now I can finally take photos of the finished quilt.

Metro Rings+my sunflowers

Today I am bored with sitting still and not lifting and being a patience patient!!! I know I still have to follow the rules so my eye heals but I just want to play in my sewing room.

I have checked in with my buddy Kathy and her slow stitching day. Slow stitching for me today might be trying to finish the sock that I have been knitting.  Fine hand stitching is out of the question for me just yet.

Busy Week!

runner-up

another of my quilts

It has been a busy 7 days. Medical interview for an aging parent, quilt show this past weekend and eye surgery two days ago. Nothing like getting it all done at once.

Nicole white gloving

The quilt show in the barn was another success. We raised just over $2000 for a charity that is building a much needed hospice in our area and also with this draw we donated $1000 to our guild's charity group to continue to make quilts for those in need in our area. My best news from the weekend was one of my quilts was runner-up for the viewer's choice. No prize for that but it is great to know that scrappy quilts can still win something!

taste of the ombience of the barn

After a busy weekend working at the quilt show, I just barely caught my breath and early Monday morning into surgery I went for a cataract removal. At 54 years old, I figure I am young for this...well looking also at the others getting it done that morning you would have thought I was in the wrong place for sure! I had other surgery on my eye 11 years ago and that may have hastened the cataract growth. For now everything is great and I continue with the daily eye drops to ward off infection and inflammation.

You have to know there's a story, naughty parrot

Tuesday dawned with me wanting to do more than sit quietly or sleep and rest. So I dug out some knitting as hand sewing like hexies was out of the question just yet! I did manage to  finish the hand quilting on a quilt and today I have put the binding on it. So I will be able to stitch that down and have my last of 5 UFO ready for our year end banquet!!

I am hoping for continued good recovery and back to quilting and sewing!!

Mini Holiday

straight line quilting

DH is off to another music festival and I have chosen to stay at home with the dog and get some much needed sewing/quilting done.I came to the realization that this is the last weekend before our quilt show and I have one more top that needs to become a finished quilt before Wednesday!It isn't a large quilt so it shouldn't be a problem. I pin basted it yesterday and worked on it till it just got to warm to be wearing Machinger gloves and have the bulk of the quilt on my lap. So I switched over to hexies. I am hoping I can finish it today and get the binding on it.

Funny story to this quilt. As I was quilting away on it yesterday, I noticed a box of fabric(ufo) next to me and there at the bottom of the box was some fabric that I bought for the backing of this quilt....oops....oh well guess it will go into the stash for another quilt!! haha

welcome to cottagesfest

I have a great finish that I can now share as it has been gifted. My friend Stephanie came to me with  an idea. She has a friend who organizes a camp fest each year for the neighbouring kids on their lake. She has all sorts of things planned and ready for them when they show up on this one weekend. She also made a large banner and the kids sign it or doodle on it each year. She has not been able to do this for the last few years do to health issues. Stephanie and another friend Karen found the banner and wondered what they could do with it so their friend Tracy would have a keepsake. They checked with me and their idea was given merit. I had a three week deadline and instructions to use blue and think cottage but not country. The banner was 42x120 inches....I trimmed it down a bit, added borders and found a great flannel backing for it. I did simple loop de loops fmq and finished it with matching binding to the outside border. The quilt was delivered to Tracy this week and I am told it was a success. Tracy loved it and even cried.I only have pics of the finished quilt and I will share other pics when I receive them from Stephanie!

my version of Bonnie Hunter's leader and ender

With four full days to myself, I have also been playing at my other sewing machine. I took time out to make curtains for our newly renovated trailer and I sewed up one block for the leader and ender challenge for this year. I am working in green! This photo doesn't do it justice though it is much brighter, it looks very washed out here. I have enough hst given to me from a friend's leftovers so it won't be a big quilt but might be perfect for a baby quilt for one of the many little ones that are coming along in the next year or so!!!

Although I am not slow stitching most of the day, I will still join Kathy and see what everyone is up to today in the land of needle and thread. Hopefully I will be stitching binding by the evening!!!