Will I finish?

The body of my double delight quilt was completed yesterday. All that is left is the borders. No idea whether I will get the chance to complete it before the new year. I hope to do so.

Christmas update

Well, Christmas was good for quilting treats. I now have two scrappy runner patterns, a new template, some odds and ends and two quilt kits.

The first is called All Squared Up and is in batiks. The other is a flannel Into the Woods. I'm looking forward to completing them.

I've made progress on the red hearts wallhanging/pillow. I hope to finish the quilting today.

I'm going to be in the city in January, so I hope to get the Hawaiian piece basted so I can take it for working on.

I also got another GFG patch pieced and one partly done.

5 more...

Didn't finish the blocks for the DD on the weekend - got pretty busy. The blocks are in the process of assembly, so they should be completed today. And then the task of assembling the quilt top starts. Luckily I found the layout instructions through a cat mishap. Runner jumped on a pile of stuff in the sewing room and knocked it all over the place. Included in the pile were the missing instructions.

My zazzle order arrived today. I bought a stainless steel DD mug. It's pretty. It was my Christmas gift to myself. Bonnie's new book is already ordered - since it's due out in February, it's going to be my birthday gift to myself.

10 More...

I have 10 more rolling star blocks to finish and then I can start assembling the double delight. I might just get the top done before new years.

The next challenge is the borders/binding. I have enough orange left for an inner border (or binding). No yellow at all. And the green print - I could make a smaller border with it, but am not certain I like the idea just yet. Binding will be a challenge - I am thinking I do not want to use the orange. Maybe a dark green if I can find one to match the border, unless I use something else for the border, but I really don't want to. I'd like to keep as much of this quilt to stash as I can.

Almost done

I'm almost done the bear's paw. Just a little more stitchery - I think I want to correct a few lines and it will be ready for binding. Just in time - I needed to take the frame down for company.

I probably won't get to finishing it until the new year. It will by my first (and maybe only!) completed UFO in 2010. So far, I have 3 finishes in 2009. We'll see - still have a few weeks yet.

The almost-last clue of Bonnie Hunter's Carolina Christmas mystery came out yesterday. I was thinking about making it and am now hooked. It's definitely on my To-Do list. I'd been collecting fabrics for it, so I may start doing the HST units as leaders-enders while I finish other projects. I have decided to finish the Double Delight top and the Red Bird top before I start anything else. Next after that I have to either finish and quilt my Mom's log cabin quilt or start and finish the flannel kit she bought and then gave to me to do for her when she read the directions and went "Huh". The directions aren't that bad, but she feels they may be beyond her.

Amost....

I'm almost done the 20 double-nine-patch blocks for the double delight. I'm on the last 6 so maybe by the end of the day.

I've almost leader-endered another 3D block. I cut out three more, and think I can get maybe another 2 cut. I threw the thing into EQ and played around - I need to get more fabric. I want to do a 3by4 layout - the 6 blocks just isn't enough. Hopefully I can get more fabric next Friday.

Next I've got almost 24 rolling star blocks to piece. I haven't finished all the square in a square units for those yet, so it could take a while. I'm thinking of doing 20 of the SNS units at a time and then piecing 5 blocks, then 20 units, etc for variety. I'll be so glad when this quilt is done. I can't believe I've been working on it for almost a whole year.

progressing slowly

Well, I continue to progress - I've managed to make 10 - 20 31/2" 9 patches a day for the last little while. I have almost completed all of the 9 patch units for my double delight quilt. Then I'll start putting block A together - there's 14 more i need to do.

I am almost done quilting the third quadrant of the bears paw quilt. I hope to finish the third quadrant tonight and at least mark the fourth. I don't expect to be able to work on it again until Friday or Saturday.

I also put together a 3D block from the Quiltmaker 100 Blocks book. I really like it - I think I have enough of the 3 fabrics to make 3 more blocks, so I may make a little quilt of 4 blocks and a border - it will measure out at 36 inches square. Not big, but good enough for a baby. The block is really complicated and time consuming to make - took 3 hours to make one, but is really effective - my son loves it. I think I'll cut patches as much as I can and put the hsts together leader-ender style. That way, it may take a while to finish the little quilt, but it will get done as I work in my DD.

Back at Double Delight

I cleaned my sewing room this week. GAH.

I found the Hawaiian applique I did - and the fabric that goes with it, so hopefully some time next week, I can finish up the top of the wallhanging and maybe baste it for quilting.

I did find a leftover Hearts piece that may be a wallhanging or large pillow - I haven't decided yet. I basted that to take with me for my trip to Emerg Monday night. I wasn't long for a change - I was being treated with a ventolin mask within half an hour of arriving.

