Relaxing Sunday and slow stitching

I am joining Kathy for some last minute slow stitching. Yes these are Christmas presents but they were not planned. I found some time to sew in the last couple of days and was able  to get these done....well almost done!

quilt from scraps and stash

The other day I just wanted to sew. I grabbed the first thing on my table and it was a baggie with some blocks and some themed fabric. I started designing...what I love best, a quilt from scratch with no pattern. I was sewing on the fly, making it up as I went along. I went in search of more fabric and to my surprise I found some of the exact same fabric in my stash.You know it is going to be a good sewing day when that happens. This quilt is all made of flannel except for the little red squares...they are regular cotton.This will be gifted unfinished and completed at a later date. I just don't have that amount of time.

love how these turn out every time

 I also decided I didn't have a Christmas themed center piece for a table so out came the 60 degree ruler and some border print fabric. I have used this print before to make a table runner and now I can say it also made two hexagon center pieces. I am working on putting the binding on them this afternoon and will be hand stitching them in place after that.

 I would like to send a message out to a loyal reader (she says I don't blog enough), Jeanne. Thinking of you and sending a big hug your way.

And to all my other readers,with all the family and friends around during the holidays, here's hoping you are able to fit in a little sewing time somewhere!!Enjoy the holidays!!

Greetings of the Season to Everyone

I almost feel like I should reintroduce myself, it has been over one month since I have blogged anything. YIKES!! Well let me explain a bit...DISCLAIMER we are a hunting family..Hunting season is the short period of time between quilting season and the Christmas holidays. It takes up a bit of our time in this household. It was a successful year for us and the freezer is full. DH got a beautiful deer that he is getting mounted to hang in our family room. This is also the year that he is no longer on local municipal council.So we have started our long awaited renovations. One room is done and 4.5 rooms to go. Half a room is my kitchen that just needs a few things including a new counter top.
This week I have completed my shopping and all my baking for the holidays. So I have time to breathe and catch up with you all. The sewing room has been long neglected. |I was doing so well in the Fall but that came to a complete stop.

scrap quilt for some deserving child(not the dog)

I had an order for a stocking and quilt for a new grandbaby for a friend of mine.Pictures will have to wait till after Christmas. After that I just wanted to do some patchwork. I picked up a baggie full of partially finished blocks. So I took on the challenge and in a week got the top done and quilted. I had just enough fabric for binding and had to skimp a bit on the size. Should have known better because while I was hand sewing the binding to the back of the quilt, I found a few spots where the seam allowance wasn't good enough. So now I have to take it apart and try again!! grrrrrr! When it is finished it will be going to the Children's Mental Health ward at our local hospital. I have give several quilts to this organization.

I have been knitting  Christmas presents too. So today is just for me. Cleaning and tidying up the sewing room, I might even get to sewing!

It is a busy time so I am sending my wishes to you now for a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  Enjoy your time with family and friends!

Another week ahead

Sunday is the start of a new week and when it starts with an extra hour....all the better. We turned our clocks back one hour last night before going to bed and today I am up early and ready to go. Now I just need it to brighten up a bit as I just don't have enough lighting in my studio to do much.
I have been a busy this week. The commission quilt I was making is done, it just needs a label. Sorry I can't show pics as yet. There will be a blog post about it in the near future.
I have moved onto a quilt of valor that has been waiting patiently for me. Mostly because I have to machine quilt it and I don't like FMQ. So trying to make it look pretty with straight lines and of course I will add some hand quilting. With some help from my DH, we came up with an idea and it makes the leaves look real and best part...continuous quilting with only minimal stops and starts!

quilt of valor that I am offered to quilt and bind

The week ahead looks like sewing and quilting with a slight chance of housework. Hmmm maybe I can get that done today and not have to worry about it for the week. I will have a very sad dog on my hands too. She hurt her leg last week and won't be able to go to the bush hunting. I also have a couple of sewing days with friends to look forward to. So I should have lots to blog about this week.

Today, because I am up so early, I have already checked in with Kathy and what she is up to on slow stitching Sunday. She must be an early riser too....wink wink. Got to love technology!!!"
I also want to just create and sew this week. I have a couple projects that I would like to attempt. Dare I start something new......! Can you really have too many projects on the go!? What do you think Kathy...do I have a bad case of "startitis"???

Enjoy your week...I know I am going to!!

Sewwww busy!!

At the start of the week, I promised many blog posts...well?! That didn't happen but sewing did happen and I was so busy completing things that I was on a roll and didn't want to take away from the sewing to do computer work. And it is work for me sometimes!

