A squirrel came by ....

Oh dear, I should have been working on other projects, but a squirrel popped by my window, distracted me and I was off in a different direction.  LOL

I have bins and bags of scraps and I just started pulling pieces and before long a pile was formed and blocks were being made.  There were a lot of 1-1/2" strips and 2-1/2" neutrals.  Rail fence is one of my favourite blocks to do and that is what were made.

Before too long, all the blocks were made.  Just need to start sewing them into rows and into sections.  Border fabric has been pulled.  I'm on a roll!  Did it make any difference to the amount of scraps?  Nope, but the way I look at this is that these pieces will never be touched again.  Win-win!

My studio has had a bit of clean-up and two bins were emptied.  How lovely to see!  I have a bin of French General yardage that will be given to a friend who is working with that fabric line.  Another bin will soon be emptied.  Oh my, win-win!

Batting is getting used up and soon I will have an empty bin and bag.  Win!

Scraps are getting used up.  More strips will be pulled out and Rail Fence blocks will be made as Leader/Ender method while I start working on projects that I should be working on.  Win!

Last week, two quilts were mailed out to two ladies in Saskatchewan (province of Canada) for Quilts for Survivors.

I have a couple more tops that will get quilted and then mailed out to a person that is in need of comfort.  It is nice to go to my stack of quilts and pull out one or two and donate them.  I really do need to downsize my number of quilts in my home.  Any that are not being used for display will go.  Family will be happy as there will be less quilts to deal with later ....

Cherish your day, cherish your life, cherish your country (and mine will always be Canada)!

February and March Goals

What did I accomplish this month for the Chookshed 2025 Stitchers Challenge?  

Well, two tops.  Yeah me!

This one was shown a few weeks ago.

This one was finished last week.  Looking at the bottom section, it sort of goes too light compared to the top section.  How did I miss that?  No matter .... this will be perfect for the cottage or donation.  

A bunch of luggage tags (sorry, no photo) got made for my niece and her family for their upcoming trip to Mexico.  They would have gone to Florida, but not this year.  My niece asked me if I could find fabric that had red maple leafs on white background.  Yep, found it and I bought extra in case her friends want some too.  She wants the Mexicans to know that she and her family are Canadian ... not American.

For my Chevron Log Cabin, only 7-1/2 blocks got made and sewn onto the quilt-as-you-go quilt.  I wasn't quite as ambitious with this.  My goal for March will be to complete those blocks and get a start on Row 10.

My other goal for March will be to get a start on this new project.  It is for my young niece, Charlotte for her birthday in May.  A year after she was born, this pattern appeared in McCall's magazine.  I just had to get the fabric.  She has looked at the pattern and fabric and loves it.  Recently, my lovely LAer also bought a machine quilting design called .... guess what ..... Charlotte.  This is all meant to be!

It has been a while since you have seen my little guy.  It will be almost a year since he came into our lives.  He is warming up in front of the fire.  See the yellow flooring tile behind him?  That is his scratch pad.  We have other scratching posts scattered around the house, but he likes this one.  Better that than my furniture.

It is a blustery, snowy day outside.  Nice to be sitting by the fire.

Politics:

I heard something really crazy the other day at the grocery store.  There were two middle aged men talking about how Trump wants to rename the USA to Trumpland.  I thought to myself, what crazy black hole on the internet did those guys spiral down into?  Seriously?  Thinking again, it just might have a tiny bit of truth to it as we all know that he wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico, he wants Canada to become 51 state, he wants Greenland, he wants the Panama Canal, and his image on Mount Rushmore .... so ... it could be true.  You know how he loves to have his name on buildings, golf courses, food, alcohol, sneakers, clothing, etc., etc., etc.  Mind you, Trumpland just doesn't have the same oomp when a crowd starts shouting USA,USA,USA and instead shout Trumpland,Trumpland,Trumpland.  You know, it just doesn't sound right.  Crazy times, eh!

Cherish your day, cherish your life, cherish your country and Canada is and always will be my choice!

Top is Unallocated

My "Unallocated" is now a top!  Yeah!

  

Now, for politics.  With the ongoing talks and stalling of implementing the tariffs on Canadian goods ..... well, we Canadians are not sitting down and letting the bully get his way.  We have been insulted and we are not happy.  We Canadians have united and have started a movement and I have become part of the movement.  So far, it looks like the bully has blinked first. 

Cherish your day, cherish your life, cherish your country and I cherish CANADA! 

January and February Goals

It has been a while since I last posted, but I have been busy.  My computer is old (like me ... LOL) and is giving me a bit of grief every now and then.  I know that a new computer needs to be bought, but darn it, I like this one and to learn new computer functions is not enticing me to go out and buy one.  If it ain't broke, don't change it!  You know what I mean!

Also, I'm busy doing other things now around the house and don't have as much time to sew as in the past few years.  Life happens and I have to go with the flow.

Anyway, my January goals for the Chookshed Stitchers Challenge have been met and then some.  Two tops completed.

First one is "Scrappy Xmas Trees" by Coriander Quilts.

This one is a scrappy log cabin.  I have no idea where this pattern came from.  It was started back in 2014 thereabouts.

Row 9 was added to my Chevron Log Cabin quilt-as-you-go quilt and Row 10 has been started.  This will be my goal to finish Row 10 for February.

Also, for finishing into completed tops will be these two projects.  The one on the left is "Unallocated" by Michelle McKillop and the one on the right is a scrappy bargello by Bonnie Hunter.  The difference with this bargello is that the rows continue all the way across the width.  I just had to do some math to make sure that there was enough fabric to go all the way across.  This is more of a controlled version.  I've been dipping into scraps and stash to make these two projects.

