Sunday 28 September 2014

Slow Sunday Stitching


It is such a gorgeous day here, I almost feel too lazy to stitch!  :^)

"Where I come from" (a.k.a. Crumb quilt) is all done!! Except for the label which I will do today.



Stitched in the ditch on the quilt and some cross hatching on the last border. The blue border is not quilted.

Now it's time to choose a label.  How about this one?

This one ?

Some thing more masculine maybe, made of old shirts ?  I see that I need to flip a petal or two to make this flower look better.
I might do some embroidery on it because I like the last one I did that way.

I am joining Kathy and her friends for Slow Sunday Stitching.  Also joining Angie and the Hexie Weekend people. 

Enjoy!! ;^)

Wednesday 24 September 2014

Still catching up


Some of you might remember these blocks for this past summer, (did I just say the summer is past? Nooooo!!)




 These blocks were started with the encouragement of Judy from Patchwork Times.  It was the Scrap Challenge of 2014. It was cancelled back in May and I decided to continue the fun.



I did a Prairie Queen block to add some orange and green.  I also did this summer, two spool blocks more than shown in the pictures . 

And then they were put away because the inspiration and the fun had fizzed out. Well, this week end, I decided to get it done NOW!


All that was missing were three 9-patch blocks. That's it!! I chose some blocks and out came the scraps and I sat down at the sewing machine and look, it is done!! 


It was challenging to take pictures on Monday as it was very windy. 


I am pretty happy with how it turned out. It is just a lap size quilt. I know it is asking for a border, but the thing is I don't know which colour it wants.  As I am looking at the downloaded pictures, I think a beige and a green border would look good. Maybe?  Too much?  I know red would look good but I would like to keep it neutral.  My intention is to give this one to a charity and if it is giving to someone in a wheelchair, I would like a man to be as happy about it as a woman would be. You know I mean? Maybe just beige border and a darker binding? Oh the possibilities!!! 


Since I have other projects to work on, I will put this one on the back burner for the moment.  We'll see what it has to say for itself in a little while.  

Until next time .... SM;^)LE ... it's always possible. 



Monday 22 September 2014

Catch Up

We had another showing of the house for sale this Sunday.  So after the visits, I was able to catch up on a few things like Marcus Designer Sew Along.


The dark corners on this one do nothing to me so I made another one.

Oh yes! Much better wouldn't you say? Oops I switch the direction of the corners. Not paying much attention am I?

I took pictures of the blocks really quick between two showers. As you can see in the pictures, the deck is barely dry. It has been a very wet weekend. Anyway, on with the blocks.
Next is the block from week number 7.


Not much of a cheddar colour but the other fabrics I have kept stealing the show so I went with this one.
Then I did the block from last week which is week number 8.


Oh isn't it cute? I love this block.  For those of you who follow the Sew Along and those of you who have seen this block everywhere in blogland, did you notice something? Was Rebel playing in my sewing room again? No! It was pure lack of attention (again?). I sew it all up, looked at it and I was happy with my work. Then, while I was pressing it something was nagging me. I fired up the computer back on again and went back to the post from Homestead Hearth blog to see what was wrong. Oops. I was so sure I had it all memorized. Since I am not one to undo something when it is more fun to redo the same thing ...

sorry for the fuzzy picture
I made another one lol. Okay so out of the 8 blocks, I had to redo 3 of them. Not a very good score!  I seem to have some problems with the "picking the right fabric" part. I think I need more practice. Sew on I will continue.  ;^)   I don't think this one will end up as a mug rug. I think it will become the center block for ... something! I haven't thought it through yet .... but like, something with borders ... and ... well, yes, still pondering.
Anyway, I am all caught up on the Marcus Designer blocks and the laundry, and the mending and ... NOT at all on the hand sewing part. Poor little me, I have a big bunch of hand sewing to do tonight while I watch something on TV. LOL. I had so much fun and hope I can do this again tonight.  Hope you find some time to have fun too.

Until next time  ...   SM;^)LE  ...  it doesn't use up all of your attention.



Friday 19 September 2014

In the News Tonight


HEAR!  HEAR!  Read all about it!!

In the News tonight, Angie from A Quilting Reader's Garden blog has reached 1000 posts!!  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, a 1000 posts!  To celebrate this milestone,  she is having a giveaway on her 1001 posts!!  You will NEVER guess what the prize is.  And I am not about to tell you want it is. For those of you who want to know what it is, please take a few seconds and hop over to her blog to have a look.  It is a VERY generous prize!! But hurry, it is a limited time offer! Now back to our regular broadcasting.


This is what I manage to do in the entire week :


One flower! Not even a diamond. Just a flower! Yes, I know : petty!  I was too busy at lunch break taking care of errands to sew. So because I have nothing interesting to show you and since you are already here at my blog, I thought maybe I could show you the very first quilt I have ever made?  Would you like that?

It was back in 2003, oh my! how does the time flies!! Wish I had a scanner to scan the original pictures because these quilts are so used.


I had to play with the brightness to get the colours this nice. It was made with my old kitchen curtains, the remnants from the boys shirts I had made and some old used men shirts. I was volunteering at the Needy Box back then and any shirts that was too used to be passed along came home with me. After this quilt, I was hooked and started to buy good cotton fabric.


