Friday finishes

I have two finishes to share today. They’ve been done for quite a while now, but the conditions for taking pictures of them weren’t suitable until last Sunday, when it was warm and sunny and not windy all on the same day.
The first finish is my Scrappy Irish Chain. According to past records on this blog, I started this as a leader/ender project in January of 2012. The piecing was finished sometime in October of 2014. And then it sat and waited for its turn to come in the quilting line up. It was quilted using a pantograph called Pinwheel Flower. That happened in January of this year, finally. I’m on an unofficial mission to finish one of my quilts each month this year.  It was bound with a diagonal striped and faux piping, making the binding 100% machine finished. The back is almost as fun as the front. I had some blocks left over and pieced them into the backing. At some point, before October’s quilt show, I’ll get the information about this quilt written into the white area of one of the blocks on the back to make a label.
February’s finish was my Great Granny Square. According to this blog it was started in August of 2012. The top was finished in November of 2013 and then went into the pile of my quilts waiting to be finished. I gave it some custom quilting,
continuous curves in the squares, squiggly lines in the sashes and straight line with loops in the middle for the plain borders.It got finished with a diagonal striped faux piped binding. Here’s a look at the back. I’m linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it up Friday and also to Angie’s WIPs Be Gone, because these WIPs are now gone for good.

the same day.

Design Wall Monday

I worked in the studio today and actually got some my own stuff done. I worked on Northern Tree Line for a bit, and got six more blocks done. I have 35 blocks out of 100 now. Then I cut and made up the binding for my Great Granny Square quilt.
I was up there until about 7:30 pm and then came downstairs, ready to write up a post about what I’d done today. However, about 5 minutes after I got down here, I got this text message from Becca:
So, we’ve spent the last couple of hours cuddling and snuggling and playing with and feeding this precious little baby girl. How on earth could anyone ever say no to visiting with this sweet face? She’s three weeks old on Tuesday, already. She just got here and it feels like she’s been here forever.
I’m linking up to Judy’s Design Wall Monday.

Design wall Monday

There is absolutely nothing new on my design wall. Northern Tree Line and the LFQG Blog Sampler look exactly the same as they did several weeks ago. However, I do have one of my own quilts on the machine right now, and spent 3 or 4 hours today working on it. It’s a Great Granny Square that I pieced a few years ago, and then placed into the line up of my own quilts waiting their turn. I’m doing some very fun custom stuff on this one.
After working on this for most of the afternoon, I came down and made supper and then sat down to watch my favourite Christmas Movie. A Muppets’ Christmas Carol. Of all the version of this movie, and characters, it’s my favourite. I think Michael Caine did a great Scrooge. While watching that, I stitched on a few more fillers to La Passacaglia. Once I finish this, I think I’ll switch out to knitting.  I’m linking up to Judy’s Design Wall Monday.

Design Wall Monday, Nov. 4, 2013

Great Granny is finally finished and off the wall. All her borders are on, and, after I took this picture of her draped over the long arm machine, she went to hang up with the rest of my quilts waiting their turn on the machine.

 So, now I have the Bonnie Hunter mystery that ran in Quiltmaker magazine last summer called Lazy Sunday, up on the wall. But It's only there briefly. I'm going to be working on this as a get it finished project, in my quest to, if not cure my startitis, at least cut down on it a bit. I'm currently working on getting the last 2 of the green triangle borders put together, so they can go on. I really like the yellow border in this. It makes it happy and sunny, just like what a lazy summer Sunday should be.
I'm linking up to Judy's Design Wall Monday.

Design Wall Monday October 28, 2013

I am hoping that this is the last week for having great Granny up on the wall.

