Month: March 2022

2022 Monthly Colour Challenge: April

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This month’s spice is Nigella Seeds. Are you wondering, “what on earth are Nigella Seeds?” I certainly was … and had to look it up.

“Nigella seed is a black, drop-shaped seed that is traditionally used as a spice in Indian, Middle Eastern and North African cuisines, where its aromatic flavor and crunch make it particularly useful in bread and pastries. It is also used in curries, soups and stews.” (source)

The picture on the right is the flower and on the left is the seeds. (Pictures from Wikipedia.)

I have no idea if I have eaten anything with Nigella seeds in it. Perhaps, when I was in India … but I really don’t know!

Here’s my block made with Island Batik solid grey and black. And yes, I had to piece 2 of the larger squares because my scraps were not big enough.

It’s an easy block to make and the pattern is free for this month! You can get the pattern at “Patterns by Jen” and she has this on her website:

Ready to get the pattern? Go to Payhip and download it now! The block is free for the month April! Each set of instructions includes a “How To” video, one for each size offered!

To have the 2022 Monthly Color Challenge blocks sent directly to your email sign up HERE.

Now, Jen has instructed us to show quilts made with the colours of the monthly spice … Alas, I have not made a black and grey quilt. I haven’t even made a black and white quilt … perhaps one day!

Here’s a picture with the January, February, March and April blocks. I’m really enjoying the variety of the blocks! I think this will be a pretty cool quilt, once it’s done!

Visit the other bloggers …

The following bloggers are also highlighting Nigella Seeds today!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!    
Gail 

PHD in 2022: March Report

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How are you feeling about all your UFOs? Is progress slow? Or is it amazing?

Many of you said you wanted to get your UFO list down – or perhaps make it so there are NO UFOs left!

We can all do this! It just takes a little determination and taking one step at a time! We can do this!!!

My March Finishes

These are 3 of my finishes … all using Island Batik Fabrics, Aurifil Thread and Hobbs batting. The first is the quilt for the Time in a Bottle Blog Hop. You can read about it HERE. The middle one is from a class that I taught, “Quilt as You Go table runner.” The details are HERE. The volcano is the March Island Batik challenge, thread painting with Aurifil thread. Read about it HERE.

March’s Favourite Finish

This is my Stay at Home Round Robin! I do love it! You can read about it HERE.

This quilt was featured last week by these 2 wonderful bloggers.

The Tally Sheets

Here is an Excel File for you to use if you want to unofficially join in the PHD in 2022.

PHD Tally 2022- with formulasDownload

And here is the link where you can find the colourful Task Sheet at Ms P Designs.

The SAHRR was a UFO … so that made my 4th finish for the year! As you can see, I have a few new starts that need to be finished! One stitch at a time … they will get done!

The Linky Party

Show us your PHD in 2022 progress!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter
https://fresh.inlinkz.com/js/widget/load.js?id=a8b40ada7693d64e5923

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail 

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Monday’s Mishmash

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I haven’t posted any of my regular Sunday/Monday things for almost a month. A LOT has been happening here in my studio … and then there was the retreat … and then more stuff happening! I’ve been busy!

Stitching Time

‘

Kate, from Life in Pieces, is hosting “Stitching Stuff” and the goal is to sew for at least 15 minutes a day. I use Kate’s guideline, but my personal goal is to sew for 30 minutes a day. On those “blah” days, it does motivate me to sit at my machine and 30 minutes often turns into several hours. Thank you Kate for the motivation!

  • January Feb:  59 / 59
  • Mar 1- 27: 27 / 27
  • Total: 86 / 86
  • Percentage =100% 

Stash Report

Donna at Quilt Paint Create hosts a weekly linky party where you can display your stash numbers. This has really kept my stash from growing (somewhat!) Before I buy anything, I am always mindful of the fact that I need to report it on my blog … That sometimes stops me in my tracks!

1 1/4 yards of fabric has been added to my stash. It’s not too exciting … just a plain beige flannel to back the fabric of another teddy bear quilt that I’m making. (It was started to use as a sample in the class!) However, the flannel is pretty cool … the picture didn’t turn out … but it is beige and has little flecks of black / dark brown in it – it almost looks like muslin! (

I did use stash in a couple of my March finishes … The backings for the SAHRR (see HERE), the Time in a Bottle Quilt (see HERE) and the GAYG table runner (see HERE). 3 1/2 yards, 1 1/4 yards, and 1 yard respectively. That totals 5 3/4 yards!

