The end of the Year

 As the title states, it's the end of the year with 2 more days left before New years Eve.  Many things have happened and many realizations as well.  So here's the realizations, because to me they're big:

• I'm a workaholic.  No seriously, I am.  I'm semi-retired and subbing every once in a while, but the subbing has turned into 10 - 15 days a month, that's almost half time.  So where is the retirement?  I still love teaching but the hubby is saying, how about spending time with me?  So we agreed to only requests, but the requests have turned into 10 - 15 times a month.  So what to do?  Take more trips....
• I love to paint.  yes, I knew that before, but this Christmas I did all my Christmas cards  in watercolor.  Some of you have received some cards.  Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of them, because I couldn't post them.  As a gift to myself I joined a painting group.  Watercolor Mastery with Emily Olson.  At present I'm doing 30 days of Watercolor to learn the basics which I know but some of the vocabulary is good to know so I'm on day 27.  It's about 15 - 20 minutes a day and it's not bad.  Notice all the categories, as well as daily challenges that are lessons to learn something.  You also join Facebook to be a part of the encouraging group there.   But I must tell you, these people are absolutely talented and make me feel a little inadequate, so for now I'm lurking and going slow.  But I am enjoying it and it's great for when you only have about an hour or less to do something, so you paint.

I did do one watercolor and gave it to my aunt for Christmas.  This course helped a bit.  

Her grandchild looks perfect, but her face is a little off.  it's the wrinkles, she didn't like them in the picture.  most people don't like their portrait, but it's very close.  And I really liked it.  Maybe next time in acrylic.

• But this is not my first online course that I joined.  I saw something on Facebook, with Ali Kay.  She's got a style of her own, using broad lose strokes in arylic.  It's called Fresh Paint and there's also a Facebook group that's so encouraging, helpful, and motivating.  There are tons of projects to complete, a number of first time projects, and here's a few:

                                  

• I have found a number of things to remember:   smaller is better for less wall space used, it's faster because you follow along with Ali live or you can look at the video that appears later on and stop and start it when you need it.  That's what I do.  The pictures above are start at the bottom to more recent practices on top.  I've already gifted 4 of these pictures for Christmas so it worked out really great.  Here's another one that I gifted to my uncle in Utah.  This one took 3 hours to complete on a 8 x 8 board.  I framed it and sent it to the states.

  
• Here's where you really see the growth for me.  It's this month's and next month's weekly challenges.    They're 16" by 20"
  

See the style????  The board loose strokes?  Yeah, I know, really painting up a storm.

On to what this blog is about.  The quilting I've done this past two months.  It includes a pillow for this quilt:

Yes the Christmas quilt paper piece was completed just in time.  It's two years old so it's best that I completed it.  Used Wandering quilting for finishing it and the borders are with the same material so the stars float, which I really like.  There was suppose to be another 4 blocks to add but I wanted it square so I could hang it up on my wall.  I already have 4 other Christmas quilts to hang, and drape, and use around the house so I think that's it for Christmas  lol.  I used an extra piece piece block to make the pillow cover.  Did that today, cleaning out my sewing room.

While cleaning out my sewing room I also discovered some flannel material that's over 7 years old.  It's been collecting, and I purchased some green flannel thinking I'll make this really cool quilt with the flowers and green, but in the end it was "I want another flannel quilt, it's really cold lately" and that was it.  Just a slice and stitch together quilt, mixing and sewing back together the fabric.  Very modern, easy to do.  The blocks turned out to be 15 inches big at the end, and then borders of 2 1/2 inches to put together.  But then I ran out of the green, and had some more flower flannel, then started piecing, then just playing and in the end it's the Lost Garden.  And it's warm.  65" by 65".  Big enough to cover the toes and wrap around.  I like it.

I also got out a queen quilt that I made two years ago, but never used because it's so hot.  Hopefully it will be perfect for tonight.  Here's a shot.  It's my scape quilt.  Yeah, you got it, all scraps and extra fabric.  No batting inside, just flannel on the back to keep it together.  Yeah, that's crumbing in the center.

