July's Goals for the Month.

 Well, I have a quilt that was completed for a Medallion BOM, the only thing missing (it's all quilted) was the binding.  But my husband liked it so much he asked for it to be made into a queen size quilt for our bed.  And I liked the idea. 

Quilt Stats:

• Size: 65" - 65"
• Fabric:
  • Kaffe Fabric, an assortment of different types.
  • Unknown from an older collection
• Hobbs Batting:  Heirloom 90/10
• Aurifil Thread: 50 weight
  • Piecing & Quilting: #2600 (Dove Grey)
• Silly Moon Rulers:  Aztec
• Schmetz Needles: Universal 80/12

I plan on adding another divider like the ones in the picture above.  The bottom row will have two more cabin style blocks.  Then the sides will have a flower garden.  The top has another fan block,  with just white for the rest, so everything stands out.  That's the goal for July's month.

As for extras, I need to catch up on the summer bloc party.

I have three to complete, a bathing suit, sunglasses, and beach chairs in the sand.  Loving the look of it.  Can't wait to see it done.  You can join anytime.  Instructions on how to join are in my previous post.  You've missed 3 but you can still keep on going with the others.  

I'm looking at cutting out two more birds from the quilt pattern below but I want to place it like the picture below by SewFresh, one of my favorite pattern designers.

I 

 I want to cut out two more cacti but I have already cut out 3 so I plan on sewing those from my Oh My Cacti by Pan and Paper Patterns.  

Those are the extras.  Along with one my husband has been demanding that I do.  It has something to do with LA.  So you'll have to wait to see.

Linking up to Stories from the Sewing Room for One Monthly Goal for the medallion quilt..  Wish me luck and good luck to others.  

How do you sew on a domestique machine?

 I do a lot of quilts, you can see them all on the top tabs, how many I've done over the years.  I even told my husband that I don't know where a lot of my quilts are at this point.  Some that I've made, I've given out, some to friends that are gone, and a couple that have ended up in Paris France and in England somewhere (friends I give a quilt to then they give it to someone overseas). 

Like many of you I've given them out as gifts:  weddings, birthdays, even retirement gifts.  It's funny how people don't know the cost both financially and time wise of a quilt.  But one thing for sure, the cost would be astronomical, if I didn't do the quilting myself.  I use a Janome Memory Craft 6600, and I love it.  I had to do repairs to it a while back and was offered for a trade in.  I asked the price of a new one and I couldn't believe the price. 

So I quilt my own quilts.  I love Silly Moon Rulers.  I can't believe how many rulers I have, and taking her classes are fantastic.  But doing some intrinsic pattern do take time and as they say "Time is Money".  She has videos that you can refer to again if you need a reminder (gosh I sure do some times).  And there are numerous rules, some that do a complete style on their own (like the Astec one)  I keep all my rules in a  bag I got from The Dollar Store so I can see them through the mesh, and know which ones I have.

But I do have a question.  Why is it that everyone wants the quilt and they want it free?  This year alone I've had three people ask me if I can make them a quilt.  They didn't say they would pay me, they just found out how much it would be to make a quilt and they want me to make it now.  Then there's the added pressure of I want this design or this way it is.  It's funny how that is.

In case you're wondering I said no to the one that was in another country (I'm from Canada and she is a good friend from Anaheim).  I told her it would cost me a fortune to get two quilts there in the mail.  I said OK to a work colleague who's husband died and she wanted a quilt of t-shirts for her son, but I made it clear she would have to pay me for the fabric and batting, my time would be free.  But she hasn't called me back when I said that.  I told her it might be at least $150 for just the material alone.  The third  I gave a quilt to and they took it but didn't offer to give me money for it or anything, just a thank you, and truthfully I was fine with that.

At this point of my life (I've been quilting for over 30 years) I'm OK with giving some of my quilts away.  Gave two to my nephew this year, and one to a really nice gentleman in the complex who is in a wheelchair.  There's a third person, a friend of my husband, who just announced she's pregnant so I want to give her one for the baby.  

I'm still pumping them out, just not at a fast pace anymore and luckily I'm really enjoying the quilting process still.  I'm 60 something now, but with more retirement time, so lets see if I can finish all my UFOs (I doubt it) and lets see what quilting designs I can do.  Here's a video of some edge to edge quilting by Quilting Nerds and this link takes you to Silly Moons Channel on you Tube.

Wish me luck.

Have a great week, and to the Americans seeing my blog, Happy Forth of July!!

Going great on the Strippy Spools Quilt Sewalong.

