Where does it go!?!

garden pretty!!

Spring antics at the birdfeeder

Time is flying by and I have no idea where it goes so quickly. "They" say as you age, time goes by faster....it can't possibly!!!
Clothes are being hung outside, the garden is almost all in and the grass needs cutting AGAIN!!! All of these things have kept me busy and away from my studio. There have been a few rainy days and of course nothing interferes with my Wednesday sewing day with the girls. So although quilts are not being completed in leaps and bounds, I am making progress.

guild finish...needs two coloured binding yet

future baby quilt

This month is the last meeting for guild and we want a big show and tell finish. We did several workshops this year and I should have at least one project finished. I do have tops completed but only one completed quilt and I machine quilted  with free motion  myself. Those that know me know that that is quite an accomplishment as my heart is with hand quilting.

proud of my free motion quilting

I have been working on a paper pieced block. I finished one and decided(due to lack of enough fabric) to tear the block apart and replace one piece to ensure I have enough of the background to make 6 blocks. 8 blocks would have been better but with paper piecing there is so  much waste and I just couldn't squeeze out those extra 2 blocks. So I will have to make do with the 6, bigger sashing and bigger borders...haha! Hopefully I will have pictures in my next post! These blocks have been my Wednesday sewing project.

 Although I haven't been linking in with my friend Kathy and her Slow Sunday stitching...I have been looking in to see what everyone is doing. She is way more proficient than I am and you learn lots too from everyone that links in with her. Check it out and see!

Well the studio is calling and so it that binding that needs sewing on. Catch up with you later! Special hello to Jeanne...(I know post more).hope you are doing well and I will see you at guild next week!!

Happy Mother's Day!

tada ...finished

A special day to honor our mother's or those who are mother-like in our lives. I visited with my daughter a couple of week's ago and celebrated. Today was just another day for me and that is okay although DH did make breakfast and BBQ supper. Letting me have time for some quilting, knitting and some laundry.

shows hand quilting

I have had a couple of finishes this week. This quilt top was done back a few weeks and I decided to do some simple hand quilting on it(4 hearts in each block) . It is now bound and ready to go to its new home. Last week, I wanted to play with 2.5" squares. I had these umbrella blocks (that were a block lottery win)sitting on my cutting table and calling out to be used somehow!?! I laid them on the floor and started adding squares around them. Very colourful!! My friend thought I was crazy and said the umbrellas were bright enough but that somehow the colourful squares complimented the umbrellas.I figured with all those colours, it was definitely more a quilt for a girl than a boy...so the backing is bees and pink polka dots.(see in the lower corner of photo)

still needs quilted-not sure how to yet

I have had to piece backings lately as I don't have 3 meter chucks of fabric to use. My stash is either 2 meters or 5 and 6 meters.I will most certainly be looking for fabric to fill this void in my stash as I travel to my favorite quilt store this week during her May inventory sale!! Sales are always a bonus.
I will be looking in on Kathy and her loyal followers and see what everyone is working on today. My slow stitching will be some knitting. Although not needle and thread, it is very slow to the point of going backwards. I have been working on this baby afghan for months. I do only work on it on Fridays during our knit group. But the pattern is a bit finicky and I think I have unknitted(is that a word?) more rows than I have actually knit. So I have found that I need complete quiet and I can accomplish more. I have one more ball of yarn to use up and it will be done.
Happy stitching with whatever kind of needle(s) and thread/yarn you are using!!!

Much needed soothing slow stitching

Being a caregiver to a parent with Alzheimer's can be trying and mind boggling. Add in water in her basement and her world and ours is upside down! But I have my sewing room to come home to and relax in and unwind!

quilt inspector Belle

Yesterday was a ME day. I had the house to myself except for the dog and she slept while I machine quilted the day away. I then decided I needed wanted to add some hand quilting. The search was on for the proper template...right size but not too busy....BINGO!! simple hearts will do the trick. I will mark each block as I come to it.

tried to show the hearts

I have also finished the binding on another quilt, you can see the finished top here! And I got the binding on a third quilt that will be a gift for a friend. So it has been pretty productive week. A few hexies were completed as well while we traveled on Easter weekend to see our daughter and her boyfriend.

I will take some quiet time today to check in with my friend Kathy and see what everyone else is working on. That will be later as I have a date with friends for a tea party and some adult conversation...solving all the world's problems one china tea cup at a time!!

 We still have a bit of snow laying around in patches but hoping the warmer weather and rain will help it to disappear. Have a great week everyone and hope you all stay dry!!

Waves.....

7 challenge fabrics

This week has been all about waves. I started the week cutting out fabric for a challenge. I decided to make a single bed quilt and use the ocean waves pattern. I could use the 7 colours of batiks that I was given and muslin for the background. That way all the colours would play nice together. I have the quilt top finished and pin basted but have no idea how to machine quilt it!?! I had three days in a row of sewing this week...unheard of in recent memory!!

top ready for quilting

My second wave of the week was a wave of anxiety mixed with apprehension. I was paying bills and a transaction on my bank account appeared and was not mine or DH. We reported it and the bank is looking into it. Seems this is what the scammers/thiefs do....try a small purchase and if it goes unnoticed, they continue with larger purchases. It was a learning situation for me and I hope I can save someone else the same fate. In this time of automation and computer banking...please check your accounts and make sure you are indeed safe and nothing our the ordinary is happening with your money!

