All ready....

I have my work done, dog has been walked(and me too) and now I am settling in for a day of sewing. Well just as soon as I get this blog post written and shared!

pebbles

There is apparently a storm brewing in southern Ontario and it is headed our way. So I am prepping by having lots of hand work to do in case we lose power( anything is possible).

layout I didn't like

My time with my friend's Juki machine is coming to an end. It has been a productive couple of weeks. Three quilts of valor, one quilt for youth mental health ward at our local hospital and three quilts for myself. It is amazing what you can get done when the machine is working correctly and can do the job. Also working on a deadline, I do have to return the machine to its rightful owner!! Thanks so much Bernadette for letting me borrow your machine!! :)

shells

new layout

I have been able to finish up a couple UFO in the process that have been sitting for awhile. I am especially proud of the job I did on the shell quilt. It was a mystery from a couple years ago at guild. I  chose one of the layouts(there were several to chose from) I sewed up the quilt top, and still didn't think the layout did  justice to the fabric. I finally and with much reluctance took the quilt top apart...yes the whole top!!! I designed another layout which meant I had to make a few more hst but that was okay and I am much happier with the layout now. I even decided to do some unique machine quilting on it...free motion shells and pebbles along with some walking foot work.

River Rocks

This red quilt is called River Rocks by Carla Alexiuk. She taught this quilt at a workshop at guild two years ago. She is a friend and we were part of the same guild(in the last town I lived in) some 12 years ago....we must have been young young girls when we first met!!! I am going to be binding it today. I have just enough fabric to do a two colour binding...red on the back(to brighten up that swirly black) and black on the front. Love doing the two colour binding...adds many options to completing your quilt.

binding for River Rocks

A girl can't quilt all day...she needs some down time too so that is when I knit. It is relaxing and look at the wonderful gifts it produces. When asked about payment for rental of the sewing machine from my friend Bernadette, she said she would love some home made knitted socks. I have done one pair and the red ones are the second pair. The blue pair in the photo are for me!!






Now if time allows, I will finally get to sewing up the 1st clue in Bonnie Hunter's mystery. I finally decided on fabrics. My plan was to use one fabric for each colour...which was good till I tried to find light teal in my stash...it will have to be several fabrics as will the white background I am using. I also switched out the green for a bright yellow.  I think it fits in well...thinking sunshine on those bluebonnets!!
Slow stitching will be later today with Kathy. I have another quilt(which is a gift so no showing yet) to bind as well as the River Rocks.

Oh well coffee is done and it is time to rock and roll...well maybe it is time for Christmas music instead!!! Have a great day!
Side note...I decided to add the layout of the first shell quilt...which lead to a clean out of my computer...2 hours spent doing computer work and not sewing....arrrgggg!!!!!

Snowy slow stitching Sunday!!

Snow started on Halloween and has melted a bit but I think it is here to stay for the winter. We got 4" yesterday and more overnight. My friends think I am crazy but I love the snow, walking in it or watching it from inside!
This week DH was away hunting so I had the house to myself and all the time to sew. I have completed a doll quilt (for a fair entry), one quilt of valor, one charity quilt and I am working on finishing another quilt of valor. I think it is very appropriate considering tomorrow is Remembrance Day.

All this work couldn't have gotten done without the generosity of my friend Bernadette. She has loaned me her new Juki machine to do some machine quilting with. I kept teasing her that she should let me break it in for her. I never considered she would actually let me. I am seriously thinking of getting one of these, it has become the first and maybe only thing on my Christmas list!! I have a Husqvarna machine but it just doesn't seem to handle the bulk of seams when machine quilting. Bernadette and I have worked out a deal....I use her machine in exchange for some homemade knitted socks....DONE!!!

looks like binding

who sewed them together that way

binding sewn on

yellow plaid front/green backing

                                                                                                                                  I have a funny story for everyone. The charity quilt I was working on got to the binding stage today. I already had binding made for it(or so I thought). When I grabbed it off the pile, I soon realized that I had 2 1/2" strips but for some reason(OMG I can't remember) I sewed the strips together....lengthwise!! Did I have another plan...perhaps a pieced border??I just don't know, so I started unsewing them and cut them smaller and found another colour to go with them and match the quilt. I made a two-coloured binding for the quilt. So the binding will be scrappy to match the front of the quilt and green to go with the backing.I love making two-coloured binding. It gives you options when putting a quilt together.

