Quilting Retreats 2019

Quilting retreats are very creative and very tiring all at the same time. For two weekends in November,  I was on quilting retreats. I used the time to figure out some of my long term UFOs and to work on some Christmas projects.

 I managed to finish up most of the borders on my daughter's quilt. I have one side left to do. The border fabric was bought at a Quilt Guild meeting. This will be a bed-sized quilt for my daughter and I will be thrilled when it is done. I am hoping that she will be able to come with me to the retreat next year and work on her own quilts.

I sewed all the blocks together for my Stolen Kisses quilt. I am pleased with how it turned out even if I found it frustrating at times.

At a quilt retreat a few years ago one of the quilters was making the Charm Star Quilt Pattern by Missouri Star Quilt Co. I really liked it and knew I had some charm packs at home. The fabric I have is Merry and Bright by Sandy Gervais. It had a lot of snowflakes in the fabric so I decided to make a snowflake in the place of the star. I found great Snowflake patterns from Canuck Quilter Designs. The instructions were very well written and very easy to follow. I do enjoy paper piecing and this one was great to do. I have to add on some borders and then it will be done. I have a few other wintery charm packs and I am thinking of redoing this quilt with a blue background this time for the snowflake.

This is a small table runner/centrepiece that I played around with. I tried out hexagons and looked at various patterns to come up with something. It still needs to be worked on.

I am looking forward to finishing these projects in 2020! Happy New Year!

Christmas Socks

I managed to finish socks for my husband a couple of days after Christmas. I could call it a New Year's Eve gift. It was nice to have an excuse to sit down and rest for a bit because I really wanted to get them done for the Holiday. Since starting the socks I have bought some more sock yarn and I am going to look for new patterns to make some for myself. Accomplishments always feel good.

Sunday Stash

A few weekends ago, I went on a Quilt Safari with my quilt guild. It was fun to visit shops that I had never been to. I had a shopping list and I did well at checking things off the list.

My LQS had run out of a fabric that I thought would work well as a background fabric. I also bought some fabric to make pyjamas with my daughter, and some fabric that I am thinking of for borders or backing.

One of the stores had a scrap bag of reds, and I have a couple of quilts that I am be collecting reds for, so it was a great find. I also find some more fabric for my landscape quilt and then some cute odd and ends fat quarters.

It was a wonderful day with other quilters. The only problem was seeing their beautiful fabrics and projects that they were working on had me wanting to work on those projects too. I will just have to enjoy them when they bring the completed projects to the Guild Meetings.

Socktober

I finally took the time to finish the socks that I had been working on over the summer. I only needed to use them. I then started on some socks for my husband.

 

Just like the shoemaker's children go barefoot I had never made socks for my husband. It is a nice project to have for the fall and I hope to have them done by Christmas.

Linking to Can I Get A Whoop, Whoop.

Friday Night Sew In - Microwave Bowl

My sister asked me to make a microwave bowl for one of her friends and so I decided to do it on the Friday Night Sew In. I got the fabric on a quilting trip I took two weeks ago with my quilt guild. My sister told me that the woman had a young son and when I saw this cute fabric quarter I knew it would be perfect. I tried out a new stitch on my new sewing machine and it worked really well. Now, back to all the projects, I need to finish.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! I am so grateful for the 3 F's. 

FAMILY

FRIENDS

AND

FABRIC! 

 

I am so grateful to have wonderful family and friends, who support me in so many ways including my love of fabric and quilting. 

Flora and Fauna

I finished the baby quilt for my friend last week. I decided to call it Flora and Fauna. It was a quilt kit that I got on sale. I had originally bought it thinking my daughter might like to make it but then decided that it would be perfect for my friend. It was quick and easy to do. I have quite a few left over half square triangles and hope to make something with them. Baby quilts are my favourite quilts to make.

Linking to Can I Get A Whoop, Whoop.

Slow Stitching Sunday

I am working on binding a sweet baby quilt. It has been a while since I got to make a baby quilt and it is great to do it again. It was a cute kit that was on sale last summer from my LQS. I had thought about making it into a larger size quilt but when I found out a friend was having a baby girl I remembered it and quickly made it in the summertime.

