Well, Fireburst is done, done, DONE!!! The quilting is done, the binding is done, the label is done … it’s now history!!!
Quilting
PHD in 2018 – October Report
H A P P Y H A L L O W E E N !
OK…. Sew today is the last day of October … Halloween! That means that I need to report on my PHD in 2018 and the progress of those that joined in the fun!
Hmmm, I’m not thoroughly impressed with what I got finished in October. But I did finish 2 projects that were started in 2018 (Wonky Logs and Giraffe) … and 2 more are in progress … When they are done, I will focus on the UFOs left.
No sewing when I’m away …
I was away for a bit … travelling in some weird white stuff for part of it. But, since my sister didn’t drive into the ditch, I’ve come to the conclusion that she’s not too bad of a driver. Although, I’m not sure if my white knuckles have regained their colour yet! 
It’s good to be home … but it was good to go … Continue reading
After a trunk show
I did a trunk show around the middle of the month … When the trunk show is over and everyone has looked at the quilts, they all get put into the bags I brought them in. It would take too long to do it in an orderly fashion, so they just get folded and put into bags.
The next day, I take them out of the bags and begin the process of sorting through them. There are quilts that go back onto the beds, there are Christmas quilts, there are quilts for when we have extra people, there are quilts that I use for teaching and there are quilts that might be gifted in the near future. This is what it looks like when I empty the bags and before I start to sort:
After about 2 hours, the quilts (not including the ones that were put on the beds look like this:
The quilts on top of the red bags have specific destinations in the house.
Other than the quilt my grandmother made for my parents wedding, I usually don’t show any quilts made by others. This time I showed one that was half made by my grandmother and finished by me years ago. You can read the story HERE. And you can see all the quilts that I made using Grandma’s fabrics HERE. I also showed “Thank you Notes” made by my cousin, Terry. This was given to me with blocks signed by cousins and aunts and uncles that have received quilts. When I received “Thank you Notes” I was overwhelmed and there were quite a few tears of astonishment! You can read that story HERE.
At the trunk show, several people asked me about “Thank-you Notes” … they thought it was a great idea. It is a Missouri Star pattern called “You’ve got Mail.”
Happy Quilting!
Gail
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Linking to:
- Wednesday Wait Loss @ Inquiring Quilter
- Can I get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
- Finished or Not Friday @ Busy Hands Quilts
- Sherry @ Powered by Quilting
- TGIFF @ Celtic Thistle
- Caroline @ SewCanShe
- Tish @ Tish’s Adventures in Wonderland
- So Scrappy Saturdays @ So Scrappy
Our Beautiful Fall Continues!
Oh – it is so lovely outside! Although I’m missing summer, I’m loving these wonderful west coast fall days. It’s hard to be inside when it’s so nice outside! However, they are forecasting rain for Tuesday, so this wonderful days will come to an end.
Fireburst has the first stitches of quilting done. There is nothing active happening with piecing. 
Continue reading
2nd October finish
The giraffe quilt that I started at a retreat in April is now finished! YEAH!!!
For my PHD in 2018, I have one more “started in 2018” to do and 4 UFOs!
Beautiful Fall Days
It is beautiful right now on the West coast of Canada. Cool crisp nights, some morning fog, and sun in the afternoon. It’s hard, very hard to stay inside and quilt when it is so nice outside!
However, I have been working with digitizing software. It’s 
actually fun! A simple project that I have been working on is taking an element from the fabric in the quilt, making a simple outline and stitching it out.
It worked great on my sample, (first picture), but when I tried to put it on the quilt, it wouldn’t line up right: see the “line” between the ears?” I have a very small machine and I don’t think it was intended for quilting. I will finish the quilt on a bigger machine at work.
My first October finish!!!
Woohoo!!! Wonky Logs! It’s done! Done! Done!
Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Design Wall
No piecing … but I’m having fun quilting the Wonky Logs quilt! Craftsy / Blueprint is free this week. My cousin Terry told me to watch “Wild Quilting.” Oh, it was an excellent class! I don’t have a tone of wide open spaces to apply her techniques but I did take notes! However, if YOU are interested in Free Motion Quilting – I would advise you to watch this class!
