Today is the day that Anja told us to add Flying Geese to as our 3rd Round
Here they are … And again, I left the corner square as a plain white block. As well, I continued to use a variety of fabrics from Island Batik’s Ohana collection.
Make sure to visit all of the other co-leaders and link up to Anja’s linky party to show us your blocks!
The first blog hop of the year for Island Batik. SEW many beautiful new fabric collections! It promises to be a fantastic blog hop, full of tons of eye candy!!!
Mania Hatziioannidi @ Mania for QuiltsSorry, Mania’s Island Batik boxes have not arrived at her home in Greece, so she will be posting at a later date. She’s a very talented quilter, so I’ll be sure to let you know when she has her quilt ready!!!
How are you doing with your PHD in 2021? So far I have 3 UFOs completed, but I feel like I’m cheating. Two of them (the Holiday Seclusion Mysteries) were started in December and were easy finishes. The Winnie the Pooh panel was a quick finish as well. I’m trying to go through my panels and get them quilted and gone. All of my New Starts, except for the March Island Batik project are completed. So, there isn’t any new UFOs developing in that area!
My 2021 UFO finishes. You can read about them HERE, HERE and HERE.
Spirit Bear Quilts is using a technique called Kanban to help her focus. I had not heard of Kanban prior to Spirit Bear blogging about it. Visit THIS BLOG POST to read about how she is using it and also see the link for further explanation.
Sharon @ Ms. P. Designs has a colourful task list spreadsheet … it’s free for you to download! I know in the past, several people have found this spreadsheet very useful.
NOW … what I want you to do …. follow the questions below:
If you answered “YES” to any of the questions – give yourself a cheer “Well done!“
If you answer “YES” in the orange, Great! You are making progress!
If you answered “NO” in theorange block … I want you to do some analysis. Answer the following questions as honestly as you can. This is just for YOU … you don’t have to tell me what’s happening. I just want YOU to know why the UFOs are sitting there, not touched.
Why didn’t I work on an UFO?
Do I hate them all?
Do I really want to decrease my UFOs?
Would I be happy if I gave some of my UFOs away (for someone else to finish)?
Did I start too many new projects?
Have I been to ill (mentally or physically) to work on them?
Answering the above questions MAY help you to understand why you’re not working on UFOs.
Rainbow Scrap Table Topper
January’s colour is pink. I do not decorate with pink. Nothing even close to pink. Ever. So, to fulfil this months Table Topper challenge, I used my embroidery machine and made a pretty mug rug. It is a free pattern from Kreative Kiwi. The pattern has “Happy Mother’s Day” written on it, but I obviously skipped the saying. This was such a quick little project that it didn’t even make it to my “New Start” list!
I used scraps of Island Batik fabric and Hobbs 80/20 batting for this project.
Design Wall
Piecing:
#1 I’m still working on the SAHRR but can’t show you any current pictures. Want to know more about the SAHRR? check it out HERE. We started the reveal of our centre blocks last week. See my centre block and the centre blocks that many others have made HERE! Tomorrow, we’re showing the 3rd round! There will be a link on Anja’s blog for everyone showing their 3rd row!. Be sure to check out all of the bloggers that are co-hosting with me! Here’s the list:
#2 I’m working on my March Island Batik project. Sorry, no pictures yet!
#3 Moorewood Mystery: Block A are all pieced. The final clue comes out on Thursday … and I hope to work on it! You can learn more about the Moorewood mystery quilt HERE.
Quilting:
I’m quilting the current guild mystery quilt. Sorry, but until the guild members have the final clue, I can’t show it to you. I don’t want to ruin their surprise!
Stash Report
I
Nothing finished, nothing bought!
Fabric Used this week 0 yards
Fabric Used this year: 5 yards
Fabric Bought this week: 0 yards
Fabric Added this year: 9 yards (my husbands amounts as well)
Net Fabric used – 4 yards
Husband’s purchases: 0 yards (which are added into my total amount of Fabric added this year). For those of you who don’t know … my husband often buys more fabric than I do … so, I’m keeping track! Unfortunately, he doesn’t sew!
Stitchin’ Time
I’m aiming for at least 30 minutes a day.
I have stitched for over 30 minutes each day
January – 31 / 31
Percentage = 100 %
For more Stitchin’ Time, you can check out Kate’s blog: Life in Pieces
TO DO
I’m linking up to Roseanne & Sue’s “TO DO” Tuesday. Their blog is “Home Sewn by Us.”
Last week:
Total success this week!
