I've got closure ....

I have FINALLY finished a quilt I started in 2002. I originally blogged about it on February 11, 2007 as part of a UFO compilation project and again on April 2, 2018. 

The issue I had was, how do I finish this project? I had originally started to hand quilt it. That was before I knew better about batting. I used Warn & Natural, which is not the easiest to hand quilt, especially their earlier version. I knew that I did not want to continue with the hand quilting, however ... how do I complete it? I also did not want to do any ditch/ruler work. I just wanted it done and out of my brain space!

Then, on June 9, I decided to load it onto Penelope and go for it ... it's Panto time!

I kept the hand quilting and machine quilted over it.

I like how it turned out. I don't have a problem with having both hand and machine quilting. I'm, going to let the historians figure out what happened here! lol 

As you can imagine, having that quilt sit around for over two (2) decades, it needed a good washing. There were some stains from the cats sitting on it that I could not get out, I can live with that ... patina! 

I'm just glad that it's finally done! 

Thanks for stopping by! Cheers!

Hello there ... do you remember me?

Wow, it's been a while. So much has occurred since my last post.  It's been a busy couple of months.

My churn dash sew-a-long is going. All of my fabrics are cut!

Everything is set up by the machine, background matched, ready for me to tackle it.

I try to find little pockets of sewing time when ever I can in between my busy schedule. They are rare these days.

When I do find a little pocket, the next thing I know, my pile of blocks higher.

I do like the scrapiness of it. Although I cut over 50 blocks for this quilt, it didn't seem to make much of a dent in my fabric craps. I'm starting to think it reproduces when I'm not looking! Oh well!

Thanks for stopping by. Cheers!

Churn Dash Sew A long

Donna from Chookyblue blogspot is hosting a Sew-A-Long and I thought I would join in. Heck, you must have read yesterday's BREAKING NEWS! lol

I decided to open EQ8 to work out the layout. I am not that fond of EQ8 but it is what it is. Sometimes updates are not always a good thing. I've owned EQ for numerous years, since EQ2 ... let's just say I had to update due to Apple's recent change in their system ... we'll leave it at that.

Back to the quilt. The suggested block size is 9 inches ...

I love small blocks and have been thinking about doing a 6 inch block. I'm going for the crappy look. This is what the layout would look like. 

That's a lot of blocks to piece ... but so pretty. I do like small blocks, they require smaller pieces. It would certainly put a dent in the scrap fabric stash. My bins are overflowing!

Now, this is what the quilt would look like with a 9 inch block ... less blocks to piece!

A different look, but pretty none the same.

Well, I guess I have some thinking to do. 

Catch you all later! Cheers!

BREAKING NEWS!

 Are you sitting down? Last weekend I turned on my sewing machine and actually worked on a quilt. That's right ... You heard it here first! LOL

Back in the Fibre Junction days, I hosted historical clubs. It was a gathering about The History of Women via the Needle and Thread and used Pam Buda's Prairie Women Sewing Circle (PWSC) club packets for the projects. 

There was a project in PWSC 2 Gathering 5 that I loved and had actually started cutting on August 25, 2012. The only piecing that was done were the flying geese and they still needed trimming. I love that quilt/pattern and had been meaning to finish it.

It's quite a challenge to pick up a project where you left off after so many years and more so if it has a gazillion pieces. I started by organizing the pieces. I needed to figure out what I had and perhaps what was needed to construct the block.

Once I figured it all out ... I started piecing and of course .... I was missing one block! lol Thank goodness for my stash!

After hours and hours of piecing, I finally I had a finish .... Voila!

Hum ... The photograph really doesn't do it justice. It's a pretty pink and brown quilt. The pattern is called Next Door Neighbor and measures 27 1/2 x 34 1/2.

I even have a Make-do in that quilt. I do love to make-do ... it gets me thinking outside of the box ... why run to the store or cut a large piece of fabric just for a few pieces. I enjoy using my scraps and I had just enough of a scrap piece for this block. Besides, it just adds to the story of the quilt .... I love stories don't you?