Here's what else I completed, while cleaning that room.  I'm going to a baby shower in January.  I was invited by a good friend for her daughter's baby.  So I bought a few things, found this material for the mother from Montana and you will understand why I made this.  It's a cover up for the baby seat, when moving the child from car to house.  Horses, little cowboy hats, saddles, etc.  Perfect for a family on a farm.  It's reversable.

Front above and back below.  All flannel.

It's 32" by 38"

Finally, what I'm working on right now.  It's still the quilt for my cousin in Manitoba but I've changed patterns.  I painted her the skull you saw at the start of this blog, and this is the pattern I am now doing.

There are 21 rows.  I am trying to do at least 5 a week.  I'm on row 12, and decided to place all the pieces together.  That's when I noticed that I am short both the gray and the white.  The white material has gold dots on it.  That will cause trouble.  But that's ok because I think white in random places won't be noticed, and I need 2 more small pieces of gray, which I'll put around the nose, so that may work.  It is what it is.  It's twin size, very large, so this will be very interesting.  Looking at making it a queen, and I have the backing for it as well as for another edge around it.  Used brown and oranges for around the skull, so it looks like fall.  That girl is into Halloween in a big way so she'll love this.

Well, coming to the end of this posting.  Need to make one more comment.  Rejoined the Fraser Valley Quilt Guild and joined their UFO club.  You list some quilts you want to finish by June, and you pay $2 per quilt.  I put in 6.

1. Flamingo quilt for the barn door.
2. Cacti quilt that I absolutely hate making.  It's really hard to fit, and the instructions are hard to follow.  You'll see another time why I'm saying this.
3. Hand Stitched Farm Yard.  I'm down to two big blocks to complete.  I promised myself I'll do three threads of hand sewing every morning.  Been doing it for a week, and keeping up.  Hopefully will be done by June.  But at least I'm really making progress now.
4. A bear quilt to go with a bear painting I'm planning on making that will be 20" by 30" for the living room.  The bear quilt will hang on the wall.  I have all the bear cut out, just need to do the background now.
5. From the same designer Canadian Animals - I've had this kit for the past 5 years.  Really needs to get done.
6. A Tin box club thing that was from the guild 4 years ago.  Was making one block - need at least 30 of them.  Block size is 8".  The material is really old fashion so I'm excited about this one.  But I'll probably give it to someone when done.  We'll see.

As for other plans for this coming year let me tell you.  Here's a picture of my room after a visit from the fire department and me worried about them saying get rid of my kits.  It also contains my paintings, some of the 1/2 done projects that are now done, my books for my reading clubs, and many of my paintings that are practice. Knocked it down to the ones I want to complete this year.:

1. Canadian Animals which I have been sitting on for the past 7 years.  I have so many scraps now, I need to use them on this quilt.  Love the designs.
2. Paper piece of a woman in a hat.  It's 2 years old.  Material collected twice.
3. 2 1/2 inch squares of green to make a garden with purple flowers in it.  It's 10 years of collecting green scraps.
4. A Scottish Cow, paper pieced.
5. a jelly roll quilt - the jelly roll is 6 years old.
6. a quilted jacket from my scraps which are many
7. Cat using the SewKindofWonderful curved ruler. It's 5 years old.
8. An applique woman with blocks all around it.  All blocks done, the woman done, just need to put it together and quilt it.  (2 years old)
9. A small runner of a sofa, chairs and quilts on both.  Really cute and 3 years old
10. I found out that the Wedding Quilt I made for my nephew, I made another kit of it, not realizing it.  So I'm going to make it and gift it to someone lese.  It's in that pile.

and so much more!!!!  All ready for me now.  Just need to get going.  But those 6 at the top are my key ones and really bucking to get them done.  Priority, the Skull for February visit to my aunt in Winnipeg.

That's it.  Say goodbye to 2025, hello to 2026, and Merry Christmas to all.  Take care.

Painting away....

