October doings!

Well, didn't October fly by quickly!  I was busy and then came down with a cold ..... but sewing did happen.

Our Canadian Thanksgiving was busy at the cottage.  There were two camper trailers, trailers for the ATV's, cars and trucks.  We decided that more space was needed to accommodate all the vehicles and the toys.  Next year we will be busy cutting down some trees to make space.  It will be good to open up the back a bit more for fire protection.

My Hubby's brother came for a visit.  I'm so glad that he came now because next year could be a different story.  We did a face time with their sister in B.C.  Out of 8 siblings, there are only 3 left.  So sad.

This UFO is now a top, well almost!  Borders are left to do.  Yeah for me!  This project was my choice to try to finish for the Chookshed Stitchers 2024 Challenge.  It was not on the original list, but we could change our list along the way.

Then, I wanted to add at least one more row onto my Chevron Log Cabin quilt as you go and ..... viola .... Row 6 was added!  So, am quite happy with how the month of October turned out this much progress.  Row 6 is the half-way mark.

How did I do for the 10 month challenge?  Well, when I looked at the list of UFO's .... not that great but am still happy with the push to get a few UFO's done and lots of other things.  I will have to rethink how I will do the challenge for next year.

My list for the challenge was #l, 3, 5, 7, and 9.   Out of this list, only #9 got done.  My Rail Fence Delight.  I'm still not finished doing the hand quilting around the stars, so no photo of the full quilt.

Alternate months were for the following:

NICU baby blankets - none got done

Gift or donation quilts or tops - oh yes, a few here got done

Adult bibs - none got done

Adding hanging sleeves onto quilts - oh yes, lots got done.  With my love of displaying my quilts, these sleeves needed to be added to the quilts.  Whew, so glad they are done and being used.  

Frankenpiecing batting - lots, but no photo

QAYG Log Cabin blocks - I've made great progress and the pieced batting went into these blocks.

What else did I do during these months?  Binding quilts.

So, this challenge was good for me and I will join again in the new year.  Thank you, Deanna, for hosting the challenge!

October showed off it's wonderful colours.  The leaves are all down now.  Yes, we have had snow but it didn't last long.

With the cooler temps, Ridley is looking for heat.  We find him laying on top of the fireplace.  He knows where to go to get warm.  LOL

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

September Results

October 1 .... the year is just zipping by much too quickly.

September was a good month for me, after all.  I was busy with wedding clothing alterations and helping out with rehearsal dinner and wedding brunch.  Glad that is over.

So, let's see what I did last month for the September Chookshed Stitchers 2024 Challenge.

Binding got sewn onto this quilt and it is now finished.  This quilt won't be shown just yet as I'm adding in some hand quilting around the applique.  I know I'm fussy, but that is what makes me happy.  Sometime in October, you will see this quilt.

This quilt got the binding sewn on and is now finished.  Yahoo, two quilts bound last month!

Much progress on this Log Cabin and I will continue to work on it for October for the Chookshed challenge.

Another row was added to my Chevron Log Cabin quilt.  Only six more rows to go!  Just have to say that I love doing this quilt-as-you-go method.  This will also be my October Chookshed challenge.

At first, it didn't seem that much got done ..... but yes, a lot did.  So very happy with that.  Good thing that I blog because it shows me what I've been doing month by month and throughout all the years.

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

August and September Chookshed 2024 Stitchers Challenge

Well, for the Chookshed 2024 Stitchers Challenge .... for August, my Lorna's Vine bin got taken off the shelf, a few pieces pinned onto my design wall ... a few decisions made on what the next few steps should be .... and that was it.  So, I failed there.  Oh dear me!  LOL

Instead of working on that challenge .... this project is what is keeping me grounded.  I just love working on the single hexies one at a time.  Great progress since my last photo.  There are now 3-1/4 rows done and all stitched together!  Yeah me!  The hexies that are pinned a few inches below the others are quilted but not sewn together.  They will be in time.