I'm loving this!!!!  Fat Quarter Shop put on a sewalong with a pattern by ItsSewEmma.com.  It's cute and quick to make with a jelly roll, but I have to tell you, measure, measure, measure (which is in the pattern instructions) to get the right sizes. The Strippy Spools quilt is a fun quilt project for confident beginners and seasoned quilters alike. The pattern offers two size options:

• Lap Size: 53.5″ x 66.5″
• Twin Size: 70.5″ x 82.5″

You can find the Strippy Spools Quilt Pattern at Fat Quarter Shop.

Each Monday, Fat Quarter Shop shared a new part of the pattern, and people following along are encouraged to share their progress using the hashtag #FQSStrippySpoolsQuilt and tag @fatquartershop on social media. 

I went on a trip before hand so I purchased the pattern and started early.  It came together quickly, and although I talked about making it larger, I decided the laptop was good for me.  The finished large spoon was 8 1/2 x 14 1/2 in size, so to make it bigger you're going longer and only 8 1/2 inches wider.  The spools are 6 1/2 by 14 1/2.  I added a border of close to matching fabric so it made it slightly larger.  

The pattern uses a jelly roll.  The fabric is Boundless Fabrics by Craftsy, something I picked up ages ago when Craftsy was selling everything at ridiculously low prices years and years ago.  It's beautiful, but although so rich, I don't think it's the right colors for this pattern.  It would of been better in brighter colors or the background should not be white, it should of been maybe yellow.  But I still like it. The backing is Magnificent Blooms by Jackie Robinson of Animas for Bernartex.  I used a wandering quilting stitch with veragrated colors of pink, blue, yellow and green.  That brightened the entire quilt up.  I used 2 different kinds of threads giving it color.  I love the effects.

Here's the finished item. It's on the back of my couch now.

The backing

the full quilt.  It pops in this picture.  I like a border around the entire thing.  The pattern doesn't have this.  I just added one.

the quilting and thread colors.  That's what really made it pop.  The thread is from Aurifill, their silk line.  Wow, it makes a difference.

I'm hooking up to TGIFF (thank goodness it's finished Friday) on Katheen McMusing's site.  I worked hard to complete this for showing it off  :) 

and to I'm linking up to A Quilting Girl 

As for the Medallion quilt, I also managed to make another 8 flowers this month to add to the quilt and another 1/2 driesdon block for the top.  I figure I'll have that one done by next month along with a surprise quilt that my husband has been asking to get for the last two months.  

As for any additives (yes there's always more to do!!!) I've joined the following:

• Aurifill's BOM Coffee Break 

There's wool or paper piecing (I'm doing the paper piecing) .  You can catch up with the ones already out here....  at this link.  

• Signed up for the Summer Fun Block Party..  You've missed three blocks already but there's more coming so start soon.  

The Summer Block Party is a free sew along hosted by your favorite pattern designers! For the second summer in a row, we will be sharing the cutest Summer-Inspired quilt blocks for you to sew along with, along with a quilt finishing layout to put all the blocks together. These blocks will be free until August 15 so make sure to save the patterns each day! Here is the schedule and list of designers: 

•  Block 1 - June 23 • Jen Belnap - Jen Belnap Design House - @jenbelnapdesignhouse 
•  Block 2 - June 25 • Amanda Castor - Material Girl Quilts - @materialgirlquilts 
•  Block 3 - June 27 • Amy Chappell - Ameroonie Designs - @amerooniedesigns 
•  Block 4 - June 30 • Andy Knowlton - A Bright Corner - @abrightcorner 
•  Block 5 - July 2 • Gracey Larson - Burlap and Blossom Patterns - @burlapandblossompatterns 
•  Block 6 - July 4 • Jennifer Long - Sew A Story - @sewastory_jenniferlong 
•  Block 7 - July 7 • Beverly McCullough - Flamingo Toes - @flamingotoes 
•  Block 8 - July 9 • Melissa Mortenson - Polkadot Chair - @polkadotchair 
•  Block 9 - July 11 • Amanda Niederhauser - Jedi Craft Girl - @jedicraftgirl 
•  Finishing Instructions - July 14 • Quilt size in finishing instructions is 69” x 69

That's a great size quilt and the first 3 blocks are amazing, a bathing suit, sun glasses and chairs on the beach.  Well done Amy Chappell!!!!  Love that one.  There are nine designers joining in but you only need to sign up once with one designer, to get the blocks. Signing up will subscribe you to all of the designers newsletters, which are free - you can unsubscribe easily anytime.  Come on and try it.

That's it, that's what I've been doing for two weeks this month.  I'm proud of what I have accomplished.  Will add the new BOMs to the list I do every month.  Take care, and happy Canada Day or 4th of July!!