  • Fabric Used this week      5.75   yards
  • Fabric Used this year:       13.50 yards
  • Fabric Bought this month:   1.25 yards
  • Fabric Added this year:    4.25 yards 
  • Net Fabric used                 8.75 yards 

To Do

Linda from Texas Quilt Gal is hosting “To Do” every week.

I had month to work on my previous To Do list … let’s see how I did …

The To Do list 2 weeks ago:

  1. Finish IB March project √   DONE see HERE
  2. Work on Macaron Mystery: Sandwich √   DONE
  3. Work on Time in a Bottle: Quilt, prepare binding √   DONE see HERE
  4. Complete April’s Colour Challenge not started
  5. Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! √   DONE
  6. Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes √   DONE

This week’s list:

  1. Finish quilting Macaron Mystery
  2. Work on IB May challenge
  3. Work on April’s Colour Challenge
  4. Sandwich and possibly quilt BBQG mystery quilt
  5. Teddy #3 – Sew for class sample
  6. Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! I NEED this continual reminder! 
  7. Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes

Design Wall

Donna, at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, host a linky party for “What’s on your Design Wall” every week.

Piecing:

1. Teddy #3: These fabrics are from my stash. This Teddy will be for demo in a class.

Quilting:

  1. Working on Macaron Mystery:

2. May IB project is next in line

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail 

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Retreats are fun!

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Two weeks ago, I went to the guild’s January retreat. That’s right – January’s retreat happened in March. It was postponed due to Covid. But it was a LOT of fun!

There are a LOT of pictures …

First meal of the retreat …

Games: Secret Sister Gifts

Strip Poker: 50 shades of grey & Blue/ Green batiks

A Lots of projects being worked on

And the dresden craze: Candyce Grisham was a guild speaker earlier this year. She had a fabulous presentation and her book Dresden Reimagined is now in several guild member’s hands. (If you’re looking for a speaker – she’s great!) 2 of the ladies were working on many of the different dresden patterns in the book and soon, there were others in the room that also became addicted! And, one lady used the dresden for her sunflower for Ukraine and later used smaller petals for her leaves (sorry, no picture).

I know that I missed taking pictures of some of the projects … sorry about that!

My Finish for the Week

My SAHRR for 2022 is finished. You can read more about it HERE. (Made with Island Batik fabrics, Hobbs batting and Aurifil Thread).

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!    
Gail 

Linking to:

SAHRR 2022: The Finale … the Parade

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You may be new here and wondering about it … you can read more about it at the following links:

My Quilt

This quilt was made with Island Batik fabrics (Flutterfly collection & solid white), Hobbs white 80/20 batting, and Aurifil thread.

And here’s some close-ups of the quilting!

Friend’s Quilts

When she sent me the picture, she said, “This is where I’m leaving it Gail. Thanks, it was fun.” I think it looks great!

Kathleen said, “This is my finished project, it was definitely a learning experience. Because I started with such a small center block, some of the other blocks, size wise, were a bit of a challenge. Thank you for facilitating this project.” I think you did a fantastic job, Kathy!

 Here’s Mary’s. She was running low on fabrics so she got very creative. I love the final result. 

Donna also ran low on fabrics but made it! Shadowed quilted stars and diamonds and elephant footprints in negative spaces. Great fun!

Here’s Dawn’s: I love all the greens she used!

Jacomina wrote: I have no blog and I participated on a lark in the SAHRR2022. I put on a last round of borders and it is a disaster so they will have to come off again. It was fun in a way, as I like improv sewing, but it is not a very good quilt. I enjoyed the challenge even though that was not in my programming for this year. It just happened because I was in the Netherlands and all quilters were asked to make heart blocks for the victims of the flooding this summer when the rivers broke in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. I made one following the directions and later a second heart thinking that I knew the dimensions and it turned out to be much too small. So here I was with this orphan block. Well, I totally disagree with Jacomina! I think this is a beautiful quilt! I love the hearts in the outside corners … it’s Lovely!

