Frolic is together!

Building a corner

All year I have been working on Bonnie Hunter's Frolic pattern which was last year's mystery. This project involved complex block construction and an on point setting. It was my goal to finally finish the quilt top this month. 

Did I mention there are millions of pieces to organize and put in the right place?!?

This was just one of the challenges I came across. I pieced too many side triangle units (totally my fault!) so didn't haven't enough pieces left for the 4 corner units. I had to deconstruct some of the blocks on the left and magically turn them into the blocks on the right. It was not as easy as it seems... or maybe it's just my covid brain?!?

Miles of HST borders were sewn for each side of the quilt.

Wow did I work hard to finish this quilt top! I feel like this must be similar to getting a PhD in quiltmaking! 

It's a large quilt (84" square) and became bulky to work with, and it was surprisingly heavy sewing the long diagonal seams.

I did something when making this quilt that I have never done before in all my years of sewing. I sewed a flower head pin right into a seam! I didn't see it as I was sewing and only noticed it when the clunking sound started! 

I unstitched the seam and extracted the pin.
Look at the pin now! Can you believe it?! I almost sewed the flower in half!

I'm sure the sewing machine needle must have been damaged by sewing over the pin, so both the pin AND the needle went into the garbage. Too much drama!

Here is the inside of the quilt on the design wall. It still needed some trimming on the side, but this is how it looked before the borders were added. So cool how it looks like a 2 block quilt, but it isn't!

And here is my finished Frolic quilt top hanging on the clothesline. Wow that's an incredible quilting design... kudos to Bonnie Hunter!

Proudly linking up to One Monthly Goal and Design Wall Monday

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party! It's a safe way to hang out with friends, enjoy some relaxing stitching time and there is a 0% chance of getting covid! Staying safe at home is the goal these days and stitching helps you to stay sane while you're at home.

I am ready to stitch the chocolate bar on my embroidered tea towel and hope to get this finished today. I'm also knitting a Santa dishcloth but just got started on that. It's time to get busy finishing up Christmas gifts!

What are you working on today? Are you trying to finish some Christmas gifts while you watch Christmas shows? A Christmas Story is one of our favourites! Link up your blog post below and share your hand stitching projects with us.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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Scrappy Saturday

Somehow I misplaced the cord to download phone photos to my computer. There are just too many things for my poor old brain to remember! My Saturday post is late because a blog post really needs to have the corresponding photos!

And here is more  evidence of my poor struggling brain. I'm slowly working on my 3" Arrowhead blocks. See the block on the right? It has multiple problems. Should I throw it in the garbage or get out the seam ripper and start over? I've been sewing these blocks for 2 years now so why can't I do it right this week? 

Covid brain. That's why.

Here are the yellow blocks that I cut in October and sewed in November. I'm hoping the design wall will be free next week to show you the layout I'm working on.

Linking up to RSC party

New Mystery Starts Today!

Every year on the Friday after the US Thanksgiving I start a mystery quilt with Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville. It is my annual tradition and this year is no exception. I take the day off work and treat myself to a whole day of sewing.

Here is a review of the last few years:

2019 Frolic (still in progress but so close to the top being done)

2018 Good Fortune (still in progress)

En Provence

2017 On Ringo Lake is finished! I used the sashing units for a border and love how it turned out!

2016 En Provence - is one of my all time favourite quilts!

2015 Allietare - one of my favourite UFOs!

I don't always finish the mystery quilts I start, but some day I know I will because I love each one!

This year we are sewing a mystery design called "Grassy Creek". 

Red, Orange, Gold, Green, Grey and Neutral

The combination of recommended colours is one that requires sun glasses, but hopefully my fabric choices will magically turn into a lovely quilt. I am using one consistent background/neutral this time for the first time and am curious to discover if I will like that or not. All the colours are bits and pieces and most of them are less than a fat quarter, so there will be a lot of scrappiness in this quilt. I'm a little short on the greys so may need to look in the deep stash for more. I was determined to not buy any fabric this year, so it is what it is!

Remember the golden rule of Quiltville mysteries... no whining! There will be hundreds of small pieces and hours of sewing ahead. Why not make a pot of tea and join in the fun!

