I have been sewing. Smith Mountain Morning is slow going …. tons of pieces fro each block … but I’m determined to get ‘er done!
Several projects are now in progress:
Do you remember, WAY back in August, when I was a participant in Island Batik’s “Beat the Heat” Blog hop? I featured this quilt and fabric:
Soil & Seeds
Do you like or dislike squirrels? We have black and grey squirrels in our backyard. And we enjoy watching them scurry along the fence, hopping onto the trees and burying nuts in our garden. A friend of mine said that squirrels are just rats with fuzzy tails. I disagree. They are cute and fun to watch!
Recently, (like in the past year) I’ve been noticing on quilt blogs that some projects are called “Squirrels.” I didn’t understand exactly what this meant, and I went searching. Google searching. When I researched “squirrel quilts” – that’s what I got – a bunch of links to quilts containing squirrels. Not what I was looking for.
Googled “squirrel quilts new projects” … BINGO … a definition of what I was looking for. Quilt Diva Julie had the explanation! Thank you Quilt Diva Julie! (Photo & Definition is from Quilt Diva Julie’s blog.
SEW … all this talk about squirrels … and yes, I did have a sudden distraction that pulled me away from what I was diligently working on. Our guild has a Facebook page. This Saturday, a baby quilt kit making day was happening. One lady posted the cutest quilt with a baby on it. Of course, it was scrappy and blue – that’s why I thought it was cute. I quickly figured out how it could be done … easy peasy. Then Saturday came and I wasn’t able to make it to the baby quilt kit making day. Sew, to get rid of my guilt, I decided to make the quilt. It was easy to start.
That’s as far as the squirrel has progressed. I will web this together and figure out if I need 2½” border or 3″ border to make the quilt 40″ x 40″. And, it’s using up some of my stash! And that’s always a good thing!
Design WallAfter being away, I wasn’t sure where to start with my sewing. I made the little bags (just to get them out of the way) that were cluttering up my ironing board. Continue reading
Oh me, oh my!!! What an awesome trip I had. I spent a week in England/Wales, a week in Johannesburg, 3 days in Zimbabwe (Victoria Falls), 5 days on Safari in Namibia at Etosha National Park, 4 days in Cape Town, and finally 2 days in Paris. If you ever consider an African Safari – let me know, and I will give you the name of a fabulous company and the most wonderful guide!
Visit my YouTube video HERE to see pictures from my trip that may inspire future quilts. These pictures were all taken with my phone and were chosen from over 3,000 pictures that I took.
This is a sewing machine that was in a store in Cape Town, where the owner makes all of the clothes for sale right in the store. This machine was one of the “newer” ones. The ones they use on a daily basis were in the back and unfortunately, I didn’t get to see them! Somehow, I suspect that the decals are not in the prestine condition of this machine!
I’ve been trying out the arrangement of my sewing room. So far, just a few minor things have been moved around. And I’m loving it! If you missed the tour – check out this Blog Post.
It’s not quilt related. I’m working on some travelling neck pillows. I made them before, but didn’t have a loop/button at the front and it was a real pain in the neck to not have it. (did you get the pun?) As well, I’m making them a little bit longer. I put zippers in the top and we stuff them loosely with clothes. It gives us a little bit more room as we try to only travel with carry-on. These are being made out of flannel.
As I move into my new sewing room, my hubby knew I wanted a design wall against one wall at the end of the room.
We had some delightful company from Ireland visiting! It was a lot of fun to visit with them. I did get a little bit of sewing done when they went to be tourists in Vancouver! But, I’ve also spent a LOT of time moving into my new sewing room. Yes, I’ll show you pictures when I have things where I want them. I did sort through ALL my fabric … and I have a ton of it ready to go out … I mentioned it on our guild’s FB page and a few people have showed interest in it. I just need to get organized and get it to them!
