May Mini Quilt

My May mini emerged from a bag of cut off corners which most people throw in the trash. Fabric trash is my treasure! 

For size comparison I took a photo of the bobbin with the block - the HST is 1" finished, and the sashing strips were cut 1" and finish at .5".

I decided to use an on point layout, which is a little tricky, so I keep the blocks right beside the sewing machine and return each sewn piece to the layout as I go. In theory this practice decreases piecing errors!

This is a photo of the entire quilt under the needle sewing the last seam. I just love this Featherweight sewing machine with her perfect stitch, pretty decals, and soft hum.

The machine quilting design is simple straight lines with the walking foot. I used 2 different  green threads and had a brilliant plan of how to alternate the colours to add another design element, and then I forgot the brilliant plan, got mixed up as I was quilting, and just finished the quilting in the dark green thread. LOL - typical me!

Here is "Daffodil Fields" with a finished size of  9.25" x 12".

This quilt uses up some  leftover eucalyptus batting and it quilted up beautifully with a little bit of loft. Some people have asked me it the batting has a smell, and there is no odour that I can detect. Perhaps there will be some odour when washing it, but I haven't done that yet.

Come check out the other May mini quilts at The Constant Quilter.

Love of Miniatures

One of my quilty passions is making miniature quilts. I have literally made hundreds of them and have learned something from making each one.

Two things have recently sparked my love of miniatures - a quilt auction and a TV show.

First the quilt auction on weekend where a miniature pinwheel quilt was donated by Henny Bremer. It is 11" square and is beyond adorable! There are 400 tiny pieces of fabric in this treasure. I missed hearing how much it was sold for, but I will find out and post it. 

We know what we love by how our attention is drawn, and I could not stop looking at this quilt! Do you know how hard it is to get the centre of that tiny pinwheel to meet? This quilt is mini perfection!

Secondly, I found a TV show called Best in Miniature and it has been captivating. I treat myself to one episode each evening and watch the artists create entire miniature worlds. 

And so... I had a craving to work on a miniature quilt! I found a bag of cut off triangle corners that someone shared with me. I spent relaxing time just running the triangles through my 1952 Singer 221 sewing machine (called Charity). She hasn't had an outing for a while so I gave her a fun project to work on.

Some people don't enjoy trimming HST blocks, but I find it relaxing with the BlocLoc ruler and a sharp rotary blade. 

The HST blocks were surrounded by 1" sashing and these are the little cuties I came up with. It's fun to get "in the zone" and just play with fabric without a plan.

Come by tomorrow to see how it turns it!

Linking up to Design Wall Monday

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party! It's time to put your feet up, relax, and put some stitches into your favourite project. Just breathe and stitch, even if just for a few moments.

I need some relaxation today as I tuckered myself out yesterday at the Mennonite Relief Sale and Quilt Auction. There hasn't been an auction since 2019 pre-covid, so this was very exciting, and a little overwhelming.

My friend Sandy and I volunteered at the event and it was a privilege to see some of the quilts up close. I also enjoyed seeing the creativity of some of the quilt labels - embroidered, painted, written and cross stitched.

I didn't get too many pictures this year because I was working, but here is a hexie quilt that I loved - quilt #159 in the catalogue (quilt is behind plastic to keep my paws off!)

The feature quilt called "Glimpses of Nepal" was made by Renske Helmuth and was sold for $20,000 dollars! It was a wonderful day and raised lots of money for a great cause.

** I just heard that the quilt auction raised approximately $135,840.00 to support MCC's relief, development and peace work.

I have been hand quilting outdoors this week since the weather has been cool enough to sit outside with a big quilt on my lap. Heavenly! 

I am quilting the outside border on my oldest UFO. This photo shows the corner stitching. You can see how warn and pilled the batting is from being worked on over the last 25 years! But I am so happy that when I pin basted this quilt, I left a wide enough piece of backing and batting all the way around which makes the border quilting so easy. Will this be the year that I finish my oldest UFO?!?

What are you hand stitching today? Are you working on something old or something new? We love to see your slow progress and invite you to link up your blog post below.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Not a finish to be seen!

There hasn't been a finished quilt in this messy quilt studio since March! I did recently finish TWO rainbow scrap quilt tops though - Bitcoin and Easy Breezy and that was a huge accompishment.

Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately?!?) I have succumbed to a case of Startitis! I usually get a bad case of it and start many projects in January, but I am now exhibiting increased symptoms of severe Startitis. 

Instead of finishing projects, I find myself gathering fabrics for the Edyta Sitar summer mystery that starts in June. I really enjoyed last year's summer mystery which was like a big jigsaw puzzle with traditionally pieced blocks. 

And is that mystery a finished quilt you ask? 

NO! It's in the UFO waiting closet. It's simmering in creative juices, waiting for the perfect time to be quilted.

If you might feel a case of Startitis coming on and need to start something new, why not join in on the summer mystery quilt June?

And if you aren't a mystery quilt fan, you can join in on Pretti and Bernie's second annual positivity quiltalong.