And I've gone back to working on my double delight quilt that I started last new years. It would be nice to at least finish the top before next new year. I've got about 100 31/2" nine-patch blocks to finish, plus 52 SNS blocks to finish before I can assemble blocks. It would be nice to get this one done. I do remember why I set it aside - it's so fiddly (I pieced 10 of the 9-patches today and NONE of them squared up and I cannot figure out why - measurements are fine, just one of the squares goes wonky and that's it). It is very frustrating, but I will persevere.

Quilty weekend

This past weekend ended up being quilty by accident. I spent some time Friday night quilting the Bear's Paw while my Mom wrapped Christmas presents. I've got the first quadrant done and have made in-roads on the second.

Then on Sunday, my son took his snowmobile licensing course. The course was 6 hours and an hour and a half drive to and from, so I checked with the instructor, and took a sewing basket with me. I worked on quilting the Magic Tile quilt while my son took the course. I have 4 of the 12 blocks in that one quilted now as well.

Kitty Blue....

I spent a couple hours last night working on the green bear's paw quilt. I almost had a disaster - mom's cat got a hold of some of the batting and started ripping it up before she was chased off.

Good thing I'd quilted the border of this quilt first and the quilting goes right to the edge of the fabric, otherwise I'd have a real mess.

I've got over a quarter of the top done. I figure I'll finish it by the end of the year.

Found it!

It took a while but I found the perfect fabric for the back border of the Parrot quilt. It's perfect - a sort of splotchy blue colour. I just have to get the borders on and basted now. Problem there as I toasted my last good rotary blade on a pin last night.

And the Christmas lights center is finished. I just need to put the borders on and that quilt top is done as well.

It's slow, but it's progress.

And I have 15 of the hand pieced grandmother's flower garden patches done.

Week away progress

Well the week away allowed me to finish the blind stitching on the parrot quilt. I just need to add the borders and quilt them and it's done. I'm hoping to work on it this weekend.

I found some really nice fabric - butterflies in purples and blues. It's a large print and very pretty. It was 4 dollars a meter on sale so I picked up several meters - I'm looking forward to doing something with it at a later date.

Updates

It's been a while.

I haven't gotten any further on the Christmas Lights other than 2 rows stitched together. I went on the local shop hop and found border fabrics. Sadly, one of my favourite quilt shops was closing that weekend. The owner had passed away. I will miss that little store. That's two of my favourite shops gone now.

The parrot quilt is moving forward. I have the blocks in rows. I just need to do the blind stitching so the rows can be put together. I may get two rows done before I head to Toronto next week. It's definitely something I can do in the hotel room at nights. I am still dithering about adding a border. Now I'm wondering about not adding a border at all, but I think the back needs something to pull the blues together. I'll be on the lookout for a fabric for the back border.

I have 11 GFG blocks together now. Slow and steady - I get the odd one done here and there. I'm going to mark the stitching lines in a bunch and take them to work on in the evenings as well.

Quick update

I finally made it to a guild meeting - it's been since April as my schedule often conspires to keep me from going to meetings. Part of the problem is that it's close to an hour's drive. Once the weather gets bad, I won't make it at all.

I am sometimes still very angry about what the bitches in my village did when I miss getting out to go quilting. The way "lady jane" walked in, took over the group I started, and then behind my back rescheduled it so I could no longer attend.....I get mad just thinking about it. Sad thing is, I knew she would do just that but being a nice person I invited her to join anyways. Looking back, I never should have invited her, but that would have made me like her and her little disciples in the group.

It was a work meeting - people had ufos there were working on or cutting out cuddle quilts.

I took that last qayg parrot block and worked on it. It is almost done.

I also got the opportunity to ask some advice on putting an on point (Christmas Lights) quilt together. I'm not a fan of quilts on point, and needed some help. I hope to start assembling that quilt next week.

Post-IPM update

First - the IPM quilt show was nice - the plastic shielding the quilts was a visual distraction and I suspect it muted the colours significantly. I didn't get a lot of time to look, but I did like several of the quilts.

I bought a Halloween quilt kit with a cat and moon on it called "Meowing at the Moon". It is so cute. I can't wait for a good chance to work on it. Maybe Thanksgiving weekend.

I didn't take the last qayg Parrot with me. I still have half of the last block to finish. I've been making GFG blocks. I did 2 1/2 on the train to the plowing match - was too tired to piece on the way home.

Hexagons

Well, so much for no new projects.

I've started cutting a jelly roll into hexagons to do a grandmother's flower garden as a hand piecing project. I have been resisting doing this for a couple of months. I had bought a package of templates specifically for jelly rolls some time ago.