I did manage to sew up three little bags. The white fabric is “colouring fabric.” My daughter gave the plain, uncoloured rectangles to a couple of little girls. They came for dinner the other night and I had them pick out zippers. It was lots of fun to watch them pick out the colours they liked, with no regards to the finished project! They just picked out what they liked! Perfect! I stitched their initials on the tabs. It was a fun way to stitch them!
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OK … so how did you do? Did you complete 26 hours of focus sewing on your intended project? Here’s how I did:
Here is an Excel Sheet for you to track your hours: Hmm, I can’t seem to embed the excel sheet … If you want one that will add your hours up, email me & I’ll email the sheet to you
Here are the quilts I plan to finish: 2 strippy quilts (only 1 picture) and 3 star quilts.
There is a link-up at the end of this post.
I have started piecing my August Island Batik project … and of course, I can’t show you until the actual blog hop. Sorry … I know you hate secrets!
A few weeks ago, I showed you the border of a commissioned quilt. I’m now quilting the said border. And then it needs a label and binding and then it will be finished.
Nothing finished this week and no fabric bought so there isn’t a lot of change in my stash …
For more Stitchin’ Time, you can check out Kate’s blog: Life in Pieces
Link up if you want to show us your plans for the marathon. I will try to have a link-up at the half-way mark and at the finish line.
If you don’t have a blog, you can always link to an Instagram post or a Pinterest picture.
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Yes, the last week has been a whirlwind. I had a 12 hour drive up north to help a friend, then came back a few days later. The bonus was that I got to see a neice and a few old friends for a little visit! Unfortunately, I missed seeing a ton of other people!
Then, just as I got home, we picked up my quilting cousin, Terry! (She blogs occasionally at TLC Quilts).
Terry helped me cut and sew some border strips … unfortunately I didn’t get a picture. Since the binding flange strips needed to be cut the same width as the 1st border, she cut those as well. Then, I had a glass of wine and decided it was totally unsafe for me to either cut or sew …
This is a secret commissioned project, but I figure that I can show you a bit of the 1st border without giving too much away.
Terry and I hit a couple of local quilt stores. She fell in love with “Dragonfly Quilting and Gifts” To quote Terry, “This is heaven.” She bought a few fabrics to go with her future projects and she bought a beautiful beautiful piece that is simply beautiful. To my credit … I resisted buying that beautiful fabric. However, Dragonfly is only about 3 km from my house … but I’m not going there!
While Terry was here, she was talking about needing scraps of fabric for a couple of future scrappy quilts. I just grinned and grinned. And I grinned some more!!! She tackled my bag of red, blue and brown scraps and took a fair amount – but why are the bags still full???? I didn’t measure the fabric – so I can’t use the amount in my stash count this week. But, at least she has scraps and doesn’t need to go buy fabric to make her quilts. If she sends me pictures, or blogs about the quilts, I’ll be sure to let you know!
Terry then sorted my green scraps … and made a comment that a certain tone of green was predominant in my green scrap bag and there was likely enough for a quilt there. She’s probably correct and I may use that green in Bonnie Hunter’s 2019/20 mystery quilt.
Terry also showed me how she does her feathers. It uses a “bird” and “sun” for guidelines. I’ll have to get the link of the youtube. Sew … she had me practicing different feathers. FUN!
Quite a few people have expressed interest in joining us for the Baby Quilt Marathon. Not everyone will be making baby quilts – but I will. You can see more details HERE. One person is planning on making a string quilt, another is going to be sewing up a bunch a baby / Christmas panels, and another plans to make a baby quilt from start to finish!
Are you going to join us?
I showed you the little bit of border that I’m finishing piecing and will soon start quilting.
I finished the Quilt of Valour quilt. And, although the fabric from the top was from Island Batik, the backing was from my stash. It used 4 yards of fabric.
For more Stitchin’ Time, you can check out Kate’s blog: Life in Pieces
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Oh – I almost forgot to write the PHD in 2019 report.
