All 13 of the quilts using Grandma’s fabrics are DONE!!! Am I excited or what? WooHoo!! There is not much fabric left … and it was a stretch to make this one without using any of my own prints. Yes, it is the same size and pattern as #12 – but the fabrics are different. As well, the quilting is a bit different, although I did attempt to do a different pattern in each neutral block. It was fun quilting it!
Linking to:
Happy Quilting!
Gail
I have 12 quilts finished. # 13 is currently being quilted, but I’m not sure it’ll be finished before I go away for a week. Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day and I took the opportunity to freeze my hands and get pictures of 12 of the quilts. I know I’ve shown a few of the quilts on the blog, but not all of them. These 2 pictures show all 12 in order from #1 on the left to #12 on the right.
And here’s a picture of all the labels with the backing fabrics:
This is a picture of #11 & #12. #11 is made with 2½” squares and #12 is made with 2″ squares. Size does make a difference! Quilt #13 is the same pattern as #12, but with less variety of fabrics because I’ve used up a lot of the fabrics. 
Linking to:
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Crazy Mom Quilts
Busy Hands Quilts
Happy Quilting,
Gail
Nothing finished, but I did start 2 new projects … oh why oh why do I do this???? … I guess I like the idea of a mystery (thanks to Bonnie Hunter) and I like creating and Christmas is coming.
Quilt # 13 is webbed together, and has taken the back seat for now …
The mystery quilt … I have quite a few neutral 4 patches done (mostly as leaders & enders), a bunch more to sew together. The next clue is today … and I’ll be pulling fabric for it.
Creating a Christmas gift for the dearest, sweetest person I know … (I’ll post a picture after it’s gifted!)
I’m going to a “quilt ’til you wilt” tonight & hope to get some sewing done … along with visiting and laughing and eating pizza!
Linking to:
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Crazy Mom Quilts
Busy Hands Quilts
Happy Quilting,
Gail
I have 32 9-patches done … only 81 more to go …
To me, it seems like super SLOW process on Quilt #13, but I did make a demo craft for our December guild meeting and made the project for our secret Santa gifts. I wanted to get these done as I will be out of town for the week prior to the meeting. This is the 2nd year that I’ve done the secret Santa. We hand in a baggie with the equivalent of 2 fat quarters and we receive someone else’s fabric back. Then we’re challenged to make something with the fabric! I’d love to show you what I made, but then it wouldn’t be a secret, would it?
Surprise surprise, I bit the bullet … as usual … and have started the Bonnie Hunter mystery “En Provence.” I need a ton of neutral 4 patches … I have 3 done and a bunch of ‘twosies” to sew into 4 patches … then I’ll start cutting into my neutral yardage until I have enough completed!
To see what others in the quilty world are working on wander over to these blogs:
Happy Quilting!
Gail
I’ve started on the final quilt to be made with Grandma’s fabrics. I haven’t gotten much done … just the start of a few nine patches. With the goal to make another single Irish Chain. These blocks are 2″ square. The unfinished 9 patch will be 5″ square …
I started quilting on Quilt # 12 yesterday. Sorry, but I don’t have a picture.
Here is a picture of Quilts #10 (on the right) and #11 (on the left).
To see what others in the quilty world are working on wander over to these blogs:
Happy Quilting!
Gail
In my last post (here), I showed you some of quilt blocks. I had taken a free-motion quilting class at The Quilted Bear in Ladner. A lovely, talented lady, taught me a ton! One of the things she talked about was ‘variety’. “Don’t do the same thing everywhere … change it up … don’t be bored” (my paraphrasing). So, I attempted to quilt a lot of different blocks in this quilt. Some are repeated a few times, some were suggestions from a book that I adapted due to the fact that my neutral blocks were not square and some were made up as I went along. It was a lot of fun and I love the look.
Linking to:
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Crazy Mom Quilts
Busy Hands Quilts
Happy Quilting!
Gail
In this quilt, I attempted to do a lot of different designs in the blocks. Some of the designs were fun and I enjoyed doing them. A few were a struggle, but I felt like I needed to push myself to do them. The following pictures will give you an idea of what some of the quilting was like.
And the binding is started!
To see what others in the quilty world are working on wander over to these blogs:
Patchwork Times
Love, Laugh, Quilt
Quilting is More Fun than Housework
Happy Quilting!
