Still at it !

No! It ain't done yet !! LOL

Still having fun.   I cut my templates from birthday cards and the likes, that I find in second hand stores. I prefer that kind of cardboard to paper.  I can reuse them many times. I also save the thread for more than one use.  I always keep the thread from anything that I need to undo. Commercially sewn pillows, shirts, blankets are easy to undo without breaking the thread too often, leaving me with very long strands. I wouldn't use it for sewing but it is good enough for basting.

Slow stitching always leave me plenty of time to think about ... everything ... especially quilting, cooking and the boys.  This morning left me with a lot on the list to do:  bake some muffins today for the week, and some lasagna would be good too, and DS1 needs a new quilt, ... I should change the header on my blog .... yeah I should paint one ...  , and .... oh yeah, I need to finish that Ohio Star UFO  :- {

But ... OH ! OH! LOOK!!  Look who comes to the bird feeder for a Sunday brunch on this snowy morning.

Yes, a cardinal!  I very rarely see him and when he does come, it makes me smile  :^)  I've put the feeders under the patio table so they don't have to dig out their food.  We get many sparrows, chickadees, mourning doves, blue jays and one woodpecker and sometimes, ... a cardinal.

I am linking with Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching . She has almost completed her gorgeous quilt Journey of a quilter, and there's also many other projects from different quilters to see. Oooh! love that.
 
So hope you will find time to join us in some slow stitching today and link up with Kathy so we can all see your beautiful work or work in progress.

Until next time ... Sssssmmile  :^)  I got a cardinal at my door !!

EDITING ; I am linking to A Quilting Reader's Garden for Hexie Weekend 

Adding border ... borders?

Is it still Wednesday evening?  Am I too late to do a WIP Wednesday post?  I did manage to do a little bit of sewing today; sewing borders on  Blooming Stars.

After this skinny blue border, I would like to add a white one.  How do you determine how wide the border should be? I usually decide what I will quilt in the border so I cut it big enough for the pattern.  But this quilt,  someone else will do the quilting so how to decide the width of the last border? It is my first time with a long arm quilter and I think I am overthinking this. Or am I? What if she suggests a pattern that I love more (than the one I had in mind) and the border is not wide enough?  How do you do it?

Thank you for stopping by and for taking the time to leave a comment.  I truly appreciate it.
Until next time ... smile ...   it's hump day   ;^)

Chantal

Quilt of the century

I joke with my coworkers that I will need a century to finish this quilt. I baste the hexies at home usually when I sit at the computer.

I slowly assemble the hexies into diamonds during my lunch breaks ... well during some lunch breaks LOL (sometimes, I just talk !)

Then at home, I sew them together.

The paper hexies are still attached and gives some hexies a funny colour

I was inspired by this quilt found on the Quilt Index.org.  It was made around 1875-1900 from an unknown maker who never got to finish it. Hopefully, I will finish mine.  I've started it in 2011 and every time I look at the original one I still find it GOOOORRRGEOUS!! and it still gives me the "get up and go" burst of inspiration to continue mine. It is so different from the others hexies quilt and yet it is just as striking ... well, to me anyway. She used a lot of wonderful scraps to make her rows where I use one fabric per row.

Such a long way to go still ... but it's alright because I am so addicted to these little blocks that I am already pondering my next hexy quilt. May I live a long, long, loooooonnnnng time. Amen. ;^)

Sorry for the picture on its side but it gives you an idea of how long the quilt is. There are 10 diamonds per row in the darker colour. Just like the original one. I decided to cut the lighter diamonds to 9 per row and add sections of three to make the edge more even. 


I will try to link with Kathy's slow stitching Sunday . (Can I succeed on the first try? We'll see.)
(Edited to apologize to Kathy.  It took me a long time to see that I am saying backward, sorry. ) I mean Slow Sunday Stitching. (Yes, I know, we French people say things differently LOL)



Happy slow stitching everyone.
Until next time .... Smile !  It's contagious!   ;^)

On a sunny day

TA DAH!

The In-laws' quilt blue "Blooming Star" is a flimsy. YEAH !
I think it needs more borders. I think a small blue one then a larger white one and to finish it a dark blue binder. Or maybe not?

The more I look at it the more I think they will like it.

It was such a beautiful (windy) day, I couldn't resist taking a few pictures outside.  Now I wish I had taken a closer one.  Sorry.  Next time. I promise.  

Hope you find some time to sew this weekend too.

Until next time. ... ;^) Smile ... it's free!

Chantal

Down Scrap Road

If you walk down to 2006 Scrap Road, you will see a scrappy 3D Bowtie I did for my DS1 awhile back, (in 2006).  It's called "X n O's"  because it couldn't be called Hugs and Kisses.  (Apparently, you can't say that to a teenager.  Well, at least to no boys of mine. I was told LOL. )

(I apologize for the sideway picture.  Does someone know how to rectify this? I would like to know, ty.)
It is all flannel, top, middle and back.  He was always cold back then and wanted something "very, VEEEERRRY warm".  So I did it VEEEERRRY warm ... and heavy! It's a collection of severals remnants from the boys' pajamas except for the sashing and the back which were bought. It also sports a pink block to represent Mom.

From this angle you can see that some bowties are 3D and some aren't. I hand quilted it with all kinds of fun design.

Some tools for the trucks and cars block ...

some bugs all around the spider web block and a huge spider in the middle of course...

Uncle B's sailboat and so on.   

Here's one for the cat lovers out there. It is almost 8 years old and it is already faded and has some 3D bowtie damaged but that's ok with me. It tells me how much he loves it ... still. 



Hope you've enjoy the walk down Scrap Road.

Until next time .... 

 ;^)  Smile ... someone might be looking.