Design Wall Monday

Julie is hosting a log cabin loonie sew-along. I have started two projects - one project uses Julie's pattern with 1" strips precut to accurate size (click here to see my first 8 log cabin blocks) and one project uses 1.25" strips using a "cut as you go" technique. 

Here are my 1.25" log cabin blocks on the design wall. I'm using a more loosey goosey kind of approach to building these log cabin blocks. Add a scrap, finger press, chop off the end and keep going around. The blocks don't all end up the exact same size with this technique, but I'm okay with that. 
I wasn't really paying attention when I started to build the blocks but realize now that some have a dark centre/light last round, and some have a light centre/dark last round. This makes them go together in a pleasing way, so I'm going to be more purposeful about getting an even balance of the light or dark centres.
I'm loving the fall colours to work on at this time of year, so I'm cutting more strips to make more blocks.
Linking up to Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts.

Happy Monday!

AND just because this made me smile... I remember going to work on a Monday morning to work at a desk that actually looked like this! 

Slow Sunday Stitching

Fall has arrived on the calendar and the weather here has finally taken a turn for the better. It has been a long hot summer here, and since fall is my favourite season, the drop in daily temperatures is a welcomed relief. We can throw open the windows, enjoy the fresh cooler air, and spend more time outside.
Yippee...quilting weather is on it's way! It's almost cool enough to get out my big hand quilting project... soon.

Gail Pan "I Stitch" blocks

For now I am working on my "I Stitch" embroidery blocks by Gail Pan. I posted my most recently finished block as my blog header photo (scroll up). And here are the blocks I have stitched so far. I am using up small pieces of leftover muslin as a base for these little embroideries which measure about 3" x 4". These blocks will be either appliqued or pieced to fabric some day. I haven't decided what I want to do with them. That's how I do prefer to do things... just start stitching (or driving, or shopping, or chatting, etc) and see what evolves. The best laid plans never work out as you think they will, so developing complex plans and expectations is just a waste of time. It's called the "go with the (creative) flow" approach to life!
Gail has sent out 24 blocks to the project subscribers so far (3 per month) so I am a bit behind. That's okay... I'm loving every slow stitch!  I have traced out a little owl design to work on today.

What are you hand stitching? Is it comfortable weather where you live and are you able to stitch outside? Link up your blog post below and share your hand stitching project with the slow stitching community. We love to see what you are creating!

   

    An InLinkz Link-up
   

Scrappy Saturday

In case you were wondering why I am not showing my September Squared Away blocks, this is why...
at the beginning of this RSC BOM  project, the very first block was supposed to be light blue. And for some unknown reason, I made my first blocks dark blue. So then September rolled around and these blocks are supposed to be dark blue, but I had already made dark blue blocks in the first month. So what to do?
There is one month left in the project so I decided to wait to see what the remaining colour will be, and then determine what colour to make my September blocks.... maybe light blue, dark green, brown, or grey.

And in the meantime, I made a dark blue Circle of Squares block while sewing at my friend Gayle's house. 

I took a "glamour shot" of the block in her beautiful  backyard. Do you see the cute little knitted monster (sitting right above my block) that Gayle was making while I was sewing? 
So cute!

It was very relaxing to sew beside the fountain and hear the calming water sounds. It was almost like being at a spa!

Here are all the blocks on the design wall. The new dark blue block is second from the left on the top row. I think I'll make 4 more blocks for this project. I'm trying not to see these blocks as ferris wheels because that makes my creative brain want to add pieces to the design to make the blocks look like wheels. I hope that thought goes away!

Anyway, that's where things are at with my RSC projects this week. To see what others are working on, hop over to the weekly link up.

Mystery Top

Here is my finished Scrapdash mystery top.
It has a 3D centre which should have used the same fabric as the light background, but I prefer it with the gardening fabric in the centre. I'm planning to quilt it using the ideas on the mystery instructions for rolling the 3D edges.
I'm so intrigued that I can't wait to get this pin basted so I can start quilting! 
Anyone else sew this mystery project?!? It's a nice table topper or wallhanging sized quilt.

