Are you procrastinating? Is there one project that you are dreading doing? Well, you know you have choices, right?
You can keep procrastinating, feeling down because that project isn’t getting done, nor is there any progress on it. You can keep wallowing and feeling bad … OR
You can take that project and just work on one part of it. Sometimes just getting it out of the container is a start. Examine what needs to be done. Break what needs to be done into small steps. Start working on those small steps. … OR
Give the project away and let someone else finish it!
Sew, what are you going to decide?
I will Follow my own advice!
This project is one that I’ve been procrastinating on for quite a few years … time to get it out of the container!
I am SEW very proud of the Quilt Guild I belong to!!! (Boundary Bay Quilters Guild). Whenever there have been urgent needs for quilts, the guild members step up. Just going off the top of my head, there have been quilts made for the Saskatchewan hockey bus tragedy, the shootings in Nova Scotia, blocks for the wildfires in Australia, banners for a public stabbing in Lynn Canyon, and the regular donations from our guild (baby quilts, comfort/cancer quilts and Quilts of Valour.)
Recently, the guild decided to donate quilts to local Healthcare Heros. They are doing such a fantastic job and working extremely hard! As a former nurse educator, I can only imagine what stresses they undergo daily!
There have already been a LOT of quilts donated and many more are in the line up. Unfortunately, I don’t know who made all of them, but I do have pictures of the ones previously donated to this cause … If you are in the guild and want your quilt acknowledged, please let me know and I’ll edit the post.
These are the hankies I bought in Thailand 7 years ago. You can see this in progress HERE and HERE.
I used Island Batik “Lavender” for the sashings and border.
And here is the finished wall hanging. Yes, I did quilt it to death in the background, but I wanted the main elements to pop. I must admit, I thoroughly enjoyed quilting it!!!
I used 3 different Aurifil threads to quilt this: #2315 (light Orchid), #1148 (Light Jade), and #2220 (Light Salmon).
This fun Blog Hop is the inspiration of Carol from “Just Let Me Quilt.” Have you been following it? Tons and Tons of Wild eye candy!
When Carol first announced this blog hop, I immediately KNEW exactly what I was going to do. A few of you may remember that I went to Africa in Sept., 2019. I bought some fabric there. You can read a little about my trip HERE.
And wonder, of wonders, I mostly followed through on my plan for this blog hop!
Here’s a picture of the fabric I bought when I was in Africa.
Island Batik’s Quilt Modern … Just look at these beautiful fabrics!!!! I’ve had a sneak peak at some of the creations and believe me, you are in for a treat …
I believe there will be a draw for some fabric, but we haven’t received any information yet … so stay tuned!
Sometimes it’s a lot of fun! Sometimes, it just gets you into trouble!!!
Four of us met in the park on a sunny afternoon to visit and show our latest projects. Part of the conversation went like this:
One: Did you know there’s a new store in town … a fabric store?
All of us: NO! Where???
One: gives us the address (downtown Cloverdale, across from where the liquor store used to be) Edit: 5625 176 St Cloverdale (Surrey) BC.
The rest of us: What do they have?
One: I’m not sure, the sign said fashion and quilting
The rest of us: We’ll have to check it out.
Yesterday, one of the gals checked it out … Today I checked it out.
It’s bright, cheerful and the owners were VERY welcoming!!! It’s called Essem Textiles. On a rack outside the store, she has some cute little tops that must fit a size 0-4 adult … um, not for me! But inside … See what I mean about bright and cheerful? (and yes, I ‘borrowed’ this picture from Essem’s Intstagram) AND, I LOVE all the notions on the back wall!
In March, I took an Improv class, hoping that I would learn something that I could use to make the quilt for this month’s challenge! And I did. (You can see information about that class and what I learned HERE. I decided to use the freehand curved piecing technique (more pictures below).
The fabric I was given for this blog hop is Napa Valley, designed by Kathy Engle. I LOVE the colours! They are so rich! The motif’s on the fabric are so fun! There are grapes, wheat, pumpkins, corn, leaves and dots! Such a fun collection! And of course, the fabric is fantastic!
I started by pairing an 8″ square of Napa Valley with an 8″ square of Island Batik grey solid. Then I free-hand cut the quarter circles.
I sewed the print and the grey together without using pins. In the picture below, you can see the print of the inner circle with the grey on the outer circle. The reverse is just below it. The blocks were then trimmed to 6 ¾”.