Linking to Slow Stitching Sunday.

Kaleidoscope Quilt

My Kaleidoscope quilt was finished last Fall but I only put on the label today.  Even though I called this "the little quilt that could" it was hard to let go and say it was all done. I had a ruler that I used to cut the wedges and a different pattern I used for the placing of darks and light fabrics. After I had sized my blocks I realized that the ruler and pattern had different dimensions and the blocks would have mismatched points. I ended up redesigning it in EQ6 with the sashing and litle blocks. I also worked on the border as the fabric was bought when the quilt was to be much smaller. This all started from a few fat quarters that my son gave me one Mother's Day. It has become one of my favourite quilts and I keep it on my bed. It reminds me what can be created with hard work and determination.

I like it much better than what it would have originally looked like. It was a true labour of love.

Linking to Can I Get A Whoop, Whoop.

Friday Night Sew In - Stolen Kisses

I spent my Friday Night Sew In finishing up my half square triangles for the Aqua section of my Stolen Kisses quilt. I am finding this quilt a bit slower to do as to make sure I have the pattern correctly I have been sewing each of the colourways before I go on the next one. After this section is done I will have two more to do.

Get A Clue

I have been working on my Nancy Drew quilt for a while now. I attempted earlier this year to lay it out on my floor as I was sewing it. I should have had a "clue" that this was not a good idea as I have three cats. This is the result.

I then put it on my design wall and it worked much better.

 

 I now have all the squares sewn together and I am trying to decide what I would like to use as the border.

Linking to Can I Get A Whoop, Whoop.

Microwave Plate Cozy

My mother asked me to make her a microwave plate cozy. I thought that I would try to enlarge a bowl pattern but then I found a great tutorial by SewWhatYvette. I bought fabric that I knew she would like and made it. The tutorial was very easy to follow. I gave it to her on Mother's Day. She was very happy to receive it. I thought it would be great for me to have as well but of course I have yet to make one for myself

Friday Night Sew In

The Friday Night Sew In became my daughter's which was fine by me. I cut some more strips for her and she worked on getting some more blocks done for a quilt she is working on for herself. Only 10 blocks left to go! I love her fabric style and selection. She has the talent of picking fabrics that look great together. I have learned a lot from her about choosing great fabrics.

Quilt Tops

I have been working on putting together my Churn Dash and Stars quilt. I have the blocks sewn together and now I need to add the borders. I have enjoyed making this quilt. I did struggle a bit because I was trying to make it scrappy I cut the blocks as I went along rather than all at once.

I got the top done for the Pinwheels and Rails quilt a while ago and now I have been working on the borders for it. My daughter decided she wanted it on her bed so I have been adding extra borders to make it bigger. Even though, the small block border was time consuming I am happy that I did it and happy with the way it looks.

Stolen Kisses - Friday Night Sew-In

 For Mother's Day, I got this fabric and pattern. It has been a long time since I have made something completely from one collection but when I walked in to my quilting store I was immediately drawn to them both. Years ago, I made a Twister quilt out of the Blush collection by Basic Grey My husband had taken me to the shop to get a gift certificate and I ended up getting it and all of this fabric.

I spent the Friday Night Sew-In starting to sew all of the half square triangles. There are six group of colours and the first thing to be done is to get them sorted and then sewn in the half square triangles. I worked on some more yesterday and day so I probably have about half of them done now. It is fun to work on a project where all you need to do is sew.

Knitting - Friday Night Sew In

Busy times. I have yet to post about my Friday Night Sew In. I was going to work on more of the border I was doing but I ended up working on some socks that I had just started. I am using the pattern Petty Harbour by Rayna Curtis. I am enjoying making these socks. The pattern has texture to it but not complicated enough that you cannot watch a show while working on them.

Bits and Pieces - Friday Night Sew In

I spent my Friday Night Sew In like the last one; sewing 2 1/2 squares together. I am trying hard this year to get my UFOs finished. I just have a few 4 patches to finish for my rainbow quilt and I sewed on more squares for my daughter's quilt. Getting to see progress in my Churn Dash and Stars has really motivated me to keep getting things done.

