Hand Quilting .... holy cow!

 LOL .... did that title of this post catch your attention?  Yes, I'm going to be doing a bit of hand quilting.  Only on small projects.

Like this small 24" x 24" wall hanging.  Yes, you can't see anything except for a glimpse of something beneath my stencils.  Why?  

This hanging is for an quilt exchange that I'm participating in with Humble Quilts.  The exchange is now closed with 70 swappers and I have already received the name of the person that this hanging will be going to.  Our work can be showed, but if the recipient reads my blog then it won't be a surprise when my package is opened.  For now, this is all that you will see.

It was fun to go through my Civil War fabrics and pick and choose what to use.  At the same time, it has come to my attention that there is a lot of that fabric in my stash.   Time to bring them out and use them up ..... in about 10 quilts ..... at least, if not more!  LOL

For the last week, nothing else was worked on except this project and it is now at the hand quilting stage.  It has to be mailed by April 30, so my time will be consumed finishing this hanging.

It has been quite some time since I participated in an exchange.  I wonder who will be sending me my quilt and what will it look like?  Oh, the anticipation!

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

Pizza Box Challenge

Another finish!  Yeah!

In the fall of 2015, the day guild (Near North Quilter's Guild) had a challenge using a pizza box.  Instructions were inside the box on what to do.  We were urged to sign up and have fun.

Where did the pizza boxes come from?  Karen K went to a pizza store and bought a whole bunch of empty boxes.  They must have thought she was a little crazy. 

I signed up and my focus fabric was a 1 metre of blue fabric (quel surprise!) that we had to put inside our pizza box along with one block (two blocks by me because I started one month late) that was made by me and a blank label for each person to sign.  I requested colours that I would like other people taking my box to use.  Shades of green, red, gold, yellow, rust and orange.  Autumn colours.  I had a plan.

Each month, my pizza box was moved around to other people.  Each box had a number (to keep the person a secret) and we could not take the same number box twice.   A different pizza box was taken home by me and a block made and brought back the following month.  We did this for seven/eight months.  Seven months for me because of the late start.

At the end, we were all curious to see what other people did for us.  On reveal day at guild, we could finally claim our pizza box and open it.  It was exciting.  All the participants showed the blocks in their box that day.

I was thrilled, to say the least.  Only a few months later, my top was finished and it did get shown at guild.

For my design, I wanted 12 blocks and ended up making three more blocks to make my quilt larger.  Then 12 leaf blocks were made and then assembled in a different way.  Something different.  You know me by now.  Yes, something different.

So, here we go with a bunch of photos.

I tried taking a photo of my quilt on the huge snowbank outside our back door.  Nope, that didn't work.  It kept falling down.

Over a snowbank.  Doesn't my quilt look good in the snow?  LOL

On top of a snowy and icy patio.  I had to be careful not to slip and fall and hurt myself.

Close up of the blocks.  A number of guild members stayed away from the challenge because they thought they would get wonky blocks.  None of my blocks came back wonky.  They were perfect 12-1/2" square.

I love that leaf block.  It was found in an old quilting magazine and I knew that it would be used on one of my quilts, one day.  This was the quilt.

I had to finally stop taking photos.  It started snowing quite heavily.  These will have to do.

Quilt Detail:
Started:  October 2015
Top Finished:  June 2016
Quilt Finished:  March 2019
Quilt Size:  71-1/4" x 99" (before washing and drying:  73" x 100-3/4")
Batting:  Polyester
Machine Quilted by:  Kat's Quilts

Thank you to Karen K and Evelyn C for organizing the challenge and to Marga, Louise, Mallory, Laura, Jennifer, Cathy and Marilyn for making your blocks.

It was a great challenge and I now have a gorgeous quilt for the fall.  My plan worked out very well! Other members have showed off their finished challenge quilts at guild and now my quilt can be shown too.

On another note, to conclude the story about the elderly lady and her quilt that I finished hand quilting for, she loved her quilt.  She received it in time for her 91st birthday.  Only after it was delivered by my friend to her son and DIL, was it revealed that day was her birthday.  See, there was a reason why I was so consumed in getting her quilt finished.

Here is Dorothy and her quilt.  Perfect for her, don't you agree?  Now, I don't know this lady at all.  Living away in Rouyn/Noranda, Quebec and Toronto for the past 30+ years, there are many people here in town that I don't know.  Perhaps one day we shall meet.  Who knows.  This is a small city after all.

Today, the sun is shining and the temperature is starting to climb.  I think, possibly, that spring might just be coming to our corner of the world.

Have a great day!

