two finishes

Hello again!  I am excited to have two completed quilts to share.  

The first one is my Hospital Sketches quilt.  This was a Block of the Month that Barbara Brackman did over on her blog Civil war quilts.  I loved appliqueing the blocks and designing my own border.  

I also loved handquilting it.  It took just over a year to quilt.  It helped me to get through Covid by giving me something to look forward to working on each day.  I quilted rather unpredictable free flowing feathers from small feathered rosettes at the intersections between the blocks. 

I love the texture that handquilting gives.

As always, I quilted in the year and my initials.  I will miss working on this - it was such a fun project at every stage.  

My next finish was machine quilted.  This quilt doesn't really have a name.  It is assembled from 6 inch blocks made from a variety of library books 7 years ago.  They sat forgotten in a ufo bin for a few years.

Then I saw a picture of a setting online done by Carrie Nelson and I knew it would be perfect for these blocks.  

I enjoyed making all of the flying geese for the setting.  The quilting was fun and fast.  I quilted diagonal rows of feathers over the blocks and straight lines intersecting over the flying geese.  The final narrow border got some feathers as well.  

I had a hard time choosing between red and blue for the binding fabric.  In the end I went with blue.  This quilt is for the sunny sitting room upstairs.  With its flannel back it will be cozy for winter naps :0) 

Yesterday I taught only in the morning and with half the house empty with people away I knew I could get away with minimal cooking.  It was the perfect opportunity to use the kitchen island to thread baste the next quilt for handquilting.  This one is Radical Rose and Reel  a pattern by Dawn at Collector with a needle.

This is the third quilt I've basted on this island.  It really works well.  Maybe I will put the first few stitches into it tonight :0)

Happy Quilting!!

a small gift

I made a fun little project recently.  A gift for my cousin's birthday.  I used an applique shape that I had drawn for a previous project and outlined it with some big stitch quilting.

I love the background fabric.  All different names for Jesus from the Bible.  I knew she would appreciate that.

I finished it with a red zipper :0)  (red lining too but I didn't get a picture of that)

I also spent an afternoon getting this "6 inch blocks with flying geese quilt" basted for some machine quilting.  So far, I have done a bunch of straight line quilting in the ditch alongside the geese.  I'm hoping to put some kind of free motion feathered design over the blocks but I am still figuring that out.  Free motion feathers are fast and fun.  I put flannel on the back of this quilt - it should be good for snuggling under.

I've also been playing with scraps and making these Peony blocks.  I'm not sure where this is going but its been fun so far!

 I actually started a job a couple of weeks ago.  I've gone back to teaching - working as a substitute teacher mostly in Home Economics classes.  (they don't call it that anymore but I do)  I'm not sure how this will affect my time for sewing.  So far I still seem to fit some in everyday :0)

Happy Quilting!!

Back to it

After a long and unplanned absence I'm ready to blog again.  The last few months have been very different and unpredictable and there just hasn't been time for blogging.  I always make time for sewing though - it's how I relax at the end of the day.  

 I participated in an Instagram Sunflower sewalong.  The pattern was drawn by Susie @fixer_of_old_quilts from an antique quilt owned by Cathy @quiltingcat2

I did get the 6 inch block quilt top finished.  I enjoyed sewing all of the flying geese units and putting them all together.  I have backing and batting ready and I just need to find time to pin baste this for machine quilting.

I continue to work towards finishing my Hospital Sketches quilt.  Last time I posted about it I was just figuring out the borders.  I did get stuck for a bit on the corners.

I played around with paper shapes for awhile and settled on this design with 2 birds.

The corners were fun to stitch and it was exciting to get the whole top together.

This is the last picture taken in this spot in my old sewing area.  Looking down from above - it was a good way to view projects.  One of the things that made the last 6 months so busy was that we moved.  In our new home I have a dedicated sewing room and a very large kitchen island perfect for basting quilts.

Within a couple of weeks I put it to the test with thread basting my Hospital Sketches for handquilting.  In the past I basted quilts on my old dining room floor.  It was hard on the knees.  The last 2 quilts for handquilting I basted with a long arm machine but with Covid 19 that was not an option.  Basting on the island was easy on the knees but I could still feel it in my neck and back - leaning over it for 5 hours straight to get it done between lunch and supper.  I was thrilled to have it basted though and handquilting is coming along well.