I have already checked out Kathy's blog today and what she is up to. She is busy too!! I will be joining in with the slow stitching later because while the lighting is good I am in the sewing room quilting up a storm! Besides slow stitching today could be binding or maybe I should be working on those knitted socks!!

Let it snow.... let it sew...... let us sew!!!

baby quilt using leftovers

The snow that fell overnight Thursday into Friday is hanging on and more flakes  drifted to the ground overnight. I get to see all this from the window of my sewing room .I just love those first snowfalls!
Working on a baby quilt. I got all the pieces cut out and spent Friday evening sewing nine patches. I had just enough coloured animal prints to finish off the design I decided on. It was indeed a good sewing day!!! Had to look for the perfect fabric for borders. It is a good thing having a stash to dig into. Last night the top was completed so today I have to do more digging and look for a backing. This one might get finished this week.

prize winning quilt

I received great news yesterday. My applique quilt that won at our local fair in August, went onto District level and won first prize. Now it will go onto Toronto in Februrary. Very exciting, I have never had one go to Toronto!!! I also received from our local fair a trophy for the most points in needlecrafts. So nice to be recognized for something you love to do! Temporary backdrop could use some ironing!!haha

more leftovers

Now I am all about using up leftovers, that is where the baby quilt came from. I was completing "On Ringo Lake"mystery and putting fabric away. Too many nine patches were made so I decided to use them up. There was some green/teal triangles that spoke to me and wanted to be a quilt too. They will be sewn into this doll quilt that will be a new entry for this coming summer's fair!
Now being Sunday, we know that Kathy is up to some slow stitching.I will save mine for later this evening. While it is bright and somewhat sunny, I want to sew and be at the machine! Check out Kathy's blog and see what others are hand stitching on today! There is always lots of inspiration there to look at!! Come back and visit, it is going to be a busy week!!!

My Favorite Season...Quilting!

1st snowfall, hubby gets to play

Although some would say I quilt all year long and I do...in the Fall the true time for quilting begins. Hubby is away hunting and while the white stuff gave us our first taste of winter overnight, we know there is more to come.
It is also the time of year for my annual quilting retreat. That happened this past weekend. Fifteen ladies, copious amounts and types of  projects and four days to get everything done.

blocks for valor quilt

I came home further ahead 2 1/2 quilt tops, 4 blocks for BOM from guild and some work completed on some leaders and enders\(another quilt started) in between everything.
I will own up to the 1/2 quilt top....it was a Bonnie Hunter mystery from two years ago. I thought I had all the clues done and just had to finish the last one. I took the whole project to my room at retreat and tried to lay it out on the floor only to discover I hadn't made enough pieced sashings. Not a big problem, I can make more...BUT I left all the fabric at home!!!Trying to travel light didn't work out...so I did what I could and put that project away and started another. I brought lots so not a problem.

1/2 of retreat sewing room

So this week I have been working on that 1/2 quilt top to finish it up. Last night while it lay on the floor and I was trying to decide if it needed a border or not...I referred back to the instructions from Bonnie Hunter and she said her quilt spoke to her and said it didn't need a border. I have to agree and I am calling this one completed. Today I will look for backing and prep it for long arming or maybe I will quilt it myself.

Also last night while putting all the fabrics away from the finished top, I had some scraps, nine patches and triangles. So with a little designing, I came up with a small baby quilt that will use up the pieces. From scraps to oh so cute!Stay tuned for that finish, maybe this weekend!!
Have a great quilty/snowy day!!

Happy Thanksgiving

It is Sunday of a long thanksgiving weekend. The turkey is cooking away and I have time to do a quick blog post.

