First Finishes for 2016

Jamestown Landing - Bonnie Hunter design

Celtic Solstice - another Bonnie Hunter design

Each of these was a couple of years in the making, and I'm glad to add them to the finished pile!

Happy New Year!

Ahhh....one last day of holidays to relax before heading back to work tomorrow.

I took some time this morning to get the bindings of these two quilts - - both of them are Bonnie Hunter designs -- stitched to the front.  I believe I'll spend the rest of the day with my feet up hand sewing the bindings to the back.

Jamestown Landing and Celtic Solstice

This week has been particularly busy, as we traveled to Newfoundland to ring in the New Year and celebrate the wedding of our oldest son.  Sailor Boy lives in Halifax, but his new wife was born and raised on The Rock. 

Itty Bitty and Sailor Boy

The wedding was held indoors, of course, but a lot of the photos were taken outside, with the added bonus of "natural confetti" falling from the sky.

This was our first visit to Newfoundland. We met some of the warmest, kindest people while we were there - - although we could have used an interpreter to understand that Newfie accent!

a little retreatin'

I went away for four days this week with no real expectations of getting anything accomplished.  But I did finish two quilt tops.  The one above is a Bonnie Hunter mystery called "Christmas Lights" that was published in Quiltmaker magazine a number of years ago.  I had the blocks done, but needed to assemble the blocks and add the borders.  Can you see where I made the mistake?  Yes - I did get out my stitch ripper the next morning and turned the block.  I couldn't live with THAT!

Next, I added a row of four patches to finish off this top that I created from split nine-patches.  I really like it.

The retreat was at a cottage on the St. Clair River, with a number of "quaint" details - including this rotary phone.  I forgot what it felt like to answer one of these puppies - - just about knocked myself out cold!  It must weigh a ton!

One more day off, and then it's back to the grindstone. I plan to spend tomorrow working on homework - - I have SEVERAL projects coming due for both of the courses I'm enrolled in.  

Quilts: fueled by Swiss Chocolate

I know - - I'm an idiot.  Like I need more fabric.  But I saw a photo on Quiltville Open Studio facebook page yesterday of a finished Kim Diehl design called "Sprigs & Twigs" and I just knew I had to make one.  I looked all over online for a quilt kit, because I'm really bad at choosing fabric "on purpose" - I'm more of a fabric "finder" than a "shopper".  But first...I had to find the pattern.  (Hey - there are some free Kim Diehl pattens on the Henry Glass website!)

I thought I would spend tomorrow running around SW Ontario looking for "Simple Appeal", but started today with a trip to Elmira's "Quilter's Nine Patch" (it's open Sundays, but closed on Mondays).  WHOOP! WHOOP!  They had the book in stock!

On the way home, Hubby and I stopped in St. Jacob's at Picard's Peanuts briefly, and laid in a small supply of quilting fuel.  mmmmmmmm....chocolate!

I've put together my Leader & Ender project: Split Nine Patch.  I'm piecing together dark four-patches for borders.  I imagine I should have them done by the end of this week.  I still haven't decided what I'm going to do with this - - I love it a whole lot!

Flimsy Finish: Pinwheels Forever

This design by Shelby Morris appeared in the September 2002 McCall's Quilting Quick Quilts, includes forty 8"x8" pinwheel blocks.  I started piecing it last Sunday, and finished putting the borders on this morning.

It's 51.5" x 75.5", and I think I am going to donate this quilt top to the local guild for one of their community outreach projects.

Pinwheels Forever

I took five quilt tops to the long-armer on Monday, including the two most recent flimsy finishes.  One of them is probably 10 years old!  Not sure why I never finished it...

Speaking of ten years old: I pulled out a big ziplock bag of a pre-cut quilt top the other night.  I've moved this bag around for yeeeears.  The pattern that I had tucked in with the pieces is from the September 2002 issue of McCall's Quilting Quick Quilts. I've got about half of the blocks nearly done.  The photo above shows 16 of the required 40.

Another Flimsy Finished

Another flimsy finished, and all ready to go to the Long-Arm Quilter in the morning.