Here are a few close-ups of the finished hexies.  This way you can see the fabrics better instead of at a distance.  I just love the fabrics in each hexie.

A lot of hand sewing of the binding and hand quilting have been done on each hexie and I love doing this method of quilt-as-you-go.  Will be doing more quilts this way as time goes on.

A couple of feet of binding got sewn down on this quilt.  Many more feet to go ....

So, for September ..... I'm not going to even look at what the number is.  I just looked at my calendar and the whole month has appointments and events.  There are two sessions per week with the Alzheimer's Society and a wedding and babysitting and school pick-ups.  There is outside work that will need to be taken care of as well.  I know what my reality is and taking out another bin won't help at all.

Instead, I will continue to work on my hexies and the above quilt and be happy if anything gets done on them.  By the time I sit down after supper to watch some t.v., I will be tired and may even fall asleep in my chair.  Instead of napping, one of these can be pulled to be worked on.

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

July Challenges

For July, the Chookshed Stitchers 2024 Challenge, the number to work on is #1 and this is it:

Alas, that project will be NOT be worked on after all.  There is a wedding quilt that needs to be started and made this month and that is what will be worked on instead.  My niece already knows about this quilt, so the pattern can be shown.

My Chevron Log blocks will continue to be worked on.  I try to get at least 2 blocks done per day.  The QAYG bit will be done later.  

If time permits .... perhaps this fabric might be used for another gift quilt .... but that is probably wishful thinking.

I will try and get the binding on this quilt ....

No-blog Mary did a great job in restoring this quilt back to life.  She had to put on a new backing plus new binding.  She did better than me last month.  She said the job was tedious, hot and heavy.  Her daughter will be delighted her quilt will be usable once again.

Ridley is back to have seizures again.  The meds are helping.  They are not daily (last ones were a month ago) and I'm wracking my brains trying to think of the trigger.

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

June Challenges

For the Chookshed Stitchers 2024 Challenge, #10 was pulled.

For #10, this is what I can work on:

NICU baby blankets

Gift or donation quilts or tops

Adult bibs

Adding hanging sleeves onto quilts

Frankenpiecing batting

QAYG Log Cabin blocks

I have chosen to work on my QAYG Log Cabin blocks and this is where I'm at right now.  There are 7 more blocks ready to work on.  All the strips and triangles have been cut out and ready to for paper piecing.  The quilting bit will be worked on later as I do want those for take along projects.

Then, I will get sleeves and labels onto these two quilts and have them ready for hanging at any time.

There is a gift quilt that I need to start working on ..... so that may or may not get started.  We'll see as time goes on.

For my binding challenge with no-blog Mary, this is what we are working on:

Mary's quilt to bind and repair.  Mary made this quilt for her daughter many, many years ago.  The backing needs replacing as well as the binding.  Her daughter doesn't want to give up on this quilt and I can understand why!  Mary said it probably would be easier to just make a new quilt .... but no way says the daughter.

My quilt will be this one.  It has been waiting in the closet for many years now and it is time to finish it.

My time has been busy dealing with Ridley.  He now has meds to help control his seizures.  There seems to be a pattern for the seizures.  One day he had 3 seizures and they started about 2 hrs. after he ate.  The vet did some tests and the results will be ready in about a week as the samples had to be sent away for analysis.  At least now with the meds, I can control the seizures.

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

May Challenges

Oh, what a month May has been for me.  Busy, busy, busy with appointments for hubby.

So, did anything get accomplished?  For the Chookshed Stitchers 2024 Challenge, nothing got done on this star project.  I did find the book (which was in the bottom of the bin), read through the next round of instructions and just put the book back in the bin with the project and closed the lid.  Oh dear!  That doesn't sound like a good start on getting this ufo worked on.

So, what did I do?

