The Month is Done

I have finished the month of August ... uh uhm 2016, in the 365 Challenge quilt.

So happppppppppyyyyyyy! Like a good movie or book, which has a sequel, August finished with a twist. Let's have a look.

Last weekend, I picked fabrics for a few blocks at a time. It makes the task of cutting so much easier when you have little sewing time.

Prepped units for August 25th block.

They are all the same size, 1.5 inches
And here is Garden Square in all its glory with 29 pieces.

4 H with 20 pieces

English Ivy  27 pieces

August 28 Stoch Plaid with 28 pieces, some were cut at 7/8 of an inch.

Aunt Addie's Album with 25 pieces

It reminds me of Mangofeet's Centennial Star for some reasons. Sorry for the blurry pictures.


Then came Anvil with 17 pieces. Here is where I thought that the end of the month was a breeze. It was a very easy block to assemble.

And last, but obviously not least, August 31 with a twist!!
It's called Mosaic #15. Someone was running out of imagination at naming blocks. I thought it was an easy one as it look pretty innocent. Ha!

The problem was those units with the lightest blue. They needed to be trimmed at 1  9/16 inches. You also have to keep the points in the point of the block. All was good so far when I trimmed them. They I sew it all up. A breeze, I thought!  When I opened it up to press it, not two of the units were the same size.  (#$%#$^%$@#$) I spent some quality time with the seam ripper, way more than my patience could tolerate. Not easy to sew an exact quarter inch when the road is bumpy. It is still not perfect but it is good enough for me.

167 pieces were used in these 7 blocks.

With this, the month of August is done. It took 815 pieces to make the entire month.  Only four more months. The first of September is already done since it is corner number one, which I had to try a while back. You can see it here and here.


On with the reds.
Last week, I showed you this picture and asked what was I doing.

Yes, I just started on Good Fortune. I love this design by Bonnie K. Hunter. I've change the orange for red though. Just to have a different quilt. 

I've also changed the way to do these string blocks. I did try with the paper but I didn't like it. I usually sew my little crumb blocks without papers so why bother when I'm sewing much bigger blocks. I did kept the bigger size and sub-cut them down. If you look closely, you will notice that I've kept true to myself and have some strings that are made of two, three and even four different fabrics. :^D

So, now all the reds for this project are done. I won't wait for next month's colors to continue on this project but will just move on to another color.


This morning, bright and early, I went sewing with the Artisanat Club. We made port-a-cath pillows, 65 of them actually.

Here are the twelve members who made it in, on a very cold morning (-24C), to sew for those who battle cancer. Some ladies were cutting, some were (me) sewing and some were stuffing the little pillows. I had so much fun that I forgot to drink my coffee. Lol!

I've asked the ladies to cut some more to bring home to sew. You will see these little pillows on my blog again. Hopefully soon. I have to find Velcros as we ran out.

I've also made another Ohio Star variation block. It has a basket of apples and a pumpkin as the center. I picked a heart print for the background as I love Fall. The center is not pieced; just a very interesting print.

And that's all for this week.
Wish you all a wonderful week.

;^)

Joining Angela at So Scrappy 
Joining Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework.
Joining Em's Scrapbag
Joining Beth at Love, Laugh, Quilt

A Little Bit of Blues, A Little Bit of Red

You saw these next two blocks in my last post as they were waiting to go under the needle. Here they are in all their glories.

Hit and Miss: 15 pieces; 15 colours.

On the right is Flying X with 24 pieces.

Next is August 20 with a 6.5" block - Fair and Square which is square but not fair as it has some Y-seam that I loath, fear, am reluctant to do. I managed through it somehow.

I don't know what I am doing wrong but it is obviously not right. 

I did only five corners and I am impressed by that. They all needed to be ripped and sew again and again, and only one ended being such a hot mess that I had to cut a fifth one. Not an expert but a pat on the back nevertheless. (I still hate it!)

28 pieces.


Best of All is next. It has 49 pieces. It is a 6.5 inches block but still it makes for small stitching.

August 22 - Vines in the Window with 24 pieces. Back to 3.5" block.

At this stage, it measures 2 5/8 inches and has 20 pieces. 