Which of course led me to thinking: "Well? What next?"  I'm horrified to admit it, but I have numerous quilt tops almost nearly completed: it's just a matter of putting the blocks in rows and columns.  One drawer was full of these 6" Split Nine Patches.  Hubby and I got them out last night and arranged them in a number of different ways, but this setting is the one I preferred.  I sewed the nine-patches into blocks of four, and now I'm wondering....should I just do six rows of four squares, or continue making blocks and do a bigger size.  I've decided that the borders with be two rows of dark 2.5" squares, so that the light diamonds (crosses?) will float.  I'm torn.

The nine-patches are a "leader & ender" project that I've had going for a couple of years now.  The four by six configuration will probably be a very nice twin sized bed quilt that I can donate to a hospice or something.  But it's so interesting, that I wouldn't mind having it for my own bed!  No one but another quilter will ever appreciate the amount of work that went into the 44 pieces of fabric that went into each 12" block!!!

You know what's better than that feeling of a new rotary blade???

Answer?  The feeling of a new rotary mat.  Oh. My.

I know there is a method for keeping your mat moisturized, but I think mine is beyond help. It was getting so unpleasant to cut fabric.  My cuts were not as accurate as I hoped because the fabric would be distorted by the extraordinary pressure of my cutter.  I was going through blades like crazy. So I caved in and bought a new one. It's incredible.  But here's a link to the moisturizing tips if you want to give it a try:

Moisturize Your Mat 

This week in quilting, I attended a meeting of the Waterloo County Quilters. The program was interesting. Patti Carey the Marketing Coordinator for Northcott, where she has headed up the sample department since 1986.  Patti endeavors, with the help of her piecer, to make a quilt from most collections that Northcott designs – approximately 50 per year.  These quilts are used as marketing tools by the sales reps, and as features in various quilting magazines.  

This quilt top is coming together - just one more block to go, and then I can start stitching the big blocks together. I hope to have it ready to go to the long-armer on Monday.

Some Sunday Sewing

The weather has turned decidedly autumnal!  It's the right time to make a hot and filling batch of stew to simmer in the oven all afternoon while I spend some time in the basement sewing together 2 1/2" strips from my stash.

$#!T just got real....

I know it's Labour Day and all....but I actually had a class tonight: first class for "Practice Skills for Leading and Supervising in Human Services" - I feel completely overwhelmed.  Seems like a TON of work is expected over the next three months.  

Oh well, I will worry about THAT tomorrow.

I've been sewing this week.  I even tidied up my sewing room a bit.

And I finished a few things:

The top for Jamestown Landing:

A mug mat and matching basket that I had started over a year ago, and "re"found it while I was tidying my sewing room:

Two guitar pick shaped mug rugs:

These called for binding cut on the bias - I almost have never used bias cut binding - but at 2", it went on pretty slick!  For the pattern, I traced a souvenir giant guitar pick that Hubby brought home from the Martin Guitar factory in Nazareth PA a few years ago. It measures about 7" long, and 6" at the wide end.

And I started a new project.  Tonight I pieced four of the thirty-six blocks, and cut all of the neutral pieces out.  You've probably seen this quilt all over the internet.  It's called Soul Searching, from Kathy Doughty's (of Material Obsession) book "Making Quilts".  

This is going to be a long term project out of necessity. I simply don't have enough variety of some of the colours.  While I have tons of blue, green, and red - I'm shy yellow, orange, purple and turquoise.  The strips are 2.5" wide - so I'm happy to take any spare strips in those colours off your hands!

Took me a minute....but I remembered how to use my sewing machine...

I have bit on a rather extended break from sewing and quilting, but recently my imagination has been sparked again by images on Pinterest and Facebook, so I believe I can confirm I've been reinfected with a thread bug.  I don't know how long I've been working on Jamestown Landing - it's been on my design wall for at least 10 months I reckon.  Time to get this thing done!  Monday I spent making too many blocks.  By last night I just needed to sew three long seams.  

In between, I've added to my 3" (finished) nine patches.  I think there's about 180 in my jar now.