Edited: 2 more, sent in a little late

1. Charlene

Except for the background Charlene used her scraps of batiks for this quilt. She still has the last 2 sides of sho fly blocks to make. She had to go buy more background fabric! WOW!!! This looks fantastic!

2. Chere says: Well round 6 is done . I’ve got shoofly blocks, and some spacers in between. This quilt is  far bigger than I thought it was going to get. But it’s OK. Hope to get it sandwich together next week and quilted. It will have purple binding.
Have a few scraps left, have to see what I can do with them. Overall it was fun . I ended up learning new block names and blocks ,along with new techniques. Look forward to the next one.

I’m glad you had fun, Chere! Your quilt is beautiful!! And I agree that the purple binding will be perfect!

Now, it’s your turn to show us!

Show us your completed SAHRR or the one in progress!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter
https://fresh.inlinkz.com/js/widget/load.js?id=a8b40ada7693d64e5923

Visit the other co-hosts to see their Quilts!

1st Round: Anja @ Anja Quilts

2nd Round: Emily @ The Darling Dogwood

3rd Round: Roseanne & Sue @ Home Sewn by Us

4th Round: Wendy @ Pieceful Thoughts of My Quilting Life

5th Round ME!!! @ Quilting Gail 

6th Round: Chris @ Chrisknitssews

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!    
Gail 

International Quilting Day

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Or … Worldwide Quilting Day!

Here’s my front yard … they’re all made with Island Batik fabrics, Hobbs batting and Aurifil thread.

As I was out taking a picture, I met a neighbour that has a quilt in her window … and she works at a quilt store in the community. So, of course, I had to walk down the road and take a picture!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!    
Gail 

3 Little Bitty Finishes and a new quilt shop!

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Yup, I have not ONE, not TWO but 3 little finishes.

I had some signature blocks left over from my SAHRR. Here they are added to my quilt. I used the Flutterfly fabric collection for my SAHRR. You can read more about the SAHRR HERE.

I was dusting the shelf above my ironing station and realized that the spray bottles of water and Terial magic were sticking to the shelf – as was the lint brush! I NEEDED a few small coasters.

I took 6 of the extra signature blocks and 3 small squares of Hobbs 80/20 batting. I layered the signature blocks right sides together with the batting and sewed around the outside, leaving a 2″ unsewn edge on one side. The corners were clipped and the coaster was turned right-side out. A quick press, pinning the open sections in place and I sewed around the coaster with an 1/8″ and a 1/4″ seam. No hand sewing! In short order I had 3 coasters placed under my spray bottles and lint brush!

I’m not the only person to use some of their left-over blocks from the SAHRR … Check out Wendy’s super cute table runner HERE. She used left over signature and star blocks and other blocks …

Have you done anything with your leftover blocks, if you have any?

New Quilt Shop

There is a new quilt shop in Chilliwack. It is about an hours drive from my home. It’s a lovely shop with a delightful owner, Angela. It’s been open for just a few weeks. It’s called Cozy Cottons Quilting. Here’s a few pictures from the inside. She’s going to look into getting Island Batik fabrics! Whoot Whoot! And she’s got a few of my patterns to sell! YEAH!!! But in the meantime, she’s got a lot of lovely fabrics, flannels, fireside, Aurifil thread and rulers …. and so much more. Do you see the star quilt below? That’s made with Kansas Troubles … my hubby’s favourite fabric line! (He took the pictures!)

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!    
Gail 

Linking to:

Time in a Bottle Blog Hop

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Carol, of Just Let Me Quilt is hosting this blog hop.

Here is the challenge:

  • Create something with an hourglass block in it. 
  • It can be one block or 100 blocks…totally up to you.
  • You can make a quilt, a bag, a potholder, or whatever.
  • Just have an hourglass block in it somewhere.

Here is my first Hourglass block:

I had a few 60 degree triangles left over from the Island Batik “gradations” project that I made in January. You can read about it HERE.

But, I needed 45 degree and 90 angles to make the hourglass block. Accuquilt to the rescue! I paired all of these triangles with Island Batik’s solid grey material. 50 blocks later, the quilt was put together, the border added and the quilt was finished.

And, for the most part, my gradations are all gone! It’s bitter sweet. I was able to have fun using them and I actually got 3 quilts out of the fat quarter bundle they sent!

