Update on Promise of Spring

Here we are again ..... working on another UFO.  While I have the energy and enthusiasm, I will forge ahead and seriously work on older projects.  The lure of new projects is very strong and I must resist! 

The new year saw me working again on Kim Diehl's Promise of Spring.  After doing some prep work of more circles, leaves, etc., and a bit of hand sewing, this is the progression of this project since the beginning of January.
This is what it looked like the first week of January:

Lots more has been appliqued on and I have been waiting for Blogger to fix the photo loading problem for the last couple of weeks ... but alas, it is still not working, so I will go with what I had loaded onto this post before the problem.
I did take photos of what this top looked like the 2nd and 3rd weeks of January.  I'm very pleased with my progress and how I'm sticking to finishing it.  Those photos will be shown .... hopefully soon.

As I was working on cutting up some of the squares to add to the bottom corner sections, I only found enough of this striped fabric to make the remaining squares that are needed.  Four of those squares have been pieced together .... that is how short of fabric that is left!  Can I purchase more of this fabric?  Nope, it came from a shirt at a thrift store.  So, do you see that little pile of scraps.  That is it!

It will work out, after all, because those pieced squares will be used where you see the arrows.  The stem and leaves will hide the fact that they have been pieced.  Whew .... that was just a tad too close for comfort!

Have a great day!

Hand Quilting

Once again, I am back to hand quilting on my hexagon quilt.  There is only the bottom section and borders to do and this quilt will be done.  With all the cold weather we have had this winter, this quilt was most welcome to have on my lap and wrapped around my legs.

Now that Miss Hank is no longer with us, I can hand quilt for hours on end with no interruptions.  Miss Ashes doesn't seem to be interested and stays away ... for now. 

Whenever Miss Hank came to visit and have a snooze on top of my quilt frame, I didn't have the heart to move her away because after experiencing health problems over the last 2 years, we knew her time with us was going to be short .... so I let my little girl interrupt my plans.  There was always other hand work within easy reach for me to work on while she snoozed.  Life is too short and I have learned to savour the moment.

Now, I will just quilt for an extra hour or two each time this quilts gets my attention.

Have a great day!
 

Summer Sweet

With the awful cold temperatures we have been having, a little bit of summer would be most welcome right now.  Nope, that won't be for a while yet.  So, after looking over my recap post, the time has come once again to concentrate on bringing a few projects to a flimsy stage.  For each new project that gets started, one UFO must be brought to a flimsy stage.  Must.

Once again, here is my Summer Sweet top that I have been switching the white sashing strips over to blue.  It really does look so much better.  It is a pain, though, I won't lie and while ripping out the strips, I constantly ask myself what the heck was I thinking. 

Only 10 more strips and they will be done.  The more I look at this photo, the more I realize that the blue sashing strips really are striking and it was a good decision after all.  With all the busyness in the border and in the blocks, that medium blue helps to calm the look and give it focus.  This top will look gorgeous on a wall along with all my other blue/gold quilts and tops this summer.  I'm being realistic when I say the top will be hanging because it will be a few years (or more) before this beauty gets hand quilted.   I will forge ahead and gets those strips done .... before I, once again, get bored with the ripping out process!

Have a great day!

Oh, Sweet William

Oh yes,  I have my own pattern now!  I have been drooling over the different blogs around the world that have been showing their progress as they work on their blocks and I just had to have the pattern too.   A few clicks of the button and a few weeks later, my pattern was in my hands.

You, too, can order the pattern from here and you will have it within a week or two depending on where you live.

Then, I found the perfect yellow gingham from Sew Sisters in Toronto.  I checked and they do ship out of Canada.  Here is the link for that fabric.

Sweet William is my first new project for 2014.  There will be a few more!

Then, my friend, no-blog Mary,  of We 3 Quilters sent me a gift.  Mary and I decided to exchange Xmas gifts this year.  I just love the x-stitch that she did in my hanging.  In the lower left corner, she made a zippered bag and included an ornament kit for me to work on.  Thank you, Mary.  Unfortunately, my gift to her is still in progress and it will get done and will be sent off to her before this month is over.

