Sewing and stitching

flower border is quilted now into the stars

 I have spent several days of stitching and sewing this week. I got started on the blocks for my newest scrappy challenge quilt. Started with the log cabin blocks and used the nine patches as leaders. I have soooo many nine patches to make! Half way through sewing the blocks I realized I hadn't cut enough strips for the quilt. I needed to cut more strips and they were the longer ones. argggg!! This meant that I would have to add a couple more fat quarters to my pile and try to incorporate them into the quilt so they didn't look like a last minute add on! Luckily I noticed this mistake early in the sewing process.

I have also finished another pass on the hand quilting frame. I have the tender fingertips to prove it. I need to build up those callouses. So I go from frame to sewing machine when the fingers start to hurt too much.

down-sized large frame

Kathy asked today what our favourite quilting  hoop is. While I have a 10"round one and a 14" squareish one, the newest favourite of mine is this hand quilting frame. I use to hand quilt like grandma, on the huge frame that takes up a whole room. I loved being able to look at the whole quilt spread out before me, just waiting to be quilted. But these days this roll up frame is better and it can sit for months if necessary and not be in the way. It is a home made frame so the cog wheels are not finely tuned but I can work with it. The quilt top does move(floats around) so I am trying different ways of setting up the three layers. Instead of trying to guess or center the top on the backing, I start the quilt very close to the bottom edge, where I start hand quilting. That way the excess of the quilt top will float towards the opposite edge and hopefully there will be enough batting and backing when I get there. I allowed 4" all around for the backing so there should be enough. This is only the second time using this frame and during the first attempt I almost ran out of backing!!

Join in with Kathy and see what others are up to. I am trying to stay warm this morning and heading out ice fishing this afternoon! Hope that sun warms things up as it was -27Celcius this morning brrrr!!!

 

New Project!

leftovers after cutting

 I spent yesterday afternoon and late into the evening cutting out pieces for my newest quilt. A couple friends and I are doing a pattern from a magazine together. We will each have our own quilt. I was going to throw caution to the wind and go very scrappy but have now changed my mind. I sorted through my boxes of fabrics, picking out anything less than a fat quarter. I then had to go back and grab a couple fat quarters as I didn't have enough fabric. So I started out with 14 fat quarters or equivalent there of, in colours medium and dark shades. Then I had to find neutrals, beige, cream all the way to yellowish shades, 17 fat quarters of them.

pieces ready for sewing

After cutting all that I think I need, there isn't much fabric left. I sure cleared out some small pieces. Although this quilt will be sort of controlled scrappy...it will be all kinds of scrappy.

Here is a small pic of the pattern we are doing. I hope I am not infringing on any copyright! We found several mistakes in the pattern so we will correct them as we go along and we are changing the sizes anyway from the pattern.

Today is the start of the sewing...this should be fun!

And so it begins....

border with no quilt

flimsy complete

 I am going to have lots of stitching in my foreseeable future. I set up this quilt and am looking forward to working on it. I was a bit worried as I had tried something different that I had not done before. I cut the borders to fit the quilt, mitered the corners and added all the applique. I finished the applique and attached the borders to the main body of the quilt. It fit wonderfully much to my surprise. I chalk that one up to a good sewing day!

quilt on the frame

So now it is on the frame and I got a good start on it yesterday after I found a quilting needle that I liked. What size do you use? I have, through process of illimitation, found that I like #9 that are a bit long(1 1/4") they don't bend easily nor do they feel like I am using a darning needle. haha

crosshatching to the curved edges of the quilt

The frame is very rustic looking but gets the job done. I bought it from a local quilter lady who was moving and no longer quilted. Her husband made it for her. This saves me some space instead of setting up my very large frame.

After a brisk walk this morning(it was -22C or -7F)with my eyelashes frosting up, I am in my studio for the day. What will I do? I have a lining for a hat to make which needs to be mailed tomorrow then I might cut scraps or just hand quilt for the afternoon! But you know with a cup of coffee in hand, I will be checking in with Kathy and looking to see what others are slow stitching on today.

