April RSC Challenge

I haven't talked about my personal RSC Challenge for April because it took me a while to locate it. Haha! It's hiding since 2014! Time to do something about it. But what?

It is a BOM (Block of the Month) that Judy Laquidara at Patchwork Times did (I think it was her first BOM). I was so excited about it because it was my first BOM too. Then, something happened and Judy had to quit before the BOM was finished. So I made enough Spool blocks to assemble the blocks into a 44 X 35.5" baby quilt. 

Not the best colours for a baby quilt but it was supposed to be a much larger quilt. Anywho!! This is the quilt I have to work on in April. So, do I add borders? What colour? Or do I just call it done and quilt it? 

It has been folded for a long time. 

Meanwhile, we had a four-day weekend and some sewing time was well spent. Look at my Smile quilt! 

It stalled at this point back in February. 

And now ... 

Yellow blocks quilted! 

Blue blocks quilted! 

Sorry, Aqua but you got quilted with blue thread too and I have to say you look pretty good.  

Green blocks quilted! 

The dark green thread looks better on the dark green block which seems to be MIA. I'll redo this block whenever I get a lighter green thread. (Yeah! Right! 🙄)

Purple block ... 

got fixed! Funny how I just skipped around the black section of the last part of quilting. I'm funny that way! 😁

Rainbow block quilted! I used white thread for this one. 

And that's it!! All the coloured blocks are quilted. Isn't that wonderful? I am so happy for the progress done on this one. It feels so good to have my quilting mojo back. 

The black and white sections will sport a loose meander design. 

I also did a pillow for my lovely little black panther-cat. 

It was cat-approved right away. 

Yes, there is a cat in there, sleeping with his little snowman. 

He was purring so loud. He loves the "house" my sons did for him and now, it's a 5 Stars Penthouse! haha! 

I did some masks for my sister's boyfriend.  

Got some blues in there. Her masks are coming up shortly. I played thread chicken and I won. (see the bobbin to the right of the masks? It was close.) 

Did all the large HST for HST quilt #2. Yes, I did the dark blue too because I was on a roll. All the large HSTs for this quilt are done. I'll make the 4-Patch HST unit as leader-enders. Pictures in the next post, I promise. 

Phew! That's a lot of sewing. Wish I could have another long weekend because it was fun! 

Take care! 

;^)

Joining friends at 

So Scrappy 

Patchwork and Quilts

Quilting is More Fun than Housework

Life in a Scrapatch

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Only a Few Hours Left: OMG!

Edited to join the March OMG goal setting. But you might have seen this post before. 

The February heat wave has messed up my plans (because I only wanted to be outside and kind of forgot I was supposed to be sewing) but I did finish my OMG with only a few hours to spare. Phew!! 

The goal was to have all the missing blocks of the Westering Women BOM done. 

TA-DAaaaaahhhh!

Sorry for the shadowy indoor photo but it is already too dark for an outside photo-shoot

I wonder if you can imagine how happy I am that it is done? Such a weight off my shoulder.  :^D

The second goal was to have all the blocks for the I-Spy quilt made. 

TA-DAaaaaahhhh!

Eight star blocks and 

eight regular 9-Patch blocks. I was running low on fun fabric for this one so I inserted some flannel. I have as many fun prints in flannel as I do in cotton. It proved to be hazardous as my flannel scraps are up there. 

And everything came tumbling down when I tried to take the box down. Actually, it was kind of fun to have a shower of soft flannel scraps pouring down on me, lol. On the other hand, the box was not as nice! Now I just want to continue to play with the flannel. I should at least get this more organised but my cotton scraps take the entire room and I don't know where else to store the flannel. The bigger pieces are in bins but there's no room in those for the scraps. What's a girl to do? Sew it up! :^D


Anywho!
For my March OMG, what will I do? My intention, last January, was to make the Westering Women in February and finish the quilt in March. But after September, I really need a break from this quilt before I fall out of love. 

Never would have thought that September is a troublemaker. 

So instead, I'll assemble the I-Spy quilt and baste it. That's all. I mean, the weather is nice and I want to be outside so just a little challenge for March. 


Until next time ... breathe in, touch flannel, breathe out, repeat. 

;^)

Joining in the linky party at Elm's Street Quilts.  

The best of plans can change

My February OMG is to make all the blocks for an I-Spy quilt and to make the missing Westering Women blocks.  Although I am trying my best to stay on track, I found myself derailing this weekend.  The reason? The weather! 

It is so nice and sunny, I can't stay in the basement sewing. I am almost tempted to bring my sewing machine outside. I would have to sew with my sunglasses on because it is THAT bright out there. Unfortunately, my sunglasses only have the "far away" prescription and not the "reading" one. So I can't sew with them. Darn! 

Anywho! I did manage to finish the log cabin blocks for Cécile QAL. I will dedicate a post entirely to them later. 

While sewing the log cabin, I did finish some of the Westering Women blocks. 

July and August, which you have already seen, and  

October (on top), November and December with a snowy sky look.  As you can see September is still missing. It got me cursing! 

