Putting in time

clue 1 done, clue 2 to come

 Putting in time is sort of the theme of the week. I have run out of quilt batting so no projects will be getting completed for the foreseeable future. So what is a girl to do....well there are no lack of projects to work on! Clue one of Bonnie Hunter's mystery is done and clue 2 is almost all cut. I am working on a top that will be gifted to a friend after Christmas. Then there are the countless other quilts that I want to make, so not to worry I have lots to do. But to fill in time I pin basted a charity quilt that had all the parts I needed to complete it. One more thing to clear off my table.

 blocks to be made and added

Yesterday I went shopping, you could say the start of my Christmas shopping! Who knew that the hardware store had wool and yarn. I found some lovely sock wool and decided I think I have time to make some Christmas socks!! haha we will see about that one!

starting socks

Christmas decoration are slowly going up and it is getting a little more festive here especially with snow in the forecast. With coffee ready I will check in with Kathy and her slow stitchers  and then get to those socks with the Christmas music set to go! Enjoy your week.

outside decorated

Another week of progress

little boy quilt top

 Two weeks in a row and I have made it here again. Yea me!! I have gotten a couple tops done and one of them is basted and hopefully will get quilted today. I was working on the pieces last week, you can read about it here. The second one I had fun designing for a little boy and it will be quilted later this week. I would get more done if I stayed at home more!

The weather is changing and there is a skiff of snow on the ground. Makes one start thinking of Christmas shopping. I am trying to figure how I can only shop in my sewing room, that isn't going too well!

scraps from last weeks post

Yesterday I was going to use one of my old machines to sew some batting together but it was almost seized. So I spent the afternoon working on it, a little oil and she was purring again. Which got me to thinking maybe I should give my machines a spa day. I have an older Singer knock off and it should be in a cabinet so I don't sew with it but I did play with it as well. She has such pretty scroll work on the end.  I oiled my 301A and as I oiled it you could literally hear the difference as the oil got into the right spots. The machine ran smoother and more quiet.

knock off Singer machine

seized machine that sews nicely now

Do you care for your machines or always send them out to be serviced? Someone asked this on facebook the other day and it got me to wondering too. The older machines are so easy to clean add a bit of oil and they are good to go. The newer electronic ones are a different thing. Although you can do regular cleaning of lint on them and then maybe once every other year take it to a technician. Whatever you chose to do at least change your needle and clear out the dust bunnies. Just my personal thoughts on the matter.

Slow stitching will come later after I quilt a quilt and add the binding. But I will take a few moments and a coffee and check in with my buddy Kathy and see what her crew is working on this week.

Enjoy your day and the week ahead!

Happiness is.....

5year old UFO...done!

 My week didn't start out so well but it sure ended happily! This week happiness is having a friend with a longarm who will quilt a quilt for you and you get to spend the day together. Now it almost didn't happen as we had snow overnight and in the morning I was not sure the roads would be good. I did end up going after some cajoling from Natalie(the longarm friend). The next day I trimmed the quilt and found the perfect label for it. It was like it was made just for this quilt.

not great pic but label is good colour for quilt

I also got to spend some time with my sister, her daughter in law, her son and their new puppy! Now tell me playing with a toddler and a puppy won't put a smile on your face or lift your spirits. I also got to see them again yesterday as my sister's in-laws celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary!(no typo- 70th). It was so good to see so many come out to celebrate and visit.

I have been encouraging myself to get other projects done. I do the ones I have been putting off and then treat myself with getting to sew on something I really want to do. I have a few more of the "want to do" then the other which is a good thing. I also found out this week, as I was looking for a UFO to longarm, that I have a few quilts that I want to hand quilt. I guess it is that time of year when I should load up the frame and get busy. If I load it now it will probably be my winter "go to" project.

today sewing up these blocks

Today I am in the sewing room working on a "want to" project with a cafe mocha and Baileys and than later I will be slow stitching the binding on the quilt from this week.  I am joining Kathy and friends with slow stitching today and getting things done!! Kathy asked what was your favorite way to slow stitch...mine is binding or working on my hexies! I don't know what I will do when the hexie quilt gets completed!!