Busy, busy, busy....

 I've been retired now for over a year and a half, and I can honestly tell you I am semi retired.  I work about 2 days a week, randomly, approximately 6 - 9 days a month, so I don't exactly have a lot of time to get into the retirement groove.  I have completed some quilts.  One of them was the wedding quilt, and another was the medallion quilt, which turned out really lovely.  But I can't resist these BOMs, and these quilt alongs, so I've joined two more.

This is where you can find the list of fabric.  They use Camille Roskelley's Summertime line.  It's gorgeous.  Here's the start of the quilt, round one and now round two, 3, and 4 just came out, so you can finish the quilt.  The pattern is free, but they're asking for you to donate to Make a Wish society, which I did but in Canada.

The quilt turns out to be 54 1/2, a perfect square, and it truly looks lovely.  See their example below:

I'm slow, I'm just starting, but I love Camille Roskelley's pattern, and can't wait to try it out.  

But I have to finish my medallion quilt.  I did finish it for the rounds, but I was going to just leave it as a lap quilt, but my husband said, I want to see it on our bed, so I'm adding another row of the followers which are about 12" each.  Take another look at my quilt....

Those flowers are from another BOM that had the design.  From Riley Blake block challenge.  Their challenges go back to 2021, so take a look at this link and have yourself some fun.

I've done two of them, and I am now working on a 3rd....  I use most of my scraps when doing them, so that's fund stuff.

Another Quilt a long that I've just cut out and I am ready to start sewing is the Spools Quilt Along also from the Fat Quilter's shop.

this is the link for the fabric needed:  it needs a jelly roll and the pattern come in 3 sizes.  I'm making a large lap, so I can turn it into a barn door for my sewing room, or maybe just keep it  :) for myself.

See the image above to see the design and all the rest.  I'm excited, it's all cut up and ready for me to sew.  

I can't stand to do the same block over and over again, and both the medallion quilt flowers and this one have repetition in it so this way I can change from one to the other, and get two quilts done.  As for the Stardust one, well, I'm a sucker for any Fat Quarter Shop quilt top.  I've done enough of them.

Finally, there's my cacti quilt, which is another one that is repetitive.  I have about 5 cacti blocks cut out, so I'll see how it feels.  It's from Pen and Paper Patterns.  See the pattern below and here's a link to her blog, where she talks about it and shows you different looks.  I've already made the snake pillow, my husband loved it, so now the continuation of it.  :) 

That's it, my TO DO list.  It's long and in order

1. Spools Quilt Along  (10 blocks)
2. Flowers for Medallion - need 20 - do another 7
3. Daisy flowers for Medallion top - need 2 of them
4. StarDust - cut all the rows
5. StarDust -  get 3 rows done
6. Cacti - make 3 of them

Lets see what happens this month.  I do have one trip to Anaheim coming up for about 10 days but I'll try to get some of it done before I go.  Wish me luck....

Try try again for April

OK, I didn't get any of my March goals completed, but I did get through a Round Robin that I got side tracked with.  But isn't the idea of this to finish UFOs, and all that material that was just hanging around in my closet (goodness knows what they were doing in there) taking up space, isn't that important to finish or rather use up part of this?  OK, maybe you think different from me but that's my story for getting side tracked and I'm sticking to it.  At least the round robin was completed and I can now put the quilting on the list.

So here's my list of things to do this month, and I'm hoping for at least three of them done.

1.  Quilt my round robin.  See here about the writeup and a link to see all of the ones done.  It's a large twin.  I'm going to put a sheet on the back and have it as a very light quilt for the summer.  No batting in it.

  

2.  Making more of the flowers above to add another 18" to the quilt to make it a queen.  I'm going to make the rows, quilt them, and then add them after the fact.

3.  The bird pattern is from SewFresh, an Ontario quilter and pattern designer.  I'm looking at the larger one for my aunt for her larger living room table, where the cat will live on it  lol.  She uses the sew and flip method which I really like.  I love all her patterns.

Look at that material, the colors are so vibrant. The background will be gray, like the picture.  The rest is all scraps, and I love using all of my scraps.

4.  Another one I want to complete is the pods you see here.  I got the pattern off of Etsy.  I've made 4 of them already, and sent them out as gifts and christmas gifts.  It's quick and easy.  

5.  My final one for this month.  I already made the pillow snake quilt.  My husband and I love Arizona, and I surprised him with this pillow when we came back from Scottsdale Arizona.  

The pattern is by Pen and Paper on Etsy.  I want to now do the cacti quilt and then in the corner the snake.  It will hang from my living room wall.  Hubby is bothering me for it.  