 As sewing in-set seams or Y seams, is not my forte, my first attempt was wonky. Then I thought it needed to have the seam allowances added to the pattern because the units were too small to finish at 12 inches. So, I thought if I have to start over, might as well do it in the English Paper Piecing style. Did one (almost) (at left) before I realized that the pattern also calls for a plain piece in between the sage buds, like the Bear Paws (November) in the last picture.  (!@$$%*@#$!!) (Sorry!)  Starting over again!! I saw a few ... okay, many Westering Women quilts finished. I saw one that had 11 blocks. Guess which block was missing?  I can sooo relate!! Anywho! Wasn't born a quitter but a kicker, so on we go! (Did my little exasperation dance but I am fine now. I can calmly carry on.)  :^D

All the while, my leader / ender was the I-Spy quilt. Did more cutting than sewing on this one. 

It is time consuming to get the fabric out, cut ONE five inches square and put the fabric back on the shelf. Start again with next fabric. Once I get to just sewing it, it will surely go pretty fast ... I hope so because February is almost over. Yikes!  

The cherry on top of all this is that I am back at work. Since it is a progressive return to work, I still have some time to sew. I'm tired and happy! But it sure feels good to be back at work.  :^D 

Okay, got to go. My sunglasses are calling me. 

Until next time ... I'll be looking up because it is brighter up there. 

;^)

Joining Beth at Love Laugh Quilt for Monday Making. 

Singing the Y-Seam Blues

Part of my OMG is to finish the blocks of Westering Women (by Barbara Brackman). Well, the ladies have a broken wheel on one of the wagons and they are singing the Y-seam Blues with me!

I was real proud of my August block Chimney Rock.

Armed with more confidence, I set to assemble September's block which is Sage bud. More Y-seams then I dare to count. But one at a time is all I can sew, right? It started pretty good actually.

The first seam with the yellow fabric was very good and the next one acceptable.

Same with this unit.

The more I added, the better it looked.

Then the fourth unit is ... to be unstitched.  It won't lay flat at all. It warps. ARGH!! So I restitched, and unstitched, and re-restitched and ... I examined the others, trying to find what I was doing differently. During the examination, I realized something.  The block is to finish at 12.5 inches so each unit has to be 6.5, right? Well, they are not! WHAT???

I took out the template (sorry but it is misbehaving today) and examined it a bit.

I copied this template as is and started to sew. It doesn't say "add seam allowances" so I didn't add ANY seam allowances. It makes no sense, the units are too small.  I went back to Barbara's blog and she does say it in the post : must add seam allowances. (paste huge sigh of discouragement here) THAT's what happen when you do a BOM block months later. You forget little important details! Angry at myself for wasting fabric, time and patience but it will past.

So if I am to start all these units over AGAIN, where I might end up making another big mess of the last y-seam, I might as well EPP it!! (EPP=English Paper Piecing)

Got some old Christmas cards some businesses sent to the office and drew the templates. Adding the seam allowances as I cut the fabrics.

This evening, I will keeping Kathy company, watching Mercy Street and Victoria on PBS while we both slow stitch, each on our own project.

To make sure my templates are the right size, I have started to assemble one.

Ooohhh! Can't wait for the supper's dishes to be done. It's going to be so much fun! Come and join us. Pick a needle and a project, and come share it with us. You can find Kathy right here. 


Until next time ... the Westering Women are getting that wheel fix real good!

;^)

Monday's Promises and Y Seams

Boy, am I proud of my work this week? YES m'am!

Sometimes we don't do much; sometimes we sew up a storm. Well, I did one better: I tackled one of my fears! (\O_ O/)

Let's see.

The Westering Women made it to June on their journey. Then they stopped in Nebraska for a very long time. Well, it's time to get them going again. This weekend, I gathered them back together with the basket of fabrics and started to cut the block for July. It was an easy block.

Courthouse Rock.

Then I cut the fabrics for the August's block; the dreaded Chimney Rock with the Y seams!!

My first plan was to cut the pattern up in order to eliminate all those Y seams but I thought if I want to learn I need to practice. Right? So ...

Armed with patience and much apprehension, I sat at my sewing machine, then I stopped.

I turned the computer on and started to google a few videos.

Needless to say I have wasted a good hour on that ... but did find what I was looking for. (along with a whole lot more not relevant to quilts!)


Now better armed with patience, less apprehension and an undeniably  great technique, I started to assemble the Chimney Rock.

Ta-da!

I truly surprised myself. No cursing, swearing, frustration and no sense of failure in any of the 12.5 inches of this block. I am so proud of myself. Best bonus; it lays flat. Flat like a pancake! In the beginning of the year, we had to make a Gumtree leaf block. (Can't remember which month, but anywho!) I made it with the usual method of sewing Y seams as it is explain in all the books I have.

My block looks like this. It is a very good effort but just an effort nonetheless.  I hope the quilting will tame these "bubbles" in the middle as it doesn't lay flat at all.
With the new (to me) method, I can even show you the back of Chimney Rock with no worries. Not going to do that with the Gumtree block. :^{

Yay! me. Will I redo the Gumtree leaf? Don't know yet.