Before we moved I participated in another small Instagram sewalong hosted by Betsy Chutchian.  This cute little quilt was the result and I'm enjoying using it on my nightstand :0)

And I wanted to post this little guy I spent hours working on at guild meetings last fall.  I'm not a very good paper piecer so this was a challenge and I think he turned out really cute. I hope I remember to pull him out near Christmas time and make a little wallhanging.

Happy Quilting!!

a new old project

I've started to gain momentum on an old ufo.  I'm quite excited about it again.  Back in 2014 I started making 6 inch blocks.  A friend of mine was finishing a Nearly Insane quilt and had started a Farmer's Wife quilt - both sampler style quilts made with 6 inch blocks.  I just wanted to play in my scraps and make some blocks.  I took block books out from the Public Library and chose blocks to make.  I made quite a few blocks with no real plan in mind.  And then...  they got stuck in the ufo bin.

 I happened upon a picture online of Carrie Nelson's Blockheads 1 quilt.  It too was a sampler style quilt made with 6 inch blocks.  I loved her setting.  She added plain sashing around the blocks, grouped them in 4's and then sashing them again with flying geese.

 So I laid out some of the blocks in groups of 4 and started making scrappy flying geese.  Lots and lots of them!

So far I have the blocks grouped in 4's and sashed.  I stitched strips of geese in 10's and I've started to add them.  It's been a fun project to work on and I will get this to a finished top before too long.  I'm still uncertain what I will put in the intersections of the flying geese.  You can see the holes where carpet shows through in the top photo.  I'd welcome any suggestions you might have :0)

I like it when an old project feels exciting like a new project :0)

Happy Quilting!!

a new project

I started a new project. It's a Bonnie Hunter pattern called Wanderlust in the July/August 2014 Quiltmaker magazine.  I like so many of Bonnie's quilts but have never made one.  Every fall when she gets started on her annual mystery quilt I am so tempted to join in but can't quite let go to invest  in something so unknown. 

 I liked this block when she first showed it on her blog - I think it was her submission for Quiltmakers 100 blocks or something.  Then she made a quilt and it was on the cover of the magazine - tempting me all summer, everytime I walked by the magazines at the grocery store.  After a month I caved... and then this week I started slicing into some fabric.  It's coming out much brighter than I had thought - it seems to have a mind of its own.

 I did make one more 6 inch block.  I wanted to use some of this awesome green striped fabric I found - I love it! 

And, I received a bag of 9 patches in the mail this week. I took part in a repro 9 patch exchange that Barb organized.  It was so fun to open it up and look at all the fabrics people used.  I don't know what I'm going to do with them yet but I will enjoy considering different ideas. 

Happy Quilting!!

circle progress



Temptation just lurks all over blogland to start something new.  I've been distracting myself by working on as many current projects as possible. I've nearly finished my applique border. I have made it to the final border with my large handquilting project and I pulled out these circle blocks to put some more surrounds on.  I have 6 blocks finished so far. I love the secondary design created when they come together.

There are16 blocks in this Circle Game quilt so I need to not lose focus! 



 I did decide enough is enough with these 6 inch blocks.  I think if I make one more block I can put it together as a lap-sized quilt.  The blocks were so fun to make- endless variety and it was great to play with my scraps but its not really the kind of quilt I fall in love with.  I'd rather put the sewing time into making a quilt I really love.

Then there was this little experiment.  I enjoyed cutting and putting this little table topper together but ahhhh!  It doesn't lie flat.  Should I take it apart and try to fix it?  Keep going and hope it will quilt out? Or, abandon it as little distraction that didn't work out? It is my personality to just keep going and see how it goes.  What do you suggest?  :0) 

Happy Quilting!!

where did the summer go?

I spent much of today with back to school preparations.  How can it be that time already?  I have a little sewing progress to share.

 This 6 inch block was really tricky.  Afterwards I told myself  "Just because cutting instructions are given for a 6 inch square doesn't mean you have to make it."  I do really like it though :0)

 2 more - a little less complicated ones.

My top border for my Bird of Paradise quilt is slowly growing.  I can't decide how symmetrical I want it to be - my daughter called this "quilters block"  :0)  I don't think I'm that stuck - I just need to find enough time to sit down and figure it out.  Maybe tonight...

 

Happy Quilting!!

 

 



flowers again

I'm excited to get back to appliqueing on my Bird of Paradise quilt.  With all of the block embroidery done I am ready to move on to the borders.  I plan to make the borders to suit myself using shapes and ideas from the original quilt, the Threadbear pattern and my own drawing.  