Finish piecing the current round of Stay at Home Round Robin√ done
Start on the next round of Stay at Home Round Robin√ done
Finish Piecing Moorewood Mystery Block A√ done
Make the PINK table topper√ done
Web the top for February’s Island Batik Challenge! √ done
Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes√ done
This week’s list:
Finish piecing the current round of Stay at Home Round Robin
Start on the next round of Stay at Home Round Robin
My husband is a great supporter of my quilting passion (AKA addiction or obsession!) Except when Fabric dust ends up all over the house. And I mean ALL over. I do my best (sort-of) to contain these little bits of cut offs and put them in the garbage. Sorry Sally Manke! I know Sally would save ALL of these and use them in a future project. If she lived closer to me, she’d get them ALL!
Anyhow, they end up EVERYWHERE!!! I cleaned the bathroom and there was a little purple piece behind the toilet. I climbed into bed and there was a blue piece on my pillow. I swept the kitchen floor … and I don’t know how many pieces were there. I got in the car, and yup, there was a piece of yellow on the passenger’s seat. I answered the front door and there was a small green piece on the outside mat. GROAN!!!
And, I’ve been trying to tame my Island Batik scraps … 2″ squares, 2.5″ squares, and triangles (not shown). So there are even more fabric dust possibilities!
Now … my goal today is to do a thorough vacuum and clear up all the fabric dust from my studio and the rest of the house!
Another Holiday Seclusion Mystery
This quilt was made by Judy. Aren’t those purples lovely? And the border is perfect for them!
Unboxing Video
Did you see my Unboxing Video of all the goodies I received from Island Batik and Industry partners? You can see the video and all the wonderful goodies HERE.
This is my 3rd year as an Island Batik ambassador! I’m honoured and privileged to be chosen again as an ambassador for 2021. We receive 2 shipments of boxes a year. One in January and the other in July. Here is a video of what I received in my January 2021 boxes.
And to recap the amazing products in the video – here are pictures …
That’s the name of this bundle of 1/2 yard cuts. Designed by Claudia Pfeil. And there are 2 yards of “Scrolling Grape” and 2 yards of “Nautilus Floral-Baja.” I’m in LOVE with these fabrics … I’ll be sharing what I make with them during our blog hop in February.
Surprise!
The wrapped package contains fabric for a blog hop in May. Look at the beautiful coordinating fabrics! There are 2 yards of “Wheat-Dusk” and 2 yards of “Pinecone-Dark Teal.” Mmmm … wonder what I’ll be making with these?
Neutral
6 yards of “Custard.” This is a wonderful neutral and goes with almost everything!
Schmetz Needles
Awesome needles!!! What else can I say? Chrome needles in 3 different sizes: Microtex 70/10, Microtex 80/12 and Quilting 90/14. As well, they sent the colour coding charts, a luggage tag (for when we can travel again!), a cleaning cloth, a pocket guide and a notepad! (I think I’m spoiled!) Schmetz
Stashbuilders
These are wonderful!!! A good variety of fabrics! Each roll contains four 5″ Width of Fabric strips!
Buttons!
Pre-cut #1
This is Harvest Blue! Designed by Kathy Engle. Lovely yellow and Blue 2.5″ strips (40 pieces, 20 fabric designs) along with 2 yards of “Ogee Petal-Sunshine” (from the Blender’s collection) and 2 yards of “Universe” from the Basic’s collection. (Blenders and Basics are available all the time.)
Pre-cut #2
Starry Night!!! Oh be still my beating heart!!! Look at those blues!!! This pre-cut is 10″ squares, 42 pieces and 20 fabric designs, designed by Kathy Engle. To coordinate with this stack of fabric, I have 2 yards of “Ravine” and the light blue (on the right) has the elegant name of BE34-EI.
1/2 Yard Cuts
Solids
Blenders
Basics
Pink
Forest
Cherio-Iris
Lime Green
Dandelion-Crumbs
Bubbles – Copper
Amethyst
Baja
Branch Blue
Dark Grey
Lavender
Indigo
Solids
4 yards of black, white and grey. Lovely, lovely solids!!! I use them a LOT! I love them a LOT!
Accuquilt Die
This is the Maple Leaf die! As a Canadian, I’m sure I’ll be using this die for sure!!! I LOVE Accuquilt dies!
Hobbs Batting
My favourite Batting!!!! Hobbs!! I received 4 queen size batts:
Heirloom black batting – perfect for quilts with lots of black fabric!
Heirloom Premium Cotton Batting – LOVE this!!!
Poly-Down Premium Polyester Haven’t used this yet – but am eager to try it!
Heirloom Natural Cotton Batting. This is a wonderful batting that quilts very nicely!
Thank you!
To Island Batik and the Industry partners for choosing me to represent YOU this year!
Today is the day that Emily @ The Darling Dogwood told us to add Plus signs our 2nd round.
Here it is … My plus signs are 3″ x 3″ once the next border is added. And leaving the corner square as a plain white block might be my theme throughout this round robin!
Again, I continued to use a variety of fabrics from Island Batik’s Ohana collection.
Make sure to visit all of the other co-leaders and link up to Emily’s linky partyto show us your piano key and plus borders!!
Last week I said that the Winnie the Pooh quilt needed some more quilting, specifically Winnie, Eeyore and the moon. A loving friend told me that if I left it, they would pop. So, I’m going with her advice and am considering this a UFO finish! That made for a super quick finish!!! This will be another donation quilt for the guild. It was a fun quilt to quilt. There is Hobbs 80/20 batting in it. It was quilted with CanSew beige thread.
Another Holiday Seclusion Quilt
Somehow, I missed putting Valda’s quilt on my blog last week. It’s a beauty!!! You can see all the other ones from my guild HERE.
Design Wall
Piecing:
#1 I’m still working on the SAHRR but can’t show you any current pictures. Want to know more about the SAHRR? check it out HERE. We started the reveal of our centre blocks last week. See my centre block and the centre blocks that many others have made HERE! Tomorrow, we’re showing the 2nd round! Be sure to check out all of the bloggers that are co-hosting with me! We’re taking turns hosting and having a linky party. It’s Emily’s turn this week!… here’s the list:
#2 The fabric is stilled pulled for the RSC21 Table Scraps Challengetable runner. I have an idea of what I’m making, but I haven’t gotten any further than that!!
#3 The February Island Batik challenge is up on my design wall. I’m using some wonderful fabrics and they are all so pretty!!!
#4 Moorewood Mystery : Half of Block A are pieced. I’m doing them as leaders and enders … so they will be done before the next clue comes out on Feb 4.
Quilting:
Nothing being quilted at the moment …
Stash Report
I
Winnie the Pooh was 2 yards of fabric
Fabric Used this week 2 yards
Fabric Used this year: 5 yards
Fabric Bought this week: 0 yards
Fabric Added this year: 9 yards (my husbands amounts as well)
Net Fabric used – 4 yards
Husband’s purchases: 0 yards (which are added into my total amount of Fabric added this year). For those of you who don’t know … my husband often buys more fabric than I do … so, I’m keeping track! Unfortunately, he doesn’t sew!
Stitchin’ Time
I’m aiming for at least 30 minutes a day.
I have stitched for over 30 minutes each day
January – 24 / 24
Percentage = 100 %
For more Stitchin’ Time, you can check out Kate’s blog: Life in Pieces
TO DO
I’m linking up to Roseanne & Sue’s “TO DO” Tuesday. Their blog is “Home Sewn by Us.”
Last week:
Even with sewing a LOT this past week, I didn’t get much on my list completed. But I’m fine with what I DID get done!!
Finish current round of Stay at Home Round Robin√ done
Finish next round of Stay at Home Round Robinpartially done
Piece Moorewood Mystery Block A partially done
Make the PINK table toppernot done
Start cutting for February’s Island Batik Challenge! √ done
Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutesnot done !!! I have been doing SEW well with this – except for this week!! And this week I was Zoom sewing with other Island Batik ambassadors and we showed our studios … mine was a total mess!
This week’s list:
Finish piecing the current round of Stay at Home Round Robin
Start on the next round of Stay at Home Round Robin
Finish Piecing Moorewood Mystery Block A
Make the PINK table topper
Web the top for February’s Island Batik Challenge!
Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes
OK … the Winnie the Pooh quilt was a quick finish this week. All it took was a decision! (grin)
I KNOW that not all my UFOs will be finished this quickly. But it is nice to have 3 considered done!
Here are my 2 quilts, the 2 colour quilt and the scrappy quilt!
Here are some of the quilts that members of my guild made.
First up is Heather’s … She made this as a pattern tester …
And then she decided to change the pattern and make some lime green blocks along with the purple! I LOVE it when people take a pattern and make it their own!
And here’s Barb’s, also one of my pattern testers … all scrappy and quilted. And, I really like the bright colours and the scrappy binding!
Donna chose to do the 2 colour version. SEW pretty! I like the 2 borders!
Patricia’s: used scrappy for both the background and the “coloured.” But she chose a totally different colour for the 4 1/2″ squares. It looks great! All the music fabric and the different borders! Love it!
Here’s Alice’s quilt … scrappy blues … well blue is my favourite colour … I love how this one turned out!
