Summer Sweet

Yep, we sure could use a bit of summer here right now.  The winter has been long and cold with lots of snow.  Oh well, spring is on its' way and before we know it, the hot muggy days of summer will be here soon enough.

A number of you were wondering about my top 'Summer Sweet' (that I have been exchanging the sashings with a different colour) and was the block pieced or appliqued.  Actually, both.  Here is a close-up of the block:

 One of the flower stems:

 The vine border:

How I wished that photos were taken of the process of the paper-piecing portion.  There was a gazillion triangles that were spread out on a table and I would pick and choose the colours as needed per arc and there are a lot of arcs in this top.  This was done before my blog days and the thought of taking photos never occurred to me.

The pattern appeared in Quilter's Newsletter magazine, vol. 355 from Sept. 2003.

This is the actual pattern by Linda Neustadt.  As soon as I saw this pattern, I knew that it was one that would be made and it was started way back in August 2005.  The top was finished December 2005 and it has sat in a box on a shelf since then because I just wasn't happy with the way it turned out.  I love Linda'a version but wasn't happy with my version until now.

This is what my quilt looked like with the white sashing:

Once I put this top on the bed for an overall look, I just didn't like it and played around with a medium blue sashing to give me an idea of what it would look like.  Suddenly, this quilt top started to sing to me.  Am I too picky ... or ..... crazy?  I will leave you to decide!  :o)

So, that is my story about this quilt.

Have a great day!

Summer Sweet UFO

Another abandoned UFO got pulled off the shelf this week.  It is time to tackle replacing the white sashing over to the bright blue sashing.  I did start the process about a year or two ago, but dumped it in favour of something more interesting because, let's face it, unsewing is not a good thing. 

When I assembled the blocks (way back when), my basement floor was my design wall and everything looked fine up close; but once I acquired a design wall and could view the overall look from a distance, this quilt top did not give me happy thoughts.  Everything looked .... well ..... too white.  Now that the bright blue is getting installed, this quilt top is starting to sing to me.  That blue is helping to define the blocks and give my eyes a place to rest.  So, I will plod along and just get it done and free up another bin.

 

Have a great day!

We 3 Quilters' Visit, part deux

This will be my last post about the We 3 Quilters' visit to our home. I thought you might like to see the eye candy that was around our home while they were here.

On my quilt ladder:

In our dining room.  Do you see those chairs stacked on top of each other .... they are an upcoming re-upholstery project.

 On another wall in our dining room:

In our living room, my Winter wall hanging.  This quilt sure depicts what it has been like this winter way up here.

In our entrance:

In our T.V. room

 Both Debra and Mary showered me with gifts:

This T-shirt was given to me by Mary at Xmas and I can finally show it off:

My husband received this mug rug for his birthday (more about this on Debra's blog).  He doesn't want us to get dirty, so it will be hung with my other mini wall hangings in my studio.  This photo was taken on our last day at our home in Toronto (what a fantastic souvenir) and Mary had the fabric made from this company and then she made it into a mug rug.  I must say that Mary always comes up with original ideas for Debra and I.

 My two buds went home with a bag of goodies:

Inside the bag, was this magazine and quilt pattern as well as 2 kitchen hand towels and 2 dishcloths (which I forgot to take a photo of):

Please go over to Debra's blog to see her side of the story and lots more photos.

It was a great visit (although it went by way too quickly) and we had lots of laughter and fun and I think that each of us ended the visit about 3 lbs. heavier!  Oh dear!  :o)

Thank you, DH for driving back and forth to Sudbury and for putting up with us.

Have a great day!

We 3 Quilters' visit, Part 1

A week ago today, my friends,  Debra and no-blog Mary flew from Toronto for a visit.  DH and I drove to Sudbury to pick them up (about 1-1/2 hr. drive) at the airport and back home to North Bay for a 4 day visit.  Debra is on the left, that is me in the centre and Mary on the right.  Everyone was bundled up for the cold weather; but the girls bought warm temps with them for their visit, which was such a nice relief from the cold, cold weather we had been having.

Once home, a house tour had Mary twirling around in our living room singing 'The hills are alive .....'.  They loved seeing my quilts everywhere, they loved our home and they loved the snow.  They were amazed at what we had done on our home since we moved in.  Our home is a work-in-progress at the moment.

