SEW, RIP, SEW

Four Blocks completed

2012-03-05T23:06:00.001-05:00

I have completed 4 more blocks from my blocks of the month.

In Color Order - Block 3

Apple Avenue - Block 3

Craftsy Block 3

Country Junk'tion Block 3

I haven't sewn the applique on this last block but I just had to post it because

I just love it.

There has been a real St. Patrick's day theme to March BOM's.

I am also considering another BOM but I think I have enough on my plate right now. I may just take down the info and do it later when I have a few things finished that need to be done. I have to do a demo for the possibilities club and I haven't started it yet.

Quilt Therapy Thursday

2012-03-02T13:49:00.000-05:00

It wouldn't be Thursday without our quilt therapy. There were just 3 of us this week and we managed to get a lot done. There was lots of catching up to do since Maria just got back from vacation.

Joyce has finished her Bed Scarf and pillows. Well done Joyce.

Bed Scarf and Quilted Pillows

Joyce was also able to put her table topper together.

Roulette from Lehmann Quilting

Maria was working on her Mystery Quilt.

Mystery Quilt

I was able to sew the binding onto my St Patrick's Day Placemats. I have 4 completed and want to make 4 more for a total of 8

St Patrick's Day Placemats.

I used a pattern called Irish Eyes, and the link to it is found HERE

Blogger Block of the Month

2012-02-28T21:41:00.000-05:00

I have decided to start another BOM. I chose the fabric from my stash so it will not be scrappy but will contain all or some of these 5 fabrics and the beige background fabric.

If you go to the website for Blogger BOM you will

notice that they chose very bold fabrics where

I have chosen pastels and more subdued fabrics.

I am a few months behind so I decided to do 2 blocks today and try to get caught up. This BOM doesn't come out until the 25th of the month so I will have time in between my other ones to catch up on this one.

Block #1

Block #2

D Block

2012-02-27T20:00:00.001-05:00

I finished the D block and its partner, from Lyn Brown's Block of the Week.

D Block

and

Double Delectable Diamonds

Now I am thinking of starting another Block of the Month called Blogger's Block of the Month. I think I have the fabric picked out and will share it when I make my first block.

Marmalade the Cat

2012-02-25T19:51:00.000-05:00

When I was a child I had an orange cat and we called him Marmalade. My daughter has had a few cats and the last one she has is orange. She asked me what she should call it and I said: "Marmalade, of course".

When I was thinking of making her another quilt I came across this one in my Quiltmaker Magazine. I just had to make it for her. I made the borders a little larger than the pattern called for because I wanted the quilt to be larger than the original pattern. It ended up being 46 x 58.

Marmalade

Half Square Triangles Block of the Month

2012-02-24T12:11:00.001-05:00

I have finally started on In Color Order BOM. All the blocks are done in half square triangles which is a different way for doing some of the blocks. When you see the pictures you will understand what I mean.

I am not going to do this one as a scrappy quilt. I chose yardage from my stash and added a few more colours to add a bit of interest. I am going to stick to the three colours and the background whenever possible and add in different fabric if needed.

So I am going to use the 2 blues

and the gold and

white as background and then

the orange and green if

another colour is needed.

Block # 1

I would normally make this block

using flying geese

and a square in a square

in the middle.

Half-square triangles changes the block.

Block #2

When I look at this block I see

flying geese, but

it is made entirely of half-square triangles.

This is going to be a fun BOM to do. I hope I have enough different fabric to make it right.

Three BOM's and Just Takes 2 on hold

2012-02-19T22:31:00.000-05:00

I finished 3 more Blocks of the Month.

February BOM

This is from Country Junk'tion

I did it in pink rather than the green

that is in the example.

Block 4 - The Camellia

from Morning Glory Designs.

Block 14

Sentimental Stitches - Just Takes 2

I am putting Sentimental Stitches - Just Takes 2 on hold for now. When I started these BOM's I was looking for some fun Block of the Month's to do and this one is turning out to be not fun. They are presenting 2-6 blocks every 2 weeks and some of them are very complicated with many of them paper-pieced. I enjoyed the last block that I did with paper piecing but I have decided not to do anymore for a while. The basic information says that after 3 months there will be instructions for assembling the squares that have been completed up until then. I think I will wait till then and see what they have in store and then I might complete more blocks. Until then it is on hold. I will have time to concentrate on the other ones I am doing.

Quilt Therapy Thursday

2012-02-17T20:00:00.000-05:00

There were only 2 of us this week and in spite of the few in numbers we used each other to further our work on our quilts. Pierina has finished her tree quilt. It is called Tree's Up! Lights On!. Here is a link to the pattern if you are interested in seeing what she started with.

Tree's Up! Lights On!

That is the binding in the picture. She used the colours

of the quilt and cut them into sections

so that the binding was a collection of the

fabrics and colours used in the quilt.

I was working on my cat quilt and was able to put the side borders on to it. I put the dark green on first and then sewed the three pieces of the side border together and sewed it onto the quilt as one unit. I will do the same for the top and bottom but add corner stones to the four corners.

It was a slow process because I had

to sew the black and orange

squares together first and then add

the light green border.

More Blocks finished and an Orange Cat

2012-02-14T21:59:00.001-05:00

I have been working on some more of my Block of the Months

February Block

from Apple Avenue Quilts

February 1 Blocks

from Sentimental Stitches

These are paper pieced and I hope there aren't too many more.

I am not a big fan of paper piecing.

C Block

and

Classic Colourful Clamshells

from Lyn Brown

Work in Progress on the design wall.

Quiltmaker July/August 2011

Purr Patch

Tomorrow I will go and get the borders to finish this quilt. This little kitten was made entirely from my stash. I am going to make the borders slightly larger, and will post pictures when finished. I hope I can find a backing fabric with cats on it.

