Working Hard Or Hardly Working

I have been off work for about four weeks now and what do I have to show for it? Well how about this? I finally got the ends finished and the blocking done. Here are a couple of close ups to show some detail.

What is with this? I thought this was supposed to be a quilting blog? Well I have to show why I don't have much quilting done! OK, how about this? Four Christmas placemates! These are of the stack and wack variety. You put four fat quarters down and trim down to the size you want to finish with plus four sets of seam allowances (two inches if you use 1/4 inch seams). Then you slice out the stripes you want (plus seam allowances), then mix up the stripes by putting the top one on the bottom for the first one, 1st & 2nd on the bottom for the next one and then 1st, 2nd & 3rd on the bottom for the last one. Sew them together, pile them up again and cut the other way. Shuffle the stripes again, as you did before and then sew them back together. Then you just have to cut some backing and batting. I just sewed them right sides together, leaving a space open on one side to turn them. Then put the batting in, taking a bit of time to get them nice and flat and then quilted as desired. I also did a quilt line about 1/8 of an inch in from the edge, so that I didn't have to sew the opening shut by hand. I made one more chenille rug. They are really addictive! That makes three, which is quite enough. I have two more sets of placemates to make, one for me and one for a present, so really only one has to be done in the next few days. I also have the fabric for a seasonal wall hanging that I hope to get done before New Years, as I go back to work on January 2. Since I take over as president of my quilt guild on January 1st, I have also been spending time figuring out what we will be doing next year for 12 months. I have been concentrating on the first four months of the year, when I am very busy at work, so don't have enough spare time to figure anything out. I have also been working on an afghan that my sister had started many years ago. It is hexagons, so I couldn't resist! It makes nice work that I can do while sitting upstairs with my husband, rather than hiding away in my sewing room all the time. Now it is time to finish my baking. I have three more batches of cookie to do, as well as mincemeat tarts, so I had better get moving. I will also be sewing a few more gift bags in order to finish my wrapping. It might be a rather long day! I hope you all have your Christmas projects finished! Try to take a little time off from busy schedules to get a little quilting done. Most of all enjoy the season!

Itty Bitty Pinwheels

I finally got the squares for my "Itty Bitty Pinwheels" sewn together. The next step was to start cutting out the 1 1/2" squares to start making the pinwheels. You must use a small rotary cutter to do this. It seemed to take forever but I got the first four rows cut out and then sewn togethter. Here is a picture of my big square made up of 20 x 20 2 1/2" squares sewn together, with the first four rows of 1 1/2" itty bitty squares cut out of it. Then here is a picture showing what those 76 squares look like sewn together compared to the size of my original square. When all the squares have been cut and added to this it will make a 21" square. I must be crazy! It will be 361 squares made up of 1,444 bits of material! In my spare time I am making another chenille rug out of Stonehenge Magnolia panels. I have it about 2/3 sewn. I would have finished sewing it today, but ran out of thread. I will pick some more up in my travels tomorrow. I also managed to finish crochetting the shawl I was working on. I just have to finish working in the ends and then will get it blocked and then will take a proper picture of it to share with you. I have several Yule projects on the go and I just bought fabric for Patti Carey's "Baby Block" pattern of stacked up presents. I just hope that I have time to get it done before Christmas. I am out two evenings and one whole day this week, so I hope I get some sewing time. At least I am done work until January, so that should help. Hope your projects are progressing well! Have a good week!

Sewing & Sewing

I cut squares of the new fabric for my background & have started sewing my squares together for my Itty Bitty Pinwheels. I am much happier with it now. The following picture shows it with the new squares. You will notice a white stripe about a third of the way in from the right side. That section has groups of four squares sewn together in rows. The larger part on the left only has two squares sewn together in the rows. I will keep sewing the twos into fours and then will join the fours into eights, etc. When I have the rows finished, I will then start joining the rows together. Then I will cut the border fabric and add my borders. Then the fun will start when I start cutting this whole thing up to make my pinwheels! I have been working on the shawl I am crocheting. I finished the second set of pattern rows and am half way through the third set. I didn't bother taking a picture, but will when I finish the rows, before I start on the rounds. Not too bad for a work week, with a night out for my kindred quilters group. I also made the mistake of starting to watch the 7th season of Criminal Minds on DVDs that I purchased a couple of weeks ago. Oh well, I will be finished work again in a few days and be able to get more sewing done to show you. I wish some of you would send me comments and pictures of what you are working on! Have a good week!