Gail
November 11 … a day to Remember … When I was in high school, in the early ’70’s, we had a modern and radical English teacher and we were introduced to Leonard Cohen. I find it fitting on the day following Cohen’s death, McLeans magazine has a clip of him reciting “In Flander’s Fields.” Click here to listen.
Quilt #11 of Grandma’s fabrics is a simple Irish chain: 9 patches, alternating with plain blocks. The patches are made from 2 ½” squares. I recently took a free-motion class and the instructor was really encouraging us to use a variety of designs in our quilts. So, I think I will attempt to do something different in each block. However, I already know that I’m going to be doing a lot of similar blocks, but I will definitely be trying out a few new designs. Or at least, new to me!
Linking to:
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Crazy Mom Quilts
Busy Hands Quilts
Happy Quilting!
Gail
I’ve been busy this week and haven’t gotten a lot of sewing done.
Quilt #12 is in progress, I have one 9 patch block done … only 112 more to finish putting together. Then I can arrange it with alternating background blocks and start sewing the rows together. On Mondays, I sew with a bunch of ladies: sew … I’m hoping to get quite a few of the 9 patch blocks done today!
The 9 patch block is using 2″ squares and is 5″ square. Once it’s sewing into the quilt it will be 4 ½” … I’m not sure how big the finished quilt will be, but these blocks are so darn cute … I’m thinking that this may be my favourite of all the quilts so far … but I think I’ve also said that of the others as well!
To see what others in the quilty world are working on wander over to these blogs:
Patchwork Times
Love, Laugh, Quilt
Quilting is More Fun than Housework
Happy Quilting!
Gail
Quilts # 1-10 are all completed. #11 is sandwiched and ready to quilt. #12 will use 2″ squares and be basically the same pattern as #11, only with smaller squares and lots more blocks.
This is #10, washed and dried. I absolutely love the “wrinkly” look that you get when you don’t wash the batting and backing. To me, it looks more cozy and vintage. And, since I am using Grandma’s fabrics – the fabric is vintage, so it’s very appropriate.
Linking to:
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Crazy Mom Quilts
Busy Hands Quilts
Happy Quilting
Gail
I don’t have a picture of what’s on my design wall because there is nothing on it. I will start something new later today.
However, here is a picture of 3 quilts, using Grandma’s fabrics. I used different sized squares. The quilt on the left used 2″ squares, the middle used 2 ½” squares and the squares on the right were 3 ½”. The picture is not that great, but you can see how the size really affects the look of the quilt.
To see what others are working on wander over to these blogs:
Happy Quilting everyone!
Gail
Last night, I finished the binding on Quilt # 10! I’m so excited to have gotten this far!
I’m getting low on Grandma’s fabrics, but my goal is to make 13 quilts and think I should be able to do it without adding any of my own fabric (except for background, binding and backing).
“Why 13 quilts?” you ask. I have 11 first cousins on my dad’s side of the family. Add in my sister and myself and that brings us to 13. We draw names for Christmas and I’ll make sure it’s “rigged” so that we get each cousin and their spouse’s name over the next several years. In the meantime, I’ll be showing some of them at the guild meetings and in my trunk shows.
Last Friday, I posted about how the fabric label on Quilt #6 ran and I did emergency surgery and cut the offending label out. You can read about it here.
Restorative Surgery happened on Sunday and to see how it was fixed go here.
To see what other’s have finished on Friday, visit these blogs:
In my last post, I talked about how a label ran and I ended up cutting it out. You can see pictures of it here. We used scissors to cut, so the edges are a little jagged and not straight. 
I really didn’t want to do a set-in seam with top, batting and back, so I decided to make a straight edge. All stitching was taken out about 3/4″ from the edge. I then whip-stitched the batting triangle to the original batting. Next, a background (white) triangle and a backing triangle were sewn onto the quilt. Elmer’s glue was used to sandwich the triangle to prevent future shifting. The triangle was squared to match the quilt … and I was smiling!
The first steps were done! (I find that sometimes they are the hardest steps to take!)
A new label was made, glued and ironed into place, then sewn down. I then quilted it from the top. (Sorry, I didn’t get a picture of me quilting it.)
Finally, the binding was attached. I attempted to do it the way a blog reader suggested, but on the third try, I decided to unstitch more of the binding, joining it in my usual manner. By this time, I was really smiling because it was almost done. 
Grandma’s Fabric: Quilt 6 is now fixed and completed. I will post a picture of the completed quilt once it’s washed and hanging in the sunshine!
