Scrappy Rails

I decided to quilt a quick and easy squiggly line pattern on the rail fence blocks. The first step was a lot of scribbling on scrap paper to figure out how to make a continuous line design. I wanted to avoid quilting through lots of thick seams, and this is working great. It is giving a nice texture, and emphasizing the rail blocks.

Also, I have been digging through my basket of leftover binding ends to see if a binding could be pieced together using scraps.

I easily found enough darker bits to join together to make a binding long enough for this quilt. Now I just need to finish the quilting, join the bindings together, and attach it to the quilt. Then I will have a binding to sew for Slow Sunday Stitching. Do you think I will make it?

Moving right along...

I have been sewing up a storm here. My scrappy rail fence blocks are sewn together in a quilt top. I use the webbing technique by Bonnie Hunter to sew blocks together, and it is quick and easy. Well, it was mostly easy... not all of my blocks were the same size, and some stretching may have been involved :)
Now the quilt is pin basted and is ready for quilting. I decided on a variegated thread for the top and my stand-by taupe thread in the bobbin. I have wound 3 bobbins to get me started. 
Now the only problem is... how to quilt it!!?!

Quilty Love

My neighbours recently had a baby girl. 
I was delighted that the baby was a girl because I just happened to have a (prize winning) baby girl quilt all ready for her! 



Both Mom and baby had a very difficult time with the delivery, and Mom is still recovering. So of course I offered my free babysitting services and have had the pleasure of many hours of cuddling this sweetness.
How could you resist?
She is the most beautiful, tiniest, perfect little human!


She is over 6 pounds now and swims in her newborn sleeper. The baby quilt seems enormous, but she will grow into it! 
I love how she sleeps with her arms up!
This photo shows the starry flannel backing and the striped binding on her quilt.
Deep sigh... I love babies (especially this one) and love making baby quilts!!

Scrap Happy Monday

The blocks are all sewn for my QPOM and I love it's yummy scrappiness! This isn't the final layout and changes will still be made every time I walk past, but the blocks are done, and a small dent has been made in the scrap bin! 

Lucy, my new Singer 301A, got a wonderful workout sewing these blocks. She is very clear that she does not like to wind bobbins, but I think I can fix that by replacing the bobbin winder tire ring.
Hop over to Patchwork Times to see more design wall postings.

Slow Sunday Stitching - Big Stitch

"Big stitching" is continuing on my block sampler quilt. Although I have been hand quilting for years, the "big stitch technique" is a whole new world for me. These are the differences I have noticed so far:

1) Type of Thread
I am using a "new to me" 12 wt. Aurifil thread which was given to me by Deanna. It happened to be the perfect colour for this project. I use the 50 wt. Aurifil everyday for piecing and machine quilting, but have never used a 12. wt thread for hand stitching before. It's like sewing through butter!
A couple of years ago I tried hand stitching with perle cotton, but found it difficult on my hands (read about it here). It might have been the batting or needle I was using on that project that made it harder to pull through, but I am amazed at how easily this 12 wt. Aurifil thread pulls through, and how well the stitches show up. ( Also, I am using Quilter's Dream Cotton batting this time and perhaps that makes a big difference as well?)

2) Thread Colour
In the past I have usually quilted with neutral threads and hoped the stitches would melt into the quilt, or sink into the seams. But I always loved Julie's projects with contrasting threads. Look at her black threads on light fabrics here, and brown threads on neutrals here. 

Julie's Scrappy Quilt

I even have my very own "Julie original" that lives on top of one of my sewing machines. This is one of her amazing scrappy quilts which she hand quilted using pink threads. The pink threads adds such character and texture to the quilt.




With the quilt I am working on now, I am channeling Julie's bright and bold approach and using red quilting thread.

Blue thread in sashing

I thought I would use blue thread on the blue sashing and I quilted one block. 
It was a struggle to quilt (very hard on my eyes) and when it was done, it was invisible! I couldn't see any of those stitches on the quilt, and now I think it was a waste of time! 

Red thread in sashing

Then I tried the red thread, and although it's not a great contrast, I can see the stitches and that makes me happier.
I think I'll pull out those blue stitches and put more red ones in!



3) Stitch Length

For years I have been trying to get my stitches to be smaller. Now I am trying to get my stitches to be bigger... life is funny that way!
Today I am going to focus on breathing and relaxing, and being in the moment, no matter what the size of my stitches are!!

I would love to hear any ideas or experiences you've had with big stitching. And I am looking forward to seeing what you are hand stitching today, and hope you will link up your blog post below.

Scrappy Saturday

Orange was the colour for September over at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.
I wasn't quite ready to move to the October colours since I hadn't sewn a single orange block for my Omigosh quilt yet.
A while ago I received a card from a wonderful friend that included some 1" orange scraps.



I enjoyed sewing up her scraps mixed in with my own orange squares, and sewed 6 double nine patch blocks.
That brings my grand total of double 9 patch blocks to 54!
I am now ready to move on to some of the darker golds and browns for October.
To see more scrap postings, hop over to SoScrappy.

