Design Wall Monday

I haven't done a Monday post in such a long, long time. I finally have something to show on a Monday.

I went shopping and got some much needed dark blue for the 365 Challenge and ...

some not so needed goodies.  :^D ( I couldn't resist; they are too cute and at 30% off, why resist?) Can't wait to put the scissors in that yardage. It is just lovely. I bought whatever was left on the bolt. Yay!

This is the first corner of the 365 Sampler Challenge. (as seen in the last post) This is the middle section.

I finished off the two side sections :

the twins 

and the basket. While pressing this block, I realized that I should have reversed my choice of colors for the basket. It didn't occurred to me while I was cutting the pieces (or when I was sewing the pieces) that the middle section of the basket and the flower were both blue. am I redoing this? This quilt will last for a hundred years... ... ... sigh! 

Of course, all this tedious sewing needed some mindless company. Even dark green came by to say hello. 

I was gifted these big bags of fabrics of all kind. 

The smallest one only has square pieces of all sizes. Some are sewn in a HST pattern others are pressed to form a prairie points border. I am having so much fun going through all this deliciousness. :^D 

It's Thanksgiving weekend in Canada, so I can play some more today. I am so thankful for that. Also thankful for you. I wonder if you know how much I appreciate you, your comment, point of views, ideas, your projects, laughter and even your teasing. Hahaha! I am spoiled. Thank you for being you. 

Have a great one, 

;^)

Joining Judy at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Joining Beth at Love Laugh Quilt

Wednesday Sewing Club got the blues too

This past Wednesday, I got to go sew with my friends. What fun I have with them.

I prepared one corner block of the 365 Challenge, thinking I can do this and then it will be time to go home. Here is what I got done.

The top floral part

and the side floral parts

yep, that's all! It took me over four hours to make these units.

Oh! ...

... No! ...

Wait! 

I did show them the little mug rug I did with Monique's leftovers

Can't believe I didn't take a picture of the finished project!! 

and I did have a long look at all the beautiful things they sew during the summer. Oh! It was so beautiful.

Then, Lucie pulled the show stopper; a red and white quilt made in 1882 by Éloïse.

Wow! This was the size of it. Ok! Granted I am no expert with quilts but this one was cut.  Why? Nobody knows.

The applique pieces are hand sewn with the tiniest stitches I've ever seen.  Hope you can see them on this picture. Hand quilted too. The red fabric, although tired and running thin, is still so vibrant and bright. Amazing!!

The back, like the front, is mousseline.  The binding was sewn on much later with an electric machine. The name Éloïse 1882 was written with a pen in one of the corner. Was it all that the label said back then? Personally, I think this is only a quarter of the quilt. (Pictures taken with my phone.)

This weekend is a long one in Canada as we are celebrating Thanksgiving and it will find me finishing this ONE corner block for my 365 Challenge. Then there be only three more to go, lol.

Oh, yes! Almost forgot. I also got spoiled. Look at all the fabric my friends brought to my table after I showed them the mug rug. Hahaha! Aren't they awesome? I love them.

Another friend spoiled me this week. This friend is a bloggy friend who lives far, far away and although we haven't met face to face (yet) she knows me so well. She sent me, through email, some pictures of a certain quilt and it made my day. So happy to have her in my world. Thanks again, my sweet friend.

Hope that you too have some wonderful friends around you. Enjoy!

;^)

Joining Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Cynthia at Quilting is more fun than Housework

Bigger Blues?

I'm still in the blues ... for now.

Ann and Andy - August 5 - 32 pieces

Laurel Wreath - 49 pieces. Not an easy one but I'm really happy with it.

Old Snowflake  - 29 pieces. It is so pretty. I love this one except the diagonal lines are cut at 3/4 of an inch. They finish at 1/4 inch. If you examine the top left corner, you'll see that I sew it 1/8" bigger than the others. When the pieces are that small, 1/8 of an inch is a BIG thing.

Seesaw - 20 pieces. Here's another one that I really like.

August 9 - Big "O" - 9 pieces. This is definitively too easy. An extra hard one is about to show up, I just know it.

Shooting Star - 20 pieces. That's the last of the brown fabric and I really loved that one. Oh well, we do buy it to use it, right?

Dewey's Victory - 28 pieces. There's the extra hard one. The pinwheel in the middle is the size of a quarter. It is also my blooper block, lol.

With these done, I realized that I am running out of dark blue fabrics. I keep using the same one. Some I need to keep to use in the outer border corners so the quilt will look cohesive. I have to go shopping soon. Oh poor me! Lol.


While I get time to get the fabrics, what can I sew? So I started to make more blocks for an older project. These blocks are bigger. Brighter. Bolder. (Gosh! It's starting to sound like the 6 Million Dollar Man. If you were around in the 70s and were on this side of the ocean, you know about Steve Austin. I bet you can still hear the sound effect when he moved.) Anywho!!  I made these two blocks.

and the bolder

I'll have to look up again what this pattern is called because I can't remember. It's an Ohio Star Variation of some sort. I love Ohio Star.

These two will join the five others already made. I don't know where this project is going but I know that I don't have to make a lot of these as they will be paired with ... something.

That's all for now.

Stay calm, stay cool and sew on.

;^)


P.S. Just to prove that I fixed my blooper and that those blocks are really that small. :^D

Have a great weekend.

