Beauty all around ...!

As evident from my lack of blog post throughout 2018 and 2019, I did not get a lot of quilting projects done. As a matter of fact, the quilt Beauty All Around just sat there. I had blogged about the machine quilting back in October 2018, as part of my "UFO Completion" project .... and there it sat, untouched.

Heck, I even forgot to blog about its completion!

In early 2019, I did gather the energy to actually sew the binding on.

And, manage to get a bit of the binding hand sewn ... 

But there it sat for quite some time until ... I picked it back up in July 2019

I was determined to mark this project "done". Seriously, wasn't it time I finally completed this quilt. I was so close. I cranked up the a/c ... like who wants a warm quilt on their lap in the middle of summer ... and got stitchin'.

Voila .... completed!

Can you imagine being so close and yet just letting sit there. Well, I'm glad I finally said enough is enough and got it done.

Sometimes we forget why we set a project aside ... for me I let life get in the way. I've also come to understand that when life gets challenging, it's important to not forget what makes us happy ... and for me creativity is my happy place. When I create, whether is is writing or quilting, it provides a place of sanity, a peaceful space. I hope you have found your place of sanity during your challenging times ... that's when it's the most crucial ... regaining a sense of peace during times of unrest.

Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy your creative outlet whatever it may be! Cheers!

Getting closer to the finish line ....

It's a great feeling when you are getting closer to the finish line. It's a boost in motivation ... All of a sudden you just want to get it done! Indeed ... that's what I did.

I organized by colours so that the sashing would be balanced. I pieced these blocks using scraps from the various quilt I have made throughout the years. In some way, it's a memory quilt! ;)

So, I started piecing the sashing ... balancing the fabric colours accordingly.

Notice block 12 on the bottom right? Yea, I did stitch it ... just forgot to take a picture before I started working on the sashing!

Now I'm ready to put the border on!

What have you been up to lately?

Thank you so much for stopping by my little corner in cyberspace!

Catch you all later!

Back on the stitch wagon .....

After taking a bit of a break I got back to working on the last two (2) blocks of the Beauty All Around BOM.

When I'm doing hand work, I tend to put on a documentary and stitch away as I absorb knowledge, usually having to do with either science or history. However, lately I've been in the mood for ..... well ... more of a slow pace ...

Not sure why ... I just needed comfort ... some form of predictability. Yea, my life has been quite chaotic as of late ...

I finished stitching block 11

And ... block 12

Oops .... forgot to take a picture ... Oh well ... It's done ... ! lol

Now, it's time to get down to piecing the actual top.  I'm pretty excited to be closer to finishing this UFO. What have you been up to as of late?

Thanks for stopping by my little corner in cyber space. Catch you all later! Cheers!

The last summer ice cream ...!

My favourite ice cream shop is closing for the season ...

Hard to believe that fall is in the air ... I do love all the seasons .... each brings it unique beauty!

On the quilting from ... Modern Building Block being all done, it was time to tackle another UFO ... Beauty All Around.

I got stitching ... Block 9

And Block 10

Catch you all later! Cheers!

Back to hand work ...!

Sometimes I just want to sit and watch something on TV. Well, for me it's my laptop. I don't watch television ... I actually pay for my programming. Amazon Prime has some great documentaries as well as Netflix.

Yeap, that's what I watch went I do hand work ... documentaries ... I call it learning by osmosis! lol

Voici Block 8 of the BOM Beauty All Around by Geoff's Mom Pattern Company.

Onward to another block! It's so sweet when they are all prepped!

Cheers!

A break from the DSM ... !

Is it hot enough for you people in the northern hemisphere? OMG, I think this summer is going to be in the category of one of the hottest in a long time. 

Took a little break from machine piecing and picked up the UFO - BOM Beauty all Around and worked on stitching a couple of blocks.

Block 6

And block 7

What's nice about this UFO is that all the blocks are prepped. All I need to do is stitch around the wool pieces. That's the beauty of taking the time to prep all of your blocks. When you are done with one, you can pick up another ... it's a production line! ;)

So, what have you been up to today?

A little help from a notion ...!