No Quilting

I changed my mind about the neutral colours in my Itty Bitty Pinwheels. There is not enough difference between them. I have decided to add a new one. What do you think of the one in the following picture? I think I will replace the one closest to the new fabric. I will have to cut some squares and try it out. I have found taking a picture shows up problems before I notice them when just looking at my design wall. I didn't get any actual sewing done this week. I was too busy working on a crochet project. It is going to be a shawl. It is a dusty blue, that looks nice with blue jeans. The 1st picture shows that it is longer than my bed. The 2nd shows that the ends are on an angle. The 3rd shows the main part of the pattern. I am on row 21 of about 43, so I have about half of the main part done, but after that there are still numerous rounds to add an all around border. This is a project that I picked up at the Creative Festival in Toronto last month. I went exploring Amazon books last week and decided I couldn't do without Yoko Saito's book Japanese Quilting piece by piece (2006), Libby Lehman's Threadplay (1997) and Mary Parker's Sashiko Easy & Elegant Decorative Machine Embroidery (1999). They have all arrived and I am pleased with them. They are the other part of the reason that I didn't get any quilting done this week. I think that I will only be working for another week after this, so should manage to get back to important things like quilting! Have a good week and remember to enjoy whatever you are working on!

Christmas Placemats & Itty Bittty Pinwheels

I played this week with a couple of new projects. The first was the 4 fat quarter placemates. I hadn't planned on doing this but they were in "Quilters World" December 2012. In it they didn't do the easy cutting method, but they look the same. The colours didn't show up true on the picture I just took. They look more orange and light green, rather than red and green, but the picture does give you the idea of what they are. You cut out four 18" x 18" squares, slice them horizontally, rotate the colours and sew them back together. Then you slice them vertically, rotate them and sew them back together, trim the edges and a strip across the bottom (can be added to the backing to make them more decorative). This is what you end up with. I just need to cut out backing and batting sew them together and then quilt them. Very quick and easy! I attended an open class at my local quilt store Tuesday night, and got instructions on how to make a chenille rug from three panels. I finished it late on Wednesday. I love it! This is a Stonehenge panel from Northcott. I am really pleased with the way it turned out. This close-up gives you an idea of the texture you end up with! The other thing I worked on this week was 2 1/2" squares for my Itty Bitty Pinwheels. As usual I got carried away and ended up with 20 x 20 = 400 squares. I will go crazy sewing these together and then cutting the pinwheels out with the little template which is only 1 1/2" square. I played around with the pattern a bit and came up with this layout. I hope it will result in a nice pinwheel pattern when I am done. The print at the side will be my border fabric. Here is a close-up to let you see the border fabric better. I bought it back in May (2012) so it isn't too old! I am back at work for the next couple of weeks. I am hoping to have enough energy to sew a bunch of the 400 squares together and get the border cut and sewn on, but that might be a little optimistic! Then, I have to use my small cutter to cut it all into the 1 1/2" squares and then sew all of those together! Maybe I would do better sewing the sashing onto my blocks of the month? I will let you know next week! Have a good one and enjoy your sewing.

Table Runners

I couldn't post this last night as my youngest daughter's birthday was today and I didn't want her to know that I finished her table runners. They are from Eleanor Burns Day & Night book. I had to change the sizes, etc. and cut 1 cm squares out of the corners for an inset little square that is part of the table legs. It took me quite a while to quilt them and then forever to get the binding right in those corners. There is an outside corner, then 1 cm away is an inside corner and then 1 cm away another outside corner. I did two practice ones and then tried the real thing. Several corners took a couple of tries to get them right. I made good use of my seam ripper! The close up picture makes the corner look crooked, but it is the way it is hanging from my design wall. I couldn't take another picture as I no longer have the runners in my house. They went home with my daughter this afternoon, along with 14 cupcakes and some Yorkshire pudding. She was happy! My next project is going to be a chenille rug, made from several Stonehenge panels. I missed the class for this, so am planning on going to the sewing night at my local quilt shop to get some help. I just have a few questions, like how far apart your sewing lines should be and if you cut between the lines of sewing before or after you bind the edges. The owner has this open class most Tuesday nights, where she will answer any questions you have about quilting. She says it is a fun night with lots of laughter, so I am looking forward to it. I am hoping to have the rug all finished by Wednesday night, so should have time to start something else. I am thinking of my "Itty Bitty Primitive Pinwheels - 1" Finished". The finished size of the project is supposed to be 10" x 10". I think I will make mine a bit bigger than that by using more squares to begin with. It should be fun to play with. I go back to work next week for a couple of weeks, so that will be a good time to get back to the sashing on my block of the month project. After that I am supposed to have another six weeks off, so will have lots of time to play. It sounds good to me. As well as giving me more time to sew, I will also have lots of spare time to get ready for Yule this year, which will be nice for a change! I hope your projects are coming along nicely! Have a fun week!