So many fun projects to enjoy!

Machine Quilting Started

I'm so chuffed to be machine quilting my April and May UFO - finally!  This quilt is so large that I used ALL the pins I owned to pin baste it.

One of my favourite tasks is picking the threads. I found these colours to start with in the centre, and I wound 3 bobbins to start. Isn't that a pretty colour (#2880) to match the backing fabric?!?

Then I pooled the quilt on the machine bed around the needle area. Working in the centre of a big quilt is the hardest part of quilting on a domestic sewing machine.

I was so proud that I had worked out in my mind a continuous line of quilting for the cranberry fabrics. And then the thread started shredding! What should have been quick and fun became  frustrating and slow. I should have known better because my machine prefers Aurifil thread. This was not Aurifil, but it was the best colour. Lesson learned. Again.

I persevered with several starts and stops, and was able to finish the centre. It will be easier quilting now as I will quilt each successive border moving toward the outer edges of the quilt and use only Aurifil thread (no afflilation, just a very happy customer).

May's UFO on the Design Wall

Canadians are celebrating Victoria Day today, which is a federal holiday to mark the birthday of the reigning queen when Canada became a country in 1867. Most people get this as a paid holiday from work, and in the past we used to go camping on this 3 day weekend. But we didn't go this year as the weather has been so unpredictable.

I plan to spend the day in my quilt studio and be a goat today!

My idea came from  this photo on Lavender Quilts and decided that was the perfect inspiration for Victoria Day! LOL 

I was able to get my Unity quilt top together this weekend and here it is on the design wall! Unity was a mystery quilt along with Bonnie Hunter at the beginning of the pandemic. I love this quilt! 

Today's task is to get the quilt pin basted and ready for quilting. I'm using a eucalyptus batting in this quilt and have fluffed it up in the dryer to get the dust out of it. 

What are you doing to celebrate Victoria Day?!?

Linking up to Design Wall Monday at Judy's

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly celebration of hand stitching! It's the one time a week when we make sure to set aside some special moments for playing with needles and thread/yarn. We hope you will join us!

I have been doing a lot of waiting recently, and I always have my hand stitching bag close by. I got a kick out of stitching in the Tim Horton's line, while I waited 15 minutes for a coffee. It was ridiculously slow, but I enjoyed the serenity of a stitching break, and I almost finished the word "cannot". I accept that I cannot change the slowness of Tim Hortons! LOL Over the pandemic we lost 2 coffee shops in town, and now that people are out and about more, there are longer line ups.

A bit more progress has been made since the Tim Horton's visit, and more stitching will be done today. I look forward to seeing the progress you have made on your projects this week.

I thank you for participating in the Slow Sunday Stitching community!  I just love reading the blog posts on our weekly link up!  Last week I read so many interesting stories - about collection of walnut shells (for filling our pincushions), how to alter skating costumes, and how to hand quilt on a 3 roller frame. Although I don't often get to visit all the links, I do visit as many at time allows.

Below is the link to enter your blog post and share your hand stitching projects with us.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Bitcoin Quilt Top

I am so excited to share my RSC version of Bitcoin! This is a Bonnie Hunter pattern released last summer.

I started sewing the scraps together in June last year and each month I sewed more ladders together. That was so fun and I'm sure I will make another random scrappy version of this pattern.

Then came the day when all the colours I wanted in the quilt were sewn, and it was time to put the ladders together in their colour sections. That was the hard part. But I stuck with it and now it's done!

There are 1,380 scraps in this quilt top, cut and sewn a few at a time in the colour of the month. And now they have become a quilt top! This is my favourite way to make a quilt and I'm thankful to Angela for the weekly RSC linkup that has encouraged me to make scrappy quilts that I love one month/colour at a time!

Do you have any quilting suggestions for me?!

Linking up to this week's RSC party

Mystery step #2

The next step was posted for the "Oh say can you sew" mystery quilt. We are making bazillions of quarter square triangle blocks, which some folks call hourglass blocks. 

I'm so pleased with my decision to make this project from stash scraps (and a charm pack!) because the variety of fabrics helps me to maintain my interest in making repetitive blocks.

I added in all the reproduction colours I had, including this delicious collection of purple FQs.

The challenge of this step was all the trimming of the blocks to the correct size. I do love my BlocLoc ruler for this type of job! These rulers are a bit pricey but worth every single cent!

These blocks were my leader-ender project for the first two weeks of May.

I tossed one under the needle at the end of each seam I sewed for other projects. It was easy, mindless (and seemingly endless at times) sewing. But here are my blocks ready for the next step in June. 

To get the free instructions for Step #2 before the end of the month - click here.

Easy Breezy Quilt Top

I am so thrilled to share that my Easy Breezy quilt top is on the design wall! The layout is 12 blocks by 15 blocks for a total of 180 blocks. 

Easy Breezy was the July 2020 Quiltville leader-ender challenge and I loved every minute of making these blocks through covid times. Click here to see Bonnie Hunter's finished version of Easy Breezy. Her layout is gorgeous with neutral sashing and scrappy cornerstones.