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

A New Month

For my 365 Sampler Challenge quilt, it is time for a new month. I have started on the month of August.

My design wall was empty.

Then popped a little blue flash ...

It's August first! It's called Peaceful Evening and it has 36 pieces. It's very hairy but so peaceful in person, not at all dull like the picture shows it. 

Then another one popped onto the design wall... 

It's Apple Pie with 33 pieces. I love this one too. 

Nothing could stop me now, so after a short break, another one appeared on the wall. 

Indian Hatchets made me angry a little bit. Although it looks very simple and easy, it is a hard one to trim. As you can see in this photo, the hatchets aren't in the middle of the blocks like they should. Bah! Humbug! I say. I am not changing it. 

It also made me angry by the amount of trimming left behind. 

That's a lot of waste for a block that is only 3.5 inches. 

Since I am not one to stay on a sour note, I had to make one more appear on the wall so out came ... 

... T Quartet with 36 pieces. Lost a few points on this one but it made my smile reappeared and that makes everything right again in my blue world. :^D 

Joining Angela for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

;^)

She's got the Rhythm ...

... and I got the Blues.  (song by Alan Jackson.)

Oh Yes, Baby! I got the blues alright and they are all done .... for July that is. Yay!

Chain piecing has a different meaning when one works with pieces of one inch

Boy's Nonsense - 17 pieces

There's a way to piecing such small parts. You cut them bigger and trim them down to size ...

... like this. Those "ears" are the triangles needed to make the little sliver of dark blue next to the azure blue. Showing this just in case you were wondering. 😊


Cactus Basket - 14 pieces  The brown block is trying to capture all the attention. I don't like that. I hope it will behave better once in the quilt. 😒

Cut the Corners - 33 pieces  I just LOVE this one.

Symmetry in Motion - 13 pieces but I added some. Yes, it was calling for some Y seams and I just did it MY way. No regrets! 😀

And to finish the month beautifully, an easy block called Basket Weave with 18 pieces.

The total of pieces for the month of July is 765 in 31 blocks.

Care to see them again? Here we go.

The block Temple Court is missing in action because it is already sewn to the quilt. I asked Basket Weave to replace it in the pictures. 😉

Joining Cynthia this week at Quilting is More Fun than Housework.

I'm off to see what you have done this week.

Catch you later. ;^)

Mini Blues

I just have a few mini blues to share with you today.

On the left: July 22 - Double Z - 20 pieces.

On the right: July 23 - Schoolgirl's Puzzle - 20 pieces.
Now, in my days, this one was called Old Maid's Puzzle. I guess that name is not politically correct anymore so they changed it to Schoolgirl's Puzzle. Whatever the name, it is still one of my favorite blocks. Don't let that upper right corner get to you. I know it is twisted but I like it too much to change it. :^D

Here we have Devil's Puzzle. I don't think he bothered to give us much of a challenge with this one.  13 pieces.

Another one of my favorite is the Cat's Cradle block.  33 pieces

Then came the Big Storm on July 26. It's a cute name but it gives the impression of a hard, complicated block which it is not. It has only 8 pieces.  A total of 94 pieces for this week. Not bad. All these blocks are finishing at three inches.

So that's all the bits of blues I played with this week.  Today, I'll be at Angela's place, admiring more blues in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Come and join.

Sunday's here, and I'll be with Cynthia for more blues on Quilting is More Fun than Housework. 


Catch you later.

;^)

Back with the Crazies

No, I am not talking about my friends, hahaha! I am talking about the 365 Challenge - the Ultimate Sampler.

Pieces cut at one inch. This is the center of a block.

The last time I worked on this horrible, stupid, fabulous quilt was in February of this year. I believe it is time to give this quilt a little push forward. Care to see what I made?





July 18 - Tangled Briars (or as I know it, Barrister's Block) - 44 pieces

Oh, yea! Forgot to mention, all these blocks finish at 3 inches (3.5 inches in the pictures)



July 19 - Propeller - 17 pieces

July 20 - Grandmother's Favorite (I doubt that!) - 33 pieces

Don't let its simplicity fool you. It is a tricky pattern to make and I doubt Grandma liked it.   😝 The tiny beige triangles are half an inch in height. I can make Barrister's Block with 44 pieces real straight and this one only has 33 pieces but didn't want to cooperate and @#$%^&^$# ...  The block is not straight and I don't care. NEXT!!


July 21 - Cock's Comb - 24 pieces

You saw part of this one in the very first picture. Another one that was pretty fidgety but i managed to do a most decent job. I just wish my "light" fabric was lighter but ... yeah, it works.

Needless to say, the leader-enders between these units had to be very easy and mindless. So I made this ...

... mug rug made with strings a friend at the Wednesday Sewing Club gave me. These are African fabrics. They are like batiks in the sense that both sides are the same and I got one backward. I guess you can still read it. It says "Fabrique au Nigeria" and it's "veritable super sagesi". I don't know what "real super sagesi" is but it is just gorgeous fabric. It needs to be quilted, trimmed and bound. By Wednesday? Hmmmm!!

I also work on this ...

... long column of blues, some little pieces and some strings were called in to construct this one. What is it for? I don't know. It hasn't told me it's name yet. It was just nice to sew it.

So that's my week. What about you? Care to share with Oh Scrap? Come and join the fun.

Catch you later.

;^)