This quilt was sandwiched with Hobbs 80/20 and I use Aurifil #2600 (Dove) to quilt it. I started with my walking foot and a small serpentine stitch to outline all of the triangles, then I free motioned a swirly flower “thingy” in the grey areas. The binding is a scrappy binding and it is used with the same serpentine stitch that I quilted with.

This quilt will be donated to the Boundary Bay baby quilt committee.

Here is the list of Time in A Bottle Bloggers

Visit each of them to see their interpretations of the theme!

March 14

March 15

March 16

March 17

March 18

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!    
Gail 

Linking to:

So Scrappy @ Scrap Happy
Oh Scrap @  Quilting is More Fun than Housework
Frédérique  @ Quilting Patchwork Applique
Monday Making @  Love, Laugh, Quilt
Design Wall Monday @  Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

2 Different Classes

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Both of these classes took place at Essem Textiles in Cloverdale. There are 2 more classes planned and others coming in the future. The Fat-Quarter Teddy Bear starts later this month (in 2 different sizes) and the 3D Pinwheels will be in April. The Teddy Bear class is almost full – but Essem will start a wait list for a 2nd class if there is enough interest! If you haven’t sewn at Essem – you are in for a delightful surprise. The classroom is fantastic, lots of plug-ins, great lighting and the hosts are the BEST!!!

Quilt-as-you-go Table Runner

I taught this class a few weeks ago … the participants were amazing and the table runners so diverse! It was pretty awesome … Here’s a peak at them – finished or in progress

Here is Kathy’s … all finished – including the binding!

And here’s Tina’s … the flowers and dragonflies are so pretty!

I haven’t received pictures from any of the other, but here they all are in progress. They are all so very different!

This is my Quilt-as-you-Go Table Runner. I finished it today and it’s my TGIFF for this week! I used fabrics from Island Batik’s Vintage Lace collection. You can read about the quilt that I made with this collection HERE. For the table runner I used the following fabrics:

  • Center: Mini Floral Vine Fall
  • Yellow: Mini Floral Vine Corn
  • Green: Dots: Pineneedle
  • Border & Binding: Medallion- Lace Fall

The center was quilted with Silly Moon’s “Drop” ruler.

Today’s Machine Binding Class

I taught the group a ton of tricks for binding quilts totally by machine. I think they enjoyed learning my radical techniques!

Here they are – hard at work. On the le

2 of the participants brought their Quilt-as-you-Go table runners to learn how to do those tricky angled corners and the regular 90 degree corners. How did I miss getting pictures of 2 of the projects? (Sorry, ladies!) As you can see, the bindings turned out fantastic! I’m super impressed with the 2 that did the straight line final attachment. It took me a LONG time before I ventured from decorative stitches! All of the ladies did a fantastic job!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail 

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Little to show, but lots happening!

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I’ve joined Jen, from Patterns by Jen in doing the monthly colour blocks.

This month, it’s the Pink Peppercorn. (which is actually a berry, not a peppercorn!) The patterns are free each month. However, if you miss a month, there is a small fee, but you can still get the block! You can get the pattern HERE.

This block came together quite quickly … and I used Island Batik fabrics!

And, we are to show off our Pink Quilts. Here are some I have made over the years!

Stitching Stuff

‘

Kate, from Life in Pieces, is hosting “Stitching Stuff” and the goal is to sew for at least 15 minutes a day. I use Kate’s guideline, but my personal goal is to sew for 30 minutes a day. On those “blah” days, it does motivate me to sit at my machine and 30 minutes often turns into several hours. Thank you Kate for the motivation!

  • January – Feb 59 / 59
  • March 1 – 6
  • Total: 65 / 65
  • Percentage =100% 

Stash Report

Donna at Quilt Paint Create hosts a weekly linky party where you can display your stash. This has really kept my stash from growing (somewhat!) Before I buy anything, I am always mindful of the fact that I need to report it on my blog … That sometimes stops me in my tracks! However, I am human and I do break down and buy fabric!

No shopping and no purchases this week … and nothing finished …

  • Fabric Used this week       0    yards
  • Fabric Used this year:        7.75 yards
  • Fabric Bought this week:   0 yards
  • Fabric Added this year:     3 yards 
  • Net Fabric used                  4.75 yards 

To Do

Linda from Texas Quilt Gal is hosting “To Do” every week.