TGIF - Sew Along updates

It's Friday!
The Marcus sew along layout is revealed today, and I'm hoping it will be able to turn my sow's ear into a silk purse!
Here is block #9 that I sewed this week. I changed up some of the colour placement and used up many background scraps.

And here are all 9 of my blocks...

Too scrappy?
I don't know...we'll see what the layout is today and maybe that will help spruce it up somehow?
I'm heading over to see the big reveal...

And just as the Marcus sew along is ending, there is a new Snowalong starting over at Canuck Quilter - how fun is that??!! She is posting snowflakes blocks every week. I haven't done paper piecing in a while and am looking forward to making the first block.

And the Temecula letter sew along is up to the letter 'G'. I made a little adjustment on my G block and like it better. This is a fun project, with two 4" letter patterns posted each week. Check out the two finished letter quilts they posted. This will make a great baby gift!

UFO and NewFO

So after the dismal failure of September's lack of UFO progress, I am reluctantly saying I will finish this darn old quilt this month. 
Hmmm... really? 
Am I going to work on it this month?
Yes, because I couldn't possibly humiliate myself two months in a row!
It will be done and done by Halloween!
To see more promises for finished projects, hop over to A Lovely Year of Finishes link up party.

And a new project report...
the new batik mystery by Bea is so fun! I have finished last week's step, which was to sew 32 square in a square blocks. 
When you trim those dog ears, look at the yummy  confetti bits left on the cutting board.



I put them in a cute little jar and call them "quilter's jelly"!
Caution... do not put on toast and attempt to eat. 
For visual enjoyment only!!

IOP Update

Another block in the endless IOP (Indian Orange Peel) has been completed! 
Woo hoo!
It was a tough one, with a lot of blood, sweat and tears (actually, not much blood but lots of sweat and tears!)
The waves on the left of the block are not an optical illusion, nor is it a result of bad photography. The waves are visible because this is an IOP block that has been handled a LOT and is very wavy. 
"You can quilt that out"... right?!? 
Then I tried to sew this block to it's neighbour in the quilt layout. In spite of pinning the living daylights out of the edge, I had to re-sew this seam 4 times (yes, the number after 3!) and it still is not matching all that well.
The IOP is going on the back burner for a while until I recover from this latest attempt to make progress :)
And to help with my "IOP recovery",  I'll be making a big pot of tea and watching QuiltCam tonight at 9 pm ... come join us!

UFO End of Month Report

All I can say is "UGH"! 
I didn't work on my September UFO at all this month. I came down with a bad case of Startitis, and took lots of remedies (100% cotton) but wasn't able to recover in time to work on my UFO (excuses, excuses!)
I just didn't feel like machine quilting, so I didn't do any. And this quilt didn't get done. 
Oh well... I'll try again next month!
I did get one of the UFO's listed on my sidebar (Block Sampler) pin basted and began hand quilting it, so that is some UFO progress to report.
To see the postings of people who did finish their UFO this month, hop over to A Lovely Year of Finishes.

Design Wall Monday - QPOM progress

My scrappy "Quilt Pattern of the Month" project called "Not Just Any Rail Fence" (by Jackie Syer) is coming along well.

Here are 42 of the 63 needed blocks on my design wall...21 more to sew. This is a great scrap eater project, using up lots of 1.5" squares and strips. 
I pieced a bunch of leftover squares for some of the center rails and I like the look of that. 
To see more design wall postings, hop over to Patchwork Times.

Slow Sunday Stitching - New Project

This week I pin basted a quilt top to start hand quilting using a big stitch. This is my first attempt at the larger stitches and thicker thread, and I am really enjoying it so far. It goes much faster and I have already finished the first block. I am quilting 1/4" (or so!) from the seam lines. It's the lazy quilter way to avoid marking lines :)

This photo shows the difference between the quilting needle I usually use, and the new embroidery needle I am using for this project. That's a big adjustment!

The hardest part is getting the stitch length to be consistent. See those big red stitches?!? I am okay with that, because I am just learning. I probably should be using a colour that melts into the background, but that's not as much fun!
I hope you can join in with the slow sunday stitching party today and put in a few fun stitches. Link up your blog post below and share what your hand work project is for today.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge

Saturday is the day to post our progress with the Rainbow

Scrap Challenge. I have made over 40 orange spools that are yummy. Except that one with the blue background...it might need to disappear?!
I have lots more to do with my orange scraps, and this month has passed so quickly, that I think my orange blocks might spill into next month.
To see more scrap postings, hop over to SoScrappy.

TGIF - Sew Alongs

I love a mystery sew along. You can probably tell because I am involved in a few of them and I will update 3 of my current sew alongs in this post!
*The last Marcus Sew Along mystery block will be revealed today - click here to see it. These are my first 8 blocks.

