What I’m working on

I’ve got a couple of things going at the same time..... don’t we all? I’ve finished the “squares” round of the Stay at Home Round Robin.



 It now measures 60x60 inches. The next round assigned is stars. I know what I want to do so I’m hoping to get it started this afternoon.

I’m also working on getting all my old UFO quilt tops onto the long arm and quilted up. This one is a 36 patch quilt.



According to my history here on the blog it has been a finished top since July 2013. I’m doing a greek key type thing in each of the squares, so it is fairly dense quilting but it really doesn’t take all that long to go across the quilt.



It should be done by this time next week. By that time I’m hoping to have this Round Robin done and it can go on next for quilting.

I’m linking up to Mid Week Makers and to the Needle and Thread Network WIP Wednesday.

Saturday Sewing

It's been a lovely day for staying indoors and sewing. It's been rainy and damp, a perfect day for leisurely sewing. I finally have a finish. The 36 patch quilt now has all its borders on and is ready to go into the line-up for quilting.

It feels so good to finally have something finished. I've been bouncing around from one project to another lately, and I would so much like to get more focused and get more things to the finish stage. So, after this one, I think I will focus on Meteor Shower and work on it until it is done. I love starting new projects, but I am starting to get overwhelmed by all the unfinished ones hanging around here, so I'll try to concentrate on at least one more finish, before starting anything else. Angie, who blogs at Quilting on the Crescent, is having a celebrate sewing linky party, in honour of a special lady named Anne, who ended up being the patron saint of sewers and seamstresses. I didn't even know there was such a thing. So, I think I'll link up there, and join the party.

Design Wall Monday, June 24, 2013

Another Monday, and another week with the same quilt up on my wall. However, all the blocks and all the border four patches are now finished, and I can start sewing it together. There has been a call put out to collect quilts for the victims of the flooding in Calgary Alberta, so this one will most likely be going there. If anyone is interested in sending them quilts, there is a Facebook group page Quilts for Calgary, that has information. They are looking for both finished quilts, and tops as well, since they have a number of long arm quilters who have volunteered their services. I just might end up sending them quite a few of my unquilted tops that I had determined were going to be donation quilts, after I got them finished. That will get them out to the people who need them, and will also clear off some of my mount-to-be-quilted. Not only that, but it will cost less to ship out unquilted tops. If I have a backing already done, I'll send that, too. This is a short one today, as I have phone calls to make this afternoon, and a 3-11 shift to work at the hospital. I'm linking up to Judy's Design Wall Monday , where there is lots of fun stuff to see.

Design Wall Monday, June 10, 2013

Not much new here. I've added 3 more blocks to my 36 patch quilt, and that's it. We got home from our short trial camping trip last week on Friday, and I was supposed to be working on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday morning, I woke up with my eyes all scratchy and itchy. A quick trip to the doctor confirmed what I guessed...... pink eye, also known as conjunctivitis..... very contagious, therefore no work this past weekend. The patients at the hospital wouldn't have appreciated me passing it on to them. But it also meant that my eyes were too tired and scratchy feeling to do any sewing either. They are better today, though.
I have the fabrics for the last 4 blocks cut, and the strips are almost all sewn together. If I can get some time this week, I might be able to get all the blocks finished, and maybe get started on sewing it together.
I'm linking up to Judy's Design Wall Monday. Tomorrow, I have a customer quilt to do, and then I think I'll do the last blocks for this quilt. Then I'm hoping to get back to working on the Lazy Sunday Mystery quilt that I am now slightly behind on. And the Grandmother's Choice blocks, as well. Thursday is the guild yearly banquet, and Friday I'm booked to work 3-11. The Saturday we're going to be heading out again for a week, to a campground we've never tried before, Six Mile Lake Provincial Park. It is only an hour away from Avery, so I hope to be able to spend some time with him. Laurie is going to come out to the campsite with him on Sunday, which should be fun. I'll have to get together some books and some beach toys to take up for him. We're also thinking of doing some touristy things while we're up there. Maybe some cruising around some of the islands in Georgian Bay, and maybe some site seeing in the area. I'm seriously tempted to take a sewing machine with me when we go, for those times when we just want to stay put. Anyway, all this means that I need to do something about focusing and getting caught up on what I'd like to accomplish this month. So, with that in mind, I'll post this, and then go back to working on those 36 patch blocks.

Design Wall Monday, June 3, 2013

I have a whole pile of 36 patches and 4 patches up on the wall. It's interesting to see how different it looks in the picture that when looking at the real thing. For instance, looking at the picture I can see that the 36 patch square that is in the second row down and 3 in from the left isn't working. The contrast between the lights and darks in that square aren't as crisp as they should be. Maybe that one will end up on the back. I really like having the left over 4 patches acting as a border on it. I've been wondering what to do about a stop border between the body of the quilt and the four patches. Right now it's just the design wall showing through, but I think I like the way white looks in there. So maybe, instead of trying all kinds of different colours, I'll use white as the frame. I have 23 of the blocks done, although if I remove the one that's not working, that makes  22. Eight more to go and this baby is done. It is a perfect piece to work on while resting my brain from working on Meteor Shower.

I have 2 blocks finished and a third about half done. The third one is all blues and oranges as well. The next ones will be pinks and oranges. It's complex, but I'm enjoying doing it. I'm linking up with Judy's Design Wall Monday, then I'm going to play with a few more 36 patches before going in to work this afternoon.

Design Wall monday, Jan. 21, 2013

I have more 36 patches up on the wall. There are a total of 10 now, and I want to do 30.
I have about 10 more pairings chosen, so I can work on these off and on through the coming days. I have a couple of customer quilts to finish off in the next couple of days, so that will be my focus. But I can do these when I have to sit down and take a break and rest my legs.
To see more design walls, go on over to Judy's Patchwork Times

Design Wall Monday, Jan. 14, 2013

I'm a little late posting today, but that's because I actually sat down at my machine this evening and played. We had a whole pile of errands to run this morning and into the afternoon. But I promised myself that, when we got home, I'd have some play time. I have spent so much time in the last few weeks sorting and tossing and organizing, that I'm beginning to finally see the end of it. 
I can now see the floor underneath my machine. There are just a couple of small containers of fabric left to sort through and I am done. Pretty much everything that is not needed for doing machine quilting is now packed and out of the studio. I have kept back a couple of things to work on, though. I've kept my boxes of 2 1/2 inch strips, my boxes of 2 inch strips and my Grandmothers' choice project. One of the quilts that has been on my want-to-do list for a long time is a 36 patch. Today was the day to start it. I have 5 blocks done already, and fabric pairs chosen for quite a few more. The colours are not as grey as they look here, but the lighting is pretty bad at this time of night. I am really liking what I am seeing so far. I love how easy and how fast these go together.  I'm linking this post up to Judy's Patchwork Times.
Tomorrow, I can actually get back to doing some customer quilts again, now that I can actually get at the machine. It will feel good to get back at it. I might even have a sneak peak tomorrow.