The blocks were arranged on the design wall. And, I forgot to take a picture! The quilt was webbed together, sandwiched and then the quilting began. I used Hobbs Heirloom Natural Cotton batting.
I used Schmetz Quilting Needle 90/40 for both the piecing and the quilting.
All of the quilting happened on my domestic machine: Janome M7 Continental. Aurifil #2600 (Dove) was used. I love how is contrasts slightly with the grey solid fabric!
And, a close up of the quilting
And a picture with the last of the pink “snow” (cherry blossoms)
You have 2 chances to win fabric!
Island Batik is giving away precuts of Glacier Bay: Click on the Raftercopter link
2. From Me! If you want to win fabric from me you have to be from Canada (and sorry, not Quebec). In the comments, answer the following questions: (they won’t be published)
where in Canada do you live?
have you made a modern quilt?
For those of you that have difficulty leaving comments, you can email me with your answers (quiltinggail@yahoo.ca)
Each entry will be given a number and I’ll use a random number generator to pick the winner.
I’m giving away 19 pieces of Napa Valley that are 8″ x 9.5″
Next:
Be sure to visit Emily at the Darling Dogwood. She used the same collection of fabric and her quilt is stunning! And totally different than mine!
Disclosure: The fabrics, thread, batting and needles were generously supplied by the following companies:
You know what? Years after you have gifted a baby quilt, it’s lovely to see it actually being used! This was a quilt made with left-over blocks from watching an Eleanor Burns video around 2017. This quilt was gifted to my daughter’s co-worker and they recently sent her this picture! I don’t know about you, but knowing that my quilts are being used makes my heart smile!
The word “May” means “is it possible?” As in “May I ____”. However the month, MAY, comes from a Greek goddess of fertility and spring. It made me wonder if I’m going to have a lot of new projects spring forward this month, or if my UFO completion list will increase in numbers? I know, it’s a stretch either way! If you’re curious, you can read more about May HERE.
Island Batik Blog Hop
This week starts the wonderful Quilt Modern Blog Hop. I’ve had a sneak peak of some of quilts and all I can say is “Be prepared to be Amazed!!!”
This baby panel is now completed and the binding on.
YOUR opinion …
Last week I had a couple of polls asking your opinion on wool mats. Thank you to everyone that completed the polls … The results were very clear. Definitely a 12″ x 18″ mat with rounded corners.
I will let you know when these Canadian made mats are ready.
Design Wall
Piecing
#1 Follow your own path: I have made the first 4 left facing arrows and the first 4 right facing arrows. I reversed them since I want the shadow (the grey) under the arrows. I’m now double guessing my chose of “Moonstone” as the background. Yes, it’s very pretty, but when cut into small pieces surrounding the arrows, it loses something. Oh well … I shall carry on …
#2 Thailand Batiks Well, I didn’t receive much help from you all as for suggestions as to what to do. I pulled out a bunch of different Island Batiks and decided on the light purple “Lavender” to use to border the blocks. A bit of fudging here and there and the blocks are ready to sew together. I decided to not use the 5th block. You can see more about these hankies HERE.
Quilting:
#1 Speed Dating still needs a facing. “Story-less Improv.”
#2 Born to Be Wild (blog hop later this month) is ready for quilting.
Stash Report
The baby panel (above) used 2 yards of fabrics
Fabric Used this week 2 yards
Fabric Used this year: 42 yards
Fabric Bought this week: 0 yards
Fabric Added this year: 9 yards (my husbands amounts as well)
Net Fabric used 33 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 – April– 120 / 120
May: 2 / 2
Percentage = 100 %
For more Stitchin’ Time, you can check out Kate’s blog: Life in Pieces
TO DO
Chris from ChrisKnits is hosting it “To Do” every week. You can check out her blog HERE.
Last week:
Again, I did not focus on my “To Do” list … but a couple of things got done.
Focus on the TO DO list not done
Follow Your Own Path: first arrows √ done
Healthcare Hero’s Mystery: Make backing not done
Speed Dating: Add facing not done
Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! √ done
Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes√ done
This week’s list:
Follow Your Own Path: work on next step
Thailand Batiks: finish top
Healthcare Hero’s Mystery: Make backing
Speed Dating: Add facing
Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! I NEED this continual reminder!
Quilting Gail 