 

Have a great day!

2014 ... Not a good start!

Sadly, we had to say goodbye to Miss Hank.  She took a turn for the worse and we had to make a difficult decision to have her put to sleep.

This is our favourite photo of Miss Hank ..... with her head inside her toy bucket .... looking for that perfect toy to bring out for us to play with.   Oh, how she loved to play and play.

Goodbye little girl .... you brought so much joy to our lives.

December OPAM and a year's recap

December OPAM (One Project a Month) was a good month ..... for me ..... a lot got done.

3 Christmas stockings

2 adult bibs, 1 candy cane ornament, 8 octagon coasters

1 ottoman (first done in 2001 and then refurbished this year to a more modern look). 

5 Chairs with new upholstered seats:

While working on my chairs, I happened to notice Miss Ashes making a swipe at Miss Hank's tail ... it was just too tempting.  A quick hiss from Miss Hank had Ashes backing off in a hurry.

 

So, what quilts did I finish this year? 

 

ZERO

 

NADA

 

NONE

 

ZILTCH

 

Oh dear, so sad.  No quilts finished at all.

 

This is the first year since starting my blog that no quilts have been finished.  Yikes, that had better be switched around for 2014.   So, what in the world did I do in 2013?  Here is a recap of some quilting things. 

 

Four tops did get to the flimsy stage (yay, yay, yay, yay):

Five new projects got started:

The following three projects have never been shown on my blog so far.  Posts in the new year will be coming to explain more.

 

The blocks below belong to my day guild's BOM challenge:

Some UFO's did get worked on, but they are still not to the flimsy stage.  These are the UFO's that are still on the go:

 

After sewing on borders, I stopped short of adding the applique onto the borders:

I'm still switching the white strips to blue strips in the sashings .... there is a lot of ripping out to be done first and I do the sashings in stages and I seem to get bored with it very quickly:

Borders just need to be added:

3/4's of the centre is done..... more pieces were sewn together since this photo was taken.  A lot of prepping has taken place over the past few months and since this has been deemed as my cottage quilt, guess when and where I will be working on this UFO? 

The hand quilting on this quilt is never.... ever ..... ending.  Will it be done by the end of 2014?  That is a challenge that I must set out to accomplish!

Two trunk shows were presented to my quilt guilds:

While not one quilt got finished this year, a lot of other things did get done.  A lot of painting and renovations got done in our home and that is where most of my energy was spent.  By night time, I was just too tired to do much of anything else.  It was easy to catch me napping in my chair with the TV on and some handwork and a cat on my lap.

The OPAM (One Project A Month) that Peg and Kris offer each year has helped me a lot.  I will be joining it again for 2014.  It is a good motivational tool for me and for others around the world.

With my night guild (Northern Lights Quilting Guild), I've taken on the position of producing the monthly newsletter and for my day guild (Near North Quilter's Guild) I'm on the Programme Committee. 

I had better get my butt into gear and finish a few more tops ..... because there are a number of new projects that will get started and there will be a few upcoming posts to show you what is planned for next year!  Plus, our guilds' next quilt show is in 2015 and I must have some hand quilted quilts ready for showing and at the pace that it takes me to finish a quilt, I need all the extra time possible to get ready.  This is a warning to myself to get going!!!!  :o)

You know, looking over my recap, it was a good year after all! 

Happy New Year and all the best for 2014!

I've been busy

Christmas is only a few days away and there still are things for me to do.  Some days, I feel like I'm running around with my head in the clouds.

Nothing can be shown at this time ..... all will be revealed later.

In the meantime, here is what our place looks like decorated with quilts/tops for the holidays. 

These are tops .... waiting to be quilted .... but when?  If they can't get quilted, then they are perfect for display rather than being shoved in a bag in the closet.

On my quilt ladder (way back there in the corner) are two more tops.  Oh dear, I am drowning in tops!

The clock is ticking and I must run!

Have a great day!