Getting there!

Oh my, progress has been made on my Xmas Stars.  This is an excellent project to work on while watching the Olympics.  All the remaining pieces have now been prepped, but the sections need to be sewn together.  Very soon, this will be a top!  Oh happy day when that happens.

Last Friday, there was an impromptu garage day with three of us stitching away and getting caught up on news, etc.  It has been over two years since we last did this and it was such a happy visit for us.  Just a few hours to catch up and then back to our homes.

Claudia showed us her hexagon top that she finished.  During Covid, she has made a couple hexie tops/quilts.  Will there be another garage day with more of the girls soon?  Time will tell.

Now, I'm going back to stitching my Xmas Stars and watching the Olympics.

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

Darn ... not my quilt!

I just have to share this quilt with you!  It belongs to my friend Darlene (quilting in the garage owner).   We have both been working on hand projects and this is what she has been working on this past winter and summer.

Oh, and did I mention that is is hand quilted too!  She is using perle cotton and big stitching and  cotton batting with no scrim. 

Beautiful work, Darlene!  Perfect for your cottage to snuggle under when that lake breeze is a bit cool.

Darlene thought of me and how I am always on the lookout for nice spots to take quilt photos and her cottage has a lot of nice areas.

We are both working on a secret project and later in the year, we can both reveal our project.  More on that later. 

What are you stitching today?

Have a great day!

Oh, just another EPP quilt finished!

LOL ..... this quilt has been sitting on a shelf for almost 2 yrs. since the top was finished.  Just lately, a bunch of my tops have been sent out to a LAer and she is getting them done for me and I am enjoying my quilts so much more than just a top.

A close-up of the half hexagons (HH) that are made into triangles.  The size of the HH are 3-1/2" at the widest point and 1-1/2" high.  All hand pieced using the English Paper Piecing method.  To make one triangle, you need a light, medium and dark half hexagon.  Once the triangles are made, just rotate them around so that no light HH is against another HH and so on.

To memorialise my precious cats that are no longer with us, I found two cat prints in a stash from someone and I wrote their names on the HH.  This is for Miss Ashes.

 This one is for Miss Hank.  Oh my, how I miss those two girls .....

Where did the pattern come from for this quilt?  I saw a photo in Fons & Porter (March/April 2006) magazine and knew one day that a quilt would be started.  It kept drawing me back to it time and time again.  It won!
Quilt Details:
Started:  Nov. 2015
Top finished:  Aug. 2017
Quilt finished:  May 2019
Quilt size:  62" x 81" (top size:  65" x 85-1/2" before quilting, washing and drying)
Batting:  Hobbs cotton/poly 80/20
Half Hexagon size:  3-1/2" x 1-1/2"
Machine quilted by:  Kat's Quilts

We had a garage day this past Saturday.  Again, we were drooling over projects that were shown.

Here is me showing off my great-niece's quilt.

 Darlene showed her Double Wedding Ring quilt. 

Karin put up her wool applique blocks for us to browse over and switch around to give a balanced look.  She was wondering what sashing colour to use.  We all said black.

 Here is a close-up of some of her blocks.  They are gorgeous.

Karin also showed us another top that she is working on and was wondering what border colour to use.  I suggested a lime greenish colour and told her to go over and put her arm up on the border area.  She had the perfect lime green blouse that was the perfect colour.  The other ladies
 thought yellow/gold would be better. 

So that was our day in the garage.

Have a great stitching day!

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

This and That ....

Not much quilting has been going on this week.  I've been busy cleaning my studio and adjacent bedroom.

During the process, didn't two ufo's surface!  Darn, where did they come from?  They weren't on my ufo list.

Red and white blocks from a workshop that Carla Alexiuk (http://www.quiltingbytheriver.ca/) did last year at our day guild.  I really need to continue making more blocks before everything is forgotten that she taught us.

More red and white blocks.  These are on my design wall and this will be worked on.   These two ufo's need to be worked on at the same time because they use the same fabrics and better to work on them together and then clean up the mess.

After doing a bit of cleaning, my ironing station has been set up again and my quilt rack is back up on my wall.  Just in a different location.

This was my old set up which I absolutely loved.  Sadly, it got dismantled because .....

.... this is my newest acquisition.  Later this spring, it will be sanded and painted white and then I can start filling it up with quilts for display and storage.  This is part of my five-year plan to reduce and finish tops, ufos and stash.  Bins and shelves will start to disappear from my studio and this unit can be moved to a different location.

This project below has not been shown for a while now.  Much progress has been made.  Will the end of April see the embroidery completed?  Only time will tell.

Meetings in the garage continue regardless if it raining, snowing or sun is shining.  We show up and have a blast!

Karin has been busy finishing rug hooking projects.  Can you see the cat?  Not the best photo with the light from behind her.

Barbara is sewing binding on a QOV quilt.  My embroidery project is what I brought with me to work on and you can see it on the bottom of this photo.

 Claudia made more log cabin blocks for this hanging.