Have you noticed that Blogger is no longer sending out e-mail notifications for comments posted on your blog? I researched the issue and according to my findings "Google is aware and working on it". OK, I sure hope they resolve the issue soon!

I want to share with you this notion that I found helpful when working with the BOM Peace & Unity. It is called Alphabetties by It's Sew Emma.

At times, especially when it comes to a block of the month, there are numerous pieces for the block construction that are labeled either numerically or alphabetically, sometimes both! This was the case with the Peace & Unity BOM and I found the Alphabetties quite useful.

I will admit that I do not use them often, but when I do, I'm glad I have them. There were lots of pieces to this 12 month program and the Alphabetties kept me organized.

Thanks for stopping by! Cheers!

We have a pieced top .... !

I've been plugging away at Peace and Unity and brought it from this ...

To this ....

And ... now the borders are sewn on and it is loaded on Penelope ready to be machine quilted!

I've been subbing pretty much full time for the past couple of weeks so I haven't had any time to tackle it, but it's on the "to do" list! ;)

What's up with you?

Thanks for stopping by! Catch you all later! Cheers!

A basket case ...!

I have laid the machine appliqueing of baskets aside for a bit before I, myself, turn into a basket case!

In the meantime, I picked up a BOM I started back in January 2014. The quilt is called Civil War: Peace and Unity designed by Sarah Maxwell and Dolores Smith; the last in a series of quilts commemorating the 150th anniversary of the civil war.

Although I had all the 20 (yea you read right) Court House Step blocks done, I sort of put it away not even planning on completing it. I gave up on this quilt!

But, I kept it all in a plastic bin, sort of "in waiting." I even thought of just piecing the court house step blocks into a small quilt top and call it a done deal!

It wasn't until the Shoppe Troll, aka Nancy, completed her quilt and brought it in to show me that I remembered how gorgeous it was. Then, I fell in love with the quilt all over again, vowing to complete the top ... some day!

Well, "some day" came ... I pulled it out and started working away on the twelve (12) different blocks. Voila! The pile of blocks!

Guess what I'm working on today!

Thanks for stopping by little corner in cyberspace!

Wishing you a wonderful day! Cheers!

Plugging away ....!

I'm going back and forth between machine appliqueing baskets and working on the Beauty All Around BOM.

I now have Block 4 ...

And ... Block 5 completed ...

Catch you all later! Cheers!

On the hand work trail ...!

I'm still plugging away at the Trick or Treat basket quilt by Blackbird Designs. As much as I enjoy machine appliqueing, it gets a bit monotonous to be doing the same thing over and over again, interspersed with thread changes to match the basket.  Yawn!

We are presently experiencing a weather surprise!

Not sure how much we are expecting, but it "should" be all gone by tomorrow ... we are expecting rain!

On another note, my left forearm is doing much better, so I can actually do some hand work!

In between baskets, I'm working on the Beauty All Around BOM that I started back in ... OMG, I never wrote it down! Thank goodness for blogging! I blogged about it on January 11, 2015.

This is the second UFO that wasn't written down!!!! Another added to the UFO list of 2015. Oh well!

I saw the quilt at the 2014 Fall Internal Quilt Market in Houston, Texas. It was a wool BOM offered by Fibre Junction in January 2015.

I do have all the sashing done except, don't ask me why, one block! I will always remember what Professors Ladd once said, "Carole, somethings just cannot be explained!" That's one of those "things".

And ... I worked on Block 2

And ... Block 3

A nice break from machine applique!

Thanks for stopping by! Catch you all later! Cheers!

Allowing my wisdom to shine ...!

There are a lot of changes taking place in my life. It is true what they say, as you get older what was important in your youth seems to take a back seat. All of a sudden, your priorities change and your life heads in a new direction.

I've never been one to be on a straight life path ... I like an adventure .... I've taken quite a few "wrong" turns, so to speak, some conscious and some unconscious .... okay maybe that would be "consciously ignoring the signs!" lol  Still .... life is good!

A recent new change for me is that I have decided to no longer hide my wisdom. No more trips to the hair salon for hair colouring!