I know that I said I wouldn’t use straight lines in this quilt … but as you can see in the green square, I changed my mind! I’ve got about half of the blocks done! Six more to go!
A sort-of finish for Friday …
This is the latest block from the Fireburst mystery …. I really like this block and it went together like a dream! Or at least how I dream of piecing bits and pieces together. Having a block finished is a sort-of finish, correct? Continue reading
Deciding what “Quilt as Desired” is
Lately, I’ve seen people in blog-land asking about how to decide on what to quilt. Sew, I thought I’d blog about what I do.
I used to absolutely HATE it when I saw “Quilt as Desired” on a pattern. It made me wonder if the designer had no idea on how to quilt what she/he designed? As a beginner quilter, it left me frustrated and at a loss of what to do. Now – it just gives me the freedom to do what I want without any outside influences.
SEW … that brings me to “How do I decide what to quilt?” I have a quite a few Pinterest boards with links to various sites: Free Motion Quilting (FMQ), Leah Day, Ruler Work and links to FMQ videos All of these provide inspiration and ideas. I have a few books with quilting ideas in them. But my favourite of all is my own personal notebook. This book was a gift that a quilting friend made – isn’t it cute?
PHD in 2018 – Sept. Report
Two finishes for September. Both of them are UFOs! I must be liking easy and square pieces!
a 2nd September finish for Friday
Serged Top is done
Here are the questions I had before I started serging this quilt together and the answers to those questions:
- Which serger will I use? I used a serger at work (Pro-4DX) and my own serger at home. I actually prefer the Pro-4DX over my own serger
- Will I be able to finger press the seams, or should I use an iron? I did do some finger pressing, but as usual, the iron made a much nicer job of pressing the seam.
- Will I be able to chain piece using a serger? Yes, there was no problem at all with chaining
- Will it make the quilt “lumpy” at the seams? I don’t really see much different than when using a regular sewing machine
- Will I be able to web or lattice the final blocks? Absolutely! The first picture shows the first webbing, the second shows the top pieced together.
Blogger’s Quilt Festival
Fall 2018 Blogger’s Quilt Festival
Amy, from “Amy’s Creative Side” is once again hosting a Quilt Festival. It is worth going to take a look at all of the quilts entered. Lots of eye candy! Click HERE. And, there are prizes … you don’t have to be a blogger, you can enter via Instagram … check out the directions for entering a quilt. Here is my first quilt entry:
Secret Quilt Reveal
So, this quilt has been gifted … and I got a picture back with my newest great-nephew, Gage, and the quilt. He was born in late August. From his pictures, he’s a real cutie!
I used a Dr. Seuss layer cake along with “Slate Grey” solid from Free Spirit. It was a fun quilt to make. Probably because I LOVE Dr. Seuss!
More on Serging a Quilt
The back of the blocks are very neat and tidy! (Ignore the stray threads that hopped onto the block when I took the picture!)
Serging a Quilt top?
Yes, I’m going to attempt this. The pattern is Wonky Logs. It’s a free pattern by Custom Kwilts.
The pattern calls for 12 fat quarters … but I discovered that I can get away with using 6. First, I used paper scissors to cut out the templates. Then I laid them out on the fabric. This picture shows the background fabric – all 6 layers of it. (I cut 3 pieces, each 17 ½” long, and then layered them. You can see the pins holding the templates in place. If you’re not comfortable cutting through 6 layers of fabric, then make it 3 layers or 2 layers.
First finish in September
I thought I’d be just showing a picture of this quilt in progress, as I wasn’t sure I’d have time to get it finished by today. It’s a little quilt made with 6 ½” flannel squares. A great flannel stash buster of left-over baby quilt backings. This is a UFO … and it’s finished! YEAH! I just did a big serpentine stitch along the seams and diagonally … mindless and easy to do.
PHD in 2018 August Report
I have 3 August finishes. The quilt and the little zipper bag. I cannot show you the secret quilt because it has not been gifted. However, it is finished!!
Quilting Gail 