Claudia also showed us the project she is taking with her to New Zealand (she is there now) for her vacation.

 Darlene is going to be a grandma and she showed us all the baby items she has made .... so far .....

So, now what should I work on?  This mess .... OMG!  How did this happen?  I do love my room with all these lovely mini quilts.  Made by friends from all over the world.  This mess needs to get sorted out lickety split so that when entering, my wall of art can be enjoyed for all to see.

On that note, have a great day!  LOL

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

Another month ... another finish

March is here already ..... and the snow is still falling.  No time to lament about the snow.  Just grin and bare it because soon it will start to melt.

In the meantime, here is another finish.

My apple core quilt which I call "Red Delicious".

Why?  See the red border before the outer border?  Red skin for the red delicious apple.  Get it?  LOL

 Done!

Quilt details:

Started:  May 2014

Top Finished:  December 2015

Quilt finished:  February 2019  Hand pieced!

Quilt size:  57" x 81-1/4" (before washing and drying: 58" x 82-1/4")  This quilt was washed and dried on a rack.

Batting:  80/20 poly cotton

Machine quilted by:  Kat's Quilts (a new LAer to our area).

So, that is two finishes for this year so far.  Three more quilts in waiting for binding.

Are you up for some garage photos?

Claudia's hexagon top by Edyta Sitar.  Claudia has been working on this for a while now.  Isn't it just gorgeous!  Darlene has been working on a wedding ring that you can see on the left side.  Yellow and blues.

 A close-up of the broderie perse.

Claudia and a new project.  Lovely!

Darlene is hand quilting a hexagon top.  Can't show photos yet.

Darlene is showing a rug hooking that Karin wanted to get rid of and Darlene is now the happy recipient and will be turning this piece into a sofa cushion for her cottage.

Karin was busy redoing a block that she had issues with.  Wool work applique.  We are all hoping to see a finished top soon.  Eh, Karin?

 

We do have a new member, but for some reason, I didn't take any photos of what she was working on.  I guess I was just admiring and drooling over everyone's projects that I forgot.  My bad!

Here is me and Coach.  I'm trying to work on my embroidery.  We manage.  LOL

This is where I'm at with my embroidery.  February was a good month and this is what I've been bringing with me to the garage.  Stitch-by-stitch .... inch-by-inch ..... this is getting done.

February was a good month.  We all kept busy.  Let's see what March does.

Have a great day!

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

Last day in the garage

Before I get into photos (aka eye candy) of our garage day, how about an update on my log cabin?

There are only two more rows to assemble and sew onto the other sections.  My husband looked at the design wall and said it looks like the tail of a peacock.  It is so colourful and seems to shimmer.  Can I get this old ufo done before 2018 ends?  I think so!  There might have to be a slight tweaking before sewing those last two rows.  There seems to be a few too many darker blocks in the bottom right corner.  I couldn't see that until looking at this photo.

Now onto the garage photos.  OMG .... the eye candy was overwhelming.

Darlene has been busy trying to finish the borders on this top.  She also finished a Xmas panel (on the right) by doing big stitch hand quilting.  She plans to add some bling to it to make it sparkle.

Darlene purchased 2 metres of this printed flannel fabric and is working her flannel stash to add sections between the flower borders.

Below, you can see the diamond shaped sections that will be added to make the top wider.  Photos just don't do justice to how rich looking this printed flannel fabric is.

Claudia has been busy working on a few new projects.  She just purchased the It Takes 2 pattern as well as the embroidery pattern and is making it in blues (blocks on the right).

Below is a new block to be added to the others.  I showed her my few blocks that I had started years ago.  Maybe seeing her progress will prompt me to go back to my old ufo and make some more blocks next year.

Claudia also started Sweet Surrender (the diamond strip with applique).  I don't dare to start that pattern yet as there are way too many ufo's for me to work on.  One day, but not yet.

Karin brought in a wool applique project.  The blocks are stunning.  Another ufo that she should finish!

I did some stitch-in-the-ditch hand quilting on this old quilt that was finished way back in 2003.  This quilt never hanged well on the wall and it needed more hand quilting in the borders.  There was just half a border to do and that got finished yesterday in the garage.  Once home, this quilt got hung up and it hangs wonderfully now.  More on that later.

Lois was busy trimming these blocks for QOV quilts.  Once these were done, she worked on her shamrock blocks (which I didn't take a photo of).

So, that was our day in the garage and might be our last one for 2018.   Between Xmas and New Year's .... well that is a quiet time for most of us and who knows if there will be an impromptu gathering.

I regaled them of my episode about touching Elf on the Shelf and the big do-do that I got myself into.  OMG!  For those of you that don't know about this, please never, ever ..... touch the elf in front of little ones.  The elf will lose it's magic power and a letter to Santa explaining what happened had to take place and Santa had to recharge elf's power back.  It is a REALLY big deal.  Now you know .....

It was just a happy day for all of us working away on old ufo's and new projects.  A day of inspiration and friendship.  What could be better than that!

Have a great stitching day!