April and May Binding Challenge

Well .... we did it again!  April came and went and we both have another quilt done.

This is no-blog Mary's quilt.  The before on the left and with the binding on the right.  Mary said that she doesn't even remember making this quilt .... so it is very, very OLD!

 This is my tulip quilt and I will be showing more of the quilt on another post.

For our May challenge, Mary dipped her hand into a black garbage bag (yes, these bags holding her quilts gives me the chills) and pulled out this quilt.  Surprise!  This is another huge quilt and the pattern is Pushin up Spring by Apple Blossom Quilts.  She doesn't remember making this quilt; but, the pattern was published in 2009 ... so, I'm guessing this has to be very old also.

For me, my red/neutral circle quilt is being done for May.  Can you see all the blue x lines .... don't worry as they will all disappear once this quilt is washed.  I use Crayola Washable Markers and they work for me.  I want this quilt ready for hanging in our living room for the month of June/July to help celebrate Canada Day.  All the other red swirls is the quilting called Circle Meander.

It is a busy time for me right now.  Cottage season is opening soon and I'm gearing up for the first run out there to open the cottage and bring in supplies for the season.  

Also, my husband is on a month long Parkinson's program to help him with this disease.  It runs four days a week for an hour each day.   He was on a six week program to help him build up strength in his muscles as he was having difficulty just getting out of a chair and walking.  He has been working a bit in the garden and is using a cane for balance.  

You may have noticed that my posts are not as frequent each week.  Life is just too busy right now and my quilting and blogging are starting to be put on the back burner.  You know how it is .... life gets in the way and we must deal with these things.

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

Hexie quilt-along!

Well, well ..... surprise to me .... I'm actually loving this now.  When I first started, I wasn't sure at all and was thinking that this might just end up as a tote bag.  Instead, this will become a twin size quilt.

Three quilts were picked up from the LAer .... so these can be added to the pile for the monthly binding challenge.  I have enough quilts to do until the November challenge.  There are two more tops that will go to the LAer, so that will bring me to the end of this year and for January.  Not sure about next year unless a few more UFO's get completed.  Nah ..... who's kidding here ..... there will be more quilts for another year, for sure!  LOL

Cottage season will start soon and my quilting time will be limited.  There will be a few wee boys visiting and they will need to be entertained and watched over.

My shingles episode is getting better.  The blisters have healed nicely and each day the area is fading to a dull red versus the fiery red that it was, but the skin is just so, so tender right now.  Just a gentle breeze and rubbing against any kind of cloth and it hurts.   Any kind of scratching brings on a deep pain .... so no scratching allowed!     My shingles is in an area just above my waist to under my boob that extends from the middle of my chest to my side and to a few patches on my back.  No fun.  At least now, sleeping through the night is a good night.  For the first few weeks, I felt like Goldilocks and the three bears ... I just couldn't find a comfortable place to sleep and tried sleeping in bed, then on the couch in the living room then in my chair in my studio.  No place felt just right.  All I could get was just a few hours here and there and I was tired and in pain.  Meds helped for a bit, but that wore off after a few hours.  Now, meds are taken only when the pain gets bad.

So, on that note .... cherish your day, cherish your life!

Pesky Squirrel!

Oh dear, a squirrel and a herd of 10 deer came to visit!

I didn't get a photo of the deer .... we were too busy watching them!  Never have we seen so many at once.  Our neighbour called to ask if we are watching them too.  They have been living here for decades and they never saw that many in one go.

But .... that pesky squirrel ..... 

This will be perfect for a summer take along to the cottage.  Opening season will start next month as we are gearing up stuff for taking for the first trip into the cottage.  We just need the dirt road to dry up a bit more before attempting the trip.

This is a quilt-as-you-go hexagon quilt.  Really, really different for me.

How am I making these?  I found two different sized hexagon templates that work just fine.  There is enough seam allowance (5/8") for turning to make the binding around the edges.  More of a seam allowance would be better.  Here, you see, is the backing, the poly batting (hidden) and the top fabric.