My Twin Quilts....Well Almost

2012-02-11T21:02:00.000-05:00

Back in November 2011, I blogged about the 90 Degree Double-strip Ruler and Strip Smart Quilts by Kathy Brown.

I decided that I would make "Read all About it" using this ruler. It was a lot of fun to use the ruler and the blocks went together really fast. When I got into making the quilt the instructions said that you would have 24 blocks leftover. Well that got me thinking. Maybe I would make a second quilt with the leftovers and a few more strips.

"Read All About It" in Green

(My Son wanted a quilt in green)

This is the backing.

"Big Sky Country"

South Sea Imports.

Because I had purchased a lot of fabric I decided to make a second quilt.

This is my own design using leftover squares and a few

more strips of fabric.

The Twin....almost.

The backing is "Wild Wings by Persis Clayton Weirs

for Springs Creative Products Group."

The backing is almost as nice as the front of the quilts.

Annual Quilt Bee

2012-02-10T20:13:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was the Guild's annual quilt bee. It was held at the Prince Arthur Hotel in the banquet room. There were over 60 quilters in attendance.

There were a lot of different quilts being made. Here are some of them.

Some of the tops were completed and were either laid out on the design wall or completely sewn together ready to be quilted.

Two of the quilts were put together as quilt-as-you-go.

Disappearing 9 Patch

On the Design Wall

We even used the floor when there was no where else to use.

This is the quilt that my team worked on. It is the disappearing 9 patch. We used a 12" block for this quilt and put borders on it so that the finished size would be 63 x80. I like a quilt with borders I think it finishes it off nicely.

We chose our backing and it is ready to be quilted.

We are going to put red binding on it.

I received a lovely surprise today from the UK

2012-02-08T19:23:00.000-05:00

Back on December 20th I blogged that I had won another prize from the "Blog Hop Party". Today I received 2 beautiful books. They were from Celine. You can find her blog HERE. Check it out, you may find it as interesting as I do.

Here are the 2 magazines I received today.

I am going to enjoy reading these.

Flying Geese or Canada Geese Quilt

2012-02-05T11:53:00.000-05:00

I put the sashing and the borders onto the Flying Geese Quilt. I am not going to quilt it, it is too big for me to handle. It is going to be given to the Quilt Guild and someone there will quilt it. The Annual Quilt Bee is next Thursday at one of the local hotels so I am going to take it with me and give it to the Bee Chairperson to add to the finished products of the day.

Flying Geese Quilt Top

When I started this quilt I was going to make Geese in the Park on the Moda Bakeshop site, but when I started to put it together I didn't like how it was turning out so I searched for another pattern and used Connecting Threads Flying Geese Quilt Pattern. as a guide. This is a really easy free pattern. I didn't make it the size the pattern called for though, because the guild wants them to be 63 x 80 inches so that is what it is.

I used the Deb Tucker Wing Clipper ruler and used the no waste method of doing flying geese. I hate wasting fabric and always save whatever I can and this method comes in really handy for making flying geese with no waste. You make them a little larger than the pattern calls for and then you square them up.

Another finish.

Three more Blocks finished

2012-02-04T20:44:00.002-05:00

I am trying to keep up with my blocks and getting other things done too. I finished three more today.

This is a Morning Glory from Morning Glory Designs.

The bottom of my flower doesn't show up very well but I chose a pale blue with a hint of pink, I liked the blue design rather than the other coloured one as our Morning Glory's that we grow are mostly blue.

I also finished two of the blocks from Lyn Brown's Alphabet Block of the Week.

B Block

Bodacious Blue Bobbin

with Batik Beaded Buttons.

This was a hard block to applique since it had so many small circles that are suppose to be buttons.

Flying Geese or are they Canada Geese

2012-02-02T19:26:00.000-05:00

I have been making Flying Geese. I made 112 altogether but will only use 85 in my quilt. I like to use Deb Tucker's Wing Clipper ruler. This is a no waste method and really go together super fast.

It was Quilt Therapy day today, and it was just Joyce and me. We both got a lot done. She was quilting her bed scarf, and was able to finish it and we trimmed it so that she could add her binding tonight.

I was able to sew all my flying geese together so now I am going to add sashing and then borders.

Craftsy February Blocks finished

2012-01-29T19:25:00.002-05:00

Since I have decided to follow so many blocks of the month I am keeping on top of them and trying to finish them up as soon as they are downloaded. Craftsy is a few days early so I did them up today.

Balkan Puzzle Block

Chunky Chevron Block

I made mine with with 2 colours instead of the 4 that were in the instructions. Both these blocks are made with half square triangles. Instead of making 2 at once I made 4 each time by taking a square 1 1/4 inches larger than the finished square and sewing around the 4 edges. When you are finished you end up with 4 half square triangles. A quick way to make lots of the same colour at one time.

Hearts

2012-01-27T15:36:00.002-05:00

Last week at the Quilter's Guild we asked to make heart blocks because February is coming soon and so is our Quilt Bee. It was suggested that some of the hearts could be made into a donation quilt and maybe one could be added to each of our new donation quilts that are being made next month. This past month the Guild ladies delivered 56 quilts to the various local senior's homes and hospitals to be used by the patients.

I am putting together a 12" block quilt so I made a heart block for this quilt.

12 Inch Block

I found this pattern on the Brandywine Valley Quilters BOM page

There are blocks on the site dating back to 2002.

I think I am going to check them out further for the quilt that I am making with my 12" blocks.

I didn't think the guild would like a 12 inch block so I made my squares and half-square triangles 2 1/2 inches so that my block measures 8 1/2inches.

My 8 1/2 inch block for the guild.

More Blocks

2012-01-23T22:54:00.001-05:00

I finished the rest of the blocks for my blocks of the month and week. I did wimp out though. I figured that I was doing these blocks for fun and I didn't like some of the blocks in the Sentimental Stitches BOM so I did two different ones.

