Friendship Chain is finished

My goal for the end of last year was to get this quilt finished. One of my goals for this month is to get the pattern finished and released. I can now say that the writing is finished. It will go off to my editor next week to check for errors and clarity. I hope to have it released by the end of January.
It is completely hand pieced using English Paper Piecing. Each of the chains is a different fabric, all of which came from my stash. I quilted it on my long arm machine.I used a diagonal print for the binding which picks up the fabric colours from inside the quilt and gives it a definite stop point on the edge of the quilt.
I will announce here on the blog when the papers and pattern are available. I have had a couple of comments asking for notification from people who are no reply bloggers, which means I have no way to get in touch with them, other than here on the blog.
I’m linking to Lorna’s Let’s Bee Social.

Slow Sunday Stitching

I am finishing Friendship Chain. It is so very very close now. The last of the chains are done and all sewn together into the last of the rows. The last row is now in the process of being stitched in place.
My friend Charlene and I are doing a trunk show about English Paper Piecing on Thursday evening for our guild. I so very much want to have this done by then so I’m putting on a push to get the last 2 very long seams done by then. I have plans to spend the rest of the afternoon working on that while watching Inspector Morse mysteries.

Once I’ve finished with stitching all this together I need to finish writing up the pattern for this design. Before I can do that I need to stitch up a few extra units so that I can take photos of the process for stitching together the units for the last row. Once that’s done I can finish writing it up and get it to Charlene, who in addition to doing trunk shows with me also graciously does editing on my patterns. I am so blessed to have so many good friends. This quilt is named in honour of them. One of my friends, Susan, who I’ve known for over 30 years now, left a comment on the blog a few weeks ago. I loved the comment so much that it has been incorporated into the introduction for the pattern. She said, and I quote: "This friendship chain quilt is varied and unique not unlike each of our friends who bring a mixture of personalities and colour to our lives.”

So with that goal in mind, I’m going to finish this post and get it linked up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching 

Slow Sunday Stitching

It’s a wet and gloomy day out there today which makes it a prefect day for being indoors and slowly stitching. I was hoping for sunny though, or at least cloudy and dry because I wanted to do my photos outside where the light is good. But I had to make do with the living room area where there was enough room to spread out after re-arranging a couple of things. I’m making good progress on Friendship’s Chain. Only 2 1/2 chains left to finish. After that I just need to sew this last row in place and it is done. It is so exciting and so much fun to get a quilt from design concept to actually finished. It is all English Paper Pieced. The pattern is almost finished as well and is being edited by a good friend of mine. The finish of this quilt and the finish of the pattern might just happen close to the same time.

And of course, like most quilters. I have my next project already in my head and into a drawing in Electric Quilt. I want to take this compass that I did a while ago and make it into something more.



Here is the concept drawing from Electric Quilt. The colours aren’t accurate to what I want to use and the background fabric of the compass is out of scale, but it is close enough to get the general idea of where I want it to go. The red will probably get switched out for something else since there isn’t any red in any of the fabrics I’ll be using. But there’s lots of time to decide before I get there. I have all the fabrics that I need for the backgrounds and borders now in my possession. So as soon as Friendship Chain is done I can start this. It is acting as a great motivator. I’m linking up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching and then I’ll be getting back to my stitching.

Slow Sunday Stitching

My slow stitching project continues to be Friendship Chain. One of my very good friends left a comment on my last post about this that I just had to share here because it describes exactly what I was thinking when I named this quilt. In fact I like her statement so much that I am going to include it in the write up that is going into the pattern. "This friendship chain quilt is varied and unique not unlike each of our friends who bring a mixture of personalities and color to our lives."(Thanks Susan!) 

It is so close to being finished and yet so far away..... sigh....... I’ve had a major flare up of the fibromyalgia that most of the time is just an accustomed background noise that I can deal with and ignore. But not lately.... the pain has intruded into every part of my life and trying to sleep has been a major trial since it is not happening. I finally went to the doctor and he’s given me a new to me medication to try called Lyrica. It has helped with the pain. But sleeping is still not happening and the medication is causing some unpleasant side effects..... dizziness and mental fogginess. I’m giving it a good trial and I’ll stick with it until I see the doctor again on the 30th to see if my body will adjust. But all this is having a serious impact on doing what I love......  sigh........ But anyway.... enough of that.....