 New ones from Fresh Paint, been so busy painting this weekend.  Will get right to it.

It's a Christmas ornament.  There are 12 purples in this creation.  That's why I love it so much.  The ball in the back was off, but it's fixed now.  it's on a 8 x 8" square and I have a black frame to frame it so I'm excited about that as well.

Hope you enjoy it.

Will not show the 4 other watercolor cards I made because it's for giving away for Christmas.  Take care.

November is a Triumph!!

 Last month I didn't do much because I was working too much, substituting for friends, and replacing sick teachers.  This month, I did two weeks of replacing one teacher and a month in October.  I would come home tired and nap for 1/2 to an hour every day.  Then I would go to bed at 9:00 and start the next day.  But in between the weeks was Remembrance Day, and another day was a Professional Development day so I wasn't so tired and able to do some painting and sewing.  I reached one of my goals of finishing my Christmas quilt, it's quilted as well, and I'm so happy with it.  So I want to brag and show some of my work.

So here's the final picture.  There were four more paper piece items to do, one was a sleigh bell that's completed (going to turn that into a pillow), one with squirrels, one of a dog on a sleigh.  But I love these ones and the final quilt measures 60" by 60".  Perfect for hanging on my wall this Christmas.  The pattern is from Apples and Beavers, check out their quilts.  Really loved their patterns, have purchased a number of them, including the really cute Dragon one.  You got to take a look.  They had this BOM last year that I bought into, paper piecing.  Wanted to practice my paper piecing again before I tackle this really hard one I have, so I said why not.  Unfortunately their schedule was just beyond my capabilities, 3 paper pieces a month, so I gave up.  They asked me why I wasn't sharing and a survey went out where I found out I wasn't the only one having trouble.  Thus,  a 2nd round of it with one a month or a little less time.  This was more manageable, and the  results you see.  They had stashing around the blocks with stars joining the stashing, but I like my idea better and it really shows up the blocks.  I'll show more pictures when it's up on the wall, and not on my floor like this one.  You can see some previous posts that show the blocks separately.

My next success was really an activity in courage.  I had an old quilt that I did not use for 4 years.  It's been washed numerous times, shrunk a couple of times, and just doesn't fit our queen size been with a husband that hogs the blankets (I would end up with no quilt on my side).  I said for a year that I would cut it up and make a jacket out of it.  Instead I made a hoodie with all my left over blocks and used that.  I loved it but my husband put it in the dryer and I never pre shrunk it so it became a size 10.  I'm an 18 with these shoulders.  I gave it away to a niece who said I could wear it for camping....  I cried.  But onward and upward...  The first cut is the hardest.  The results.....

 It's like being wrapped in a quilt outside.  This is all from that quilt I made in 2019.  Still going strong.  I even had a piece to make a bed runner with (about 20") for my summer white quilt and a good thing too because I made matching pillow cases.  Now that's a great use of quilts.  That was the next one.

The rest of my time was used as reading and painting.  Signed up for a year on a learning site to learn to paint a certain style and let me tell you I'm loving it.  I've only been in it for 2 months (signed up at the start of October) but so far I've painted 8 pictures (moved down to 8" x 8" because running out of wall room).  Here's my favorites so far...

This is a beginner one...  LOL  it's not....

A retirement gift to a friend.

Just because I've been practicing color mixing, and this one had 8 greens.  Sorry about the darkness of the picture.

This one was the hardest of them all, but I wanted to make a small Christmas gift for my uncle who is over 80 and just moved into a smaller place.  He probably doesn't have any Christmas decorations so this is one I want to give him.  It's framed in black and looks really good.  Have to get it off soon because he lives in Arizona, and that will take some time with Duty to pay.  But that's OK.

Finally, great news, I'm back to my quilting guild, just in the morning session if I'm not working.  It feels strange to me, going in daylight but my husband is happy about that, he doesn't like me driving in the dark.  So I joined the Fraser Valley Quilt Guild again, and the first thing I did was join a group to get some of my UFOs down, because I'm sure they're multiplying behind my back in my sewing room (those little devils).  My husband also told me that when I die he's going to contact the Guild and give them all of my kits for free.  Poor thing, he doesn't know the cost of them lol...

