Modern Sampler Borders, Sunflowers, Ribbing, and a Class

In order to make my Modern Sampler quilt bed sized, I need to add borders.  I decided to make one of the borders pieced with 2.5" squares.  I cut out lots of squares and then made them into twosies.  Some of them have been sewn into longer chains but that's as far as I got this week.  Next time I sit down at the sewing machine, I will work on this again. 

My Sunflower cross stitch is 3/4 done!  My goal of having this done by the end of October is achievable, I think.  I will keep stitching! The fourth quadrant is already in progress. 

I did a little bit of knitting every day this past week and I am just about finished the ribbing on my hat.  The next section is Trinity stitch and I watched a YouTube video on how to do that this week.  Wish me luck!

There were two new babies in the family this summer.  This is baby W with his quilt that I made for him.  His Mom reports he is enjoying tummy time on the quilt.  The quilt is folded in half in this picture. This quilt was made with flannel scraps and also has a flannel back.  I made two of them and each of the two babies born in July received one.  My flannel scrap basket is starting to overflow again so I made need to make another one to keep it from exploding onto the floor. 

I taught a scrappy drunkard's path class today for the Oxford Guild.  First, we pieced some scraps to make fabric and then I showed them how to do curved piecing to make the blocks.  Everyone had fun playing with their scraps and I look forward to seeing their finished projects.  This is a slower project as it takes a while to piece the fabric.  The black and white scraps with the green background is my block. This will count for this month's Rainbow Scrap challenge as we are to use light neutrals this month.  I also worked on my 6.5" slab blocks --I will show a picture of them when they are done. 

Our burning bush started to show its fall colours this week. It is such a vibrant red in the fall. 

My husband and I went for a walk at the park one morning this past week. The leaves are starting to turn and fall. 

Finn is not so sure he likes this colder and damper weather.  He always stands in the doorway to check to see if it is raining before venturing out to do his business.  He doesn't like to get his feet wet!!

 I will be linking up with Kathy on Sunday Morning and with Angela now for the RSC.  I have started linking up with Patchwork and Quilts as well. (Patchwork and Quilts is a bilingual blog--French and English.  I am learning French by doing Duolingo each day for 40 mins and I find I can read the French part of the blog with minimal reference to the English translation!)

Fall Leaves, Sunflowers and a Swatch

A couple of weeks ago, I pieced a fall leaves wall hanging and this week, I quilted and bound it.  The background fabric is Essex linen and the print fabrics had all been in my stash for several years. My goal for this project was to use up almost all of these fabrics while making a gift for my MIL.  I quilted it with straight lines using my walking foot.  

I used the Essex linen for the binding and hanging sleeve and finished off the hand sewing this afternoon. 

Here is the finished wall hanging, ready to bring to quilt guild this week for show and tell before giving it to my MIL at Thanksgiving dinner next weekend.  You can see how I used the leftovers on the back.  A few small pieces landed in my scrap bins.

Here is a picture of my somewhat wrinkly Sunflower cross stitch project.  I'm hoping to finish the lower left quadrant this week and then move on to the final quarter.  

I made a swatch of the wool for my new hat...I had to do this three times before getting it right.  I think I am ready to start the hat now...  I love the colours in this yarn. 

I went to our guild sewing day this past week and brought along my modern sampler blocks as well as the background fabric I purchased a few weeks ago.  These blocks were made during a block of the month organized by a friend from another guild from Sept 2020 to August 2021.  The original BOM was organized by the Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild and is available online for free.  I needed 13 blocks for my planned layout, so I made the circle block as an extra. 

Trying out this 4.5" sashing for size...

By the end of the day, I had all the blocks together.  I will bring this along to the next sewing day to add the borders.  I have an idea percolating in my head...   I am aiming for a twin sized quilt. 

Finn was in a deep sleep on the couch when my daughter took this picture.  He's got a certain style!

 I picked up a quilt from the long armers this week so I hope to work on the binding tomorrow for my slow Sunday stitching.  I should have another finish to show next week.  I will link up with Kathy in the morning. 

Packing up for another Retreat!

 My friend, Christine, and I are off to another quilting retreat this weekend!  The weather looks good and won't interfere with our plans.  I have packed several projects to take with me including the Lupin Quilt (all of the blocks are made and the sashing and borders are cut out and ready to go):

A comfort quilt for the local women's shelter using bird blocks made by members of the Elgin Piecemakers:  (all sashing, cornerstones and borders are cut) The last block was given to me last week. 

My modern sampler quilt: (all blocks made and the fabric for sashing, borders, etc is in the bag)

I'm also bringing along two knitting projects...one I can't show as it is a gift, but the other one is my nearly completed snowflake dishcloth.

In the sewing room this week, I made several Christmas gifts.  I mailed out one parcel this week and have a couple more gifts to make and mail next week. I will show pictures of what I made after Christmas. 

My husband and I did some Christmas decorating this week.  I have three Christmas quilts hanging in various parts of the house.  I made this one a few years ago--the pattern was in a magazine.  The pillows are my own designs. 

Christine gave me this cute gnome quilt last year. 

I made this snowman wall hanging over 10 years ago--it was a kit. 

