Quilt Therapy Time Again

It was a good quilt therapy day yesterday.  Pierina is back from her holiday and she was making placemats, that we all designed, for her son.  She chose different shades of black and we all had some input as to how she was going to put these together.

This is our creation.  More pictures will come

next week when she has a few completed.

Over Easter not much quilting was done.

Joyce is still working on her casserole cover.

She has the bird fused onto the top

and was getting ready to applique it.

I was making a 9 patch block for a small

casserole cover. 

I bought this fabric when we were in Newfoundland

last July.  Real Autumn colours.

Two more Blocks for BOM and another purse.

I have a friend going to Europe in September and I told her that I would make her a small purse that she can wear under her blouse or sweater to keep her valuables safe.

I am really happy the way this one

turned out.  Every little imperfection

shows up on light fabric, so I

think I took extra care with this one.

I also made her a small wallet to

match.  These are so fast and easy to make

I think I will have to make a few more.

My third block from McCall's Irish Quilt.

The pattern called for a fairy square in the

middle but I didn't have one so

I am using these little butterfly's that

could be fairies because they have wings.

Morning Glory Designs Block #8.

New little Wallet

Guild night is tonight and I wanted a new name tag and folder of some kind to hold my drivers license and a few dollars (to purchase used books) so that I didn't have to carry my large purse.

My first attempt wasn't really successful.  How many times does that happen to you?  So it was try again time.  I wanted to make something that I was proud of and eager to show off.

This a Lazy Girl Design and so easy to make.  I think it took me an hour.  I am really thrilled with the end results.

This was my first attempt. 

I loved the fabric

but my name was crooked.

On the inside you can see that the velcro is crooked,

and I put velcro on one of the pockets

but I didn't put it low enough and

you can see it peeking out.

This little wallet, credit card holder will be used

when I travel, instead of using a

larger wallet.

This my second attempt. 

This time I drew a chalk

line where I wanted my name to go,

and it is straighter than the first attempt.

I didn't use velcro on this one,

instead I used gold snaps.

I put a tie on it so it

will go around my neck.

I picked this beautiful fabric up

in Newfoundland when we were

there last summer.

New Block of the Month Started

I finally am satisfied with my selection of green and white fabrics to start my McCall's Irish Quilt.  It is hard to find just the right colours of green so that I have some lights and some darks.  I was able to finish 2 blocks, block #1 and block #6.  My block #6 is a little different than the one on the website but I usually change things to suit me.

Block #1

This block is made in 4 sections

and I have learned to measure each

section before I continue on with the

rest of the block.

Block #6

There are suppose to be 4 shamrocks

in the centre but I thought

that they would be too small to

applique so I added one instead.

We took a trip to Duluth, MN a few days ago and I picked up a few things.  Of course, I bought fabric. What is a trip without stopping at a few quilt shops along the way?  YKW forgot his book this trip but I wasn't too long in any shop to make him regret stopping.



For a couple of new purses for travelling.

For Pillow shams for the Maple Leaf Quilt.

I couldn't buy Fossil Fern so I

opted for similar colours.

I bought 2 of these to make wall hangings

for YKW and our son.

I found this for the borders.

Isn't it neat with all the animal prints

on it?

I also picked up a few handy helpers.  I was looking to buy a Gypsy gripper for my rulers but a friend told me that I could purchase something else that would do the same thing for less then half the price.  I googled the Safety Gripper that is used in a shower and found one on the Menard's website. 

My Safety Gripper

At one of the groups I go to one of the ladies mentioned that the best ruler she ever purchased was the Shape Cut by June Taylor.  I am a gadget person so I picked up one of those also.

It looks interesting and I think

I can put it to good use.



Alphabet Block G

Lately I have been waiting for Lyn Brown to publish the second block in the series before I complete my first block.  That way I can co-ordinate the two of them together.

I finished both G blocks over the week-end.

G Block and Grandma's Glorious Garden

I am really pleased with the way this

block turned out.

I used a variegated thread that co-ordinated with the

the three colours of the block and

did a zig-zag stitch to catch

both sides of the hexagons.

Paris revisited and a new purse

My sister Lynda came to visit us over the Easter weekend so I can now post pictures of some of the things that I made a while ago.

When we were in Paris in August we purchased some fabric and since I had made her a New York City cushion cover she wanted me to make her one from the Paris fabrics.  I was able to make 2, one for her and one for me.

I found this Eiffel Tower on the Internet.

You can find a copy here.



We went to California and Lake Tahoe in November to go to another sister's wedding and Lynda picked up more fabric.  It is dangerous having her in a fabric shop as she buys the fabric and then I make the things for her.  I made her some new placemats this time.

I still have more fabric so I will either make

another cushion cover or a

table runner.

I also made myself a new purse.  I am officially the bag lady.  I can't seem to help it.  I see a pattern for a bag or purse and I just have to make it.  I wanted a new spring bag and this is it.

I made it a little smaller than what the pattern called for.

I like this size, just a medium size handbag.

It also has lots of pockets.

I put one more seam in to hold my cell phone and ipod,

otherwise, the pockets are all in use.



No Group Quilt Therapy Today

There was no group therapy today because of Easter season, so I used the time to complete some of my April BOM's.  Three of April's blocks are finished.

Country Junk'tion April Block.

In Colour Order April Block.

Apple Avenue April Block

It might be a little pale, I probably should have

used some brighter colours.

Thursday was Quilt Therapy

Our last therapy session until after Easter so we tried to be productive.
Joyce is making a casserole cover and is using beautiful batik fabric.

Lots of cutting to do for this one.

Maria is putting the borders on her mystery quilt.

She might add a third border between the 1st and 3rd,

to make the quilt a little bigger.

This log cabin square is the second time around.

I made it and it only measured 12 inches,

so I ripped it all out and used a scant

1/4 inch seam and it is a perfect

12 1/2 inches.

I am also working on something else using

these 2 fabrics plus a third,

but I can't show you right now.

That will have to wait.

More Blocks finished for my BOM's

I was a little bit behind with my BOM because of some visits to the hospital by my relatives with subsequent admissions, but things seem to be on the mend for now so I spent the last few days getting caught up.

Morning Glory Designs

Block 6 Purple Posey

Block 7 Pink Sunflower

I used blanket stitch for both of these instead of satin stitch.

I was having a lot of trouble with the satin stitch clumping

so I went to blanket stitch.

Blogger Block of Month

Block # 7

Quilter's Alphabet Quilt

The letter F

and

Fabulous Fusible Fans

So now I am ready for next month.





A Good Therapy Session Today.

We had a great quilt therapy session today.  Lots of laughs and a few frustrations and we seemed to get past those okay with a little help all around. 

It was a beautiful week here temperature wise so not much quilting was done on our own, so today we all worked hard to accomplish something.

Joyce got the table topper trimmed and the binding sewn on.  The topper is an octagon so the binding was a challenge but she got it completed and is ready to do the hand sewing.

I really like the striped fabric on the binding.

Maria was still working on her mystery quilt and she was able to sew the main pieces together.  Now she has to add the borders.

If you look closely you can see

lady bugs on this quilt.

I was working on my spring wall hanging and I was able to finish it.  Tomorrow I am going to go and purchase the backing.

Spring has Sprung.