 This is my start on the top border. It feels so good to applique flowers again :0)  It's been nothing but leaves for months!  I'm mostly winging it - feels free and fun to do it that way although already I see that I didn't cut all of my flower centers the same size.  It bothers me a bit but only very little - I'm going to keep going and I can always swap out the flower center later.  I suspect that once all the other leaves and flowers are appliqued I won't notice it at all.

A couple more 6 inch blocks.  There will be more :0)

Happy Stitching!

more summer sewing



I can't believe how fast summer goes by. I have snatched a few minutes to sew most days.  These little 6 inch blocks are the perfect little things to work on when I can find some time to sew.

 

The block in the upper left is called Crowfoot. It is 1/4 the size of the blocks in my Crowfoot quilt.  It was very fun to revisit this block on the smaller scale. 

My friend and I worked on our circle game quilts again one evening last week.  We laid out 4 mostly finished blocks of each quilt to compare.  They are so very different!  The lighting isn't great and her blocks look a bit washed out.

We continue to enjoy the challenge of this pattern - The Circle Game by Jen Kingwell.  Some of the blocks ahead look very tricky!  It's been an excellent learning project as well as fun and motivating to be making it with a friend.

Happy Quilting!!

summer sewing

With the arrival of summer there is a whole new pace to life.  Still busy - but different.  The kids and I went on a road trip to visit my parents in Kelowna and my sister in Vancouver. We had a great time but not a lot of stitching happened.

This week the kids are all busy with various camps and activities and I have 4 1/2 days to myself. I will savor them as they are the last until school starts again.  My Circle Game friend had time to come over today and we worked on a new block.  

 Starting at 10:00 and finishing up at 3:00 (with a break for lunch) I managed to complete this one block.  This project is very slow and fiddly!  However,  I have to say I am loving the challenge.  I am  disappointed with the fabric I chose to frame the octagon.  You have to look hard to see the little slivers of fabric going around in a circle.  I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to get neat points so I choose a busy fabric with low contrast on purpose but now it practically disappears.  Oh well...  I am so not redoing it  :0)

 Three blocks together gives me an even better idea of how this quilt will look.  Still a long way to go with this project.

 I made the last 6 inch block that I liked from this book.  I thought I'd see if the library had any more books like it so I could keep going with this project.

And, I found this book - also by Judy Hopkins.  This book has tons of great 6 inch blocks in it.  The one drawback is that unlike the other book there are templates for at least one of the shapes in almost every block.  At least they are mostly rotary cut and the variety is wonderful.  I have a feeling that this will be a big quilt after all...

This is what my flower garden looked like when I arrived home from our road trip.  It's a bit of a tangle but I am SO pleased with the foxgloves.  They are my favorite flower :0)

Happy Quilting!!

embroidery - done!

A few weeks ago we went for our annual camping trip to Shunda lake.  The tree stump from my header picture was still there - my favorite place to stitch by the lake.  Again this year I was working on my Susan McCord vine quilt. It's been a few years in the making - 3 more panels to go - will I yet be working on it next spring?  

 I'm still working on panel #10.  It's been going slow...

 

When I get panel 10 finished I will take a break from vines  and work on - Yahoo!!  The borders for my Bird of Paradise quilt. 

 I finally finished the embroidery!  I am so pleased.  My friend encouraged me through it.  In the end the faces were easy and stitched in one evening. I kept them simple and happy.

Now I can trim the blocks and start on the borders.  I think they will be fun to work on. 

And yes, there are more 6 inch blocks  :0)

Happy Quilting!!

another circle in a square



I  found some time to stitch on my Circle Game quilt with my friend.  I managed to get one more circle inside a square.

 Now both of these blocks need center circles...  I like that I can get a better idea of how the blocks will look together now.  All of those set in seams make for slow going.  Good thing there's no rush!

 Naturally I made some more 6 inch squares :0)  There is no end in sight for this project.

 A few nights ago my 6 year old daughter decided she wanted to learn to hand piece.  I was working on my Quilt patis stars which is more like EPP than handpiecing.  So, for her I grabbed some 2 1/2 inch squares from my scrap bag, drew a 1/4 inch seam line for her and off she started. 

I snapped this picture while sitting beside her and 2 other family members on the couch.  It's not a great picture but I think it captures her concentration and I didn't want to spoil the moment :0)  She has 4 squares sewn together now.  I'm not sure how big this will get/what she's going to make etc... but her enthusiasm is adorable!!

Happy Quilting!!