It is taking quite some time for my "wisdom" to flourish! lol So far, I seem to have the patience for the process to complete itself.

On the quilting front .... I am in a completion mode. I've been tackling UFOs and cleaning out stuff I am no longer passionate about.

I have FINALLY finished the mystery quilt I blogged about here. Penelope and I spent some quality time together on Monday! ;)

The binding is sewn on, now it's a question of finishing the hand stitching ... another of my favourite part of quilting. I will admit, there isn't much about the quilting process that I don't enjoy. How about you?

Thank you for stopping by. Enjoy your day! Cheers!

Life goes on ...!

Cheryl, a dear Aussie friend of mine, gave me the following advice "Illegitimi nil Carborundum" and she is right! Control is an illusion! Let it go and move on; life is to short!

Having been a quiltin' fool for a few weeks, starting and finishing new projects, I thought I would tackle my UFO pile.

As a quilt shoppe owner, your quilting project choice takes on a double duty - personal quilt and shoppe sample.  It's an efficient way to quilt! But, there comes a time when your UFO pile, you know the ones you cannot use as a shoppe sample, weighs you down. It's amazing how it can put a damper on your creativity! The remedy is to either rid yourself of those projects you are no longer passionate about or start tackling them! For me, I'm passionate about all of my UFOs!

Last night I worked on a quilt I started back in December 2014.  It was offered by Fibre as a mystery block of the month. It was the perfect quilt for someone special, whom by the way, is not getting any younger and for the record, neither am I. So, time to tackle it and get it done!

It's a gorgeous queen size quilt! Sadly, I cannot show you a picture because I think the mystery pattern is still available for quilt shops to purchase. I wouldn't want to ruin your surprise! ;) Here's a sneak peak!

The pattern was designed by Sherri of  Border Creek Station Pattern Company. Let me tell you, she is an amazing block of the month pattern writer. Her instructions are laid out in such a way that you can pick up right where you left off. Even after a year and a half!!!! No spending time trying figuring out where you're at! It made it so easy for me to get back into it!

Tonight, my goal is to put the last two border on the quilt and it will be a done deal! Let's just hope I'm not biting more than I can chew. It is a pieced nine patch block border. lol

Thank you so much for stopping by! Catch you later!

Mojo's back ....!

I've been playing with fabric!

Chopping it up into little pieces .........

Sewing the pieces back together into these.

Ohhh, I do like how it's turning out. The colours are so rich!

I started that project December 9, 2014 ... put it aside to take care of other stuff .... then I lost my mojo.

I think I found it!

Catch you later!

Brrrr ....!

It has been cold in our neck of the woods!  It's been as low at -17F (-27C).  Don't know about you, but when it's cold like that, I crave comfort foods!  That fatty stuff that I really shouldn't be having!  Today we have a sweltering 23F (-5) so it's perfect weather for quilting!

Do any of you make New Year Resolutions?  I sort of do.  I try to keep my list to things I can actually achieve.  This year, I have decided to make myself a priority and set healthy boundaries.  My goal is to stay focused.  For the past few years I've been all over the place with nothing getting fully completed.    I just have a big pile of do do.  Focus is my new mantra!

So, I focused on starting a new project! lol It's a block of the month being offered at Fibre.  It's call Beauty All Around.  I saw it at fall market 2014 and absolutely fell in love with it.  Here is block 1:

The sashing for the quilt is a square in a square block.  Of course, you can make whatever sashing you want but I liked the original one.  It's a perfect opportunity for me to use up my scraps.  I really wanted this quilt to have personal meaning and it will, as the fabrics used are from various projects etc...

Today is trimming day!

Hope you are enjoying your day and keeping warm!  Catch you later! Cheers!

Lot's happening ... !

I am finding it more and more difficult to not be tempted by new projects.  You only live once or YOLO, as my DD likes to say.  So, this is a new project ... YOLO! ... that I'll be staring January 2014.

It's a new BOM being offered by Fibre Junction.  It's called Austin Bluebird and is designed by Minick and Simpson.

