The Last of 2023

It was partly a good year. My boys really did well this year and I'm grateful and happy for that. I, on the other hand, was not as successful but I'll bounce back. (Never thought it would take so long to bounce back, but I will. I still have some springs in those old legs of mine, haha.)

So many unfinished projects, and so many more planned for the new year. 

2023 

It started so beautifully, full of pretty blocks, new adventures, and a mindset to accomplish it all. 

Twinkling Star (Galaxy), Paper Chain, Idaho Square Dance, Friend's Favourite and Irish Star were to be the projects for 2023; along with Buckey Beauty, Chaser, Star Blooms and Scrap Jar Star which were started the previous year. 

Twinkling Star (Galaxy) - because of a cutting mistake, the points are lost and I just abandoned that one ... for now. 

Paper Chain - it is now a top. It is a donation to the Quilts for Survivors. (50" X 67")

Idaho Square Dance - sadly was abandoned. Turned into a UFO. 

Friends' Favourite - added on a whim, from a friend in Australia. (Thanks, Fiona, for the inspiration) Will continue in 2024. (It was more fun playing with this one than Idaho Square Dance, hehe)

Irish Chain Star - it is now a top. 

Baby Quilt - started in September on a whim. Donation. Waiting quilting. (36" square)

I managed to sew 50 9-patch blocks from Jan to Sept which is not much compared to last year's 97. 

I've also worked on roll-over projects from 2022 like : 

Jericho Wall was assembled at the beginning of the year. 

Scrap Jar Star - worked on the remaining blocks and assembled that one too. 

Made from Scratch - (a.k.a. Crumb block quilt) (a.k.a. Chaser) - worked on the remaining blocks and assembled that one too. 

Jacob's Summer - (a.k.a. Jacob's Ladder) was quilted and finished. 

Star Bloom - worked on a few more blocks but was then neglected.

Buckey Beauty - worked on a few more blocks - need more blocks 

 

Twice, I've participated in the Joyful Quilter challenge "Table Scrap Challenge". Hopefully, I'll be able to participate more often next year. Thanks, Joy, for doing this again. She is changing the challenge yet again this new year because she can, lol. Come see what all the fun is about right here. 

Challenge A & G - Araignée géante (Giant Spider)(16"square)  
The only kind of spider I can tolerate is one made of fabric! 

Challenge O & X (16"square)

And last but not least, Parsonsfield. A little sew-along hosted by Lori that I just couldn't skip. Thanks, Lori for organizing this fun SAL. 

A brown scrap basket was made during this year also. I haven't reached the end of that rainbow yet. 

In October, I started hand-quilting Ohio Star Shadow. I was hoping to have half of it quilted by the end of the year, but sickness stole many days away from me. 

46 more blocks to go 

And I believe that's all. Phew! That was long. I think I'll keep the 2024 projects for another post because I now need to hop back into bed for a little refresher nap. 

Thank you, everyone, for your good wishes regarding this flu I caught. 

Let me finish by wishing you all, the best for 2024. Take care, my friends. 

;^)

Joining these talented ladies:

 

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts 

Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching

Cynthia for Oh Scrap! 

Alycia for Finished or NOT Finished Friday

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Wendy for Peacock Party

So This is Christmas ...

I hope it was a good one and you have good stories to tell. For me, not so much. On the 19th of December, DS2 got the intestinal flu, and two days later DS3 caught it (he's home for the week, what a week he had poor thing!), then DS1 caught it too. I walked around the house with a can of Lysol spray and wipes, trying desperately to keep the germs at a minimum. When DH started to show symptoms, I knew it didn't look good for me. We cancelled all outings. 

In preparation for the Holidays, I had cooked and baked so I could just enjoy the boys and sewing. Now, I'm stuck indoors with sick people still coughing their lungs out and none of them can eat anything but chicken noodle soup. Thank goodness for the freezer. 

Before the awful 19th of December, I did finish a top! 

Paper Chain quilt inspired by Cathy at Sane, Crazy, Crumby Quilting. 

This quilt is heading to Quilts for Survivors in 2024. They asked for quilts of 48 X 64 and this one measures 50 X 67. I hope they accept it anyway. I'm planning to make another one to give to them, not like this but with 2" squares again. 

My friend Anne is moving (downsizing) so she gave me lots of fabric, once again. She asked me if I wanted her serger machine. Euh! Yeaaah! 

She still had the instruction book and everything else. I've never worked with a serger so that will be a new adventure. 

♫ ♪ ♪ On the second day of Christmas ... ♫ ♪ the weatherman gave me ... a snow friend!

He was quite a charmer too, wanting hugs, winking, and all. 

But then, my husband showed up and ... well ... 

my snow friend took off! ⛄ Bye, bye! 

I will do a recap of 2023 along with a list of (hopeful) projects for 2024. The first item on that list is a job! 

May all be well and bright at your place. May Health and Joy be your guardians in the new year! 

Take care all. 

Picture taken on Christmas day. Yep, sometimes we don't have snow. 

News Flash: I'm sick too! 😩😷

Take care. ;^)

Sew, Sew, Quilt

On most mornings, you can find me at my computer, looking for a job. After that, I quilt, cook, eat, bake, clean house, sew, eat, clean, sew, sleep and repeat. Thank goodness for sewing otherwise my life would be sooooo boring. 

Anywho! Here's what I got. Lori's (Humble Quilts) mini quilt sew-along. 

It is hard to photograph such a light-coloured quilt. We had a faint sun this morning but it still managed to wash out the photo. 

I took another picture when the sun was hidden by clouds. You can see the prints better. The quilt's real colour is actually somewhere in between these two photos. 

