Last call for the Blues

For the viewers visiting my blog via Grow Your Blog 2015, you might want to read this post. Be sure to say "Hi" in order to participate in the giveaway. 





For the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2015, blue fabric was called for the month of January. So this morning, I worked on my Blue blocks as this my last chance to finish them up.

Seven blue blocks were made this month.  I am very happy with that. Love the secondary diamond this pattern makes.

February's colour is Pink!   I don't have pink in my scrap bins so I pulled some out of the stash.

Well the stash is not overflowing with Pink either! Four of these are in. The two on the right hand side are pending. Pending I find something better.

I also have to prepare the fabric for the next row on my hexi quilt so I pulled these out. Plenty of ironing to do today.

Hope you have fun in your sewing paradise too.

Until next time ...  enjoy!

;^)

Grow Your Blog

N.B. The give away in this post is now closed. 

Thanks to all that have participated. 

Hello everyone,



Welcome to my humble little blog. I am so excited to participate in the "Grow Your Blog" hosted by Vicki from Two Bags Full. Thank you so much Vicki.


My name is Chantal.  I am a French Canadian girl, married and mother of three. I work full time for the government, in the Ministry of Education.  I started to blog almost a year ago and, like most blogger, I had to reading many, many wonderful blogs before diving in. No regrets yet :)

I have been painting and crafting all my life. Out of necessity, I learned how to sew to make clothes for my boys. What to do with the remnants? Quilts! My mother, grandmother, and foster mother (an excellent seamstress) and foster grandmother were all quilters. When all these talented women were alive, I was a teenager and believe it or not, was not interested in learning. Boy, do I regret that arrogance of mine. So, I learned on my own.

My style is piecing and some hand sewing. I love traditional pattern but admire modern too. After ten years in quilt making, I still call myself a debutante. I don't push myself too much but now that I have a support group via this blog, things might change in 2015. I am slowly learning about Civil War quilts and fabric and I foresee some of those in a very near future.

Here's a sample of the quilts I have made.

I love 9 patch block in all its variations. 

This is an on going project made with 1 1/4 inch hexagons. I call it the Quilt of the Century because I think it will take me that long to finish it lol. 

Blooming Stars finished in 2014.

Inspired by an antique quilt spotted in a blog.

This is where I hand quilt the tops I make.

This is what I am working on presently and what I am sewing with. A new (to me) Singer Model 237 from the 50's. I also have a Janome 423S that I use, almost, daily.

These are the ones I would like to work with :)  They need a little bit of repair and a good cleaning before I can take them for a "ride".

 

I hope you have enjoy this little post and that you will be back often. As a little token of my appreciation for your visit, I will have my very first giveaway. YEAH!!  In order to win a fat quarter, all you have to do is to leave me a comment.  I will announce the winner on February 15th.

Until next time .... ssssSSMiLE .... it looks good on you!

and good luck to everyone.

;^)

A small project but what a difference

I would like to share with you my newest, most favorite tool in my sewing room (after the sewing machine that is).  

TA-DA!  

What is it, you ask? It's a rocking footstool. What for? you ask. Because this little humble thing eliminates leg cramps in the middle of the night. Yes!! I sleep sooooooo well now. I haven't had restless legs in a week. I vaguely remember one grandmother or the other or maybe a great grandmother had one of those and I suddenly decided I wanted one. Here's what I did. 

Some wooden boards (I used parts of an old drawer), some foam, a stapler for wood and some fabric to cover it up all nice and pretty. That's all.  I made the circle with the help of a plate, and of course, DH is behind this too. It wouldn't look that sturdy if I had made it ALL by myself lol. My stool is 6" high X 20" wide X 9" deep but you can make it any size you wish.

(Standing on end because it's hard to take a picture when its on the floor.)
Whenever I am sitting down with some hand sewing project, my feet rock the nasty leg pains away. The movement improve blood circulation in the legs and the result is a peaceful night.  It is so wonderful, I just had to share with you all.

I'll be back later or tomorrow with something quilty, promise.

Until then ...  ;^)

Enjoy!

DWM Just a little bit

I did a lot of work and yet I don't have a lot to show as most of the work I've done is not quilting related. If you don't mind, I will share the little bit I did in the sewing room.

Two more nameless blocks that adorn my design wall.

Cut the fabric for about four more. Hopefully, I'll get the chance to sew them this week.

Hélène and I are better friends now. Hélène has a "knee pedal" and I am slowly learning how to "drive". LOL. In the picture is a new small project. Hopefully, I'll be able to show this one next Monday too.

A complete stranger but wonder person, sent me, via email, the manual for this particular Singer. She also sent me websites' addresses so I can learn everything there is to know about ALL my Singer machines. YEAH!!  She doesn't have a blog but I am so happy she read mine and took pity on me. :) Thank you so much Sandy.

I redid ten more 9 Patch and sew them into Double 9 Patch. 

AND ... Ellen from Little Jewel Quilts had a very generous giveaway about a month ago and I won this beautiful batik bundle. Isn't it GOOOORRRRGEOUS? !! ♫♪Happy dance♪♪♫. I don't know where I will use it ... it intimidates me. I am happy to just fondle it for now. :) Thank you again Ellen. ♥♥♥

That's it. Like I said, not much to show, just a little bit. I am joining Judy from Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday.

Hope all is well in your corner of the world and that you are sewing more often than I.

Enjoy!  ;^)

P.S. I noticed that a lot of blogs have a "I'm not a robot" check. You don't have to play along to most of them. Write a comment and click publish. Completely ignore the robot thing. Works 99% of the time. Just thought I should share. So have a great day and post comments :)

DWM What am I up to ?

This is the first time, in 2015, that I post about my Design Wall.
Not a big change since 2014.