Yvonne’s is a bright scrappy with a crisp white background …
This is Fran’s creative quilt. Here’s what she had to say, “I had to improvise a bit as I discovered when I had finished cutting the background fabric that I was short approximately 3 inches, hence the red blocks. I used a red inner border to tie the red blocks together with the rest of the quilt. “
Here’s Susan’s … Christmas fabric with snow flakes.
Here is Ioleen Kimmel’s. You can follow her on Instagram ioleen.kimmel A 2 colour quilt with that pretty teal!
And Pat’s. It’s got a LOT of extra blocks for a bed sized quilt! She’s going to bind it with chocolate brown. Won’t it look fantastic?
Robin made her’s bigger and has her hubby holding it for her! Such pretty colours!
Hearts on Fire Blog Hop
Have you been following this week’s blog hop?
You can see the entire schedule HERE. There is a huge variety of heart quilts … no two are alike! If you want some heart eye candy, it’s well worth visiting each of the blogs.
My quilt is below and you can read more about it HERE.
And the blogs that are up for today are listed below!
Carol, from Just Let Me Quilt, posted about this blog hop way back in December. I figured I had lots of time and signed up right away.
Here’s what she said about the challenge: Make something with a heart in any color, BUT NOT RED…get creative! It can be big or small, in a quilt, a bag, or whatever.
SEW … what to do? I knew I wanted to make a donation baby quilt. I had a pattern in mind I went through my stash and nothing was talking to me … until, I pulled this panel from the bin and it clearly said, “Cut me up.”
This had become a “What was I thinking?” panel. A good one to cut into. I needed (20) 6″ squares and (10) half-square triangles … should be easy … right? Well, when you’re thinking it’s 10 squares … it can become a problem. But, I managed, even if the squares and HST are not all fussy cut to my liking … it’s good. It’s cut!
And this is the result! I used a ruler from Silly Moon called Cupid and made 3″ and 6″ hearts all over the quilt. It was fun to make … and I enjoyed practicing my ruler quilting.
Blog Hop Bloggers
Many bloggers have already posted … make sure you visit them and see what “heart” they came up with!
If you missed the previous posts about this year’s SAHRR – you can see it HERE and HERE.
Today is the day that Chris @ Chrisknitssews told us to add piano keys for our first round.
Here’s my Centre Block with the first round added. As you can see, I didn’t add them in the corners. With the skinny border added, it made my block 11″ x 11″ … my piano keys were cut at 2.5″ x 1.5″ and will end up as 2″ x 1″ when the next round is added. I continued to use a variety of fabrics from Island Batik’s Ohana collection.
Make sure to visit all of the other co-leaders and link up to Chris’s linky party to show us your blocks!
The perfect day to stay inside and quilt … or write blog posts!
I have another UFO finish!
This is my Holiday Seclusion Mystery … scrappy Island Batik fabrics (from Stashbuilder bundles) and Island Batik solid grey. Graffiti or Wild quilting was done … lots of different motifs, swirls, feathers, flowers, vines, McTavishing, pebbles … It was SEW fun to quilt! Hobbs fusible batting was used. I LOVE it! No shifting at all. This will be a comfort quilt, so I backed it with a grey flannel … so cosy!
Yes … I made this bigger … However, I started planning the design with 9″ blocks and quickly realized that most people would not want to make a quilt with smallish pieces in such a short time frame. I then switched the pattern to a 12″ block for the mystery. But of course, I didn’t want the work I had done to go to waste, so I just continued piecing the smaller blocks. Same pattern, different size!
For Instructions on the Holiday Seclusion Mystery, see the Holiday Seclusion Mystery tab at the top of my blog HERE.
Last year, I made 2 quilts using layer cakes. Both were easy patterns, but I like how they turned out quite different.
These were both made with different French General Layer Cakes. One had browns and the other had blues in it. Of course, the different sashing also gives it a different look.
January’s Island Batik challenge is to make a set of placemats. My boxes from Island Batik had not arrived when I started to make these. I began by pulling out some blue stashbuilder bundles that I received last year. Stashbuilder bundles are 5″ wide by width of fabric. And the white with dots is a fabric from the Faded Blue Jeans collection. Blue is my favourite colour, so these placemats will definitely be loved and used!
Last fall, I was able to purchase “Wing Clipper” (for making flying geese) at a quilt store in Edmonton. The Wing Clipper is a Studio 180 (Deb Tucker Designs. I thought this would be the perfect time to try it out. The stashbuilder strips are 5″ wide, so that limited the size I could make the flying geese. They ended up 1 ½” x 3″ finished in the table runner.