Three 6 1/2 inch blocks and

two 9 1/2 inch blocks.

Remind me never to make a house block again.

I started doing the BOM from Apple Avenue Quilts.

January Block.

Hunter Star Placemats

2012-01-21T21:23:00.003-05:00

I had some leftover fabric from making the Hunter Star Quilt so I decided to make some placemats rather than just putting the fabric in my scrap bin. I added a blue border which I am not fond of but didn't want to rip it out.

Quilt Therapy

2012-01-19T20:56:00.001-05:00

It was a cold and windy day today but we didn't care because we were in Joyce's sunroom enjoying the sunshine and a day of sewing. The temperature is -22C with windchill of -30C. Now that is cold.

Pierina has finished her tree quilt.

The colours are so striking.

She found some really cute fabric with houses

on it for her backing.

She decided to use the John Flynn method

to save on fabric.

Joyce's cushion - with the backing sewn on.

She is making the back of the cushion

envelope style but adding tabs with buttons

for decoration.

A cute idea.

Maria is putting the binding on her schnibbles quilt.

All finished.

The fabric is Sunkissed by Sweetwater for Moda Fabrics.

So Pretty.

I finished my Quilter's Carry-All from Thimbleberries.

Maria has the bag I made her for Christmas.

I am making Maple Leaf Blocks for a kit

that I picked up last March in New York City, called

Shades of Autumn by Benartex.

I had started these in July at retreat

and had forgotten all about it until

Lynda asked had I finished it yet.

I managed to get 4 out of the 16

blocks finished.

Great Therapy today.

Three more Finishes

2012-01-17T20:05:00.001-05:00

I have finished my first Monthly mini from Country Junk'tion. I haven't decided if I am going to make them into a quilt or as minis so I haven't put any batting and backing on it but it is appliqued.

My January Snowman

The new Block also came down for Morning Glory Designs and I finished it today.

Block 2 - Tossed Daisies

I also joined a Block of the Week from Lyn Brown. It is The Quilter's Alphabet. Week one is the letter of the Alphabet and week 2 is something starting with that letter.

"A" and "Artful Arcs Of Appliqué"

The Lost has been Found

2012-01-14T21:01:00.002-05:00

The last time that I was in Duluth I purchased a cone of "bottom line" thread by Superior Threads. I really liked it and had wound a few bobbins to use. When my son moved out a few months ago and I moved my sewing room upstairs, I realized that the cone was missing. We searched everywhere and could not find it. Our son had 2 cats and we thought that maybe they had knocked it onto the floor so I even got down on my hands and knees to look under the shelving units that were in my old space.

It really makes you wonder how one

could lose something this large.

I tried to let it go but kept looking for that elusive cone.

At the beginning of the new year I usually sort out the scraps that have accumulated over the past year and put them into their respective bins. Every thing is colour coded so that when I want a small piece of fabric I can just go to the appropriate bin and find it.

I have a nice shelving unit to store my bins.

some of my scraps

More scraps.

Well, I couldn't believe it. I opened up the dark blue bin and yelled to YKW to come into my sewing room.

There was the cone of thread, in all its glory, in the bin. I must have put it there when we were moving me upstairs and forgot about it. What a relief to finally find it.

Quilt Therapy Thursday

2012-01-13T10:11:00.002-05:00

What a busy week we had, so today we are ready to put things together.

Pierina has finished all her trees

and she had squared them up.

All ready to sew them together in strips.

Maria was able to sandwich her star burst

and is now quilting it.

Joyce received a kit for Christmas.

She had cut out the pieces for the cushion

and we completed the applique.

Now she is ready to stitch it onto the top.

I am making another bag so I was piecing the

front design together.

This is the Quilter's Carry-All

from Thimbleberries.

Three more Blocks finished

2012-01-11T16:35:00.000-05:00

I finished the last of the Sentimental Stitches blocks. This is one block I am not fond of. Glad it is finished.

There were too many small pieces on this block to match up.

I also did the January blocks from Craftsy. The link is on the sidebar. These were fun blocks to do. I had never done them before and I liked that at the end you squared them up so they turned out not too bad.

The Asterick Block and the Wonky Pound sign.

The pound sign is also called an

Octothorpe.

Now I have to work on my monthly mini for January a snowman.

Block of the Month

2012-01-09T17:24:00.000-05:00

I have decided this month to do some Blocks of the Month and have posted the links on the sidebar. I have completed one Block from Morning Glory Designs.

Big Red

Sentimental Stitches BOM's first installment is 6 blocks and I have completed 5 of them.

I am making it scrappy, the green on the right

at the bottom is for the 6th block.

These will probably all end up as donation quilts and help me use up some of my fabrics in my stash. I came across a few other pattern that I may also add in later when I get a few of my kits finished that are waiting patiently in my bins.

Quilt Therapy Thursday

2012-01-06T11:52:00.000-05:00

When my oldest grandson was visiting us years ago I was in the middle of doing some physiotherapy sessions and didn't want to stop so I went to my sessions twice a week for the 3 weeks that he was with us. He was probably 6 or 7 at the time. YKW told him that I was in therapy and he asked "Is grandma going crazy?" We explained that therapy was a short form for Physiotherapy and to this day still get a chuckle when we think of that.

I have decided that our Thursday Group is now "Quilt Therapy". The 4 of us quilt on our own but get together once a week for "therapy".

Yesterday was a fun day catching up since we hadn't been together as a group for about a month and we did manage to accomplish a few things.

Pierina is still working on her trees, and was excited at the end of the day to say that she had only 5 to go. She has about 24-30 trees to do for this quilt. All the red are finished, and now she is working on the green ones.

This is how she keeps it organized.

Two of her trees with green background.

Next week she will be trimming them to size.

Joyce was quilting the cushions

to match her bed scarf.

Maria is ready to quilt her paper-pieced

star burst.

