I took a hint ...

On my previous post, the picture said it all ..... and I took the hint and have been seriously plugging away on hand quilting my Grandmother's Garden. 

After doing 10 rows horizontally, the diagonal rows are being done now.  I might as well do them in sections like this because I can see results to keep me motivated.  For the first half of the top, all the horizontal rows were done first, followed by the diagonal rows.  I got bored and the project got abandoned.

As you can see with this photo, the end of the center portion is in sight.

Lately, my time has been taken up with painting.  I found a milk can through Kijijii and it got spray painted.  People were complaining that they couldn't see our house numbers clearly.  Do you think they can now?  A solar light for night time viewing will complete the project. 

The next job for spray painting will be this chair to be used as an outdoor plant stand.  Another idea that I saw on Pinterest (the milk can was another Pinterest gem)!

Neighbours on the street think that I am so creative. Sorry, but I can't take credit for these projects. Pinterest is my source.

Talking of neighbours, Mr. M gifted us and another two homes on our street with plants after we each completed an outdoor home improvement project this spring.  Talk about kind and generous neighbours!  We love it here on our street and are so glad that we chose this neighbourhood to settle in.

This is our neighbour's gift to us ..... a beautiful clematis plant.  It will be gorgeous once it grows and fills in the wall space above.  Mr. M must have read my mind, since I was planning on buying a clematis for this very spot.  He beat me to it.

Have a great day!

So true!

Doesn't this say it all .....

Have a great day!

May OPAM

The month of May saw a few more projects done and anything that gets done is a good thing!

While I was sitting with my BIL (who suffered a stroke May 2) during the day, out came my knitting needles and these are what were made:  4 dishcloths, 4 kitchen hand towels, 1 heart needle case

 

You know, in all the years that I have been sewing, knitting, quilting, I never made a needle case.  The ladies of the Northern Lights Quilting Guild (night guild) gave everyone the materials at their May meeting (when my quilt show Viewer's Choice ribbon was presented to me) and I was determined that it would get finished asap.  All that was needed from me was embroidery thread, needle and scissors (my apologies to Catherine for dulling her scissors cutting out the navy blue felt heart) and snaps to close the case and viola .... done!

I'm happy with my May OPAM (One Project A Month) accomplishments.

Have a great day!

A different view

Since my BIL had his stroke 2 weeks ago, it has made me sit back and reflect on what is important in life.  My quilting in particular since it does consume so much of my time.

There is quite a pile of completed tops that have been waiting and waiting to be quilted and used.

There are also quite a few UFO's still sitting on a shelf.  Some just require outer borders to become completed tops.

Guess what my goals will be this summer?

In the meantime, I have brought out this quilt to work on again.  I did have a good routine in place, but it got abandoned at the half way point.  So, to help me with my goal, well, this is a good project to continue with.

During stressful times, hand quilting and hand piecing are my 'go to' projects to help keep me calm.  They help to give me peace and I can lose myself in the process and not think about what is going on around me. 

 For my UFO's, this top has been bought out again to work on replacing the white sashing with blue.

There are new projects that I'm itching to start, but older projects should be completed first.  Reality is the fact that we can be here for one day and gone the next (or lose the ability to function completely) and if my quilts are done, then they can be enjoyed by those who will love them.

It is so tempting to just hand over a few of my quilts to have them professionally machine quilted; but my love of hand quilting stops me.  A century from now, I would love my descendants to see what I did with hand quilting and treasure my quilts as much as I do today.

If you want to see more blogs that have hand quilting, there is a Blog Hop going on right now to visit.  Please go here and enjoy!

Have a great day!

Second time around top

What a difference a few stars and circles make!  So, this is a top again. 

I didn't expect to get this top done so quickly because of all the renovations that are on the go in our home right now.  However, life made a roaring intrusion and everything came to a screeching halt.  My sister's husband suffered a stroke and my days quickly changed direction.  He is home now and my time is being spent with him during the day helping him while my sister is at work.  Quilting and knitting is back in full force and there are lots of projects to keep me busy.

Life is so precious and it is so cruel how quickly your life can change.  Things that we all take for granted .... like speech, vision, ability to connect people to the correct names, strength, walking, writing .... can be gone in an instant.  Please, give a hug and tell your loved ones how much they are loved.