This morning I was awake at 5:30 - - a perfect time to listen to CBC radio, and stitch those last seams.  Next up is string piecing piano key borders.  

Not much excitement planned for the long weekend.  Hubby is working all three days.  I have an online class on Monday evening (class on LABOUR DAY????).

This is what I've been reading:

Down time

Working away on sewing HSTs into pairs, and then into Broken Dishes blocks for Jamestown Landing.  I worked on these while watching Quilt-Cam on Sunday afternoon.

It's been a little chilly in my basement sewing room.  I'm used to bare-footing my foot pedal.  I dragged a space heater into the hallway and aimed it into the doorway, but it was hard to moderate the heat - - simply no happy medium between arctic tundra and tropical heat.  I found a piece of carpet to put under my chair, and that helped a bit.  Then Hubby remembered that he had shut the furnace vent in my sewing room - - well golly gee! - - problem solved!

I've read two books in the last three days.  

"When She Woke" is not something I would typically reach for, but it's this month's selection for Book Club, so I had to give it a try.  I picked it up a week earlier, and read the first three or four pages, and thought, "no...I can't read this...".  It's a dystopian novel set in the not-too-distant future, loosely reminiscent of "The Scarlet Letter".  But I picked it up again Sunday and finished it within a day.  

"Kabul Beauty School" had been on my shelf for a number of months.  I had heard of it several years ago - I think I might have seen a news story or a documentary about it?  I'm glad I picked it up - it was very readable!  I will recommend it to my social work practicum students in the future as a lesson (or rather -  many lessons!) in cultural competency. I couldn't put it down.

It was back to work today after a week at home, and I had lofty ambitions to solidify some plans and presentation material for a training event in three weeks.  Ugh...could NOT get into it!  Another half day tomorrow, and then I'm off again until the 5th of January.  

....and moving along....

I can make any number of excuses about why I've been such a bad blogger these last few months....but talk about BORING!!!

Let's move on to more exciting topics:

1. I haven't sewn much over the past six months.  I recently have started flogging this old horse - Jamestown Landing from Bonnie Hunter's "String Fling" book.  Let 's do a little math.  The overall quilt centre (minus the borders) are made up of 21 x 18 little 4x4 blocks, each with approximately 8 pieces in them - roughly 3000 pieces.  Wow.

2.  I've applied to two universities to pursue a master's degree in Social Work.  I won't know for awhile yet if I've been selected.  Fingers are crossed.

3.  I bought a new memory foam bath mat - - the cat will not step on it.  It freaks him out.  I can now confirm--without any reservations--that THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG with my cat.

4.  Itty Bitty has just completed the first semester of his fourth year of undergrad.  Thirteen more weeks until he completes his degree.  This has been the shortest four years of my entire life.  He is also applying to grad school to complete a Master's degree in social work - different universities though.

This past semester he spent Fridays with me at my office doing an elective practicum.  It's been so much fun. Okay, not fun exactly. He has heard some truly horrific stories, and seen some hair-curling, run-screaming-into-the-street sorts of sights - - but certainly has the professional, non-judgmental, this-is-so-completely-normal, social-worky approach down SOLID. Besides, he's also really good at lifting heavy objects, mind-numbing clerical/administrative tasks, and run-down-to-the-courthouse-to-get-me-documents-and-while-you're-out-bring-back-coffee sorts of jobs.

5.  I've been reading quite a lot.  I also went to my first ever book club meeting to discuss "The Rosie Project" by Graeme Simsion.  I want to recommend this book to everyone I meet.  I understand it is going to be a movie - - and the movie just will NOT be as good.

In the past 24 hours, I completely consumed "This Won't Hurt a Bit" by Michelle Au - very readable.

Lastly, I've been working through the "Outlander" series by Diana Gabaldon again.  I started to read them when they were initially published back in the 90's - but since watching the TV series in the summ...wait...WHAT?!?!? You haven't watched the TV SERIES?!?!?!?  Wow.  Go do that.
Anyway - the books have been re-released to coincide with the  television series premier in August and I have been yummying them up:

  

I'm ready for book #4 - and my sister-in-law has given me #5 & 6.  Why is the bookstore so far away????

