April and May Goals

April for Chookshed Stitchers 2025 Challenge was a good month for me, except it just doesn't feel like it.

First off, this mini wall hanging/table mat got finished and is being mailed tomorrow.  Can't show any more right now, but soon there will be a post about this hanging/table mat.

For my Chevron Log Cabin, only 5 blocks got made.  This will be my goal for May to finish a few more and finally be done with this quilt.

Then, a darn squirrel came around and taunted me again and I succumbed and started pulling out Xmas fabrics and before I knew it, this is what happened.  This will be part of my May goal to finish sewing it together.

Borders need to be added to this top.

Binding will be sewn onto this quilt when it comes back from the LAer next week.  It will be gifted later this month.

Cottage season is starting up.  We have already made our first trip of the season out to check conditions and to bring out some stuff we need.   Once we start going out, not much quilting gets done.  If I still have energy and time, then backings will be made for all these three tops.  I would like to get them to the LAer soon to be able to work on the bindings this summer at the cottage.  

Squirrels are out in abundance right now looking for nuts.  Oh right, I fall right into that category!  LOL  We'll see if a new project gets started or if I stick with the goals shown above.

Cherish your day, cherish your life and cherish your country and CANADA will always be my country!

March goals and April Challenge

Well ..... March flew by didn't it!  We are almost at the end of the month and what do I have to show for it?  There have been doctor appointments, physio, snow shovelling, a bit of babysitting and some days of just sitting and watching t.v. or reading a book.

This top for one is done!  All from scraps except for the borders.  Yeah for me as I will never have to touch those scraps again. Part of my goal for April is to make a few more blocks from scraps.  This brings a total of 5 tops to go to my lovely LAer.  Three more backings need to be made and some frankenpieced batting need to be done.  

Row 10 is finally done on my Chevron Log Cabin quilt-as-you-go quilt.  I will be working on Row 11 for my April challenge.

A bit of secret stitching has been done.  I joined the Humble Quilts doll swap again this year.  It has been a couple of years since I last participated and it is time again this year.  Nothing more on this until reveal time.  This little mini has to be my goal to finish in April as deadline for mailing is May 3.  Must, must get this done on time.

We have been enjoying a spat of nice weather lately (with a few snow storms added in to remind us we are still in March).  Starting this afternoon around 3 p.m., we are due for a major snowstorm.  Whoever is responsible for this forecast has a sense of humour.  Where I live (in North Bay), we are in the red sector (at the top) and that means 3-4 bags of chips and 10-15 drinks over the course of the next few days.  Yesterday, I went grocery shopping and ran other errands.  My pantry is stocked up and my snowblower is ready!  LOL

Cherish your day, cherish your life, cherish your country (and my country 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!

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back!

Well, here I was sitting quite smug with myself.  Row 7 of my Chevron Log Cabin was ready to be sewn onto the quilt.  Wait a minute .... something wasn't quite right!

See the column on the right?  See those white squares?  The backing for those two blocks were the wrong fabric.  How in the world did this happen?  I was so frustrated that the quilt sat for almost two weeks before it was pulled out, those offending blocks ripped off the row and then the deconstructing happened.  All the hand quilting removed.   All the hand stitching removed.  Then the correct fabric pieces were pulled out and the hand stitching and hand quilting resumed.

Finally, Row 7 has been sewn on and Row 8 has been started.  Four rows left to do.

Then .... a squirrel came to play here.  I ignored it and even threw snowballs at it.  It kept dodging those snowballs and kept taunting me ..... until ..... I caved and started a new project.  A Xmas tree project.  It is a free pattern by corianderquilts.com called "Scrappy Tree Quilt".

I try to get one block laid out at night so that it can be sewn up in the morning.  The red hst's need to be made up, so this block is not quite ready.  At least it is a start.

It looks like winter has arrived here.  Snow is on the ground and it has stayed this time.

Ridley is finding it cold in our home and likes to cuddle for warmth or sit in front of the fireplace.  When he has enough of my hand sewing, he is not shy about putting out a paw to halt me in my stitches.  LOL

Late at night, we are both looking for warmth while I watch t.v.

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

September Results

October 1 .... the year is just zipping by much too quickly.

September was a good month for me, after all.  I was busy with wedding clothing alterations and helping out with rehearsal dinner and wedding brunch.  Glad that is over.

So, let's see what I did last month for the September Chookshed Stitchers 2024 Challenge.

Binding got sewn onto this quilt and it is now finished.  This quilt won't be shown just yet as I'm adding in some hand quilting around the applique.  I know I'm fussy, but that is what makes me happy.  Sometime in October, you will see this quilt.