To see what others are working on wander over to these blogs:
Hope your quilting avoids disaster!
Gail
I did get a lot more finished at the day retreat last week! These 2 quilts are almost the same, but with different quilting. I did “C’s” on one, which makes it look like I quilted circles. On the other, I quilted flowers. It’s a simple pattern that starts with a circle and you try to add 5 petals on the flower. I don’t have any rules and if 3 petals are all that fit, that’s just fine. It was hard to get a picture of the border, but the flowers, joined by a vine, float along the border.
Wander over to Patchwork Times and Love, Laugh, Quilt to see what others are working on.
Happy Quilting,
Gail
For 3 days this week, I’ve been sewing with friends at what we call a day retreat. We go for the day, come home and sleep in our own beds. Last night we all went out for dinner. It is a lot of fun!
We are all getting a lot done! I’ll try to take some pictures of what other’s are working on … there is a lot of creativity happening … some of the projects are for future gifts – so I won’t take pictures of them!
I have managed to get a lot of quilting done. The quilt I showed in the last post, using 3 ½” squares is completed. It’s way too stormy out to take my usual picture of quilts hanging on the clothesline.
To see what other’s have finished on Friday, visit these blogs: Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Crazy Mom Quilts
I’m off for another day of sewing. Hopefully the storm isn’t too bad and that we have power to sew all day!
Happy Quilting,
Gail
Quilting #4 of quilts made from Grandma’s fabrics.
Here is a rough drawing of the quilting pattern. A tear drop, then echo the tear drop, small flower petals, then echo the flower petals. It’s pretty easy to do as an all-over quilting pattern.
And now a picture of the quilting in progress …
Wander over to Patchwork Times and Love, Laugh, Quilt to see what others are working on.
Happy Quilting,
Gail
I have some 4 patches left over from previous quilts using the 2 ½” squares – so I’ve started working on another quilt to use them up. This one will end up a little bigger. However, I do need to make some more 4 patches. I haven’t decided if it will be on-point or straight. I’ll wait until I have all the blocks made before I decide.
There are no pictures of the 2nd one I’ve started … it’s mostly in my mind and will involve 2 ½” strips of grandma’s fabric sewn with white fabric … only grandma’s fabric is cut into strips and I need to cut more white strips. I am thoroughly enjoying working with her fabric. My grandma was a pretty special lady!
Wander over to Patchwork Times and Love, Laugh, Quilt to see what others are working on.
A note on the nursing reunion: It was great fun to see the gals that attended! A few I hadn’t seen for 40 years! And it was neat to connect with everyone. Kudos go to the Katy, the main organizer!
Happy Quilting!
Gail
My design wall is a flannel backed tablecloth on my bed. It’s not ideal, but it works and it’s portable.
I attempted to “web” this and ended up with a confusing mess. I should know better than to “web” an on-point quilt. Just have 4 middle rows to piece and add in. Then hopefully I can get the borders on. I’m hoping this will happen today at Monday quilting!
Wander over to Patchwork Times and Love, Laugh, Quilt to see what others are working on.
Happy Quilting Everyone!
Gail
Here’s another quilt using Grandma’s fabrics. This quilt is using 2″ squares … I needed 121 four-patches to make the size of quilt I wanted. I pieced it when I was in Alberta and had a limited amount of fabric as I under-estimated what I would need. It has sat rolled up in the flannel-backed tablecloth. My friend, Cindy, helped me to arrange all of the 4 patches. It was a lot of fun to have a talented artist to help! I hope to be able to get the top together today.
Take a wander over to Judy’s Patchwork times and Love, Laugh, Quilt to see what other’s are working on.
Happy Quilting,
Gail
The disappearing 4 patch was completed earlier this week. Just in time for my trunk show at the Vancouver Quilt Guild.
Here’s a picture of it: all quilted and bound!
I also finished 2 other quilts made with Grandma’s fabrics: A 4 patch on point made with 3 ½” squares and a Shoo-fly (made with 3 ½” strips and sashing).
And the “Green Elephant” quilt was finally bound and it’s on it’s way to a sweet baby girl.
That’s all the quilting I’ll be doing for awhile as my machine is starting to skip stitches and needs to visit the doctor. (And yes, I changed the needle, re-threaded, cleaned the machine … and it’s still skipping). However, I will be able to work on piecing for short periods of time.
Happy Quilting Everyone!
Gail
Quilting Gail 