Mid month UFO Report

My UFO project for September is Emerald Stars. I have been working on sewing the border pieces together and have made great progress. Here are the four borders ready to attach to the quilt top! 
As with all scrap projects, it makes me happy to look at the pieces and remember what the fabrics were originally for. For example the dark reds are mostly leftover from BeAttitudes, and Angel Solstice.
Although I wasn't sure about these colours together at the beginning, it has really grown on me.  My favourites are the dark green plaids (mostly leftovers from Always Home), but I've even come to like the bright green fabrics (leftovers from En Provence and Easy Street) and think they add a nice sparkle to the borders. 
It's very cool how the top and bottom borders (on the left) are different from, but similar to the side borders (on the right). I now have about 10 days before the end of the month to get these borders, plus an inner and outer dark border, attached to the quilt top in order to reach my UFO goal.
Linking up with Lorna and friends over at Let's Bee Social, and Cynthia and fellow scrappers over at Oh Scrap!

Mystery Quilt on the Design Wall

I have been working on the "Pumpkin Spice Latte" mystery quilt that started last Wednesday over at the Scrapdash blog. I didn't intend to start a new project, it just happened. I am helpless in the face of a new mystery being offered... resistance is futile. 

These are the pieces needed for one block. If you are sewing along with the mystery and don't want to know how it's going to turn out, don't read any further!

This is what the rows look like.  The pattern includes instructions for making 3D flying geese blocks, which are a little tricky but fun.

Concentration is definitely required, and the seam ripper is a necessary tool. It's so easy to get a triangle going the wrong way. The directions are great and I am following them to a 'T', including all the pressing suggestions. 

This is my first block.
Check and recheck.
I think it's all going the right way and all the pieces are where they should be.

Okay ... make 3 more the exact same.
Sew.
Unsew. 
Resew.
Press.
Repeat.



Ta da... here they are! 
All four blocks are on the design wall. There are still pieces that were cut at the beginning that have not been used yet, so this is not the final design.  It might look something similar to this, but it might not.
The last step has been posted, but I haven't looked yet, because I do love the anticipation of a good surprise! So, I will enjoy the anticipation until I have time to sew again on Wednesday. 
Are you sewing along with this mystery? Printing it out for your "some day" pattern collection?
Linking up to Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts.

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party!
The exciting news this week is that the winning name has been drawn for the photo challenge we had at the beginning of the month. The challenge was to post a photo of the view you enjoy when you are slow stitching.

The winner of the draw is...
drum roll please... 
blog entry #33 which is Kathy over at Kathy's Quilting Blog showing her view of the chicken yard and "How to be a Latin Lover"! Don't ask!! LOL
Congrats to Kathy! (so fun that here are so many quilters named Kathy, Kathleen, Kathryn, etc... it's a popular name!) I have 3 fat quarters to pop in the mail to you. Thanks to everyone for playing along... look for the next photo challenge in October!




I want to show you where I did some hand stitching last weekend. Isn't this a great view? Two of my friends were in those kayaks while I was stitching and this is the great view I was soaking up as I watched them paddle away. The weather could not have been better, and we had such a great time! I didn't get around to visit the blogs posted last weekend, but I hope to make up for it today.  I'll be visiting the link ups while I drink my morning tea and see what you have been stitching.

I have had a couple of questions lately about embroidery needles. This is my favourite needle at the moment. I like the size of the eye for using 2 or 3 strands of floss, and it's a comfortable needle length for me. Can you see the needle in the fabric beside the drawing of the needle?
This is the new pattern by Gail Pan that I plan to finish embroidering today.
So what are you hand stitching? Link up your blog post and share your progress with us. We love to see what you're working on!

   

    An InLinkz Link-up
   

Log Cabin Loonie Blocks

Did you know that today is "Sew a Jelly Roll Day"?
I had hoped to get together with some friends to sew today, but it's such a busy time of year for me that I couldn't get it organized. All my spare time has been filled with fall fairs (entering, visiting and judging). And besides... I'm not really a jelly roll kind of quilter. I don't actually own one. But I thought I could cut a bunch of the stash into strips and pretend that I had one to make a quilt out of!  Instead I hope to spend a few minutes today sewing the next step of the Scrapdash mystery.

I enjoyed cutting up some blue scraps this week and sewing the pieces for 4 mini log cabin blocks. You can see the cutting instructions on Julie's blog here.

These are my first blocks for my RSC project - orange from last month and blue for this month. With the 4 log cabin blocks sewn together the block measures 8.5" unfinished. Linking up to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and the Log Cabin Loonies.