Here’s a picture of the quilt so far. It measures 63x70. It will contain 110 different fabrics once the last of he chains are finished, all from stash. No new fabrics were purchased for making this quilt.

The pieces for the remainder of the row are all cut and organized so it’s just a matter of finishing basting them and the getting them sewn together. I’ve gotten a start on writing up the pattern and my editor friend Charlene has read them over and says they are clear and understandable so far, which means I can continue on past writing the first step and get the instructions finished. I can’t put a time or date for it at the moment.

I’m linking up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching.

Slow Sunday Stitching

First of all, I want to wish a happy Thanksgiving to everyone here from Canada who celebrates today. We have our full family coming for dinner today. I am so thankful for a family that loves one another and gets along so well! And I am so very thankful for all my friends both locally that I actually get to see in person and those I’ve never met in person but know through this wonderful medium of the internet.
Our part of the work for our family dinner was mostly done yesterday, cooking the turkey and stuffing ahead of time and putting it into foil containers that can go into the oven to heat about an hour before dinner. I like having all that work and all the mess taken care of the day before. It gives so much more time to be able to be with the family rather than be in the kitchen.We’ll be going to church this afternoon and getting back in time to put finishing touches to gravy. We also decided we wanted a choice of dishes this year, so we’re doing a roast beef as well. And of course, no roast beef is complete without yorkshire pudding, so there will be that to do as well when we get home.
In the meantime, I can show you what I’ve gotten accomplished on Friendship’s Chain. I’m down to only having one more row to do which is why there is a gap in between the two sections in the picture. It’s in two sections because once I figured out a logical way to put it together, I had to start at the other end in order to be able to take pictures of the process for pattern writing purposes. As quilts grow in our little apartment we start to have problems with picture locations with adequate floor space and adequate light. This one just fits at the bottom of the stairs. I try to do most of my pictures outside but it’s wet and windy out there today. Plus I must confess to still being in my pj’s and not wanting to be outside that way.
It’s been quite busy around here lately getting ready for our guild’s quilt show. I have finished the quilts for other people for it and now would like to get one more of my own done, but that’s not likely to happen. So instead, maybe I’ll slow down and work on getting this finished and quilted instead and then begin the pattern writing process for it. I also have a new quilt in mind that I’m itching to get started. It’s an expansion of the Mariner’s Compass I did back in August. I want to get it set into a Medallion style quilt using other Compasses. But I will exercise what little self discipline I have and finish this first.
I’m linking up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching and then I think I’ll get myself some lunch which is also breakfast.

Slow Sunday Stitching

We were away for a week’s vacation so there was no post last week. We had a fabulous and restful week camping at the Pinery Provincial Park. In fact, it’s the best week we’ve had away in a long long time. It’s turned into somewhat of a running joke that the weather forecast is always.... the Shepherds are camping..... it’s raining and cold. But not this time. It quite reminded me about why it is that we go to all the work of packing up and setting up to go out into the quiet of the trees. I was beginning to wonder the last few times why we even bothered and whether it really was worth it. But this trip proved that yep..... it’s worth it. The day time temperatures were wonderful for being outside. The night time temperatures were perfect for sleeping under warm comfy quilts.
I managed to find a spot quite near our campsite with a lovely shaded bench where I could sit with my stitching and look out over the river. While there I was treated to the sight of a blue Heron flying by and some Canada geese and some hawks hunting and gliding. 
As you can see by what is on the bench, I’m still working on Friendship’s Chain. Less than 2 rows left now to sew up and then it is finished. I don’t know if I’ll make my goal of the end of this month though. There are some busy days and evenings ahead. I’m doing an afternoon English Paper Piecing class this Wednesday and then a full day English Paper Piecing workshop on Saturday. Then there are a few customer quilts to finish up in time for our guild’s quilt show a month from now. We are vending at that show, so there is stuff to get ready for that as well. All of that is seriously going to cut into my slow stitching time. But, I will continue to work on it as I can and get it done, slowly, one stitch at a time.
I’m linking up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching before going back to do more stitching of my own.