I've got about 80 more to cut - there will be 560 in total. Ow. I am feeling it in my wrist and back. The colours are interesting. It's an American Jane set of fabrics - sort of limey green, peach, red, blues, pinks. I think the end result may be very pretty. A couple of the strips and polka dots, don't really lend themselves to GFG, but I don't care. I'm going to use them anyways.

The next thing will be to choose the colour sets. Each Jelly Roll strip produced 14 hexes. This will make two flowers and two centres. A total of 80 flowers. I think the final result will be a large lap quilt. The test flower ended up about 6 1/2" across.

Onward ever onward

It's starting to get cold at night so I'll soon start lap quilting a larger project so I have something to snuggle up in. I have a magic tile quilt that has 3 of the 12 tile blocks quilted, but was set aside when the weather got hot. I'll start working on that at home once I get the last Parrot block quilted and until I get the border for the Parrot figured out.

I figure (if all goes as planned) I'll have the last of the parrot blocks quilted this week. That will leave me without a take-along project for when I go to IPM in Earlton next weekend. I'll have to figure something out for in the hotel at night and during the train ride.

I do have the Birthday blocks that need to be sorted and pulled into a quilt. I just haven't figured out how I want to set them so that I can deal with the varieties in size. I don't really want to do the same as the Parrot quilt. I was thinking an Attic Window's approach, but then there is the problem of varieties in size - how do I make them match up? and also what colours do I use for the windows? And the backing? I'm not exactly ready to tackle that one yet, although I would like to get it done.

The guild is doing the block exchange with focus fabric again. This time I've decided not to participate - my attendance is not exactly regular due to work and the resulting set of blocks is a pain in the ass to deal with as they are all different sizes and fabrics (polycottons = yuck!), not the 12 " finished and 100% cotton like they are supposed to be.

The light at the end of the tunnel....

I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel with the parrot quilt. I started quilting the final block QAYG today.

Unfortunately I am wondering if there is a train attached. I haven't quite figured out how to handle the border part. That could be interesting or nasty. I haven't decided which. I also haven't decided quite what Iam going to do for the border yet either. Decisions, decisions.

Fall Fair results

I did well at the fair. The patchwork scottie dog won a second with a note that it was very unique. The hand-pieced, hand-quilted irish chain crib quilt won a second. My catapillar wool bulky knit sweater also won a second, so all in all, I did very well.

not much happening...

I'm halfway through block 11 of the Parrot quilt - haven't had a lot of time to quilt.

Put the hand-pieced irish chain crib quilt in the fair, along with the hand pieced scotty dog stuffed toy and a bulky knit sweater. I'll find out saturday how they did.

OK - so much for not starting anything new. I did a small table topper/centerpiece. It's 5 16-patch blocks with setting triangles. The 16-patches are yellows, pinks, greens and blues mostly. I'm using pink as binding. I finished piecing it yesterday, and for a change, basted and machine quilted it. It's rare that I machine quilt anything.

This morning I sewed the binding on. I just have the hand-stitching of the binding to finish and it's done.

It's a new project, but it's been very satisfying to whip something together - a great feeling of accomplishment. I found some beautiful fall FQ yesterday and will make another of these toppers in fall colours at some point in the near future.

I basted another parrot block yesterday. The 10th one is almost finished quilting - just a little bit around the border and it's done. I hope to finish it at lunch time.

I'm going camping for the long weekend. I'll take the 11th parrot block and the table topper to hand-stitch the binding on.

I'm back

Having spent the better part of the last two weeks in the city and working, I am now back. I have worked 4o hours overtime in the last two weeks. So when I finally got home/slowed down I have not gotten much done.

While away, I did finish the quilting on 2 of the qayg Parrot blocks. I am working on yet another and have 2 more to baste and then the blocks for that quilt is done.

My leaders/enders 9-patch has been pulled together into a crib-sized flimsy.

And on a whim, I pulled a bunch of 2" squares together to make a quick (maybe) table topper.

Not much quilting

Is going to happen this week. I'm off to the city for work. I've packed 2 parrot qayg blocks to work on.

I did get 5 of the block#2 done for Christmas lights. Next weekend I'll hopefully get a chance to finish the block #2's.

Now to go back to packing.

Block #1 Done

Finished the 12 star blocks for Christmas Lights. Started work on the other blocks. I have one quadrant finished of the 20 blocks and have started on the second quadrant. This quilt is going to be very pretty when finished. It's been a challenge to go scrappy.

I hope I can get the block #2 done before I have to head to the city. I'm working in the city next week - I also have to prep some QAYG blocks to take with so I have something to do in the hotel in the evening.

Forward momentum

Well I've started the star blocks on Christmas lights. Pictures are being posted on the yahoo group of the blocks and one of the girls told me that I could go from the picture.