Unusual block size

Block #13 of the Blockheads II project is a patchwork flower designed by Coriander Quilts. The finished size of the block is 6" by 18" which is a bit unusual for regular quilting patterns. There were over 40 pieces to cut out, and I made a couple of changes as I went along. 
This is the flower head which measures 6" finished. I added a little connecting corner on the blue corner blocks to round out the flower petals a little more.

Blockheads II Block #13

Here is my finished flower. I thought the bottom of the block looked a bit bare, so on my block I added another leaf to the stem on the left (the original pattern has 2 leaves).

And I gave myself a challenge by making the background from 2 slightly different directional fabrics. At times I enjoyed the challenge, and at other times (involving the seam ripper) I was not as happy with that great idea!

The photo doesn't show what the block really looks like... I think it looks much nicer (not as busy) in real life. From a distance, the background fabric makes it look like it is raining on the flower.

Sewing this block was a fun brain snack for me this week. It reminded me that sometimes I really enjoy the math and the precision construction aspects of quilt making. 

New Mini Mystery

Uh oh... I'm having a flare up of startitis!

Because I don't have much to work on here (*snort*) I thought I'd start the new project over at Scrapdash. It combines two of my favourite things - minis AND mysteries! It's called "Pumpkin Spice Latte", so it tastes good too! The quilt will finish at 25", has just over 100 pieces to cut, and the 4 steps are posted over 4 days. 
Because it's a small project, you really don't need much fabric. I just pulled these pieces out of the fabric I received from my friend Helen's stash.

One of the keys to making mystery quilts is having enough contrast in the fabric selection. If there is not enough contrast, the intended design won't be as visible.

I did a contrast check by taking a photo of my fabrics and changing it to black and white. This removes the colour contrast and you can see the value. There's not much difference between the green and blue fabrics, but there was enough to make me happy enough to use them. You can see in the above photo that my pieces are cut and I'm ready for step #2 which will be posted today!

Blockheads II Update

Jace's Star Block #12

Are you participating in the Blockheads II project this year? Last year's was fun, but this year is even topping that!
I just finished pattern #12 which is called Jace's star by Lisa Bongean. This is a 6" block and was quite a challenge, which my favourite kind of block! 
I think there are 48 pieces in this little block.

Some of the pieces are very small. Just look at these Half Square Triangle (HST) blocks in the palm of my hand. They are tiny! At this size, each piece has to be exactly the right measurement. Some quilters think to themselves "these pieces look so small, I'll just add a wee bit extra to be sure". 
Trust me - resist the urge to make the any pieces bigger. They need to be exactly 1.25" and not one thread more for everything to fit together accurately. The HST's finish at .75" in the block.

Here are all the 6" blocks for this project on my design wall. There are 7 blocks in this size so far. They are so darn cute. The Moda website says the next 13 blocks posted (at 2 a week) will be 6" blocks, so soon I will have quite a collection. 

I am now 3 blocks behind, but will catch up as I always do. Before launching into the 6" blocks I am looking forward to sewing block #13 which is a Patchwork Flower with an odd measurement of 6.5" x 18.5". I pretty sure I've never made a block this size before, so this will be a first for me. Look for this block in the next week or two.

Linking up to Design Wall Monday over at Small Quilts.

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party!
It has been such a busy week for me that I did not take one single stitch by hand  *gasp* 
That hardly ever happens in my life because I try not to let it happen, and I know it's not good for my health!

But I intend to make up for it today and have traced a new I Stitch embroidery pattern to work on. Isn't this a fun design for a slow stitcher?!?  Spools, scissors, threaded needle, button and thimble ... adorable!

Did you participate in the photo challenge last week? If not, you still have time. Share a photo in your blog link up showing us what your view is when you are slow stitching. Where is your favourite place to sit? Last week we saw some lovely places - your porch, your view from the quilting frame, your patio, and the beautiful nature scenes you enjoy. I'll draw a winner tomorrow from both link ups. Thanks for playing along!

