Little bits of time...

Trying to fit everything in and still get in some sewing time. It is working so far. Last night I cut out the pieces for clue #4 of the mystery Frolic. I had just the right amount of wonder clips too. That was a lot of triangles....but luckily I had time to sew the hst together today. The pressing will happen....just not sure when.
Is anyone else trying to figure out the layout or is it still too soon. With 41 sets required, seems to me a strange number. Oh well time will tell!!!

one set ready only 40 more to press and trim

Along with the other Bonnie followers, I have convinced at least 3 friends in my quilting group to join me in making this mystery. We will be getting together after the new year and see what clue each is up to!!

Tomorrow is Christmas eve, how did that get here so fast. Hope you are all ready and find time for a little sewing/quilting!

Tis the season!!

yummy butter tarts

Gifts purchased and made are wrapped...check! Laundry,house cleaning and baking caught up and done...check! Groceries bought and meals planned...checked! So what is a girl to do now...sew!! Yes I have time to sit down and do Bonnie's mystery clue #4 this evening. I also have two BOM from guild to catch up on. I have been staying caught up on all these projects and don't want to fall behind now. I will  have to do  some catching up next week with all the holiday chaos!

With cleaning up the sewing room I found more tumbler blocks. It is time to be done with them. So this is a top created from the found pieces...it will be for charity once completed in the new year!

Supper is starting to smell yummy so I must cut this short. I will be sewing this evening and some slow stitching with Kathy will happen as well, it will be knitting but that is slow and relaxing at this busy time of year!

I would like to take this chance to wish all my readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Enjoy your holiday time with family and friends and be safe wherever you are travelling.

Crunch Time!!

Every year I say I will start earlier...every year I am shaking my head. The shopping is almost done but I have left the making of gifts to now!!yikes!!Actually I am only behind by two projects of knitting which is really not that bad!!
Labels are going on quilts today then those gifts will be done. One more quilt needs its binding finished then it will be time to knit!

Wouldn't you know it though, as I was finishing a quilt and putting the leftover fabrics away...I found another quilt to start. So it is sitting on a table patiently waiting for the right time for me to continue on it!! There will be more on this in the new year.

looking a little red actually more pink

I have started on Bonnie's "frolic"! Are any of my readers joining in? I know I have convinced 3 friends to join me. It took a week for me to do the four patches(a little at a time) then this week clue 2 was done in no time. So now I wait for Friday...I am sure it will be here before I know it.The box is filling up, can't wait to see what will be next!!
I will be joining in with Kathy for some slow stitching a little later. Binding is on the agenda and then picking up those knitting needles!

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!!