Wednesday, February 19, 2020

Color It Red Day #3


Welcome to the Color It Red blog hoppers!
I am excited to participate in the blog hop today!
It's hard for me to spell "color" like this since Canadians add in a 'u' and spell it "colour" (and neighbour, and flavour, and honour, etc.)


growing block pile
When Carol announced the Red blog hop, I immediately decided to use this as motivation to get working on my 150 Canadian Women project. I started this project at the end of 2016 to celebrate the 150th birthday of Canada in 2017. It's now 2020 and this quilt needs to get going so it will be finished before the 175th birthday of Canada!


Each block is named after a famous Canadian woman and each pattern includes a short biography. It's a wonderful project and I have enjoyed working it, but it's a lot of sewing! Some of the 6" blocks are fairly easy, and some are quite complicated. This block has 51 pieces.



I collected red fabrics all year long during Canada's 150th year so this quilt has a great variety of reds 
This photo shows my sewing table in the process of sashing the blocks on 2 sides to prepare for the layout stage.


sewing sashing strips to 2 sides of each block
And this is how far I got last night... 7 blocks across and 9 blocks down for a total of 63 blocks... only 87 blocks to go! This will be an enormous quilt!






I tried to take some great Canadian photos for the blog hop and although I had fun, I did not have much success. It was really cold and windy, so here are the photo shoot fails... rows of blocks blowing in the wind. Oh never mind.



How about rows of blocks on the snow? They kept blowing away and I was so cold by then that I just gave up, came inside and sewed the rows together. By the time that was done it was too dark to take an outside photo.
I'll post another outside shot on Thursday or Friday. 

Thanks for the motivation to keep working on this project Carol!

Here are all the blog stops on the Color It Red blog tour today... enjoy!
February 19th
Kathy’s Quilts (that's me!)


44 comments:

Elizabeth Coughlin said...

Wow that's a stunning, and ambitious, quilt!

Anorina @SameliasMum said...

We spell it colour too here in Australia. Your blocks look so great and your quilt is coming along beautifully.

Carol said...

This is an amazing quilt! I love what you have done so far!! Have you thought about making it reversible so that you don't have such a huge quilt when you are done? Just an idea... Thanks so much for sharing and good luck on finishing!!

Stitchin At Home said...

I love your photos, typically Canadian to go with a great quilt.

Laura said...

I love this fabulous quilt! It is even more precious with the history attached to it!

Chopin - A Passionate Quilter said...

That a striking red and white quilt Kathy! Love the blocks!

Carol Swift said...

All those blocks are so incredible in this quilt...wow! It's amazing how beautiful it became when you put it all together. This is really a stunning quilt! I cracked up when I read about your attempts to take photos outside. I don't think people understand our craziness when they see us taking photos of our quilts under hazardous weather conditions. LOL Thank you for risking frozen toes and noses to show us those lovely blocks! I'm so glad you hopped with us to share your red!

Vasudha said...

Such a stunning, gorgeous quilt. Just like all the women it represents.

Rebecca Smith said...

Your quilt will be amazing even if it does take you until the 175th anniversary!

Turid said...

So many fun blocks. Beautiful in red and white.

Leah said...

This quilt is going to be fabulous! They blocks you have finished already are fantastic!

works4me said...

This is going to be an amazing tribute quilt to our wonderful country. Way to go for tackling such a massive project. I designed a quilt for 150 but it is still at the design stage. Instead, I made a table runner and a small quilt to celebrate. Maybe we should both aim for 155 years, and 2022. :)

The pictures are fun. After the photo shoot I hope you treated yourself to some hot chocolate as well as the wine. Hot chocolate with a little Kahlua is very warming. lol

MissPat said...

This is definitely one you should keep working to complete. It will gorgeous, inspirational and educational. Quilting it may be another matter altogether, given it's size.
Pat

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

That is an amazing group of blocks, even with only half or so done! I love all your red and white fabrics, too. Keep going, Kathy!

Calicojoan said...

A girl after my own heart! One who sews with her wine in one hand! hahahaha That is one big beautiful project there. Thankfully you didn't loose any blocks in the wind. All to frequently we quilters get in over our heads. Be sure to share when it's done, cause that's what keeps us all motivated!

tink's mom said...

