I used 1/2 yard for the TV top.  No other projects completed,  No fabric purchases.

I’m quilting on the Irish Chain.  Some folks have trouble believing that I do this on my domestic sewing machine.  I do most of my quilting on a Janome 8900.  Sometimes, if the project is small I used my Janome 6500.  Here’s pictures of a wreath in progress – on my Janome 8900.  I have 14 wreaths completed – 17 more to do!

Stash Report

Fabric Used this Week:     0.5 yards  
Fabric Used year to Date:  121.75  yards
Fabric Added this Week:    0  yards 
Fabric Added Year to Date:   49.5 yards
Net Fabric used for 2017:   65.45 yards  

UFO tally

I started the year with 47 UFO’s.  One UFO finished so far this month.  I doesn’t look like I’ll finish the Irish Chain before the end of the month … so it’ll likely be a September finish.

2017   Completed
Jan:           2
Feb:           0
Mar:          0
Apr:          0
May:          2
June:          4
July:          0
Aug:          1

38 UFO’s left to complete

Linking to:

• Sunday Stash @ quiltpaintcreate
• Oh Scrap @ Quilting is more fun than Housework
• Monday Making @ Love, Laugh, Quilt
• Design Wall Monday @ Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
• Moving it Forward Monday @ Em’s Scrapbag
• Main Crush Monday @ Cooking up Quilts 

Happy Quilting
Gail

SaveSave

Yup, 3 whole days of “Frogging” … rippit, rip, rip …  Back story:  I was merrily quilting the centre lines and the 2 coloured lines on this Irish chain and was about to put in my 3rd bobbin … and then I really looked at my quilting … and looked at it … I was using a thread colour that matched the big negative spaces and it looked absolutely HORRID.  The white thread was too much.  It was “HELLO … I’m on your quilt – look at me – plain straight lines … HELLO!”

One of the ladies I sew with is notorious for taking out her quilting.  I’m always teasing her, encouraging to leave it in, telling her that when the quilt is washed – it’ll look just fine.  And for the most part, I believe I’m telling her the truth!  (Now, if she’s reading my blog … she’ll be laughing out loud! … and she’ll have a big grin on her face!)

Well, washing this quilt will not help!  So, I spent 3 days taking out the quilting.   You can’t really see it in this picture, but the dark blue/black blocks are now quilted with a dark grey.  On the lines parallel to the centre line, I’m using a gold thread.  Some of them are done.  You can see the thread, but it isn’t horrid and it isn’t shouting “HELLO”.  And now that it’s done, I’m actually pleased that I spent the time taking the quilting out.  

One day last week, I was walking by a thrift store and they had wooden TV trays out and were asking $3.15 each.  I brought one home … my husband repaired a piece that was cracked and I sanded and painted.  Today, I covered it with reflective material, batting and the top fabric.   It may double as a small ironing board, but mostly I wanted it to sit to the right of my machine for all the pieces that are ready to go through the machine.

Link-ups

To see what others in the quilty world are working on wander over to these blogs:

• Can I get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
• Amanda Jean @ Crazy Mom Quilts  on hold until Sept
• Finished or Not @ Busy Hands Quilts
• Let’s Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts  
• Happy Needle  and Thread @ My Quilt Infatuation

Happy Quilting
Gail

The Pink Snail’s Trail used 8.75 yards.  Last week in my report, I stated that I had bought 4 yards of fabric to use for the backing.  One lovely lady said, “I don’t really consider that adding to the stash, as it does get used immediately.”  She is so correct! I’ll use the amount this time, but in the future, I won’t count it – unless I don’t use it right away, or I buy backing on speculation that it will be used in the future.

I also used up some flannel to make new covers for my magic bags. We use them a lot in the winter, so new covers will be nice!  They used 0.7 yards of fabric

Design Wall

I’m adding borders to this quilt:  When it’s finished – it’ll be added to my UFO DONE list!

Stash Report

Fabric Used this Week:      9.45 yards  
Fabric Used year to Date:  121.25  yards
Fabric Added this Week:    0  yards 
Fabric Added Year to Date:   49.5 yards
Net Fabric used for 2017:   64.95 yards  

UFO tally

I started the year with 47 UFO’s.  One UFO finished so far this month. The Pink Snail’s Trail was not a UFO – so it’s not counted as one.

2017   Completed
Jan:           2
Feb:           0
Mar:          0
Apr:          0
May:          2
June:          4
July:          0
Aug:          1

38 UFO’s left to complete

Linking to:

• Sunday Stash @ quiltpaintcreate
• Oh Scrap @ Quilting is more fun than Housework
• Monday Making @ Love, Laugh, Quilt
• Design Wall Monday @ Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
• Moving it Forward Monday @ Em’s Scrapbag
• Main Crush Monday @ Cooking up Quilts 

Happy Quilting
Gail

This quilt is done and will be donated to the guild’s cancer quilt charity.  It was a fun quilt to make!  And certainly much much easier than Shakespeare in the Park!  (Click here).  But it is also about 1/4 the size!  

