Month: October 2019

How to get rid of a UFO without going crazy

/ quiltinggail / 23 Comments

I’m working on Smith Mountain Morning from Bonnie Hunter’s book “Scraps & Shirtails II.” You’ve seen the odd picture in recent posts … It’s a UFO from 2015 that was started in a workshop with Bonnie at Camp Arnold – near Seattle. Washington.  The workshop was fantastic!!  The quilt will be fantastic!!  (visit Bonnie’s blog Quiltville.com for lots of eye candy and free patterns.)

I think I might be going crazy!  Who in their right mind starts a quilt with 3 million pieces (don’t count them, I just might be exaggerating! but not by much). And then decides that she wants to make it bigger?  YUP – I was crazy when I made that decision! Continue reading →

Hosting TGIFF and a different finish!

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TGIFF

Thank Goodness Its Finished Friday … is a linky party.  If you have a finish this week, feel free to join in the fun and share what you’ve been working on. (Scroll down for the linky party)

My Different Finish!

I’ve been thinking that I need to sew up some of my garment fabric.  Yes, I do have some. There was a time, YEARS ago that I used to make all my own clothes – including blue jeans.  But, other than some pjs, I haven’t sewn any clothes.  I have a beautiful piece of Island Batik rayon that I received in my first box.  BUT … I didn’t want to risk cutting it up and sewing a garment if the pattern wasn’t going to fit.

I dug out my patterns and found a t-shirt type top that I had made years ago – like 20 years ago.  (And 20 pounds ago!).  I measured the pieces against a top that currently fits and thought I’d try it.  I had some blue rayon fabric that I got – who knows when or where … and started cutting.

IMG_5634 Continue reading →

Friday … Bonnie Hunter – revisited

/ quiltinggail / 22 Comments

I’ve been sewing … a lot …  but not a lot to show for it.

I saw this picture on a facebook page … and just cracked up.  The skeleton is obviously working on hand quilting “Good Fortune.”  It’s Bonnie Hunter’s mystery from last year.  And, I love the soft colours that were used!  Or have they just faded over time??? (grin!)

Sarah Young

Continue reading →

Squirrels!!!

/ quiltinggail / 21 Comments

Do you like or dislike squirrels?  We have black and grey squirrels in our backyard. And we enjoy watching them scurry along the fence, hopping onto the trees and burying nuts in our garden. A friend of mine said that squirrels are just rats with fuzzy tails.  I disagree.  They are cute and fun to watch!

Recently, (like in the past year) I’ve been noticing on quilt blogs that some projects are called “Squirrels.”  I didn’t understand exactly what this meant, and I went searching.  Google searching.  When I researched “squirrel quilts” – that’s what I got – a bunch of links to quilts containing squirrels.  Not what I was looking for.

Googled “squirrel quilts new projects” … BINGO … a definition of what I was looking for.  Quilt Diva Julie had the explanation!  Thank you Quilt Diva Julie! (Photo & Definition is from Quilt Diva Julie’s blog.

The Ad-Hoc Squirrel Club
A squirrel is a sudden distraction that pulls us away from projects already underway. Something so exciting that we drop what we’re doing to enjoy the unexpected. The term comes from the movie UP where the dog named Doug is talking and suddenly his head whips to one side as he shouts SQUIRREL and he’s off to chase it.

SEW … all this talk about squirrels … and yes, I did have a sudden distraction that pulled me away from what I was diligently working on.  Our guild has a Facebook page.  This Saturday, a baby quilt kit making day was happening.  One lady posted the cutest quilt with a baby on it.  Of course, it was scrappy and blue – that’s why I thought it was cute.  I quickly figured out how it could be done … easy peasy.  Then Saturday came and I wasn’t able to make it to the baby quilt kit making day.  Sew, to get rid of my guilt, I decided to make the quilt.  It was easy to start.

  • pulled fabric
  • cut them into 6 ½” blocks
  • sew blocks into half square triangles
  • oops – realized that I should have cut 7″ blocks to make the math work properly … oh well, I’ll just add a wider border
  • ironed the blocks
  • placed them on the design wall

That’s as far as the squirrel has progressed.  I will web this together and figure out if I need 2½” border or 3″ border to make the quilt 40″ x 40″.  And, it’s using up some of my stash! And that’s always a good thing!

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