I'm not a happy camper

Before we went away at Christmas time I took my sewing machine in to be cleaned and maintained.  I take it in once a year when I know I won't be sewing.  It is a Babyloc Quilter's Choice.  I really like my Babyloc and would recommend it to anyone to purchase one if they are looking for a new machine.

I picked it up on December 30th and brought it home only to find that it wouldn't start.  I tried everything, from turning it off to pushing all the buttons.  The machine can be operated without a foot pedal and that is how I like to use it so I decided to plug the foot pedal in and it worked but not the way it was suppose to.   So back to the store today (since they have been closed over New Years) and the serviceman couldn't fix it while I waited.  So here I am without my good machine.  I still have my old White sewing machine but am very limited in what I can do.  That is why I bought a new one 2 years ago.

I hope it won't take too long to get it back.

Peggy

HAPPY NEW YEAR

My cold is slowly getting better, it is nice to be home in my own bed, but now YKW has my cold.  I'm not surprised really but hopefully it won't be as bad as mine was.  My biggest problem was that everything was closed over Christmas and the one pharmacy that we did find had a limited supply of cold medication.  I am limited in what I can take also because of HBP so I have to be very careful and read all the labels.

Yesterday I started to clean my sewing room and got it about 1/2 done.  Hopefully I can finish it today but I also have a turkey to cook and company for dinner. 

I was sorting out all the scraps leftover from my projects of the last 6 months.  Next time I think I will do it sooner rather than later.

The snow storm we were suppose to get missed us again.  We have the largest fresh water lake on our doorstep and storms often go beneath us as they come up from the south.  This one was a Colorado low and was to suppose to dump 15cm on us but only got about 5.  The big lake comes in handy sometimes.

My Deck with only a few inches of snow on it. 

I want to wish everyone a Very Happy New Year and all the best for 2011.

Peggy.



There is nothing quite like a cold at Christmas

Colds are not nice any time of the year, but at Christmas they are even worse.  There is so much to do and people to visit and a head cold just doesn't fit into that scenario.  I woke up on Christmas day with a sore throat and an earache so I knew that something was up.  By the afternoon my nose decided that it didn't want to be left out, and then the sneezing and headache started.

There is so much delicious food around and I don't feel like eating it.  My sister is having a family get-together and I have to stay home from it or I will be infecting everyone there.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas.

Peggy

Merry Christmas

Simply Spooky Quilt

I finished my halloween quilt last week and have been debating how to take a picture of it.  I usually hang them on the deck so that I get the natural light but when there is snow on the deck and the temperature is hovering around -10C it isn't the best scenerio.  So I decided to use the living room couch.  Not the best place but I think it did the quilt justice. 

 

This is called Simply Spooky by Amy Barickman from Red Rooster Patterns.  The cats are pieced and the bats are appliqued.  I started this small quilt a few years ago and just got around to quilting it.  One of my UFO's done.

I know that it is a little out of season but that's okay because now it is finished.

Peggy

Celebration on Ice

Last night I went to see Celebration on Ice at the Gardens with my daughter and granddaughter.  We were absolutely enthralled for the 2 hours of skating.  The show featured Kurt Browning, Jamie Sale & David Pelletier, Jeffrey Buttle, Joanne Rochette and Violetta Afanasieva and Pete Dack.

I think Joanne Rochette received the biggest applause.  She is Canada's sweetheart.

Jeffrey Buttle

Jamie Sale & David Pelletier

Violetta Afanasieva & Pete Dack

Kurt Browning

The Finale.

Peggy

Mail Delivery

The Purolator Truck stopped in front of our house today and had a delivery for me.  My friend Joyce had a really nice quilt book that I borrowed but really wanted my own copy so I ordered myself one.  It is "Patchwork Quilting" by Company's Coming . 

It has a lot of nice projects that I may make one day. 

I love quilting books.  They are so full of ideas when you are looking for something new to make.
Peggy.

The Thursday Group

Four of us have decided to get together on Thursday afternoons to do some quilting.  It has been an interesting time.  We are all working on something different and everyone helps everyone else.  Some days it seems we get very little accomplished but that is alright because we eventually get things done.

We took a 5 week course in the fall so we are all still working on our quilts.  This past Thursday we spent some time looking out at the snow and wondering just how much we were going to get.  Not much fell, about 5 cm, but it sure was blowing.

This is Joyce and Maria wondering about the snow.