Kate @ Life in Pieces has started 2 projects that she plans to complete by year’s end! One is a Storm at Sea (something I’ve never made) and the other is her Daisy Chain Mystery quilt – sew pretty!!! I really like the pattern!
Tish @ Tish’s Adventures in Wonderland doesn’t seem to have any UFOs finished, but she has a lovely heart quilt …. it’s worth going to take a look!
Emily @ The Darling Dogwood has made a pretty awesome I spy quilt for a new baby! She made a similar one for the baby’s sibling – so that should be fun!!! Make sure you check out her cool I spy quilts!
Deana @ Dream Worthy Quilts has a goal tracker on the right side bar. According to the tracker (which may not be up to date), there hasn’t been any recent UFO finishes. However, she has made a pretty neat bag. Check it out HERE. I love how she didn’t purchase the hardware, but re-purposed it from other bags. I’ll have to keep that in mind!
Elizabeth @ Applique and … has a lot going on in her life and sewing is happening in little bits.
Sharon @ Adventures in Fiber has not posted any quilty posts lately … but she has been busy with lambs! Soooo cute!
I know that I often use quilting acronyms and I hopefully explain them. This video explains a LOT of different ones! SEW Fun. It’s well worth the time to watch it.
Fractured Paint Brush.
I made the label and I just have the borders to quilt … and the binding to do … then you’ll see it in all it’s glory!
I did finish my June Island Batik project and used 1/2 yard of my own fabric on the back … I need to take pictures and write that post – sew you’ll see the project pretty soon!
For more Stitchin’ Time, you can check out Kate’s blog: Life in Pieces
No UFO finishes in May, but I did finish my May Island Batik project …
I did start 2, yes 2 baby quilts at the guild’s baby quilt making day … they are added to my “Starts in 2019” list. Hmmm … I still have 3 guild baby quilts from previous years that aren’t finished … one day …
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Last week, I told you I was piecing 3 other projects …
One is finished, finished, finished! … (yeah) but I can’t show you until July.
One is ready to sandwich … but I can’t show you until July!
The Fractured Paint brush is ready to be sandwiched. I will be opening a new roll of Hobbs 80/20 for this quilt!
The last block for the Daisy Chain Mystery is up. The clues had me guessing until the very last minute!!! It’s a great mystery! Thank you, Little Bunny Quilts!!!
So, I pieced the last blocks together and I was so excited to see this quilt put together, I didn’t take any pictures of the block until the quilt was sandwiched! 
T
These “cross” blocks pieced together very quickly! All the units were previously put together, so it was very easy to do!
Once I had the blocks done, I was eager to see how my quilt would look. SEW … I put it all together. The instructions tell you to pay attention to the orientation of the “star” blocks and the “cross” blocks. Amazingly, I did pay attention and I didn’t have to reach for my seam ripper!!!! Perhaps, I’m learning to follow directions? Continue reading
Our guild’s quilt show was this weekend. I know I’m biased, but I think it was an excellent show!
I know that I missed taking pictures of some of the quilts! And, even on the last day, I saw quilts I had not seen before!
The video below shows many of the quilts in the show. When I downloaded the video to Youtube, it was blocked because I used copywrited songs by the Beatles. One of the challenges was “Quilts inspired by a Beatles’ Song” … live and learn …You can’t use copywrited songs! dang! But, I found some other music …
The beginning of the video contains all sorts of a variety of quilts. Then, they are sorted into various categories:
Grab a cup of tea (or coffee) and enjoy the show!
Did you know that I hosted a Linky Party on Friday? It is a lot of fun! Click HERE to see all the eye candy and visit different blogs!
It’s a lot of fun when we have company come. Especially a family with 4 kids that we LOVE!!! The youngest son was asking me about my quilts and we scrolled through the pictures on my computer and he said, “that’s my quilt!” As soon as they got home his younger sister and he had their pictures taken with their quilts … I made these several years ago – before I started blogging. I LOVE that they are still LOVED~
Quilting Gail 