1 UFO Done!

Well, here it is .... my siggy or signature block quilt ..... it is done! This is finish #1 for Finn's challenge that I signed up for ..... yeah me! :o) Instead of doing a label for the back of the quilt, here is my label block (I was short one block for the border corners). With this photo, you can see the backing that was used and some of my stipple machine quilting and my hand quilting in the borders.

Thank you, Connie for taking on the responsibility of hosting this block swap .... just look at what came of those blocks!

I wanted to take photos of this quilt down at Scarborough Bluffs where Jennifer and her DH and I went for a walk a few weeks ago. Today, it was too sunny for photos and too breezy. There will be another photo opportunity with another quilt.

Have a great day!

Pattern source: EQ6. Quilt size: 72-1/2" x 94" (top size before quilting 76" x 100").

Edit Nov.13,2009 - there is a slight bleed out with some of the blocks, so when you wash your quilt, use a product that will help absorb any excess dye.

Also, a couple of the signature blocks washed out the writing and some others faded a lot. Advice .... take photos of your blocks and then if any writing washes out, you can re-write the info. on the blocks.

Finish 3?

Are you up for a challenge? Finn is having another finish up some UFO’s by New Year’s Eve challenge. Last year she had this same challenge and I finished a couple of oldies but goodies …. and I have joined her again this year and will commit to finishing three. On the left is my Dresdan Plate (this quilt was part of last year's challenge and it never got done). Just need to do some more machine quilting in the blocks and something in the borders. Have you guessed applique? Score 100 points! :o)

On the right is my siggy swap quilt that I participated in this past spring. The centre has been machine quilted and only the borders remain to be done and they will have some hand quilting.

In case you are wondering ..... yes, I mix machine quilting and hand quilting together on my quilts and I love the look.

This little hanging needs something in the centre and a light bulb will go on at some point. This is a return favour to a lady down under and I need to get this done and mailed to her before the snow flies.

So, these are my three quilts that I hope to have done by New Year's Eve! Wish me luck! :o)

Have a great day!

A Border Thing

Lately, I have been busy trying to get a few flimsies to the top stage and borders just seem to stall me to no end. This is my siggy swap that I participated in this spring. The border with the little squares was a struggle to sew in .... a lot of adjustments had to be made on each side. I am happy with the way it looks and even Miss Hank approves.

Oh oh ..... looks like someone had fun while my back was turned getting the pins for basting.

... and this is my hexagon top with the borders on. It is not often I do a soft looking quilt, but I sure do love this one.

Have a great weekend!

Top of Siggies

Oh dear, I had a couple of oopsies with this top .... one I can easily fix (it is the top border), but the other one is a signature block, which is upside down and not easy to fix. So, it will stay and it will become my humble block.

By the time this top is finished, it will be a good twin size and perfect for taking a snooze under on the sofa.

The checkered border had to have a wee bit of coaxing to fit. So, now I just have to add some more borders to the other sides.

Two more blocks are needed for the borders. I have now made one and the other one is coming from a lady that was in the second group. As soon as that block arrives, the borders can be finished.

For any of you in the second group, you may have enough blocks to make a smaller lap quilt following this same layout. You would need to increase your sashings to 2-3/4" x 6" (cut 3-1/4" x 6-1/2"). If any of you are interested in border sizes, etc., please let me know and I will work that out for you.

Have a great day!

Exchange of siggies

Early this year, I joined an international siggy swap and this week, my siggies arrived from our hostess and after playing around with EQ6, this will be my layout.

There are still 2 siggy blocks that are not in this layout but they will be used in my border as corner blocks. Also, two of my blocks were returned to me as two people dropped out and instead of tossing them, they will be used in the body of my quilt.

I am so happy with my treasures and so many thanks to Connie for organizing this swap. There was a lot of time and effort put into the tasks involved …. but just look at my beauty that will soon be mine.

Have a great weekend!

More siggies

From around the world came these beauties ….

#1 – Filonia from Curacao - the ABC Islands in the Caribbean
#2 – Leona from N.S.W., Australia
#3 – Helen from Michigan, U.S.A. Helen is 84 yrs. young and I am so thrilled to have her siggy.
#4 – Nadia from Italy
#5 – Sara from Washington, U.S.A.
#6 – Maike from Belgium
#7 – Micki from Ireland
#8 – Anna from Hungary
#9 – Edda from Iceland
#10 – Katrin from Germany
#11 – Femija from Germany

I now have 44 blocks and am starting to get an itch to have them up on my design board …. but will wait a little longer as there will be more coming.

Have a great day!

….. and wherever you are, Happy Birthday, Mom! XXOO

Different siggies

I just can’t seem to get enough of siggies these days. So ….. to feed the craving, I have joined this new siggie group and have finished working on my 60 blocks which are due to send April 15.

Hooray …. I’m ahead of the game and so glad that I didn’t wait until a few weeks before the deadline to start working on them. These blocks seemed to take forever to finish.

It is funny, because I saw these siggies a few years ago and was not interested in them at all for swapping. Not at all. Then suddenly, a few months ago ... wham .... I just had to have them. Lately, I seem to find things that would not even stir a flicker of interest in me in the past until suddenly 'click' and the lightbulbs are flashing and I am very interested. So, you just never know when the 'click' will happen to you.