Now .... if I can only get Penelope turned on .....

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

It's past getting old ....

 My brother posted this picture on my facebook wall that I thought pretty much described my present Covid life. lol

I haven't been up to much. Still plugging away at those hexe. 

I am running out of documentaries to watch/listen. lol I guess I'l just have to re-watch my favourites. I'm sure I've missed lots of important information! lol

Hope all is well with you. Thanks for stopping by! Catch you all later! Cheers!

Insane or creative ... It's a fine line!

 Well, I managed to clean up the cutting table of the 1/2 inch hexagon project mess ... only to find myself distracted by the left over scrap strips from that nine (9) patch project on my cutting table... Squirrel!

Hum .... what did I want to make with the left over 1.25 inch muslin strips? A thought popped in my head ... that 1.25" bag of scraps that I was thinking of throwing out .... you know the one that found me on the edge of insanity?! lol

I grabbed that bag and messed up the clean cutting table ... so excited to think about starting a new project using 3/8" hexagons. 

I quickly went to work and pieced this little block for a grandmother flower garden pattern ... wall hanging size!

Not stopping there ... SQUIRREL! Hum .... I'd really like a grandmother flower garden in feedsack fabrics! 

Off I went into my sewing studio and pulled out the bins of feedback scraps and grabbed some bags of 5/8" hexagons templates.

Now, hold on a minute ... the idea was to use the 1.25 inch muslin strips ... they would look nice with the feedsack! 

Off I went to create this little block using 3/8 inch hexagons.

It's just so adorable and so happy .... the only problem is that I do not have a lot of small feedsack scraps to use. I have to cute them from the bigger scrap fabrics. In good conscience I should use up the 19th century reproduction scraps. I could make the 5/8" hexagons grandmother's flower garden quilt and use the scraps to make the smaller version. That's the future plan! I think!

Then, no sooner had I calmed my project enthusiasm did I come across a bag of one (1) inch strips of fabrics from the nine (9) patch quilt project .... Much too small for the 3/8" hexagon ... Oh wait a minute ...

There's that edge again .... or have I actually fallen into the abyss of insanity?! LOL

Thanks for stopping by! Catch you all later! 

Still a mess ....

 I've been putting way too many hours at work ... all work and no play makes Carole a dull girl! Time for a change. I've taken a couple of weekends off to spend time with myself. 

The first thing I scheduled was cleaning out the sewing studio. It had become a dumping ground. I've been quite the scattered brain since Covid started and as you can imagine, there wasn't one surface in that room that wasn't covered with something. I also took the time to purge, but obviously, not enough. Sigh!

I have some kits left over from Fibre Junction days that I have no intention of piecing and thought I'd post them on Facebook market place. So far no bites ... the bite I did get (which makes me wonder why I even posted that in the first place) were 2 small Artbin boxes. Not sure it's worth my time to coordinate the exchange of goods. Oh well!

After the cleaning, I actually sat down in front of my sewing machine and started piecing a nine (9) patch quilt I had started cutting last year. I had cut up all of my reproduction charm packs (another attempt at de-stashing). Some were acquired at Market; new 19 Century reproductions fabric lines coming out etc. It will make a nice memory quilt. I'm using muslin for the nine patch block with 19 Century shirting as the alternate block.

Sadly, I did not have enough fabric to make another similar block, but I can make one that is different. I'm thinking of using those blocks to make a smaller quilt using prints in between the nine (9) patch blocks.

Seriously, what else could I do with that bin of scraps?

The pattern is from the book Preserving History by Julie Hendricksen. I love that book!  I also have another flying geese feedsack quilt project going from that same book. I did blog about it here and here.

I first saw the nine (9) patch quilt at Market and fell in love with it.

The original size of the block is 1.5" finished. NO way was I going to turn that into a queen size quilt. So I've increased the block size. It makes it much more manageable!

I haven't continued on that project because ... well my cutting table is still a mess from the hexe project.

I really do need to clean that up. I mean, I do have a fair amount of bags made up of hexe blocks to keep me busy for some time.