   

    An InLinkz Link-up
   

Scrappy Saturday

Dark blue is the colour of the month at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I have been working on a new quilt I started in a class last month. The blocks are called Anita's Arrowhead and they finish at 9". Here are the first 30 blocks on the design wall. 
A beautiful sea of blueness!
This isn't the layout. It's just the block collection so far. I'll probably make double this number of blocks because I love it, I have a lot of blue fabric to use up, and I want it to be a bed sized quilt.
I'm also making a mini version of this block which I showed last week. Those blocks finish at 3".
Hop over to the weekly RSC link up to see what the quilters are sewing with their blue fabric scraps!

September UFO

This month I am going to finish the quilt top that Kevin designed as a mystery project last summer. His pattern is called Sapphire Stars, but I made my version with green, so I call my quilt Emerald Stars.
You can see Kevin's finished quilt here.  I have the inner part of the quilt together (don't mind the mistake block that still has to be fixed!) but there is a lot of border work to do on this quilt. It's the borders that get me everytime because that's my least favourite quilting task.
And when there are several borders... ugh.
But I know it's worth all the work and it will look good when it's done. I just have to FOCUS!
Linking up to the September goal setting party over at One Monthly Goal.

Quick Small Finish

Helen's tablerunner kit  provided some wonderful instant gratification and I finished it in record time! It was fun to quilt concentric lines radiating from the centre of the courthouse step blocks. Since I used a free motion foot for the quilting, I could easily stitch in any direction (feed dogs dropped, stitch length on zero). I used a hera marker to mark some lines to stitch on, which  helps me to make those longer lines a little bit straighter.

All of the fabric for this project was from the kit, except the backing which came from the gift box I received from Helen's family. I plan to gift this to Helen's son and family at Christmas. I am also planning to sew a baby quilt to give to Helen's granddaughter (baby due in February) made from her fabrics. 

This photo was taken in my friend's garden on the day I finished the binding. It was a lovely afternoon of outdoor hand stitching!
Linking up to Sew Fresh Quilts.

Save The Bees BOM

Save the Bees Blocks #1 and #2

Did you enter the draw on yesterday's blog post? Click here if you forgot. We are having so much fun with this project from Jacquelynne Steeves. If you haven't yet, you really must hop over to her site (click here) and watch the video of over 200 versions of Block #1... so amazing! Quilters are just so creative!
The next block pattern will come out at the beginning of October so you have a month to make your block and you can post your photo on the facebook group here.

Linking up to Design Wall Monday over at Small Quilts.

Save The Bees Block #2

The second block pattern for the Save the Bees BOM is being released today. Are you signed up to receive your free pattern? Hop over to Jacquelynne's blog post for all the details.

Here is my version of block #2. You can see I used more of my carefully gathered bee fabrics in this block. I love the cornerstone squares cut from a piece of fabric my friend Debby found. I pieced the border blocks by machine, but the applique was stitched by hand. 
My leaves are very "organic looking", although I think they are a little more uniform than my leaves in block #1. 
I knew from making block #1 that I like the bee's flight trail stitching, so I hand stitched that with black floss. I stitched it a little too close to the seam, but I'm so glad it didn't get cut off when I added the border blocks!

careful orientation to get the angle just right

When you are making your version of this block, make sure you notice the very important link on page 1 of the pattern to take you to the tutorial to make Half Rectangle Triangle units (or click here to read and learn). 

freezer paper templates to trim the block to the exact size

I have never sewn a block like this before so was very interested in Jacquelynne's technique. I carefully followed the directions and my blocks came out perfectly.

If you want to see more wonderful versions of the bee blocks, visit the Facebook group here. And add a photo of your block when it's finished... we love to see all the creative variations!

Be sure to visit the list of featured bloggers and enter the draws to win this month's prize. What can you win? Each blog has a draw to win a copy of the Carpenter's Apprentice pattern (courtesy of EvaPaige Quilt Designs) and the Clearly Perfect Slotted Trimmers (courtesy of New Leaf Stitches). 

Here's the list of featured bloggers:

• The Crafty Quilter
• Podunk Pretties
• The Quilting Nook
• The Sewing Loft
• Flamingo Toes
• Kathy's Quilts (that's me)
• Freemotion by the River
• A Quilting Life

To enter my draw just scroll to the end of this post, click where it says 'comments' and tell me how often you eat honey? Are you a daily user or an infrequent user? Do you put it in your tea? In your baking? On your yogourt, cereal or oatmeal?

