Not much

I've been sidetracked with a cold this past week .... so not much got done.  Last Thursday, DH and I went out for lunch to celebrate my birthday.  Later that afternoon, my throat was sore and by that evening, that was it for me.  Fever and stuffed up sinus and chest and that was the way it was for about four days.

Friday afternoon, while watching the weather station on t.v. for severe storm updates, had me reaching for my phone to call my elderly aunt in Gatineau, Quebec because there was a report of a tornado touching down.  "Are you O.K.?", I croaked.  "Yes, we are still under a tornado warning but we just had a really bad storm."  "No, Aunt, you just had a tornado because that is what I'm hearing on the t.v. here."  They were fine, but she reminded me to take some Tylenol to help reduce my fever.  Too funny.  I was concerned about her and my cousin (they are in their 80's and live together) and here she was dispensing medical advise to me.   My sister phoned a few days later and that was when we learned that the tornado stopped just three blocks away from their senior apartment complex.  No wonder they had a really bad storm and their apartment faces the direction the tornado was travelling.  Things could have gone to worse at any moment.  Someone was watching over them.  Still, it breaks my heart to see all the damage in Dunrobin, Gatineau and Ottawa.

For the weekend, I was down and out and dozing in my chair mostly.  This quilt that needs binding sewn down was pulled out and was worked on here and there.  It kept me warm and gave me something to do when I felt like doing something.  Three sides are done.  Whoo Hoo!

The leaves are starting to turn colour.  In fact, we have seen some trees around town with colour since August.  With such a dry summer, the colour display may not be as vibrant this year.  The nights are cool and daytime temps are hovering around the mid-teen's.  The fireplaces in our living room and t.v. have been on to help with the dampness and cool temps.

By Monday, I was starting to feel much better and was able to pick up a niece from school and bring her to her piano lesson.  Since my timing was going to get me to the school ultra early, a quick stop into a garden nursery just to browse away the extra time and found this delightful cat garden ornament.  It just had to come home with me.

Our garden has lots of statues and ornaments.  They give it a whimsy which we delight in.  Mind you, there is a time to call a halt to getting more.  Where did we get them all?  From purchases.  From gifts.  From hand-me-downs.  From downsizing.  From the garbage.  From everywhere.  Our hill garden is huge and the ornaments will be dispersed so that they don't look too grouped together.

Also, while at the garden nursery, this hummingbird feeder was bought as well as tulip bulbs.  The bulbs need to be planted soon and we will be looking forward to a lovely display next spring.

So, that was my week.  Not much got done .... but that will soon change as I'm now gearing up again.

I forgot to mention that last Tuesday, my friend Darlene and I did another trunk show at our day guild.  Again, lots of questions.  We have one more trunk show and an EPP workshop next month in Fergus, Ontario.  We are so excited.  Plus we found out that the workshop is full.  EPP is alive and kicking.  Whooo Hooo!

Have a great day!

Linking to: http://estheraliu.blogspot.com/ and http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.com/

Latest Happenings

Not too much in the way of quilting is getting done this week.

Instead, the paint brush has come out of hiding and that is keeping me busy.  Odds and ends around the house that has been on hold for a year or two or three.  What can I say.  I'm a quilter and that is what I prefer to be doing!  The reason for this surge of house work is that our friends from Australia are coming to spend a week with us in October.  They just can't see the same blue painter's tape around the house that was there three years ago. 🐱🐱

Still, I need to do some kind of hand work.  Why not some binding?  It is starting to cool down and having a quilt on my lap will keep me warm.  But first though, I am machine quilting the borders.  Stitch-in-the-ditch (SITD).  For some reason, when my quilts come back from the LAer, I like to SITD to finish them off.  I find the quilts look better.  The extra quilting helps to anchor the quilt.  Am I the only one that does this?

So, binding has finally been made for this quilt and as soon as the borders are done, the binding will be sewn on and I can spend time sewing the binding down and watching t.v. in the evenings.  This is a very large quilt and it will take me a few evenings, for sure.

Slowly, but surely, the applique on the borders is getting done on this top.

Next up is some more upholstery.  Between painting, some hand work and upholstery, I'm keeping myself busy and motivated.  Often times, I feel that not much gets done.  Browsing through my blog says otherwise.  Good thing my blog is there for me to see my progress through the years. 

Have a great day!

Linking to: http://estheraliu.blogspot.com/ and http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.com/

Triangles for a little one

My modern triangle quilt is done and given to my little niece for her big-girl bed.  This quilt is so different from my usual, but it was fun to work on something different for a change.