 

Words to live by

can you see the sparkles

 A few years ago we were encouraged at guild to chose a word help us through the coming year. A word to live by, work by, or just keep us going. A friend reminded me of this the other day. Carla at Quilting by the River chose "pause". Which got me to thinking...and I went back to a word I used from a previous  year..."imagine"! It fits for me...imagine all the things we can do even during a lockdown/stay at home order. Imagine the things you can create, get finished or get started, clean, give away or just trash. It is okay to just let it go. I received this Christmas card a few years ago from a friend Joan and it was so pretty I framed it and it sits in my studio to remind me each day.

machine quilted by me

My second finish of the year was completed this week. It is a twin/lap size quilt from a BOM we did at guild this past year. I created my own setting for it as I was not fond of the two layout we were given. I especially like the striped fabric that I saved to use for the binding. It will be added to the growing pile of donation/charity quilts that I have.

loving the striped binding

For the last three days I have been working on some applique. It is a lot of individual pieces so lots of starting and stopping. But I have been listening to an audio book and getting it stitched. I have to finish this border and add it to the main body of the quilt that has been pieced for months....almost a year!!! This one needs to be done!! I think I will even hand quilt it so it will go right onto the frame. I have lots of time to do it now!! 

I will have "appliqueitis" when I finish

So applique is what I will be doing for slow stitching Sunday. I will be checking in with my friend Kathy and see what everyone else is working on today. I spent the morning shoveling and using the snow blower to get rid of the 7inches of snow we got yesterday and overnight. It sure has made everything look so pretty.

I would like to take a moment to send a special hug out to two quilter friends that have lost their husbands recently. Donna and Kay, I hope with your many friends, family and your love of quilting and crafts...that you will find some solace at this time. And to a neighbour friend Patty who also lost her husband suddenly. I am thinking of you all at this time.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Happy New Year

Carla's quilt along

 Or welcome to continued lockdown and getting things finished! And that is all I have to say about that subject...so onto more fun things. A new year is a good chance to survey the studio and figure out what to do. Things that need finishing and then there are always new projects that are jumping the line and wanting to be done. I have cleaned up the studio and found a few of both!!

I followed along with my friend Carla at Quilting by the River and her quilt-along. Her blocks were 9" finished and I decided to do 4.5" finished. It made a lovely baby quilt that I can gift at a later date. Machine quilted and bound last night....woohoo first finish of 2021!! The start of the quilt along can be found here and the rest on her facebook site.

BOM from guild

Next in line is a BOM from guild. Once everything closed last Spring we continued getting the blocks via email. I was not fond of the two finishing settings so I came up with one of my own. Couldn't go too big as I only had so much backing fabric. It will make a nice charity donation quilt. It is what I will be quilting on today. Machine quilting with a little hand quilting I am thinking maybe! It doesn't photograph well but is beige, soft blues and gray.

Yesterday I worked on the blocks for the Morewood Mystery from Meadow Mist Designs. I think the reveal will be next month. It has been a good mystery to work on at a very leisurely pace. One clue per month and she announced she will be starting another mystery in June or July!

Quilting is my first love but for those down times, I love knitting and other crafts. I was asked to make a doily for DH's aunt. I have done many before but for some reason this one was a challenge for me. Guess I can stroke that off my list of things I like to do. I am just happy it lays flat and hope that it will be large enough.

One last thing to finish off 2020.....someone posted last year that they kept their empty thread spools, just to see how many they used in a year. Well I decided to play along and in 2020 this is the pile I emptied....49 various spools. That is not including spools that I used and didn't empty! Do you want to play along with me this year!!

Hopefully if the good luck quilting gnomes are with me, I will be binding by the evening! Joining in with Kathy and her followers for some slow stitching!!