Add caption

My week started with these visitors to our backyard...porcupines and there were two of them...hope they leave and never return!!!
So today I will catch you all up on what I have been up to. So I got the binding on two large quilts that my friend Susan long armed for me.You can read more about them here. I completed the Christmas runner for my sister in law and I also finished that Christmas stocking(more pictures on that later after it has been gifted).
This week I worked on this brown x's and o's quilt. I machine quilted it and did some hand quilting as well. It just needs the binding finished.
Another quilt that I worked on was a new pattern that is coming out soon. My friend Carla from Quilting by the River asked me to look over the pattern and try to put a block together. I couldn't see doing just one block so I decided to make this quilt with some scraps I had. I ran out of the one floral and added another one part way through...hardly noticeable! I did some machine quilting on it and have decided to also do some hand quilting on it. That is left to do and the binding of course.

going to look cute

I have also prepared the borders for another quilt top. I have sewn the borders altogether and will be cutting them and doing mitered corners. So that will wait for another day. Today I am continuing to work on something I started yesterday. A commissioned piece for a friend. I will show a bit but no finished pics till it is gifted. It is fussy cutting using steam a seam. I will also being doing some embroidery and machine stitching to make the characters on the quilt come to life. Well that is what I am hoping for anyways. And while I was stash-diving....I found the perfect piece of fabric for the backing...although not quite enough I will put borders on the top and bottom and it will be perfect.

messy cutting table

There will be slow stitching today as I attempt to sew down all the steam a seam pieces. So I will be joining Kathy and doing some slow Sunday stitching today. This is what it looks like out my window so it is the perfect day for sewing and working in my studio!

Weekend done....week ahead to sew!

Bonnie Hunter's Jamestown Landing

If everything was at hand and all I had to do was sew, it would be so easy. But it seems that every time I need something or start a new project...it is 20-30 minutes of searching for a pattern, book or just the right coloured fabric. Only good thing about it, is my storage area of such things is in the basement and my studio is on the main floor of the house...so I get in a few more steps each time.

looks perfect on the lawn with leaves

So I have made and put the binding on one large quilt. Jamestown Landing and it is almost sewn to the back by hand. I have also made and sewn binding to another quilt.I finished this top over 12 years ago. About time it was finished.A friend challenged me to make it while she was making one for herself. I got the top done quickly but didn't want to hand quilt it and didn't want to incur the expense of long arm quilting it until now. My friend Susan did the long arming for me. That will be the next binding to get finished.

start of a stocking

Yesterday with many steps to the basement, I started this Christmas project, a stocking. It will be very cute when it is finished but it is a surprise so...shhhh!!!! This is all you get to see for now.

This is also voting day locally. It means big changes for our household as my hubby has been the deputy mayor for the last 4 years and will be replaced tonight after all the votes are counted. I cannot say I will be sad to see the end of those days...meetings and time away from home. Getting my "honey do list" updated and ready as he will have more time now!!

More sewing to come this week...feeling ambitious and hoping for good sewing days! Might start a new Christmas quilt along over at Temecula Quilt company-Secret Santa Sew Along. Anyone else want to take the plunge with me and my friend Kathy!!?

Hunting Season means Quilting!

Yes it has begun!! But that means sewing season for me. I have been on the road a lot lately. In my last post I was in Guelph for their guild's quilt show. You can check that out here! Then it was thanksgiving weekend. With no rest, I had to start packing for my annual quilting retreat.  Thursday afternoon to Sunday afternoon, no cooking or cleaning just sewing, quilting and lots of chatting!
I took many projects with me and worked on all but one of them. Did I get anything finished...nope!But with a good start to many, this week I have good intentions of finishing a few of them and starting a couple more!

In the midst of all this my friend Susan long armed a couple quilts for me and returned them to me, so they will need binding too.It will be great to get them finished. One is Jamestown Landing by Bonnie Hunter and the other one is a log cabin style quilt I sewed up over 12 years ago. A friend challenged me to make it with her. Hmmm....wonder if she ever got it finished?

I hope you will check back and see how my progress is. It is late evening here and I am finishing this up so I can go watch Bonnie Hunter's quilt cam. I will be doing some binding and hexies as I watch.
I will post pics tomorrow when the lighting in my sewing room is better.

Looking forward to the weekend, hope you are too and happy quilting!!

