May and June binding challenge

Another month and another quilt got done by no-blog Mary and me for the month of May.  Ah, how lovely it feels to each get another quilt completed and used.  That is what quilt making is all about .... making and keeping/gifting and using it to keep us warm.

This is Mary's quilt:

... and this is my I Spy quilt (more on this in a later post as well as those blocks you see in the background): 

I had planned on binding two quilts for May, but my Postcard from Sweden actually was completed before midnight on April 30.  How's that for timing!  So, just one for me for May.

For June, we have selected our quilts.

This is Mary's.  So, so adorable!  This is a Glow in the Dark quilt and some of the fabric does actually glow.  I just love it!

 

My quilt will be Xmas Stars:

Our garden on the hill is alive with blooms and soon-to-be blooming and I do need to show photos.  Having a perennial garden, the blooming periods come and go so quickly with some of the plants.  Others hang in there until the first frost.  Speaking of frost, we have had advisories this spring and I'm sure we will have a few more until the heat arrives and we are then good to go until autumn.  We always have old bed sheets or plastic to cover our plants that are most susceptible. 

Life is busy at the moment.  Going to the cottage, planting annuals in pots, planting perennial shrubs, family birthdays .... life goes on ....

Myself and three other ladies went to a quilt show yesterday in Petawawa.  It was a two hour drive there and back .... but such a lovely day to be with friends and at a quilt show!    Did I mention it was a lovely day?  The weather was perfect, the quilt show was perfect, lunch out was great .... a lovely day, indeed!

Cherish your day, cherish your life! 

Churn Dash Challenge

As I'm working on my new squirrel project that I chatted about on my last post, an oldie UFO is being released from the shelf!

Chookyblue (http://chookyblue.blogspot.com/) is having a sew-along of a churn dash quilt.  She wanted to know who else would be interested.  Well, me of course as I so love that block.  

But ..... something was bugging me.  I was sure that I had made a churn dash quilt before.  Well, yes I did with this quilt, which is one of my favourite scrappy quilts made so far.  This has been gifted and I really need to make another.  This is a good quilt for using up strings and scraps of odd shaped pieces and a good quilt to have on hand for a sudden gifting.

Then, the churn dash block was used to make this wall hanging.

But, these were not the quilts that kept bugging me.  Finally, the light bulb went on and ding, ding, ding ..... there was a UFO that got started and abandoned.  As in way back in 2014 as per the date on my photo.

So, instead of starting a new project, I will just continue working on this one instead.  So far, there are 10 of the smaller corner stone blocks already made and that is where this project was abandoned.  Ten small blocks and packaged up and stored on a shelf.  Why, why, why?  Probably because the squirrels came out and off I went on something else.  This is my design that was drawn up on my EQ software program and will be a large queen size.

Thank you Chooky for the push to get me going again on this old UFO!

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

Oops .... Squirrels ....

I belong to a FB group called Scrap Quilt Enthusiasts and have joined a challenge to make blocks for the Stash Buster Challenge 2022.  The challenge is hosted by Border Creek Station and once the squirrels came out to play .... well .... I joined in and played the game!  LOL  My quilt has a different look for the corners.  A few other participants changed their corners also and I quite liked the look .... so .....

Edit:  The challenge is on the FB group called The Stash Buster Challenge ..... oopsie on my part.  Sorry about that!

This is my block:

This is my layout so far.  There will be two (almost) identical quilts using these fabrics and this block.   I'm getting ahead of the Xmas gift giving and this is a good start.  I've got the stash and need quilts for gifting .... the perfect project!  A good excuse, don't you think?  LOL

So, this is what is keeping me busy when I'm home in my studio.  Now that cottage season has started, not much time is spent in my studio.

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

Dilly Flower update

Much progress has been made on this project.  Now that cottage season is upon us, this will be the perfect project to take with me to work on while sitting on the porch or inside the cottage in the evenings.

The small section at the left top is almost ready to be attached to the main body

This bottom section is all ready to be assembled together.  There is still some applique to do, but all the hexagons are numbered so that they are sewn together correctly.

There will be applique on the top border, for sure, but maybe on the bottom border as well to make it longer.  More on my applique idea to come once the main section is complete.

Oh, and ..... I may have started a new project!  LOL  More on that later.

I'm off to the cottage in the morning.  See you in about a week.

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

Postcard From Sweden

"Well .... I ended up with another April binding challenge finish after all!  My LAer got my latest three quilts done and they were picked up on Tuesday last week.  There was a hurry to get this quilt finished because a young person is going to be receiving it as a 10th birthday gift.  I just know there will be lots of squealing going on when she opens her gift bag.

On Saturday night, there was a zoom meeting with Chookyblue (http://chookyblue.blogspot.com/) and this was my project to try and finish before midnight ..... and I did it!  I pushed, cajoled, hinted and Chooky took up the challenge and .....got quite a few quilts done. 

A close-up photo of some of my fabrics used.  Different sizes of polka dots along with solids.  This quilt is nice and bright and cheery for the young at heart.

Opening the gift.  She knew it was a quilt as soon as she saw the backing fabric.

Then she said "there is a square .... there is a square" (a label) and proceeded to read out loud what was written on the label.  We laughed when she said it even came with instructions.  All my quilts have washing and drying instructions written on the labels, so that all who has one of my quilts will know how to care for them.  She asked if her quilt would be appearing on my blog.  Oh yes, it will and she will be able to see herself in a blog book at some point.

This is the first time we have had family in our home for supper in 2-1/2 yrs.  It was a good time and a great get-together.  We have had family gatherings but outside during covid.  We would only attend those gatherings.  We decided to have the supper in our home since everyone (except my BIL) has had covid recently and all have recovered.

Quilt details:

Pattern:                 Postcard From Sweden by Kelly Liddell    

                             Hosted QAL by:  https://www.mmmquilts.com/2022/01/

Started:                 February 16, 2022

Top Finished:       March 13, 2022

Quilt Finished:      April 30, 2022

Block size:           5" HST finished

Size:                     56-3/4" x 77-1/4" (top size before quilting, washing and drying:  60-1/2" x 80-1/4")

Batting:                 Hobbs poly on a roll

Machine quilted:   Kathy Wareham using "The Milky Way" design by Christy Dillon of My Creative                                  Stitches.

My count of quilts to bind is at 12 now.

So, is there anyone else who needs to be pushed, cajoled, hinted at to take up the challenge too?  So far, I've got no-blog Mary and Chooky getting their quilts finished.  Join in the fun and get those quilts finished.    A friend told me that to put binding on a quilt is like getting a hug from your quilt as a thank-you for being finished.  Smart words, don't you think?  Oh, and don't forget labels.  They are important too! 

Now ..... well, I'm good at getting others to finish quilts ..... I need to push, cajole and hint to .... ME .... to get a few more UFO's done.  That person (me) can be so swayed to doing other things instead.   You know, squirrels come to play and they sure provide a good distraction!

Cherish your day, cherish your life!