Nothing To Show

It has been a very busy week for me. Housework, laundry, yard work, shopping for yarn to finish a project of my sisters, a trip to Mount Forest to visit my brother, a girl's dinner out with friends & a bus trip to Toronto to the Creative Festival have all worked against me getting any sewing done. I did get the three table runners for my daughter layered and pinned, all ready to quilt. I have hopes of starting the quilting tomorrow. I will try to have pictures for next week. The festival was lots of fun, with lots to see. I now have a couple of more projects to do, in all my spare time!

Table Runners Get Attention

What a great two weeks! (Sorry I missed blogging last Sunday.) Let's see...I helped with more painting of our deck, went to London & stayed with my sister for a couple of days, including the Ingersol quilt show, finally got blinds for the living room window, did more painting on the deck (It is a big deck, 8' x 16' where you walk out from the kitchen with eight foot wide stairs leading down to our patio and the one end of the 16' lenth joins a 16' x 16' seating area.), managed to cook a Canadian Thanksgiving dinner for company, did part of the Images Studio Tour and even got to sew! I finished sewing the frames around my block of the month squares! Then I numbered all of them (on a paper pinned to them - letter (for the row) & number (for the column) so I would know the correct order they go in. I was finally able to get them off my design wall! After that the table runners for our youngest daughter won my attention. The long one for her coffee table is an Eleanor Burns Day & Night two colour pattern, and the two end table runners are made from the leftovers. She really wants them and has been waiting since we bought the fabric in April (2012). I had to put the year as I have projects that have been waiting much longer for my attention! Anyway, all three runner tops are now complete. This coming week I will try to get the runners layered and quilted, then there will just be the binding to do with the funny corners and I will have them done (hopefully in time for show & tell at my October guild meetings). The "funny corners" have a square (1 cm x 1 cm) clipped out, so when I do the binding I have to make a regular outside mitred corner, then an inside corner and then another regular corner. It wouldn't be so bad if they were spread out a bit more, but they are really jammed together. Hopefully I will have pictures by next week to show how they turned out. I only have three weeks left of my vacation, so I better get moving! So many projects and so little time! Have a great week!

Last Hexagon Flowers

I am finally finished making hexagons. The total is 91 flowers = 637 hexagons. It measures 39" from side to side. The hexagons are all sewn together and I have picked out a fabric to go around them. I will applique the hexagons on to six inch wide strips that are joined together at 60 degree angles. The fabric has a navy blue background with silver and royal blue dots all over it. I will then layer & quilt it. The binding will match the strips. It will be a table runner for my dining room table when finished. The following picture doesn't do justice to the background fabric. The silver dots just make it look gray and dull, which it isn't. I will try for a better picture in daylight the next sunny day we get. I only got borders sewn on five more of my block of the month squares. My only excuse is that I did read all three books in the Hunger Games series. I found them rather disturbing but couldn't not continue reading as I needed to find out how everything turned out. I will use the dark brown fabric in the corners of the frames as corner stones, with a yellow batik as sashing and the first border. A multicolour batik will be the final border. The colours in it that stand out are the five colours that I used as frames. Hopefully it will tie everything together. These are shown in the following picture. I have a lot planned (non sewing) for the next week, so am not sure how much sewing I will get done. I am really hoping to finish the hexagon table runner as I am already planning my next handwork. How many of you have done a Cathedral Windows quilt? I am going to start small and try a throw pillow to see if I like doing it. No, I haven't forgotten my youngest daughter's table runners, but they will wait for my block of the month quilt to get sewn. I will fit them in, before I start quilting it. It has been working out not too badly machine sewing during the day and hand sewing in the evenings. I just got behind on my machine sewing this week as I was reading during the day as well. Enjoy your week & I hope you get some sewing time!

