Toppy Tulips

This project is now a top!  Yippee!

I'm on a roll.  Backing is up next and I think I will be making a scrappy backing.  Got a lot of fabric that needs to be moved out of my stash.

Let's see what else needs borders and get them done.

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

On a Roll ....

Borders, borders and more borders!

That is my goal right now.  Just getting borders on some tops and get them from a flimsy to completed tops.

Check this one off the UFO list!  A backing will be worked on and a batting just might get frankenpieced while I'm at it.

I'm off now to get another project pulled and get borders on that one too!

This is almost the end of August.  Eight months almost gone.  I have to show some kind of progress for year end.  Well, that and reduce the amount of UFO's on the shelf.

Still, this feels so good to cross this project off the list.  A sense of great satisfaction.

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

Bargello is done!

Yippee .... my bargello is now a top!  My version of a bargello, that is.  Remember, I tossed the pattern!  LOL

I just plugged away at adding strip after strip after strip until there were no more strips.  Glad that was finally done with.

Then .... what the heck ..... get those borders on pronto!  So, I did.

Done!  Now, I can breathe a bit and get backing and batting ready.

Isn't this dragonfly fabric lovely?  It is a variegated batik fabric.  Love it!

Normally, I don't like working with batiks, but the bonus is there is no fraying of the fabric and with all those strips, there would have been a ton.

I'm glad that I did do this pattern, but that is it for any more repeats.  Once was enough!

Now, onto the next UFO!

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

UFO Coming Along

Great progress has been made.  Extra strips were cut to make this top a tad wider.  Border fabrics have been chosen and pretty soon this will be a completed top.

I'm happy with my 'winging it' thought.  Hubby and I were analysing the design and I think it looks like Northern Lights but Hubby thinks it looks like the 4th wave of Covid.  Whatever, I'm just happy with it now.

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

UFO Time!

This UFO has been on the shelf for at least 5 years now.  Time to get it done.  All the strips have been cut out .... they just need to be sewn together.  The pattern and I parted ways years ago and I'm just going to wing it and see what design comes up.

There are only two pieces of fabric in the pattern.  All I can remember is that a variegated batik and a solid fabric are used.  So simple, but the layout was confusing to me.  So, the pattern got tossed.  LOL  

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

Circle End

Odd title, isn't that?  Anyway, my circles are now a top!  It is a small lap:  44" x 62"

I'm thrilled with it and it used up a lot of charm squares from my stash.  Win-win!

I had to pull the plug on comments being left on my blog.  Huge quantities of spam from the same person being left on different posts on the same day.  That means they have to be deleted from my email plus being marked as spam on my blog.  A lot of work and it has been happening a tad too often lately.  So, the plug has been pulled.  I'm sorry to those of you who wanted to leave a genuine comment for one of my posts, but know that it is appreciated anyway. 

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

Borders!

This is where I'm at with my circles project.  The fabrics for the piano key borders are all selected now and I'm liking how it blends in with the circles.  Only 4-1/2 rows to do and then it can be assembled.  This will be a small lap size quilt when done .... unless I put on an outer border.  We'll see ....

This ufo is back up on my design wall.  Only two more blocks to do and this to can be assembled.

Our garden at present.  Love how it looks!

The dog days of August are upon us.   While looking out our living room window yesterday, I saw a tree that is changing colours.   Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!

More mask making will be happening.  My dear young nieces will be needing a batch of new masks for when they go back to school.  They love their masks and treat it as an accessory.  Their Mom told me that it is quite the selection time when they decide which four masks they will wear for each day.

Also, I will be making more masks for hubby and I.  Now that we are fully vaccinated, we are both going out more and more masks are needed.  We take mask wearing up here very seriously and have been all during the covid mask wearing mandate.

As of yesterday, this is the stats for our area:

Total cases:  655

Deaths:  8

Active cases:  5

Hospitalized:  1

Resolved cases:  642

Residents with at least one vaccine dose (ages 12+):  77.8%  

Residents totally vaccinated (ages 12+):  68.2%

Like I mentioned, we take mask wearing very seriously and this has helped our area stay under control!

Tomorrow night will be our first time we have had people over for supper since January 2020.  I'm so excited.  All attending, except two children under 10, are fully vaccinated.

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

Displaying quilts

You all know how much I love to display my quilts and there are a couple of cabinets to hold them.  You have seen them before, but here they are again.  These are old photos and the cabinets were not completely full when these photos were taken.  Fast forward to now and there are too many quilts and I'm running out of storage space .... again.  No, I'm not giving away or selling any of my quilts (which my family would love me to do).  I love to change out my quilts every month and now have quilts to coordinate with the seasons.  Oh yes, I do love my quilts!

They are also rolled up in a huge wicker basket and a big plastic bin.  There is also a quilt ladder that holds quilts.  Whatever is needed does the trick.

To store quilts in a basket or bin, I use pool noodles rolled up in the centre of a quilt and ties help to hold them in shape.  The only problem is when the quilts are extra long/high.  The pool noodles just can't keep them up straight and they kind of flop over a bit.  

How to solve that issue?

Enter garden stakes.  Yep, garden stakes.  The bamboo or metal kind.  They are both strong and perfect size for slipping inside a pool noodle.  Buy them while garden season is here because once they are gone, they are gone until next season.

The green stake you see below slips into the hole in the centre of the pool noodle.  The white sleeve covers the noodle and the quilt is then rolled around the noodle.  

Edit:  Depending on the length of my quilt, I will tape two stakes (unless I can buy a very long stake) end to end and then slip inside a noodle and a half noodle to ensure a proper length.  The fabric sleeve holds everything together as the sleeve is made for a tight fit (it is a bit of struggle to get the sleeve onto the noodle, but it works).

Why a fabric sleeve?  It helps protect the quilt backing from whatever chemicals are in the noodle.  This advice I got from a quilt appraiser.

Fabric selvedge strips are good for tying up the roll.  

Here is my basket of rolled up quilts.  This basket will hold up to 10 quilts.  A piece of fabric is used to cover the sides and bottom of the basket so that no resin from the wood will transfer and eat into the bottom and sides of my quilts.  Got to protect my lovelies!

A funny story .... I was at the $ store and was buying more stakes.  A lady passed by me at the checkout and wanted to know what I was going to use the stakes for?  There was no way I was going to tell her exactly what my intention was because that would have involved quite a long discussion, so a quick answer was to stake up plants in the garden.   She was happy with my answer and away she went.   If only she knew!  LOL 

So, this solution works for now ..... until the next overflow of quilts and then something else will come to light.  Sigh .... too many quilts but I'm such a happy camper!  LOL

Cherish your day, cherish your life!