Bye Bye 2019

It hasn't been an easy year for me and my family. The health issues, hubby losing his job, the continuous moving from one place to another at work, the news of being transfer to another centre, a sick child at home, the new staff to train, yep, it was a rough. But of course there's always the flip side where things shine bright like ...

 ... the day I made Port-a-cath pillows with the lovely ladies at the Artisanat Club.

... my first I Spy quilt got finished. My only finish of the year. 

... Les paniers de Cécile got to the flimsy stage. It's was a sew-along from 2018.

2019 also saw me working on a Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt and getting it all together this time, lol. It was first "done" in May. Unsatisfied with the quality of my piecing, I decided to take it apart in August.

By mid-September it was back together. It is not exactly finished since I am working on the borders ... still.

Anywho ...

... sensory blankets were also made in 2019 by the Artisanat group. We had a lot of fun again. A very beautiful group of ladies that I am very lucky and so happy to be part of.

And of course, in 2019, there was the Blues.

There was a lot of blues. Every other week or so, the blues were there. I posted about the 365 Challenge quilt 32 times in 2019 which is GARGANTUAN when you think I wrote only 38 posts this year. (No wonder you are tired of seeing the blues, sorry!)


So ... care to see some more? ...



Hmmm?



😁




It's starts with a Starry Path

32 pieces. Sorry but all I can see are broken dishes units.  No stars.



Mrs Lloyd's Favourite on December 23 is also my favourite.

It has 37 pieces. RSC2020 contender? Yes! (oh! Look at that! I have one corner turned the wrong way. Oh the sneaky one, lol.)

Dec 24 - Bethlehem Star - 41 pieces

and then the Star of Bethlelem on Dec 25 - 57 pieces

which is also known as Swoon. I so wanted to make a Swoon quilt when they were the trend on the web. Now I do have a little Swoon. Yay!

Good Cheer on December 26 with 53 pieces.

A.K.A. Eggnog Overdose (but just for me. Ha!)


Lightning in the Hill - 57 pieces

December 28 was Jacob's Ladder - 54 pieces

Oh! talking of ladders. Have I told you that during my holidays, we decided to finish painting the house? I started this project in July 2019 and got the entrance done. Now it was time for the hallway, staircase to the basement and the living room to get a new color. Bye bye burnt orange living room. Hello Sand!

So much fun! Hilarious! (not!) Between the paint and the sewing, I had to go to work too.


The evening found me at the sewing machine to finish Dec 29, Range's Pride with 20 pieces.

It's now December 31st and I finished work at noon. So drove home and ran downstairs to finish Dec 30 with One More Block - 48 pieces

Can you believe it! There's only one more block to go!! AWHHHHhhhhh!

The fun I have!!

I spread out the centre and all the 6 inches blocks made to see if the last one needed to be dark blue or light blue. 

Well, what do you know! 

I don't need to do the last one. 

I have enough block to do the last round!

I am giddy with joy!! 

I am DONE!!! WhooHoo!!

Then I spotted this one. 

:^(     :^(    :^(

I really don't like it. It is the worst mess of the entire 2019.

So, okay, I'll make the last block and remove this ugliness from my beautiful quilt.  :^D 

I looked up the last block and ... 

Hopes and Wishes 

... Ha! hahahahaha! No WAY! 

NO WAY! 

Not even with eggnog will I attempt to do this one! 

So, I snooped around ... 

... and found November 24 had a bonus block. 

Yay! It's an easier one. (anything would be easier really!) 

Ta-Dah! December 31 is Turkey Tracks in my quilt! 

and I am 

really 

done!  

Now, the first meeting of the Artisanat Club is January 7, 2020.

Can I have the top all together for the first Show and Tell of the Year???

AWWWHHHHhhhhhh! 



The suspense is killing me. hahaha!



;^)


I wish you all a blessed New Year with good health and loved one near. All the rest is icing on the cake (but we still shouldn't take it for granted).

I know I am complaining sometimes on my blog but know that I truly appreciate each moment I have with my family and friends, with you all and with my sewing machines. (I couldn't help myself; I just had to include them there. lol)

I hope we will all be together again in 2020 for a wonderful year of joy, inspirations, tutorials, sew-a-long, challenges, for scrap busting, for finishes' cheers, for empty bobbins and wait, what? new projects and UFOs alike, for the frustrations, the bloopers, orphan blocks, surgeries' recoveries (ours and the sewing machines), quilt shows and ribbons, for new and repro fabrics, best tool finds, tears and laughter, pat on the back and congratulations. Oh and the seam ripper. 😒 All in all, the best is yet to come. 😁

Hugs,

Chantal 

Distractions

I don't have a lot to show you this weekend because I was very distracted.