Still Block of the Month & Hexagons

I got the frames around 15 of my block of the month squares. I had to overlap them to fit on my design wall. I also have the layout figured out for all 30 of them. These squares will not be touching in the final quilt, but will have sashing in between. I now have 80 hexagon "flowers" sewn together. I just need 11 more to finish the dark round that I am working on. They are missing from the bottom left and the very bottom. I hope to get them finished this coming week. I have the fabric picked out for the bottom left, so just have to decide on the bottom row, before I go ahead and get them all cut out. Just so you know the side measurement of each individual hexagon is one inch. With 560 hexagons making up the 80 "flowers", this project is really growing! That took care of my week. How did yours go? I hope to have another great week for sewing coming up, so should have lots more to show you next week. Happy sewing!

Fun Quilting

I had a great deal of fun sewing in the past two weeks. First of all a model for my granddaughter's dog scarf. This is Stella! I finally got back to my block of the month and finished what I thought was the final eight blocks. It was the final eight blocks of the pattern, but as usual I wanted to change from a single bed to a double or even maybe a queen. As a result, I needed six more blocks. The series of patterns is done, so I made up my own. I just took some of the left over strips and started making HSTs and squares. I spread these out on my table and played around until I had some interesting ideas and then cut a few more things to complete the ideas and ended up with some pretty and mixed up (more than two colour) blocks. Then it was on to my design wall to get them mixed in with the regular blocks. I think that I am satisfied with this arrangement. This is all thirty 8" blocks. The pattern now calls for a 2.5" (mine will be 3") frame to be sewn around each block, with HSTs in each corner. I have changed this, so that I can use up most of the 2.5" Thangles (cut from 3" strips) that are left over from making the blocks, rather than buying a package of 2" Thangles. I am really not thrilled with using Thangles, so can't see the point of getting any more. To be different, I have chosen five different fabrics to do this frame. I don't want these to be in any set pattern, but I always have trouble getting a scattered look, but I will try. I will also be increasing the width of the sashing, the frame (1st border) around all the squares and the final border, once I decide whether it is going to be a double or a queen size quilt. This is what I have really been working on since I started my vacation! Lots more hexagons! The four at the top right haven't been sewn on yet. The single hexagons across the top and down part of the left side are really piles of cut out hexagons to make more flowers. This project has been on my dining room table for so long, that I think I might end up making it into a large table runner for this table. Usually my sewing projects stay in my sewing room until finished, but it has been far easier to plan this one out closer to where I am working on it, in the living room while I watched the Olympics and then the US Open tennis. My husband seems to have gotten used to my company, so I shouldn't have trouble continuing this project in the living room in the evenings, while working on my blocks during the days. It is a good thing that I have a nice long vacation as I have quite a few things that I want to get going on. Have a great week and happy sewing!

The Sewing Lesson

As I promised last week, here are the pictures of my granddaughter's sewing lesson and the results. This is a before picture. Great concentration when sewing to keep the fabric straight! The scarf Kate made for her dog. Wearing the necklace she made, while showing off a tube she sewed and a bouncy ball that goes into the tube to make the necklace. I am still making hexagons. I only made nine more flowers this week, so 63 hexagons, sewn into flowers, but not yet joined to my earlier ones. My shoulder is feeling so much better, that I am sure I can add a complete light round and then a dark round. It might just end up big enough for a lap quilt for myself. I have really been enjoying the hand work. I have one more week of work coming up and then will be off for about eight weeks. As soon as I am off work I plan on getting back to my Batik block of the month project and my daughter's table runner. I think I will machine sew during the day and then hand sew in the evenings, so keep progressing with everything. That is the plan at the moment, so we will just have to see how it goes. Enjoy your week and your own current projects!