Churn Dash and Stars

I now have all of my blocks done for my Churn Dash and Stars. There are a couple of blocks I am unsure about but overall I am happy with the fabrics. I now need to figure out the layout for them and then get it sewn together. I will be happy once this is finished.

Arithmetic

My Arithmetic quilt is done and has been given to the receipent. He was thrilled to receive it. I have to say that this is one of the funnest, quickest quilts I have made. The colours had special meaning to him and it was an easy quilt that did not require too much planning. The In Color Order's Modern Plus quilt tutorial,  Modern Plus Sign Quilts, and some great suggestions to put it together faster by Crazy Mom Quilts all helped me greatly. My favourite thing still after all these years of quilting is to make something for someone else. I like being a detective and trying to figure out what would suit their personality and then putting it all together.


Linking to  Can I Get A Whoop, Whoop.

Churn Dash and Stars

 

I have tried every year to pick One Word which will be a goal for me throughout the year. Someone on Twitter wished on New Year's Day that this is the year that you Flourish. I realized that that is what I wanted for myself this year, and that is the word I chose.

Part of my flourishing was spending a whole weekend cleaning up my quilting room. Fabric needed to be put away and more space needed to be created. After accomplishing that, one of my goals was to get some of my long standing projects done. Right now, I am working on 2 1/2 inch squares for a border on my daughter's quilt and for a rainbow Irish Chain quilt. I wanted to have another quilt to work on so the squares would be leaders and enders.

When cleaning up,  I realized that my Churn Dash and Stars quilt was taking up a lot of space and it would be a good one to get finished. It was my project to work on when I needed a break from something else and since it was for me it did not have a timeline. Now, the timeline will be to get it done this year. Here's hoping to flourish this year.

Snowbound

I finished Snowbound last Spring for my guild Quilt Show.  It is a quilt that I changed my mind about a few times, and then ended up sticking with the original pattern True Blue by Minick and Simpson. It's a small lap quilt  48 x 48. I used a thicker flannel on the back. My husband has claimed it as is. It is the same colours as his favourite team and he uses it when he watches games which I think is great. I enjoyed the flying geese border more than I thought and would definitely use them as a border again.


Linking to Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop.

Bits and Pieces - Friday Night Sew In

I have been working on some bit and pieces this week and that continued for Friday Night Sew In. I have three projects right now that need small squares sewn together, so I have been working to organize and chain sew them all at once. I have been working on my Nancy Drew quilt, a border for my daughter's quilt and some 2 1/2 inch squares which I am now sewing into four patches. These have all been half done projects for a while and I am hoping to have them finished this year.

For the Sports Lover

After the Anniversary quilt was done for my parents, I decided to take a break and finish up some smaller projects. I made some microwave bowls and some pot holder trivets for my husband and my friends.

The basketball pattern was from Cluck Cluck Sew. I have been apprehensive before about patterns where you cut and put in small lines because I always worried about matching them up. I found that I did well with this pattern and I am tempted to make a quilt with it.  Now with this little break I am ready to get back into some more quilting. Once I clean my quilting room, of course!




Linking to Let's Bee Social.

Anniversary Stars

My Anniversary Stars quilt is done for my parents. It is a queen size quilt for their bed. I went on another quilting retreat in November, and got the blocks all sewn together. Then I got the borders on, had it quilted and then December was putting on the binding and getting it sewn for Christmas. Their 50th anniversary was last year. I had all the fabric at the time but could not decide what to make until I saw an amazing quilt that Joanne of Canuck Quilter Designs had made from her Jelly Bean Stars pattern for her in-laws 50th anniversary. I started this at the end of July. It is the largest quilt I have ever made. I did not find it much different than a smaller quilt, though I did find it cumbersome at times when I was sewing it all together. My parents were very pleased with it. I tried to convince my husband to change our bedroom colours since I liked this quilt so much. It feels great to have it done. I have half done quilts for both of my children's beds and I think this year will be the year I get them done.

Linking to TGIFF