Next week will be the layout reveal, and it is likely that I will need to go shopping for some fabric for the alternate blocks, since I have just been using scraps so far. There are setting triangles in the quilt description, so the layout will be on point and I need yardage for that. 






*I am also trying to keep up with these little 4" letter blocks from the Temecula sew along. Aren't they cute?!? 

*BeaQuilter has a sew along just starting over at Island Batiks. This is a smaller project, so if you are new to mystery quilts, it's the perfect project for you to try.  I am ready to start cutting into these beauties!
Have a great Friday!

Ready for quilting

It's that time of the year when the days become shorter and the temperatures are dropping. And that means I need to have a larger hand quilting project in my hoop.
This is a block sampler project from a shop hop last year in the Kingston area. I turned these blocks into a quilt top using a star sashing and it has been waiting for quilting.

This project is on my 2014 UFO list, and I should really be working on my September UFO. But this quilt won't leave me alone! And it insists on being hand quilted. 

So I have been pin basting it this week and thinking about how I will quilt it. 

I think I will just quilt 1/4" inside the seam lines without marking. I have the threads all picked out and am going to be bold with using a red and a blue coloured thread, even on light patches. And since I am using these thicker threads, I will try bigger stitches using an embroidery needle. We shall see how that goes! Stay tuned...

Fall Fairs and Quilt Parades

One of my favorite things about this season is the local fall fairs. I love this community tradition and want to see it continue, so I usually try to enter two or three of my favorite fairs every year. I am also a certified judge and this year I was a judge at two fairs. 
This experience leads me each year to reflect on the judging process. It's always a difficult task and every year I seem to have at least one conversation with someone who is quite hurt and/or angry about the results of the judging. I try to tell them that the award decisions are a combination of 1) the category in which the item is entered, 2) the competition within that category, and 3) the experience and preference of the judge. Some judges use a numerical equation to calculate the awards, and some judges have a more visual and intuitive approach. It doesn't really matter at the Fall Fair level where the prize money doesn't even usually cover your entry fee and gas money to get there and back! You're definitely not going to get rich entering fall fairs!


For example my favorite hand quilted baby quilt was a 1st prize winner in one fair and yet didn't win anything in another. 
Same experience with my version of Orca Bay, which I call "3 Sisters Grace". 
It won first prize in the category and a special award for machine quilting at one fair, and nothing at another.
I'm happy if I win, and happy if I don't. 
Because I love a fall fair, and my quilts always enjoy an outing! 


In addition to entering my quilts, I like to enter the huge Paris Fall Fair Photography competition. It is an amazing display of photographs and I am always delighted to win a ribbon there. This year I won a first prize for this photograph taken in Montreal.




And my favorite win this year is a 3rd prize ribbon for this black and white portrait taken of my brother in Port Elgin.

What could be better than a fair?
A parade!
Pam Buda is having a Quilt Parade over on her blog. She is sharing the versions of the Market Day mystery quilt that her blog readers have made. It's always fun to see the same quilt made with different fabrics and layout changes. I added another border to my quilt. This is my mini version of her quilt and it won a ribbon at the Fergus Fall Fair! Thanks again Pam for such a fun mystery quilt!

Treadling on Tuesday - Great British Sewing Bee

My 1901 Treadle machine

I am still treadling regularly on my Sphinx Egyptian Singer Model 127, sewing more scrappy strips onto adding machine tape. 
I really wanted to watch the Great British Sewing Bee while I treadled, since I quite enjoyed watching season one last year. It's like the "Survivor" TV show, only with sewers competing in sewing challenges. It was an unbelievable challenge to actually be able to watch episodes of season 2. It's like the BBC doesn't really want anyone to watch it!

Watching season 2!

I'd be happy to buy the season on a disk set, but couldn't find that anywhere. I'd also watch it on YouTube since that is where I found season 1 episodes, but for season 2, I could only find episode 8.


Horrors... I had to finally resort to watching contraband episodes, which my son taught me how to find on the internet. 

David was the last man standing/sewing in the bee!

The whole "finding a needle in the WWW haystack" should earn me a Detective position (and by the way, I'd be happy to work with contestant David who is a police officer). I eventually found and watched all 8 episodes of season 2 while treadling scraps! 

Treadledog Max

Episode 6 was my favorite because all the sewers had to construct a vintage inspired garment completely made on a vintage machine. One of the show reviewers called the antiques "dangerous and archaic machinery"!!! HA!


And of course, Max the Treadledog was always under foot, eager to help me with the dangerous treadling!

Design Wall Monday

I have made progress on my QPOM scrappy rail fence blocks and here they are on the design wall today. There are 34 of the 63 blocks needed, so the blocks are more than half finished. 
I don't like that purple block blob on the bottom row, so I'll dissect and reconstruct that one. I think it needs more dark purple and more black.
I must admit to feeling very self righteous as I am sewing these blocks, because they are all made from the scrap bin. Very old fabrics are being given new life and finally getting into a quilt top.
To see more design wall postings, hop over to Patchwork Times.