Just when we think Spring is here...we are getting another wave of snow and yucky stuff. I saw two robins today so that with the snow...in my mind Spring is here!!!

The waves will continue this week too as I have two meetings and one full day of sewing. Then Easter weekend will be on our doorstep.
I visited with Kathy and looked to see what everyone was slow stitching on today and even detoured to Rainbow scrap challenge blog. So fun visiting with everyone! Have a great week  everyone!

Feeling accomplished

BEFORE:double bed covered

Yes I'm feeling accomplish in so many ways today. Our renovations cleared a big hurdle this week...our new bathroom is finished. I cannot wait to relax in the soaker tub full of bubbles!!With that reno came a new larger hallway closet. My linens(mostly quilts) have been packed away in boxes and suitcases for a couple months. I took them all out and sorted them on our spare room bed.(can you even see the bed)!!! That is quite a pile the hubby said as he peeked into the room to find me amongst my creation!

AFTER: new closet full

I sorted them into basically four piles...keep/love,like and have used, barely used/willing to sell and of course a Christmas or seasonal pile. There was also another pile that were my antique or keepsake quilts. It all looked a mess but within an hour they were all neatly refolded and stored away in their new home.

charity quilt of Jewel box star

backing of charity quilt

I have almost finished two quilts this week.Machine quilting is not my favorite thing to do but I just needed and wanted these done and gone. The first is a Christmas present. The top was given as a gift with the promise that I would finish it later. The second one is Bonnie Hunter's  leader and ender for this year...jewel box stars. I had the half square triangles given to me by my friend Pearl so all I had to do was make the four patches.I got a bit carried away with  that and have a basket full enough to make a second quilt. I didn't have enough of anything for backing so the fat quarters that I have bought as part of a club, were used to create an awesome backing.

Today I planted seeds for the summer garden. Veggies mostly but will plant some flowers later on. It is hard to get into the planting mood with so much snow still on the ground.Although I have started to wear my running shoes outside!!haha

2nd finish of the week-Christmas present

The one last thing I would like to get started on this weekend is this challenge project. We started with 1 meter of material. At our Christmas potluck at guild whoever wanted to participate got into the circle with their batik fabric.On cue...we ripped our fabric in half and kept 1/2 and passed 1/2 to the right and then we ripped in half the piece we just received and kept 1/2 and passed 1/2.This kept going till we had a 4"x5" piece and we stopped. So I have 7 pieces of various sizes to make something with.I can add other fabric but some of these fabric must appear in the finished item.

neatly piled challenge fabric

I took the fabrics out yesterday and stared at them and moved them around, hoping something would come to me as an idea of what to make but no such luck! So if you have an idea, let me know!!
Also today I checked in with Kathy and what everyone was slow stitching on today. I will be doing the binding on the jewel box star quilt later this evening. I like to play in my sewing room during the day as the light isn't very good in the evening.

Here's hoping you are getting things done and feeling accomplished too. And if you aren't...what are you waiting for!?!?!

Finished!!

it is a bright one but cheerfully Spring

 This one was a labor...but not love, maybe like. I do love the colours and especially the fabric in the set in triangles but the pattern had a few design flaws.They were found before any cutting happened but little did I realize the flaws would follow right to the end with the set in triangles and the final trimming of the quilt.I also switched the position of four blocks different from the pattern...no one would ever know!!! But it is a finished quilt top and that is a good thing!!

Now does anyone want to buy a finished quilt top!?!?!

Argggg...what was I thinking!!

first blocks completed last October

A bad sewing day...sort of like a bad fishing day...is there such a thing?!?! Well today was a bit of a "if it could go wrong it did"!!

one of these corners is a little OFF!!!!

Have you ever started a quilt pattern knowing there was an error in the pattern. How did you feel, did you want to stop or carry on? Well I did the latter...jumped in with both feet. I knew of the error and made the necessary corrections.  BUT today I am fighting a bit of lack of sleep and little things kept happening to me. First I cut too many pieces, I had enough for 8 blocks instead of 4. Then once I started sewing them together and pressed them so seams would be butting, I found a seam that wasn't playing nice?!! One look told me why, I had sewn the block in the wrong way(see the green block above). But I persevered and got the four blocks done. Take a second look, these blocks are pieced the same but the colour placement is different. I must add that this quilt has been sitting on my cutting table since the Fall, so I decided it needed finishing. I am aiming to have it done to show at our June banquet.

one day 4 blocks-shouldn't be that hard

After all that mind-boggling sewing...I just want to sit down with some easy peasy hand sewing with my hexies. I will be checking in with Kathy and checking in to see what everyone else is doing on this slow stitching Sunday!