Slow Sunday Stitching

It’s here again, Slow Sunday Stitching day, but there is always slow stitching happening in our household these days. I seem to be very hooked on the process. My poor old sewing machine hardly ever gets used any more. It must be feeling so sad and neglected. (insert sigh here).
In Kathy’s post today she encouraged us to show our stitching locations. Mine is nothing exciting, but is exceedingly comfortable and close to home. We have a lovely shady patio area right outside our door. I can hear traffic and air conditioners running in the distance, but mostly I hear the breeze in the trees and the sounds of birds and cicadas. No matter how hot it is, it is always at least 10-15 degrees cooler here in our little oasis. We are underneath a canopy of 4 large maple trees, 2 in our yard and 2 in neighbouring yards.

I’m still working on Friendship Chain.  Three more rows to go and it’s finished. So that’s my stitching for today, to continue working on this. I have all the fabrics chosen for the rest of it and I succeeded in my goal - completely from stash and scraps with no fabric repeats making it a true charm quilt.
I'm linking to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching before going back to stitching.

Slow Sunday Stitching

Two Fridays ago at the Chatham quilt show I started a Mariner’s Compass. This past Friday I finished it. Had I to do it again I would have used a solid in the same shade of grey for the large background piece. I’m not 100% happy with the directionality of the white. But the purpose behind this was to choose unusual for me fabrics and to make the piece. So, challenge complete.

Once I finished the compass I got back to working on Friendship Chain. I’m at the point where I am comfortable enough with what I’m doing to be able to break it down into steps for pattern purposes. So I’ve chosen all my fabrics for the remaining rows and have started at the other end so I can take pictures of the beginning row and explain the process. This is obviously slowing things down a bit. But I’m still hoping for my finish date of the end of September. The next few pictures show part of the organizing process: Numbering the fabrics, starting the stitching process with the fabrics numbered. Adding in more colours and more pieces. As I’m doing this I’m also writing myself reminder notes for when I actually sit down to write this up. Now that I have the pictures of the process that I need, I can go ahead and start sewing this row together.
I’m linking up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching and then I’m going to do some Stitching on this.

Slow Sunday Stitching

This past week has been crazy busy. We are vending our English Paper Piecing supplies at a quilt show in Chatham next weekend. Now you would think that because we knew this was coming we’d slowly and gradually build up the stock we want to take, or at least that’s what organized people would do. But no, that’s not what we did, so now this past week we’ve been scrambling to get everything cut. And of course, I keep adding to the list of things I want to take. That means there hasn’t been nearly as much time for slow stitching as I would like. Some days I wasn’t sitting down until after 9 pm. But I’ve still managed to get some progress made on Friendship Chain, but not a lot. I’m hoping to do more today since other than going to church, I have no other plans for doing anything else other than slowing right down, letting my hands keep busy while my brain roams freely dreaming of my next project or 6.

I’m also planning pattern writing for this one while I stitch and I think I have it figured out how to write it up in an organized manner that will make sense. After this row is finished, which is number 6 out of 10,  I’m going to try and pull the fabrics for the rest of the quilt. Then I’ll start the process of taking pictures while I work on it for the pattern. The pictures serve a couple of functions. Obviously they are very helpful in the pattern so that there is a visual representation of what I am trying to explain. But it also serves as a reminder to me of the various steps since there is often a lag time between doing the steps in the quilt and writing it down. But first, row six needs to be finished.
I’m linking to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching

Slow Sunday stitching

Slow Sunday Stitching happened every evening this week. I really want to move this project on to a quick finish. Or as quick a finish as hand piecing using English Paper Piecing can get. I had someone ask last week where to get the pattern. I couldn’t answer as I have yet to get my comments thing fixed. Someone sent me instructions on how to do it. But I didn’t have the time to do it then and now I’ve lost those instructions. But to answer that question, this is one of my own designs, adapted from an Electric Quit block. So, as of yet, there isn’t a pattern. As I’m working on the blocks and the quilt  I’m taking notes on what would be the best and most understandable way to write up instructions. It might be finished and ready for release by the end of September. If I can do one row a week, that time line might be doable. If not, it will be October.
In the meantime, the process seems to be speeding up. I starter row 5 last Saturday and finished it  today, which is Saturday evening. I have all the fabrics selected and cut for row 6. This evenings task is to start glue basting them. I’ll finish writing this post tomorrow.

I finished most of the glue basting last night. So today I can start the process of organizing the diamond pieces together with the fabrics they go with and start in more stitching.
I’m linking up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching. Then  I’ll finish up my morning coffee and get to stitching. It’s a glorious day, so some if it might actually happen outside.

Slow Sunday Stitching

I’m continuing to make really good progress on Friendship Chain. I have the first four rows completely finished and sewn together.



I’m now working on the diamond parts of the fifth row.



One of the bonuses of keeping track of projects like this on the blog is that I can see at a glance when they were first started. The first post about this project was June 10th of this year - 7 weeks ago. That gives me an average of about 1 row every 1 1/2 weeks. Maybe even less than that because I was sick for part of those 7 weeks and didn’t do any stitching at all. However, using that the line I can estimate the finish of this project. I have 6 more rows to do for a total of 9 weeks. That takes me to the middle of October, maybe sooner. It will be interesting to look back and see if this turns out to be accurate.

I laid the pieces of this quilt down on a sheet of flannel out on our patio. The light is better for accurate colours. While I was out there I had a very curious visitor wanting to see what I was up to. My husband enjoys feeding the resident neighbourhood squirrels and chipmunks. I think this little creature thought I might have something for it.
It’s kinda cute, but I can’t help thinking that in spite of its cuteness it’s really just a mouse in disguise. My husband has them trained to the point where they will come up to him on the chair or the swing and take the peanuts right out of his hand. They seem to think that I have stuff for them also, so they also jump up onto the swing when I’m out there too, something I’m not keen about at all.

I’m linking up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching.

Slow Sunday Stitching

I’ve just noticed something lately. I seem to have put aside the tendency to be working on more than one thing at a time. In spite of having all kinds of ideas bouncing round in my head, I’m continuing to focus on working on Friendship Chain. I do have a wall hanging that needs binding though. Maybe I’ll get out the sewing machine this week and get that done.
In the meantime, Friendship Chain is growing. I’ve gotten half of the fourth row done.
I love how it is turning out now that I can see more of it. The colours in this photo are almost completely accurate. I think it’s going to end up a nice twin bed size when it’s finished.  I think it may need a border or two, but I’ll decide that later.

It’s raining today, which we badly need, so it’s going to be a quiet indoor day. We’ll be going to church and a fellowship supper this afternoon, but the rest of the day is set up for visiting with our sweet Abbie and maybe a little bit of stitching. She’s 2 1/2 years old now and talking up a storm. She’s such a delight and a joy. She was away for a week visiting with cousins, so it’s great to spend some time with her again.
I’m linking up with Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching

Slow Sunday Stitching

I’m almost finished the third full row of Friendship Chain. So I’m now in the process of choosing the fabrics for the next row and glue basting them for stitching together. You can see the next set of fabrics cut and clipped to the bottom row. The colours are much more vibrant in real life. It’s hard to get an accurate photo at 7:30 in the evening.

This is going to be a very short post. I’m going to link up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching and then get back to glue basting.

A little bit of stitching...

Once again I’ve been absent from the blog world because of a virus, not a computer virus but a cold virus. I’ve been sick...... again. I think this might be the fourth time in the last 6 months. It is getting just a tad tiresome...... But as of today I’m starting to feel a bit more like myself again. The cement inside my sinuses is starting to soften up and at least I can put one or two coherent thoughts together at the same time. I’ve been doing some work on Friendship Chain. The second full row is finished and stitched in place and the third all row is halfway done. I’m starting to get into a rhythm of how to do it.