A quick finish

My November UFO project is last year's Quiltville mystery called Frolic. It's a lot of complex sewing and I just needed a quick finish for some instant gratification.

These pieces were found in a scrap bag and they wanted to become a placemat. How do I know that? Well they told me of course!

The original owner probably abandoned the project because the strips weren't fitting together well. I made some tucks, added a few pieces of fabric and a wide border.

The machine quilting was simple diagonal lines which aren't exactly straight due to the wonkiness of some of the piecing. But that's okay... finished is better than perfect!

This is the second placemat I've made to donate to Meals on Wheels. I love the idea that someone will enjoy their nutritious food along with a little quilty goodness!

Okay... back to Frolic!

Design Wall Monday

This is exactly what my design wall looks like today. I'm still working on finishing my Frolic mystery quilt before the end of the month. As you can see it is such a large quilt that it is too big for my design wall. I have the blocks on the left  pinned to a sheet covering the doorway. It is the on point setting that is so challenging for me. I am forcing my brain to work hard on this big fabric jigsaw puzzle and really liking how it's turning out.

The little yellow blocks on the upper right are mini arrowhead blocks for one of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects. I am sewing those as leader-ender pieces.

I'll also post a photo here of the wonderful winter wonderland we woke up to this morning. This is the tree in the backyard. Some of the branches are being pulled to the ground with the weight of the snow. It's just so pretty!

Linking up to Small Quilts Design Wall Monday

Slow Sunday Stitching

A hearty welcome to all you stitchers! Thanks for dropping by to see what the Slow Sunday Stitching crew is creating this week!

I finished knitting a gift for the US Thanksgiving coming up this week. Can you see the pattern? I think I made a mistake on the nose (beak? snood?) stitching area? Oh well, I tried my best and it will be conversation worthy if nothing else! If you want to knit up a turkey for the holidays, click here for the free Ravelry Gobble Cloth pattern.

I wanted to start a new dishcloth with this new-to-me yarn. I had to deal with a "hank" for the first time... very annoying. I followed the instructions here, and used a chair to wind the yarn into a useable ball. Just wondering.... why doesn't yarn come in a useable ball format?!? 

Anyway, I ended up having this big knot to deal with. I reminded myself that "patience is a virtue" as I wasted my precious stitching time trying to untie this knot.  I'm finally ready to start the knitting for this Christmas gift which will hopefully turn out better than the turkey!

But first, for today's relaxation I am hand stitching a binding to finish up a placemat. These are my favourite binding needles. Will I have enough thread on this spool to finish the binding?

What are you hand stitching today? Will you give yourself some time to rest on Slow Sunday Stitching? Please link up your blogpost below and share your relaxing hand stitching projects with us.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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Scrappy Saturday

I am totally off my schedule for working on my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects. I'm not even sure what the colour for November is, but that's okay because I haven't finished my yellow blocks for October yet and still have this pile of mini arrowhead blocks (link to Anita's blog) waiting to be sewn.

Finally one block is sewn together! Woo hoo! These are 3" blocks and are so darn cute. I have been making a few each month for 2 years now and still only have enough for a wallhanging :)

Here is a fun (but blurry) photo of me that a  snapchat filter put on top of my mini arrowhead blocks.  But you can see how I am starting to sew the blocks together in groups of 4. I still love this project and will continue sewing these blocks into 2021. 

In the region where I live we are now on "red control tier" which is a tiny step away from lockdown. Lock down just means that other people might start to live like we have been living since March!  And for some unknown reason when lockdown is mentioned, people start needing to shop constantly. Long lines at grocery stores have returned and probably toilet paper will be scarce again LOL!

I'll be staying home safe and covid free in my sewing room!

Design Wall Monday

There are only 11 more sleeps until the 2020 Quiltville mystery begins! I really wanted to finish last year's mystery before I start the new one. I'm making lots of progress but these borders are a lot of HST's!

All of the 8 border strips are sewn together. Now they just have to be joined to each other and to the quilt top ... which isn't sewn together yet. But the blocks are all sewn and the big job getting of sewing it altogether will be tackled this week. I'm not sure how long it will take me, but I'm giving it my best effort!

