Puttering Away

I have been puttering away all week. The ideas kept coming last weekend. I woke up and could not get back to sleep on Sunday morning, so I watched a bit of tv, including Quilt in A Day with Eleanor Burns. She was making a quilt with charm packs. I have quite a few charm packs called Tulip Time that I had bought last December. Tulips are my favourite flower. I had tried the disappearing nine patch and I did not like it. I also tried sewing the squares together in a 9 patch to make a square quilt but I was not happy with that either. Her pattern uses 4 patch blocks and other blocks that are highlighted on their own. Immediately, I started unpicking my 9 patches into 4 patches and I like it much better.

I have also been working on my pinwheel quilt. It is such a fun quilt that I keep changing my mind on how I want to put it together. I have to have it finished for Christmas so I better decide soon.

Last week I went out shopping at a craft store to look for gifts to suggest to my mother. While there I saw a ruler that I had not seen before. It helps you make halfsquare triangles and hourglass blocks. I had a 40% off coupon so I bought it. So far, I have used it to size up my pinwheel blocks and I really like it.

 I also got my 2 quilts back from the quilter. I need to have one of them bound for Wednesday so I can take it to my guild meeting.

Hope you are all doing well,

The Intricate Dance

"I don't want to force the food" - Ashley from Top Chef

Maybe a month ago Ashley said this on Top Chef and this resonated with me. They were given a box of ingredients and had to come up with something to make from them. It is the way I feel about quilting. When I am quilting I usually start with a pattern. I think that is the mathematical part of me. Then I choose fabric that will go well with the person I am making the quilt for, something which I also quite enjoy doing. Then the magic comes together and pattern/concept and fabric meet. It is an intricate dance whereby sometimes the fabric takes the lead and sometimes the pattern takes the lead. Sometimes the fabric no longer meets the need of the pattern and sometimes the pattern needs to be changed to meet the needs of the fabric. I have learned enough by now to take breaks when something is not working out right.

Right now, everything is working out great. My pinwheels are looking good, my stars are coming along nicely and I know what I want to do with my Fresh charm packs. I have also figured out how I want to layout my Block of the Month and maybe too for my Rainbow block swap. The down side of course is that all of the quilts are now clamoring for attention.

Sometimes too, I don't mind if someone does the dance for me. I do buy kits occasionally. For me, I have limited time to shop around for individual fabrics and if I see something I know someone will really like I will buy a kit. I had decided not to make a quilt for my friend because I was not happy with the layer cake I had chosen for her. I made a log cabin quilt for my aunt that was cream and red with some green accents. My friend really liked it. When I was browsing through the Internet I visited Crazy4Quilts, who sell kits. I found one that would suit her perfectly and bought it. I don't think though that I am going to tell her the name of the pattern.

I hope you are all enjoying the intricate dance called quilting. I wish you much productivity for the end of the year.

Wow, Wow! Red and Aqua!

I got my red and aqua swap blocks in the mail yesterday. I felt like Wubbzy (a kid's cartoon). I took a few minutes to ignore (hide) from my kids and looked through every single one. They are all incredible. I like all of the fabric and I was quite impressed at how many red/aqua variations there are. I was going to turn this into a Christmas quilt but now I think I want it all year long. I am going to put it together and then see if I still like the border I have chosen for it. I want to thank everyone who participated and Jane for organizing the swap.

112th post Giveaway winner

The giveaway winner of the batik fat quarters is Jane! I had my son pick a number out of a pail which he was very excited to do. I hope you get everything you want done by the end of the year. I have only added 2 more projects since last week!

Winter Wonderland

Well, I am happy to report I am getting smarter in my older age. I had 2 dates set aside with a quilter. One was for my dad's quilt and the other one was originally meant for my friend who is retiring. I had bought a layer cake for her quilt, but I was not sure I was happy with it. Then I thought I should make a Christmas/winter quilt since I have never made one of those. Finally I smartened up and realized the quilt I should get finished was the one for my son. It was a completed quilt top. I had already made my husband, my daughter and myself quilts this year, so it will be nice to have one for him too.

This means I get to play around and have fun. Other than my Christmas swap I have no pressures on me for the next 2 months. I decided to work on some of my winter/Christmas quilts and just enjoy myself.

