Coming up for air!

The renovations are coming along quite nicely.  Two bathrooms almost done and once toilets and taps are installed, they are ready to be used.

Seven doors got painted and in between waiting times for the paint to dry and to keep out of the way of the tilers ..... a bit of quilting got done.

A huge box of scraps was recently acquired .... not that I really needed them ..... but scraps are scraps and I love scraps .... big time.   I won't be keeping all these scraps.  They will be shared amongst friends and what they don't want will be brought to guild to share there.

Out of the huge box, this container was pulled out.  There were strips already cut out.  A whole lot of strips.  So, what to do with them?  What you see are the left overs that were not used. 

A whole bunch of rail fence blocks were made.  The bottom section has been sewn into rows and that is why there is a difference between the top two sections.  Why are they in sections?  Well, you will just have to sit tight and wait and see what goes there.

So, what else did I do?

This top below got marked up and sandwiched ready for machine quilting and some hand quilting.

My Kaleidoscope quilt got a lot of hand quilting done on it.  The center is all done.  Now, it is just the borders to do.

Between the painting and quilting and renovations .... it has been a good couple of weeks .... but my paint brush is calling me.  There are 3 more doors and door frames to be painted.  Ah well, that is life.

Some days, it feels like nothing gets done.  Then, I look at previous posts and well, yes, a lot got accomplished. 

Today would have been my Mom's 97th birthday.  She has been gone 7 years now.  So, Mom ... Happy Birthday ... wherever you are ...

Have a great day!

Eau de Toilette and Break

Ah, the serenity of our master bedroom.  I did break down and buy a whole cloth cream coloured quilt.  My hexagon quilt looks so good folded up and displayed at the foot of the bed.  Years ago, I did take a week long workshop on how to make my own .... but you know, where will the time be found to make one?  So, next best thing ... buy one.

My quilt ladder was moved from the living room to the master bedroom.  A perfect fit, don't you agree?

Stop the press!  What in the world is that toilet (underneath a sheet) doing in the bedroom?  You guessed it.  Renovations.  The sheet was put over the toilet so that our nearly 3 yr. old niece would not use it.  You've heard the horror stores about kiddies in renovation stores using the displayed toilets?  We didn't want that to happen with us.

 Main bathroom waiting for tiles to come in.  The new tub looks gorgeous.

Basement bathroom.  That orange paint is going .... going ..... gone.  The shower tiles are staying.  they are old and funky.  I love them!

Our living room has become a painting station (once again).  There are quite a number of doors still to be painted.

Then, our brand new skylights will need to be fixed or removed.  Can you see the bulge in the wall?  Yes, we have leaks.  One way or another, I'm not going to deal with this anymore.

 This is the kitchen skylight.  Again leaks and more damage.  Can you hear me screaming?  Ugh!!!!

Good news, though.  I finally found my apple core templates.  They were misplaced during a clean-up in my studio before Christmas and it was such a relief to finally track them down.  So, this project is back up on the small design wall.

A few new additions (on the left) to my main design wall.  I will have to talk about them .... but not now. 

With all that is happening with renovations .... I will be taking a break from blogging. 

So, have a great day!

Ho Hum

These days, I'm jumping around working on different projects.  Boredom has set in and when that happens, different projects come out and get worked on.  Well .... at least they get worked on and that is a good thing .... right!

My Colonial Scrappy Garden has received much attention these past few weeks.  Much progress has been made. What has taken me the longest to do was cutting out all the pieces for the other half of this quilt.  Now that they are cut, I can EPP to my heart's content.

Below are pieces that need to be sewn into triangles.  They will go back in the bottom section (see above photo) where it looks like a chunk is missing.

Nine chicken pincushions have been made.   These six are for an event coming up in May and I will be talking about it then.

My kaleidoscope quilt still gets worked on every few days and I will have a post about that quilt maybe next week so that you can see my progress.

So, some things got done and that makes me smile!

From time-to-time, emails come to me asking about this quilt.  It is an original and there is no pattern.  This hanging pretty well sums up what our winter has been like.  Very cold with lots of snow. 

Have a great day.

Hand quilting

With friends urging me to start getting some of my tops quilted, I've taken their advise and have started the process.  It is my goal for 2015 but it doesn't hurt that others are whispering in my ear.

My Kaleidoscope quilt is the start.  So far, I'm  not happy with what has been done.  Red and blue threads are being used and they are not showing the quilting very well.  Some of the quilting may be taken out and replaced with my standard beige or white quilting threads.

The back shows up beautifully .... just not the front and that is where it is most important.

After removing some of the above quilting threads and going back to my standard white/beige threads is working much better for me.  Now, I can at least see some of the quilting and it is standing out more. 

Have a great day!

Going Modern

At our January meeting of our day guild (Near North Quilter's Guild), the topic was modern quilts.

The baby blanket below is my version of modern quilts.

Lately, my stash has been added to with more modern looking fabrics.  This is what the young are looking for these days.  So, it was time to get onto the band wagon and join in the fun.  That is what quilting is all about.  Experiment and try something different.

This baby blanket will be going to the NICU at our local hospital.

The size is 24-1/2" x 24" and a piece of white flannelette was used as batting.  Simple grid machine quilting.  No binding.  This quilt was birthed (get it?).


In keeping with modern, this is my latest project.  More fun!  :o)

The idea for this quilt came from here.

My squares finish at 5-1/2".  There will be no borders.  All the squares have been cut out and this is what has been sewn together.  Fast.  I do so like that.