My blocks were cut and sewn following the Rainbow Scrap Challenge colour of the month and the top was built bit by scrappy bit for a total of 2,160 pieces of fabric in this quilt. 

The blocks were delightful to sew and I enjoyed every minute of piecing this project. The colour work was also fun, figuring out how many more blocks to make in each colour to make the final quilt top kind of look like a scrappy rainbow.

Now the big question... does it need a border?

Linking up to Design Wall Monday at Judy's

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly Slow Sunday Stitching party! Pull out your hand work and join us as we work on our stitching projects. Even if you don't have much time today, just put in a few stitches and enjoy the relaxation you will feel. 

Since I finished my word meditation last week, I have been working on my new embroidery project - the Serenity Prayer. I started with the words and will save the fun butterfly and flowers for last.

The weather here turned to summer this week (spring lasted for a week) so I'm excited to be stitching outdoors today!

What are you hand stitching today? Are you able to stitch outdoors where you live? Like up your blog or instagram post below and share you project with us.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

A Quilting LIfe BOM

Have you started your blocks for the BOM by A Quilting Life? It took me a while to get started because I just couldn't decide whether to make the 6" size or the 12" size. I finally decided to go with the 12" size since I'm getting my fill of making little blocks by doing the Blockheads IIII in the 5" size. If I keep making very small blocks, I will never have enough for bed sized quilts!

I have made the first 4 blocks with a range of golds (leftover from Save The Bees quilt) and dark greys for the churn dash frames.

I am making extra churn dash blocks to be ready for the next block patterns as they are posted.

It's not too late to join in - click here to access all the free patterns for this mystery BOM.

Design Wall Monday

There are 16 hearts on the design wall today! 

It's the Cupid Box project from February!

I'm very proud of the piecing in this project. I worked with 2 fabrics at a time and enjoyed the challenge of this project. It just needs a white border and then it will be ready for quilting.

Linking up to Design Wall Monday at Judy's

Slow Sunday Stitching

Happy Slow Sunday Stitching and Happy Mother's Day! While people are visiting and enjoying family time today, why not pick up your needle and thread, and make some progress on your projects.

I have a finish to share this week! This embroidery pattern is by Joy MacDonald and was started as a stitching meditation in January. It was a wonderful project to spend time with during turbulent world events. Stitching is my therapy!

I'm very happy with my hand quilting on this little treasure. And I'm delighted that all the blue marks were removed after washing. I was nervous about that, but I worried for no reason. 

Today I will be putting more stitches into my other hand quilting project - March into Spring. 

The bottom section is quilted and I love how the lines in the flying geese block look. It's coming along slowly but surely!

What will you be hand stitching today? We hope you will link up your blog or instagram post below.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Cupid Box Project

In the Cupid Box I ordered from The Fat Quarter Shop in February, there was a project called "It Takes Two".  All the fabric was included to make this quilt with Riley Blake fat quarters.

I started working on it this week and wow is it challenging. Now I do enjoy a good challenge, so I think I'm up for this one! I was very happy to use the Alphabitties that came in the Jolly Box. I label every piece of fabric as it is cut to keep everything organized.

It's just like one big fabric jigsaw puzzle! Thankfully the instructions are very clear and I am enjoying seeing this puzzle come together. Maybe it will be finished for Valentine's Day 2025?!?

April UFO Becomes the May UFO

The first step in working on my April UFO was to get the top finished....which meant completing some borders and adding them to the quilt. 

The math was not fun, and the seam ripper was used way too many times to make this enjoyable.  A big mistake was made and I needed a break from this brain buster project. 

Long story made short - the Unity quilt did not get finished in April. This quilt is the largest I have made in a long time and here you can see half of it on the design wall. Maybe the flying geese blocks should go all the way to the edge? NO can do... the math doesn't work!

And so... my April UFO has now become the May UFO!

Linking up to One Monthly Goal

Design Wall Monday

Half of the Easy Breezy quilt top is on the design wall! You can see the other left side (purple, blue, and green) of the quilt here. 

It's such a work in progress which takes time to figure out the colour order. If I would have been more organized at the beginning, this stage wouldn't take so long. But I wasn't, and I rarely am at the beginning of a long scrappy journey! I had no idea when I was making the first few blocks that this quilt would become this large!

There are 15 blocks in each column, and they require 46 pins for seam matching in preparation to sew. These are not seams that can be figured out as you go along! 

Linking up to Design Wall Monday at Judy's 

Slow Sunday Stitching

It's Sunday again, which means it's time to s-l-o-w down and make time for some relaxing stitching. 

Slow progress has been made on my word meditation. I finished hand quilting the border design and trimmed it down yesterday. 

I really love how the texture of the cross hatch quilting looks on the back. It does seem a little intense on the front, and I'm thinking maybe a 1" spacing would have been better?

Today is all about hand stitching the binding, which is my favourite! I will enjoy every minute!

What are you hand stitching today? We hope you will share your projects and link your blog or instagram post below.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter