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!

December quilts

Here are my quilts for December that are used around our home.  This year, no Xmas tree will be going up because Ridley would have a field day chewing the branches and batting the ornaments as well as trying to climb it and knocking the tree down.  So, my quilts will have to do instead.  Sit back and enjoy!

Cherish your day, cherish your life! 

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!

Progress slowing down ....

Gosh, I had to think hard about doing this post.  I just don't feel like much has been happening the last two weeks.  But, surprise, surprise!

This is the back of my Hexie Log Cabin quilt as you go.  I've been working on Row 7 and when my last two hexies are completed, then that row can be added to the main body.

Then, I was busy cutting out strips ....

... to make another bargello quilt like this one below.

Then, I was busy pulling out fabrics to see which ones would work for borders for this top.  Lots and lots of fabrics were pulled, auditioned and these are the final decision.  This was a hard choice to find and I'm not totally happy with the final choice, but it will do.

The days here are getting cooler.  Our temps have been hovering between 0C to 10C and this little guy is looking for warmth.  He likes our fireplace.  We even find him laying on top of the fireplace to soak up any extra heat.

Why do I feel that not much progress has happened?  Night time is my time to do handwork ..... except Ridley has decided that is his time to cuddle on my lap or literally in my arms like a baby.  Not much happens then except watch some t.v.  He had two seizures last week and the vet has increased his meds.   We will see how long before the next round of seizures happen again.  I do find after a bout, he is even more cuddly.  His seizures this time have changed.  Towards the end, he suddenly surges forward and will crash head first into anything.  I stay with him and try to restrain him to prevent hurting himself but he is so strong.  The first bout, he went head first into a corner where my quilts are stored.  That was lucky for him.  Second bout, he went head first into a wall until I was able to grab him and then hold him down.  After these two bouts, his recovery time was much longer.  Poor little guy.

Blogger has been doing changes to their system and is screwing up functions.  Just to do this post was difficult.  Also, when anyone leaves a comment, I am unable to reply back as everyone comes through as no-reply.  So, lately, if you left a comment .... thank you!

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

November quilts for display.

November, November, November ..... what do I have on tap for display this month?  Sit back and enjoy!

Oh how I have loved working on each of these quilts.  What a joy to see them on display around our home.

Cherish your day, cherish your life!