Still Hexagons

I can't believe that I am still making hexagons! They are really addictive. I did too many during the Olympics. I got up on the final Sunday and couldn't lift my right arm above shoulder height. I had been sitting on the end of a couch with my left arm supported, but nothing under my right arm. Now I know to periodically change ends, or sit in the chair with nice big padded arms to support both of my arms. It is much better now, so I am back at it. I have 37 flowers all sewn together and four additional ones made. That is a total of 287 hexagons! I took the 37 to Evening Threads Quilt Guild last Wednesday evening. I am no longer sure of what I am making. Some of the ladies said I should just finish it as is and use it as a table runner on a round table. Unfortunately, I don't have a round table. I think that it will end up as a wall hanging, mounted on indigo, with a few extra flowers floating around it, with some Sashiko swirled around to connect them. That is the plan at the moment, but may change. This would keep the Asian theme going, as all the fabrics are Asian prints. At guild we learned how to make a necklace out of a tube of fabric and five bouncy balls. For the first time, I started teaching my eight year old granddaughter how to use my sewing machine. It was great fun! Her mother sat and watched and took pictures. I am hoping to get some of the pictures, but they have gone camping, so we will have to wait until next week to see the results. Have a good week and good sewing!

Still More Hexagons

The Olympics are still on, so I am still making hexagons! I am now up to 34 "flowers", so 238 hexagons. I am continuing to alternate light and dark rounds. I have three more dark flowers to make to finish the outer round. The center rounds are all sewn together along with two flowers in the outside round. I am pleased with the way it is turning out, so will keep going for a bit longer, at least two more rounds before I decide what size I am making - wall hanging, lap or single bed quilt. I keep thinking that I will get bored, but so far, this hasn't happened. It has been a very good project to watch TV with. I hardly ever watch TV usually, so this is a new experience for me. I have really been enjoying the Olympics, not just the sporting events themselves, but also so many stories about the participants! My striped purse will wait for me, as will my blocks of the month and even my daughters' table runner. I am hoping that I will actually get some time off work in a couple of weeks and will be able to catch everything up then. This sounds like a plan, but could get changed. After all, quilting is my hobby and as such must be enjoyed or it wouldn't be worth doing. Right now, I am enjoying hexagons! Have a good week and I hope you are enjoying what you are working on!

Still hexagons

Yes, I am still working on hexagons and probably will be for several more weeks. It is nice work to do while watching the Olympics! I have decided to make a wall hanging out of them. It is just too much work to do for a purse. I am not careful of my purses & often throw them down on the floor of my car, etc. I have decided to just sew some strips of fabric together, by machine, and make the purse out of that. All the hand work will be much nicer to have in a wall hanging or single bed quilt, if I don't get too bored doing them. I am trying to alternate rounds of light and then dark "flowers". I have 15 completed after going out and shopping for a bit more dark fabric. Saturday, several friends & I went down to the quilt show at Black Creek Pioneer Village. The weather was a bit warm, but the quilts were great! The village looked wonderful, with the quilts all over the place. I do hope this week to get back to my block on the month blocks. With a long weekend coming up, maybe I will manage to get caught up! Happy quilting!

Cathedral Windows & Hexagons

Anyone interested in cathedral windows and hexagons should check out Jean's Quilting Page at: http://quiltinjeanie.blogspot.ca/ Cathedral windows are on July 22, 20, 19, & 16th. Hexagons are on July 17th. I think they are great!

Hexagons

I got more hexagons made this week. I am up to 12 "flowers" for a total of 84 hexagons. The following is a picture of them laid out over the freezer paper purse pattern that I have decided to make. I need about 24 more, to complete side one. That leaves the two flowers that are in the top two corners, so 14 hexagons to go on side two. The only reason I got so many done, was that I was watching the British Open Golf with my husband. So I did my measuring and need 108 hexagons per side for a total of 216 - 1 inch, which is much better than the 340 3/4 inch ones that the pattern calls for. This is another picture that I would like to do photo thread play with. It is one that our youngest daughter took of Quinn Lake, up north of Parry Sound. This coming Saturday, is a road trip day! I am going with two friends to Black Creek Pioneer Village for a quilt show. I think this is a wonderful setting for a quilt show and am really looking forward to it. Have a good week and enjoy yourself, whatever you are doing!