All of the border units are pieced together and ready to be sewn to the main body of the quilt. There will be another plain charcoal border on the outside, and then I can declare this one done. Maybe this next week will see this one done, and I can cross off another UFO finished of the list of UFO's, except that I don't have a list of my UFO's. I'm afraid to go looking and actually count them. I don't really know how many of them there are, and I'm not sure I want to know. I'm just going to keep on working at them one at a time, while I resist the temptation to start something new.
After this, I have to choose, do I work on the Thanksgiving leaves quilt, or on the Lazy Sunday Mystery. I think I have 6 or 7 of these leaves blocks finished now. I need 16 for the large quilt, or 12 for the smaller.
                                                                                     

        Lazy Sunday still needs all its borders assembled. The individual pieces are all done and ready to be assembled into the borders. I have until Wednesday, when I'm going over to Gail's to sew for the evening to decide. Any opinions on which I should choose?
I'm linking up to Judy's Design Wall Monday. Lots of lovely stuff to look at today.                                                                           

                                                                                      

Design Wall Monday, Oct. 21, 2013

 Today was another long day spent in the kitchen. But I had some time to sew up a few more seams on the square in square in square blocks. I think I'm up to 50 of them, and I need 70. I just ran up to the studio, taking the short cut up through the house, and Matt and Becca's hall and through the garage. It's too wet and too dark to go the outside way I normally do. But I wanted to get a picture of Great Granny with some of her border units up with her. There is going to be some of the charcoal grey fabric between the quilt and the border to bring it to a size that the pieced border will fit. And if I have enough of the grey, there will be an outer border of it as well. Maybe tomorrow I'll get some more of the body of the quilt sewn together.
These jars here are the reason I was in the kitchen all day. The last batch of salsa I made, back

in early September went over so well, that half of the jars are gone already, plus I sent a couple of the back with Noel when he went home to Sudbury after Thanksgiving weekend. So I bought some more makings, and ended up with 11 pint sized jars. Three of them are already upstairs with Matt and Becca. One thing about doing canning and cooking all day.... we certainly don't need the heat on down here. And that thing about heat rising... it definitely does. When I opened the basement door to come back down here from being up in the studio, there had to be a 10 degree difference. It was like walking into a wall. I've actually got the door open beside me, so that it can cool down a bit. Hot flashes and hot steamy kitchens, not a good combination. Ain't this time of life grand? Actually, I must say, other than the hot flashes, it is. I mentioned to Scott - who was a wonderful help with the salsa, by the way, he did all the chopping while I blanched the tomatoes - that this retirement, and being able to choose what to do and when is the most marvelous thing ever. And, on that note, I think I will choose to link up with Judy's Design Wall Monday and then go sew on some more border units.

Design Wall Monday, Oct. 14, 2013

We had our Thanksgiving celebration and dinner yesterday. This was our first holiday get together since we moved into our apartment here. It was a wonderful success. I can say with absolute conviction that it is a really good thing to have 2 full kitchens going in the same house for something like this. Two full stoves for the cooking and 2 full fridges to store the leftovers, which are, after all, one of the best parts of the whole thing, after seeing the family, of course. We've been here 6 months now, and I can say that it has been a successful transition, and I love living here. This year, more than ever, I am thankful for loving family. Our son, Noel, lives in Sudbury, which is a six hour drive from here. He drove down yesterday, after a stop in Wasaga Beach to see his son, Avery. Then, he left this afternoon to drive back to Sudbury, with another stop at Wasaga Beach to again see Avery. That's a lot of hours in his truck, but I'm so grateful that he came down. Winter is coming, sooner to Sudbury than for us, and long driving trips will be a lot harder to do then.
Anyway.... on my design wall is Great Granny hanging around, waiting for some attention.

She got a little bit of attention this past week, when her sashing was finished, but she's been kinda neglected since. I was planning on starting her pieced border this afternoon. But, it was such a lovely day out that Scott and I decided to go for a drive instead. The drive started out with the intent to go for a walk. But when we got the the place where we wanted to hike, it was edge to edge cars and people, who obviously had the same idea we did. So we settled for a drive in the country, instead, and then came home to wonderful turkey dinner leftovers.
I'm thinking of going out this week sometime, and picking up some new speakers for my computer. Then I can put on netflicks up in my studio, and sew up there. I was used to having my own area for sewing, and I think that might be one of the 2 things I miss now that we are living here, the other being my lovely rose bush. I must confess to getting awfully tired of hockey and football, since I am not a fan of either. If I do that, there is a greater chance that Great Granny will get put together this week, or at least the main body of her will.
I'm linking up to Judy's Design Wall Monday where there is tons and tons of inspirational and just plain fun stuff to see.