 

Here is my Winter Wonderland quilt. I got the fabric last year for Christmas from my parents. My mom and I had been to a quilt lecture in the fall organized by my LQS. One of the stores had a sample of this quilt and the fqs. The pattern was a free download from http://www.allpeoplequilt.com

I immediately fell in love with it. Snowmen are my favourite. You can keep them up so much longer than Christmas items. I hurried home at lunch today to finish the last few blocks so I could show you.

I have also started working on my Sheri Berry Christmas quilt. I am doing stars, but I have not figured out a pattern yet. I also have my half-square triangles done for my pinwheel quilt. I just need to sew them together.


Happy Creating,

112th post giveaway

I am giving away 6 batik fat quarters for my 112th post giveaway. It has been a wonderful journey for me to blog. I was never one to keep a diary, so I am very happy that I have made it this far. It has been great to meet all of you. I have made many friends and have learned so much. Each day, I set aside some time to read blogs and it is wonderful to see so much creativity and to have some time to give positive feedback to others. All of your work is amazing and I feel as though I need a new vocabulary to describe how wonderful you are.

For the giveaway, you need to tell me what project you are hoping to complete by the end of the year.  The giveaway will end Wednesday, November 18th at 9:00 PM EST and I will annouce the winner on Thursday, November 19th. The winner will be drawn randomly.

Lest We Forget

Quilt Bingo & Ginger Jar Quilt Giveaway

I have signed up for Quilt Bingo! It looks like it will be a lot of fun. It starts November 13th so there is still time to join.

Barb of Bejewelled Quilts is having an amazing giveaway. She is giving away this quilt in honour of her niece opening Inch Worm Fabrics an online store.

Happy Quilting!

Great Giveaway & Guild Thoughts

Julie of Jaybird Quilts is have a wonderful giveaway for her 100th post. She does amazing work and I have really enjoyed getting to know her.


I went to my guild meeting on Wednesday evening and I think it was the best one yet. We had 6 of our members give mini trunk shows. We learned when they started to quilt, some of their inspiration and got to see some wonderful quilts. It was incredible to see what amazing quilters they all are. Most of the quilts I wanted to start making. There were a lot of oohs and ahs from the crowd. I work full-time, so getting together once a month is the only time I get to interact with other quilters in my community.

UFO Sightings

After 7 months of almost continuous swapping, I got the urge to go back and work on my UFO's. Some of them were giving me the sad puppy dog looks. Luckily for me, Jacquie of  Tallgrass Prairie Studio had the same thought.  I really enjoyed the Spring to Finish and now she is having the Joy to the New Year Challenge. I have 9 projects that I had hoped to have done by the end of the year.

1. Bento Box
2. Kitty Cat quilt top
3. Label all my quilts (5)
4. Finish the pinwheel quilt
5. Complete the winter quilt top
6. Put together Fresh quilt
7. Make my Sheri Berry quilt top
8. Get something made for my friend who is retiring.
9. Halloween quilt top
   

Here is what I have done so far:

I am so happy with how the Kitty Cat quilt turned out. It is for my son who really likes it. It is definitely different than what I am used to doing. I love its whismy and the colours.

The bento box is finally put together for my dad and willl be ready to give at Christmas time. The quilt made be a bit modern for him but I love the collection of fabrics. I would love to make one for myself. I am going to have a giveaway soon that will hopefully help you find Joy in the New Year. My 100th post was during the Blogger's Quilt Festival, so I decided to wait until my 111th post.

PS. Though it may seem as though I am contradicting myself by the previous post. The November list is the minimum I need to do. This is my wish list. I am hoping, dream big accomplish lots!

 

November Already!

Wow, it's November already. Here is my list and what I accomplished for the month.


1) Finally bind my zigzag quilt. DONE
2) Complete the red and aqua swap. DONE

3) Get ready for Amy's Blogger's Quilt Festival. DONE
4) Cut out fabric for the snowmen class I am taking. DONE (Class got cancelled)


5) Continue working on my pinwheel quilt.

6) Get the bento box quilt ready for the quilter.  TOP DONE

7) Organize something as a giveaway gift.

8) Cut fabric for the retirement quilt. DONE (Decided to make Christmas tablerunner which I already had started.)

9) Think about what I am going to do with this quilt.  DONE (Definitely worth fixing.)


10)Try to make a smaller list for November. DONE


 The only 2 things I did not get to were the pinwheel quilt and the deciding on a giveaway.

Here is my list for November.


1) Work on pinwheel quilt.
2) Choose a Seasonal quilt to take to the quilter's.
3) Think about a giveaway.

See the list is much shorter!