Wishing you all a happy week ahead and hope you find something that makes you smile.

Quilting Season

piranhas working away

 The Fall has arrived and now there is white stuff on my lawn so I guess I can safely say winter isn't far away!

I have had a busy Fall with two retreats on back to back weekends. First I travelled south to spend some time with my three piranha friends. If you haven't been on my blog before, we call ourselves the "fabric piranhas"! I actually worked on two or three projects that weekend including hand quilting on my top from a Libbs Elliott workshop I did in September. You can read about that here.

shores of Lake Huron

blustery and cold

The Fabric Piranhas

my patience quilt

I arrived home with just a couple days to set up and get my house ready for 4 other quilty friends. Unfortunately one injured herself and was unable to join us. Now this weekend was not as productive for me. I was piecing a quilt and I will just politely say that I probably did more ripping out than I did sewing. It was all my own fault which made it worse too! I did persevere and the top got finished but now it is in time out till I decide if I want to keep it or donate it as a charity quilt. I might name it Patience! I slipped on taking pictures at my house, maybe I was just ripping and swearing too much!!

Now I am back into my usual routine and trying to get some projects checked off my list. But unfortunately that is not going too well. SQUIRRELING is happening. Make a block here and there for guild, pizza box challenge for guild and then I am sidetracked with a mound of scraps and next thing you know I am working on a scrap quilt. I should be working on a baby quilt but I am also waiting on fabric for that project so all is good. I might have some blocks together by sunday to show.

While I was away I visited two quilt stores and gifted myself a wool pressing mat. If you have never tried one, they are amazing. I was skeptical about them but have tried them at several workshops and decided I needed one. I bought the 13" one which is great for units and pressing blocks. Just my own opinion on this product.

Enjoy the rest of your week, snow is lightly falling here so good day to be indoors with a good audiobook and some sewing!

I missed it?!?!

my Libbs Elliott quilt top

 OMG I missed the whole month of September well at least when it comes to blogging. It by no means I missed the month and was hold up in a closet somewhere. It has been a very busy month. Guild started, I took part in a workshop with a guest teacher, I continue to finish quilts and UFO and I have been working in the yard getting things put away and ready for winter. Well now I know where the month went!!

Last weekend we had a trunk show presented by Libbs Elliott. The following day she was our guest teacher and we worked away on one of her patterns called La Fin du Monde. I chose to make the small version and this weekend I am making heart blocks to add to the top and bottom to make it a little longer.

I have been machine quilting a quilt since last week although I haven't touched it in 4 or 5 days. Just too many things happening in my little world.

All this preparation is so I can relax later in October while I am attending 2 retreats. By the time I get home from one and prep for the second one(that one is at my house)....there might be snow on the ground. Although we are having a wonderful warm Fall. Cool mornings but today I have the windows all open and am enjoying the gentle breeze and fresh air. I also took time with a coffee to check in on my friend Kathy and see what all the

slow stitchers are doing. 

My quilting frame is becoming my waiting line for the next project. Hopefully soon there will be a quilt on that frame for the winter. The orange book is our local fair book and that quilt might become an entry for next year. I have to keep them out where I can see them so I will work on them. The various boxes underneath are projects cut and ready for retreat already. Can you tell I am looking forward to seeing all my quilty friends!

Enjoy the week ahead and whatever you are choosing to work on.

in Tinyville

 I started a new project this week. I was given the pattern by a friend although now rethinking that. After doing the first step there was a bit of confusion but I got it done. Onto the second step and again a little confusion...oh look the coloured diagram is incorrectly coloured...hmmm! I also have lots of leftover pieces...so stop! I sat down one evening and worked the math. I have never seen a published pattern with so many errors. Texted my friend and said we need to revisit using this pattern at guild. But once I figured out things it is going together fairly well. I am working with strips measuring 1,1.5,2 and the largest being 2.5". So some of the pieces finish at 1/2" but they look so good! I will only show sneak peek of blocks, so I can keep the pattern a secret for now!! I am using a grey background and a batik jelly roll to make the quilt. I had two jelly rolls and I think I may only need one...bonus!The block on the left finishes at 4.5" and the other one finishes at 8".

