It’s Thanksgiving Day here in Canada. I cooked a turkey yesterday and we had a yummy feast with the kids and some of their friends.  It was a lot of fun!

I did buy fabric this week.  But I absolutely HAD to!  No frivolous purchase was made.  No purchase just because it said, “BUY ME”.  No purchase because it happened to jump into my arms and fall in love with me.  None of that.  It was all necessary.  At least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it! 

The photo on the left below shows the brown background fabric I bought to do a Jelly Roll Mystery at the guild.  (I already had the jelly roll, but NOTHING in my stash worked with it.)

The photo on the right shows some flannel backing and binding fabric for a baby quilt.  (I’ll how a picture once the quilt is completed and gifted).

With doing mystery quilts that will not be finished by the end of the year, I will be adding 3 more quilts to next year’s UFO list!  Groan.   However, except for buying the brown background fabric, all of the material is coming from my stash!  YEAH!!!

Stash Report

Fabric Used this Week:     0 yards  
Fabric Used year to Date:  141.75  yards
Fabric Added this Week:    4.5  yards 
Fabric Added Year to Date:   54 yards
Net Fabric used for 2017:   80.95 yards  

UFO tally

2017   Completed
Jan:           2
Feb:           0
Mar:          0
Apr:          0
May:          2
June:          4
July:          0
Aug:          1
Sept:          2
Oct:          0

36  UFO’s left to complete.

Linking to:

• Sunday Stash @ quiltpaintcreate
• Oh Scrap @ Quilting is more fun than Housework
• Monday Making @ Love, Laugh, Quilt
• Design Wall Monday @ Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
• Moving it Forward Monday @ Em’s Scrapbag
• Main Crush Monday @ Cooking up Quilts 

Happy Quilting
Gail

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I have been away!

First, we went to a Doobie Brothers/Eagles concert in Seattle with my sister & her husband.  That was a lot of fun!  Then my husband & I went down to the Oregon Coast for a few days.  We had wonderful weather and many long walks on the beach.  There was also a bit of whale watching, but nothing really close.

I did get the scrappy Irish chain pieced together and will hopefully get it quilted later this month.  This quilt is made with scraps from other people.  I’m not saying that you won’t find any of my own scraps in this quilt, but they are few and far between!  However, this is not a UFO … I started it in January while at a quilt retreat. It was a “Leader & Enders” project until I had all the 49 patch blocks done.  Then it was sewn together.

This quilt is adapted from Bonnie Hunter’s “Happily Scrappily Irish” that can be found in her book “Adventures with Leaders and Enders.”   I made it smaller than Bonnie’s and I’m not going to put a border on it.   If you’re interested in buying this book, it is no longer being printed, but Bonnie has them for sale on her website, Quiltville.com   It is a book worth having!

Link-ups

To see what others in the quilty world are working on wander over to these blogs:

• Can I get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
• Amanda Jean @ Crazy Mom Quilts  
• Finished or Not @ Busy Hands Quilts
• Let’s Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts
• Happy Needle  and Thread @ My Quilt Infatuation

Happy Quilting
Gail

Do you have lots of batting scraps?  I do.
And when I attempted to sew them together, even when I pin – the joining sides end up looking like this the picture to the right.

GROAN!!!

This does not make a nice batting for sandwiching a quilt.  And the last thing I want to do is unstitch batting!  Sew, it’s useless and only good for dusting and cleaning.  (NOT going to happen!)

Then, one day, I thought, “I wonder what will happen if I use my trusty Elmer’s School Glue to glue the edges together before I attempt to sew?”

I tried it.  It worked!

Here’s my process:  I only use scraps that are the same kind.   In this case, the scraps are all “Warm and Natural.”   First, I put a flannel sheet on top of the guest bed. Then I lay out my batting (first picture). I bead my glue along the edge, press it together.  Wait a few hours and it’ll be dry.  If I’m in a hurry, I would press it with my iron.  Then I zig-zag the edges together, using the widest and longest stitch that my machine will do.  Do not sew while the glue is still wet.

I am thrifty … I dilute my glue with an equal amount of water.  It works just fine!  But I make sure to mark the container so that I know if it’s been diluted or not.  I use Elmer’s Glue.  I figure, if it’s safe to eat, it’s safe to use in a quilt.  (No, I do not eat glue!)