Design Wall Monday, October 7, 2013

I still haven't adjusted to this whole October thing. The summer just flew past, and I think I missed it. It's even harder to believe that this coming weekend is the Canadian Thanksgiving! There will be turkey and stuffing and pies and all kinds of other good stuff cooking around here, probably on Saturday. We want to go to church on Sunday, something we haven't done in a large number of years. It was just too difficult trying to work 3-11, with all the body clock issues that in turn created. But, I've been retired for almost 3 months now, so the body clock is slowly readjusting itself.  So, if we do most of the cooking on Saturday, there won't be the frantic rush to get home and get everything in the oven. We'll get the meat off the turkey, and package it into aluminum foil and then all we'll have to do is throw it in the oven to heat up on Sunday. Noel will be here, too, which will be wonderful.

I have my Great Granny Squares up on the wall today. I want it to be 4 blocks wide by 5 long, so I need to do 2 more blocks, and then that part of it is done. I'm going to be putting coloured corner stones at the intersections of the sashing, and probably a pieced border of some sort, not quite yet decided.

And here is Orca Bay, all finished and ready to go into the fast track lane for my projects to be quilted. I have this one, and one other, also a full sized quilt, that need to be done before the beginning of December. I'd better get some more work order forms printed out, and get them into the line up.
I'm linking up to Judy's Design Wall Monday. Then I think I'll go back up to the studio and work for another hour, and then maybe get the last 2 GGS's done.

Design Wall Monday, Sept. 30, 2013

Well, today turned out a little differently than I had planned first thing this morning. I had a sewing day planned. I was going to put the last border on Orca Bay, and then lay it out on the lawn for pictures. But, sometime around noon, my husband had the weather network on, saw how beautiful it is supposed to be for the next few days, and suggested a day trip out to the Pinery Provincial Park to scope out and choose a campsite. I very enthusiastically agreed and off we went, and found a lovely campsite that we have booked for the next 4 days. We'll go up Tuesday morning, and come back Saturday. It's supposed to be warm and sunny all those days, and then turn wet and cooler Sunday.
So, all this means that, instead of a design wall, or a design lawn, I have a design ironing board.

I'm planning one more border for this, of about 4 inches, in the red.
Then, the other plan I had for today, was to start working on another UFO. I couldn't decide if I wanted to work on

Great Granny Squares,

Thanksgiving Leaves or

Meteor Showers.

So, I took my indecision, and texted Gail and asked her to choose one for me. This was before Scott turned on the Weather Network which prompted the impulsive trip to the Pinery. Her choice was Great Granny Squares. I was all prepared to go searching for it and start working on it, after I got those other borders sewn on.

Plan B for the next 4 days is to take the Thanksgiving leaves with me while camping. The only reason this one is going with me is because it as all together in one tote. I don't have to go looking for anything in order to work on it. (I really need to do this with all of my projects. It makes life so much easier) However, I will pull out the Great Granny Squares when we get home, and assign it as the next to be worked on until finished project. And somehow, it seems rather appropriate to take a project with fall leaf colours out camping in the fall leaf coloured campground. Although, truth be told, the leaves are just at the very beginning of changing. Everything out there is still mostly green, except for the sumac and the poison ivy, which are turning bright red. I had also hoped to be taking some new wool and a new sweater pattern called Pinery with me. But the new wool hasn't arrived yet, and that's probably a good thing. This way I will be forced to finish a couple of things before starting something else. Highly sensible, but no where near as much fun.
And now, I'm going to finish getting my sewing and knitting stuff together for leaving tomorrow, after I link up to Judy's Design Wall Monday.

I've joined the "Newfo" party

I've been working really hard this week on getting quilts done. After all the opinions about the borders on Avery's truck quilt, I decided to simplify what I was doing. I kept the same idea with the bricks, but only one row of them, and I put a narrow border on either side, to isolate them, and unify them. I like it. Thanks you, everyone who left an opinion.
I'm now in the process of making a backing for it. It's taking longer than I thought it would because I'm using up the leftover layer cake squares, some odds and ends of kiddie fabrics and some fat quarters. I'll get a picture of it when I'm done.

Then, I've gotten a few more of the Great Granny Squares done. There are 11 of them now all sewn together, and I have 2 more all laid out and almost ready to sew up. I think I'm aiming for 20.
Both of these projects were started in August, so they both classify as "Newfo's", which are defined as new projects begun during the month, and not necessarily finished, so the have the potential of becoming new UFO's........ hence "Newfo". Barb, who blogs at Cat Patches started this trend back in January, but this is the first month I've participated. She has a linky party going for everyone who started a Newfo in August, which I'm going to link this post to.

