Workshop and teaching

my pillowcases

Yet another workshop at our guild. Our guild only meets once a month but we make up for that with all our workshops throughout the rest of the month. Yesterday three teachers taught 4 projects. On the agenda were pillowcases, a tote bag, iron caddy and a jewellery travel case.I was teaching the tote and in between group sessions, I was able to get three pillowcases sewn. It was a very productive day for everyone in attendance.

three students and their totes

Kathy(standing)our trooper of the day!

Just as a reminder to us all, one of the members showed up today with a cut finger. She had done an oops the night before with her cutter. But with a little nursing from my fellow teacher, she was undaunted and joined in on the workshops yesterday. Way to go  Kathy, hope your finger is doing better!

Today I am game to go! I was very tired after my busy day yesterday and just manage a bit of embroidery last night. So this morning....I will finish my totes that were my steps for teaching the class. I have three of them at various stages of completion. After that I have a dog bed to finish and a quilt to machine quilt.
That should fill my day fairly well and because the lighting isn't so great in my sewing room since I took over the living room, I will spend the evening working on my hand stitching/embroidery. I will also be linking up with my friend Kathy and her slow stitching Sunday back to basic with a needle and thread...no machines!!

Have a great Sunday everyone!

Where did that week go?!!

cross hatched and binding on

I keep trying to be a better blogger and then a whole week goes by! I have been doing lots of things but I don't seem  to get anything finished.Well I did quilt my table runner which was a class I taught a couple of weeks ago. It will be ready for the holiday season to put on my coffee table in the family room.

180 mini churn dash blocks

dog bed cover to be

Then began the long road of half done things. I finally finished sewing 180 - 3 1/2" churn dash blocks for an upcoming class I will be teaching. They can rest for awhile.This is code for... I haven't chosen a colour to be the alternate square that goes with them.
 Moving on I also cut out the pieces for a simple small quilt which will become the top of a dog bed. Yes a dog bed!! It will match the quilt I have already made for our dog Belle.

4 patch onto the next step

I have squared and trimmed the panels of four patches that I have been making for 2 years. I thought I had chosen the other fabrics for the quilt but yesterday I had my mind changed again. I went deep stash diving last night and came up with this burgundy colour. I think this is going to look great.Do you ever keep putting off a decision like fabric choice? I have come to realize that if you are putting it off....it means that you haven't found the right fabric yet!!

one bag done, 3 to finish

Lastly I worked the other day on step outs for a bag I will be teaching this weekend. It is a simple one but does require a few steps to finish. I have three in various stages and I hope to get them all finished this weekend after class is over. There are three other small projects being taught on the same day.

On top of all this Bonnie Hunter has released her colour choices for this year's up coming mystery quilt.I am so doing this one. I have been collecting beach, sunset, and water batiks for awhile now with no particular plan for them. So now I am finally going to use them. I may have to search out some brown batiks to go with all the others but that won't be so bad! Besides there is a sale at my LQS in s couple of weeks...good timing!

I once again have another week of quilting/sewing ahead of me as hubby heads out hunting again. Hopefully by the end of the week I will have more finished things to show for my efforts!
Happy sewing!

Teacher, Teacher!!!

runner needs quilting

Yesterday was a teaching day for me at guild. I was giving aid and answers for a Christmas table runner. It was a great group of ladies and the day went by too fast.
I am hoping to have mine quilted and finished for this week's meeting. I can't have my students finishing before their teacher...can I???
It is a week of sewing ahead for me as DH is off hunting for the week. I have a head start because he left early too. I have a quilt basted and ready to be quilted for the Quilts of Valor.Also there are several projects that need completing for the upcoming program at guild. But this week I picked up some hand embroidery and can't seem to put it down. So I will quilt by day and stitch by night. My sewing room doesn't have upper lighting so this plan works great for me!

embroidery in progress

My cousin ask me to put some embroidered blocks together into a quilt for her mother in law. The mother in law's mother did the embroidery. You can see that quilt here But there were some blocks that weren't finished, I asked if I could complete them for her. They have been sitting in a pile for awhile now and I have started them.It is very relaxing to hand stitch away the evenings on them. This is block 1 or 6 and I know I will get sidetracked along the way..but here's hoping they can get finished in the early new year maybe!!!
So between binding and embroidery that is what I will be hand stitching on today and joining Kathy slow stitching Sunday group.

Stay in touch and see what other things/projects I might get done this week!!Happy Quilting.

Quilt retreat!!

my view for the weekend

It seems I was on the road again...this time headed for my annual quilt retreat. This year marked the 10th year we have been doing this.Although we have changed venues a  few times and faces have come and gone over the years...we still manage to get a good group of ladies together and have a fun weekend. I am not going to say we got lots accomplished (if you have ever been to one, you will know what I mean)but sewing was done and projects got more work done on them and some were even  completed.

6 strips of 4 patches just waiting to be finished

I only took three projects with me. They were all started but required lots of sewing so I only got to work on two of them. I have been sewing 4 patches with added triangles for 2 years and they finally became long strips all sewn together. They just require alternate strips and that top will be done. It is a UFO for this year's guild challenge so keep an eye out for that one!
I also took 2"squares for a small churn dash project that I will be teaching later this year. The churn dashes finish at 3"(small yes but aren't they the cutest)!I got to play in that box of 2" squares that I have been cutting up for years now.
It doesn't look like much but that was all the sewing I got done in 3 1/2 days of quilt retreat.