Here’s a picture of some of the batting sewn together.  This will be the batting for the scrappy quilt I showed earlier in the week.

Link-ups

To see what others in the quilty world are working on wander over to these blogs:

• Can I get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
• Amanda Jean @ Crazy Mom Quilts  
• Finished or Not @ Busy Hands Quilts
• Let’s Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts  
• Happy Needle  and Thread @ My Quilt Infatuation
• Scrap Happy Saturday @ so scrappy

Happy Quilting
Gail

Design Wall

My Scrappy leader and ender is now webbed together.  Just need to sew the rows, sandwich, quilt and bind and I will be able to call it done! In the picture, it looks like a tangled mess, but it will be easy to sew all the rows together.  This quilt has a little bit of everything, all from gifted scraps. And NO, please, please, please, do NOT gift me any more scraps!

Stash Report

Fabric Used this Week:     5 yards  (Scrappy baby quilt)
Fabric Used year to Date:  141.75  yards
Fabric Added this Week:    0  yards 
Fabric Added Year to Date:   49.5 yards
Net Fabric used for 2017:   85.45 yards  

UFO tally

I started the year with 47 UFO’s.

2017   Completed
Jan:           2
Feb:           0
Mar:          0
Apr:          0
May:          2
June:          4
July:          0
Aug:          1
Sept:         2

36  UFO’s left to complete.

Linking to:

• Sunday Stash @ quiltpaintcreate
• Oh Scrap @ Quilting is more fun than Housework
• Monday Making @ Love, Laugh, Quilt
• Design Wall Monday @ Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
• Moving it Forward Monday @ Em’s Scrapbag
• Main Crush Monday @ Cooking up Quilts 

Happy Quilting
Gail

Did you know that there’s an On-line Quilt Festival?  I just found out today.

This is the quilt that I’m entering.  It’s one made with my Grandma’s Fabric.  To read more about this and see other quilts made with her fabrics click HERE.

Now, to see a bounty of beautiful quilts that  are entered into the festival visit: Blogger’s Quilt Festival at   http://www.amyscreativeside.com/2017/09/18/bloggers-quilt-festival-fall-2017-edition/

Happy Quilting
Gail

We’ve had a LOT of company over the last 2 weeks and we were away for 4 days, so not much sewing has gotten done.  I’m still working on this Irish chain.  I have about 5 more wreaths to do, then the border, make the label and do the binding.  Hopefully by next week I can call this UFO done, done, done!

Link-ups

To see what others in the quilty world are working on wander over to these blogs:

• Can I get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
• Amanda Jean @ Crazy Mom Quilts  
• Finished or Not @ Busy Hands Quilts
• Let’s Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts  
• Happy Needle  and Thread @ My Quilt Infatuation

Happy Quilting
Gail

I used 1/2 yard for the TV top.  No other projects completed,  No fabric purchases.

I’m quilting on the Irish Chain.  Some folks have trouble believing that I do this on my domestic sewing machine.  I do most of my quilting on a Janome 8900.  Sometimes, if the project is small I used my Janome 6500.  Here’s pictures of a wreath in progress – on my Janome 8900.  I have 14 wreaths completed – 17 more to do!

Stash Report

Fabric Used this Week:     0.5 yards  
Fabric Used year to Date:  121.75  yards
Fabric Added this Week:    0  yards 
Fabric Added Year to Date:   49.5 yards
Net Fabric used for 2017:   65.45 yards  

UFO tally

I started the year with 47 UFO’s.  One UFO finished so far this month.  I doesn’t look like I’ll finish the Irish Chain before the end of the month … so it’ll likely be a September finish.

2017   Completed
Jan:           2
Feb:           0
Mar:          0
Apr:          0
May:          2
June:          4
July:          0
Aug:          1

38 UFO’s left to complete

Linking to:

• Sunday Stash @ quiltpaintcreate
• Oh Scrap @ Quilting is more fun than Housework
• Monday Making @ Love, Laugh, Quilt
• Design Wall Monday @ Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
• Moving it Forward Monday @ Em’s Scrapbag
• Main Crush Monday @ Cooking up Quilts 

Happy Quilting
Gail

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Yup, 3 whole days of “Frogging” … rippit, rip, rip …  Back story:  I was merrily quilting the centre lines and the 2 coloured lines on this Irish chain and was about to put in my 3rd bobbin … and then I really looked at my quilting … and looked at it … I was using a thread colour that matched the big negative spaces and it looked absolutely HORRID.  The white thread was too much.  It was “HELLO … I’m on your quilt – look at me – plain straight lines … HELLO!”