I saw this at Market Schoolhouse this fall.  The colours are absolutely gorgeous.   The fabrics will be coming in this month and I cannot wait!  If you would like to join me, you can reserve your place here.

Last Tuesday, the day and evening Simple What's Not Club members joined me for a pincushion exchange a la Yankee Swap style.  What fun we had.  I love seeing the creativity!

I really have the bestest customers/club members.  What a hoot we had.  Each one brought a dish to share. The food was amazing.  Sorry, no picture of the spread, it's all gone! ;)

Thank for stopping by!

Is anybody out there .....??!

So how have you all been?  It's been a lazy week for me ....  I have the house to myself!

Both DD and DH are away for the week, coming back on Monday.  They are presently in Kentucky, working on the Appalachia Service Project.  It's their second summer volunteering for the organization.  To quote DD upon her return last summer:

"This past week has been the highlight of my summer, I met many amazing people and had the time of my life all while doing something I love; helping others."  Whitesburg, KY

She makes her mama proud! sniff, sniff ...

So, it's been a lazy week.  I thought I would get lots of things done.  But all I've been doing is sleeping ...  ok I did get Doppler to take a selfie!

By biggest challenge was to get her to press the camera button on the iPhone! :P

And, of course, a bit of stitching .....

I'm attempting to get a shoppe sample done for a new BOM Fibre will be offering in November.  It's called A Patchwork Year by Kathy Schmitz.  Three more blocks to stitch!

Yesterday, my good friend Gina stopped by Fibre and brought me a surprise gift .....

Ah .... I've been in sugar shock heaven since yesterday morning!  Thanks again Gina!

So, what are my plans for today?  I'm tackling this mess .....

and onward to some quilting fix!

Catch you later!

Better late .....!

Finally machine quilted Ruby Garden, a quilt I started hand embroidering the blocks back 2010.  Pieced the top in 2013 and machine quilting in April 2014 .... Sigh!

But .... it's a done deal!  Love that pattern.  Had to re-work the finishing instructions!  That didn't help in the amount of time it took to complete this quilt.

I'm continuing to work on the Words to Live by quilt.  Here is block one - Joy!

Taking the time to prep all of my blocks (when applicable) just makes it easier for me to get the project completed in a timely matter.  It becomes a mass production quilting project! lol

Thanks for stopping by!  Cheers!

Neglected ..... once again....!

I started 2014 with good intentions - blogging at least once a week.  As you have probably noticed, that fell to the wayside!  The lack of post is certainly not because I have nothing to blog about! The  quilting front continues to be productive.  I've started and finishing a few projects. Okay, starting more than I've finished, but nonetheless, my quietness is not for lack of materiel to write about.

If you want to know the truth, I'm in a quiet mood.  When I'm in that "mood phase," I shut down!  It's that overwhelming feeling I get every now and again about life in general.  There is so much I want to do .... and so little time to accomplish it all.  Perhaps I need to be more realistic about my life's "to do" list.  ;o)

A couple of weeks ago, dd and I went shopping for a prom dress on St Hubert street in Montreal.  That street is laden with history, it was the "street" to shop for the latest clothes and accessories during the 1950s - the fashion street.  Today, it is more of a "formal wear street" (prom & wedding) than for anything else.  Although I did see a shop that made custom bras and hats, something my mother would have bought as a working woman.  I was surprised we didn't find anything.  Many of the dresses were simple, nothing fancy about them ... all with an outrageous price tag!  Oh well, perhaps I have not kept up with the times.

This one was reasonably prices and I think looked wonderful .... but she found it to "puffy!"

Afterwards we took a ride in the neighborhood of my youth!  It was nostalgic!  A wonderful mother and daughter bounding time!

On the quilting front, I have started a new wool and cotton project - Words to Live By designed by Primitive Gatherings.

Don't let the half square triangles intimidate you!  It's a sinch using my "mass production" method.

I have prepped all of my blocks and managed to finish stitching the center block.

This way, I can alternate between sewing and stitching!

I decided not to write the words on the quilt!  I like it wordless!  It certainly fits my present mood! lol

Thank you for stopping by my little world in cyberspace!  Cheers!