Joyce's quilt.  I love the beautiful colours in this quilt.  They are maple leaves.  It is called "Autumn Ridge Lap Quilt" from Company's Coming Crafts

Maria's table runner is the "Little Charmers III" pattern but she added a another square and triangles to the end so that it would be very long.  What beautiful gold colours and accented with black!!

Joyce and Pierina busy sewing.  Pierina's is a Buggy Barn pattern done in flannelette.

Pierina's quilt all finished.

Here's the four of us.  Me, Maria, Joyce and Pierina.  We are so lucky to be able to use Joyce's plant room ( as she calls it) with all the natural light coming in through the windows.  It makes for a great afternoon.

Peggy

Vote for Me

I entered one of my tablerunner in a contest at the Quilting Gallery and would appreciate your vote.  It is called Christmas Star Runner.  So head on over and have a look at all the beautiful runners.

Here is the URL for the contest:  http://quiltinggallery.com/tag/weekly-themed-quilt-contest/

Peggy

Star paper pieced block

This is a block I made for the local Quilter's Guild.  It is paper pieced and they will be put together into a charity quilt.  If you check out the other block I made for the guild I changed the placement of the quarters of the block.  It is a large block measuring 11 1/2 inches.

I used some fabric that I have had for a while now.  Some is Henry Glass and some is Moda Marbles. 

I also make my name tag to wear to the guild meetings.  I used some orphan blocks that I had.  It is reversible to the same block on the other side.

I was busy baking today also making chocolate chip cookies.   I made 11 dozen.  Some will go to my son and his family for Christmas, the rest will be eaten here by my local grandchildren (and my husband).
Peggy.

A Binding Tip

I saw this tip on the Internet but don't remember where I saw it.  If anyone knows, please let me know so that I can give the author proper acknowledgement for it.  It is a great tip. 

When binding a large quilt and you have many strips of binding sewn together one of the ways to keep track of it is to wind it up and put it under the foot of your sewing machine.  This really works.  I am applying the binding to my Halloween quilt which is 48 x 48 so I have 5 binding strips which can be unruly at times.  I took some photos to show you what I mean.  This tip would work even better for a queen size quilt.

I have a Babyloc Quilter's Choice which has an extension table with legs that I wrapped the binding around.  It worked really well.  I hope I remember to do this next time I am adding binding to a quilt.

Peggy.

Christmas Cards

I finished my Christmas letter last night, finally, and printed it this morning.  I think I changed it 6 times before I was happy with it.  Now my cards are all ready to go.  Some will have to be mailed soon as they go to California, Florida, Oklahoma, Saskatchewan and British Columbia.  Our relatives are scattered all over North America.  It seems that our mail takes forever to be delivered and if I want these to be received by Christmas then they have to be mailed next week.  The ones that go out closer to home and to our own province can go the end of the week or early next week. 

My friend Bridget who lives in New Zealand will receive my Christmas letter by email.  We have been doing it that way for a few years now and have no problems.

Peggy

Four Dandy Bags

Today I finished my 4 Dandy bags that I was making for Christmas.  I changed the pattern a little by using only 2 fabrics instead of three and I added pockets and zippers.  My sister, daughter and I are going to New York City in March 2011 and I thought they would be good bags to carry our mitts and scarves in or anything else that we may need for a day out on the town.  We don't put valuables in them, they are in small bags that I make to wear under your coat. 

The black bag is a lot larger than the others, I just added a few inches to the main fabric to make it biggier.  Here is the link to the blog and the tutorial for these bags.  Dandelion Quilts.  Just click on the picture on the dandy bag on the front page and it will take you there.

I finished writing my Christmas letter today and bought some nice paper for half price at Michael's today.  You gotta love a sale.  Now all I have to do it get it printed and finish my Christmas cards and I am ready to go.

Peggy.

One More Purse

This is a purse I made this week-end.  It is made in strips and only the bottom third is quilted and stitched in the ditch.  The casing for the draw string was a bit of a challenge but I think in the end it turned out okay.  The colours are bright for summer.  I always give gifts in homemade quilted or not quilted bags.  Stores today charge for bags so I hope that my bags come in handy for shopping or just having fun when used.  Stores in Canada charge 5 cents for a bag but this August when I was in Ireland they were charging 20 cents for a bag.  Lynda and I opted for no bag if we forgot to bring a bag with us if the parcel was small enough to fit  into another bag we already had.