 

We all wore socks and slippers .... except Debra.  She went around our home barefoot.  She even posed for a photo outside in the snow.  Brave of her to do so!  Actually, I think she was digging for the bottles of Skinny Cow that were thrown outside into the snow bank to cool off.  :o)

Debra was given the bedroom adjacent to my studio.  She works different shifts and I knew that she would be awake at different times to the rest of us and she could applique and watch TV while we slept.

I tried to make the sitting area in my studio as comfortable as possible. 

Comfortable chairs - check
Good lighting - check
Quilt magazines - check
Quilts to snuggle into - check

Don't we all look cosy and settled in? 

I have always wanted a wall to display my mini quilts and I now have it.  There are more quilts to put up, but this is a nice display so far.

Lots of eye candy - check

Mary slept here and I think she was thrilled with her bedroom.

 

Of course, there was an extra quilt if she needed it. 

So, this is part 1 of their visit.  Come back for more.

 

Have a great day!

February OPAM tally

February was a good month for me .... project wise ..... as in completed projects.  Can we say 'yeah'?!

First off was my ottoman (which I posted about here):

Then, a knitting frenzy resulted in 4 dishcloths and 4 hand towels that were Xmas gifts to Debra and no-blog Mary (my We 3 Quilters buds) when they were recently here for a 4-day visit.

This glider rocking chair finally got .....

... cushions made just in time for the visit of Debra and Mary (more on that later).

I am so glad to have joined the 2013 OPAM challenge .... it will motivate me to accomplish more and get projects done!

Have a great day!

A different kind of sewing

Lately, I've been busy doing some re-upholstery pieces and there are a few more things to be fixed.

First up, this storage box was picked up at a thrift store for $10.  We've seen it there for over a month and if things linger there too long, it gets trashed.  I saw the needlework and just knew that it was coming home with me.  Whoever did the work, would not have been pleased to see it in the garbage.  Now that it has been washed and dried, I'll keep the needlework for something else. 

 

After a good cleanup, the upholstery was started and after half a day of work, it was done.  It will provide extra storage and we always need extra storage, don't we!  One thing I've done was to coat the corners of the box with Vicks Rub (learned about this on Pinterest) to keep the girls from using it as a scratching post.  So far, they have stayed away from it.  The cost for this project was $10 (for the box) plus $5 for the fabric.  The scrap batting came from my stash and we reused all the hardware. We could not have made this from scratch for $15.  This was a great find.

 

 

Next up is this chair.  The foam has been bought and the fabric is coming from my stash.

 

My friends Debra and Mary (of my We 3 Quilters group) are coming in less than 2 weeks for a visit and I need to have my studio cozy and comfortable for them.  Debra gave me this chair before we moved and it has been sitting unfinished since then.  Shame on me! 

 

I do have borders on my school house top, but want to surprise them before posting about it.  So, stayed tuned for that in a few weeks.

 

Have a great day!

Log cabin and review

Back in December, I was approached about doing a review for a Fons and Porter ebook along with a number of other quilters in blogland.  It has been interesting to read their reviews.  Now, the time has come to do my review.

For my review, I have chosen to take one pattern and work on it and see what it turns out like.

This is the pattern that I have been wanting to make since I saw it:

This is it .... just the one page.  No other instructins.  No yardage .... not even for the borders. The instructions for the setting triangles and corners are vague.  This pattern would be considered challenging (but it is not rated at all).  Regardless, I love a challenge and this pattern ticks off all of those boxes for me.

To help me with the cutting, I made a chart to guide me for cutting two strips from the same fabric.  The chart in the pattern (you have to click onto the photo above to see what I mean) just did not work for me, but it was a good starting off point.

Once the strips were cut out, they were laid on a board in the order of how they are to be sewn. 

Since the pattern did not indicate which direction the seams are to be pressed, I opted to press my seams open.  BTW, it turns out that the seams could be pressed any way and it won't interfere with the adjoining blocks. 

 Two blocks got made very quickly.

What the heck, how about another two blocks.

Yes, I'm loving these blocks and this pattern.  Also, there are no cutting errors with this pattern and that is nice to see.

What do I think about this ebook? 

• There are seven quilts.  Four are rated (with complete instructions), three are not rated (vague instructions).    
• There is a quilt for every person at the easy, intermediate and challenging level.
• There are great tips. 

Thank you to the Fons and Porter team for asking me to review their ebook.  The experience was interesting, it was a thrill being asked and I can tick this item off my bucket list.

Go here and check it out for yourself and make your very own log cabin quilt.

Have a great day!