Reminiscing

Isn't that what December is for, well the last few days anyways as we await the New Year!!Over at Meadow Mist Designs they are encouraging bloggers to look back over the past year and sum up their blogs. Things learned, quilts finished and anything else quilty!

So I am attempting to chime in with my own view from my studio. This is the year we finally got to redoing where I sew. It was a living room(we also have a family room). I would hand quilt on the large frame in this room and use it in the Spring when the basement(where my sewing room was) was too cold. One year I just never moved back to the basement and am loving being on the main floor where I can see outside. I have laminate flooring now so no lost pins and office chairs move way more smoothly, sometimes too fast!!You can visit my studio pics here.

With the COVID hitting in March...I was thankful for my hobbies. They kept me busy and many items got started and completed.

keeping for me

whole cloth quilt I gave away

I finished my Frolic mystery in early January and also joined in a quilt along with Edyta Sitar. That one got finished and quilted straight away. Carla over at Quilting by the River is just finishing up a quilt along. I was one of  her pattern proofer so I got a bit of a start on the quilt. I did mine half sized. So instead of 9" blocks, mine are 4.5" blocks. That one is ready to be sandwiched!

In the mess that we call lockdown, social distancing, or just staying home and staying safe, I was able to finish hand quilting two quilts. One I gave away and one that I am keeping for myself.

class I was to teach

Eydta mystery quilt

quilt for Kathy

6"wonky stars

6" log cabin

I have also been doing lots of scrap quilts. A mini log cabin was completed from the scraps that made these wonky stars. Seems there is a never-ending supply of scraps.

Time at home meant I had time to clean, purge and just simply find out what I have. Many UFOs were found and this particular one I have had for probably more than 12 years. You can read the full story here. I still have the quilt till I get to see my friend Kathy.

So to sum it up, I made 12 quilts, 2 bags and one duvet cover. Gave away 6 quilts, kept one and one quilt and one duvet to be delivered. I also started 4 quilts that aren't finished as yet. WOW this even surprised me!! I am hoping that this year will be just as productive...with being in lockdown right now for two weeks...it is a start!!My hope is to get more of the UFOs in the basement finished. Some of them have been waiting for over 12 years so it seems this is a good year to clean them out!! Good luck with all you have in mind to get started, quilted and or finished!

Quiet Christmas

 The big day has come and gone! But at my house Christmas is going to last a bit longer. My daughter was coming home on boxing day but because of the provincial lockdown it wasn't going to work. So we will get together in January or February. I told her I would leave the tree up even if I had to decorate it for Ground hog's day or Valentine's Day!! So my hubby and I will have a second Christmas then!!

As life gets back to our usual routine....yesterday I decided to tidy up my sewing studio. It was long overdue!! I still had things hanging around from guild(which has not happened since last March). I figured it would be good to clean up and see just what I have in UFOs or other things that needed tending to.

I found 2 quilts that are in parts or just blocks from guild classes, a snowflake quilt that needs to be sandwiched and quilted, small  nine patches that I have been sewing as leaders and enders and while putting things in their rightful places, I came across this small wall hanging that just needs sandwiching and finishing. I know I didn't make this wall hanging, I think I rescued it from the charity table at guild. It came with 4 pieces of binding...I just might need those two smaller pieces to finish the binding!

wall hanging to finish

Sooo...I have no reason to say I have nothing to do, I just don't know where to start!! I think I will start small and go from there. A couple friends and I are starting a nine patch/log cabin quilt. One of  the friends(Pearl) wanted a leader and ender project. I found one for her! Another friend (Mallory)has already started with the nine patches. I think we have even coerced a couple other quilters into joining us!!

It is slow stitching Sunday! Wonder what Kathy is up to? With needle and thread or maybe knitting needles I will check in and see what everyone has been up to. For those reading in Ontario...enjoy your lockdown, find something fun to do!! Everyone else hope you are safe and healthy!