Peggy

All my Christmas table runners

I have decided that since I have finished all the runners and mats that I would post them all together.  I tried to make different patterns but that didn't always work out.  I found it hard to find free placemat patterns to showcase fabric so I ended up with just 2 patterns for the placemats but I did find different patterns for the runners.  All the patterns were free off the Internet.  It takes a lot of searching but it is possible to find them out there.  I don't sell any of my quilted items, I just give them away to family or friends.  Quilting keeps me busy and sane.  (I hope)

Each set has 4 placemats to match the table runner.  The placemats are approximately 12 x 18 inches and the table runners range from 32 to 60 inches in length.  I think I would make the shorter one longer next time.  It is the one with the Christmas ornaments on it.  I like that pattern and wish that I had realized that it wasn't very long before I finished it as I could have made it longer but now it is too late.

Peggy

Happy Snowmen

My last tablerunner and placemats finished.  Each set has 4 placemats with it.  I decided this time that I would finish the binding the Cotton Theory way, so I sewed the binding onto the back of the placemats and then folded it over to the front just to the seam line and then did my fancy CT stitch and finished them off.  No hand sewing this way and I think it made a nice decoration on the front of the runner and mats.

I am not a traditional quilter, I have a very hard time doing freehand quilting so I use my fancy stitches on my Babyloc sewing machine to quilt.  Here is a picture of the binding that was sewn onto the front of the placemat.

I chose the pale blue so that the stitches would show up in the picture. 

Now I have to make bags to go with these gifts.  Everyone needs bags for the stores these days and I also prefer not to buy wrapping paper so bags it is.

Peggy

Cotton Theory Tablerunner

When we were in Kenora I just had to visit the local quilt shop, Quilt Corner, to look at fabric.  I couldn't walk out with out buying some and I had the Cotton Theory in my mind.  Just look at the beautiful fabric I picked up.

On Thursday last week I finished the Cotton Theory Tablerunner but didn't have time to post a picture so I will do it now.  I hope you can see how it is constructed - in pieces and then sown together.  The pieces are attached using a folding method called One Way Streets and The Highway.  It isn't perfect but it is my first one so I'll get better with the next and subsequent pieces.

The green side is the back of the runner.  This way of quilting makes the runner reversible. 

And you work with small pieces rather than with one large piece that is hard to handle.  Each pieces is quilted and then sown together.  A lot of thought has to go into how you are designing it and what colours you want to put together on each side.  It is was fun to make.

Peggy

Home from Kenora

We arrived home from Kenora, ON today.  We left home on Friday morning to go to a funeral at 2pm.  It is a 6 hour drive, 458 K, but it is something that had to be done.   Sharon's mom passed away on Sunday so we wanted to go and support Ray and Sharon and also Norm.  Norm & Ollie had been married 70 years so it was really hard on him, but he made it through just fine.  We left Kenora at 9 am this morning and arrived home at 3pm.  Not bad for travelling through a snowstorm on the way.  We stopped at Upsala and there was at least 6 inches of snow on the ground and about 2 inches here when we got home.  Tired and weary but safe.

Peggy

Another Tablerunner and placemats

I finished another tablerunner and placemats today.  This one is really large measuring 20 x 58 inches.  To put it in perspective I put 3 placemats beside it so that you can see the full size of it.  I also went over the poinsettias with gold laminated thread.  They don't show up too much in the picture but the gold thread really makes them pop. 

Here is a picture of the poinsettia even though the gold doesn't show up too much.

I have also been making mug rugs.  It is something I saw on a blog and thought that I would like to try it.  It was Pleasant Home .  They are really cute and fun to make.  I'm afraid that I copied hers because I needed the inspiration but next time I will try to come up with my own idea.  They are a nice extra Christmas gift or stocking stuffer.  Thanks Jodi.

I just have to put the binding onto my Cotton Theory Tablerunner and it will be finished.  Maria is coming over tomorrow and we should get them finished up then.

Peggy.

Cotton Theory Workshop

Wow, what a fabulous workshop.   We came home totally exhausted but full of knowledge.  Nancy was a wonderful instructor and took all our mistakes in stride, ripping out seams and ironing pieces for us all.  More than once I goofed and sewed the seams wrong but she just got me doing something else while she did the ripping. 

I didn't get the tablerunner finished, no one did, but the last few steps were explained and Maria and I will get together this week and finish it up.  I will post some pictures then to show you the difference between the Cotton Theory and regular quilting.

I was so enthused with this new way of quilting that I bought a book to make another tablerunner and the scissors used when doing this type of quilting.  They are very sharp so that they can cut through multiple layers of fabric.  (Like 12) You will understand that more when you see the pictures of the finished tablerunner.
What a great day.

Peggy