Did I mention that this top was fast to do?  Well, looky here:

Before I knew it, this top was done!  

Have a great day!

Blog Followers

A couple of blog followers came for a visit and a show & tell.  What a lovely afternoon we had.

Cathy, (the lady in the plaid shirt) lived here in North Bay for many, many years and when I moved up here, she moved down to Brantford, Ontario.  I got to meet her through guild members.  She was at the October 2014 retreat that I attended and will be at the October 2015 retreat.  We will meet up again, then. Cathy was in town for a visit and was making her rounds to friends. 

Karin (in black shirt) does beautiful quilting, embroidery work, stained glass, needle work and rug hooking.  Karin was acting as tour guide and my studio was on her list of places to visit.  Can you see all the quilts stacked up behind them?  It was a lovely show and tell and I do love showing off my work.  :o)

Below, Claudia is a retired nurse and has recently rejoined our two guilds (one day time and one night time guild).  She has been following my blog for many years and it wasn't until I showed my hexagon quilt at day guild that she finally connected me to my blog.  She was sitting beside me and after showing my hexagon quilt, when I sat down she said to me "you are Rose Marie".  I said yes, that is my name.  She had no idea.  As you can tell, I really don't talk too much about my blog.  She was just so surprised.  Funny, eh!

Claudia does amazing EPP and embroidery and is a fabulous quilter.  She is the one that has inspired me to finish my UFO's.  That is why 12 of them got to the finished stage last year.  Claudia does amazing borders on her quilts and I will be needing a visit to her studio.  Karin, can you arrange it soon? 

All three ladies are urging me to start finishing off my tops.  

At both guilds, I am surrounded by very talented quilters and artists.  

Have a great day!

EPP (English Paper Piecing)

From time-to-time, questions come to me about EPP (English Paper Piecing) and where do I get my patterns from and my templates.

Thank you, dear readers, for sending me your lovely comments and your questions.  The quilting world is abuzz with EPP and if you haven't thought about trying it out, now is your chance.

I got hooked .... plain and simple.

Pinterest is a great source.  When I find a pattern that appeals to me, I go to BlockBase computer software program available from Electric Quilt Company and start searching.  I do believe that BlockBase is a stand alone (please double check yourself) software program that does not need any EQ program on your computer.  You should be able to print out patterns any size that you want.  Since EQ7 is already downloaded on my computer, the BlockBase is a wonderful companion.

Apple Cores

This pattern has always been on my 'to-do' list for eons.  After making a false start, a friend directed me to Sue Daley and her method of doing apple cores.  Go here for a tutorial on how I do my cores and how to make templates and the link to Sue Daley's You tube demo.

Then, on Pinterest, I found this gorgeous split apple core pattern.  Can we say "yummm"?

For both my Apple Core projects, BlockBase came in handy for getting my templates.

While glancing through BlockBase for patterns and ideas, below are a few tops.

This one is known as Colonial Garden or Rose Star One Patch or Tumbling Hexagon (Brackman number 243).  Instead of making hexagons, I chose instead to make triangles and then sew the triangles together.  You can go here for a better explanation.

This one is called Ozard Cobblestone (Brackman Number Y007):

Oh Wonderful, Summer's Here (Brackman Number D046).  So happy that this top finally has a name instead of forever being referred to as D046.  :o)

If you are doing scrappy quilts, go here to read how my quilts have evolved using my method to control the scrappy look.

Spools

After making a small wall hanging using this spool pattern, the urge to make a queen size quilt was gnawing at me.  I was probably grinding my teeth at night just thinking about making this pattern again.  :o)

My Sweet Klosjes .... what a wonderful quilt this turned out to be.  This is a spool pattern that came from BlockBase and is #3571 (The Spool of 1966).

 

Hexagons and Stars

Here is my lovely Holyhocks in a Castle Garden quilt.  This reminds me of my trip to Great Britain and the gorgeous holyhock flowers.  The templates for the hexagons probably came from a magazine.

 The top below is not finished, but the hexagons were leftovers from the above quilt.

The idea for my Diamond Star below came from a blog that is no longer available.  I was inspired to make one too.   The template could either have come from BlockBase or from a magazine.

Granddaughter's Flower Garden

The source for the pattern came from here:  http://sewuniquecreations.blogspot.ca/2010/12/grand-daughters-flower-garden-quilt.html   Sadly, the PDF file is no longer available.  You can print the photo of the templates, clean them up and either reduce or increase to get the size you want.  Please note, the very long elongated hexagon had to be trimmed down a bit to fit.

For my quilt, the center layout of the hexagon block was changed around....of course!  :o)

Templates

I have always made my own templates.  There is a ton of scrap paper in boxes and bins in my studio and they do get used a lot.  Go here for an explanation of how my templates are made.  Scrap paper, stapler and paper scissors and your templates are made.  Simple as that.  In whatever size you want.
  
This has been a wonderful walk through memory lane of all of my EPP projects, tops and quilts.  You can be sure there will be more to come.  :o)

In scrolling through all my EPP projects, you can see how different each one is.  Don't get stuck doing just one type of EPP.  There are so many different types of EPP out there.  Explore and have fun.

In case any of you are wondering, I am not affiliated with BlockBase or Electric Quilt Company .... I just love their software programs.

I got hooked doing EPP by making a hexagon and I have never looked back.  So, go forth and make a hexagon .... I dare you to!

Have a great day!