Linking to:
http://www.esthersquiltblog.com/
http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.com/

Up for the Challenge

Now that my wall hanging is blocked and dried, here it is hanging in our dining room.

Now for the details of how this hanging came to be.

This was a night guild (Northern Lights Quilter's Guild) mystery challenge back in 2014.  I'm not good at mysteries.  I have to see everything before even starting to work on something.  So, month after month the challenges were given out and saved by me.  After 6 months, the challenge was over and I could finally start.  I knew what to do.

First month, we were given the challenge fabric (the fabric on the right hand side of photo) and the directions were to make a flower.  We were instructed to think outside the box.  Why not a yo-yo flower?  How about four flowers?  That works for me.  A bit of red behind the flowers gave them a bit of pop.

Notice all the red buttons?  They were saved from all the thrift store shirts that have been bought over time.  I knew they were destined for something.

Don't forget to notice the hand quilting.  First time red thread was used.  My thread is not quilting thread.  I use Coat's Button and Carpet thread.  It is thicker, but not as thick as perle cotton.

Next month was a heart.  Could I manage a yo-yo heart?  It would add to the theme.  The heart was a bit tricky, but it worked out.  Again, a bit of red behind the heart to make it sparkle.

Then an insect.  Nothing elaborate here.  Just fussy cut out a butterfly.  Three butterflies to be exact.

Another challenge fabric was given out and a bird to make.  Hard as I tried,  I couldn't fit a bird into my design.  Think outside the box, we were told.  So, I did.  Put the bird on my label.  :o)

 Then an object.  I know, how about a ribbon with the challenge fabric on it.  Works for me.

The final part to the challenge was to make a block, any block of our choice.  A churn dash block was my choice.  The size of this block was 24" x 24" finished and it would frame my flower bouquet perfectly in the centre.

To finish off the look, a bit of embroidery was added here and there along with red buttons.

Overall size is 36" x 36".
So, that is how my challenge quilt came to be.  Think outside the box.  I think I did!
Have a great day!

Adding embroidery

While I am adding borders to the tops in my previous post, at the same time, this oldie has been revived to have some embroidery added.

The last time this was shown was back in July 2014.  As far as I was concerned it was a finished top ready for hand quilting.

It even had the centre part (where the flowers are) hand quilted.  Then I stopped.  Something was missing.

You know how much I love playing the 'what if' game.  So, what if some delicate whispy stems were added to the borders?

Can you see the hand quilting at the top of this photo ?  The backing had to be carefully folded and pinned back away from one side so that the embroidery could be added.  A few adjustments to the design and then I was working with needle and embroidery floss.

Two sides are done.  Now we are talking.  This is the something that was missing.  In this photo, you can just barely see the backing folded away from the left side of the hanging.

Three sides done.  Oh my.

Four sides.

Buttons were pinned on at the ends of each stem to see if this is the look that I wanted.  Oh yes!

Huge difference, wouldn't you say.  The before and after is amazing to me.

Now, I can finish the hand quilting.  The rest of this hanging has been marked up with quilting designs and is now ready and packed in a bag with all the notions needed for hand quilting.  This will be perfect for quilting during the cool mornings at the cottage.

Ah, life is good!

OK ... now back to those borders!

Have a great day!

Painting and staining

Well, if it is September, it must be time for some painting and staining.   Well, in my world, that is.  The humidity was down and the temperature was cooler .... so, why not do some spray painting.  Good thing this job got done early in the week, because hot temps. and humidity came back with a vengeance.

About 35 yrs. ago, we bought a inexpensive bedroom set when we moved into our home in Toronto.  Time was not kind to this set.  The finish has worn off in places and there are many chips and scratches.  The set just looked tired and worn out.   So, after buying 9 cans of spray paint, my furniture has been revived and here sit the pieces waiting for the paint to cure.  I still need to add a coat of water based Varethane to protect the paint and that was done inside.

Edit September 21, 2016:  I've added the photo below to show that I do the spray painting outdoors with lots of plastic protecting the flowers, shrubs and brickwork.  A few comments made me aware that I omitted this important fact.  Please don't spray your stuff indoors as spray and the smell will be everywhere.  I do paint with a brush indoors with plastic or painter's canvas to protect the rug and floor. 

Our living room has been paint central quite a few times now.  It is the best room in the house to do painting.  The lighting is wonderful and there is plenty of room to spread out the pieces to paint.  The headboard received a coat of Varethane indoors (the spray painting was done outside).

