EPP again

How happy am I?  Well, just look at this EPP that I'm working on.  Happy, happy times ahead for me!

This block started the process.  Fussy cutting Xmas fabrics.  There will be just one block out of these fabrics.  The red circles I'm not sure about, but gives the star a whole different look.  We'll see if they remain or go.

Same block, different fabrics.

This is the block it became.  Two more to go with these fabrics.

Then, same block and different fabrics again.

Only three more blocks of these fabrics to make.

I'm not making the pattern that was in the book.  My brain has been whirling with different ideas and is forcing me to go a different way.  Of course, why not?

A whole bunch of snowflakes have been printed from the web.  These will go nicely with my idea.  You will have to be patient to see what I do.  I'm still in the idea mode and things could change to another direction.

For the first time, we saw a fox on our hill for a few days last week.  It smelled or heard something and will be back.  We saw it sleeping for 3 days in a row close to where a chipmunk is nesting.  The chipmunks have emerged from their winter hibernation and I fear for their future.  Go away, Mr. or Mrs. Fox!

Have a great day!

Curling and Binding

Now, that is an odd title! 

With the curling going on in town these past two weeks and the finals coming tomorrow, I figured this was a good time to get this quilt, trimmed and binding sewn on.  I'll be glued to the t.v. tonight and tomorrow and sewing away on this quilt.

This is where we were last night.  Oh, what a thrill that was!  You know, seeing it on t.v. is one thing, but attending in person is another thing that can't be duplicated.  The curling activity, the fan spirit, the t.v. production, etc.  It was a thrill to be in the audience to experience .... well, everything.

There were eight of us in our group.  My sister won six tickets through her work (months ago) and my brother and SIL bought their tickets a couple of weeks ago.  In planning our evening starting with dinner out and then onto the game, I asked my brother where they were sitting.  He pulled out his tickets and said, Section 7, Row G, Seat 7-8.  Where were we sitting?  Section 7, Row G, Seats 1-6.  Now what are the odds of that happening!  Sitting side by side.  What a laugh we had over this.

Anyway, have a great day!

Special guest

Friday last week saw a special guest come into my studio for an afternoon of sewing.  My great niece.  She was so excited to spend an afternoon with her Aunt Rosie (me) sewing.  She even choose a special dress for the occasion and even curled her hair.  This is excitement on a grand scale we are talking about!  LOL

The plan was to make a blanket for her doll and after going through stacks of squares, she chose 20 squares and I trimmed them as they were slightly different sizes.  See this baggie of trimmings?  As I was tossing them into the garbage bin, she was head first in the bin grabbing them back and claimed they were perfect for her Mom to sew something with.  Maybe glue onto a piece of paper, but not sew ..... way, way too small.  All the trimmings were dutifully put into this baggie.  All of them.  Lordy, what have I created with this child?  A fabric hoarder?

There was a lot of oohing and aahing when she spotted my pails of scraps .....

and my overflowing bin of scraps.  Why did I have those?  To make quilts from.  I could just see her wanting to dive into those pails and bin and have a wonderful rummage through them.  Luckily, I was able to refocus her on the task on hand.

After the squares were trimmed, she had the decision of where to put each square on the design wall.  A few changes were made and it made her think of colour placement and what was pleasing to the eye.

Sewing the squares was interesting.  Safety first, she had to wear her glasses.  Oh, the what, why and how questions were coming at me fast and furious.  She was quite fascinated with my gadgets and why did I have so many of the small screw drivers and why did I have that funny looking brush?  And the questions went on and on and ......

After an hour, this is what was accomplished.  Not bad, eh?  She did get a little bit bored sewing the squares.  My foot was on the petal and she wanted me to go faster.  Weeeee ...... 

Some flannel fabrics were pulled out for the backing and she choose the lollipop backing.  Perfect for her quilt.   There will have to be another session to complete the blanket, but for a first-time go .... not bad.  Once she saw this hanging on the design wall, she didn't realise that was what we were doing.

After she left .... whew .... I was ready for a nap!

Have a great stitching day!

Happy Time

What makes me happy?  A new EPP project to putter away at.

My EPP will have Xmas/winter fabrics.  Something different.  My friend Darlene (garage owner) is using the same fabrics except her EPP project is La Passacalagia.  Kudos to her for tackling that pattern.

 This is the book that I'm using and the pattern that I'm doing is on the cover.

