A Finish on a Rainy Friday

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It is pouring outside.  We are thankful it’s not snow.  We’d be buried 10 feet deep if it was!

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Years ago (and I mean YEARS ago), a friend asked me if I’d sew these blocks into pillow shams for her.  Her mom had made them a quilt and intended to make shams out of the left-over blocks to match.  Then dementia set in and her mom was unable to even attempt to finish them.  I said “yes, I’ll finish them.”  I bought the green fabric to do another border and the backs.  (The green fabric was bought at Wild Rose in Orting, Washington a few years before they closed and they’ve been closed for about 4 years).

My friend’s mom died this summer and then guilt set in.  I worked on the shams at the quilt retreat, but decided that I needed to quilt the tops and I didn’t have batting or backing to finish them there.  SEW, I finished them this week.  I used invisible thread and just quilted in the ditch. Nothing spectacular, but just perfect for the blocks!

It’s a relief to have them finished … I no longer have guilt about them sitting there not being done.  And, they’re not even on my UFO list!

I was Featured

Wednesday Wait Loss Featured From the post about my gift for the quilt retreat.  You can read about  it HERE.

IMG_5706One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail 

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Linking to:

Retreat accomplishments – some …

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Oh my! The retreat was a great time.  They always are!  So many different projects, so many ideas, so much help … so much food … and 2 people brought halloween jellies and candy corn … groan!  … too much sugar …  click HERE to see the slide show of other people’s projects.

SEW … What did I get done? 

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The Retreat is Over

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Yes, the retreat is over.  It is done for another year!  It was a wonderful time of sharing, quilting, laughing and laughing!

We played games!  Instead of strip poker (See HERE) we used the LRC die and played with loonies (Canadian $1 coins).  It was fun to the end.   Then there was a scavenger hunt … looking for all sorts of things sewing and non-sewing related.  One thing that we needed was a selfie of the team, taken in a car.  Neither my partner or I had our own cars at the retreat. Much to the surprize of the owner, we hopped into the back of another car as she and her partner were getting out!  We have a gift exchange at the retreat and played a game with each of us ending up with a gift we didn’t make.

One of my secret projects in the recent weeks was a snappy bag and a roll of toilet paper.

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A Retreating I will go …

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Oh YEAH!! A retreat!!!

I love retreats!!!

There are a group of 18 17 of us going to Edenvale in Abbotsford. 17 because one lady is too ill to attend! 😦

What am I taking?   A zillion things … WAY more than I’ll get done!

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PHD in 2019 – October Update

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I have another finish!!  I cut into my Island Batik rayon and finished a top!  It’s the same pattern as the one I showed last week (see HERE) – except I altered the neckline a bit.  It fits perfectly!  My hubby is not home at the moment, so no photos with it on me! Just one of it pinned onto the design wall!img_5651-scaled-2560-e1572571190440-scaled-2560.jpg Continue reading →

How to get rid of a UFO without going crazy

/ quiltinggail / 23 Comments

I’m working on Smith Mountain Morning from Bonnie Hunter’s book “Scraps & Shirtails II.” You’ve seen the odd picture in recent posts … It’s a UFO from 2015 that was started in a workshop with Bonnie at Camp Arnold – near Seattle. Washington.  The workshop was fantastic!!  The quilt will be fantastic!!  (visit Bonnie’s blog Quiltville.com for lots of eye candy and free patterns.)

I think I might be going crazy!  Who in their right mind starts a quilt with 3 million pieces (don’t count them, I just might be exaggerating! but not by much). And then decides that she wants to make it bigger?  YUP – I was crazy when I made that decision! Continue reading →

Hosting TGIFF and a different finish!

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TGIFF

Thank Goodness Its Finished Friday … is a linky party.  If you have a finish this week, feel free to join in the fun and share what you’ve been working on. (Scroll down for the linky party)

My Different Finish!

I’ve been thinking that I need to sew up some of my garment fabric.  Yes, I do have some. There was a time, YEARS ago that I used to make all my own clothes – including blue jeans.  But, other than some pjs, I haven’t sewn any clothes.  I have a beautiful piece of Island Batik rayon that I received in my first box.  BUT … I didn’t want to risk cutting it up and sewing a garment if the pattern wasn’t going to fit.

I dug out my patterns and found a t-shirt type top that I had made years ago – like 20 years ago.  (And 20 pounds ago!).  I measured the pieces against a top that currently fits and thought I’d try it.  I had some blue rayon fabric that I got – who knows when or where … and started cutting.

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Monday’s Progress …

/ quiltinggail / 13 Comments

I have been sewing.  Smith Mountain Morning is slow going …. tons of pieces fro each block … but I’m determined to get ‘er done!

Design Wall

Piecing:

Several projects are now in progress:

  1. Smith Mountain MorningIMG_5631
  2. 52 blocks in 52 weeksIMG_5630 
  3. A secret project is still in progress, but has changed from this picture!IMG_5621

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Friday … Bonnie Hunter – revisited

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I’ve been sewing … a lot …  but not a lot to show for it.

I saw this picture on a facebook page … and just cracked up.  The skeleton is obviously working on hand quilting “Good Fortune.”  It’s Bonnie Hunter’s mystery from last year.  And, I love the soft colours that were used!  Or have they just faded over time??? (grin!)

Sarah Young

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Squirrels!!!

/ quiltinggail / 21 Comments

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.

The Ad-Hoc Squirrel Club
A squirrel is a sudden distraction that pulls us away from projects already underway. Something so exciting that we drop what we’re doing to enjoy the unexpected. The term comes from the movie UP where the dog named Doug is talking and suddenly his head whips to one side as he shouts SQUIRREL and he’s off to chase it.

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.

  • pulled fabric
  • cut them into 6 ½” blocks
  • sew blocks into half square triangles
  • oops – realized that I should have cut 7″ blocks to make the math work properly … oh well, I’ll just add a wider border
  • ironed the blocks
  • placed them on the design wall

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!

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Top it Off

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October’s Island Batik challenge is “Top It Off.”   We were told to create a holiday themed table runner or table topper that includes appliqué.   Well, you all know how much I love applique (NOT!!).  However, with my Janome 500E embroidery machine, applique has become SEW much easier!

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Aunt Dinah’s Quilting Party

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I have done a little sewing.  These 2 little zipper bags are done.  They are photographed on the back of my October, Island Batik Challenge … which is still in progress.  And all I can show you is the back …

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Aunt Dinah’s Quilting Party

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A Little bit of my trip …

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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.

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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!

 

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Cleaning your Sewing Machine

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Those that sew with me, know that I am almost anal about cleaning the lint from my machine.  (OK … I can already HEAR you saying, “Gail, you are anal!”)

I have a personal rule that my sewing machine gets the bobbin case cleaned after every two bobbins.

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