I have to laugh.   My furniture went from dark brown to a medium grey.  Then my niece wanted some crates stained to store shoes and boots in her new apartment.  She is young and you would think she wanted a nice bright colour.  Nope, she wanted dark brown.  What goes around, comes around.  So, dark brown they became.  They are done and delivered.  Another item ticked off my 'to do' list.  These crates were stained indoors.

Then, for our quilt show, we needed more quilt stands to display our raffle quilts onto.  We ran out of stands.  I volunteered my DH.  Was he happy about that?  Ah well, it kept him busy for a week and it was something new to him.  These stands I am keeping for myself and since they can't be mixed in with all the other quilt stands, these got painted a nice mint green. They should stand out and not be picked up in error at the end of our quilt show .... which starts this weekend.  For more on that, go here.

Still, it has not been all work and no play.  Play I did.  My challenge quilt was worked on and here you see it being hand quilted.

It is done and in the blocking stage.  A label and some embellishments need to be added.  So, almost done.

Some maple leaf buttons were added and this is the final look.  So glad this is done and handed in!

 My split apple core centre is completed.  Just need to add outer borders.  Lordy, that is my nemesis.  Outer borders.  I have quite a few tops that just need outer borders.   These must be tackled soon.  Still, doesn't my split apple core look scrumptious?

This is my life these days.  Topsy turvy.  Too much going on, but at the end of the day, I can look around and see that something got accomplished.  Yes, life is good.

I'm linking to Needle and Thread Network.

Have a great day!

It's a top

Since I will be out-of-town for day guild meeting next week, I will show my Pizza Box challenge top.

Here is a before photo of when I was working on the blocks.  Three more blocks were made to bring the total to 12 blocks and then the appliqued leaves came out to play.  Gosh, when I look at this photo, it sure is fuzzy.  I took it with my ipad and I'm not sure about the quality.  

Ah, this photo is so much better!  Well, here it is .... this autumn top is done!  The quilting design has already been figured out and it will get quilted and ready for showing at the next day guild meeting in September.  I'm very happy with my blocks that were made by others.  When I asked that they use autumn colours, this is what I had in mind for the final look.  The leaves brought everything together. Yep, very happy indeed!

This is the fabric that I provided and was to be used in each block.  This fabric has been in my stash for years and was the inspiration for the layout of the blocks and the applique.  Perfect, I would say!  :o)

What else have I been up to?  A call from the LAer had me rushing over to pick up this quilt that she just completed.  Problem though ... I threw out my back and will have to wait a while before I can struggle with this quilt and the binding on my sewing machine.  It is a huge quilt (100" square) and the weight right now will be just too much to handle.

After picking up this quilt, DH and I stopped in to visit my brother and SIL.  We met their Aussie visitors that stayed with them for a week.  They are from Newcastle and  Lake Macquarie, NSW, Australia.  What a pleasure it was to meet them and have a wee chat.

I will again be linking up with http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.ca/  and join in with other Canadian quilters to show we have done this week.

Have a great day!

Pizza Box Challenge

Last September, my day guild had a challenge using pizza boxes.  It started off with me putting in one 12-1/2" unfinished block and a half metre of fabric (to be used in each block) into a pizza box and bringing it to the next meeting.  Handed in my box and got to pick another box.  Make a block and hand that box in at the next meeting and get a different box.  Repeat for the next 8 months.  I did request that anyone picking my box to use autumn fabrics.

Last month, everyone that participated in the challenge got to take their own box home.  The challenge is over.  This is what my blocks look like.  What a thrill it was to look at each block.  We all took turns admiring each box.  Mine are perfect!  They say Autumn.  I have plans, but those will be kept under wraps for now as everyone is to bring in a completed pizza box top to the June meeting and I know that a few guild members read my blog and I want to keep this a secret until then.  So, this is what I've been busy working on.

Just in case you are wondering if my Kentucky Stars has been abandoned .... nope.   Only 3 more star flowers to appliqué and some outline embroidery and this top is done.

I'm linking today's post to http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.ca/.  Take a leap and hop on over to see what other Canadians are working on this week.

Have a great day!

Strippy top

Well, my strippy is a top!  Can we say happy, happy, happy?  It is currently at a LA lady and this is a first time for me.  When I saw the lovely job she did on Debra's quilt, I just had to have mine done by her as well.  If you take a peek at Debra's quilt, you will see that my (and no blog Mary) layout is different .... the same fabrics, but different.

Have a great day!

What a day!

This past Sunday was a special day spent with the gals from We 3 Quilters!  It was a sew day at my place and DH was our butler.  He got whatever food and beverages we needed ... what a guy! 