Anxiety Level: Warp Factor 8

It's a bittersweet time

This past week I've been saying good-bye to my long(ish) term clients.  Lots of hugs - a few tears - a couple of laughs - - I have this one guy, incredibly ill with bipolar that I've been working with fairly frequently in the last two years or so - - he came in Friday and we reminisced about all the good times we have had when he was manic.  A mom and son that I've seen from time to time to work on different issues dropped in the same day and brought me a bottle of wine and a box of chocolates.  The mom speaks almost no English at all, but told me "I love you".  I was so touched, because I recognize that this gift represents a big chunk of their income once the rent is paid - getting misty typing this story.  A woman that I've seen a half dozen times in the past six months stopped by the office and told our receptionist to tell me that she wished she could move to Waterloo so she could still work with me.  Ahh social work process - termination phase is an emotional roller coaster for everyone!

We were approved for the house we REALLY wanted to rent - I'm getting excited about settling into our new 'home'.  
We went to a town-wide yard sale in Mannheim yesterday, and I made a couple of purchases to feather our nest.  I've been on the look out for a headboard for Itty Bitty's bed for about five years, and finally found one yesterday for $5!  Nothing quilty - unless you count this jar that I am going to fill with buttons:

It's a Longaberger Blue Ribbon quart sealer.  I thought it might have a little bit of value, but I must say I'm shocked at the prices I saw on eBay for them.  I have a scrap of fabric printed with vintage pearl buttons on it that I will cover the lid with.

Okay - so some stash-talk.  I went to Quilter's Nine Patch in Elmira last weekend, and purchased some $5 bags of scraps.  I had a blast tearing them apart, and chopping them up, and piecing them together!  Here's one example of the contents of a bag that I brought home.

This month's Annie's Creative Quilters Fabric Club.  Yup - I'm cancelling my membership.  I haven't made anything with the fabric I've received - - it's just going in my swelling stash.

Itty Bitty has a "thing" for Batman.  I couldn't resist these two fat quarters that I picked up at Greenwood Quiltery.

On to what I've been sewing! From the bags of scraps I got a lot of Civil War reproduction scraps.  I pieced 59 nine-patches (finishing at 3") - I'm quickly filling my jar!  I now have 170 blocks.

 I am still making split nine-patches (finishing at 6 inches).  I think I have 91 blocks now.

Okay - so I couldn't NOT cut into the orange/pink/grey prints that I showed above.  I had this pillow pinned on one of my pinterest boards:

I can't say I "nailed it" - - there isn't enough contrast in the fabrics I have used, but I think if I quilt around the perimeters of each cross, it might highlight the pattern a bit.

Sunday is all about 'Slow Stitching' - I used up the smallest sock monkey scraps that remained from the bag of scraps I bought (yes, another $5 bag from Quilter's Nine Patch) to make a mug rug for a young lady at work.  I need to stitch down the binding.  I added some ric-rac as a "flange".  It didn't turn out as cute as I thought it would.  Oh well!  

I have two more blocks ready to go for "Love Blooms Here" - the series from Quiltmaker magazine.  I'll probably work on hand appliqueing tonight in front of the TV.  

Working through some Stash

Another Pin: NAILED!!!

I saw this on Pinterest: http://seaside-stitches.blogspot.nl/2013/03/fabric-box-tutorial.html

So, using some of the scrappy stuff from my thrift store find from Friday, I whipped up a couple of boxes and matching mug rugs.  They need some more hand stitches yet.

  

Another Pin: NAILED!!!

And I saw this on Pinterest as well: http://www.modabakeshop.com/2013/08/quilted-patchwork-pouch.html

The tutorial called for a Moda mini-charm pack, but I found a stack of HSTs at 2.5" that were going to waste, so I used them.  I still have a few left over HSTs, so I'm going to make a smaller matching bag.

I believe I have 71 Split Nine Patches done now.  The pattern calls for 80 blocks, but I think I could just keep going!

Aaaaaand, just when I had my stash all whipped into shape, I couldn't resist purchasing a bag full of fabric samples when I was home on Thursday.