Photo Thread Play

As I mentioned last week, I took a photo thread play class this past week. I used a picture supplied by the teacher, Wanda, at Thimbles & Things, in Orillia. I am not sure about my clouds, but over all am very pleased with the results! Now I will be picking out one of my own photos to experiment with. Actually, I might even use one that our middle daughter took. It is lovely and available. When I praised my daughter for her photo taking, she told me that she had just snapped it on her cell phone, quickly, with a dog leash in her hands, with her dog wanting to get moving. What do you think? I think it is beautiful! While my husband was having his angioplasty this past Monday, I managed to finish the one hexagon "flower", I had been working on and complete another. I am now up to six flowers (42 hexagons) done. I think they will all go together nicely. I am waiting until I have more made before I do sew them together as I will want to mix up the colours. As a result, I have had to buy more mylar hexagons. You aren't supposed to take them out until all the edges have been sewn to other hexagons, so that will be a while. I still am not sure how many I need, so I see some measuring in my future. What I need to do this week, is catch up on my batik block of the month. With all my other projects, I have managed to get four blocks behind and with my guild meeting coming up this week, I will be getting two more to do. For anyone wondering about the e-reader cover I was working on, our youngest daughter blew the screen in her e-reader, so she says to hold off on finishing the cover as she thinks she will get a slightly smaller one, when she replaces it. That means I should be able to get back to her table runners (her idea, not mine). I also have my one fabric quilt pieces up on my design wall, that will be getting dusty, if I don't get moving on it. My husband came visiting my studio this morning and mentioned that it is a bit of a mess, so it must be time to do some sorting and tidying. I really need a vacation from work to catch all of this up! Oh well all this is part of the enjoyment of having quilting as my main hobby! I never have a dull moment. Hope you have a fun week sewing!

More Hexagons

It was a busy week but I did manage to get some more hexagons sewn. Four are done, but the top left one needs to have the center hexagon sewn and then the whole thing needs to be stitched together. I also got another twelve "flowers" (seven hexagons each) cut out from six different prints. I found a bunch more Asian prints while looking for something else in my stash, so will be adding more variety. I also did some shopping this week. I am picturing 10 inch squares of the top fabrics with 2 1/2" - 6" squares of the batik sunflower fabric set into them. I picked out the batik and then managed to find three to coordinate with it and knew what colours I wanted for the others, but just couldn't seem to find the right ones. Thanks to Wanda & Sue at Thimbles & Things for helping me put the rest together. I am also taking the Photo Thread Play class with Wanda this week, so I hope to have something different to show you next week. Have a good week, lots of sewing time and lots of inspiration!!

What A Month!

Well as you have probably noticed, I haven't posted anything for several weeks. Sorry to all of you who kept checking. We had company from Northern Ireland and from England. I thought that I would still have enough spare time to do a bit of sewing and blogging, but it just didn't happen. I was supposed to be off work, but that just didn't happen either. It made it very difficult to stay up late visiting and then get up for work in the morning. As of Friday night, we were back on our own and missing our company. I haven't gotten back into sewing very much, but am working on a couple of things. Our youngest daughter, who is waiting for her table runner, asked if I could whip up a cover for her e-reader, so the screen won't get scratched if she throws it into her purse, to take with her. She looked over my stash & came up with the fabric she wants. This is what she picked out. I did a quick design plan, cut the fabric, and started quilting. It will be folded in thirds, with one third sewn to the middle third at the edges (after binding the end), to make a pocket. Then I will bind the remaining three edges, fold over the flap & close it with Velcro. The following picture of the strip of fabric folded will give you an idea of the size. Next week, my husband is having a procedure done as day surgery. I went hunting for a hand sewing project, already on the go that I could work on while I wait for him, and came up with my hexagons. There is a neat pattern for a purse in the August issue of "Better Homes & Gardens American Patchwork & Quilting" that I am going to use them for. Mine will be flowers using some of my Asian fabric scraps. The pattern calls for 340 of the 3/4 inch(side measurement)hexagons. I very rarely follow a pattern exactly. My hexagons have one inch edges, so I won't need quite as many. I have a busy week ahead with work, Tuesday - Thursday (Monday is a holiday in Canada), dinner & a movie with my friends after work on Tuesday, my kindred group meets this Wednesday night and then my best quilting friend & I are taking a road trip on Friday to see a quilt shop we have never been to before. Hopefully, I will fit some sewing in there. Have a good week & happy quilting!