The To Do list 2 weeks ago:

  1. Finish IB March project √   DONE
  2. Work on Macaron Mystery: Sandwich not done
  3. Work on Time in a Bottle: Quilt, prepare binding √   DONE
  4. Complete April’s Colour Challenge not done
  5. Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! I NEED this continual reminder! Not Done
  6. Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes √   DONE

This week’s list:

  1. Prepare projects to take on retreat
  2. Prepare for Binding Class
  3. Macaron Mystery: Sandwich
  4. Complete April’s Colour Challenge
  5. Do NOT be distracted by any SQUIRRELS! I NEED this continual reminder! 
  6. Tidy & clean studio for 30 minutes

Design Wall

Piecing

#1: IB April project is in process. This is a fun project!!! I’ll be showing you in April!

#2. IB May project is started. This one is taking a LOT of time! I’m glad that I started early!!!

#3 IB June  is started and is my current leader & ender.

Quilting:

  1. Currently working on SAHRR

No finishes so far in March … and no New Starts finished … yet. If you would like this chart, you can access it HERE.

PHD Tally 2022- with formulasDownload

If you would like this colourful Task sheet, you can access it HERE.

Retreat!

I am going on a retreat next weekend!! WOO HOO!!! Lots of fun!!!

Packing … I need to get some projects ready to go … and hopefully, I won’t forget some of the main things I need!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail 

Linking to:

Italian Colour Builder Challenge with Aurifil

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Our challenge was to “create a piece inspired by your assigned Italian destination.”

I was sent Pompeii Red Aurifil colour builder set. It contains 3 beautiful reds: 5002 (Medium Red), 2250 (Red) and 1103 (Burgundy).

Pompeii is a city with lots of red stone buildings and ruins with Mount Vesuvius in the background. Mount Vesuvius is an active volcano, with the latest eruption in 1944. However, in 79 AD, it’s eruption buried the city and it was abandoned for centuries. In the 1700s, a group of explorers started to dig and discovered that many of the artifacts and people were still intact. Today, Pompeii continues to be an active archaeological dig.(Information obtained from: https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/pompeii)

I really didn’t want to work on buildings. Mount Vesuvius looks beautiful, but doesn’t have any red features. What to do?

Then, as I was surfing the internet more, I came across some amazing pictures of the mountain erupting. This photo is the inspiration for my mini quilt.

I started with making the sky … the light blue and the dark blue (Both were scraps of 10″ squares from the Starry Night stack I had). I added the 2 brown fabrics for the mountain: one is Wavy Dots-Cappuccino and the other is Brownie. The orange fabric was from a stash builder bundle. These were all joined with wavy improv seams. In the 2nd picture, the 3 threads on the left are the Pompeii threads, the 3 on the right are from my thread stash. The grey was intended to be used for the smoke but I didn’t use it. This piece measured 19 1/2″ x 20″ … I thought with adding a border, It would easily be 20″ x 20.”

Once the base was made, I used Hobbs fusible batting and the backing is “Brownie.” I LOVED using the fusible batting, there was absolutely NO need for spray … and I knew that it would not shift while I was quilting.

I wanted to stretch myself and thought I’d do some thread painting. I started by using the 3 Pompeii Red threads. This was sewn on my Janome M7, using the straight free motion stitch and the free motion zig-zag stitch #1.

It definitely needed the lighter threads … so I went to my Aurifil stash (yes, I do have many, many colours!) I chose the following threads: 2134 (Spun Gold), 2140 (Orange Mustard), and 2220 (Light Salmon).

Wow … I used over 10 bobbins of thread and it shrunk … A LOT!!! I knew it would likely shrink a little, but I was shocked at how much it did! After I squared it up and added the border, this mini is 16″ x 18.” I knew it would likely shrink a little, but I was shocked at how much it did! And it shrunk the most in the middle and was an hourglass shape!

This is my finished piece and I called it “Mt. Vesuvius Eruption.” Not a very imaginative title, but at least I have named it!

Thank you!

Disclosure: The fabrics, batting, thread and needles were generously supplied by the following companies: Thank you, Island Batik  Aurifil Thread  Hobbs Batting & Schmetz Needles !!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!    
Gail 

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