Friday’s

No Finishes Friday

/ quiltinggail / 23 Comments

That’s right … I’ve been quilting up a storm … but nothing is finished … and that’s OK with me.  (Well, some things are finished but I wrote about them HERE and HERE.)

UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_380aI started 2 new quilts … one for a baby and one for big brother … with this fabric.

Of course, I have changed my mind about using this fabric for the baby and am going to finish a UFO for him.  However, the one for big brother is moving along quite nicely … We had an “ugly” fabric challenge at the guild using THIS VIDEO… and started another, using it for the big brother quilt …  Here’s what’s on the design wall …

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I will put on a border and have a cute idea for the back … if I do it, I’ll definitely show you!

A Future Quilt

I saw this quilt … and I was tempted, very VERY tempted to drop everything and make it!  (DrEAMI).  But I resisted … for now … but I don’t think I’ll resist for very long!   It’s a free pattern by Sew Fresh Quilts and you can access it HERE.  As a Winnie the Pooh fan, I’m in LOVE with this quilt!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!  
Gail 

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Linking to:

PHD in 2020 Mid May Report

/ quiltinggail / 29 Comments

I have another UFO finish!  This is the Scrappy 2″ 4 patch that I blogged about HERE.  for the Scrap Happy Blog Hop.  It got quilted and bound.  I had a TON of fun trying to come up with different motif’s for each square … some are definite “who knows” motifs (scribbles or motifs gone wrong) and others are recognizable! I even put a few words in as well. It’ll be fun to see if the recipient notices the words!

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This is my 10th UFO for the year!! WooHoo!!!  I think staying at home has helped!  Although I do miss sewing with friends, visiting friends and just browsing and shopping for things I don’t need (and often don’t buy!)

UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_37eaI did start the Ugly Fabric quilt following THIS VIDEO!  Once I decided that I WAS going to make it … it was quick to cut the squares and start sewing.  The hardest part was arranging the blocks so that similar fabrics did not touch.  It is waiting to be sandwiched and quilted.

I also started the “Cool to be Square” quilt … and I’m hoping it’ll be finished by Monday, when it’s my turn to participate in the blog hop!  You’ll just have to wait until then to see what I’m making!

The projects for the Island Batik “Ultimate Home Decor” blog hop were posted on Wednesday! You can read about them HERE.   If you go to the blog post – there is an opportunity for you to win some of the fabric that was used for the rug and valances!

PHD in 2020 – Linky party!

How are you doing with your UFOs?
Post a picture of your latest UFO finish.  And if you’re attempting your PHD in 2020, tell us about your progress!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

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It’s Cool to Be Square

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This blog hop is starting on Monday … make sure you come back to see what I’ve made.  (And yes, there is a square or 2 in it!

 

I was Featured

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Wednesday Wait Loss featured this quilt/  You can read about it HERE.

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One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!  
Gail 

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Linking to:

A Friday Finish

/ quiltinggail / 27 Comments

I have been having fun … and not working on what I should be working on … but that’s what makes it fun, right?  Sort of like skipping school and doing nothing – that’s fun, right?  Well, I actually wouldn’t know about that, because I never skipped classes in highschool –  except for one time … (That’s actually true, and it’s up to you if you believe me or not!)

I gave you a hint earlier this week when I posted a couple of photos of the Helen Godden Flower Power Quilt-a-long …  Here is the finished project:  Each block is about 7½” square.  Lots of quilting!

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This is a free project. Helen has a separate Youtube video for each block and shows you how to do the various techniques, with ease.  Well, with a measure of ease!  She does make it look super easy!  I still have a long way to go, but I’m happy with the end project!

The project was done on an Island Batik neutral, the sashing, binding and back was an Island Batik fabric that I bought locally at a store that is now closed. I used black Aurifil thread (4-5 bobbins) and scraps of Hobbs 80/20 batting.

Helen’s instructions for finishing the quilt made it super easy.  Each block was stitched individually (and coloured with Inktense pencils). Once the blocks were trimmed to size, I zig-zagged them together.  Simple, eh?    For the sashing, I took a 4″ piece of fabric and ironed some “Steam-a-seam” on it.  Then it was cut into 4 –  ½” strips and ironed in place.  SEW SEW EASY!   Then a co-ordinating Aurifil thread was used to stitch down the sashing.  The backing was cut 1″ larger than the piece, folded over and viola! the binding was ready for the same stitching that I did on the sashing.