The 3 of us have been busy working on our strip quilts.  This is Mary's (in black dress) version.  You can see just a wee bit of my panels just above Mary's hand.  Debra is busy pointing out different things in the sashing.  

 

While I was busy sewing on my strips, Mary was cutting up T-shirt fabric into strips to knit with.  She bought a broom handle and had a workshop make them into knitting needles.  I can hardly wait to see what she makes with them.  Very interesting.  Debra was busy sewing down the binding on her quilt and if you want to see more of it, go here to take a peek.

Miss Ashes was busy being Miss Ashes!  She had to lay right down on top of my strips ... what a gal again!  :o)

 At the end of the day, gifts were given to Mary and Debra ....

 .... and they in turn gave me a gift.

I couldn't believe my eyes.  A coffee mug, tote bag and sticky notes with We 3 Quilters logo on them.  I'm not worthy!!!!  Thank you, my friends!!!

This was our last get-together for sewing before I move north.  On the bright side, I will be back for a month in September to babysit my grand nephews.  Oh my, we have so much to plan!!

Have a great day!

My Sweet Klosjes

Let the celebrations begin ..... my klosjes spool quilt is done ... done .... done! This quilt is now gracing our dining room wall and DH and I are admiring it greatly. There was a lot of work in the making of this quilt. Hand piecing, hand applique, hand quilting .... oh yes, lots of work ... but so worth every single stitch! :o) A number of you were scared that the markings that I put on my quilt using Crayola Washable markers would not come out. Well, they did and on the first washing. We have a front load washer and it worked just fine.

I thank Valentina and all the other ladies for inspiring and challenging me to join in making a spool quilt. Just look what happens when we inspire and challenge each other!

The spool block comes from Block Base for EQ programs and is #3571 (The Spool of 1966). The flower border was made by me after being inspired by a pattern that was purchased from The Rabbit Factory. The pattern is #RF151 Blooms All Around.

Quilt size: 88" x 95-1/2" (top size before quilting was 92" x 98-1/2"). After washing and drying there was a loss of 4" on the height and 3-1/2" on the width. I always, always make my quilt at least 4" bigger so that after drying, the quilt will fit perfectly on our bed. All my fabric is pre-washed and 4" works for me.

Block size: 6" x 6"

Border block size: 6" x 7"

Design Source: EQ6 and Block Base software programs.

Time frame: Quilt was started on Mar. 21, 2010. The top was done Aug. 9, 2010 and finished being quilted on May 30, 2011. Just over one year for a hand pieced, hand applique and hand quilting. Now, that is not bad, eh!

I'm having a great day ... how about you?

School-house blues

Five years ago, at the Kingston, Ontario quilt show, this school-house quilt captivated my attention. It was a raffle quilt but I didn't win it. Oh darn! Still, it has been on my mind to make my own one day. Debra was also at that quilt show and she bought $40.00 worth of raffle tickets and didn't win either. Double darn! Since we started getting together a few years ago, we have been talking and talking about this quilt and decided to make our own.
March 2, 2013 - Update:  At last, the original designer and copyright holder of this pattern is Andrea Blackhurst and the pattern appeared in 'Quilt' magazine, fall 1996.  Thank you, Andrea for contacting me so that credit can finally be given to you. 

So, last Saturday, Debra and Mary (no blog) came to my house and we sewed. Below is my progress to date. For our meeting, I just had the middle house block done. I'm making the small alternative blocks using EQ7 and am having quite the time (fun) making them. Some of my blocks are paper pieced and others (the more intricate ones) I am doing them the English Paper Piecing method. The school-house block finish size is 12" x 12" and the small alternative block finish size is 6" x 6". My quilt will have 25 blocks (5 x 5) and will finish approx. 84" square. I'm not sure what size Debra's and Mary's will be. Time will reveal all our blocks and quilt sizes.

Now, for my 'show and tell', I had quilts in 3 separate piles around my house. There was no way they could be shown all at once as it would have been quilt overload. Miss Hank had to be coaxed off this pile. Ummm ... can we say princess and the pea ... but she sure does look cozy.

This is the aftermath of one showing. To all those ladies who have given me giveaway quilts and swap quilts .... your ears must have been burning as your quilts were greatly admired. It was fun to show the ladies my quilts and other quilts from around the world. Both Debra and Mary are participating in swap quilts and blocks and they have shown me their recent exchanges.

Oh yes, we had a fun day!

If you want to see another version of a school-house quilt go here and scroll down.
Have a great day!
BTW .... oh yes, one more project to be added to my UFO list for a total of 33 projects and 7 tops to be quilted. What can I say, that is life! :o)