The tutorial I found is from Kaye Wood. Her technique goes against all technique I have seen, read and hear on how to sew Y seams. If you are interested, you can see Kaye Wood's tutorial here. 
Not sure how that method works when you have rows upon rows of tumbling blocks but for this block, it worked like a charm.

Here are the two newest blocks. The Westering ladies are now in Wyoming and are closer to their goals and so am I. Only four more blocks to go to finish Westering Women BOM. The block for September is also full of Y seams, so I'll put the new technique through another test this week.

Last week, I also squared up some blocks and started to assemble the border  ...

... on the 365 Challenge.
The right border is all done and the left is slowly getting there too.

It will be nice when all the borders are attached and I can get my floor back. The borders are one foot each so it is growing big real fast. I barely have enough room to tiptoe around it. It is now spread for the picture but when you are not looking, it is folded up somewhat.

These are the things that will keep me busy this week. What about your week? Care to share with us? Join us at :

Love Laugh Quilt for Monday Making

Em's Scrapbag for Moving it Forward 

Chances are you will be inspired.




Until next time ....  y seams await their faith!

;^)

Hot Pink, Westering and group photos

If you follow my blog, you already know I love blue. Blue and orange. Not much of a pink girl. Having four men in the house is another good reason for not having a lot of pink in my stash. But I do have some.

My good friend Pink gave me the solid hot pink. (Thanks Pink!) It looked better with the other fabrics in my Peace and Plenty block than my dotted one, so I went with the solid one.

Here's my hot block ... oops! my hot pink block for July.

For participating in the Log Cabin Loonies, I have won a prize from Julie K Quilts . A lovely pair of scissors and they're pink too!!

Thanks again Julie.


Now how about a group photo? Would you like that?

Peace and Plenty  - 6 blocks done

I didn't do a brown block as I couldn't find one that played nice with the brights. I'll see at the end of the year if I need one or not. I love how it looks so far. 

On another front, the West front, haha! I am wagoner woman heading West with Barbara Brackman. 

The latest block is Hill and Hollow. 

I've added a little blue in this one as there was none in the previous blocks. A sweet friend of mine, told me that she was surprised, since I love blue so much, that I hadn't used blue yet. So I did, some "bleu de Provence", (or so I think it is) to represent the fresh water the travellers finally found on the very rough terrain. (While I sew, I listen to an audio book; Les enfants de la Patrie. It's about the WWI in France. Very good, but also so sad. )

I also added a little bit of cheddar. In the fabric selections made by Barbara, there is no cheddar in any of the many different selections she showed on her blog. I am surprised. I guess cheddar came later. Too bad I didn't notice that before making the block. Too late now, cheddar stays.


So this is all I have to show for now. I'll get back to the sewing machine, so many blocks to do, so much fun to have. But first, I have to visit Angela's place at So Scrappy for RSC2016 with a cup of coffee. Hope to see you there.

On Tuesday, I'll join Nicki at Mrs Sew & Sow for another Scraptastic Tuesday!


May you find some time to sew too.


Until next time...


;^)

Brown Peace and Plenty of Brown - RSC, Going West and Reuse

What?  Brown Peace?  you ask.

I tried really, reeeaaalllllllly hard to find some decent brown for "Peace and Plenty" block. The problem is (or should I say problems are?) the background fabrics.

I auditioned ...

homespun that friend Pink gave me ...  No!

coffee cups ...

No!

I love dots ...

 Not !
How about sometime like ...

What? It's even not from the same century! No, no, no, no! It has to be fun or lively or just a solid brown. 

But I don't have a solid brown!! How about ...

Paw prints? That is a fun one.

Nope. 


(Siiiiggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!) Ok I give up.

I am leaving!!




I am leaving ...




for the West!    :^D  ...

with Barbara Brackman in a quilt-along called "Westering Women". The first block proposed by Barbara is "Indenpendence Square". These are the fabrics I have picked for this block.

I swear I had those picked before Angela showed Vicky's beautiful hand-died fabrics on her blog. Life is funny sometime. (It looks like Napolitan Ice Cream to me, lol.)

Anywho! Here's my block.

Now I have to wait an ENTIRE month before I can work on that quilt. Sigh again!

So, to keep my sewing machine well fed, I worked on this.

a basket!! :^D

And a zippered pouch! :^D

all in brown! (with a touch of purple as I had none with pink in it.)

The zipper for the pouch came from an old bag I had. The zipper went around three sides and had lost a "hook" (is that what its called in English?) and kept coming undone. So I took the bag apart and shorten the zipper with the dress fabric. (Sorry, forgot to take pictures as I was sewing it.)

I think the corners turned out not too bad for a first try. I am happy with this one. I used up some older fabric inside and outside for the pouch. Yeah! It will hold the crayons I use to mark quilts as the other bag is not up for that job anymore lol.

Here's the bag that got its zipper removed. Didn't take a picture of the before but the above picture gives you an idea of what it looked like in the beginning. I sew a bias tape all around so it can still be used.

Only the lid will be thrown out. I like that.   :^D

Group photo!So this was my week in the sewing room.

Okay, your turn now.



                               

Linking up with Angela for Rainbow Scrap Challenge with more brown inspiration and plenty of Ohs and Ahs!








Until next time ...

;^)