Here’s a close up of each of the individual blocks  …

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What do these things have in common?

You’ll have to wait until May 13 for the answer …

Ultimate Home Decor Blog Hop

Did you visit the blogs this week?m  There is a LOT of amazing Home Dec projects!  Trust me, it’s well worth visiting them!  I have the direct link to each blog post so that you don’t have to go searching for them.  And some of the blogs are offering an opportunity for YOU to win fabric!

May 4
Janet Yamamoto ~ Whispers of Yore
Carol Moellers ~ Carol Moellers Designs
May 5
Carolina Asmussen ~ Carolina Asmussen
Suzy Webster ~ Websterquilt
May 6
Megan Best ~ Best Quilter
Emily Leachman ~ The Darling Dogwood
May 7
Connie Kauffman ~ Kauffman Designs
Denise Looney ~ For the Love of Geese

Screen Shot 2020-05-01 at 10.43.01 PMBe sure to enter Island Batik’s Rafflecopter to win Cascadia precuts! This collection was  designed by Claudia Pfeil of Claudia Pfeil Designs.  You could win both a 10″stack and 2½” strips.  Each pre-cut comes with 2 of the 20 fabrics in the collection.  It’s well worth entering – you never know if you will win!  Here’s the link:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!  
Gail 

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Linking to: 

Stay-at-Home Round Robin … finished!

/ quiltinggail / 24 Comments

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My 2 Round Robin quilts are all finished!  Quilted and binding done!

The Purple

Here is the purple one that was done as a quilt-as-you-go.  Eagle eyes will notice the pins in the binding at the top … that’s because this quilt is waiting for a special little one to be born and that’s where the label will go.

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The Blue

And the blue one … I quilted and quilted and quilted and I LOVE it!  I even did some ruler quilting!

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The Quilting

And, close-ups of the quilting:

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I know that the centre square (below) turned out wonky … but that’s just the way it is and it’s staying that way.  Perhaps the next time I do it, it will be more non-wonky!

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Disclaimer:  Thanks to Island Batik for the fabrics for the tops of the 2 Round Robins, Hobbs batting, Schmetz Needles, Aurifil thread and AccuQuilt for providing the necessary tools and supplies to make the quilts!

Linky Party

This will be the last Linky party for the Stay-at-Home Round Robins … Post a picture of your completed or in-progress Round Robin!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!    
Gail 

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Linking to:

Stay At Home Round Robin … Part 6

/ quiltinggail / 14 Comments

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Here is the blue Round Robin with the stars added.  I used the AccuQuilt 8″ Qube dies #2 and #5 to cut them out.  It took me less than an hour … and that was with bits and pieces and scraps of the fabrics.  Hopefully in the coming week(s?), I will get this sandwhiched and the binding on.

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Here is the purple round robin.  I had a limited amount of space left for the stars, so I had to make them smaller (4.5″ square).   I wasn’t able to use the Accuquilt for them (only because I don’t have the appropriate size dies).  It took me over 3 hours to cut these out.  What a difference from using the Accuquilt!  I was already “sold” on using the Accuquilt for curved pieces and the Block on Board, but this really illustrated to me how time saving it is for regular squares and triangles!

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On the purple quilt, I just quilted Stitch in the Ditch along the seams of the stars.  I contemplated outlining the stars, but since I wanted to only use the walking foot to quilt this quilt, I didn’t want to be turning the quilt a zillion times.  It would have been a breeze if I did free motion, but I was determined to just use the walking foot!

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I didn’t have time to bind the purple quilt.  Hopefully, that will happen this week and I can show you the final quilt(s) next week!

Fun Facts about the quilts:

All fabrics were given to me by Island Batik.  As an ambassador, I was also given Aurifil  thread, Hobbs batting, the AccuQuilt dies and Schmetz needles from each of the industry sponsers.  Thank you!

For both quilts, I used Aurifil thread for piecing.

For the purple quilt: I used #2515 for quilting and, I used Hobbs batting 80/20 (scraps joined together).

The Accuquilt Cube 8″ dies were used, when appropriate.

Blue is approximately 48″ square.  Purple is approximately 42″ square.