Here is a close-up of the quilting.  I basically followed the ‘trail’ and then did orange peel flowers in the large white & pink blocks.  This picture was taken after the quilt was washed – so you also get the “wrinkled” affect.

Link-ups

To see what others in the quilty world are working on wander over to these blogs:

• Can I get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
• Amanda Jean @ Crazy Mom Quilts
• Finished or Not @ Busy Hands Quilts
• Let’s Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts  
• Happy Needle  and Thread @ My Quilt Infatuation

Happy Quilting
Gail

My finishes this week is the Ribbon Box quilt (9.75 yards).  (See a picture HERE).  I did end up buying backing (4 yards) for the Pink Snail’s Trail.  There was NOTHING in my stash that would work.  However, I did find a lovely plain flannel that makes the quilt so very cosy!  It is now my current project that I am quilting.

Stash Report

Fabric Used this Week:      9.75 yards  
Fabric Used year to Date:  111.8  yards
Fabric Added this Week:    4  yards 
Fabric Added Year to Date:   49.5 yards
Net Fabric used for 2017:   55.5 yards  

UFO tally

I started the year with 47 UFO’s.  One UFO finished so far this month.

2017   Completed
Jan:           2
Feb:           0
Mar:          0
Apr:          0
May:          2
June:          4
July:          0
Aug:          1

38 UFO’s left to complete

Linking to:

• Sunday Stash @ quiltpaintcreate
• Oh Scrap @ Quilting is more fun than Housework
• Monday Making @ Love, Laugh, Quilt
• Design Wall Monday @ Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
• Moving it Forward Monday @ Em’s Scrapbag
• Main Crush Monday @ Cooking up Quilts 

Happy Quilting
Gail

I have finished the next quilt for a wedding gift. The fabric had been sitting for quite a while and the pattern did not “wow” me.  When I saw this pattern, I knew immediately that it was the pattern to use for these fabrics!

Here’s a close up of some of the quilting. And yes, there were a LOT of ends to cut off.  For the most part, I used my walking foot and a special anchor stitch on my machine at the beginning and ending of each straight section. That way I didn’t have to bury any of the threads, just had to cut all the ends off.  Then I FMQ the swirls in all the background areas.

Update

The pdf for the sewing mat tutorial is now smaller and won’t take as long to download.  You can find it HERE.

Link-ups

To see what others in the quilty world are working on wander over to these blogs:

• Can I get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
• Amanda Jean @ Crazy Mom Quilts
• Finished or Not @ Busy Hands Quilts
• Let’s Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts  
• Happy Needle  and Thread @ My Quilt Infatuation

Happy Quilting
Gail

Wow!!  I can hardly believe that I’ve been blogging for a year now!  There has been 110 published posts.  I’m surprised that I wrote that much!  Especially since I don’t even think about the blog while I’m away.

Away and back again

I was away for just over a week.  Went up into the interior of BC.  There are over 120 wildfires burning in the province and I had to take detours in order to get there and back home.  The detours added between 2 and 4 hours to the 12 hour trip – one way.  Mostly because with the longer drives, I need to stop more often.

There is a total of 591,210 hectares burning right now.  To bring it into perspective: that’s bigger than the province of Prince Edward Island, one and a half times the size of Rhode Island and almost the size of the state of Delaware. That’s a lot of land!

This picture was taken in the Cariboo, north of Williams Lake.  It’s usually a beautiful view looking down the valley, but all you can see is smoke, smoke, smoke.

Quilting

I’m busy quilting another wedding gift or at least trying to!  

My machine needed to go to the doctor – it was skipping stitches and apparently the timing was out.  It seems to happen quite often with my Janome 8900.  Sigh!  Hopefully now, it will work perfectly as I have a pile of quilts that need quilting.

And I’ve almost finished a smaller machine mat. I need to buy a pair of scissors and find the button so I can attach the thread catcher.  All the sewing is done.  And yes, it’s the same material as the larger one, except I used purple instead of yellow on the flange binding.

Stash Report

Fabric Used this Week:      2 yards  
Fabric Used year to Date:  95.30 yards
Fabric Added this Week:    0  yards 
Fabric Added Year to Date:   45.5 yards
Net Fabric used for 2017:    51.8 yards  

UFO tally

I started the year with 47 UFO’s.  No UFO’s finished yet this month.

2017   Completed
Jan:           2
Feb:           0
Mar:          0
Apr:          0
May:          2
June:          4
July:          0
Aug:          0

39 UFO’s left to complete

Linking to:

• Sunday Stash @ quiltpaintcreate
• Oh Scrap @ Quilting is more fun than Housework
• Monday Making @ Love, Laugh, Quilt
• Design Wall Monday @ Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
• Moving it Forward Monday @ Em’s Scrapbag
• Main Crush Monday @ Cooking up Quilts 

Happy Quilting
Gail