I live in Florida, that is how I think of Canadian outside shots. I love what you have accomplished so far with the construction of these blocks and I am very impressed with the story behind them. Looking forward to its completion. Maybe there will be another hop or two that these blocks will fall into. ;-} I find these hops so very motivational.

Carol Andrews said...

Red and white does warm you up on our cold Canadian winter days. This quilt is going to be stunning when it’s finished. It already make me smile.
šŸ˜„ Carol
https://quiltschmilt.wordpress.com/

The Joyful Quilter said...

Hooray for progress, Kathy!! I'm SEW glad that you were spurred along by the Hop. Your quilt is going to be magnificent!

Marian said...

I love this quilt, it's really beautiful and what a great story behind it. Laughed about trying to take photos outside, I've never tried that, I usually just spread it out on my sewing room table or the floor or the bed and call it a day. :) I'm lazy that way I guess. Can't wait to see how this gets quilted and it's overall size when it's finished.

Sharon said...

Wow! This is going to be wonderful. Actually, it already is wonderful. I can identify with taking pictures in the wind. It is never an easy task, but the lighting outdoors is nearly always better than an indoor shot. Thanks for sharing!

Louise said...

Blocks blowing around in the snow? It doesn't get much more Canadian than that! This is a very ambitious and wonderful project! Good for you for getting motivated to move it along :)

Karrin Hurd said...

Great red blocks, I can just see you trying to get the rows to stay still! I had the wind blowing the other day when I was trying to take pics too. I ended up tacking them to the fence. Thanks for sharing!

Sue said...

That is going to be an amazing quilt. I love the various blocks and reds. Especially love the bottle of wine!

Cynthia's Creating Ark said...

Sometimes no matter how hard we try to get the outdoor quilt shots they just don't work. Look forward to see more progress on your project. It will be stunning finished.

Dix in Canada said...

Love your Canadian project! How I love red & white - but not wind. From one Canadian to another, hang in there, you're well on your way again. Thanks for sharing with us all.

Sarah said...

I love red and you have a great range of red fabrics. This is going to be an amazing quilt! Bravo for doing some outside photos. PS We Brits have the same spelling as 'u'šŸ˜

LJ said...

Color or colour, your quilt is exquisite now and will be even more gorgeous. I think I'm in love with all the red and white blocks.

Jenny said...

We spell it colour here in New Zealand too, must be the English ancestry I guess. Your red and white blocks are truly inspirational, well done! Wondering if you should make two quilts from all those blocks?

Chantal said...

I have yet to start mine. Love seeing your blocks. Looking forward to see more of this beauty. ;^)

Raewyn said...

I love all the reds you have used - red's one of my favourite colours so I'm loving what you have done. It's going to be a beautiful quilt when finished.

Needled Mom said...

Those are beautiful. I've always wanted to make a red and white quilt. I must say that it looks really pretty in the snow too.

Farm Quilter said...

You will need a new, bigger bed to hold this quilt!!! Maybe make a reversible quilt out of it and have half on each side? It is amazing and gorgeous...will you remember each of the stories that goes with each block??

Michelle said...

Wow, that's a fabulous quilt!

Brenda @ Songbird Designs said...

Those blocks are incredible! That will be one awesomely large quilt when finished!!

Karen's Korner said...

Fabulous blocks. Well done on staying with this project.

Julie in GA said...

Your blocks look fantastic! You're right, that will be an enormous quilt. I saved all the patterns--maybe it's time to make some blocks.

Charlene McCain said...

Wow! So many beautiful blocks and still more to go, but what a lovely tribute. This will be an exquisite quilt when it's completed. Love the pictures you took in the snow.

Susan said...

I have all the patterns, couldn't resist collecting them, with the stories of all those wonderful women, but I haven't made the blocks. Your quilt is inspiring!

Siouxzq64@gmail.com said...

Gorgeous quilt blocks, can't wait to see all the blocks. Thanks for sharing the story of the photo shoot.

Vroomans' Quilts said...

Just love all these blocks - I would make two quilts rather than one big one.

Susan said...

Lovely quilt. I can see how this has taken some time.

dq said...

I sincerely love this "red" project! I especially love that each block represents a woman! Quilts that tell stories are the BEST!

Kate said...

The red and white blocks are just so clean and crisp. What a great project not just visually, but from what you learned as you made each block.

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

How about making it 2 quilts instead of one huge quilt?