Part 7

Is actually quilting and binding your quilt.  We don’t want to have any more UFOs – right?  If you did a quilt-as-you-go (like the purple one), it should be a matter of trimming the quilt and applying the binding.

Linky Party:

Here is a Linky Party for you to show off your work!  You have a few options for posting … you can post a link to your blog, a link to your Instagram or a link to a Pinterest page.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

I was Featured!

Screen Shot 2020-04-24 at 2.16.44 PM.png #1:   Wednesday Wait Loss featured the Round Robin quilts from last week.  See HERE.

#2  For the love of geese also featured a Round Robin Quilt

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!    
Gail 

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Linking to:

Stay At Home Round Robin: Part 4

/ quiltinggail / 12 Comments

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Here are the purple and the blue Round Robin Quilts with the arrows added.  I’m happy that I have enough Island Batik fabric to complete these 2 quilts.  I used the Accuquilt Go to make the flying geese (Dies 4 & 5 from the 8″ Cube set).

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I had a few “hiccups” as I was making the arrow borders.  See the video for details!

                 https://youtu.be/-Jc3DDzUHn4               

Linky Party:

Here is a Linky Party for you to show off your work!  You have a few options for posting … you can post a link to your blog, a link to your Instagram or a link to a Pinterest page.

Even if you’re not participating in the Stay at Home Round Robin – go visit the linking blogs to see what they are doing.  Do you see the one that put it on point?  That’s part of the freedom of a Round Robin – I LOVE it!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Next Round: Part 5

The next round for the Round Robin is squares.  It can be anything … wonky squares, square in a square, 4 or 9 patches – the choice is yours.

A Friday Finish

This week on the Facebook guild page the challenge was to make a “heart” quilt … any size …  People in the Vancouver area are putting hearts in their windows to honour the front line workers during the pandemic.   I decided to make a quilt that would be large enough to hang in the window so that it could be clearly seen from the street.  I used this pattern: Color My Heart Mini Quilt from the Fat Quarter Shop.  It’s a nice easy pattern.  However, typical of me, I adjusted the pattern and used 6½” blocks to make it bigger.  It turned out bigger than I wanted and that meant I had to piece the backing.  Oh well, it’s done now!

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Yes, I used more of my Dr. Suess fabrics … I still have some left, but not a lot!  It was fun to quilt it with hearts of all shapes and sizes!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!   
Gail 

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Linking to: 

Stay-at-Home Round Robin: Part 3

/ quiltinggail / 24 Comments

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If you want to see the Intro click HERE , Part 1 click HERE, and Part 2 click HERE.

This week: Pinwheels

I used the Accuquilt Go! cutter to cut the half-square triangles to make the pinwheels.  On the purple quilt, I made 12 and for the blue one, I made 16.  I used Island Batik fabrics for both quilts.  The blue I used a strip from a “Stash Builders” bundle, a basics and some yardage from “Faded Blue Jeans.”  The purple used a variety of fabrics.

Video of Pinwheels

In this video, I discuss what I did to “make it fit” and the extra quilting that I did.

                 https://youtu.be/JceDcvvGlkI               

SEW … next week we’re adding arrows to the quilt.

How are you doing with your Round Robin?

Linky Party

Here is a Linky Party for you to show off your work!  You have a few options for posting … you can post a link to your blog, a link to your Instagram or a link to a Pinterest page.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

A Friday Finish

Last week on Facebook, I challenged guild members to make a donation quilt and post it on Facebook on April 3.  Of course, I HAD to make one as well.  I rummaged through my “kid” fabric and found several Dr. Suess blocks left over from another quilt.  I made 8 more blocks and ended up with this quilt.  It was hard, but it was done before April 2 was in the history books.IMG_6413

Have you been following?Scrap Everything.jpg

Scrap Everyting Blog Hop

Here is a list of everyone who is participating in the Blog Hop!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!   
Gail 

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Linking to: 

Stay at Home Round Robin: Part 2

/ quiltinggail / 11 Comments

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If you want to see the Intro and Part 1, click HERE and HERE.

Piano Keys!

There are many different ways to do piano keys …

For the Purple Round Robin (Quilt-as-you-Go), the piano keys are lengthwise  and for the Blue one, they are perpendicular to the quilt.

Video of Piano Keys

Here is a video of the piano key borders going on the Purple quilt:

                 https://youtu.be/m-xRPnbMFZM               

For the Blue Quilt, I cut 1½” slices from the 10″ stack of Island Batik “Freedom” fabrics and sewed them together.

