Month: January 2018

Monday design wall

/ quiltinggail / 8 Comments

I’m working on another retreat bag.  A large one this time.  I had a honey bun and wanted to quilt as you go.  I finished the quilt as you go and then went and cut the “fabric” too short … groan … sew, I had a wide enough piece cut from the bottom and added it to the side.  (see the top piece)  Hopefully it will turn out!lg-retreat-bagl.jpg

Linking to:

To see what other’s in the quilting world are working on – click on the following links:

Happy Quilting!
Gail

No more fabric anorexia!

/ quiltinggail / 13 Comments

That’s correct – my period of fabric anorexia has ended.  Well, I made it almost a month!  A friend of my sister’s took me to a wonderful quilt store on the east side of Edmonton.  Lori’s Country Cottage.  I caved.  I saw this awesome black material in the clearance section … then I found out that if I bought 8 meters, it would be $7.50 / meter.  The black was 3 meters … so I also bought 5 meters of neutrals.  No more fabric anorexia!

PHD #4 DONE!!!

I brought 3 “Retreat Bags” to work on.  This is the small bag.  I did the quilting after taking a “Zen-doodle” class last year … It was fun to do the quilting.  The pattern is free at Emmeline Bags .  You can also purchase the wire frames from her as well.  

PHD Update

So far this year, I have completed 4 UFOs.  My goal for the year, for my PHD,  is 28, that means I have 24 left to complete.  There is a total of 56 UFOs left.

Stash Report

I just realized that I did not include the fabric that I used to complete the Flannel Fat Quarter quilt.  There were 2 packages of 8 fat quarters … so that’s 4 yards and 6 yards for the back … so another 10 yards.  Then there’s another yard for my latest finish.

Fabric Used this Week:     1  yards  
Fabric Used year to Date:  17.5  yards
Fabric Added this Week:    8  yards 
Fabric Added Year to Date: 8.5 yards
Net Fabric used for 2017:   9 yards

 

Linking to:

To see what other’s in the quilting world are working on – click on the following links:

Happy Quilting!
Gail

Friday’s Finishes

/ quiltinggail / 17 Comments

PHD Update

Image result for Yeah clipart free

UFO #3 is completely done!!!   My goal for my PHD in 2018 was to finish 3 UFOs in each of the first 3 months.  I did it for January!!!   This House Wall Hanging is Done, done, done!!!  I doesn’t show in the picture, but I did little clouds in the negative spaces around the roofs.

house finished

Another Finish, but not a UFO.

I made a quilt for my sister sometime around 1984 or so … I didn’t know a lot about quilting.  It was a simple Irish Chain, hand quilted with a rose bud.  I was quite proud of it. Oh my, how things have changed … my quilting has improved quite a bit and I very rarely hand quilt.  And polyester batting is a thing of the past!  The quilt has been used and loved.  So much that the single layer binding has frayed a ton.  (I didn’t know to use a double layer of fabric at the time!)

So, my sister went shopping with a friend prior to having her surgery and picked out a fabric to use for the binding.  The quilt has faded and she picked out a lighter green that is perfect for it.  The first picture below gives you an idea of how much the binding has frayed … the second is a picture of the binding on the quilt. (Yes, I broke all the rules about only hand sewing on a hand quilted quilt and I sewed the binding on by machine.)

Linking to:

To see what other’s in the quilting world are working on – click on the following links:

Happy Quilting!
Gail

Dollar Store Necessities

/ quiltinggail / 24 Comments

Today, I left my sister alone with her husband and went shopping.  My sister wants to quilt and has signed up for a class later in the spring. I didn’t bring everything with me, so I went to Dollarama and bought what I figure she needs.  And of course, I will use them while I’m here!  (wink, wink)   Image result for winking smiley face free

Dollarama

  • A flannel back table cloth makes a great design wall.  I usually put it on the bed and design there.  A bonus is that you can fold it up and it will store your layout for you.  If the flannel gets so it doesn’t stick very well, a quick spray with 505 Fabric Spray Adhesive helps make it more sticky.
  • The hair clips can be used to clip units together or hold the binding in place.  I have some that I put numbers on with a sharpie and they can be used to “label” rows or whatever.
  • The spray bottle is to either dilute Best Press (half & half with water) or to use with water.  I use a dry iron, but sometimes a little moisture is what you need to get rid of a crease.  And yes, I did buy her some unscented Best Press – but not at the dollar store, so it’s not in the picture.
  • The shelf liner is to put under her foot pedal to keep it from travelling.  And, I will cut 2 small pieces (~ 2″ x 3″) to put under my hands when I am free motioning.
  • The hair thingies (?pony tail holders?) are great for putting around a bobbin to keep the thread from going everywhere.   I match the bobbin thingy with the thread thingy and then I can tell at a glance which thread goes with which bobbin.