One of the ladies I sew with is notorious for taking out her quilting.  I’m always teasing her, encouraging to leave it in, telling her that when the quilt is washed – it’ll look just fine.  And for the most part, I believe I’m telling her the truth!  (Now, if she’s reading my blog … she’ll be laughing out loud! … and she’ll have a big grin on her face!)

Well, washing this quilt will not help!  So, I spent 3 days taking out the quilting.   You can’t really see it in this picture, but the dark blue/black blocks are now quilted with a dark grey.  On the lines parallel to the centre line, I’m using a gold thread.  Some of them are done.  You can see the thread, but it isn’t horrid and it isn’t shouting “HELLO”.  And now that it’s done, I’m actually pleased that I spent the time taking the quilting out.  

One day last week, I was walking by a thrift store and they had wooden TV trays out and were asking $3.15 each.  I brought one home … my husband repaired a piece that was cracked and I sanded and painted.  Today, I covered it with reflective material, batting and the top fabric.   It may double as a small ironing board, but mostly I wanted it to sit to the right of my machine for all the pieces that are ready to go through the machine.

Link-ups

To see what others in the quilty world are working on wander over to these blogs:

• Can I get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
• Amanda Jean @ Crazy Mom Quilts  on hold until Sept
• Finished or Not @ Busy Hands Quilts
• Let’s Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts  
• Happy Needle  and Thread @ My Quilt Infatuation

Happy Quilting
Gail

The Pink Snail’s Trail used 8.75 yards.  Last week in my report, I stated that I had bought 4 yards of fabric to use for the backing.  One lovely lady said, “I don’t really consider that adding to the stash, as it does get used immediately.”  She is so correct! I’ll use the amount this time, but in the future, I won’t count it – unless I don’t use it right away, or I buy backing on speculation that it will be used in the future.

I also used up some flannel to make new covers for my magic bags. We use them a lot in the winter, so new covers will be nice!  They used 0.7 yards of fabric

Design Wall

I’m adding borders to this quilt:  When it’s finished – it’ll be added to my UFO DONE list!

Stash Report

Fabric Used this Week:      9.45 yards  
Fabric Used year to Date:  121.25  yards
Fabric Added this Week:    0  yards 
Fabric Added Year to Date:   49.5 yards
Net Fabric used for 2017:   64.95 yards  

UFO tally

I started the year with 47 UFO’s.  One UFO finished so far this month. The Pink Snail’s Trail was not a UFO – so it’s not counted as one.

2017   Completed
Jan:           2
Feb:           0
Mar:          0
Apr:          0
May:          2
June:          4
July:          0
Aug:          1

38 UFO’s left to complete

Linking to:

• Sunday Stash @ quiltpaintcreate
• Oh Scrap @ Quilting is more fun than Housework
• Monday Making @ Love, Laugh, Quilt
• Design Wall Monday @ Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
• Moving it Forward Monday @ Em’s Scrapbag
• Main Crush Monday @ Cooking up Quilts 

Happy Quilting
Gail

This quilt is done and will be donated to the guild’s cancer quilt charity.  It was a fun quilt to make!  And certainly much much easier than Shakespeare in the Park!  (Click here).  But it is also about 1/4 the size!  

Here is a close-up of the quilting.  I basically followed the ‘trail’ and then did orange peel flowers in the large white & pink blocks.  This picture was taken after the quilt was washed – so you also get the “wrinkled” affect.

Link-ups

To see what others in the quilty world are working on wander over to these blogs:

• Can I get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
• Amanda Jean @ Crazy Mom Quilts
• Finished or Not @ Busy Hands Quilts
• Let’s Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts  
• Happy Needle  and Thread @ My Quilt Infatuation

Happy Quilting
Gail

My finishes this week is the Ribbon Box quilt (9.75 yards).  (See a picture HERE).  I did end up buying backing (4 yards) for the Pink Snail’s Trail.  There was NOTHING in my stash that would work.  However, I did find a lovely plain flannel that makes the quilt so very cosy!  It is now my current project that I am quilting.