I truly admire Kathrine who came up with all these blocks. It's easy for me as I have the instruction to follow. What did she had? A headache! She must be a math professor in an university somewhere because this block ... mind boggling.
The centre of this block measures 1-15/16 inches. Since we make units a little bigger, the centre needed some trimming. How do you trim a block to a 15/16 of an inch and keep the X of the hourglass in the middle? You have to trim it down to 2 inches and then trim it again 1/32 of an inch all around. Whhhhaaaaattt????

Kathrine had to figure that by herself. Trials and errors must have abound at her place. Wow!

Here it is, with its last border, measuring 3.5 inches.

Anywho! I manage to survive August 22 and went straight to the 23 which looked easier. It's called Flow Meter.

Somehow I ended up with a bigger pinwheel blade on one side. Will I retouch it? Not sure yet.

Oh! and it has 32 pieces.

Aircraft was easier. Phew! It has 17 pieces and only two colors so it didn't took too long to chose the fabric either.

total 189 pieces for 7 blocks. Now the weekend is here, I'll be able to sew some more little blue blocks. Yay!

My leader/ender with all these blues were some red strings.

Guess what I'm working on? 

Cheers  \_/

;^)

P.S. I want to share one more thing. I picked it up from a friend's blog. It is so true. Thanks, Fiona.

Joining Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Angela at So Scrappy
Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework

I Found a Rainbow

They say you can never catch a rainbow, right? Well I caught one!

After a very busy morning at the Centre where I work with young children and educators, I found a rainbow hiding in the dishwasher. It made me smile. I took a picture to share with you so you'll smile too.

(Yes, I do draw pleasure from the simplest of things. :^D)

With Angela's help, I want to slowly transfer this rainbow into my sewing room, month by month.

I know Angela picked RED for January but I'm more in the winter blues ... and I will be for a long time to come. Last week, I crossed out the middle of August, 2016. Let's have a look.



Aug 13: Morning Glory with 13 pieces

One of the petals and the background are too close in color but I still love this one. Notice that all my blocks look crooked; it is due to poor pinning on the design wall. Sorry, I was in a rush to take the pictures. :^}

Greek Cross: 17 pieces an easy 9-Patch

Forward and Back : 24 pieces but also an easy one.

Next comes August 16 - Rising Star with more pieces cut at 7/8 of an inch. It's madness, I'm telling you.  33 pieces for this one.

It makes such a cute block that I forgive its petite challenge.

Catch Me If You Can was much easier to assemble. Only 24 pieces and they were biggies with their 1 1/4 inches. Ha!

I kind of forgot I am working on the dark border when I picked the fabric for this one. Oh well. It'll add something interesting to the quilt I guess.

That brings us to a total of 111 pieces for 5 blocks.


Next comes August 18 - Hit and Miss, which is by the machine waiting for me to sit and stitch.

And to finish this week, here is August 19 with Flying X, also prepped and waiting its turn.

I have to pin the pieces to the plate otherwise they fly all over the place when I move the plate. They are that small.

Don't get me wrong, I love playing with little pieces and I am still in love with this quilt. Every time I finish one, I am amazing that I was able to pull it off. Dear Jane is starting to look like a possibility for me. :^D

A few more regular 9-Patch were made as leader / enders while working on the 365 Challenge.

Lots of orange and purple in this bunch. Fun!

Oh yes! The red one!

Made another Ohio variation star. I so love this background fabric. It has red, blue and grey dots. Simple, right? Yet, it does something to me. Ain't I funny?


All in all, it was great fun.

Cheers!

;^)

Joining Angela at So Scrappy
Joining Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework

Still Sewing

I'm having fun with the Burgoyne Surrounded blocks. Although tricky, with a lot of pieces, it is still a fun one to make. Here's where I left you last post. 

I had a plan for the sashing. In order to keep the quilt on the small size, I didn't want the usual 9 patch. I want a tiny bit of a sashing. I cut and sew and my sashing turned out like this:

I didn't like it. It looked too busy and heavy in a very airy block. It stayed on the design wall overnight while I slept on it. The next morning, everything came down. On to Plan B, which looks like this:

So much better.  It has a sashing made with little bits of neutral cut at 1.25 inches. I ♥ it. See for yourself.