So here's my list.  It cost $2.00 for each one you list, and it's an entry to win all the money in the end.  There are numerous other people in it, and like me, they start new ones.  

I had two on the go when I did this and didn't list them.  one was that Christmas quilt.  But the idea is to get my stash down, and this will help.  It runs until June and this was the final day to join, so I did it in a rush, with everything throwing me for a loop on how different the day meeting is compared to the night, and all the people, there were tons.  And to top it off, I'm going to miss the December meeting because I'm going to a hockey game in Seattle with the hubby, but that's OK.  There's always January.  So if you can't read it here it is:

1.  Florence Flamingo by Elizabeth Hartman  

2.  Oh My Cacti by Pen and Paper Quilt.  It's very hard and complicated.  That's why I keep putting it down.

3.  The Tinner box from 2020 that I had with blocks that we did as a group and pass around to each other to make one a month.  I have 15 more to go.  But I love the material.

4.  hand Stitch Farm Yard from The Buggy Barn.  Called Crazy for Applique.

5.  Canadian Animals - Wonderful Woodlands from Art East Quilting Co.  This one is 5 years old.  Must get it done.  It's cute.  See for yourself.

6.  Bear from the same creator.  Bear-Wildered by Art East Quilting Co.  Bought the kit after seeing this one online in a zoom....  jeesh....

That's it my six quilts want to do. 

Wish me luck, and I definitely NEED to stop buying more patterns or getting them free on the internet like this block "There she blows" a whale block....   Yes I'm taking you with me...... 

And if you have the same sense of humor I have...  You'll love this one from Art East Quilting Co. $18.00 

Have a great week.....I have enough to do.

October was a bust

 Yes, I got a couple of small quilts done, yes I used up some of my material but what I promised myself I would get done, I didn't, so I'm looking at finishing that this month.  My Christmas Quilt.  Here is just one block.  I have 16 blocks completed, and all four rows completed, I have stars all completed with them, but I am not framing the blocks, I am using the same fabric around, so the stars which are very yellow and really pop up!!!  I have to add another 2 1/2 inches around to complete the stars, and then I want to put another 2 1/2" border around that.  My binding is the same material but a darker green, which is what I will be using for the backing as well.  That's about 6 hours work, let alone quilting.  So this will take me at least a month, and I am working 2 weeks in the month full time, so that doesn't leave me much time.  But it's doable.

My  next quilt is also something that I started for my cousin's Christmas gift.  She's really big into Halloween, so the idea is to complete this one.  I have 5 rows completed, and have to make another 5 rows, to get it going.  It's very forgiving, and comes together beautifully.  All the pieces are cut, it's a matter of placing it on my floor, putting things together so I don't have the same color side by side, and sewing it together.  I can only do 5 rows at a time.  So although it's easy to do, forgiving, it is time consuming as well.  Two in one month..... phew.....

I can only hope.  

The last piece of news, I was cleaning out my closet and I found this one....  It's very old 2010, and was in the Fraser Valley Quilt Show.  I love it and it's perfect for the colling down of things here.  I love it.  And my husband is crazy about it because of the warmth.  I just love how it looks on my bed. 

Happy November everyone.

Halloween, getting ready

 Did a few things for Halloween to decorate around the house.  Take a look:

It was fun doing this one.  I got the instructions from Flamingo Toes.  The instructions are easy to follow and complete.  Everything you need to know is there as well as the templates for the pumpkin and the spider.  Great job Bev, I really enjoyed making this.

After this one I decided that I needed some table mats.  I saw a lot of them online, and I didn't want to buy a pattern when I knew I could make my own, so that's what I did.  Here they are, stem and all.

I had some left over Halloween material, about 1/2 meter each which worked out well to make these.  The stems were scraps.  Really like how they worked out and notice the quilting.