I have my blue quilt pin basted and plan to work on it today getting it machine quilted and put the binding on it. I even used up a chunk of fabric and a couple fat quarters for the backing. I love making scrappy backings even if they are a bit of work. This quilt also has batting pieces that were sewn together. It truly is scrappy through and through!!haha

The week goes by so fast and here we are at Sunday again. Slow stitching day with Kathy. She is very much into cross stitch and makes me want to do a long forgotten UFO of cross stitch that I have packed away. Maybe one day!!

Enjoy your week

Little jobs, big finishes

168 blocks 

 This week I have been sewing on my scrap blocks and have almost enough to start sewing them together. I might do some more thinking/designing before I just sew them altogether in one big chuck! It is similar to the JoAnna Merrill Duckworth pattern that is taking facebook by storm. I am thinking of sashing them in a dark purple. I have some purple but not sure there is enough yardage!! I need to  make 12 more blocks or if sashing them 24 more blocks. But they do work up quite quickly and are fun to do. No rotary cutting just using my scissors!! I started with the box below full of blues and some pink for the center. I added a few more lighter blues and this is what is left!! It is going to be fun laying this out and figuring out how to put it together!!

remaining blues from box

I also got my Jack's chain quilted this week by my friend Natalie. I had to add to the top and side of the backing so the she would have enough space. I understand now when they say 4 inches all around extra.. it is important! Although I didn't have much choice as this was the backing I wanted to use and there was almost not enough. Today will be trimming this quilt and getting the binding on it. Then I will have lots of slow stitching to do while I watch the nascar race later today! Sorry for the not so great photo but it is a huge quilt and the grass outside is still wet so the studio floor it is!!

Jack's chain quilted

This week I have also been wrapping and making more hexies for the borders of my quilt. Once I start adding them I will post another photo of my progress.

Kathy has been doing lots of embroidery and cross stitch. Almost makes me want to get out my long forgotten project...maybe this week! Looking in to see what everyone else is slow stitching. Join them and see!

Have a great week doing something you enjoy!

Getting it Done

 So today's post is all about getting it finished, done, completed and delivered!!

daddy's girl

I had two baby quilts finished in the last little while and recently they were gifted. The first one was made with a shirt from the great grandmother. I made a teddy bear for the front of the quilt and waited to see if it was for a girl or boy. A little girl finally arrived this winter so I was able to choose a girly backing and finish the quilt. The family stopped by for a visit a couple weeks ago and she received her quilt. Here she is sitting with her daddy!

my great nephew

The second baby quilt went to my great nephew for his 1st birthday. It probably wasn't as exciting as the trucks or rocking horse but I like to think he will like the deer on his quilt.

Another finish lately was getting this double wedding ring quilt off the frame. The arcs were paper pieced by someone else unknown to me. I was given the whole package over 12 years ago. I just finally was in the mood to piece the top and get it hand quilted. This was another therapy quilt for me, only the second one since my hubby passed. You see I do a lot of quiet thinking while I hand quilt so needless to say it took me a longer than usual to quilt this one.

On the knitting front, my shawl is done. I wrote about it last week here and was determined to get it done. It is called the shortest day shawl, I call it the longest shortest day shawl!!

So for this week, my list includes quilting this quilt that I pin basted yesterday. It was a block of the month at guild. I didn't make all the blocks but had enough with the panel. The panel I purchased from our charity table at guild. It was  perfect for these blocks.

And lastly an update on my hexie quilt. It will be my slow stitching for today. I have one corner to finish and then I can start adding the first green border. The borders of green and white will be hexies as well. But it is nice to  see what this top is looking like. The end is in sight. But I still want to hand quilt this one so the finish line is a ways off yet!

I didn't think I did much this week, but after writing this I am exhausted!! I will be checking in with Kathy and joining her for some more slow stitching today!

Enjoy your week ahead and hope you are getting things done as well! 