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This piece was cut into 2½” pieces and sewn onto my grey square.

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I still haven’t decided about the centre block.  Will I do some appliqué? Some embroidery?  I’m sure I’ll decided before the quilt is finished!

Here is the purple Quilt-as-you-Go with the Piano Keys sewn on.

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SEW …

How are you doing with your Round Robin?

Linky Party

Here is a Linky Party for you to show off your work!  You have a few options for posting … you can post a link to your blog, a link to your Instagram or a link to a Pinterest page.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

What’s the next round you ask???

Pinwheels … I haven’t made them yet, so I’m not sure how wide the round will be.  It’s up to you to decide how big and how many pinwheels you want to add to all 4 sides! Do what you want, but add some pinwheels!   Have fun!  There will be another linky party next week!

Friday Finish … NOT

But I do have a flimsy, actually 2, completed.  These are from the Elvira Sew-Along that GE Quilt Designs hosted this past weekend.  I was going to make one large quilt, but decided that 2 smaller ones would be more appropriate for me to make at this time.

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One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!  
Gail 

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Linking to:

Stay-at-Home Round Robin: Part 1

/ quiltinggail / 19 Comments

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Part 1

If you need an explanation of a Round Robin quilt see HERE.

Each Friday, I will post a short video of what my Round Robins are looking like.  Also, I will give you the guidelines for the next round.  There will also be a weekly Linky Party where participants can post their Round Robin progress.

Fabric:

#1:  I am using a variety of purple / mauve Island Batik scraps, ½ yard cuts, along with Island Batik solid white.  You can use whatever fabric with whatever colour, that you want.  I do not know how much fabric I will use … if I run out of what I’ve set aside for this quilt, I may start adding in another colour or 2  … I know it will all work in the end.  Please remember that this is YOUR quilt and you get to make a lot of the decisions!IMG_6352

#2: I will be using a variety of blue Island Batik fabrics.  A lot of them came from the “Freedom” stack that I received last year for a Quilt of Valour.  I’m Canadian and made a red and white Quilt of Valour, so most of the blue stack was left over.  Over the Rainbow is a fabulous on-line store that delivers world wide.  They will be recieving Freedom stacks soon (if they don’t have them already).   They also have lots of other Island Batik fabrics!

Here is what I’ve pulled for my blue Round Robin.  In the centre is my 8 ½” square of Island Batik grey solid that will be my centre block. I may embroider or applique it at a later date.IMG_6353

Centre Quilt Block:

First,  you need to make a centre block.  It can be any size you want it to be.  My centre block for the purple is an 8 ½” (unfinished) Sawtooth Star.  Just make sure that the centre is either a square or rectangle.  Please note that if you make a block that is not an 8 ½” square, I will not provide you with measurements.  You’ll have to figure it out on your own.  (Which is what happens with most Round Robins …)

I used my AccuQuilt Go! to cut out the pieces … using the 8″ GO Cube dies.  It was pretty quick to cut the pieces and then sew them together.  If you wish to make the same block and you don’t have the AccuQuilt Go! dies and AllPeopleQuilt.com has the pattern for an 8″ Sawtooth Star.IMG_6351

I’m also doing 2 Stay-at-Home Round Robins.  One (the purple one) is going to be a tQuilt as you Go.  The 2nd (blue) will be a flimsy and has the potential to be a bigger quilt. As you can see in the picture of blue fabric above, the centre block is an 8 ½” square of grey.

Quilt as You Go:

With this being a small quilt, I took left-over Hobbs 80/20 batting and zig-zagged the pieces together to make the batting big enough.  A flannel backing that is 42″ x 42″ was prepared.  The batting was cut to the same size and they were spray-basted together using 505 spray.   I then folded the backing/batting in half and gave it a good press. I folded it in half the opposite direction and pressed again.  Using a large stitch, I stitched down these 2 lines.  This gave me some registration marks so it will be easier to align the quilt as I add borders.

The Video of Part 1

As you watch this video, you will see me being me … I stumble over things, but eventually, I get it right! (I think).  As well, I said I wouldn’t give you the clue of what the next round was to be until next week, when I show you what I did.   After the filming, when I was thinking of that: I thought about what I know of Round Robins that friends have participated in.  They are given directions, but they are not exact and they need to figure out what they are going to do for each round.  SEW ,,, after the video, I will give you the clue for the first round.

                 https://youtu.be/Z2h30ULCqK8               

The First Round

Are you ready?