I am working on a BOM from

Just Takes 2

and

Sentimental Stitches.

I am going to make mine scrappy and give it as a

donation quilt when it is finished.

Another Ipad cover

2012-01-03T21:48:00.000-05:00

New Years dinner was at my house this year. My daughter and her family enjoyed fresh ham, scalloped potatoes, cream corn and green peas. My son had to work as he had Christmas off. I had my whole family here for brunch on Christmas minus two of my grand-children. Maybe one year it will be a complete whole family.

My oldest grand-daughter got an Ipad for Christmas and when she saw the cover I had made for mine she decided that it would be a good idea for me to make her one also. She picked the fabric from my stash. She chose green fairy frost. I guess that is typical for a young teenager.

Second Ipad Cover

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T11:19:00.000-05:00

Well, it is that time of year again when we wish

health and happiness to our friends,

neighbours and others.

I'd also like to say Happy New Year

to all my blogging friends and wish you all a great 2012.

I had to post a picture with fireworks,

since I was able to stand in my home

and view some beautiful ones

last night.

There is a school yard behind my home

and a neighbour was there

lighting off a few for all to see.

I am not going to make any resolutions

for the new year but I will continue

to quilt and maybe this

year I will make a few donation quilts

for our guild.

I always have lots of leftover scraps that I am

sure I could put together and

come up with something.

Hunter Star Quilt is finished and other things

2011-12-31T20:26:00.001-05:00

I finished the Hunter Star Quilt the other day and since it was mild out and no much snow I was able to hang it up outside and take a decent picture of it. It is made with the "Deb Tucker Rapid Fire Hunter Star Ruler". This ruler is really a great tool to make this quilt.

Hunter Star Quilt

I am a little disappointed with the colours since the deep brown star doesn't show up as much as I thought it would, but I am still happy with it.

I also got an Ipad for Christmas (I'm spoiled, I know) so I wanted to make a cover for it to give it some protection. I looked around the Internet for a pattern and decided on this one from One Shabby Chick. Her tutorial is very easy to follow and it actually fits my Ipad.

Ipad cover.

I have had this fabric for a while and

thought it was just perfect,

very elegant.

I also made a new bag for a friend for her groceries. She is like me and hates to pay the 5 cents for a bag so I made her one to carry in her purse or car to have handy when she needs one.

This bag is lined and ready to go.

I have made this bag pattern many times. I got it off the Internet many years ago and I can't find the pattern again to link it to this post. It is called "The Greatest Bag Tutorial Ever?" I make it a little larger than the pattern calls for. I make it 16x17 and the pattern calls for 13 1/2 x 12. I made it that size once and it is too small so not I make it the larger size.

I found the link: here it is.

Christmas Gifts I couldn't post until now

2011-12-29T21:36:00.001-05:00

Since Christmas has come and gone I can now post 2 gifts that I made.

Lynda really likes roosters and she purchased some fabric when we were in England this past fall so I used some of it make her a new bag. I fussy cut the rooster from the fabric and used a different fabric for the body of the bag. This bag is a take-off of "A Quilter's Carry-All". I made it a little smaller than the pattern called for.

Rooster Bag

I made Maria a bag for Christmas too. This one is from a pattern that was a mystery bag that the Thunder Bay Quilter's Guild had a few years ago. I made one for myself and Maria liked it so much that I decided to make it for her for Christmas.

Mystery Bag.

I have been doing some quilting over Christmas week and will post tomorrow.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T21:10:00.001-05:00

I got my Christmas table runner finished just on time for Christmas.

This pattern is

Moda Marbles Stars Tablerunner

from "Fat Quarter Shop"

I'd like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, filled with Peace and Love.

Two more finishes

2011-12-22T18:51:00.001-05:00

My daughter and I bought fabric in October when we were in Duluth. She wanted some everyday placemats so we coordinated some fabric and I got them finished for Christmas.

I made 8 of these, 4 for her and 4 for

her brother.

All 8 stacked up.

I also finished a tablerunner. I received this kit as a gift from 3 wonderful friends and thought I should get at it soon. The pattern is called "Pat's Favourite Table Runner" and it is from The Art of the Quilt. It went together rather quickly and was fun to make.

Pat's Favourite Table Runner

I have started to quilt my hunter star quilt and I have put together a new Christmas Table Runner. More later on those.

I can't believe that I won another prize

2011-12-20T19:34:00.000-05:00

I got an email yesterday that I had won another prize on the "Blog Hop Party". This time it comes from Espritpatch's blog. I won a book "Quilting with Beads".

I have never used beads in my quilting so this will be something new for me to try.

Fabulous Fractures is Quilted

2011-12-19T22:50:00.000-05:00

I finished my Fabulous Fractures and used the same fabric for the backing that I used to make the fractured quilt. I bought all the fabric in this wall hanging in Paris France this past August.

It is hanging on the door of my new sewing room.

This is the original fabric.

Twelve days of Christmas

2011-12-18T20:36:00.000-05:00

I bought this panel a few years ago and just put it away and sort of forgot about it. I pulled it out and decided to get it finished for this Christmas. It is suppose to be a wall hanging but it is 45 x 57 so I would need a very large wall to hang it on.

I had downloaded the instructions when I bought the panel and I am glad that I did since it may not be available now. I took the panel out and when I went to cut it to size it was crooked, and there was not way that I could see to make it straight and not lose too much of the panel. I took it to the Wednesday needle group and a couple of the gals really helped me out. We ended up stretching the panel by pulling on the corners. It worked.

I only bought the large panel and when

I went to put it together I discovered that I needed corner stones.

I didn't realize that I was suppose to buy 2 panels.

I found these poinsettias in my stash.

They match really well since there are poinsettia in the corners of the panel.

Wow, I won

2011-12-17T20:25:00.001-05:00

I joined in the Blog Hop Party over at Quilting Gallery and I won a pattern and fabric from A Loose Bobbin. What a thrill to receive her email to tell me that I was a winner. I am lucky at winning door prizes etc, I just wish I could win the big one.