This is then 

This is now!!

Yes, just one more block made :(  I need to get some green into this picture.

The little doll quilt Cascadia has been removed because it is completed. Not done, not quilted just completed as in flimsy state. It has been replaced by these

9 Patch Galore! I realized that the 1/4 inch inseam was not quite 1/4 everywhere. :((((   So I have to "redo" some all. I have 247  9-Patch done.  Those that are rebuilt are sewn up into Double 9 Patch blocks. Yes, only 15 made so far. That is the slowest progress I've ever seen but it is getting done.

I can find all kind of excuses for my slow progress or I can say the truth:  I was just not into this during the Holidays! I am getting acquainted with Hélène (the French version with all the accents). She lives here since May 2014 but needed some repairs.

I got her back in the middle of December and sat with her a few times. We didn't speak the same French at first but I am learning. She loves to go fast!Boy can she go fast!  I believe I have found where Ferrari got the inspiration for his motors lol. She eats up the fabric like there is no tomorrow. One thing I still don't know about her is how to wind a bobbin. I take the Singer's bobbin to my Janome to wind it. Funny girl I am. :)

She is a Singer Fashion Mate model 237 from the 50's. I got her at a moving /estate sale and named her Hélène after her previous owner who happens to be (what a small world) the other grandmother to my husband's nephew. (Am I making sense?) Anyway, Hélène got the job to rebuilt the crooked 9 Patch.

So this is what the Design Wall looks like at my place. If you want, follow this link to Patchwork Times and you'll see more places with beautiful projects pinned to their Design Wall.  Thanks for stopping by.


Until next time   ...   ;^)

Scrappy Saturday

I have made this quilt a long time ago. I call it Pinwheels Square Dancing. I've got the inspiration from a picture in a magazine.

Although, it almost made it to the quilting frame a few times, this twin size quilt hasn't been quilted yet. Now I am glad I didn't quilt it because it's made with my mother's bad white fabric and it is starting to show the problem. It has two tiny little holes even though it is stored.

I thought to undo it and remake it with another background because I really like this quilt. It is made entirely of solids that I don't have anymore.  Yes, I really like this quilt ... so I will remake it  ...


... like this ...

This year I am joining Angela in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and this is the block I'll do.  Since the blocks are a lot smaller this time around, I'll need to make a whole lot more and that 's perfect because I have an entire year to built them. :^)  My measurements for the bigger HST is still wrong. It needs to be trimmed down a notch.

As for the original one ...

Love these colours

I might repair the holes and finish it as a picnic quilt. It will give me a chance to practice my machine quilting!! :D  Then again ...

Back in 2007, I didn't know about cutting off the ears. Oh what a mess the backside is!

I might undo it all and start over again. Yes, I do plan to live to be 150 years old lol.

Hope you find some time to play the blues too and join us at So Scrappy.

 Until next time ...   ;^)

Scrappy Sunday

Whaaat? 

The funny thing about the Holiday Season is I always get so messed up in my days!! I worked during the Holidays and yet I still get so confused. My family thinks I am so funny. I guess I am a routine person. I need to work 5 days a week not two and a half lol. 

Anywho! I didn't accomplished much ... uhh, let me say that again.  I didn't accomplished as much as I would have liked to (yes, that's closer to the truth!!) Every time I have days off, out come the list of things to do. Why can I not just sit and relax? I know, I know I am ADHHHHHD.  :-D 
I did a lot of cooking, baking, some sewing, some reading, baking, cooking, a lot of bird watching and feeding, (like this...

that's me by the way. I've been " training" them since the summer.  Today, we're having a snow/ice storm/shower (?). Anywho, it looks like this. )

and had a lot of playing time with the boys, the computer and worked with sand paper ... again! What I wanted to do most during the holidays was to stain the wood works in the kitchen. So I did. And it doesn't look good. So I stopped. I am now facing plan B which is more time consuming and demanding of a plan. Darn!! Why things don't go as planned? It looked so nice in my head! Oh well, no time for that, just go to the next step. Out came the sand papers and I now have to repaint the entire kitchen cabinets. Ugh! but not today. 

Today is sewing time again!! I will be working on Take 21. That's another project that didn't get as far along as I was hoping it would but still, block 4 of row 6 is done. 

Yesterday, my friend came over with her daughter and we had a lovely time together. We played with fabric!! She's making her very first quilt on her own. Long ago, she used to "help" her mother make quilts. When she was only 23 years old, her mother passed away. Now, my friend is rediscovering this art and wants to re-learn. So, she brought her fabric over and we played with the layouts. She also brought me a bag of scraps.  !!! Oh! my sweet friend! the goodies! Look at the trail it left on my floor. 

This picture was taken after only two bags were open. I still have 5 more to enjoy!! 

In the biggest bag was plaids! The strips on the right are sewn together already as are the four patches on the left of the picture.  There's 12 blocks of four patch and a lot of alternate blocks cut. There's two more bags of the plaids to be open. Maybe I have enough for a small lap quilt? You will definitively see more of these plaids in 2015.  More scraps ...

Even some Halloween fabric!! My first! 

I have a turkey in the oven to make some more chicken pot pies, (again) okay turkey pot pies lol. We still have one more party to attend next Saturday and we are bringing ... yes, pot pies for 60 people! 

But today, I will "train" myself to sit and relax, and dream of scrappy quilts while slow stitching block 5. What about you?  What's in your plan! 

I am linking with Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching! 

Until next time ...  ;^)

2015

Taking a little moment to wish to all my readers, followers and visitors

May it be filled with pleasant surprises, joy and health. May your loved ones be near and your troubles be far. 

Until next time....   ssssSMiLE !! 

;^)