Here's my material, all left overs but not the backing, which looks like sand.  It's the same material I used for the pillow.  It's half cut out, so I need to finish that and then sew it, and the designer uses stitch and flip as well, my favorite way to make a quilt.  It will be one less container on my sewing room floor, always a good thing, lol!!

Joining up with One Monthly Goal at Stories at the Sewing Room, with others.  Hoping this will motivate me to finish a few quilts this month.  Wish me luck.  :)

Entering the Stay At Home Round Robin Finished Linkup

 Really enjoyed the Stay at Home Round Robin that was on online.  The schedule is below and all the participants.  I found it at Kathleen's site, and the link up is at Quilting Gail's site (click on the link here to see the finals)  if you want to see all the finishes.  They're amazing.  Each time the person gives out an idea to use for the round robin.  Some were "lines broken", another a "Kite" design, and a third was the stars.  I did everything and another one to get in a filler.  I went out of my comfort zone to try new blocks, one was 16 inches so the finished size of mine is extremely large.  As I said, this was the schedule.

• January 13:   The links for the Centre blocks are on THIS POST.
• January 20: 1st Round:   Kathleen @ Kathleen McMusing
• January 27: 2nd Round: Anja @ Anja Quilts
• February 3: 3rd Round: ME!!! @ Quilting Gail 
• February 10: 4th Round:   Wendy @ Pieceful Thoughts of My Quilting Life
• February 17: 5th Round: Brenda @ Songbird Designs
• February 24: 6th Round:  Emily @ The Darling Dogwood
• March 24:  Parade: showing all of your finished SAHRRs!

So even with a hurt rotary cuff  and a dislocated shoulder that luckily popped back in (this was all in February), I did manage to get a flimsy done.  All the material is from 

Here's a close up of the blocks 

Center and the sides on top is similar to a Kite.  Stars are the center of the outer ring.  They're 16 1/2 inches and are called It's called Crown and Star.  Really love this block.  The HSTs you see in the 2nd round with the flying geese.  Then there's the break up line  which I thought were my rings around each row, but then I added the flowers  which are from the Moda Blocks and finally I did the little arrows that point to the center stars.  We also had to do a log cabin, which I was going to do all around the quilt, but found it way to busy that it took away from the star, I put them on the bottom.  It's a large double bed size, which I don't have so I'm looking at more of those flower ones, another complete ring around all of it but the top layer, which will make it for sure a queen size quilt for my bed.  I'm not putting batting in between, as I want a light cover for the summer.  It gets hot in my place.  

White frabric is all scraps.  Rest of the fabric is Kaffe mixed fabric.  Using up saved fabric that was sitting on the shelf for about 2 years.

So I'll need to do another separator of that fabric with lovely flowers, then some more blooms and I'll be done.  But for now, this is my entry.  Hope you like it.

One Monthy Goal for March

 Well I have tons of different quilts that I need to finish or at least start when I've gathered everything up in a neat little package, but for two weeks I'm working full time at the start of the month.  So I'm hoping to do the following...

Here are the three I'm looking at completing:

The bird pattern is from SewFresh, an Ontario quilter and pattern designer.  I'm looking at the larger one for my aunt for her larger living room table, where the cat will live on it  lol.  She uses the sew and flip method which I really like.

Look at that material, the colors are so vibrant.  They're from another quilt I made 20 years ago, so this will get her done, and get that material finished.  The background will be gray, like the picture.  The rest is all scraps, and I love using all of my scraps.

Another one I want to complete is the pods you see here.  I got the pattern off of Etsy.  I've made 4 of them already, and sent them out as gifts and christmas gifts.  It's quick and easy.  

Here's a better shot of the pattern by Pen and Paper on Etsy.  I already made the snake as a surprise for my husband when we came back from a trip to Scottsdale Arizona.  And he loves it.  Sorry about the terrible picture.  I'm doing the cacti and then in the corner the snake again.

Here's my material, all left overs but not the backing, which looks like sand.  It's the same material I used for the pattern.  It's half cut out, so I need to finish that and then sew it, and the designer uses stitch and flip as well, my favorite way to make a quilt.

Here's the pillow that I was talking about.  And the material that's brown is my background for the quilt I am making.  I'm going to use it as a hanging quilt to match the pillow.  I'm excited about it but unsure if I have the time to do these.  The one that's definite for this month is the cacti one, that's the goal, the others are bonuses.  This is my plan.

Joining up with One Monthly Goal at Stories at the Sewing Room, with others.  Hoping this will motivate me to finish a few quilts this month.  Wish me luck.  :)