Well, that's pretty much it for now. Hope you are keeping busy! Catch you later! Cheers!

Plugging away ...!

 I've been in a funky mood. Covid is getting old ... It feels like Ground Hog day ... I'm so eager for some change ... but, looks like it may take quite some time to happen ... sigh!

In the mean time, I've been stitching away on that 1/2 inch hexagon quilt. There's something about emptying a spool of thread ... Ah, what an accomplishment! lol

 

I've been hand basting the hexagons. This allows me to use spools of thread that I have no idea why I bought ... A hot pink hand quilting thread ... what was I thinking! Oh well, all gone!

I've been thinking of ways to remove the hexagon papers without causing too much damage to the template, allowing me to re-use them multiple times. The smaller the template, the harder it is to remove. To facilitate the removal of the small template, I use a 1/8" hole puncher and punch a hole in the middle.

In the past, I used appliqué pins to secure the template as I basted, but I found that to be cumbersome, damaging and prickly! Now I use a glue stick, which minimized the damage to the template. The trick to using glue is not to apply too much. You only need a little bit for the fabric to stick. 

At first, I used a pair of hemostat to remove the template.

I could not master the art of removing the template without creasing it to death. I lived with it for a while until an uncommon tool popped into my mind ... a seafood pick.

It fits beautifully into the hole.

And the template pops right out.

With minimal damage to the template, making it reusable ... Voila!

So far, I have a nice little stack of blocks completed.

What have you been up to? 

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

UFO kick goes on ....!

 After I finished the little Hexe quilt, I remembered another quilt that needed my attention. This English Paper Piecing quilt was started back in the Spring of 2013. The pattern is from the Primitive Quilt magazine, Spring 2013 issue. I did blogged about it here. I used 1/2 inch hexes and 1900 century reproduction fabrics.

The issue I had with this quilt was regarding the border. How was I going to put the borders on? Was I going to cut the hexagons, creating a straight edge, and machine sew the border on or would I hand appliqué the hexagons to the border? I chose to hand appliqué to the border ... I could not bare to cut my hexes.

This project was actually a challenge with two other people. I actually completed the top in October 2013, and won the flimsy award. However Diane won the fully completed top and I think that was back in February 2014. 

I do love how it turned out. It's such a great feeling to have completed a long over due project.

I'm not sure what I shall work on next .... so many UFO to choose from! lol

Thanks for stopping by my little corner in cyberspace! Cheers!~

On the quilting front ....

I finally got around to sewing the binding on the Feed Sack: True Blue quilt.

I quickly got to work on hand stitching the binding ...

And Voila .... 

The quilt is all done .... 

Gosh I love those blues .... Another one on my list of favourite quilts.

As a reward for completing a project, I bought this lovely FQ tower ... At Home by Bonnie & Camille.

Look at all those delicious colours ....

I haven't cut into it yet ... but I do have it out and pet it every now and again .... lol

What have you been up to?

Who ordered this heat wave?

OMG, Summer is in full swing. I think we went from spring to summer in a flash! lol With this heat, Penelope's room is like an oven. So off I went into town to purchase an air conditioner.

Last Sunday I decided that I needed to finish the reproduction quilt that was on my designer wall. With life being a tad chaotic, I had put it aside until things settled. Well, I can't say I'm not settled anymore! lol Besides, I'm itchin' to start a new project! lol

Back in February 2019, I fell in love with the fabric line ... Feed Sacks: True Blue by Linne Kull McCray for Moda Fabrics.

Look at those gorgeous blues! I am so in love with reproduction fabrics ... and especially this fabric line. I purchased a Fat quarter tower to work on the quilt pattern she designed specifically for that line. The pattern is also called Feed Sack: True Blue .... you can actually download it here.

Brought the quilt to a flimsy stage ... 

and loaded it on Penelope. With the room nice and cool, I tackled it today.

Voila! It's a done deal!

Tomorrow, it's binding time!

Thanks for stopping by! Stay cool!