Preparations ... Decisions

It is fun going to a quilt retreat, but the preparation is stressing me out.

In Canada, Thanksgiving is next weekend, so we picked that weekend to do a retreat. We are leaving on Friday and back on Tuesday, October 10th. Same gang, same place as in February, and I just can't wait! Gosh! I'm like a child in a ToysR'us store. I want to bring EVERYTHING!

Need to cut more 2" squares for these two projects

On the first Tuesday of every month, we have our group Artisanat meeting, so that's next too. I want to bring a few things for the show and tell. I need to take care of that also. 

Part of my show and tell on Tuesday.
Not in love with the last one left corner. It might get replaced.

To top it all nicely, my youngest son is at home until Tuesday. Whatever I cook or bake for the retreat or their weekend without Mom, DS3 asks if it's for him. Bunker! I'm going bunker, and I love it! 

Anywho! Need I have to say that not much sewing happened this week? 

Although I did play with fabric. I'm cutting everything and anything that comes my way, haha. 

This is just an inspiration I spotted on Elm Street Quilts back in 2020 before we abandoned everything to make masks. (Remember that sh*t?)

Yeah, I might bring that one too... in case I get bored. 

That's all for now, friends. 

Have a great week. 

;^)

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts 

Cynthia for Oh Scrap! 

Alycia for Finished or NOT Finished Friday

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

I Found a Rainbow...

... in my scraps!

I didn't do much this week because, as Nann said: "I am overrun with squirrels". Haha! Loved her comment.  I spent a lot of time with my youngest son, who came home for two days, and it was also my first son's birthday. It was more a boy week than a sewing week. It was fun to have all three of them here. 

Anywho! I'm still stuck playing with HST.

At the last meeting of the Artisanat, Françoise mentioned the donation of baby quilts and I liked that idea. A picture formed in my head and like an earworm, it wouldn't go away. So, I threw it on my design wall. Works like magic every time. 

Simple HSTs, so it worked up fast. 

I need to ask Françoise for the dimensions. It stands at 30 X 23" which is pretty small. The blocks are sewn in rows but the rows aren't sewn together yet. 

The other HST project is the one from last week. I made another block and realized that they don't play well together. 

Now, if I put the aqua with a like colour and the rust with another like colour, the pattern will work better. So, I've put this one into a designated box to be open on New Year's Eve only. Haha! Yeah, right! 

That's all for this week. Have a lovely weekend! 

;^)

Joining these talented ladies over the weekend. 

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts 

Cynthia for Oh Scrap! 

Alycia for Finished or NOT Finished Friday

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Wendy at Wendy's Quilts and More 

Up to My Shenanigans Again

I finished a quilt, Jacob's Summer, therefore I am entitled to start 3 more, right? Yeah, that's what I thought too. Me and my coloured pencils had a little meeting and elaborated some shenanigans plans for RSC2024. Oh! My! Fluffy Kittens! Why can I not live in the present time!?!

Let's not get ahead of ourselves and start at the beginning. Aqua fabrics were pressed, cut and sewed. 

It all started with the Irish Stars. It needed 4 more blocks, and aqua and blue were the right colours along with one bright green. Well, it's brighter in person. 

It also needs 29 more alternate blocks...

... minus 6.

I had a few cutting sessions to replenish the 2" square bin. That's when I discovered fabrics that were too lovely to leave behind. Some of the cuts turned into 9-patch blocks. They finish at 3 inches.

Some aqua and some not. 

Some of these black prints come from a friend in New York. Thanks, Pat. :^D 

Friends' Favourite blocks were next in line. 

I have a nice pile of fussy-cut fabric for this quilt and pulled out all that were closely or remotely aqua, and others that tickled my fancy. 

I still need to find out where this quilt is going (size-wise), but I know it will be on my lazy-boy chair one day. 

And that's when I lost it! Playing with all those lovely scraps made me want to sew them up into ... something. 

Anything! 

Oh! How about another Solid on Print kind of quilt? Yeah, yeah, good idea! 

One thing leads to another and ... 

... then ... 

... trouble shows up. 

I started to play with HSTs. Uh-huh! 

I got my colouring crayons out and doodled, doodled to my heart's content. 

Then, I was itching to see it with prints, so I pulled out the multi-coloured print basket dug out a few prints, and picked matching solids. Oh what a lovely rabbit hole this was.  Such FUN! 

It didn't take long for me to have what I needed. So instead of showing you my coloured pages, here's my madness train of thought. 

Sketch #1

I picked a solid aqua fabric (of course) and a matching print. 

Six blocks together make this: 

See the hourglass in the middle? (I know it's very crooked but my pictures didn't align very well. Sorry.) 

Sketch #2

My son likes this one the most. 

Six blocks together form this pattern. 

Sketch #3  

Very similar to the #1 block. 

Six blocks become this pattern. 

The hourglass has disappeared. Boring? 

Of course, I wasn't done! 

Sketch #4 

Six blocks together make something that looks familiar by now. 

I was getting tired but I needed to see one last option. Let's see it. 

Sketch #5

And the layout of 6 blocks together. 

This quilt will NOT be just a two-coloured quilt. No, no. It is for RSC2024 and it will be all kinds of prints with a rainbow of solids, like my Framed 9 Patch that isn't finished but I still want to start another one. (My DH said it was okay, so, hey!)  