Don't understand why I didn't use red cornerstones for the inner border. I did put one in the middle but not on the corners!? I am so funny sometimes. I am not about to unstitch everything again. This quilt has had a very long relationship with the seam ripper and I have enough of it. I will just assume the quilt feels the same way. It will stay the way it is. It is still cute, right? Maybe a red binding will balance things out? Meanwhile, it will stand at the end of the long line of quilts, waiting to be quilted.

2018 was a tough year for me and my family, but we made it through. Hopefully, 2019 will be kinder and gentle with us. I haven't made any plan for 2019, except to keep sewing what I have. I've been very good in 2018, although I finished nothing, my fabric purchases barely made it over 300.00$,. This is a record low for me. Whoop, whoop! I will continue to work on the projects that are started mainly the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, Slow Stitching Sunday with the hexie quilt still on the UFO's list for yet another year. Sigh! But! But, the 365 Challenge Quilt saw a lot of progress in 2018 and talking about it, here's the latest block.

It's called Steps to Glory and has 44 pieces. As usual, this piece stands at 3.5 inches. Some of the pieces are cut at 7/8 x 7/8 of an inch. Yes, just 7/8 of an inch! It makes for a very crooked block. You have to sew darn straight not to impede on the tiny 5/8 left in the middle of that piece.

Here's another picture, just to help you wrap your head around this piece.

(yes, I am crazy! lol) Not the prettiest one, but it is done nonetheless. It might make it into the quilt and it might not. I'll burn that bridge when I get there.


And last, I had to resign from the Wednesday Sewing Club I had joined just last year. I will dearly missed this fantastic sewing group but I still have YOU all, to sew with and this I cherish daily as I read your latest posts.
I wish you all that the New Year be as sweet as a warm Summer breeze, may Health and Happiness be by your side daily.  When the rain comes, cause you know it has to come, may it be soft and short. Don't forget to show the world the warmth of your smile, it sure does need it. Enjoy your family and friends today.

To the pleasure of starting new projects (and hopefully finishing some) with you next year.

Cheers!

;^)



Join Sarah at Confession of a Fabric Addict
Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework
Angela at So Scrappy

Multiplying

I wanted to make just one block of the Temecula Mystery Quilt so I could make it at a later date. I started on the wrong foot but managed to rectify the situation.

 I then sew a second one to make sure I wrote the instruction right this time.

There was more parts done than needed.

Over the week, they decided to come together and make something.

I know exactly what it wants too. A little sashing, a little border and I'll be done with this one.

Joining Angela at SoScrappy
Joining Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework

Happy sewing. Enjoy!

;^)

December

It's a funny month this year. It either snows or the snow is melting. It recalls more the middle of Spring than the end of Autumn. Whatever! As long as it isn't freezing rain, I can handle it.

I have fixed my Burgoyne Surrounded block.

To make sure I got the pattern down right, I tested a second block

Ok. I got it right. Phew! I can store this one for later.

We had, on Tuesday, our Christmas Diner Party at the Club Artisanats.

We had a lot of fun, even if it doesn't really show in this picture. Let me get another one.

It was Christmas slippers or silly slippers night. Maude had the hat that matches her slippers. Way too cute. Notice her necklace is made of snowmen's lights.

The admin committee had to set the example and all had elf's slippers with bells. It was a hoot! Gosh! I was in bed and I could still hear those bells ringing, lol.




On Wednesday was the Wednesday's Quilters Christmas Diner.
Monique received all of us at her place. A really gorgeous home.

 Here is Anne in the pink chair, Carole and Francine next to the French doors.

Yolande, Françoise and Claire sat on the opposite side of the living room.

Monique is a wonderful hostess and had a glamorous table. Each one of us brought something. I did the chicken pot pies as it is my family's favorite. It was a favorite among them too. Monique is sitting at the head of the table. The empty chair is my place, right next to Anne.

I will so miss this group. I have decided not to join them next year as it is too demanding on me. They meet during the day and I always have to take time off from work. So, when I retire, I'll be joining them again, if room is available.

Talking about work, on Friday (of the same week, yes) was my office Christmas Party. I have no pictures of that party as I didn't go. My health didn't give me permission to go even if I had been very reasonable during the two previous parties. Oh well. There will be more to come.

Hope all of you are well ... and sewing up something.

;^)

Joining Angela at So Scrappy
Joining Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework

Thanks for looking.