Linking to:

To see what other’s in the quilting world are working on – click on the following links:

Happy Quilting!
Gail

 

House Wall Hanging

/ quiltinggail / 6 Comments

This is the project that I’m working on today.  I’m starting to quilt this wall hanging.  Mostly it will be stitch in the ditch … but I might change my mind and do something else as well.  house

Linking to:

To see what other’s in the quilting world are working on – click on the following links:

Happy Quilting!
Gail

 

Sewing at my Sister’s

/ quiltinggail / 9 Comments

Necessary Clutch

I have gotten a little sewing done. The Necessary Clutch is done except for the button.  I put a magnetic snap on because I wanted to use this fantastic hand-painted button.  Then I realized that it’s near to impossible to sew the button in place because of the snap.  The needle is now stuck in place. Groan.  This is going to have to wait until I get home, get my husband to help and apply some crazy glue.  If anyone has any other suggestions, I’m open to them!

The exterior of the wallet is cork.  It’s the first time I’ve sewn with it.  It sews like a dream – just like everyone says it does!

If you are interested in really neat buttons, visit The Steam Trunk Craftworks,  click on “SHOP”, then “Handmade buttons.”  She also has fabric, kits, trims and all sorts of other stuff!

House Wall Hanging

My husband bought me this kit when we were in Pennsylvania.  I decided it was a perfect project to bring with me.  The houses are almost finished.  After I took this picture, I realized that one roof had one chimney in the wrong place.  My sister said I could leave it as a “design element.”  I decided with only 4 houses, it needed to be fixed.  However, if I was doing a bigger quilt with lots and lots of houses, I would likely have left it and made more “design elements.” Image result for picture smiley face free   thumbnail-e1516570620695.jpg

PHD Update

So far this year, I have completed 2 UFOs.  My goal for the year, for my PHD,  is 28, that means I have 26 left to complete.  There is a total of 58 UFOs left.

The 2 completed UFOs, Scrappy Irish Chain and Fat 1/4 Flannel quilt can be seen by clicking on the name of the quilt.  And yes, as I typed this, I realize that Fat 1/4 Flannel quilt is not a great name for the quilt, but that’s it’s name, for now.  Image result for picture smiley face free

Stash Report

No shopping means no buying of fabric.

Fabric Used this Week:     0  yards  
Fabric Used year to Date:  0  yards
Fabric Added this Week:    0  yards 
Fabric Added Year to Date: 0.5 yards
Net Fabric used for 2017:   6.5 yards  

Linking to:

To see what other’s in the quilting world are working on – click on the following links:

Happy Quilting!
Gail

 

A Little Sewing

/ quiltinggail / 14 Comments

PHD in 2018 Update

We have a late-comer to our PHD in 2018 group!  It’s Deana from Dreamworthy Quilts.  This post lists her UFOs with the actual month that she started the quilts.  WOW – I’m impressed!  I think she had said something to me at an earlier date, but I forgot!  Her post from December (HERE) has her list.

PHD in 2018 is now CLOSED.

Project Update

One of the UFOs I brought with me is the Necessary Clutch.  I worked on it a bit while my sister was in the hospital.  She’s home now and doing pretty good.

Anyhow,  it’s a fantastic wallet.  The write up states, “The Necessary Clutch Wallet isn’t just your ordinary wallet. Carry your cell phone/mobile, cheques, cash, cards, coins and still have room for your favorite lipstick or even personal items. With its closed ends, everything is safe and secure and there is never any worry about anything sliding out.”   You can access the pattern HERE.

The first picture shows the exterior and flap with the snap in place.  The lining is in the upper left corner.  The 2nd picture shows the credit card slots and the zipper pouch.   Will I get this finished?  Time will tell.

Linking to:

To see what other’s in the quilting world are working on – click on the following links:

 

Going to Visit

/ quiltinggail / 25 Comments

There’s nothing new on my design wall.

Image result for images free nurse angel I am going to visit my sister for a couple of weeks.  She’s going to be recovering from surgery and I’m going to be her nurse and help.  Mmmm … not sure what kind of help I’ll be – but I can be bossy and get her moving and on the road to recovery!

img_1339.jpgI’m taking a few small projects with me.  I hope to complete at least 7 UFOs while I’m gone.  This is half of my suitcase (the other half is for clothes)

The UFO’s I have packed are:

  • 3 retreat bags
  • necessary clutch
  • mouse pin cushion (2)
  • a mystery table runner
  • donation baby quilt (x2)  I hope to get the tops done, not the whole quilt – but you never know!