When I started this project, I thought I was going to have to cut everything first and then decide where the colours would go. Then it dawned on me that I could choose the fabrics first and where they would go and then do the cutting. That was a huge step forward in the process since it saves me a lot of cutting for fabrics that may or may not get used. It is a challenge to get the fabrics contrasting with each other side by side, as well as the one that is above it. Ultimately each fabric will be touching four others. But this is one of the things I love about designing my own quilts and choosing my own colours.... the challenge.

I hope to get this row finished this week and move onto selecting the fabrics for the next one.

I’m linking up to Let’s Bee Social and to the Canadian Needle and Thread Network and also to Esther’s WOW on Wednesday.

Slow Sunday Stitching

My new quilt called Friendship Chain is growing and taking shape. The mechanics of how to put it together are coming along. One of the things I wasn’t sure of was how to figure out which colours and fabrics would go where when adding on new rows. I think I’ve figured out an easy solution. Cut a whole pile of sets of diamonds and trapezoids out of lots of fabrics and colours. Then lay the new ones on top of the preceding row since they will be intersecting with that row, changing out colours and fabrics as necessary.Then make sure that there is enough contrast between the new additions that are beside each other so that the chains will be distinct from one another. Then I took pictures to remind myself of which colours were going where for reference. The last step is to clip a pair of diamonds to the bottom of the unit where they belong and then set the rest of them aside. Now I know which colour diamonds need to be sewn to which. This picture is my working version with the some of the pairs already sewn in and the rest just clipped in place. I love playing with colour.My goal is to make this 8 full chains wide by 10 full chains long. I would like to be able to make this a “charm” quilt, meaning that I won’t repeat a fabric. Whether I can make that goal is debatable at this point. The more important thing will be to achieve a balance of colour and brightness.
I’m linking up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching. Then I’m going to take everything off the design boards and get to stitching.

Slow Sunday Stitching

Last week I showed a picture of a quilt I’ve named Friendship Chain that I wanted to start. It was an Electric Quilt 7 generated picture - this one. 

Since then I’ve actually started on the quilt and made a bit of progress.  It’s a bit of a challenge trying to figure out how to sew it together in a logical manner. If I were doing it in just two colours it wouldn’t be bad at all. But I want each chain to be a different colour and haven’t quite figured out yet the best way to do that. I’m English Paper Piecing it and am quite happy with the way it looks so far. I’ve changed the triangles that show in between each block in the Electric Quilt picture to diamonds and that is part of what is making the piecing so challenging. But I didn’t want that extra seam in there. I suspect at some point I’m going to have to set up a design wall and lay it out and then do a diagram of what colours are going to go where and what will be paired with which. In the meantime, I’m having fun. I’m linking up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching.

Slow Sunday Stitching

I have a couple of Slow Sunday Stitching project finishes this week. First off, the class sample - which really does need another name - any ideas anyone? Not that I can respond to thank you or say that I like it since blogger continues to have issues with forwarding comments to my email.......

Anyway, here’s the picture.



And then I finished off and added borders to Sapphire Net.



It’s an Electric quilt public domain block, and that was the name given in Electric quilt, so I’ll keep it. The border is quite bright and in your face, but it works well with the large scale florals that are in the centre of the quilt.

And because those two are done I’ve given myself permission to start a new one. I’m calling it Friendship Chain. It is also from the Electric Quilt software in the Barbara Brackman Blockbase. I’m still working on figuring out exactly how to put it together. It’s quite complex and I’m not sure off the top of my head how to tackle it. I’ve started cutting pieces and it will be English Paper Pieced using my scraps with each of the intertwined chains a different colour. And that’s the part that is causing the  difficulty in putting it together. A two colour quilt would be easy but since when have I ever done anything the easy way?

Anyhow, I’m linking up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching before going back to more cutting to get ready for this new project. I’m hoping lots of scraps will be used up in this one.