All the pinwheels are paired with a stripped fabric in matching colour.

First time hand quilting and I picked a contrasting colour for the big pinwheel in the middle. How bold of me lol. The backing is a print depicting the three little pigs story. It used to be 44 X 37. Perfect size for small little boys.

It had many many spins in the washing machine. The boys just brought it everywhere. It surprises me how it still holds together unlike this one.


This one was made by my biological mother many years before I made my first quilt. She gave it to me before I got married. I guess she was hoping for grand daughters lol.  In her defense I will say that the backing is a blue flannel fabric showing little boys playing hockey.

Again, I've played with the colours in order to have it so nice because it is very pale nowadays. It used to be so red.
The white fabric is falling apart as you can see in this picture. She hand quilted too.
Now these two quilts are treasured. No more playing in the sand box with them or trucking them everywhere, at every picnics, camping grounds and whatnot. They are stored away and when I do bring them out the boys remember pleasant times.


Until next time ... ssssSMiILE ... it's priceless!!

;^)

Saturday 13 September 2014

Do you label a table runner?

Hellooooo!

Yes, I'm still here and I still sew ... kind of. I had an episode with some intense back/shoulder pain which kept me away, for the better part of the week, from my sewing room.  I did sew, (a few minutes at a time than on bed rest for the rest of the day) but had nothing worth showing ... until now.

First, I did the Marcus Designer Sew Along from last week.

This is NOT a block I would have tried on my own. So I am glad someone asked me to push my comfort zone up a notch and give it a try.  I am happy with the result but not happy enough to add it to the quilt. This one too will become a mug rug.   :^)
I am not in love with the blue and green 4 patch even though it does look good when looking at the fabric side by side, it is a different story when sewn into a 4 patch. I find it makes the corners too dark. Second, if you look at the bottom leg of the plus, it is not aligned. Don't like that. BUT I am happy with the exterior points of the PLUS.  Yes, I definitively have to redo this one; lighter green or lighter blue?

Because bending over my sewing machine or my quilting frame was torture, I sat in front of Pinterest and Blogland instead. Bad move. So much inspiration!! And fall is slowly coming, and orange is everywhere, and I ♥♥love orange♥♥, and ... well... I couldn't resist starting something new! I've never done a table runner before and Nicky had a sweet TRELLIS on her blog.  I was in love. So since July, I've been waiting for the right time to make this table runner. Sometime last week, I decided it was the right time ... of the year for a fall table runner.   ;^)


Chose some fall fabrics. Okay that's easy. Chose a colour for the "trellis".
Okay, that looks good.


... maybe not with all the fabrics I have picked.  Not in love with the bottom blocks but they'll have to do.


This morning, I am up since 6:00 am, I finished assembling it.  All done. It is sitting on a chair on a VERY windy Saturday morning.

Now, I have three, yes THREE projects to machine quilt.  The fall table runner, of course.

The "Speck of Colours" quilt and ...

have to finish "Where I come from" scrap quilt.  Only the borders need quilting. The middle was done a month or so ago and  I should have finished it before removing the walking foot from the sewing machine.  That was a bad decision on my part. Oh well, it will be done soon.  No more new projects Chantal, you hear?  Yes, yes!
Let's get back to the table runner please. I do have the fabric for the backing and the thin batting but should I make a label?

I will try to take a  better picture of it on a sunny day

Until next time... ssssSMiLE ... 

not every day is good but there is good in every day! 



Friday 5 September 2014

Friday Flimsy

It is Friday. Yeah!

And I have a flimsy. Double Yeah!


This is ...  was an on-again, off-again leader/ender project that I was able to finish this afternoon.


It turned out better than I expected. This evening I might piece a backing and maybe even sandwich it.


I will change the foot on the sewing machine and will stitch in the ditch again this weekend.

But first, I have to go to Nancy Ring Design and check out the new Marcus Sew along block. That's a triple Yeah!

Until next time ... sssSMiLE ... for all to enjoy.


Monday 1 September 2014

Monday's Options

I have none! I still have to do some mending. Yuck!! (paste big sigh here)    :-6   Can you see my tongue sticking out at the pile of jeans waiting to be mended ?

Anyway, I did find some time to have some fun.  I did the Apricot Chutney (smells good all over the place) and finished the label for Antique Inspiration.
 So that one is back on the wall. Checked.

And also the Marcus Designer Sew Along is done too. Here is block 4 which I haven't posted yet.


And here is block 5


Oh look! Rebel came to play in my sewing room again. :D  The designer (I believe it is Gloria Parsons from Olde Green Cupboard) planned this block to be made using light/background, black, cheddar and green fabric only.  Oops! I guess I didn't read it right.  But I so love it. Oh I'm gonna do this block again for sure. For a mug rug? Maybe bigger for a placemat? I don't know but I will do it again. Too much fun and it is so cute.


Maybe the background of block 5 is a little too light ? We'll see when the others surround it how it will look then.
So this is it for this Monday, like I've said I have no option. I HAVE to go back to mending (a.k.a. punishment) and cleaning.  I'm half way done with one pair of jean so I think I deserve another piece of chocolate cake. Yea that seems fair!   :D

Until next time ... sssSMiLE ... because it IS pleasant !!