There will be one prize per person per month, and the draw will close on September 9th. Congratulations to my draw winner last month who was Suzanne (commenter #19)! 
Good luck to everyone entering this month's draw!

Draw is now closed... the winner is commenter #98 ...congratulations to Anita!

Slow Sunday Stitching - Photo Challenge

Welcome to the weekly party for hand stitching enthusiasts!

This past week I hand stitched 221" of quilt binding in order to finish my August UFO before the end of the month. You can see the finished quilt here.

Part of the hand stitching was done while sitting on this bench. It is one of my favourite places to sit and think and stitch. It's very quiet here, just the sound of the water, with occasional geese and birds flying by.  As summer comes to an end, and the temperatures drop making it more comfortable to be outside, I want to soak up as much outdoor time as possible. 
As you can see, Granddog Max stands guard to make sure that no one walks too close to the stitching.

This gave me an idea for another Slow Sunday Stitching Photo Challenge. We haven't had one for a while and I would love to see where you do your hand stitching when the weather is good.  It would be great if you could take a photo while stitching in your favourite place and put it on your blog post today. What is the view you enjoy in your corner of the world? 

All blogs in the link up with a photo of their stitching place will be entered to win the draw for 2 fat quarters - one fabric is of old fashioned cameras (of course it is... it's a photography challenge!) and the other is a white on white fabric with turtles.

Wait, you can hardly see the turtles... let me try again. 
Can you see them now?
So cute!
Turtles honour the Slow Sunday Stitching motto of taking one step/stitch at a time, savouring any slow progress, and understanding the value of deliberately moving in the direction of your goals.

Link up your blog post below and share your hand stitching  progress with us. And I hope you'll stop by tomorrow to see my second block for the Save the Bees BOM. I'll be finishing the hand applique this afternoon.

   

    An InLinkz Link-up
   

Scrappy Saturday

Just a quick post today for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. It is colour change over day, and we are leaving behind our orange scraps and getting out the dark blue. I have made a couple of mini Arrowhead blocks (you can find the cutting sizes here). These measure 3.5" (finish at 3") and are so adorable I wish I could just keep making more of these. 

But alas, the big reveal for Block #2 for Save the Bees BOM happens on Monday so I need to put the finishing touches on  my block today!

Hop over to the weekly RSC linkup to see what the scrap quilters are sewing today.

Finished Quilt!

It's such a great feeling to finish a quilt!


This was a "pinch hitter" for my originally designated UFO of the month. I am delighted to have this one finished, although I am still looking for the original project of the month. 
This quilt was started at the 2017 Superbowl party, so that's about a year and a half from start to finish, which is a pretty quick turnaround time for me!




I used several different quilting designs on this quilt and you can read more about the machine quilting here. I'm happy that the curvy diagonal lines can be seen in this photo!

The quilt pattern is by Kris Driessen of QuiltBug and was for a square quilt. I added two more rows, and sashing to make it a lap quilt and the finished size is 47" x 63.5".
The border, binding and backing were all made from  this fabric. 
This quilt is being donated to Victoria's Quilts, a Canadian organization providing comfort quilts to cancer patients. 
This quilt isn't the right size for Victoria's Quilts, so it is being donated to the comfort quilt collection at my local guild.

Gift Project

Last week I received an amazing box of fabric that was gifted to me by the family of one of my former quilting students. She recently passed away and her family thought I might like to have some of her fabric stash. This was such an unexpected surprise and I felt honoured to receive this gift.
Helen was such a lovely person and always a delight to have in my quilting classes. She had an infectious giggle and although she didn't say much in class, she always had a twinkle in her eye and a desire to learn new things. You can see her right in the middle of the group at a beginner's quilting class I taught in 2010 at the senior's centre. 

Here is the collection of fabric I received. It has been unpacked and resorted several times. A few pieces have been cut into and shared with friends for their special projects. That makes me so happy and would make Helen even happier!😊

Also in the box was a tablerunner kit from a store in Erin that has been closed for several years. I just had to open the kit and start on it right away. All other projects got pushed aside while I sewed the 4 courthouse steps blocks, added borders and started pin basting the tablerunner.

I have been listening to this song while quilting this project and thinking about the ways in which a person's energy continues on after they die through all the things they leave behind ...  quilts, fabrics, children, memories, and wonderful stories.