Have a great weekend!

Siggies

My latest siggies have been arriving pretty steadily. Even my DH looks forward to seeing my siggies in the mail and where they come from. I love to hear about their lives and why they chose their siggy motif.
#1 - Petronella, France
#2 – Fenny, The Netherlands
#3 – Tonny, The Netherlands
#4 – Alberta, Italy
#5 – Manie, The Netherlands
#6 – Magdi, Hungary
#7 – Marion, Germany
#8 – Marga,The Netherlands
#9 – Julie, Australia
#10 – Ann, France Ann was the recipient of a mini quilt that I made for the 4SQS swap last year and when I saw her siggy, I just had to have one from her.
#11 - Mary, Florida, USA
#12 - Heike, Germany
#13– Teresa, Oregon USA
#14– Irmgard, Germany
#15– Marie-Louise, Switzerland

There are more to show but I need to get them pinned onto a board for photo taking. Instead of doing that, I have been busy working on blocks and hexagons to send to a couple of different places for victims of the bushfires in Australia. They need to be mailed ASAP as the folks down under need time to work on the blocks and quilts for the cooler weather approaching.

Have a great day!

Prints in the snow …

Envelopes have been arriving with siggies from around the world. What fun it is to open the letters and see what someone has sent me. :o) Quite often, I don't know that a siggie is coming to me until I receive the envelope. To me, each time I go to the mail box I'm curious to see what is there besides bills and junk mail. These are what came in recently. 

#1 – Cuny from The Netherlands 

#2 – Vera from Belgium (Vera is 72 and still quilting ….. well done) 

#3 – Anita from Belgium (Vera is the mother, and Anita is her daughter) 

#4 – Bonnie from North Carolina,U.S.A. 

#5 – Renee from The Netherlands 

#6 – Kieny from Taiwan #7 – Puck from The Netherlands 

#8 – Tini from The Netherlands (Tini is 71 yrs. old and still quilting ..... bravo).

#9 - Freda from California, U.S.A.

....... and here are my siggies that have been sent out. 

 

Prints in the snow. That is what happens when we get the first dusting of snow. Prints. What animal made them? It is always fun for me to take a peek and try to figure out who made them. When we were young, my Dad taught us how to recognize paw prints whenever we went with him into the bush. It was fascinating to try and figure out if some of the tracks were being stalked and how fresh the prints were. I love the fabric that was used to make the triangles. It was perfect to frame my center block. I say ‘was’ because there isn’t anymore of it left. Making these siggies is a good way to use up scraps and good to get them out of my stash. 

Siggies and ....

…. another block. I’ve started to fill in some of the leaves, flowers, etc. with embroidery thread and the look is more intense; whereas before, the blocks were OK but they really didn’t stand out much.

Below are my siggies that have been received so far. They have come from far and wide. What fun it has been receiving letters and opening them to reveal really unique blocks. I will have a gorgeous quilt one fine day! :o)

#1 – Rianne from The Netherlands
#2 – Elfriede from Austria
#3 – Beate from Germany
#4 – Enrica from Italy
#5 – Ria from The Netherlands
#6 – Puck from The Netherlands
#7 – Annelies from The Netherlands

When I saw Elfriede’s name on the list for siggie swapping, I just had to have one from her. She lives in my Dorschner ancestral city of Linz, Austria. Lately, I have been busy doing genealogical research and when her letter arrived, I was on the computer looking at that family tree research. Who knows, we may be related ….. it is a small world after all.

Annelies is the hostess for the siggie swap and if you are interested in participating, visit her blog.

Have a great day!

Supervised Siggies

... and another block.

Hank (the resident critic) had to oversee the process of siggie making. If there are any boo-boos, blame it on Hank. She was ‘in my face’.

These are my siggies that went out in the mail recently. Some of them have been received already and I have heard from the other folks and their siggies are on their way to me.

I will show my siggies that have been sent to me in another post. I don’t know how many to collect or what the layout will be ….. I’m just collecting them for now. What fun, mail coming in from all over the world. I wonder what my postman thinks when he delivers at our home.

Have a great day!

Siggies and quilt shows

I have started on the adventure of collecting siggies. My first block arrived last week from The Netherlands and my first block in return is being mailed today. As well, I am making an extra block and will be doing something with them a long way down the road from now.

It is ironic, but when I first saw the siggies going around, I had decided there was no interest there for me …. and here I am today participating in these exchanges. I find my tastes changing all the time and that pleases me.

Now, for photos of 3 quilt shows (Barrie, Scarborough and Ingersoll), please stop by Debra’s blog to see photos. I made it to 2 of the shows and the quilts were wonderful. Debra is so organized with her photos and there are a lot of them.

While at the quilt show in Barrie, we ran across this couple. It was their jackets that caught our attention and when we commented about the jackets, the gentleman heard us and he opened his jacket and said that the lining was by Jenny Beyer. Now, how about that ….. he is definitely into his wife’s quilting. They were so kind to pose for us. It turns out that the lady is from my hometown of North Bay and she won an award in Houston for her husband’s jacket. It is made out of recycled ties and she used leather in the yolks, cuffs collar and hem. Her jacket is an African theme with applique pieces on top of the background diamonds/triangles. Talk about walking art .... both jackets are wonderful!

Have a great day!