After eyeballing the placement, all the pieces are pinned in place.

Now the folding over starts.  The bottom right has already been folded twice.  The arrow on the left shows just one fold to the edge of the inner pieces.    There will be one more fold and then I can move onto the next edge and so on.

Here is my completed hexagon with hand quilting in the center.

These are my two hexagon templates for cutting out the back and the top pieces.  For the batting, I just place the top piece on top of the batting and cut the batting with scissors.  Sorry, but I can't remember where these templates came from.  As you can see, they are not from the same set.

This is the start of my quilt.  None of the hexagons have been joined together yet.

About three a day can be made .... so the progress will be slow .... but in the end, I will have a completed quilt.

Fabrics are being auditioned to see what will work or not.

In the meantime, this project is using up a lot of charms from my stash plus leftover batting.  I'm using poly batting and it is making the hexies puffy.  I'm not sure this is me but will be interesting to do.  My garage friend made one in brighter colours and she used 80/20 batting.  Seeing her work on her quilt made me think I should, at least, just give it a try.

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

Winding Trails 1 & 2

Here are my two "Winding Trails" quilts.

Both are approx. 54" x 76"

Pattern by Karen Grisha

Batting:  Hobbs 80/20

Machine quilted by:  Kathy Wareham

These are both donation quilts for a women's shelter in a neighbouring town.

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

Another UFO done!

So happy to say that this UFO is done!   Another empty bin!  Woohoo!

Time to put away the extra fabrics, make a frankenpiece batting and this will be ready for quilting. 

On to the next UFO!

Cherish your day, cherish your life!  

March and April binding challenge!

No-blog Mary and I did it again .... we got our March binding challenge completed.

This is Mary's quilt and she says "Oh, my stars .  What a big quilt.".  It was a large quilt and she struggled getting it done but a few days of bad weather and she did it! 

These are my two quilts.  Two quilts for donation.  So, so happy!  There will be another post on these quilts later this month.

For April, this is my binding challenge .... my tulip quilt and it will be done and ready for hanging in May when our tulips start to sprout.

This is Mary's quilt and she says she doesn't remember it at all.  She thinks it was a BOM.  Another very OLD quilt that is getting binding!  It amazes her each time she puts her hand in a green garbage bag and pulls out a quilt.   Surprise!   LOL

Well, March went out like a lion.  We've had snow, rain, freezing rain and the weekend isn't over yet.

Update on my Shingles ..... it is getting better .... back pain is subsiding and the blisters are starting to heal.  Better days to come!

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

Dilly Flowers

After a couple of weeks of appliqueing, my Dilly Flowers is a top!

So happy to have this done!  I've been busy frankenpiecing batting pieces for this top.  This is a lap size top, so pulling batting pieces for this is much easier than for a full size top.   My hubby asked why not use the roll of batting instead?  Smaller pieces just need to be used up first; otherwise, things will get out of control!  You all know how that is, don't you?  LOL

I just want to bring to your attention that the vine design is not mine.  It came from Shutterstock.com but changed it up to my liking by using different leaves and adding in dots.

Next up is this project.  This ufo was a guild challenge from a number of years ago.  Imagine my surprise to find nine blocks done instead of just six blocks!  These will become a wall hanging .... so not too much work involved.

This week, three deer came by for a visit looking for whatever they could munch on.  These two came and moved on rather quickly.  Seems like they couldn't find much to eat.

This smaller deer was busy tearing up something right at the roots.  I'm thinking that was a hosta and we all know how only a bit of that root will spring forth a plant.  So, not too worried.

Days later, replace that sunshine for snow .... we are having a snowstorm.  March is trying its' best to go out like a lion!

While we are dealing with snow, I'm also dealing with a case of shingles.  Very painful.  I could have sworn that my doctor gave me a needle for shingles.  Apparently not!

Cherish your day, cherish your life!