Here is my prize.

How exciting..!!

Donation Quilts

2011-12-14T22:11:00.000-05:00

A needlework group that I belong to gets together every second Wednesday. In September we decided that we would make some baby quilts that would go the local hospital. It was decided that we would work together and bring in different squares to put together to make the quilts. I made a few but decided that I would make my own small baby quilt too. I had this fabric with the bears in my stash and put the strips together with the squares. I finished sewing the binding tonight.

All finished.

I will take to the group after Christmas.

I've gotten very brave.

2011-12-10T21:11:00.001-05:00

As a young teenager I learned to sew many years ago on my mother's treadle sewing machine. My sister Frankie and I bought our first machine when I was 16. We worked on week-ends and saved our money so that we could get a new machine.

Over the years I have made many articles of clothing for myself and my children and often think of that first sewing machine. When my children were young teenagers I gave up on sewing clothes since they was not the in thing to wear. I did a little mending on the machine and sewed a few things but slowly the machine was put aside.

Since I took up quilting a few years ago I have gotten braver and this past week I made new curtains for my kitchen. My window is 6 ft long and very narrow. Any curtains that I purchase have to be re-made so instead of buying curtains I purchased 4 metres of lace fabric that could be altered to make new curtains.

4 metres of fabric

I was making a cafe style curtain.

The fabric was 24 inches and I only

needed 18" so instead of cutting the eyelets off

where the curtain rod went through, I folded it back

6" and then folded it back up again, to make

the top.

I then sewed down both sides of this new

top piece.

My new curtains.

I also made a few new placemats.

Christmas Lunch with Thursday Group

2011-12-08T19:35:00.001-05:00

Today was our last meeting before Christmas. There is always so much to do before Christmas that we decided that this would be our last until the new year.

Joyce did herself proud with a beautiful lunch for us.

Our beautiful and delicious lunch.

She even used her Christmas teapot.

This was dessert. Yum...

We also managed to get some quilting done.

Pierina is still working on her tree quilt.

She has completed 18 of 30 trees.

These will be trimmed when she has

them all completed.

Maria was making a gift bag for a friend.

All finished.

She is also trying to complete this

paper-pieced wall hanging.

She just needs borders now.

Joyce started with this today.

And finished the day with 2 borders

sewn on, just one to go.

I was working on my hunter star quilt top (7 rows completed)

and quilting this baby quilt.

Peggy

Schnibbles is finally quilted

2011-12-05T22:33:00.001-05:00

I really had a hard time deciding how I was going to quilt this little quilt. I took it to Thursday's group and we laid out thread onto the quilt and decided that because of the strong colours in the quilt that white was the best one for the job.

I did straight line quilting and used the wobble stitch. I first used the wobble stitch when I took a class on "Cotton Theory". It is a zigzag stitch that is very long and narrow. It is a good stitch to use when you are sewing straight lines because if you go crooked it doesn't look as bad as if you were sewing with a straight stitch.

I quilted only on the white and tried to avoid the coloured stars.

Because it is winter here

YKW held it up indoors,

so it looks a little crooked.

Peggy

Christmas Gift Bags

2011-12-04T21:38:00.000-05:00

I have been making Christmas gift bags. I found some really fancy fabric on one of my travels and thought that it would make some nice gift bags.

I made this one first, and I

thought it was a little small.

This one is a little bigger

A new challenge because this

fabric was directional.

This cute little bag could also

be a lunch bag.

Peggy

To-day is Thursday it must mean Quilting Group

2011-12-01T19:07:00.001-05:00

To-day we got together at Joyce's house as usual but it sure took a long time to get down to doing some quilting. Last week it was just Joyce and I so the 4 of us had a lot of catching up to do and showing our show and tell.

Joyce is working on 6 placemats and a tablerunner for Christmas. She used reverse binding and quilted with gold thread.

Pink Poinsettias

Pierina is working on her tree pattern. These are wonky trees and the pieces have to be kept together or the whole concept is lost.

She rolls them up on a newspaper to keep them in their

right places.

These are her red trees with beige background

She finished 2 green trees today.

Maria was working on her Schnibbles. She quilted it and is now ready to apply the binding.

The fabric is Sunkissed, by Moda.

Maria, was also working on her Fabulous Fracture Quilt.

Sewing rows together.

I quilted my Schnibbles quilt.

I really didn't know how I was going to do this,

but group consultations helped and

I used white thread in a blocking

pattern.

I also worked on my Hunter Star Quilt and made 18 squares to make three more rows.

One large stack

Some still have to be trimmed.

We got a lot accomplished after all.

Peggy.

Possibilities Club

2011-11-30T20:48:00.000-05:00

Our local Quilter's Guild has a club that meets the last Tuesday of every month except December and June where quilter's bring ideas or projects to share with the group. This week Wendy and Sharon were the presenters and they brought specialty rulers to show the group. Wendy brought the Deb Tucker Square 2 ruler used for making a square within a square block.

Sharon brought the Creative Grids 90 degree Double Strip ruler.

She also brought along a book that used this

ruler to make quilts.

This ruler makes quilt making go very fast

and is very efficient.

I fell in love with the ruler and book

so I went out to-day and

purchased them both.

While I was at Luci's shop I also purchased a pattern to make a cushion from my Paris fabric

"Romance de Paris from Le Rouvray shop".

This gorgeous fabric costs me a lot of Euros so I want

to be very careful about using it.

This is the cushion that was in the shop.

And this is the pattern that I purchased to make

this cushion.

There is also a table runner with this cushion

so I got 2 for 1.

I had a great shopping day and came home with a lot of loot.

Peggy.