The first round, which will circle around all 4 sides of you centre block is “Piano Keys.”   You can do piano keys any way you want … Google it if you need to find out what they are.  You can make them bigger or smaller or do a variation of piano keys.

I will tell you that mine will probably be scrappy on both quilts.  And the border will measure at 2 ½” unfinished, and will finish at 2″ once all the seam allowances are in place.  Because of the nature of piano keys … mine may have a solid block in each of the corners … I’m not sure, I haven’t made them yet!

Now … onto other things:

Quilt Qwazy Queens Blog Hop

It stated on Wednesday … and here are the participants for this week.  These are FUN!!!  I will be sharing mine next week!

Wednesday March 18 
Thursday March 19
Friday March 20

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting!  
Gail 

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Linking to:

52 x 52, Friday’s Finish

/ quiltinggail / 28 Comments

I finally finished my “52 Blocks in 52 Weeks.”  The quilt blocks were released weekly by Canadian Quilter’s Association designed by Jackie White.  Each block is unique and finishes at 6 ½” square.  Or should I say, each block is suppose to finish at 6 ½” square?  Most of mine did and I fudged with the rest.  I did not trim down any blocks.

Every single piece of fabric came from my stash. This was a picture of the bag of scraps that I dug into for each of the blocks … along with a constant light that I’d had for years.img_2976

Continue reading →

A “Not Finished” Friday

/ quiltinggail / 10 Comments

55557-go-glorified-nine-patch-package-tallNothing finished

No finishes this week!  I’ve been working A LOT on my March Island Batik challenge and I can’t show you yet!  I can tell you that I’m using the “Glorified 9 patch” Accuquilt die that I was given.  All the pieces for the block are on the die.  I have them all cut and most of them are on the design wall. Some blocks are sewn.

When I need a break from the excusiating SLOW curved piecing, I am quilting the “52 blocks in 52 weeks” quilt.  If you look closely, you can see that I’m doing graffiti quilting.  A little bit of this and a little bit of that! A swirl, pebbles, a heart, a teardrop, a flower and whatever comes to mind.  It’s fun and makes it so that I’m not bored.  I’m hoping that it will be finished soon!IMG_6222.jpeg Continue reading →

How to cut perfect borders without a tape measure!

/ quiltinggail / 19 Comments

That’s right, you can cut your borders to the perfect lengths without using a tape measure: Watch the video to see how!

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https://youtu.be/Io65pwM3vJ8

Edit: I have linked this blog post to Kathleen McMusing’s blog where she is compiling quilting tips and tutorials.  Go HERE to check out last month and this months tips & tutorials.

Continue reading →

What do you do when … ?

/ quiltinggail / 20 Comments

What do you do when …?

What do you do when you have a 23 year old young man visiting and his dad (my cousin) asks you to teach him to sew pants?

Well, he was only here for 3 days … SEW … teaching him how to sew pants wasn’t gonna happen!!! Besides, I don’t make pants … And we had to play tourist (in the WORST Vancouver weather) and he had an interview on another day …

But, knowing my cousin, I HAD to do something.

SEW, I set Kristopher up at my embroidery machine … and he did ALL the sewing!  Doesn’t he look like a pro????

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Yes, he sewed pants … grey pants … and said his dad often wears red shirts … we I chose to made his hair salt & pepper (LOL) … and this is the mug rug that Kristopher made:

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Continue reading →

Another UFO??? Finished!

/ quiltinggail / 36 Comments

Yup!  I finished another UFO … this one was not on my official list for PHD in 2020 (see HERE).  But, it was a UFO that I found last year as I went through ALL of my bins as I was moving into my studio.

These were left-overs from a Seminole quilt that I made eons ago.  The left-over strips were too nice to just discard, so I made them into pouches.  The photo above shows the 4 zipper pouches that were made.  Each side is different from the other.

I needed a gift for the “secret” gift exchange at the retreat last weekend … and I thought, “why not finish up a UFO?”  So, I did!  The one one the bottom right was the one that was gifted.