3" churn dash blocks

binding done

 I also got the binding sewn on a lap quilt that my friend Susan quilted for me on her long arm.She brought it along with her to deliver to me. Hmmm...so I guess I did get something finished!!

5 years ago but not much has changed

This week also marked 30 years that I have been married to my best friend Ted. It is also the first year in a long time that we have been together for our anniversary. He was usually moose hunting or I was retreating or we were both gone. Although I was at guild for the day (as president I couldn't miss it) and he had council meetings.It was nice to be together in the  evening to mark this milestone. Days march on though and he is off to the bush for hunting season or as I say quilting season!!(with cereal suppers)not really!!!
So once this is posted I am off to the sewing room to get busy!! UFOs need finishing, projects for future classes need making and as a quilter there is always that new project that you would like to start. Have a fun week!!

Going Places

shop hop buys

playing with my camera

That is where I have been and not in my sewing room. I spent last weekend shop hopping my way to my friend's house for the weekend. The shop hop was on my way so why not. Five shops by lunchtime is not bad. I found some little goodies along the way too. It is hard to see in the pic but a deal on fat 1/4...buy 5 get 3 free!!! I also stocked up on my whites for background...love white tone on tone.I also bought a couple pieces with yardage as they just called to me!! haha

sunrise in southern Ontario

During the weekend I went to a local fall fair and my daughter's town Pumpkin Festival. I am not really a festival going person but it was a fun two days and I got to spend time with people I love!
I drove home early 6:30 am on Monday morning and this is the sight I got to watch. Of course it was pretty but once it cleared that horizon....I was looking for sunglasses and ducking behind my sun visor.
This weekend here in Canada is our Thanksgiving Day. My hubby's family will be getting together on Monday so that means the whole weekend to sew and get ready.  Ready, ready for what you ask??
It is quilt retreat time for me. I will be gathering projects and packing patches with good intentions of finishing things. I do have good intentions...but I am also realistic! I will be happy to get a bit further on whatever projects I take with me. I know I have lots of samples that need working on but this is suppose to be relaxing and no deadlines so I will be looking for fun things to do, things I want to sew on instead of things I need to sew on! I am sure I will have more on this in the coming days. Check in and see what I might be taking along and see if I can finish anything!!!

Hello September!

4"blocks,mini inside 2"

The unofficial start of quilting season is here! In the spirit of the season, I have been busy. I joined in on the Temecula mini Monday over the last month or so and this top is the  result of that. The sixteen patches I didn't really like in my quilt so they went into another one. These will be teddy bear quilts that get paired with a stuffed animal and give to a charity for delivery to a special little someone.

16 patched front

I am also gearing up for the new guild year and I am on program so that means that I have lots of samples, workshop examples and blocks to get ready. The blue and green blocks from this last post, you can see them here are for our BOM. There was a lot of flip and sew which meant lots of little odds and ends that were put to good use to make two more teddy quilts.

16 patched backing

Under my needle today was some hst which were made into pinwheels for a Christmas runner that I will be teaching in October.

These pieces are all just flimsy still which means I need to dust off my quilting machine and get busy. If you know me at all...you will know that machine quilting is not my favorite part of the finishing process...but it has to be done!

In between all of this sewing I have been doing leaders and enders. I have finallly finished all my four patches 450 with triangles added. Now for the next step.

more teddy bear quilts

Yesterday we had an all day UFO sew-a-thon at guild and I spent the day sewing tumbler pieces together. That is another leader and ender that I started and it just needs to be done ....soooooon!!!

Parts for a Christmas runner

Next week guild meetings start for me...my first as president!! Exciting and terrifying at the same time.

Not over Yet!!!

Fall is coming

With it being Labour Day weekend in Ontario, it is also the unofficial end of summer as the kids head back to school next week.It was a beautiful warmish day yesterday so I was able to mow the lawn and do outside jobs which was good because today is cooler and rainy! A good day to be inside sewing, I think.

Four o'clocks I think

Mixed flowers including poppies

I did slip out in between rain drops to get some pics of my yard. The garden is slowly being used up. Beets, dill pickles and I have frozen some peas and beans. We had frost on friday and saturday but my coverings saved the plants for a few more weeks!Luckily most of my flowers are against the house and are still alive, untouched by the frost. They are so happy looking and so is Belle our golden retriever(don't you think)!!

Our Belle

I have been working this week on these blocks of the month for the up coming year. I am on the program committee so must have them done ahead of time.Today I will be working on the nine patches that go with them. The layout will come later in the guild year. As I have said in an earlier post here....I have already named this quilt "under the influence". It was my friend Barb who gave me the green fabric which is my background and she and her sister Louise who convinced me it would work. I was unsure at the time...but it is growing on me!
The one other project I have to complete soon is a table runner for a class I will be teaching in October. It is a Christmas one...so I am having a hard time getting in the mood to do it!!

BOM how about that green background

 I have been finding the evenings long with no hand work to do....ya right!! So I started a pair of socks for me. I have so many knitting books with socks and I keep making the same pattern so I am testing my knowledge of knitting and trying something new!! We will see how that works.So although it is slow stitching Sunday at Kathy's house...I will be in the sewing room sewing away on these nine patches and hoping to have them done today! Hop over to Kathy's blog and see what she and her followers are  up to.