Thanksgiving Weekend

poppies hand quilted

great machine quilting

For me this is the official end of the summer. With everything changing colour to shades of oranges and yellow...you know the snow isn't far off!

more beautiful hand quilting

This also is the time of year that a few quilt shows happen. I recently attended the Guelph guild's quilt show with my friend Louise and her sister Barb(who is a member of the guild) and was amazed. So many beautiful quilts...and lots of them were hand quilted and not just lightly but with dense patterns. Hand quilting is my first love when it comes to quilts. But that technique has been lost over the years with machine quilting and long arm quilting. It was nice to see such a resurgence in this part of quilting.I am hoping more quilters discover its pleasure and relaxing quality.

embroidered twins mini

my fav mini win

Also at the show you could buy tickets on mini quilts that the members had made. I was lucky enough to win several of them. And although they were small, some of them really packed a punch and the workmanship was wonderful. Thank you ladies for all your hard work!!!

happy mini

October is also the time of year I get ready for my annual quilting retreat. We are headed north of me to Temagami. We were there last year . Today I tried to decide what to take but this cold I have just wanted me to nap instead. So tomorrow is the day I have to get my things together and plan what I am going to do. Although I don't leave till Thursday, I have a few other obligations this week so better now!
Do you go on retreat or travel with your quilting? How do you decide what to take or what you want to do? Do you like to only take one thing and work on it till it is finished or do you like variety and the ability to work on many projects so as to not get bored? I think I am the latter. I have many projects on the go right now and could get them all one step further along in the process. But then I think if I took only two or three, maybe I could get them completely finished!!!Oh dear what am I to do! Which mood will I be in and do I take two machines? It is hard being a quilter!!!
Tonight my dear daughter and her boyfriend have headed back home and DH is out playing music so it is just me and the dog and some slow stitching and a movie. I am checking in with my buddy Kathy to see what she is up to. I missed seeing her at the quilt show I attended which was unfortunate maybe we will see each other the next time I am down that way!
So this is going a little long. I haven't been a good blogger but I promise to try to do better. With summer behind me...I will have more time now...who am I kidding!!!

Finding my Groove

looking south east with the reflection of the sunset

After such a beautiful summer, I have been finding it hard to get back into the groove of sewing and quilting. Although my hexie project has been on going, I have been doing a lot of knitting over the past few months. We spent one last weekend camping and we had beautiful weather. This was our view over the lake one evening at sunset.
Now that guild has started and a few friends and myself have started getting together every second week to sew, my interest is slowly picking up speed!

some old favs, some new recipes

The garden is almost depleted of its contents and the pickle cupboard is full again! With that hunting season is upon us and that means free days but evenings in the tree house(most say tree stand)but really DH outdid himself on this one!

my blocks for Sara Joe

The month of September as I said in a previous post, is the start of quilting season and that is so true this week. I attended our first guild meeting and presented the upcoming program for the year. Included in that program is this quilt that a friend and I will be teaching over a couple of months. It goes by another name but we are calling it "Sara Joe". It will use up a lot of scraps and has so many options for types and colours of fabrics that you could use. It will be exciting to see what the members come up with.
I have also put together this quilt top and basted it. Unfortunately that is as far as I got. It is patently waiting for me to start quilting it.
I am headed to a friend's house for a visit and a weekend of quilting/sewing/chatting! The next weekend is a quilt show in Guelph and two weeks after that my annual retreat in Northern Ontario. See I said it was quilting season.....hope you are all finding you way to your sewing rooms and having fun!

charity quilt just waiting to be quilted

Long Weekend

waiting for fishes to come

This is a short and sweet post. I have to get moving as we are headed out to our trailer for the day. We bought a newer trailer and are trying to get some use of it before the summer is gone. We are having a family BBQ today and camping out at my sister in law's cottage.

The cottage is on a Hydro control dam but it just looks like a small lake. It is where I love to enjoy the peace and quiet and stitch away the hours. The other night I was knitting but today I will be slow stitching on my hexies. Of course while stitching, my fishing pole is close by and so is our dog Belle. She sits and watches the bobbers and just waits for us to catch a fish. I must say DH took these pics as I forgot my camera in the trailer. The sunrise pic was taken way before I ever saw daylight.

This is my last week of drops for my eye after having cataract surgery. So I haven't been sewing much and hope to get back into the swing of that next week!

Enjoy the official last weekend of summer although I am hoping that summery weather will continue for a few more weeks yet!!

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!!!

