Cleaning is the Order of the Day

After receiving so many scrap bags from friends, a thorough cleaning of the sewing room is needed. I don't know where to put the stuff anymore. 

And the best part is that I got some more this week. Thanks, Anne. 

Anne did this beautiful cross-stitch back in 2000. She framed it with a rich red velvet. I presume she then stored it, never to be seen again. (I can so relate.) Now, it is mine to finish. 

She also did these 6 beautiful blocks. Does anyone know the name of this block? I'm thinking of sewing them together for a baby quilt ... maybe. 

The two light fabrics are constants and she gave me some, or whatever was left. I could make some more but I don't think I will. Her sewing skills are much better than mine. 

The bigger bag is full of flannel (flannel, again? Why is everyone getting rid of their flannels?) I will make a pillow case out of this one and it'll be just for me. 

Meow! 

The little bag at the front is a minky in minty green. Yes, Raven, you may have that one. 😏

So ... I need to sew faster and for longer hours too. 

Does any of you have a sewing fairy I could borrow? I promise to treat her right!

  

My personal challenge this month is to work on the Hole in the Barn Door quilt. I have the quilt, I have the last border, I can't find the white middle border and I KNOW that I did cut the whites for it. The most annoying thing is to forget where I have put it. I know it was on the dresser for the longest time. Then, before the Holidays, before the flu, I started putting some of the things away ... I shouldn't have done that, because the white border is NOT on the dresser anymore. Darn! 

Anywho!! 

I did sew some green...

These are 8.5 X 6.5 and 6.5 square. For now, I'm just sewing. I'll decide later what to do with these. 

... and of course, 9 Patches ... 

One yellow because there aren't a lot in the tally and the others because I found the fabric in the gifted bags. So not much sewing but ... 

... Joy asked for a snowflake for the Table Scrap Challenge this month. Oh, this is so much fun! Playing with little bits of 1.5 inches! YES!

It took a lot of work to get it right but it is done. Now to quilt it. 

On the slow stitching front, I spend many hours on my Ohio Star Shadow. 

I'm working on block 39! That means I am past the halfway point with 42 blocks quilted. Yay!

And that's it for me. Back to cleaning. 

Have a great weekend! 

;^)

Joining my talented friends: 

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

 

The First Post of 2024

I am usually full of ideas and inspiration at the beginning of the year except this year! Blaming the flu for that. It is stealing my energy and my mojo. Darn!

As I look at my Excel spreadsheet of 2023, I find myself drawn to finishing more than to starting new projects. As I've done in years past, I will tag a quilt to each colour and when Angela (So Scrappy) calls the RSC colour of the month, I will work on that tagged quilt. I like this method as it helps me work on projects even if I'm not too inclined to work on that particular project. You know what I mean? 

Of course, things could change in a heartbeat because life is fun that way! 😁

So, let's choose 10 quilts to work on and get this year on the right path. 

Hole in the Barn Door - green 

Spinner - yellow 

Framed 9 Patch - orange 

Dreaming in Dutch - pink 

Shoreline - red 

Broken Dish Swap - purple 

Westering Woman - blue 

Star Bloom - aqua 

Crumb Quilt in flannel - dark blue 

HST something for whatever colour I didn't already mention 

Like many of you (if not all of you), I have lots of inspiration from my Pinterest boards, magazines and books. I would like to work on that this year. These quilts don't lend themselves well to the Rainbow method of construction. Instead of choosing one block to make every month, I might be working on different blocks for different quilts. I haven't thought this one through yet, but I'll learn how to dance to this one as the year progresses. 

Angela called January's colour green. Yep! I got some of that! 

I also have lots and lots of strings. 

I'm tempted to do as Cathy (Sane, Crazy, Crumby Quilting) and just sew it. I'll decide later what to do with the string blocks. There's green in there for sure. 

On the first Tuesday of the month, Jan 2nd, it was our Artisanat meeting. I felt too weak to go but my friend had cleaned up her sewing room and dropped me all this on her way there. 

First haul of fabric in 2024. 

That's a great start to a New Year. (Thanks, Lucie!) Half of it is flannel. Is that a hint that I should make another flannel quilt? I love to play with flannel. Let's add that to the 2024 list of to-do. 

There's also half a bag of yo-yos. Anyone interested? Let me know and I'll ship it to you. 

There are two different sizes. It has a plastic template included but I'm not sure of its accuracy. 

I'll start this year the same way I finished the last one; with a 9-patch block. I love 9-Patch! 

My last leader-ender of December with the first block of 2024. It's very dark green and it comes from Lucie's bag. (I just couldn't wait to get my hands in there, haha.) Aren't you surprised that it's also Orange? 

It prompted me to take a tally of all the 9-Patch blocks. 

Would you believe 337? The result was surprising in more than one way. I was surprised : 

- by the amount of black blocks - 31

- by the lack of yellows - only 10 

- by the small amount of orange - 30

I mean, I have more black than orange!! To be honest, though, lots of the orange fabric are seconds, like the first one done in 2024. It is counted as green even though it has orange fabric too. The same happens to the yellows. 

White - 2, Grey - 7, Yellow - 10, Pink - 14, Aqua - 21, Brown - 21, Orange - 30, Black - 31, Purple - 33, Green - 51, Red - 54, Bleu - 65. 

Anywho! What to do with 337 (well, 339 now) blocks? Make more, of course! Lol. 

Enough of this! I need to go work with the strings and the greens. 

It will be a fun year!! 

Enjoy! ;^)

Joining my talented friends: 

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

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