I've got one star block finished and the rest in the process. I love chain piecing. The blocks are going to be pretty when finished. I haven't started the other blocks yet. They appear to be much more complicated and less straightforward.

This quilt has been a bit of a challenge as it has forced me to go scrappy for the 4 patches and the background fabric. I admit I am becoming more comfortable with scrappy. My DD was a very controlled palette. Much of the colour scheme for this one is outside of my comfort zone, so I am stretching myself a bit.

Still no Quiltmaker

Was in town last night for a dental appointment and grocery trip. Tried every store that sells magazines. No Quiltmaker. They said to try again next week as this week's magazines are out.

This is getting frustrating. I'm in the city for work next week, so no piecing will be happening. I've got some QAYG parrot blocks to take to work on in the hotel.

I've got karate tonight, so I'll stop in the town on the way to the dojo and see if I can find the magazine there.

Still exist!

Back again - I can't believe Ihaven't updated this blog since April. But then, there has been a definite lack of quilting going on.

I did finish the patchwork Scottie dog, and a embroidered puzzle ball. Other finishes to date are the hand pieced irish chain crib quilt. I finally figured out a way to fix the 3 corner tear on the one alternate patch. It's barely noticeable now - I used a patch of the same fabric - put wonder under on it, and put it into the quilt behind the hole and then fused it. I hope I never have to make a repair like this again.

My progress on the Double delight quilt has stalled. Boredom with all the SNS patches set in. I'm hoping to get back to it soon.

I started (bad girl! no cookie!) the Christmas Lights mystery from quiltmaker magazine. I finished clue #1 this weekend. The next issue with Clue #2 is not yet available where I am. I'm hoping to get a hold of it sometime this week.

I have been resisting the urge to start new projects. It has been very, very hard. I've got leftovers from Christmas Lights that I could see as a pillow or a table topper, but have so far resisted the urge to start something.

In the leaders/enders project, I've got 40 postage-stamp 16 patches done. And I have just about exhausted my supply of 1 1/2" squares. I think I have enough for 5 more blocks, so I have to decide whether I am going to cut more (I have lots and lots and lots of scraps in bins) or just put a quilt together and call it done. I'm leaning towards cutting as I have 4 large rubbermaid tubs that can be cut up into strips and used - it would be nice to get the scraps all organized into bins.

And the scrappy 9-patch I have sets sorted out for another 16 patches, so I may do that as leaders/enders for a while until I am ready to go with the postage stamps again. I figure when I get the postage stamp quilt done, I'll use alternate patches of some colour and tie it. I may add a small border to put the binding on, otherwise I'll lose a good chunk of the postage stamps in the 16-patches as I like to use half inch binding. I'm starting to seriously lean towards red for the alternate blocks - that or a blue and red for the binding.

And I did make some progress on the parrot quilt. 7 of the blocks are complete - quilted. I have one block in the quilting process and another 4 that are sashed and ready to be basted. I am still debating how I'm going to put it together. The border is going to be the area where I may have problems - it's where the black and white QAYG is stalled. Hopefully I'll have a good time with this one and that will push me towards finishing the B&W.

No new projects is my current mantra. Finish UFOs!

Progress on Double Delight and Cuddle quilts

The double delight was put on the back burner so I could help mom make some cuddle quilts for the fire department. We chose to make rag quilts this time around and finished 6 of them. I am very pleased with the results - especially as I tried some different layouts - the strip pieced one turned out really well.

This weekend I found 3 hours to quilt - I made 3 of the double 9-patch blocks and also 4 leader/ender 4-patch blocks. It doesn't sound like much until one considers that the double 9-patch blocks contain 5 3" 9-patch blocks, which brings the total of the blocks made to 18. Then I feel pretty good about my progress.

My copy of Scraps and Shirttails arrived in the mail today. I am looking forward to reading it.

New Blog

I've created a new blog in order to record my quilting/sewing activities.

I'm have been quilting for about 10 years. I love handquilting and hand piecing. I am attempting to learn how to applique properly by hand. I do machine-piece but am not fond of machine quilting.

It's just my opinion, but machine quilting just loses something. I know it's work to put a quilt, especially a large one through a sewing machine, but there is just something not there about a machine-pieced quilt.

My local fabric shop says I'm a Traditionalist like it's a bad thing.

One project I am working on at the moment is a Parrot quilt. It is being made from blocks in a quild swap. Unfortunately, the blocks do not all square up to 12 1/2", which has made putting the quilt together a challenge. I finally decided to sash each block so that it squares up to 15" unfinished. And since each block is being sashed individually, I am going to quilt each block as I go an assemble the full quilt later. That way I have a project to take along with me. I have the first block half quilted and the second one sashed, marked and basted. I have 10 swap blocks and will need to make 2 to complete the quilt.