Slow stitching Sunday

working on the outer borders

I am taking a day to relax and get caught up on my hand quilting. I have moved from the center using the wooden hoop to doing the border with this square hoop. During this past week, it was one thing or another that kept me from stitching. I had to spend one day outside tending to the gardens. I have a few large jobs to get done in the coming weeks. I have to have eye surgery mid August and will be laid up for a few days(I hope only a few days). Being in my mid fifties, it was surprising to find out I have a cataract that needs to be removed. I will be using drops for at least a month afterwards but hope that I can get back to sewing soon after the surgery.

on deck-to finish for quilt show

I have one quilt top that needs to get finished for our quilt show in two weeks. I laid it out today to look at, as I have had trouble deciding how to quilt it.After having it spread out for the afternoon,  I think I will be machine quilting it with just straight lines with the walking foot. Keep it simple and get it done. More to come on that one in another post.

it has been a hot &dry summer

There is still a fire burning 1.5 to 2 hours west of us, among other places in Ontario. We are getting residual smoke when the wind is right. The other day it was bad enough I had to shut the house windows to keep the smell out. I don't know how those fire fighters do it....day in and day out!Kudos to them for the job that they are doing!
This pic I copied from facebook.

The garden is starting to produce. These are jars of homemade pesto. I will freeze them and they will be yummy addition to pasta this winter. I have also pickled some dill green beans with more to come I hope!

fresh pesto

Enjoy whatever you are up to today. Join Kathy and get in some hand work and check out her blog and see what everyone is up to also.

Heat wave and fires!

As I write this the smell of smoke is in the air around me. Strong enough smell that I have to close the windows. We have large forest fires burning 1 hour south of us and an hour and half south west of us. The fire fighters have got control of one 1.5 hour north of us too. This summer is crazy dry. We have had rain but just not enough and when it rains, there is usually lightening and more fires start!!!

On a quilty/sewing note. I have been doing lots as it is too hot outside to do anything! A friend asked if I could finish a top into a quilt. Well it was a banner 42"x 120". It will be an odd sized quilt but it is done. I will show pictures after I know it has been delivered to the recipient.

hand quilting is coming along

I have also been slowly working on my hand quilting. It is coming along and working in a hoop on a table on these hot days is the only way to go. Once all the inner blocks are done, I just have to do the border and binding. It will be my last of five finished UFOs that I have finished this year for a guild challenge. This is what I will be working on today and joining my friend Kathy for some slow relaxing stitching today

leaders and enders ready to go

With the little bit of actual sewing on the machine that I have been doing, I have started Bonnie Hunter's leader and ender challenge for this year. I have hst triangles from another project that someone gave me so I am using them and adding the four patches. So this basket is all the neutrals and green to make four patches. They sit beside my machine and I can sew them up when needed.

Kathy this one is for you!

I was doing a practice piece of machine quilting this week. This picture is just for Kathy! When we had Piranha weekend, she was machine quilting and quilted a fold in her backing fabric. We giggled and snickered at her. Now it is my turn. This was just a mini quilt but once I was finished I flipped it over only to discover this little mess. Nothing else to do but get ripping and re-sewing!! I can hear you giggling Kathy!!! :)

 Have a great week ahead. I am off for another appointment at the eye doctor. Seems I have developed a cataract and need it gone. Tomorrow I go to set the date for the surgery. Wish me luck!!

ME Weekend!

no walking foot...quilting not bad

Yes it has been a quiet, no work only sewing weekend! DH has been gone since Thursday to a music festival and I am home with the dog. It has been three days of sewing. I have been  machine quilting this quilt and now I can finally get to the hand quilting. I thought it would be quicker to do the machine quilting...but THREE days. That was after I spent an afternoon quilting on my big machine only to have an issue and have to rip all the stitching out again. I don't have a lot of faith in my big machine at the moment. It will be going to the doctors shortly to see if we can find an answer to my problem.It is a tension issue that leaves little bird nests on the back of my quilt when I sew over a bulky area. SO I machine quilted this quilt on my 301A with no walking foot.It worked out very well except on the full straight lines...there is a bit fullness and some rippling but not too bad.

ready set .....get quilting

The weather has cooled a bit to 23-25 degrees Celcius during the day. Much better weather for hand quilting since I am using a hoop. I like my squarish wooden hoop for most of the work but this plastic one is great for doing borders(which will be necessary for this quilt). So today slow stitching Sunday with my buddy Kathy will be all about hand quilting. I am most excited to start on that.

Also today a friend is dropping by with a quilting job for me. She has a large banner made from cloth 4'x9' and she wants a border put on it and it made into a quilt. And I have 3 weeks to accomplish it. Stay tuned there will be more on this in a future post.

during the chase

after the chase

A little funny for today. This is Belle and she has a love/hate relationship with squirrels and chipmunks. She loves to chase them and hates when they are faster than she is(which is most of the time). She managed to chase one under the van and she is not so patiently waiting for it to come out again. In the process is getting cover with undercoating from the van! Oh Belle, it is a good thing that you are cute!!