I noticed someone has done some outdoor decorating at the park where I walk each morning with a friend. 

The snow has melted now but I'm sure there will be more in the not too distant future. 

Finn enjoyed a nap this week on the quilt I made my daughter when she went away to university.

I will link up with Kathy's slow stitchers on Sunday morning.

Love Birds Ready to be Framed

 And just like that, Love Birds is done!  I took a picture of me making the last stitch in the Bride bird's hat. 

The fabric is white but the lighting in my sewing room tonight was not the best for taking a picture of the entire wreath with the Love Birds in the middle.  This project was stitched on 14 count white Aida cloth and took 6 months to complete.  I will be washing it and then taking it to the framers sometime in the next couple of weeks. I am going to take pictures of the framing options and text them to the newlyweds to see which one they like the best.  Next up, I have a couple of embroidery kits to stitch and a knitting project to do as well...I'm going to take a break from cross stitching for a while.

I did some paper piecing for the 12th Modern BOM that I have been working on since September. Here is one quadrant of the block. I made the outside edge of each quadrant a bit bigger so that I could trim it down to the right size after sewing them together. 

Here is my finished block. There is one more optional block to make and I think I am going to make my own version of it.  I may use it as a label or on the front of the quilt...I'm not sure yet. I used the glasses fabric in every block and then pulled out my orange and navy striped and polka dot fabrics to add to the quilt blocks. The background is Michael Miller Hashdots in gray. 

The pineapple blocks are sewn together--this involved some rather intense pinning to make sure all of the seams intersected at the right spots.  I was successful in most cases!  I will be quilting this one myself when my sewing machine is back from repair. 

My husband and I spent a couple of days this past week mulching the gardens with a truckload of mulch that was in a big pile in our driveway.  There is still a bit more to do but it has been raining the last couple of days so finishing it will have to wait until we have a dry day.  We have lots more blooms in the garden this week including hydrangea:

Shasta Daisies

Prickly Pear Cactus

Purple Cone Flower

Butterfly Weed

The other activity that ate into my sewing time this week was genealogy.  I went to town looking for documents that told my family story.  My father always told me I inherited my sewing skills from his mother who was a "tailoress".  This week, I dug into her predecessors and found three dressmakers and a tailor!  I guess you could say sewing is in my genes!  

Some of the handwriting on these old records is challenging to decipher and some of the words they used to describe occupations involve googling to figure out what they actually did to earn a living!

Our daughter's cityscape stitching is coming along.  She is stitching it on 18 count Aida cloth. Finn wants you to know that it belongs to him and you can't have it!  LOL.  He has an appointment in two weeks for a haircut.  I'm not sure how he sees with all that hair in his eyes!

I will link up with the Slow Sunday Stitchers at Kathy's blog tomorrow. 

Two Finishes and some BOM Blocks

It has been a while since I have had a finished project to share on my blog (besides placemats), and this week, I have two!  This blue colour block quilt is made from 2.5" squares from my blue scrap bin.  I found some really fun crayon fabric for the backing and even added a label already, even though I have not written on it yet.  This quilt will be set aside for a future baby gift. Most of the fabrics repeat in the quilt so lots of fun to be had for some little one trying to find the matching squares. 

The blocks for this next quilt were leftovers from another colour block quilt--this one is gray and yellow.  The large project is not quilted yet but as of this week, it is pin basted and ready to be quilted next.  This is my second small project from the leftovers of the main project...  The backing was in my stash.  The quilting was done with the walking foot on my DSM. I hand stitched the binding today. 

I am almost all caught up on my Modern Block of the Month (BOM) blocks.  I made three more blocks this week. 

I have the pattern for one more block which I hope to make this week.  Next, I will have to figure out how to set them into a quilt top...

 Love Birds moved along at a snail's pace this week.  I spent more time at the sewing machine this week than with my hand stitching. I am getting closer to finishing the wreath of flowers with each stitch. 

Finn lodged a complaint after I posted last week's blogpost.  He did not make an appearance!!!  He has been sporting a donut collar this past week as he has another infection around his mouth, caused by the cone that he had to wear for two weeks due to the previous infection.  More antibiotics and special wipes for the infected areas and he is on the mend, thankfully.  We all hope this is the end of vet visits for a while! To make up for his absence in last week's post, here are two pictures of Finn.  In the first picture, he is supervising my daughter as she organizes her embroidery floss collection.  In the second, he is modelling his "Zen Collar", but not all that happy about wearing it.  He's getting quite fluffy and is in need of a haircut.  

My daughter has finished her Munich cityscape and has been working on a new embroidery picture, a butterfly with flowers. 

The garden has been producing more blooms every day, even though we have a risk of frost tonight!  Last week, our air conditioning was on because is was so hot, and now the heat is back on to take the chill off.  The patio and porch pots of annuals and herbs have all been placed undercover to keep them from being damaged by the frost. 

Wegelia Bush

Blue Jay Columbine

Bachelor Button

Deutzia Bush

We are still mostly locked down here and will slowly reopen based on the percentage of the population that is vaccinated.  My daughter gets her first vaccine this week--Yahoo!  I will link up with Kathy and the Slow stitchers in the morning.