Stash Report

Fabric Used this Week:      9.75 yards  
Fabric Used year to Date:  111.8  yards
Fabric Added this Week:    4  yards 
Fabric Added Year to Date:   49.5 yards
Net Fabric used for 2017:   55.5 yards  

UFO tally

I started the year with 47 UFO’s.  One UFO finished so far this month.

2017   Completed
Jan:           2
Feb:           0
Mar:          0
Apr:          0
May:          2
June:          4
July:          0
Aug:          1

38 UFO’s left to complete

Linking to:

• Sunday Stash @ quiltpaintcreate
• Oh Scrap @ Quilting is more fun than Housework
• Monday Making @ Love, Laugh, Quilt
• Design Wall Monday @ Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
• Moving it Forward Monday @ Em’s Scrapbag
• Main Crush Monday @ Cooking up Quilts 

Happy Quilting
Gail

I have finished the next quilt for a wedding gift. The fabric had been sitting for quite a while and the pattern did not “wow” me.  When I saw this pattern, I knew immediately that it was the pattern to use for these fabrics!

Here’s a close up of some of the quilting. And yes, there were a LOT of ends to cut off.  For the most part, I used my walking foot and a special anchor stitch on my machine at the beginning and ending of each straight section. That way I didn’t have to bury any of the threads, just had to cut all the ends off.  Then I FMQ the swirls in all the background areas.

Update

The pdf for the sewing mat tutorial is now smaller and won’t take as long to download.  You can find it HERE.

Link-ups

To see what others in the quilty world are working on wander over to these blogs:

• Can I get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
• Amanda Jean @ Crazy Mom Quilts
• Finished or Not @ Busy Hands Quilts
• Let’s Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts  
• Happy Needle  and Thread @ My Quilt Infatuation

Happy Quilting
Gail

Wow!!  I can hardly believe that I’ve been blogging for a year now!  There has been 110 published posts.  I’m surprised that I wrote that much!  Especially since I don’t even think about the blog while I’m away.

Away and back again

I was away for just over a week.  Went up into the interior of BC.  There are over 120 wildfires burning in the province and I had to take detours in order to get there and back home.  The detours added between 2 and 4 hours to the 12 hour trip – one way.  Mostly because with the longer drives, I need to stop more often.

There is a total of 591,210 hectares burning right now.  To bring it into perspective: that’s bigger than the province of Prince Edward Island, one and a half times the size of Rhode Island and almost the size of the state of Delaware. That’s a lot of land!

This picture was taken in the Cariboo, north of Williams Lake.  It’s usually a beautiful view looking down the valley, but all you can see is smoke, smoke, smoke.

Quilting

I’m busy quilting another wedding gift or at least trying to!  

My machine needed to go to the doctor – it was skipping stitches and apparently the timing was out.  It seems to happen quite often with my Janome 8900.  Sigh!  Hopefully now, it will work perfectly as I have a pile of quilts that need quilting.

And I’ve almost finished a smaller machine mat. I need to buy a pair of scissors and find the button so I can attach the thread catcher.  All the sewing is done.  And yes, it’s the same material as the larger one, except I used purple instead of yellow on the flange binding.

Stash Report

Fabric Used this Week:      2 yards  
Fabric Used year to Date:  95.30 yards
Fabric Added this Week:    0  yards 
Fabric Added Year to Date:   45.5 yards
Net Fabric used for 2017:    51.8 yards  

UFO tally

I started the year with 47 UFO’s.  No UFO’s finished yet this month.

2017   Completed
Jan:           2
Feb:           0
Mar:          0
Apr:          0
May:          2
June:          4
July:          0
Aug:          0

39 UFO’s left to complete

Linking to:

• Sunday Stash @ quiltpaintcreate
• Oh Scrap @ Quilting is more fun than Housework
• Monday Making @ Love, Laugh, Quilt
• Design Wall Monday @ Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
• Moving it Forward Monday @ Em’s Scrapbag
• Main Crush Monday @ Cooking up Quilts 

Happy Quilting
Gail

Here is a picture of the sewing machine mat with the thread catcher attached with a loop and a button.