Working on Christmas projects

2011-11-27T19:10:00.000-05:00

I have been working on Christmas quilting. Can't show too much because some of my relatives and friends read my blog. I took a few pictures and will post more after Christmas.

I just fell in love with this fabric.

For a Montreal Canadien's Fan.

I found this great fabric in St John's Newfoundland

this past summer when we were there.

Another project.

Peggy

Guild Night

2011-11-23T21:25:00.001-05:00

Monday was demo night at out local Quilter's Guild. Linda, the Program Chair, asked me to do a demo. I had never done one before but thought I would give it a try. She wanted it to be fairly simple and short, so I chose to do a Quilted Book Cover.

Wendy remembered to bring her camera.

My Demo.

Quilted Book Cover

Measure the book you want to cover, mine is 4.25” with a spine of 1.25”, and 7” tall.
Take 2 pieces of fabric and place wrong sides together with batting in between. Quilt these fabrics together.
Trim to 8” x 16” - 10 inches for the book (4.25x2= 8.5 + 1.25 = 9.75) plus 6 inches for the fold over part.
Put bias binding on the two short sides (the 8” sides). I start on the lining side of the piece so that the part you see is neat after it is sewn down on the right side.
You can use store bought bias binding or make your own to match your fabric.
Fold the sides in 3” and pin in place.
Take a piece of ribbon and pin it or baste it to the middle of the top of the cover.
Sew bias binding to the top and bottom of the cover.

Insert the book.

Peggy

I have a new sewing room

2011-11-22T12:33:00.000-05:00

Over the past week my son has moved out of our spare room and since it now seemed sew empty I thought that maybe I could put it to better use. After a short discussion with YKW I was able to move upstairs and now have a beautiful new sewing room.

There was room on the shelves for some of my bins with scraps and enough room for my sewing machine table and cutting table.

I left some of the family pictures up but added a small clock radio to keep me company some days.

Lots of room for my cabinets that are full of fabric

and my thread on the wall.

This is the biggest reason for moving into this room.

The view from the room.

It will also be very bright in here during the day,

and I have added some spot-lights to help

out in the evening.

Peggy.

A Bag for Alicia's Quilt

2011-11-19T21:50:00.001-05:00

One of my Niece's is in town with her daughter for a hockey tournament, so I am sending Alicia's baby quilt back with her to Kenora. I quickly made a bag for it to go in so that I could take it out to the hockey game and give it to her. It was a rush job but it will save a great deal on postage so it was something that had to be done.

I love Care Bears.

Instead of a zipper I put a button and small flap to close it.

Peggy.

Home from Lake Tahoe and Genoa Nevada

2011-11-16T22:03:00.003-05:00

We left Reno at noon on the 15th of November and arrived home around 11am on the 16th. It took three plane rides and an overnight in Toronto but I finally made it.

We visited 2 quilt shops and would have gone to the third one in Truckee, CA but it had closed.

The first place we went to was to Fabrics Unlimited in South Lake Tahoe. This was a very large shop which was overloaded with fabric. I had a ball looking around here. I did buy some batik fabric and I thought I might make a Hunter Star quilt with it.

Three colours of blue,

Lynda likes to wander through quilt shops to find Rooster fabric. Every shop has different fabric and Lynda found some new ones that we hadn't seen before.

After she found these panel squares,

we started to look for something

that would go with it

to make placemats.

This is what she chose.

The black polka dots for borders and

the stripped for backing.

I also bought a pattern for a bag. I couldn't resist it. It is called "Tahoe Tote" by Pink Sand Beach Designs.

When we got to Gardnerville we found "The Quilt House" and I purchased some fabric to make the tote. I wanted to purchase fabric in or around Lake Tahoe to truly make it A Tahoe Tote.

I chose 2 blues and a pale green.

I also bought a second tote pattern and fabric

to make it.

This is Carmel

by "A Quilter's Dream"

Their website says that this pattern

is one of their best sellers.

Peggy

Genoa, Nevada

2011-11-13T21:18:00.002-05:00

We are in a little town in Nevada at Walley's hot spring and Resort. It is mineral hot spring with 7 hot tubs all set to different temperatures. We came here after the wedding in Lake Tahoe. We had a wonderful time visiting with my nephew and his family. It has been too long since we last saw them.

As a true Quilter I have already visited one quilt shop and hope to visit one tomorrow in Gardnerville, it was closed today when we stopped by.

Peggy

I'm leaving on a jet plane

2011-11-09T10:54:00.002-05:00

I am leaving on a jet plane for San Fransisco. My youngest sister is getting married on Friday so I am going to be there. We are flying to San Fransisco and then driving to Lake Tahoe for the ceremony. I hope that I can do some blogging while we are there.

Peggy

Hunter Star Quilt Pattern

2011-11-05T21:00:00.003-04:00

I took a class today that was through the Circle of Friends Quilt Shoppe. It was the Hunter Star class using the Deb Tucker Rapid Fire Hunter Star Ruler. When you use this ruler it makes the Hunter Star block so much easier to use. Many patterns for the hunter star use templates, but with the Deb Tucker ruler you don't make any templates and you use only this ruler to make the star pattern.

Norma was our instructor and she had all the parts and pieces up on the design wall. She used 3 colours as so did many of the gals in the class use 3 colours. She made the 10 inch square and it was easy to see from anywhere in the room.

I used 3 colours. I decided to make the 6 inch block. I think I will make it into a lap size and it will go to yoga with me to use for shavasana, when you lay down at the end of your yoga practice and go into a state of relaxation and cover up to keep warm.

My strips being put together

One row put together. We followed the instructions

for the ruler. You can see them

under my strip.

I was able to complete 2 rows at class,

I had pre-cut my strips

so I was a little further ahead then some of

the others.

I am a little disappointed that

the star doesn't show up on the

screen, but it does

in real life.

Here are some photos of the other Hunter Star Patterns

that were put together at the class.

