Four done

Another ufo to the flimsy stage.  Woooohoooo!

This top just needed borders and it only took a couple of hours to do that.  Anyway, I'm thrilled with it.  Isn't it amazing what can be done with striped fabric that is cut into squares to resemble rail fence blocks?

Remember this photo from last year?  Only one more ufo to do.  You guessed it ..... borders again!  I do have a thing about borders.  This photo was my inspiration to get borders onto these tops.  Did it work for me?  Perhaps in a way, but the motivation wasn't really there to do them in a hurry.  Do I feel guilty?  Nope.  Other wonderful things got done instead.

My ufo list is down to 37.  Making progress!

On a sad note, a sibling has passed away.  He was 65.  We are waiting government red tape to give us permission to bury him.  He left no will and his siblings are fourth on the list to bury him.  His wife died a few years ago.  His common-in-law wife and children have been estranged for about 40 years now and we don't know where they are.  So, we wait.

Today has been an odd day weather wise.  Freezing rain, sleet, ice pellets.  A good day to stay indoors and work on ..... borders! 😻

Have a great day!

Border Flowers

Here we go ..... another top finished! 

I keep looking at this top and it amazes me that I did this!  Me.  I did this!

My hubby thinks the top looks like a leaded glass door or window and the top and bottom part are transom windows.  He is right.  That is exactly what the top looks like.

Finished top size:  64" wide x 87-1/4" long. 

When I finished this top, it gave me such a sign of satisfaction.  This has been on the go for 9 years.

There is more to this story, but that will come out later when the finished quilt is shown.

During the photo taking, here is what it looks like with other quilts popping in to say 'hi'.  This looks a bit like a gallery, doesn't it.

People have wondered do I ever sleep with the amount of work that gets done.  Oh yes and if you quietly come into my studio, you can sometimes find me napping in my chair with the t.v. blaring.   Shhh .... just quietly go away and let me sleep.   LOL

How many hours per day do I sew/quilt/applique?  I don't know.  Never bothered to keep tabs.  Some days lots .... other days, not so much.  It depends on the day and what is going on and how I feel.  Now that our home is completely renovated, there is a lot of time to do whatever takes my pleasure.

So, another UFO has been crossed off the list.  Only 39 UFO's more to work on.

Making progress and that makes me very happy!

Have a great stitching day!

Rough times

In my studio!  A few hiccups dimmed my sewing progress the last few days.

Two of these QOV blocks gave me some grief.  It really does pay to read the instructions that came with the kit.  Luckily, there were enough batiks in my stash to rectify the issues on one block.  Anyway, these are done and ready to hand in at next night guild meeting.  That problem was resolved.  Yeah.

Then came the scroll work on my hexie top.  Wrong, wrong, wrong.  The two scrolls on the bottom left are supposed to be reversed.  AGHHHHHHH.

Cutting new scrolls and double and triple checking to make sure they were indeed reversed before cutting out.  That problem was also resolved.

Moving forward, the scroll borders are now done and the inner borders added.

 This medium blue fabric will be the outer borders.

This top is now finished, but I have to take a good photo of it.  Next post!

Today was supposed to be day guild meeting, but it was cancelled due to freezing drizzle.  It is nasty out there and I can hear neighbours scraping their windshields.  A good day to stay indoors and sew.

Have a great stitching day!

What to do?

What to do?  What to do?  What to do?  Decisions, decisions, decisions.  I'm playing the 'what if' game again with my snowball top.  Something different has been swirling around in my brain.

This appeals to me, but maybe three loops would be better on the ends and four loops on the longer sides?

 Or what about these loops on two corners or four corners?  Oh, decisions, decisions, decisions ....

"What if' my loops were slightly smaller ..... not so much 'in your face' size?  Since I have two of these rulers, the smaller loops were drawn onto paper and my vines pinned in place.

Can you see the difference on the left border?  Smaller is better.  The 'what if' game continues ......

Despite our cold, snowy weather, sewing in the garage still continues.  Not everyone can attend, but those that do go to the garage have a fun day.  After a sewing marathon in the garage last Friday and Saturday, 11 baby blankets were made for the NICU at our local hospital.  Darlene made 6 and I did 5.  We were determined to work entirely from our stash and that is a good thing.

Have a great stitching day!

Almost done with snowballs!

Technically, my snowball quilt-along with Temecula Quilt Company (http://temeculaquiltco.blogspot.ca/) is DONE!  They are in week #9 and my top is done!  Yippee kiyay!

I'm so glad that extra rows were added to this top.  It is now a nice size:  70" wide x 86" long.

But, I'm not done.  Not yet.  This top looks good as is.  Yet ...... ?  Those wide borders are saying ..... applique, applique, applique!  So, applique it will be.

Have you ever hunted and hunted for fabric and couldn't find it and then went back to where you thought it was in the first place and then find it?  Well, that happened to me.  This fabric was hiding on me ..... shame on you!  Now, I can get busy making lots of bias strips. 

Extra, extra ..... my quilts to bind just went up by two more quilts!  While I was in Toronto this past weekend, my lovely LAer dropped these off at the hotel where we were staying.  So, that is six now to do.

There are just not enough hours in each day ...... or I need to clone myself!  LOL

Have a great stitching day!

More snow and snowballs

We have had a dump of snow yesterday and today.  The January thaw helped to reduce the height of the snowbanks around town, but with this new snow, the snowbanks are back to being high again and with that comes extra caution when driving around town.  The unseen suddenly comes into view and braking on ice and packed snow is tricky.

Well .... what to do about that ..... except work on making snowballs.  The fabric kind, of course! 

Now, these blocks are supposed to be worked in batches of 16 per week as per the quilt-along through Temecula Quilt Company (http://temeculaquiltco.blogspot.ca/) and we are in week 8, but I decided to plunge ahead and just get my blocks done.  With 40 ufo's on my list to work on, there is just no point in dilly dallying.  So, here is a show of my progress this week.

The right hand side is what needs to be finished.  Before, they were done two's and three's at a time, but now they are done in batches of eight to ten.

One batch completed, time to do another batch.

Then another ...

Until all the blocks were done!  Phew.  Think it is time for a cup of tea.

Tea breaks over, time to start sewing those blocks into rows. 

Section by section, the rows were sewn.

Three sections to be sewn together.

Together at last!  Not bad for one week of work!  I've been thinking about doing some applique in the borders.  Playing time begins!

Whoa .... hold the horses.  I've decided to add two more rows to the top and bottom to make this quilt longer.  Here I go again ......

Might as well just get at it and get those blocks done.  Watching t.v. and working on the tiny squares is a good time to get them done.  I use a Styrofoam board on my lap and work away and this is where I leave my progress until next update.

With all the piecing going on, it is relaxing to do a bit of applique to round out the mix.  One more border for my hexie top to do.  Progress, progress, progress.

Have a great stitching day!