A new day

let's see how far a box of scraps will go

As the sun rises on a new day, there are all kinds of possibilities, you have to go find the fun stuff! So with that in mind yesterday I started a new project! Wasn't going to do that but I have been wanting to do this quilt. I got a larger shoe box and began to fill it with lots of blue scraps and a few pink scraps. I played all afternoon and made a few blocks. I didn't have a design or layout just the idea for the individual blocks that I saw on facebook. As I work away on it, I may change how the blocks are constructed or how big the strips should be. I would really like to use up my strings so that might means many rounds around the center pink. Still a work in progress!! Stay tuned....

almost done!!

But other than losing two days to my worries this week, I did get some things done. My knitting on the shawl is coming along. I think I will run out of one of the colours and that will mean the end of the knitting on this one. It is called "the shortest day shawl", that has taken me soooo long to do(since Sept 2022)!! Once the knitting is finished, I will find a friend to help me cut it apart...yup CUT!! It is knitted in the round with the intention of it being cut later. I also finished hand quilting the double wedding ring quilt that I have been working on seems like forever!! You can see it here but more on that in another post.

quilt top and backing

My Jack's chain quilt is a finished top and the backing is pieced and ready to be sandwiched. This whole quilt has a story including the backing. I wanted to use what I have(which wasn't enough) so some ingenuity was needed. The backing is not big enough to send to the longarmer so I will attempt quilting this one myself. After showing it with a friend's rendition of the same pattern. You could easily see that my scrappy nine patches don't do the pattern justice. My friend Mallory used background fabric in her nine patches and it made a big difference to the pattern. If you look at the pattern Ring Cycles, you will see what I mean. It is a finished scrappy quilt but I am a little disappointed with it. Will I try again...time will tell!!

I have to get machine quilting...I have Jack's chain but also two other quilts with backings ready and waiting to be basted and finished. This will be my to-do list for the next couple of weeks. 

Tomorrow I am headed to my local quilt store The Cottage Quilter for a sale. Do I need anything...no, but couldn't hurt to just look and spend some time with some friends that I am going with. I do have a gift certificate to spend. Today sewing till the lawn is dry enough to mow, Nascar race but first looking in on Kathy to see what she is up to today! Slow stitching for me will be more hexies. I almost have the main part done and will be changing to green for the first border!! ya me!!

Enjoy today and I hope you find that special thing that gives you peace and makes your worries go away!

 Happy Canada Day weekend. It is a warm one here with just enough rain to keep things growing and not drying out. My garden is slowly coming up but is a bit behind.

It has been a busy summer so far for me and as I come on here for today's entry I realize it has been almost two months since I have blogged. That is my life of late one event, disaster or just needed quiet time to keep me busy. This is going to be a long post so bear with me!!

I am learning so much that I never expected to have to learn. My water pump from the creek continues to force me to learn things...knocking on wood as I say I think we have it working well now. Many thanks to brother in laws and my nephew! I now also know some about the pump in my basement that pumps out laundry water and everything from the basement bathroom. I live in a small town and we have a septic tank and have to pump stuff up and out of the basement. The float stopped working and spewed water into my basement. Luckily that bathroom isn't used much!!

toddler quilt almost ready

My new car finally arrived!! I have been waiting since before Christmas. I have put lots of miles on it already. A trip to my daughter's then onto my girlfriends for her 60th birthday party! My daughter and I also travelled 2 weeks ago to Timmins in Northern Ontario to visit with the ole gang that we knew when we lived there almost 25 years ago! It was a fun weekend full of memories.

The fabric piranhas were here in June for a weekend. Unfortunately Kathy(who had her own sewer problems) wasn't able to join us. We zoomed with her but I forgot to take any pictures.We are going to meet again in the Fall and enjoy each other's company! Hoping no disasters will deter us!

sockapalooza socks done

Now to catch up on the sewing front which is keeping me busy too. . I am trying to finish UFOs that have  been hanging around for too long. I have a few toddler quilts to finish too. They are fun to make, cheerful and bright. Just finished this one this week, just have to sew down the binding. In between it all there is knitting getting done too. I joined sockapalooza in the month of June and got this pair of socks done. Yes only one pair this year.