I wrote a tutorial.  Click on the PDF file below.

Sewing Machine Mat.pdf

If you make this mat, I’d love to see pictures of it!

Linking to: Let’s be Social  Go and see the CUTEST giraffe quilt!

Happy Quilting
Gail

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Not a lot to report.  No fabric shopping.  I did finish the large sewing machine mat.  I have a smaller one in progress.  Using almost the same fabrics.  Am thinking about using purple instead of yellow for the binding.

I have also made a small thread catcher to go on it.  I’ll show a picture when it’s completed. The large mat used 2 yards of fabric.

Stash Report

Fabric Used this Week:      2 yards  
Fabric Used year to Date:  93.30 yards
Fabric Added this Week:    0  yards 
Fabric Added Year to Date:   45.5 yards
Net Fabric used for 2017:    49.8 yards  

UFO tally

No change in my UFO tally.

2017   Completed
Jan:           2
Feb:           0
Mar:          0
Apr:          0
May:          2
June:          4
July:          0

39 UFO’s left to complete

Linking to:

• Sunday Stash @ quiltpaintcreate
• Oh Scrap @ Quilting is more fun than Housework
• Monday Making @ Love, Laugh, Quilt
• Design Wall Monday @ Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
• Moving it Forward Monday @ Em’s Scrapbag
• Main Crush Monday @ Cooking up Quilts 

Happy Quilting
Gail

I love having a sewing machine mat under my featherweight.  I needed one for under my “big” machine when I go to retreats … I also needed a project to highlight binding by machine – so I put the two together and voila!  Here it is:

Link-ups

To see what others in the quilty world are working on wander over to these blogs:

• Can I get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
• Amanda Jean @ Crazy Mom Quilts
• Finished or Not @ Busy Hands Quilts
• Let’s Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts  
• Happy Needle  and Thread @ My Quilt Infatuation

Happy Quilting
Gail

I was nominated for the Liebster Award, 2017 by Kathleen who blogs here.

If you take a wander through Kathleen’s blog, you will find many interesting things.  She did a maple-leaf QAL that is absolutely gorgeous!  There is a neat trick to hemming long seams (using a manila folder)  Believe it or not, her first quilt was made totally by hand and took her 15 years to complete.  She has come a long way in her quilting skills!

You can find the official rules of the Liebster Award Here.   If you read through the rules, you’ll find that I did not follow them to the letter.  It was difficult to find other quilting bloggers that have less than 200 followers.  And I wanted to pass on the award to someone who’s blog I enjoy!

One of the official rules for this blog is to answer some questions.  Here goes:

1.  What is my favourite blog?  Quiltville’s Quips and Snips … you can find it HERE.  This is Bonnie Hunter’s blog.  The queen of scrappy quilts!  I love her mystery quilts that she offers every fall.  I have been following her blog for almost a decade.  She certainly is an encouragement to scrappy quilters around the world.
2. If you could meet one Quilt Personality, who would it be?  Well, I have already met Bonnie Hunter and was enthralled to take a workshop with her.  Next on my list would likely be Eleanor Burns.  Her sense of humour is an absolute riot!
3. What is my preference when quilting?  It varies.  I love sewing with my quilting buddies!  I love silence! and I love listening to audio books.
4. Do I have a favourite snack while quilting?  Nope … don’t want to get food on my quilts.
5. Do I look for quilts while watching a movie? Of course!
6. What comes first when you make a quilt:  buying stash then look for a pattern or buy the pattern first and then the fabric?  I have enough stash to last for years and years – most of my patterns are either self-designed or in a Bonnie Hunter book or free on the internet …
7. What is your favorite quilt/sewn project/craft? My favourite quilt is usually the one I’m currently sewing on.  My current favourite is on my last blog post. (Click HERE).
8. Hand Quilt or Machine Quilt?  When I first started quilting (in the 80’s) I hand quilted.  When I re-started quilting in 2005, I started machine quilting.  Most of my machine quilting is done on my Janome 8900.
9. Favorite Color?  Blue!
10. Favorite Quilting/Crafting Item? My feather weight sewing machine!  It (or an antique hand crank) travels with me and I do most of my piecing on them.
11. Do you work on one project or many?  This is a silly question … will all of my UFO’s isn’t it obvious that I work on many projects at the same time?

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