I worked on finishing this ufo instead and so, so happy that it is finally a top.  There was a lot of hand stitching those stars and circles and bit by bit one border got done and then another and so on until ..... DONE!  My Rail Fence Delight and how delightful it turned out.  The size is 75-1/2" x 91-1/4"

Then, the days slipped by in a blur and the binding was not on my quilt yet.  Finally, with one day to spare it got done.  I just love the backing fabric which came from a duvet cover from Ikea.

So, here is my quilt done and ticked off for my May Binding Challenge with no-blog Mary.  There will be a separate post about our challenge and about this quilt.

Even though #5 of the Chookshed Stitchers 2024 Challenge did not get worked on, I'm very happy with what did get accomplished.  Don't worry, that star project has not been shelved, it is still around my cutting table, so it will get worked on at some point.

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

May Challenges

May has come ..... the grass is green ..... things are starting to sprout up in the garden.

With May comes new challenges.

For the Chookshed Stitchers Challenge 2024, this is my UFO to work on.  This project dates back to 2014.  I took a class when my friend Debra came up to our guild and taught us this pattern.   The book is someplace and I will need to find it to figure out how to do the rest.  If not, then I will need to put on my thinking cap and figure it out!  

I will also still work on my Rail Fence Delight.  I do want to get this project moved along more.  It will take another month or so because there is still a lot of applique to do.

Also for May, no-blog Mary and I are still doing our monthly binding challenge.  This is Mary's quilt to bind.  Cute, eh!

This will be my quilt to bind. 

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

April challenges

April has been a busy month with appointments, a sick cat and family functions.  Not much got accomplished in my studio, but I'm very happy at what got done.

Now, our sick cat.  It all started a couple of weeks ago, when I tried putting Ridley outside on a harness.  He absolutely freaked out.  He did not want to be outside and once back inside he started throwing up his food.  A number of days later and a visit to the vet and x-rays showed nothing there to cause the sickness.  He was given meds to stop the nausea and vomiting and a few days later, he was fine.  Then, I was gone for a day and he was sick while I was gone.  I'm thinking the cause is anxiety.  He is fine again and back to healthy eating and playing.  He will just need some time to adjust to my comings and goings and relax.

So, what got done?  My quilt binding challenge with no-blog Mary got done ..... with Ridley's help, of course.  We had a nice nap under the quilt and it has been Ridley approved!  More on this quilt later.

Now, for the Chookshed Stitchers Challenge #9 ..... my Rail Fence Delight ufo has progressed along nicely.  The second panel has all those pieces appliqued in place.  The big red star needs to be prepped and stitched on.  All the stars and circles in the outer border have been prepped and are ready to be appliqued once I get there.  

Depending on what number will be pulled for May, I will more than likely still work on this ufo.  Got to get it done.

May will be here tomorrow and that means different quilts for display and a post will be coming for them.

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

March Chookshed Stitchers Challenge update

March was a bit of a dud for me ...... my quilting mojo went to sleep and not as much got done.

Why?  Well ..... we have a new member of our family.  Meet Ridley.  He came to our back door and after posting on local FB pages to see if someone owned him and even after bringing him to SPCA for microchip scanning, no one has come forward and we have decided to keep him.  He is so friendly and loving and used to people and kids.

He captured hubby's heart and that was it .... he is ours now.  I did go through the listing for poisonous plants and quite a few house plants got culled to keep him safe.

He even helped me to bind a quilt but mostly got in the way.  I can see a lot of  him photobombing in my future!  LOL

I did eventually get binding on my quilt ..... more on that later.

The bargello strips all got sewn together and it just needs two outer borders and this top will be done.

Three tops went to the LAer and came back a week later.  Yea .... more quilts to bind!

Seven pillowcases got made:

More batting pieces got frankenpieced for an ongoing project .... and that is such a good thing!

So, that's it for March.  Now, what about April?  #9 was pulled and this is what I will be working on.  It has been years since working on this UFO.  How lovely it will be to finish my "Rail Fence Delight".

Upcoming posts will be to show my newest finished quilt and also what quilts are on display for April.  Stay tuned!

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

Linking to:  Chookshed Stitchers 2024 Challenge