That's it.  Next week another painting for someone's retirement, and continuation of paper piecing a christmas quilt.  Have a great day.

Patterns Galore...

During Covid I was doing a lot of sewing and buying a lot of fabric...  After I got too much fabric (yes there's such a thing) I started to buy patterns that I really like, and I got too many of those....  But one thing I discovered is that there's a lot of free patterns and free BOMs online.  Here are only a few of the three pattern sites:

Fat Quarter Shop - which has both free patterns and many many free BOMs that I've personally made and love.

Bear Creek Quilting Company which has free patterns from fabric places and have uplinked the MODA Blockheads on their site.  On their blog they have listing of BOMs and each month they posted some really great patterns free that came out that month.

National Quilting Circle has a number of them from Fabric Companies as well.

Jordan Fabrics - always my favorite with free videos to learn how to do these free patterns as well.  The videos are very clear and easy to understand.

Robert Kauffman - one of the greats....

Moda Fabrics that has BOMs, some fatheads (a group of blocks you put together for a quilt - a real learning experience), the moda bake shop that has a view of these free quilts, and so much more for you.  One of my go to places for free patterns and most of my UFOs come from here because I join too many of them!!

Tilda's world which is a British quilter with such cute quilts.  Really stunning and most of them are holiday styles.  It's a MUST take a look site.

Missouri Star Quilt Company doesn't have the printouts of free patterns but it really has a lot of videos that show you exactly what to cut, how much material you need to buy, and how to make such fun, easy quilts.  This is a link to their video channel that has the tutorials all there.  Check out out.

Coriander Quilts always has one or two free patterns on it that are divine...  Check out this months.  It's on my list now....  So cute for September, October and November on the wall or on the couch.

Another of my favorites is American Patchwork and Quilting which every month has one or two free patterns with each of their magazines.  Those really add up and now their online.  Check out this link to many fabulous ones.  They're categorized , see how below;

Just get It Done Quilts is based out of Ontario, with a blog worth reading.  They have stash busters, free patterns and more.  Check out the freebies on top for more.....

Love Crafts has a number of patterns from all over, and more than just quilts.  You can do a search by the maker of the pattern, or what size quilt, or what item (like hand crafts stuff).  Take a look at their great search engine.

And if a free pattern is not your thing, how about a free block:

1. Moda Blockheads Round 2 can be found here, all of the blocks from Round 3 can be found here, all of the blocks from Round 4 can be found here.
2. Another great spot to find blocks is Quilter’s Cache.  This website has so many quilt blocks!
3. Generations Quilt Block patterns is another spot for free quilt block patterns in various sizes.
4. Consider blocks from other quilt alongs. The Sewcialites quilt alongs have a wonderful backlog of great quilt blocks. These blocks are available in 3″, 6″ or 9″ sizes.
5. Quilting Daily has 150 blocks with images of each one.

These are but a few.  I know, I've overwhelmed you so I'll stop.   I hope this helps you in some way shape or form.  Happy quilting. 

Keeping busy with painting and quilting

 Life is getting better and more busy.  It's Thanksgiving here in Canada, and that means that it's a long weekend.  But last week I joined a painting class for $40 a month that teaches a very distinguishing style.  I love Ali Kay's style.

See her at work here.

I love this style of painting and I wanted to try this, so I signed up for a week with Paint Week with Paint Fresh, an online course that also goes live with Facebook.  Take a look at Ali Kay's site to see what she does and her explanation

Here are some of my work from Fresh Paint

It's in order from the latest to the first one (just above).  I got better.  Feeling good, made 3 pictures, but now I'm thinking, I haven't sewn anything in a week....  I felt bad so today I received an email from Flamingo Toes showing a quick tabletop for Halloween.  It uses applique.  Take a look, especially with the spider which has spun a web going down from the web at the top.

It's gorgeous, and looks great on my table.  See this link to an explanation from Flamingo Toes.   I also cut a pattern out for Halloween.  It's my goal this week.  That goal and also to paint 2 more painting.  Wish me luck.