So, which one do you like best? 

Remember what I said at the beginning of this post? I've finished one quilt so I'm allowed to start 3 new projects. Lol. 

Enjoy! 

;^)

 

P.S. For those who want to know: I've pinned Jericho Wall because I know what the quilting pattern will be. HST will go back into the pile and wait a little longer. 

Joining these talented ladies over the weekend. 

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts 

Cynthia for Oh Scrap! 

Alycia for Finished or NOT Finished Friday

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Progress and a Finish

I have a finish and it's not a mini quilt either. WhooHoo!!

Jacob's Summer (aka Jacob's Ladder) is finished. Except for a few more threads to deal with and a label. Let's have a closer look. 

I did straight-line quilting with white thread in the neutral squares. 

I did straight-line quilting with bleu thread in the blue and green squares. It's not enough I thought. 

I went back with white and added two more straight lines on each side of the first one. Then, did the same with blue. 

The top was not stretched enough when I pinned it and I ended up with some puckers. Oh well. 

The borders have an FMQ of bubbles. I thought with all the straight lines, it needed a little movement somewhere. 

You can see the border quilting better from the back. 

The back is a mosaic of leftover fabrics and a summer sports print. 

Voilà! Jacob's Summer - started in February 2013 - finished in August 2023. Measure 98 X 74 

(The grass makes the quilt bumpy. It's hard to mow the lawn because it is wet most of the time.) 

I'm thinking of quilting either Jericho Wall

or my first HST quilt ... hmm!

Both are big quilts, so lots of work either way. 

Meanwhile, I am finishing the Irish Star Chain blocks. 

Most of the stars are done. Only four more to go, but which colours? 

I need to concentrate on the alternative blocks ... lots to do here, about 30 more. 

I've set a few down to give you an idea of what I'm aiming for.

I got Ohio Star Shadow in a hoop in the hope of getting this one finished too. 

The rusty one on the right-hand side is done and I'm now working on the red one.

Over the weekend, I'll check what I can do with Aqua, the colour for September. 

Enjoy the long weekend! 

;^)

Joining these talented ladies over the weekend. 

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts 

Cynthia for Oh Scrap! 

Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitches 

Alycia for Finished or NOT Finished Friday

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

ABC Table Scrap Challenge + +

The Joyful Quilter called the letters X and O for this month's ABC Table Scrap Challenge. I thought it was an easy one. Here's what I did. 

I challenged myself some more. The additional goal was to use only scraps from the Multi-coloured Basket as it was overflowing (and still is, btw) except for yellow (August's colour). 

This is how it went. Yellow - checked

Scrap #2 - checked 

Colours are truer in this picture. 

This floral scrap was picked because it has little dots of yellow in the background.  


Contrat: Scrap #3 and 4 - checked 

Nope! Try again. 

Mmm, better but ... let's try again. 

Yes! That's more like it. In this picture and the last one, the top fabric is purple and matches the purple in the floral fabric. Just so you know. 

Then, I started to assemble the blocks but I forgot to take pictures. (I know, right! What an airhead! Lol)

It didn't take long to realize that the floral fabric wasn't big enough to make all four blocks. So the hunt in different bins started. Checked in the dark neutral box; checked in the white scrap bin; checked in the 2.5" pieces drawer, and in the 3" drawer but couldn't find another piece. I was only missing 2 pieces. Darn! 

Back into the Multi-coloured Basket for something else. Something that matches? Something that contrasts? Mmmm. How's this one? 

Good enough she said. Whoohoo! 

In no time at all, I had my challenge finished. There's a big "bear hug" in yellow, a little kiss full of flowers and another little hug in purple in the middle of it all. So I call it OXO. It finishes at 16.5" square and it lays flat, flat like a pancake, I say! Not at all like last month's Table Scrap (crooked) Challenge. Haha. 

The quilting was free-motion hearts with lace (?). 

Not sure if you can see this one. It is almost perfect. 

This one is more visible, I think. My stitches aren't always consistent, but I'm improving. 

 The hearts were not all that good-looking. I'm still learning this skill. 

Some look like deflated balloons. 

No alcohol was used to accomplish this beautiful, shaky design, lol. 

It was a great practice piece and I love it. It will not be added to my Wall of Fame as I want this one above my computer. Yes, I want to look at it all the time. 

So, there you have it, my entry for the ABC Table Scrap Challenge is CHECKED! 

Thanks, Joy, for the fun challenge. Xox

On the working front: Some of you know that I'm looking for a job at present. Like any serious job seeker, I tagged many job posting sites with the type of work I qualify for. My mailbox rings from 8 to 42 times a day. Not all of these are as per my specifications or in my region. It turned answering your comments into a hunting game. I will prevail; do not despair. 😉

I managed to turn some Paper Chain blocks into quadrants. 

I took a picture only because. if you're like me, you love to look at other people's fabric, right? 

... and I am joining Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitches as I am stitching down the binding on Jacob's Summer. More on that next week. Hopefully! 

Take care, everyone. 

;^)

Joining these ladies over the weekend. 

Joy for the ABC Table Scrap Challenge

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts 

Cynthia for Oh Scrap! 

Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitches 

Alycia for Finished or NOT Finished Friday

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.