I LOVED using the Wing Clipper!!! Each and EVERY flying geese came out PERFECT!!! Or should I say “each flying goose?”) I’d say for this project alone, it was well worth the money!!! (And you all know that I’m NOT a perfect quilter!!!)
I added 2″ strips of fabric to each side of the flying geese … and these are the placemats!
They can be placed with the geese heading up or heading down … which way do you like best? The picture below, taken on my design wall shows the true colour, better than the picture of them on my table (above.)
They are 12.5″ x 18.5″. Hobbs Thermore was used for the batting. It was quilted with Aurifil #1128 and the binding attached with Aurifil #2311, using Schmetz microtex Chrome 70/10. Why 70/10?? Batik is tightly woven and sometimes the larger gauge needles struggle with sewing batik fabric. My machine tech told me to use a smaller needle. SEW … I did and I was very happy!
Disclosure: The fabrics, thread, batting and needles were generously supplied by the following companies:
If you missed the previous post about this year’s SAHRR – you can see it HERE.
Today is the day were each of us shows you our centre blocks … Make sure you visit each of the co-leaders and see what their centre block is! And, it’ll be easier if you follow each of them! Here’s their links:
Here’s my Centre block: It’s called an Interwoven Star … The fabrics are Island Batik fabrics from the Ohana collection. It measures 9″ x 9″ and for it to fit with the next round, I’ll be adding a skinny white border around it.
I’ve been working on a few things … A few Zoom quilting days keep me focused! And steadily sewing away!
Design Wall
Piecing:
I’m still working on the SAHRR but can’t show you any pictures. Want to know more about the SAHRR check it out HERE. We start the reveal of our centre blocks tomorrow. So make sure you return and visit each of the SAHRR co-hosts!
AND … Hearts on Fire quilt just needs borders and the RSC21 Rainbow Scrap Challenge table runner needs to have a fabric pull!
Quilting:
January Island Batik project is almost done! Pictures to follow later in the week!
A Winnie the Pooh panel is in the process of being quilted. I thought I was done with the quilting – but there’s a few areas that need something.
Holiday Seclusion #1 Mystery was finished this week:
Here’s the list of participants in PHD in 2020 … and links to their blog posts where they tell about their success …
There may be more successful participants, but these are the ones I know about! Didn’t they all do a fantastic job! It’s not easy getting your PHD … especially in Quilting! There are so many new designs, patterns, techniques … the list goes on … and we want to try them ALL!!!
Anyhow … visit these awesome quilters and congratulate them!
This was my 2 colour quilt for the Seclusion Holiday Mystery. I finished the binding while Zoom sewing with my sister and cousins on Sunday! It’s nice to have one finished so early in the year!
This quilt measures 42″ square. It is quilted with a light pink Aurifil thread. The fabric is Island Batik. The peach/pink fabric I bought years ago and the white is Island Batik solid. It is backed with the peach/pink fabric. There is no point in showing you the back because the quilting does not show at all.
Every Sunday or Monday, I give a recap of what’s on my Design Wall, a Stash Report, Stitchin’ Time, a “To Do” list and my PHD … SEW … here’s what’s happening in the studio and a summary of 2020.
Design Wall
Piecing:
First off, one person asked me how I was doing with Bonnie Hunter’s Mystery Quilt. The answer is simple. I’m not doing it this year. I felt that I had too much on my plate. I think this is the first time in 17 years that I’ve not done the mystery. In some ways I feel guilty for not doing it, but I also feel a great relief that I don’t have to sew like crazy to try to keep up! And, it’s also one quilt that isn’t on my 2021 UFO list!
I’m adding borders to the scrappy Holiday Seclusion Mystery. Borders are also being added to the guild mystery quilt. Sorry, no pictures. It’s a surprise for the guild mystery quilters.
My wish is that 2021 brings you a year of HEALTH and HAPPINESS as we quilt together!
2020 has come to an end … what a year it has been!
But I just want to focus on quilting … and how have you done with your PHD in 2020? Did you get at least 12 of your UFOs done and did you get all of your Starts in 2020 done? (All, except for those that carry over into 2021 or were started late in December.)
Here are the UFOs I completed …
Linky Party … not happening …
OOPS … I have too many linky parties happening at the same time and am not permitted to host another one at the same time (unless I pay for it … and I don’t make any money from this blog … and it already costs me $$$ to have a blog with lots of pictures) SEW …
If you were a PHD participant in 2020 – please email me with a link to your final PHD post and I’ll post the links at a later time. You have until Jan.7, midnight Pacific time to let me know. quiltinggail@yahoo.ca
Quilting Gail 