Island Batik Unboxing Videos

This month, all of the Island Batik Ambassadors are assigned a day to show their unboxing videos.  (My date is Jan. 29).  As this post goes live, the ambassadors that have already posted are above the arrows  ⇒⇒⇒ and I have provided direct links so that you don’t have to go searching their blogs.   Everyone gets different lines of fabrics … it’s worth going to see, so you can drool over the fabric!

I was Featured!!

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THIS quilt by Quilt Fabrication!

 

 

NEXT Friday,

I’ll be hosting TGIFF … so be sure to visit and link what YOU are working on!

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail 

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Linking to:

Lets Get Scrappy!

/ quiltinggail / 31 Comments

I LOVE Scrappy Quilts!!!

It was fun to go through my box of Island Batik fabrics and make a scrappy quilt.  I wanted one that would cover my embroidery machine.  I ended up making 2.  The first one, I used my Accuquilt cutter and cut a zillion half-square triangles.  I love that the triangles were cut perfectly and were SEW easy to so and made for perfect HSTs.  However, I was not happy with the end result.  With the great variety of  scrappy pinwheels, it just ended up looking disjointed.  Not something to make me smile when I walk into my sewing room … so it became a bag to keep my Accuquilt Go cutter in.  You can read about it HERE.

The 2nd quilt is one that I’m VERY happy with and will enjoy seeing it covering my embroidery machine!  I used fall colours, many left-over from the “Soil and Seeds” collection that I used in a blog-hop quilt.  (See HERE)  And, I used other co-ordinating fabrics from Island Batik foundations, basics and stash buster bundles.  The background fabric is “Coconut,” an Island Batik foundations neutral.  I LOVE this neutral!

The 4 patch blocks are made with 2″ squares and end up being 3 ½” finished in the quilt. The batting is Hobbs 80/20.  The binding is 2″ scraps, left over from making the blocks.

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Continue reading →

Sometimes mistakes happen

/ quiltinggail / 31 Comments

Oh yes, they do!

Most of you know that I absolutely LOVE scrappy quilts.  Occasionally, I do sew a quilt with only a couple of fabrics, but for the most part, I love scrappy.  A few years ago, I made a series of quilts with my Grandmother’s fabric.  You can see them HERE.  I used pretty much all of the fabrics, without much consideration to colour.  The only rule was that 2 squares of the same colour couldn’t go next to each other.  There was every colour in the rainbow, shades, tints and tones and they all got mixed up together.  In my opinion, all of the quilts turned out just fine.

Then came the Island Batik January’s challenge to make something scrappy!  I smiled and smiled.  I knew I wanted to make a cover for my embroidery machine and it would just be a small quilt, not shaped or anything.  I have scraps from all the Island Batik projects that I made last year.   I decided to make pinwheels.  I used my Accuquilt Go to cut the pinwheels (talk about accurate!) and was mostly happy with each pinwheel.  Individually, they looked pretty good.  They all went well with the Island Batik grey solid.  Then, when I put them together, it was blah.  Like yuck! gross …  ULK!!!   Not something I’d like to look at every time I walked into my studio!

I quilted it with blue thread (Aurifil 1128), hoping that would add some cohesiveness.  It helped … a little … but … Not doing it for me.  ULK!!!

When I compared this to some of the quilts I made with Grandma’s fabric, I realize that in each of the blocks (some were the same size as the pinwheels in this piece) that the colours were all mixed up together.  In this piece, there isn’t the mixed variety … each pinwheel is only 2 colours.  My conclusions are that:  1.  If I’m going to do scrappy pinwheels, I need to stick to a certain theme or colour.  2. Scrappy quilts work best with lots of variation and a solid, or calm piece, to pull it all together.

It’s LEARNING … and I’m just fine with that!

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When I was looking at this quilt, I was wondering what I could make with it.  I had said on the blog that I had started Secret Project #1 – so, I couldn’t just ignore it and hope that it would disappear.  It was a project started in 2020, and therefore, needed to be finished in 2020.  And, I couldn’t wimp out on my PHD in 2020!  Especially this early in the year!!!

I have always fought with the bag that the Accuquilt cutter came in because it just fits and there isn’t a lot of wiggle room.  AND, to top it off, the bag ripped when I pulled it out to use it to cut the pinwheels.  An AH-HA moment happened.  This piece would be come a bag for the cutter.  A perfect solution, don’t ya think?