1st one almost done

Just when I thought I was doing so well sewing this week...I had to stop and do necessary household things! It is that time of year...fresh meat is coming to our freezer. Yesterday it was 2 farm fresh turkeys with beef and chickens coming soon! So today while cleaning turkey bones that were simmered for soup broth, I was also defrosting the deep freezers! It was perfect timing as I did one thing the other was melting away.I just had to wipe up the water and repack the freezers. Good note here, I found a pie to bake for dessert tonight while I was cleaning!!

blocks from 2015-2nd quilt to finish

So on the sewing front, I machine quilted a Quilts of Valor quilt. I just have to do the outside borders and put some binding on. That will get done later this evening as my slow stitching Sunday project with Kathy. As many know I am not a fan of machine quilting but I do have to say it doesn't look too bad. I did free motion swirls on the main body and I used a stencil and will free motion the borders following those lines.
I have a second quilt top ready for quilting. There was almost enough backing and batting left from the first quilt to use for the second one. I will just have to add some length to each. Laying out this one and pin basting it might get done tomorrow as we don't have any holiday plans. You can see more about this quilt here.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving weekend and all the leftovers for  this coming week!

Playing with Colours

hmm...look brighter in person

pattern and some pieces

This has been a week to play. I am back in my sewing room after a busy summer. I have gotten the fabric cut up and put into kits for one project that I can work on at my retreat in a couple of weeks. Aren't these colours wonderful...they are as bright as the colours that are happening outside in my neighbourhood. This is a sample for a class that I will be teaching later in 2020.

my neighbour's tree

I can hardly believe that it is October already. Moose hunting, leaves falling and retreat season. I will be leaving in a couple of weeks for a four day weekend of fun.We were going to go shopping beforehand but have decided we have enough and just need to sew it all up.

What do you take to retreat? One project to work on for the whole weekend or do you take many things so you don't get bored. I tend to take a couple projects to work on in the sewing room and some hand stitching or knitting for more quiet time in the evening...when my brain is too tired to sew!!

view of my creek

 So today I will be searching the UFO pile, looking in boxes and bags for things that could get completed or at the very least one step closer to being finished.
While I was going through some drawers I found some tree blocks that I won in a block lottery. No time like now to do something with them...they have only been sitting there for 4 years!!!!
I even found a piece of fabric to make sashing with and there was just enough. Now to sew it up into a top and add a border. I think it will be a donation to Quilts of Valor.

I plan on sewing the weekend away too. Should be able to get a few things accomplished. No time like now to get motivated!!
 Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Quilt Show wind up

Every three years there is a quilt show in North Bay. It is unique as a guild does not sponsor or put it on. It is organized by a group who happen to belong to guilds in the area and many members from the guilds help but it is its own thing!

quilting in progress a year ago

Set up was friday night and it is always amazing how a show goes up in a couple of hours. The judging which started at 5 took the longest to do.There was a judged category and a regular category. The regular category was divided into 6 groups:bed hand quilted, bed machine quilted, wallhanging hand quilted, wallhanging machine quilted,youth category and miscellaneous category. We had over 180 items entered. There was also a silent auction, vendors market and a tea room. Lots to see and do over the weekend.

started the quilting a year ago

I entered two quilts in the judged section and although I love my quilts...the judges did not.
But I do have news to share...the viewers liked one of my other quilts, enough to award it with a second in bed hand quilted. I am pretty proud of this quilt as it took a couple years to finish. The blocks were done 3 or 4 years ago and it took the intervening time to complete the embroidery and hand quilt the top.

2nd place bed quilt-hand quilt 

All profits from the quilt show, silent auction and raffle go to our local hospital for the adolescent mental health ward and to the mammography department for equipment. I will find out in a couple weeks what we gave them. I am sure it was a successful show and our donation will be great.

Now it is time to get the house cleaned up and get into the sewing room and start creating projects for the next show in three years. Seems far away but it will be here before we know it!!