Beautiful Red and Green

Beautiful Mauve's (on the ironing board)

There were a few different fall shaded batiks.

Another Red and Green combo.

This one was a mistake. She didn't plan on the star

to be the beige colour

but

doesn't it just pop out on you.

This lovely blue one took a little deciding to do.

She couldn't decide which combination she liked best.

I think she finally decided on the first one.

Hopefully it won't take me too long to finish this lap quilt but with Christmas coming and lots of extra things to do I will probably get it finished in the new year.

Peggy

Another Christmas Tree

2011-11-04T20:59:00.001-04:00

I finished another Table topper with the Christmas Trees. It is the Christmas mystery 2001. It is a fun topper to make. There a lot of small pieces but it goes together quite quickly.

This one isn't as formal as the other one but

the fabric makes it very cheery.

I think the background fabric is really nice since it is tree ornaments

and it looks like they have fallen off the trees.

Peggy

It's Thursday Again

2011-11-03T19:36:00.000-04:00

Well it is Thursday again, time for our weekly get-to-gether. Joyce and I were the only ones for a few hours so we had lots of time to work on her cushions to match her bed scarf. We did a practice square at first and then used one of the squares that she liked and it worked.

I forgot my camera but this picture will show the outcome.

We had to cut the beige part of the square down and then add the green borders back on and then add the squares that matched the bed skirt.

It was such a feeling of accomplishment when it was finished and it all went together.

This is the bed scarf that she started back in July. It isn't finished because she was waiting for the green fabric to add as a border.

Peggy

Christmas Tree and Bags

2011-11-02T21:32:00.000-04:00

I finished one of the Christmas Tree Table Toppers that I had been working on for a while. It is 27 inches in diameter, just big enough to go on a round kitchen table.

The pattern said that you should mix the

green fabrics up for the trees

but I decided to make each tree

the same colour.

I think my nickname should be "The Bag Lady". I have made another one. This is called a Quilter's Carry-All from Thimbleberries. I changed the pattern a little and made the bag a little smaller and also inserted the handles in the top of the bag instead of along the front like the picture shows.

This is what it should have looked like,

I just used the idea.

Peggy

Thursday Group

2011-10-28T22:36:00.000-04:00

This Thursday we started the day early so that we could have more time but it never seems to end that way. We had a lot of catching up to do but we still accomplished a lot today.

Pierina is still quilting her table topper.

Aren't the colour beautiful??

Maria's Schnibbles Plan C

The fabric is Sunkissed by Moda.

She is sorting the pieces for the piano key border.

It is hard to pull them out randomly,

I also picked my colours out for the border

so that it was very organized.

Joyce is still sewing squares together for cushions.

Here she is cutting squares to make cushions to match

her Bed Scarf.

I am making a table topper with Christmas Trees.

This is one 1/4 of the topper.

I need to quilt it before I show it.

Peggy

Knit One, Purl One.

2011-10-26T22:39:00.001-04:00

My Rhematologist had a large poster on his wall with a picture of knitting needles and wool and the title was

"Knit one, Purl One.

Last Thursday Maria brought knitting to our group and the scarf that she made with the wool. I started thinking that maybe I would try my hand at making this scarf. I have done some knitting in my time. It couldn't be that hard.

So I went to the wool store today and purchased the wool and started it tonight.

The wool (if you can call it that because it is acrylic) is made by Red Heart. It is called Red Heart Boutique Sashay.

Red Heart Boutique Sashay

I have it started.

It is suppose to take 2 hours to make,

but I think it will take me a little longer.

Peggy

Schnibbles is finished

2011-10-23T20:40:00.000-04:00

I finished the top of the Schnibbles quilt. The piano key border has been added. I have to wait to quilt it since I have a lot of sewing to do for Christmas. I like to make a lot of gifts so it will be put aside for awhile.

I used Ready, Set, Snow

from Me and My Sister Designs

for Moda Fabrics.

Peggy

Thursday Quilting

2011-10-21T22:12:00.002-04:00

We have started getting back together again on Thursdays to do some quilting. Now that summer is over things are getting back to normal and Pierina and I are back from Europe, we decided that we should start getting together again to do some quilting and visiting. This was the first time that everyone was available so we didn't get a lot done but we sure had a fun time.

Joyce is working on her bed scarf and

is planning some cushions to match.

We were trying to decide if she should leave

a border around the centre or not.

We decided that the border looks better

on than cut off.

So now she has to cut out some more squares

for her cushions.

Pierina is quilting her SunFlower table topper.

Maria is adding binding with piping onto her

Convergence Quilt.

She is using Ricky Tims method of binding

that we saw at the Super Seminar.

We had a visitor this week.

Bev is visiting from B.C., she is wearing a scarf

that Maria made and is knitting one

for herself.

I think I have to make a few of those.

I was working on the piano key border for

my Schnibbles Quilt.

It took me a while to decide how to put them

together and I finally decided that

the four sides should all be the same.

Peggy

Schnibbles Class

2011-10-20T20:39:00.001-04:00

Last night I took the second of two classes making a Schnibbles Quilt. We used Carrie Nelson's Schnibbles times two book. With this book you can make quilts using 5" charm squares or 10" layer cakes or just that size of scraps.

We also used Deb Tucker's Wing Clipper Ruler to make our flying geese for the quilt. There is a video on youtube on how to use this ruler. I took this class because I had heard a lot about this ruler and wanted to learn how to use it.

Wendy was the instructor

She has made a lot of these quilts,

so it was a great class.

It is always good to take a class from

someone who has made the quilt

before.

The class busy working.

Maria's - almost finished

Marlene's - one row done

Maureen's piano key border.

Maureen's finished and

she used all scraps.

Isn't it beautiful.!!

This is mine.

I have to add the piano key border.

The border is sown together so hopefully I should

have it finished in a day or so.