Linking up to Design Wall Monday over at Small Quilts.

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party! It's time to take a deep breath, pick up your needles and threads, and put some stitches in your project.

It has been such a busy week at work that I haven't had the time or energy to sew or blog at all. So today I'll be sitting with my feet up, hand stitching the day away while I watch the Masters golf tournament. It certainly is different with no spectators during the covid tournament.

I'll start by stitching these gold french knots on my Stitcher's Revolution tea towel. The progress is slow and steady, but I still have one more tea towel to finish before Christmas, so I better pick up the stitching pace a little bit!

What are you hand stitching today? Are you starting to think about Christmas coming and gifts you want to finish? Link up your blog post below and show us what you're working on.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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Design Wall Monday

Slow and steady sewing is happening on my November UFO blocks. There are 3 more blocks to piece and I have started sewing the HST border strips together as the leader-enders between block construction.

Linking up to Small Quilts

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party! We invite you to settle in for some relaxation, visit our inspiring stitchers at the links below, and take some time to put a few stitches in one of your favourite projects.

Last night I was stitching along while watching the historic events unfolding in the USA. It was probably what most of you were doing too. I did make a little bit of progress, but not nearly as much progress as was seen last night in accomplishing equality for women!

Today I will be putting more embroidery stitches into this tea towel. Our Halloween candy was not collected by trick-or-treaters this year (but we had to have some just in case) . "I'm no quitter" so let's dig in... stitch, eat chocolate, stitch, eat chocolate. But don't get chocolate on the stitchery!

What are you hand stitching today? Is your Halloween candy gone or are you working on that today also?

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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Scrappy Saturday

It's time to clear away the yellow scraps of October and finish up some blocks. Here are the yellow waffle blocks sewn this month. Each block has 10 little 1.5" squares of scrappy goodness. It's almost like an "I Spy" quilt in miniature.

 

Here is the majority of the collection of waffle blocks made so far. These are great scrap buster blocks and will make an interesting quilt.

And these are the October blocks being added to the Easy Breezy collection. 

I haven't made any yellow mini arrowhead blocks yet, so that has to be finished before I can start on the November colour scraps.

Hop over to the RSC link up

Midweek Sanity Break

What do quilters do when the world is a crazy place?

They maintain their sanity by sorting scraps and sewing quilt blocks. I took Wednesday off as a midweek gift to myself, and opened up a parcel I received earlier in the week. It was a surprise gift of scraps from my quilt guild friend Joan. These are the leftover pieces of her New Zealand fabrics.

I spread out the scraps and cut pieces for the scrappy projects I have in progress... 1" strips, 1.5" strips and squares, and the larger pieces went in the bin for strip quilts.

I sewed one waffle block from Joan's scraps and cut many more squares to be sewn into more waffle blocks. But this one is all New Zealand.

I also made some interesting Easy Breezy blocks from these scraps...so much movement in some of these fabrics! Thank you Joan for the wonderful surprise!

Frolic is back!

Did you see that the fabric requirements were posted for the next Quiltville mystery? Of course I will join in when it starts at the end of November, but I am lamenting that I haven't finished the last 2 mysteries - Frolic and Unity. I'm so close with both of them and each one just needs some concentrated time and effort. 

So Frolic pieces and blocks are on the design wall today. It is my November UFO goal to get this quilt top finished! I think the next step is to finish the 4 partially made blocks on the right side. I really like the block on the top left because the red striped fabric was one of my brother's favourite dress shirts.

Linking up to Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts.

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party! We invite you to settle in for some relaxation, visit our inspiring stitchers at the links below, and take some time to put a few stitches in one of your favourite projects.

This week I put hand stitches into 2 projects. First I finished stitching 200" of binding of my October UFO. 

And when that was done, I finished my new pillow by making a ladder stitch on the edge. It gives such a nice finish... almost invisible.

Now that both of my finishing jobs are done, I'll be back to knitting my Thanksgiving gift and working on my Siddi quilt.

What are you hand stitching today? Link up your blog post and share your slow progress with us.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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