Have a great day!

Oh dear ....

I didn't mean for this to happen .... 5 Judge's choice and 1 Viewer's Choice ribbons.  My quilts won these ribbons at our recent Quilts by the Bay quilt show in North Bay, Ontario, Canada. 

The members of my guild (Near North Quilter's Guild) are very talented and very prolific and a number of my quilts were entered to be judged in the off chance that I might win at least one ribbon.  You can only imagine my surprise when I saw all these ribbons on my quilts.  Oh dear!  Excited, honoured, humbled and dismayed.  Those are my feelings regarding these ribbons.

The following is a run-down on the quilts that won as well as the judges' comments (which were very interesting and very welcome).

 

Hand quilted quilt, traditional piecing or applique techniques made entirely by one person, perimeter 304" or larger:

 

First place for Klosjes - My Little Spools.

Judges' comments:

- excellent use and balance of fabrics for a very pleasing overall design

- quilt would benefit from blocking so that the quilt edges are square and straight

- hand quilting is even and beautifully executed and supports the overall design of the quilt

Second Place - Old Tyme Plaid

Judges' comments:

- good use of colour and balance in this scrappy quilt

- the quilt would benefit from crisp corners in the edge finishing (binding)

- the hand quilting is evenly stitched in an attractive pattern which adds movement to the composition

 

Third Place - Just a Scrappy Quilt
Judges' comments:
- excellent balance of a rainbow colour scheme makes this a very appealing quilt
- edge finishing would benefit from crisp corners in the binding
- small evenly spaced stitching and quilting design adds great appeal to this quilt

 

One-of-a-kind/innovative quilt or wall hanging any size:

 

First place - Winters of My Life

Judges' comments:

- a wonderfully whimsical composition that reflects many aspects of the northern winter season

- take care in the use of dramatically contrasting colour (i.e. red house and snowman's hat) as they can become a focal point that keeps the eye from moving throughout the piece

- hand and machine quilting are well done and effective in this quilt

Blooming Flowers
Judges' Comments:
- excellent hand embroidery provides a focus to this piece
- take care when applying binding to make sure corners are crisp and square
- hand quilting is even and supports the design of the piece

Wearable quilted item:

Second place - flannel jacket
Judges' comments:
- nice choice of autumn palette fabrics
- take care with button holes - perhaps light interfacing would help keep their shape
- the small piecing in collar and cuffs add a nice finishing detail

  

Miniature quilt - Viewer's Choice

As I was going through my quilts and deciding which ones to enter, I knew beforehand what some of the judges' comments would be.  Especially my bindings.  They have always given me grief and this is something that I struggle with each time they get applied to my quilts.  Darn those corners!  If any of my quilts are entered into future quilt shows, well, at least I know what has to be concentrated on.

 

It was a wonderful experience to have a number of my quilts judged.  It was something that I have always wanted to have done and now that item can be crossed off my bucket list!

 

Lastly, many thanks to Deanna of our guild for giving a fabulous tip for increasing the size of sleeves to meet the requirements for a quilt show.  She said to just add another strip of fabric to the existing sleeve to make it bigger.  This tip saved me a lot of grief and got my quilts ready for showing quicker than expected.

 

Have a great day!

That star again!

Remember this plain and simple top?  Well, it was just begging me to do something with it to jazz it up a tad. 

Enter, my favourite star.  Yep .... you knew I would be using that star again in another quilt, didn't you?  What a difference it makes with the addition of red circles and stars!  I liked the top before, but just love it more now.

A number of you had asked how I do my stars.  I have become quite fond of the English Paper Piecing (EPP) method for my applique.  After trying needle turn, freezer paper, etc., this is my method of choice these days.  It is more time consuming, but for me, there is no rush.  There is a lot of scrap paper hanging around our home and this is a good way to use it up. 

This is the back.  Do you see that arrow that is at the top?  The spokes of the stars are different sizes and the arrow is there to tell me which way to align all my stars onto the top so that they are all consistent.

This is the front.  If you look closely, you can just barely see the circle outline where the navy blue circle will be sewn.

Have a great day!