I'm looking for a little piece of reproduction fabric for the back and I will hand quilt this one. Then it will go on my wall of fame. 

Sew some more Paper Chain blocks (sorry, no photos). 

Quilted more Ohio Star blocks.

The centre of the quilt is the 9-patch with the 3 red blocks. I'm working on the dark green one on the right. I quilt a quarter inch (more or less) from the seam on all the background fabric and the centre block. I quilt it during the day because it is hard to see what I do at night as I use a navy thread in the dark blocks. 

My diagram might help you see where I'm at. 

Yep, that's right, only 63 more to do. 

♪♫♪♪ On the first day of Christmas ... ♫♪ my design wall gave to me ... 

(I set it on the floor to take a picture.) It's a quilt I saw in the Connecting Threads catalogue and couldn't help but make one block (lest I forget). I won't make a new block every day but I intend to treat myself to something every day. How about you?  

That's all for now. Have a lovely weekend. 

;^)

Joining these talented ladies 

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts 

Cynthia for Oh Scrap! 

Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching

Alycia for Finished or NOT Finished Friday

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Wendy for Peacock Party

Scrap Basket and Mending Quilts

It took a long time but I got the mending done! Whoop Whoop!

Some of you might remember my Kitchen Party quilt. My son (the third one of the name) had it on his bed. During a visit to his place, I noticed how used the quilt was. 

The yellow fabric must have been of poor quality because it is the only one that disintegrated. Sigh! Some emergency repairs were needed. 

I made a block using some lemon prints because the first block was obliviously made with a "lemon" fabric. It was hard to hand-stitch the block on top of the old one and sew through all those fabrics where all the triangle points meet. 

I have just noticed that the new broken dish block doesn't face the same way the others do. Oh well! All I need to do now is to quilt the repairs. DS will be happy to have his quilt back. 

On to the next quilt. 

This quilt is on my bed. DH's corner of the quilt has been abused by his beard. Time for repairs, I just can't procrastinate any longer. 

I was lucky that the fabric from the curtains was big enough to cover both sections. (Sometimes the quilt is placed upside down on the bed, so both ends need repairs.) The bonus about this: the quilt now matches the curtains. It is a quilt bought at Sears about 15 years ago. One day, I'll stop making quilts for others and have one of my own on my bed. Some day! 

I played with bits and bobs sewing them up to make yardages. 

Here's my finished brown scrap bag. 

Side A with cats and a lone wolf. 

Side B with deer by the stone wall. It is lined with a soft brown-lined ivory sparkled with pink roses. 

I had three ziplock bags of brown scraps so I made a big scrap basket, so much so that it isn't half full. On the left side, you can see the bottom. The tiny little bits are in a plastic bag. I like to keep them separate from the bigger pieces. It is easier to locate them when I make crumb blocks. 

I'll be joining Joy for her Table Scrap Challenge. Although I haven't used any letters (it's an option, right?) I did use lots of table scrap. Winner!

After all was said and done, I found these parts that equal almost half of a basket. No wonder it took me such a long time to sew this one. Ha! Oh, well, I now have parts for a brown crumb quilt. 

Bonnie K. Hunter started her annual Mystery Quilt this morning. In an attempt to resist starting something new, I occupied my mind with Lori's (humble Quilts)  QAL Parsonsfield. I know, I know, it is still starting something new but this one is small and it's so cute. It won't take long to do. I want to have a few finishes before embarking on a big project, you know what I mean. So here's where I'm at. 

The centre is made. 

I thought the red roses would look nice beside the centre's navy blue flowers but after seeing the photos, I'm not so sure anymore. Another "Oh well!" Too bad. 

My leader-ender is Paper Chain Block. 

And that's it from me. 

Have a great weekend, everyone. 

;^)

P.S.

I found this site and thought you might like seeing it too. Cindy Needham makes hexagons out of old laces and handkerchiefs. Gorgeous and inspiring! Enjoy.

Joining these talented ladies 

Joy for Table Scrap Challenge 

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts 

Cynthia for Oh Scrap! 

Alycia for Finished or NOT Finished Friday

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Wendy for Peacock Party

I Woke Up and It Was Winter

Like many of you, we got some snow for Halloween.

Well, it's better than looking at a sepia-tone landscape. 

It didn't last, but I still had to make a flaky friend. 

It wasn't easy as the snow was very wet. My new friend 2023, lol. 

Anywho! 

Sewing a little here and there moves things along.

Irish Chain Star is a top. Yay! 

All borders are attached. 

Lorraine asked where to find this pattern. (Lorraine, you are a no-reply comment. I hope you visit my blog often enough to get this information. Enjoy!) I found the pattern on the Wedding Dress Blue blog. 

https://weddingdressblue.wordpress.com/irish-star-quiltalong/

While finishing Irish Star, my leader-ender project was to sew little bits of brown to make "yardage". I'm not close to a finished scrap basket, but it is a start. 

 

I got a few stitches in Ohio Star Shadow.

The two light blue blocks are done, meaning the centre is all quilted. I am now working on the split Ohio Star in brown. Only 72 blocks to go. 

Raven feels the cold coming. He is growing himself a winter coat. 

I have a hard time taking nice pictures of him because he always comes to me when he sees me. 

"Hey, Mom! Since you are not busy, how about petting me? Com'on! Just half an hour massage would be nice." 😽

That's all for now. I have lots of mending to do next week. (Yuck!) I'll be happy when it is all done. 

Whatever you do, enjoy it! ;^)

Joining my group of talented ladies:

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts 

Cynthia for Oh Scrap! 

Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching

Alycia for Finished or NOT Finished Friday

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Wendy for Peacock Party