Jack's chain pieces

This scrappy top was completed and I have started this Jack's chain with set in seams(which are going amazingly well). What is next....oh so many ideas and so little time!! It will be scrappy of course but stay tuned and hopefully it won't take two more months for me to post again!!

scrappy top waiting to be quilted

Heading out to the lake this afternoon with family to enjoy the day but will check in with Kathy and see what slow stitching is getting done today. I am taking my knitting with me and hoping to get a few more rows done on that project.

baby quilt to be delivered soon

Thanks for hanging in there on this long post. Enjoy the week ahead and the rest of the summer!!

Getting into the Swing

1st leader and ender

 I have been away from the sewing room for too long and I am having a hard time getting back into the swing of sewing at a machine. The "want to" is there but I keep falling into the hexie project black hole!!

Last week I wanted to work on a scrappy project but decided I couldn't just work on it. It was a leader and ender project so I needed another project to sew so I could continue with the leader and ender!?! What is a quilter to do!! Only my fellow quilters would understand I am sure!!

So now I have two projects sitting waiting to be worked on and it looks like today is the day. I will finish this blog post and get to it after having wasted my time in the city doing time consuming errands this morning.

2nd project started

I am a day late but there was many stitches put into my hexie project yesterday but I only read

Kathy's post today. I know I am not a very good blog stalker, that's what Kathy would say!! Wishing you all a great week ahead! Happy sewing/quilting!!

And just like that...Spring!!

colder day of sap

last day

So as I always do I checked and  my last post was March 24. Not so long ago but feels like forever since I blogged or did anything quilting related. I have been collecting sap and making maple syrup. A small operation to make the sweet stuff. Lots of hard work and hours of watching sap boil. Unfortunately being in the sugar shack is not conducive to doing any stitching so I got a few books read instead. But this weekend was the end for me and now I can turn my interests to other things. Not quite time for gardening although we have had temperatures in the mid 20's (Celsius) and the snow is melting and the grass is starting to turn green. A few of those April showers would help greatly. I live beside a creek and it is flowing pretty well. The rush of the water is a wonderful thing to listen to with the windows open now. It has been an interesting Spring. Snow, rain, freezing rain and now summer temperatures!

freezing rain beauty

crazy weather day

 

getting closer to finished

Mostly I have been working on the quilting frame in the evenings or the odd day off(waiting for sap to drip) but I have also put a great dent in my hexie quilt. It is getting nearer and nearer to being finished, well closer to adding a border of hexies!! I am sure you will be as happy as I will be when this one is done. It has been in the works I figure for almost 12 years or more!!!

I am having a relaxing day with just a bit of laundry. I have had time to check in with Kathy and do plan more hexie slow stitching this afternoon! Check with her blog and all those who join her each Sunday for some relaxing slow stitching! This video is just for Kathy. Looking forward to our Piranha weekend!

Enjoy your week ahead! I hear rain is in the forecast for us...so those Spring flowers will get their showers!!

Just waiting!

 As I am waiting for warmer temperatures so the sap will run, I find myself tidying up loose ends. I read my last post which was a while ago and realized I needed to do an update.

quilt from other leftovers

for a friend

I have finished a few quilts lately. Some by myself and a couple with the help of my friend and her long arm machine. Two quilts were from bags of scraps I found while doing a stash dive for another quilt. The first one was creams, beiges and browns, the second was leftovers  from another quilt and they will both become charity quilts. You can read about their beginnings here and here. I also finished this very Spring feeling quilt to gift to a friend. It was Bonnie Hunter's mystery from this year. Probably the quickest finish of one of those mysteries for me!

scrappy charity quilt

thousands of hst

I have dug out a project "Jack's Chain" and am trying to complete it. It was a leader and ender and I still want it to be so I needed another project to sew. Crazy I know but the small nine patches are boring to sew one after another! I found a scrap quilt on facebook and loved the look of it. It is called "Pirouette". So as I sew up many thousands of  hst(seems like millions) I will use each project to help finish the other.

almost ready for a border

An update on my hexie quilt is I am getting to the point of being done with the center of it. I finally filled in alot of areas on it and decided I needed to make it one row longer so it would be symmetrical. I am sewing up the last of the diamonds while watching the year end curling championships.  It measures about 75 x 86. Then it will be onto borders. Not that that will be easy, the borders are more hexies!!!