This quilt got the binding sewn on and is now finished.  Yahoo, two quilts bound last month!

Much progress on this Log Cabin and I will continue to work on it for October for the Chookshed challenge.

Another row was added to my Chevron Log Cabin quilt.  Only six more rows to go!  Just have to say that I love doing this quilt-as-you-go method.  This will also be my October Chookshed challenge.

At first, it didn't seem that much got done ..... but yes, a lot did.  So very happy with that.  Good thing that I blog because it shows me what I've been doing month by month and throughout all the years.

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

Log Cabin and Enough!

This is the UFO that I've decided to finish for my BIL.  There are quite a few pieces already made and it won't take too long to see progress.

As I'm cutting out for some of the blocks, I'm also cutting out pieces to make another of this quilt for my sister.  It will be queen size and will need lots and lots of wee blocks.  The pattern is called "Fragments of Cloth" by Norma Whaley.  So win-win.  Use up scraps and stash for both projects!

Now, about the Enough bit in my post title!

This little guy has decided that at night time, it is time to stop sewing and it is playtime instead.  He will get up from lying down and come over to my sewing machine and plonk himself down on my stuff.  I try to get two blocks ready to sew the next day, but he has had enough!  So, playtime it is and then bedtime.

 

Good progress so far!  

 

See my Chevron Log Cabin hanging over my door in above photo?  Four rows are done.  Row 5 has a good start.  The pile on the left are all done and joined together.  Only 3 more to do and then the row can be added to the other rows.

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

Obstacles and Life

August has been a very busy month with life getting in the way of my quilting!  Darn ...

First off .... what are the obstacles?  This little guy keeps sleeping on my arm and preventing me from working on anything.  He recently had a bout of seizures again and I just don't have the heart to move him off of me.  I have come to the understanding that he won't have a long life, but he will have his best life ever!  Poor little guy!

Still .... here and there another row of these hexies got made.  This is the back view.  I think I like it but not totally sure yet.  Maybe down the road when more rows are made and the pattern evolving, I might change my mind.  Anyway, too late now to change it as too much work has gone into this project so far.  The bottom row needs to be sewn to the top rows.

Now, the life bit.  Next week I will be helping out looking after two wee littles boys and none of my work that I want to take along can have too many pins.  So, what can be done?

Binding got sewn onto two quilts.  They should keep me busy for a few days or the whole week.  It depends on the little boys and if they agree to get along and play well together.  LOL  Who am I kidding!   I was going to take a break from doing bindings, but they will come in handy after all.

This row can be added to the other two rows already assembled.  It feels good to see progress on something!  This can be done while babysitting.

These two hexies have the bindings all pinned and ready to be sewn and then hand quilted.  This is the start of Row 4.  Happy, happy!  These will not come with me for babysitting at this stage.  They can come for hand quilting instead if needed.

Now, for other things that got accomplished.  Batting hexies have now been all cut out.  A huge dent was made with the bin that the batting pieces were hiding in.  Great to see them being used up and the bin almost empty.  The reason for cutting out all the batting now was that I got a tad anxious that there would not be enough of this particular poly batting.  No problem. There was enough with a bit to spare.

Some of the batting pieces will need to be frankenpieced in order to use up even the smallest pieces of scrap batting.  Waste not, want not.

Then, to keep me from getting bored .... there are two junior bridesmaids dresses that need minor alternations plus pants for the little boys to be hemmed up.  Yep, those items will round out my sewing for the rest of the month and into September.

There are meetings for me and hubby to attend with the ALS (Alzheimer's Society) for September and October.  They should be interesting and very informative.

Then, school pick-ups will start and life will get busy once again.

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

Chevron Log Cabin blocks

I've made much progress on this project this month.  Between bouts of rain and then very hot weather and appointments .... this is my progress so far.

The beginning of this month saw just nine blocks done.  

Then ... ta da ..... this is where they are at right now.  The blocks had to be turned sideways on my design wall.  It will be longer than wider.  The triangles you see on the design wall shows how many more blocks need to be made. So, getting there!

A few of the blocks have been quilted up just so that I could see what they will look like.

Big stitch hand quilting is being done on them and I'm sure loving where this journey is going.

On the Ridley front, he is fine again.  He is back to being his usual self.  One odd thing he does, is drag his toy rope to his water dish and after eating, he drops the rope into his water dish or he will just drop the end into his water dish without eating.  Why?  Don't know but he does this time and time again.

Cherish your day, cherish your life!