Here it is … and I’m thinking that it doesn’t look too bad as a bag.  And the Accuquilt Go fits in it with ease!

This is NOT my official Island Batik scrappy project for January but it is a completed project.  It did use Island Batik fabrics, cut with the HST Cube 8″ Accuquilt die, Aurifil thread and Hobbs 80/20 batting.    I had labelled this Secret Project #1.

There is still time

Screen Shot 2019-12-06 at 11.47.00 AMto join in PHD in 2020!

If you want to decrease your UFOs … and not make your UFO list any bigger, Join me for your PHD in 2020!  Check out this blog post for details … and scroll WAY down for the linky party so that you can join in!  You can join in on the PHD in 2020 until Jan. 14.  Then on the 1st and 15th of each month, there will be a linky party for you to show your progress.

Now, you don’t have to have a blog to join … you can use Pinterest (start a separate board) or Instagram … post the direct URL in the linky party and you’re IN!  Come and join us!

I was Featured

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By Jeniffer at Inquiring Quilter with This POST about 2 works in progress.  Thank you to Jennifer for hosting the Wednesday Wait Loss.  By the way … it’s worth going to her blog to see all the wonderful works that are featured this week.

Disclaimer: The products featured in this Blog post were given to me by Island Batik, and their co-sponsers Aurifil, Hobbs Batting & AccuQuilt!  

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail 

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First Friday of the Roaring 20’s

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No finishes … yet ….  But, I’m off to a roaring start for this year!

I have been working on a couple of UFOs.

Ode to 30s

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The picture on the right was the state it was in before Christmas … I made a few more blocks and added sashing and it is now sandwiched … the quilting can begin!  Oh … and I need to decide HOW to quilt it … it will definitely be a decision I’ll need to make with each block!IMG_5939.JPG

Summer Solstice

IMG_5864This picture, taken before Christmas, showed the only sewing I had done on this project.  One block …  However, all the pieces were cut and had been placed in numbered bags!  Whew … at least I didn’t have to figure out what fabric goes where.

To tackle this UFO, I decided I would work on it for ½ hour each day that I sat at the machine.  Well,  the first day, it took me about an hour to figure out what I was doing and got started.  Today, I have 8 blocks to the stage below.  IMG_5938.jpeg

PHD in 2020

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Have you joined in the PHD in 2020?  There is still time!  You can go to THIS POST for details and to add your link … you have until Jan. 14 to join!

The first part in tackling your UFOs to acheive your PHD in 2020 is making your list.  Many of you have already done that!

The next step in tackling UFOs is to do an analysis of each project.  You can read about that HERE.

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail 

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My Best of 2019

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Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs is having a Best of 2019 Linky Party!

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It’s HARD to choose just one quilt that is my favourite for this year!  SEW … as you can see, I chose 8 of them.  I finished many many more, but these 8 are my favourite!  Well, there’s probably a few more that are also my favourite … but I figured I needed to limit the number!

You can see the original posts for the quilts by clicking on the quilt name.  All but the first quilt, Good Fortune, used Island Batik Fabrics (you can see all the Island Batik quilts HERE.)  Good Fortune was made from my stash and was a Bonnie Hunter mystery.  All of the quilts used Hobbs batting … 80/20 or wool … Aurifil thread was used in each project.  Each quilt was quilted on my domestic sewing machine – Janome 8900.

Friday Finish or Not

I have no finishes this Friday, but the quilt below is ready to be quilted.  I used the left-over fabric from a baby quilt I started in November.  I was able to cut most of the 5″ squares from the left-overs … I was a few squares shor … mostly because I cut some at 4.5″ instead of 5″ 😦 …  sew … I took the pieces that were too small and pieced a bunch of them together and then cut those pieces 5″ square.   It will work.  This is a pattern where you sew the blocks straight, do a few big cuts, rearrange the big cuts and you have a quilt that is on point.  Missouri Star has a YouTube Video that shows basically how to make this.   It’s pretty easy!

This quilt will also be donated to the guild.

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fullsizeoutput_c18This is the quilt that had the left-overs that I used for the above quilt.  There were 2 fat quarters that I did not use in the original quilt … one was a mini panel with the blocks of animals and the other was the white /with leaves that is on the outside of the quilt … it was a perfect place to use these fabrics up!

 

 

 

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail 

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