Break time

I have decided to take a month-long break. The hot weather has finally arrived and I want to enjoy it as well as doing some research.

Family genealogy has taken a back seat while I have been busy with quilting. There is a suitcase of photos and photo-albums just waiting to be scanned into the computer. That will be my task. It needs to get done and distributed amongst family members. Recently, I discovered that I am distantly related to the actress Anna Paquin. It was something that I just knew but had to take the time to trace her family roots to mine and found that we share a common ancestor back to 1717. So, when I say distant, I really mean 'distant'.

I will leave you with a teaser of a UFO that was finished a few years ago, but never quilted up. There was just something about this top that didn't sing to me and I have finally decided what to do with it.

So ..... I will be back in August ...... and until then you will just have to wait and see what this is.

Have a great summer, eh!

Done is done

With the help of Miss Hanky Panky anchoring me to my chair, threads were popped into the quilt center and the binding sewn on and down ... ... and this quilt is done! :o) Oh happy days, for sure.

..... and since I do the erky jerky stitching so well, included that on the hearts (thus turning a negative into a positive )....

.... and did some stipple with loopies and once washed and dried, it is oh so crinkly and lovely.

Now is the time to send this little quilt off to a wee child in Italy who was affected by the devastating earthquake early this year. All the donated quilts will be given to children in September at the start of their school year.

Pattern source: EQ6 software helped me make this design.

The top finished at 54-1/2" x 63-1/2" and once all quilted up, washed and dried, the quilt is now 50-1/2" x 59-1/2". A loss of 4" all around. Interesting, eh!

Have a great day!

Quilts of Summer

With summer just around the corner (we have not had a nice spring at all) and the promise of warm weather, it was time to change around the quilts in our home.

In our dining room ....
In the bedrooms .....

and in our hallways ......

What quilts do you have on display in your home?

Have a great weekend!

Top of Siggies

Oh dear, I had a couple of oopsies with this top .... one I can easily fix (it is the top border), but the other one is a signature block, which is upside down and not easy to fix. So, it will stay and it will become my humble block.

By the time this top is finished, it will be a good twin size and perfect for taking a snooze under on the sofa.

The checkered border had to have a wee bit of coaxing to fit. So, now I just have to add some more borders to the other sides.

Two more blocks are needed for the borders. I have now made one and the other one is coming from a lady that was in the second group. As soon as that block arrives, the borders can be finished.

For any of you in the second group, you may have enough blocks to make a smaller lap quilt following this same layout. You would need to increase your sashings to 2-3/4" x 6" (cut 3-1/4" x 6-1/2"). If any of you are interested in border sizes, etc., please let me know and I will work that out for you.

Have a great day!

Exchange of siggies

Early this year, I joined an international siggy swap and this week, my siggies arrived from our hostess and after playing around with EQ6, this will be my layout.

There are still 2 siggy blocks that are not in this layout but they will be used in my border as corner blocks. Also, two of my blocks were returned to me as two people dropped out and instead of tossing them, they will be used in the body of my quilt.

I am so happy with my treasures and so many thanks to Connie for organizing this swap. There was a lot of time and effort put into the tasks involved …. but just look at my beauty that will soon be mine.

Have a great weekend!

A mission, I am on ...

... to get this quilt done with help (of course) from Ashes!
I tried something fancy .... yuck .... and after unpicking that work, simple is the way to do it. I should have followed the advice from those that commented on my last post; but I really thought I could do something different. My hat is off to those who can do machine quilting without doing the erky jerky movement.

.... had an oopsie moment and after taking a much needed break, corrected this problem and moved on. Just have to do the hearts now and the borders and this quilt will be done.

Have a great day!

Guess what ....

......... I will be doing this weekend! My donation top is finished and batting scraps were pulled out and after some whip stitching together this top is ready for sandwiching and quilting.

My machine quilting will be simple .... I can't do anything fancy as I just don't know where to start. Really, either I just buckle down and do it or take a class.

Have a great weekend!

Double Duty

Since putting this quilt on the bed, I have noticed that Ashes doesn’t like to sleep right on top of the quilt. Why …. I don’t know? Instead, she sleeps on my afghan. I wonder if it is the white backing that she doesn’t like.

BTW, this is the back of this quilt from an older post.

That is what I like …. to be able to use both the front and back of a quilt. There is so much hand quilting which you really can’t see on the front but shows very well on the back of this quilt.

A number of years ago, I took a class on how to make a whole cloth and one of these days, I will get out my tools and start to draft a design so that there will be a real whole cloth on my bed. For now, this works for me.

Have a great day!