Ha!  Wish me luck with all that!   My sister has a Janome 8900, so it should be easy to sew/quilt on since I have the same machine.

PHD Update:

IMG_1337

UFO #2

IMG_1338The fat 1/4 flannel quilt that was sitting on top of my filing cabinet is DONE!  The sun was shining for a few minutes after the quilt came out of the dryer.  I quickly hung the quilt on the line an snapped a photo.

The picture on the left is a picture from the back of the quilt and sort-of shows the quilting pattern.

Linking to:

To see what other’s in the quilting world are working on – click on the following links:

Happy Quilting!
Gail

Fabric Anorexia?

/ quiltinggail / 26 Comments

Stash Report

I HAD to go to a store and buy binding.  Yes, binding.  I found the perfect binding.  And while I was in the store, I looked and looked and looked around.  The lady cutting fabric was busy with a lady having tons cut … so, I looked around some more and there was absolutely NOTHING that said, “Buy me!” or “take me home”  except for the 1/2 yard of binding fabric.   I’m afraid that I might be getting sick.  Seriously.  Is there something called fabric anorexia?

Fabric Used this Week:     0  yards  
Fabric Used year to Date:  0  yards
Fabric Added this Week:    0.5  yards 
Fabric Added Year to Date: 0.5 yards
Net Fabric used for 2017:   6.5 yards  

Binding

Quilting is finished and binding is happening on this quilt:

 

Another OH NO!!!

As I was searching through my stash looking for something I know I have.  I found another UFO.  Probably from 2008 or 2009.  It was started at a murder mystery retreat.  The quilt was a mystery and there was a murder mystery at the same time.  It was sort of fun.  One of the owners of the quilt shop / retreat centre was “killed” with a wavy rotary cutter.  The evidence was clear:  The “murder”  weapon was near the “victim” with the red rick-rack circling his neck and a piece of red fabric (indicating blood) by his head.  We were given clues throughout the weekend.  Unfortunately, at the end, the rational for “who” the murderer was included a lot of clues that we were not given.  So that part was frustrating!  And the quilt … yes, the quilt!  I finished the top with grandiose ideas to piece the back … and so it has sat and sat and sat … languishing … ignored and totally forgotten – until today! That brings my total UFOs at the start of 2018 up to 60.  I’m still going to stick with finishing 28 for my PHD.

PHD in 2018  //  UFO tally

With my latest UFO find – the number of UFOs left to complete has increased by 1.  I certainly hope I do not find any more UFOs.  If I do … I might just pretend that I didn’t find them.

Screen Shot 2018-01-14 at 2.11.01 PM

Linking to:

To see what other’s in the quilting world are working on – click on the following links:

Happy Quilting!
Gail

SaveSaveSaveSave

Progress with no finishes

/ quiltinggail / 10 Comments

Image result for free sewing clip art

PHD Update:

Well, the quilting on my PHD #2 (Flannel Fat Quarters) is still in progress … almost done.

On Ringo Lake … Half of the top is pieced together … Those pesky little brown triangles were not fun.  I’m sure I took each one of them out at least once!  Hopefully they will behave on the second half of the quilt!IMG_1330

That’s all that’s been happening!

Linking to:

Happy Quilting
Gail

PHD #2 is being quilted.

/ quiltinggail / 10 Comments

PHD in 2018 Update

Emily from “the Darling Dogwood” has her list ready to go.  She has changed one of the criteria to fit her life … she will finish all projects that are started by the end of September.  This gives her freedom to work on the leader ender charity quilts that she does towards the end of the year.

SEW – in total there are 7 of us working on our Quilting PHDs.  As we go through each month, I will post updates on the projects everyone is working on.  I’m hoping that each of us will complete our PHDs and not feel so guilty about having a ton of UFOs languishing around.

PHD #2: In Progress

Remember the containers of UFOs on top of the filing cabinet?  IMG_1223The ones that didn’t really interest me?