My niece (her mother) showed me a photo of a triangle quilt that she found on Pinterest and sent it to me with a selection of colours for me to follow.  She knew that I would be adding my own twist to the mix.  Yep, I sure did.  The walls in my little niece's room are all painted different colours that are in this quilt.  What an interesting idea and look.  Her room is definitely not boring and my little niece is quite proud of her room.  My sister and I babysat her on Saturday and I asked to see her room with the quilt on the bed.  My little niece scurried upstairs to her room and closed the door waiting for my sister and I to climb the stairs and when we were all ready, she opened the door with a ta-da.  So funny.

A simple grid pattern was quilted.

A striped binding finishes this quilt perfectly.

The back.  It was time to do something creative with the backing.  I've long admired quilts that have interesting backings and since there were quite a bit of leftover triangles .... well, why not do something with them.

Note to self .... if ever doing a creative backing like this, do an allover machine quilting design.  The horizontal stitching looks not too bad here.

But, when I pan out, you can see where my horizontal stitching line wavers here and there.  Oh well, it is what it is.  I tried really hard to keep the top and back straight and lined up as much as possible when basting all the layers together and didn't do too badly.

It just looks so odd to not have any borders on this quilt.

Quilt details:
Quilt size:  50-1/2" x 77-3/4" (top size 53" x 81" before washing and drying)
Started:  November 2017
Top Finished:  July 2018
Quilt Finished:  September 2018
Batting:  Hobbs poly batting

What else am I working on?

Sewing binding for this hand pieced quilt and using up more of my precious striped fabric.

Adding applique to this border.  Another EPP project almost coming to an end!

Those two items will keep me out of trouble for a few weeks.  LOL

One trunk show was done this past Monday at my night guild.  Another trunk show this coming Tuesday at my day guild and then one more trunk show and workshop in October. 

For the day guild trunk show, my friend and I were asked to spend more time explaining how we did our quilts.  There was a little buzz after the night guild showing and we seem to have sparked an interest.  Oh joy!  Who else can we get hooked doing EPP?

Have a great day!

Linking to: http://estheraliu.blogspot.com/ and http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.com/

Borders on .... FINALLY!

Procrastination ..... I think that should be added to the numbers of things that I do very well!  🐱🐱

Remember this photo?  I was on a roll to get the borders on these five tops.  This first photo was taken June 22, 2017 as the motivation to just get them done ..... darn it!

 On July 21, 2017 .... two tops done!  Oh my, this gave me inspiration.

Then, September 14, 2017 .... three tops are done.  Yes, yes, yes.

A slight pause, but by February 25, 2018 four tops are done.  Then, my feet kinda dragged a bit.

Still, finally by today's post, all five of these tops are officially DONE.  Borders on all of them.

Do you realize that it has taken me over a year to get those borders on?  Yes, procrastination reigns supreme with me!  Must be in my genes.  🐱🐱  Should I do this again?  Take another photo of five more tops that need borders?  With my record .... hummm .... no, it didn't work out as well as I thought it would!  Still, that is five projects out of bins and three of them have been quilted to date.

So, the story continues for the final top.  My lovely split apple core.  Loved working on this EPP project.  Here the inner borders are added.  Then off to the cottage for a few days leaving this top on my design wall and a mess in my studio.

Back home from the cottage and the desire to get the outer borders on.  As you can see, I have the proper work space for getting borders on.  Table perfect height and length.  No excuse, really.

Ah ... FINALLY, borders are on!  How happy am I?  Glorious happy!  This top is big.  101" wide and 95" tall.

My DH asked if this was one for the LAer.  No, not this one.  I have had visions of machine quilting this one in a simple grid pattern and no other design will do.  You can see how the design has been marked up on this photo below.  So simple.

To see what all those folded up tops look like .... well, here you go!   Two of them are completely done.  The one on the upper left and the one on the bottom right.  The quilt on the upper right is quilted but has no binding on it yet.  You know, when I think about it, it was a good idea after all.

While the iron is still hot ..... maybe I should as well get borders on this top too!  Another EPP project.

To round out my quilting for this week, the binding is getting sewn down on this quilt.   It really feels odd to me to not have any borders on this quilt.  Different for me.  Light bulb moment ... this top and quilt got done a lot quicker than usual .... no borders!  Hey, perhaps that is how I should do my tops from now on!  LOL

What else have I been up to?  Getting ready for trunk shows.  Two this month and one next month.  More on them later.

Have a great day!

Linking to: http://estheraliu.blogspot.com/ and http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.com/