Peggy

Kitty Komono

2011-10-18T22:25:00.000-04:00

I finally finished quilting the Kitty Komono Quilt that I bought in Trego, Wisconsin on the Ricky Tims Seminar bus trip. It is a baby quilt for my Great Niece who is expecting in December. I am going to be a Great Great Aunt again.

If you look closely there are cats in the squares.

The squares were a little tricky with the 45 degree angle

on them but with a little help from

my friends I was able to

complete them.

That is one reason to join a Quilters Guild. There is always someone to help you when you need it and to get ideas for finishing quilts.
Peggy

Empty Bowls Caring Hearts

2011-10-16T21:02:00.000-04:00

To-night I went to a dinner called "Empty Bowls Caring Hearts". There were 335 people there all supporting local charities - The Thunder Bay Food Bank and Shelter House. There was a line up to get in because if you got there early you were rewarded with a hand made bowl from the The Thunder Bay Potters Guild or a quilted placemat from the The Thunder Bay Quilter's Guild. More people wanted the bowls and if they ran out of bowls you received a placemat.

A long line-up to get in.

Some of the crowd including our mayor.

Placemats and Bowls

Some of the pottery bowls

Lots of bowls and Placemats

There was also a silent auction of bowls and plates that were

autographed by celebrities.

Elizabeth Manley

Jack Layton & Billy Manzik

Fred Turner & Randy Bachman

Rick Mercer from the Mercer Report.

Joe Fiorito - local author

Good News Jazz Band

The bowl I selected by Ann McGoey

Maria's bowl by Alan Moon

A great night for a great cause.

Peggy

More Christmas

2011-10-15T20:43:00.000-04:00

I have been so busy lately that I haven't done a lot of new sewing but I did get these placemats finished. I have had them around for a year or so now. They were a kit but some of the pieces were missing so I added the green strip and the last 2" strip and put the same colour of binding on. They were suppose to me made so that they were put together inside out and turned and then no binding was put on them but I don't like placemats like that so I had to change them. I think they worked out quite nice.

I have been try to get my things finished for the next guild meeting. We are doing our presentation on the Ricky Tims seminar that we attended last May. My convergence is finished and I am hand sewing the binding on. I will post it when it is finished. I hope to remember to take my camera to guild this week too so that I can put some pictures on the blog.

I spent last Friday over at the "Circle of Friends Quilt Shop" cutting out kits for the next quilt bee. I cut 2 kits in the three hours that I was there. It was a lot of fun volunteering and meeting new guild members.

Peggy

Convergence Continued

2011-10-03T15:57:00.000-04:00

I am still working on the convergence quilt that we learned how to make at the Ricky Tims Super Quilt Seminar and I think I have finished the quilt top. We are having a meeting this week of all the participants to present something to the Quilt Guild about what we learned at the Seminar, so I have been working most of the week-end on it.

One of the gals who went to the Seminar with us sent me this picture that she took while we were there.

And here is one that I took

The butterflies are appliqued

onto the finished quilt top.

I used both examples to complete my convergence. It isn't quilted yet and the horse on the bottom left isn't sewn on either but this is what I am taking to the meeting and asking for suggestions as how I might finish it.

If you look closely you can see the horses

in the convergence.

There was a lot of calculations done to put the coloured

swatches on the corners.

A good learning experience for me.

Christmas is coming

2011-10-02T17:44:00.000-04:00

Last year I purchased some kits to make oven mitts. That was a big mistake. I made one and I sure won't be making any more. I think I will try to make a tea cozy out of the other kit. I can use one at the cabin to keep my tea warm.

The oven mitt was really labour intensive. Cutting, basting the sandwiches together and then basting both sides of the mitt together and then I don't think it turned out all that great. Each side has 4 layers - lining, batting, Mylar (Insul-Bright) and then the outside fabric. Really thick pieces to work with. I thought they would make good small gifts but I think I will keep it for myself.

Oven Mitt.

I also made a new Christmas wall-hanging. I thought these snowmen were really cute because this is more of a winter wall-hanging rather than a Christmas one and it can be hung up all winter. We have lots of snow here so it won't be out of place.

They are the same snowmen

that are on the oven mitt.

Peggy

Dive into Fall

2011-10-01T15:52:00.001-04:00

This is a really cute wall-hanging that I found in the

Fons & Porter's Easy Quilt magazine, Fall 2011.

It was really easy to make

and

sewed up quite quickly.

I made the lighter one first and used

gold thread for the applique.

I should have stuck with that because

I used variegated for the darker bordered

one and I think I like the gold

one better.

They are different sizes because I guess

I didn't read the pattern for the dark one

I just cut the border the size I

thought it should be.

I also used a different

burgundy for some of the leaves

on them and it shows

up better.

Peggy

I'm on a roll

2011-09-27T15:38:00.000-04:00

I have another UFO finished. I started this wall hanging in July at our retreat and put it aside because other things needed attending to. I am trying to get my Christmas sewing done and finished so that it can be mailed off and figured I had better finish this up first.

My friend Joyce made the bow for me.

I can't tie bows but she sure can.

I am going to hang it on my front door

in December,

to make my house look Christmassy.

Peggy.

Mystery Quilt and My New Helper

2011-09-25T15:50:00.001-04:00

Last spring the local guild had a mystery quilt for us to try. It came in 3 sizes and I chose the smaller one but it wasn't quite big enough so I added an inside border. It now measures 41 x 51, and I think it is a nicer size for a lap quilt.

By adding the border the same colour as the background

it makes the other parts and the stars

appear to float on the background.

I also have a new helper.

This is Banshee.

We are minding my sons cats for a few months

and she follows me around.

I am working on this Twister Christmas Wreath

and she seems to like it too.

It doesn't seem to matter where I am she wants to be

near me or on my lap.

It is hard to type with a kitten on your lap.

This is Buckley, all he wants to do is go outside

and he is not allowed

since they just moved here.

Peggy