Well this is the flannel quilt – made from fat 1/4s that I bought years ago in Oregon.  I’m trying to do a bobbin’s worth of quilting each day and this quilt is getting done.  The flannel is heavy and I’m having to adjust the quilt frequently, but I’m enjoying the quick quilting pattern that I’m using … swirls and flower echoes … easy and fast!

img_1283.jpg

Linking to:

To see what other’s in the quilting world are working on – click on the following links:

Happy Quilting!
Gail

SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave

Monday, Monday

/ quiltinggail / 8 Comments

clipart music notes As I wrote the title for this post, the song started singing in my head!  The Mamas & The Papas … you can hear it on YouTube HERE.  But, I can guarantee that my quilts will still be with me!

Design Wall:

IMG_1282

The start of the layout for “On Ringo Lake”.  This quilt is on point and will be impossible to “web”  so there will be a lot of careful sewing to ensure things stay in the correct position.

Interesting that in this picture a lot of the pinks look like coral …  a few are, but most of them are pink.

PHD in 2018 Update:

My cousin Terry is showing off her organizational skills and sent me a link to her PHD update: Sew Sunday @ My Quilting Legacy  Give her a visit and say “hi”.

Linking to:

To see what other’s in the quilting world are working on – click on the following links

Happy Quilting in 2018!
Gail

SaveSaveSaveSave

Rainy Sunday

/ quiltinggail / 22 Comments

PHD in 2018

Oh me, oh my … Ann @ Laughing Gas Quilts has finished her first UFO of the year!!!  Check it out HERE.  At this rate, she may achieve her PHD by the end of the month, or maybe February!  unknown-jpg

Susan – is joining via Instagram … I will post details when I have them.

Two of my friends want to join in PHD in 2018.  Marie has an Instagram account and I’m just waiting for her to approve me.  Diane says she does Pinterest enough and is going to follow along at home.  Ha!  I know they just want that (now) coveted certificate of PHD in 2018!

First Finish of 2018

Here it is: my scrappy Irish Chain.  As I mentioned before, most of the 2″ squares in this quilt came from other quilters.  People that lovingly don’t want to deal with their own scraps, so they handed them to me.  But, NO MORE!!!  As fun as it was to sew with other people’s fabric – this did nothing to decrease my own pile of scraps.  At any rate, I’m quite happy with how this quilt turned out! It’s 68x 82″.

IMG_1279

Stash Report

Since most of the scraps from the above quilt came from others (and not added into my “Fabric Added” calculations),  I estimate that approx. 7 yards of my fabric was used (backing, white background & binding).

Fabric Used this Week:     7  yards  
Fabric Used year to Date:  7  yards
Fabric Added this Week:    0  yards 
Fabric Added Year to Date:  0 yards
Net Fabric used for 2017:   7 yards  

PHD in 2018  //  UFO tally

I thought I had 56 UFOs … but NO … oh NO …. I found 3 more …  Yes 3!!!   That brings my total UFOs to 59!   #   SEW – Since I originally said that in order to get your PHD you had to finish at least half of your UFOs or a maximum of 28, I will stick to completing 28 UFOs and finish all new projects that I start in 2018.  I’m finding that 28 is stressful enough, 30 would be over the top for me!

Screen Shot 2018-01-06 at 3.07.14 PM

Linking to:

To see what other’s in the quilting world are working on – click on the following links:

Happy Quilting in 2018!
Gail

Sewing, but no finishes!

/ quiltinggail / 16 Comments

PHD in 2018

We have another blogger joining us in this challenge.  She’s a fellow Canadian from the east coast.  Her blog is “Laughing Gas Quilts.”  Can you guess what she does for a job? In her comment, she said, “What goal directed, box ticking, overachiever can resist the lure of a certificate of achievement?”  LOVE it!

Are you interested in getting your PHD in 2018?  You can see the details HERE.  You have until January 10 to join and send me your list via instagram, Pinterest or Blog.

Progress Report
IMG_1272

Scrappy Irish Chain:  quilting is happening  … there are 49 blocks to put feather wreaths in and 50 blocks that need outlining.  Oh me … I like doing the feather wreaths, but outlining the blocks is boring, boring, boring …  Sew, I’ve set myself a goal of doing 7 feather wreaths a day and an hour of outlining.  Hopefully in 2 or 3 days, I’ll have the quilting done.

 

 

 

IMG_1273

On Ringo Lake:  I’m starting to work on Clue 8 – the blocks …  This picture contains all of the pieces I need for the main blocks.

I think I’m going to like this quilt!

Within hours of the “reveal” some people were posting pictures of their completed tops.  I have no idea how they did it!  There are several steps in the final clue and I know that it will take me a lot longer than a few hours to have this quilt to a flimsy stage!

Link-ups

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

Happy Quilting
Gail