Design Wall Monday August 20, 2012

Here it is, Monday again, and almost the last week in August. How did that happen so fast? Where did the summer go. and why do summers always fly by so much faster than winters? (sigh)
I have a couple of things on my design walls. Avery's Truck quilt is about 3/4 finished, or at least the center of it is. I have a couple of ideas floating around in my head for borders, but they haven't quite jelled yet.
I discovered something about some of the fabrics in the quilt yesterday while I was sewing with them. The truck fabrics are done by someone in Australia. There are signs on the fabric that are warnings for kangaroo crossings. LOL!! We have deer and moose warning signs, but I'd never even thought about kangaroo crossings. So that puts an added layer of fun to these fabrics.
Then the other thing that I've been working on is some of the Great Granny squares.
I'm using the fabrics that I picked up at the fabric party I went to a few weeks ago, plus some of my own that work well with them. They are totally outside the style of fabric I tend to use, as well as outside the colours I usually put together, so it has been a challenge, but also a lot of fun. I'm not sure, at this point, where this is going, or how many of them I will end up with. I think I have 2 more blocks laid out, and ready to sew. They actually go together quite quickly. I am loving the look of the charcoal grey as a background colour. It really make the rest of the colours stand out. I suspect there will be more of this particular colour in my future fabric acquisition.
We have some errands we have to run today, and then I have to get my August UFO finished and of the machine. I have 3 wall hangings for customers that have a deadline for the first week in September. So, I'd best get off the computer and moving, or it will not all get done. I'm linking up, as usual, to Judy's Patchwork Times

What was accomplished.....

When I posted yesterday about planning to spend the day in my sewing room, I said I might show what I ended up accomplishing, so here we go, I'm actually going to do that. LOL! First, I finished a customer quilt, and got it off the machine. I can't show pictures of it yet, though, because she hasn't seen it yet. Then I had scheduled one of my quilts to go on the machine. If I don't schedule them in, they don't get done at all. So, I loaded on this month's UFO, figured out the quilting design and got it started. This is a quilt that I did back in 2010. It was a swap hosted by Shannon who has a blog called Pieceful Quilter. She does fabulous work, both in her piecing and applique, and in her long arm quilting. There is actually a block in this quilt from Queensland Australia!!!! I'll show that one when I get to it. I think all of the blocks that I received from the swap were signed, except maybe one of them. It is so cool!! It is going to be fun to quilt.


 
I'm happy with the way it is looking, so far. Then, after my legs got tired from doing so much standing at the machine, I did a couple more Great Granny Squares So now there are five.


 
All in all, it was a great way to spend a day.

A sew in afternoon

Jannette came over on Tuesday afternoon, and we had another sew-in afternoon. It was such a lovely time. We're going to try and make it a regular occurrence. It gave me an opportunity to start sewing the pieces together for Avery's truck quilt.

 It's been a lot of fun working on this one. The piecing is simple, and fast, and the colours are bright and happy. It won't be ready to take up with us on Sunday, though, when we go up to see them for a week. Too bad. But, I'm going back up on September 4th to look after Avery for the first week that Laurie is back teaching, so maybe it will be ready by then. It would be fun to put it down on the floor and see what draws his attention.







And then, I have finally caved in and started making some of the Great Granny squares that have been seen floating around blogland for the past month, or so. I simply couldn't resist. I'm using some of the fabrics that I bought at that fabric party I went to, plus some that work with them quite well from my stash. They are easy to do, and a lot of fun to do as well, and so far I am loving them, even if they are made from colours and fabric patterns that I ordinarily wouldn't put together. Sometimes it is fun to step out of the same old box, and into new and different. I can't say that it would ever have occurred to me to put together the colours of red and orange and pink and blue, but it works, and I love it!!

These are the first 3. I have enough squares cut out for at least 3 more. I plan on playing with both these quilts today, along with finishing up a customer quilt, as well. It is cool enough today to have the windows open, and we are finally getting some much needed rain. So, I'm going to open the windows, enjoy the breezes, and sew. Maybe I'll do another post tonight, and show what I've gotten accomplished.