Our winter has been very cold lately and you know it when going out into public people are complaining about the cold.  With the snow and the cold weather, ice fishing has started and there are all kinds of huts out on our lake.  Also, our ski hill is open and I can see people coming down on skiis or snowboards as I drive by the hill.  Oh yes, winter is definitely here until we get a thaw and the snow and ice start to melt.

The deer have been visiting our garden in the front yard looking for food.  They were here last year and remember a certain shrub and are back again to chew down on it for food.  If they were to venture into the back yard, there are two more of that same shrub that they can eat.

Cherish your day, cherish your life, cherish your country!

A Christmas Quilt and a Rant!

Binding got put onto this quilt in time to put up for the Xmas holidays!  I'm happy it is done.  

I have been collecting a lot of Xmas fabrics from other quilt guild ladies when they put a pile of scraps on the table for minimal $$.  A lot of those fabrics went into this quilt and gave it a nice variety to look at.

Quilt Details:

Quilt Name:  Unallocated by Michelle McKillop

Quilt Size:  49-1/4" x 76" (size before quilting, washing and drying:  52-1/2" x 79")

Quilt Started:  December 2023

Quilt Finished:  December 2024

Batting:  Poly

Machine Quilted by:  Kathy Wareham

Tick, tick, tick ...... another one done and dusted and enjoyed!

When it comes to politics and my blog, I'm usually quiet ..... but not this time.  Nope, not this time.

Thanks for the invite "Rubber Lips" but Canada is not broken and we are good up here.  I'm PROUD to be a CANADIAN and will always be a CANADIAN!

What about those Americans, who pin a Canadian flag onto their backpack or suitcase because they are too embarrassed to be recognized as an American in other countries.  What flag will they pin on when they travel, eh?   I have seen this done many, many times over the last four decades of my travels.  Apparently, it is better to be seen as a Canadian rather than an American.  Pretty sad!

Cherish your day, cherish your life ..... cherish your country ..... and I cherish CANADA!

Don't press that red button!

Catchy title, eh!  On Xmas Day, we had supper at our place and the little one saw this quilt hanging up and he went over to it and .... see all those red circles?  Well he started at the left side of the quilt and starting pressing all the red circles in the bottom row.  As he was pressing them, he was saying "button, button" and so on to the end of the row.  Guess we all know his attitude about pressing buttons he is not supposed to!!  There is a children's book titled "Don't Push That Button" and it is one of his favourite books.  So, those circles and the book connected.

On the new quilts ..... my niece and her family went away for a few days.  The oldest boy asked his Mom if his quilt and pillow were packed.  Yes, she said and he said "thank you, Mommy".  Yahoo ..... a new generation who truly love their new quilts.

Deanna at Dreamworthy Quilts is having another challenge this year.  I joined last year and made some progress on a few UFO's.  It was good to be pushed each month to bring out something and at least work on it or look at it and figure out what needs to be done to move it along.

This year, I'm joining in but will not assign any numbers or projects because for me that was too restricting and I just selected something else to work on that month.  I really have to feel like working on something to make this work for me.  Also, I'm not spending as much time in my studio these days, so that will limit my progress on UFO's and projects.

For January, I will be finishing the tops for these two projects.

The tree blocks have all be done and the rows are all sewn together.  Just need borders.

Borders are needed for this top.

I will also be working on adding another row to this quilt-as-you-go quilt.  Eight rows are done and almost 3/4 of row 9 are done and attached to each other.  

The other thing that I will be working on ..... is cleaning and sorting out one corner of my studio.  No photos, but you will have to trust me when I say that it is chaos there.

That is my goal for this month and I can't believe how quickly last year went and we are day one of a new year.

It has been 25 years since I taught a friend to quilt.  Hi Paula!  How time flies and she is still quilting!

Happy New Year!

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

Christmas is over!

What a busy month and Christmas day.  Chalk that day up for being done and enjoyed by family.

I was busy this month putting bindings on quilts.  It was a hard go with this guy plunking himself down on top of what I was trying to do.  I did get three quilts done this month.  Yeah me!

 Two almost identical quilts.  The borders are different blue fabrics. So, why two?  Read on.

Quilt Info:

Pattern name:  "Berry Smoothie" by Villa Rosa Designs

Size:  61" x 78"

Batting:  Polyester

Machine quilted by:  Kathy Wareham

So .... why two?  My grand nephews will be two and three at the end of January.  They fight over toys, so we end up buying two of some toys.  I just knew there would be a lot of crying if they didn't each get the same quilt.

Christmas morning and this little guy was opening up his sack.  He is thrilled with his new quilt.

When the oldest nephew saw his brother's quilt, he said "I want that" twice.  Oh dear.  A young niece was helping him open his sack and told him he had the same quilt.  Whew .... all was well again!

The oldest loves his new quilt!

I was busy making this pillowcase for a young niece who is going to summer hockey camp.

After the quilts were opened up, I was reminded again by a niece that she needs a quilt for her new bed.  She has moved from a single to a double and none of her quilts fit.  There is a reason why I make quilts.  They are enjoyed and wanted!  LOL

We have had lots of snow and cold weather this month.  A new snowblower was purchased for me.  A machine that I can handle.  It is battery operated and so easy to operate.  When I went to the store, I asked for a machine that I can handle and not jolt me off my feet once it gets started.  We had a snowblower that did exactly that.   The sales rep. showed me a machine and said that it was the easiest and least complicated one to run.  Sold!  I'm happy.

As the month and year closes down, I still would like to finish up two projects.  We'll see if time allows.  I'm not spending as much time in my studio lately.  It shows with the lack of posts on this blog.

Oh, and nine years ago today, our family made a trip to our cottage on Boxing Day.  That was such an enjoyable day.  You can read about that day here.

Cherish your day, cherish the rest of this year, cherish your life!

Happy New Year!  2025 ... Bring it on!