Last Saturday, I had fun, with the ladies from my group, sewing up Port-a-cath pillows. I asked the ladies to cut more fabric for me to bring home. I got busy with them this week.

On the stand by, I have some pillows waiting to be closed up and, under the old scissors (needed to cut Velcros), there's some pillows waiting to be assembled ...

... more are waiting to be flipped, while others need to be filled (usually done in the evening in front of TV) ...

before and after

... and some are completed.

Yes, I did some orange ones as they were lacking from the first batch. I will also add yellow, purple, hearts, rainbow squares, football, whatever else I fancy.


To know more about Port-a-cath, see this website

https://nurse.org/articles/what-is-a-port-a-cath/

or if you just want the pattern (we did modified it a bit), please visit Create to Donate at

http://createtodonate.org/how-to-make-a-chemo-port-pillow/

It's a good way to use up some scraps and help someone else at the same time.

I will continue with this project until I run out of Velcros. Since the velcros is very harsh on the needle, I haven't sewn much else. My needle is about as dull as a darning needle. Lol.

Before this distraction knocked on my door, I did finish two little blue devils for the 365 Challenge Sampler.

Counter-Change Cross - 16 pieces             Chevrons - 11 pieces -

Chevrons needs a good trim but I'll wait because it has so many subcuts.  Those are from September 2 and 3.


Have a great weekend everyone.

;^)

Joining Angela at So Scrappy
Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

The Month is Done

I have finished the month of August ... uh uhm 2016, in the 365 Challenge quilt.

So happppppppppyyyyyyy! Like a good movie or book, which has a sequel, August finished with a twist. Let's have a look.

Last weekend, I picked fabrics for a few blocks at a time. It makes the task of cutting so much easier when you have little sewing time.

Prepped units for August 25th block.

They are all the same size, 1.5 inches
And here is Garden Square in all its glory with 29 pieces.

4 H with 20 pieces

English Ivy  27 pieces

August 28 Stoch Plaid with 28 pieces, some were cut at 7/8 of an inch.

Aunt Addie's Album with 25 pieces

It reminds me of Mangofeet's Centennial Star for some reasons. Sorry for the blurry pictures.


Then came Anvil with 17 pieces. Here is where I thought that the end of the month was a breeze. It was a very easy block to assemble.

And last, but obviously not least, August 31 with a twist!!
It's called Mosaic #15. Someone was running out of imagination at naming blocks. I thought it was an easy one as it look pretty innocent. Ha!

The problem was those units with the lightest blue. They needed to be trimmed at 1  9/16 inches. You also have to keep the points in the point of the block. All was good so far when I trimmed them. They I sew it all up. A breeze, I thought!  When I opened it up to press it, not two of the units were the same size.  (#$%#$^%$@#$) I spent some quality time with the seam ripper, way more than my patience could tolerate. Not easy to sew an exact quarter inch when the road is bumpy. It is still not perfect but it is good enough for me.

167 pieces were used in these 7 blocks.

With this, the month of August is done. It took 815 pieces to make the entire month.  Only four more months. The first of September is already done since it is corner number one, which I had to try a while back. You can see it here and here.


On with the reds.
Last week, I showed you this picture and asked what was I doing.

Yes, I just started on Good Fortune. I love this design by Bonnie K. Hunter. I've change the orange for red though. Just to have a different quilt. 

I've also changed the way to do these string blocks. I did try with the paper but I didn't like it. I usually sew my little crumb blocks without papers so why bother when I'm sewing much bigger blocks. I did kept the bigger size and sub-cut them down. If you look closely, you will notice that I've kept true to myself and have some strings that are made of two, three and even four different fabrics. :^D

So, now all the reds for this project are done. I won't wait for next month's colors to continue on this project but will just move on to another color.


This morning, bright and early, I went sewing with the Artisanat Club. We made port-a-cath pillows, 65 of them actually.

Here are the twelve members who made it in, on a very cold morning (-24C), to sew for those who battle cancer. Some ladies were cutting, some were (me) sewing and some were stuffing the little pillows. I had so much fun that I forgot to drink my coffee. Lol!

I've asked the ladies to cut some more to bring home to sew. You will see these little pillows on my blog again. Hopefully soon. I have to find Velcros as we ran out.

I've also made another Ohio Star variation block. It has a basket of apples and a pumpkin as the center. I picked a heart print for the background as I love Fall. The center is not pieced; just a very interesting print.

And that's all for this week.
Wish you all a wonderful week.

;^)

Joining Angela at So Scrappy 
Joining Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework.
Joining Em's Scrapbag
Joining Beth at Love, Laugh, Quilt
Joining Sarah at Confession of a Fabric Addict