On another note, the curlers are here, the curlers are here in town.  That's right.  North Bay, Ontario, Canada is hosting the 2018 Women's World Curling Championships next week.  The curling teams are hot off the 2018 Winter Olympics and are giving clubs in and around North Bay a chance to practise with the best.  We have tickets for one of the games next week and it will be fascinating to attend.  So, this city is just buzzing with activity.

Have a great stitching day!

Going back in the past

I'm in the process of getting my blog into book form and from time to time, you will see an old post that has been updated pop up, especially if you enrolled in the email notification.  That is the reason behind it.

In the meantime, it has been fun to read my older posts and compare myself to where I'm at today.  Are my posts better today than eleven years ago?  Yes, eleven years.  That is how long I've been blogging.  So, are my posts better?  I hope so.

One post in particular made me chuckle.

Oct. 8, 2007 .... about my stash!  Oh my, how much stash I have accumulated since that post.

I'm still chuckling!

A measly two shelves of stash!  Let's see .... I have one, two, three ...... oops ... better STOP counting! 😻😻  At least my stash is getting used and there has been a decrease in the past few years with all the quilts and tops that have been made.  I foresee some scrappy quilts coming.

Have a great day!

Back to Triangles

I'm back to working on this project.  Triangles.  A miscalculation in the length led to the project being shelved for a few months.  I was short 4 rows.  This is where two rows were added on the left side of the center.

The other two rows were added on the right hand side of the center.   Got to keep it balanced.  Now, I'm back on track.

When sewing the strips of triangles together, they get placed on this Styrofoam board to help keep me on track.  Still, there were problems along the way and a few .... a lot ..... got turned around and a bit of unstitching had to be done.

Only these last four rows to sew and then this section will get attached to the big section and then this top will be all sewn together.  The small triangles on the white triangles need to be appliqued and that should take me a couple of days to do.  My plan is to get this quilted asap as a little girl will be moving out of her crib into a big girl bed soon.

.... and here is the top ..... done.  It measures 53" x 81".  There will be no borders this time.  The sides of the top and bottom need to be trimmed to size, but they will get trimmed after quilting.

Those triangles that I mentioned .... well, there are 46 that need to be appliqued in place.  So, pitter patter, best get at 'er.

Surprise, surprise to me.  I won this quilt!   My SIL made it and donated it to a cause and when I saw it, I asked her to buy me tickets.  I really liked her quilt.  Well, didn't I get a phone call to say that I won this!   A welcome surprise, for sure!

Have a great stitching day!

Another finish

Here we go again .... another quilt DONE!

Amazing what can be done with leftover fabrics from my One Block Wonder.

A closer look at the quilting.

 The big shot to see how big this quilt really is.

 My backing and label.

Details:
Started:  February 2016
Top Finished:  July 2017
Quilt Finished:  Mar 2018
Quilt Size:  72-1/2" X 89-1/2" (top size before quilting and washing:  75-1/4" x 92-3/4")
Machine quilted by:  Tella in Scarborough

Only four more quilts to bind!

Well, I don't know about you, but I'm having a great day!

Just a One Block Wonder

Well, this quilt is finally done!  Crossed off my list!  Done!

A full shot of the quilt.

Details:  68" x 84-1/2" (before quilting and washing:  70-1/2" x 87-3/4")

Started:  Nov. 2015

Top finished:  Feb. 2016 ... it took a while to find the backing which was accomplished on my trip to Toronto for the quilt show at Black Creek Village in July of 2017.

Batting used:  80/20 poly cotton

Machine quilted by lovely Tella in Scarborough.  

A better look at the size of the quilt.  This photo gives that impression very well when you see it with the other quilts.

The fabric in the outer border (on the right) was the fabric used.  That fabric sure has a lot of movement in it.

The backing fabric used and my label.  Gotta have labels on your quilts!

Close-up shots of some of the blocks.  Making those blocks was something that was really enjoyable to do.  Twirling those triangles around to get that just perfect look while not duplicating a block. 

What else am I working on?  A jelly roll challenge.  This is all that you will see for now as this is a challenge at my day guild and it has to remain a secret until June meeting.  I will take photos and post all about it later.  The itch to just work on this is so tempting.

What else am I working on?  Sewing binding on this quilt using leftover fabrics from my One Block Wonder.  Guess what ... there are still have pieces left of the paisley fabric.  This would be a good time to just cut those pieces into squares and put in my bins ready to use for another scrap quilt.

There are other stuff that are being worked on, but that will be for another post.

Have a great stitching day!