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!

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! 

Quilting Mojo ...

 Well, I think I may have found a bit of my quilting mojo. Last Sunday I decided that I "should" work on a quilting UFO. Let's face it, I'm quite a scatter brain at the moment ... no sense starting a new project only to get distracted ... Squirrel!

I went searching in my UFO bin and pulled out an English Paper Piecing (EPP) project I had started way back in 2016. The Project is called Star Quilt and it's from the book Modern Vintage Gifts by Helen Philipps.

I used the fabric line Sew Cherry 2 by Lori Holts. Love Retro/Vintage fabrics!

Since the stars were all sewn, it was just a question of laying it out on the design wall and get stitching.

For me, the most annoying part about hand stitched a quilt is, how do I keep my project portable while maintaining the order of the blocks? I found that numbering flower pins works. I use a permanent marker to label the pins.

 I first started to use this method for machine piecing rows of blocks. The number with the arrow are the row indicators, as well as the direction I'll press the seams. The other numbers are for the blocks sequence. This method keeps me from having to walk to my design wall and grab one block at a time. I've been using this method for years and it has never failed me!

With each row in a separate bag ... I'm ready to be portable! lol 

The quilt top ... so far!

Thanks for stopping by my little corner in cyberspace. I do hope you find my quilting tips helpful!

Catch you all later ... 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!

A new project .....

A colleague at work became a grand mother for the first time. What better excuse to get the creative quilting juices flowing?!

I gathered all of my 1930's (feedsack) reproduction fabrics and became inspired to create ... the friendship star.

Which then turned into this ....

Time to fire up Penelope for the first time. I was a bit nervous not having played with her for so long ....  It was like riding a bicycle lol

It all came back to me.

What a great day it was! The quilt is machine quilted and the binding is ready to be hand stitched.

So glad Penelope is back in my life.

What have you been up to?

Focus baby, focus ...!

Well, despite Stella's demands, I've completed hand stitching the binding on the Scrappy Trail quilt.

I love, love, love that binding fabric. The fabric is from Sew Cherry 2 by Lori Holt! It is so perfect for binding.

My next UFO project is called Trick or Treat and is from the book When the Cold Wind Blows by Barb Adams & Alma Allen of Blackbird Designs. The project was started back in May 2010. I know this for a fact because I blogged about it. Certainly NOT because it was listed on my Project 2010 sheet! Oops! Thank goodness for project bins and blogging!

I organized what was in the bin, put on a documentary and busied myself with turning some edges in.

So far, I have 155 basket ready to be machine appliqued.

I need 291 basket blocks! I better get quilting!

I sense that this will not me a quick quilt to get done. But ... it will be stunning when it is pieced and machine quilted.

So, what are you up to these days? What project are you working on?

Thanks for stopping by! Cheers!

In the meantime ...!

Thank you to all those who offered their opinion on the completion of Pick a Peck of Pretty Patches quilt.

As I think about my options, I continued working on hand stitching the binding on Wish Upon a Star.

It is now fully completed! Yeah!

As for my next quilting UFO, I was looking at my 2017 project list and couldn't believe how little quilting I did. Despite the few numbers of projects started, there were not many completed.

I usually average 29 projects a year. In 2017, I started nine (9), which is unusual and ... to have so many unfinished! Not a good statistic! Oh well!

Moving forward, I decided to pick up Scrappy Trails a pattern from Lori Holt, which is published in her Scrappy Project Planner. 

I started this quilt back in March, 2017. The blocks were all done, it was just a matter of piecing the quilt top. Ta dah!

It is such a happy quilt! It has since been machine quilted and I'm presently working on hand stitching the binding ... A task that is now becoming challenging!

Oh well! Challenges are good ... sometimes! ;)

Thanks for stopping by my littler corner in cyberspace! Catch you all later! Cheers!

The mistaken quilt UFO ...

I originally blogged about this quilt back in February 2007 when I first joined Stashbusters and it is still not completed!

Here is the original photo of the quilt top. Our handsome model is the late Mr. Bud.

The quilt pattern is called Pick A Peck of Pretty Patches and is from McCall"s Quilting magazine October 1999 issue. This quilt was started sometime in 2002 and completed in 2003.

The main reason why it has not been fully completed is that I have more than half of the main blocks hand quilted.

Sadly, this was at a time when my knowledge on batting was none existent. I used Warm & Natural! Now, don't get me wrong, I do like Warm & Natural but NOT for hand quilting. Today, I would choose differently!

The issue is: How do I complete this project without doing a lot of hand quilting?

I am thinking of just loading the quilt on Penelope (my longarm) and cross hatching the nine patches using the white squares. This would stabilize the smaller rectangles in between the nine patch blocks. Hum ... what would I do in the larger rectangles?

As for the main blocks, I guess I could bite the bullet and just continue with the hand quilting. I certainly do not want to tear out the stitches! For the record, I did consider it and decided it was insane ... that's a lot of hand work! Besides, I'd like to give historians something to debate! ;)

What are your thoughts on how I should complete the quilt top? Any suggestions would greatly be appreciated.

Thanks for stopping by and assisting me with the custom machine quilting on this quilt top!

Cheers!

Play date with Penelope ... !

I sure have been focused as of late. As a result, Penelope and I have enjoyed lots of bonding time.

Today I booked a play date with Penelope to get this last quilt machine quilted. Put on some music and started groovin' stitching!

Given that there is a lot of negative space on the quilt, I chose the panto Nouveau Scallop by Hermoine Agee.

This is definitely NOT an easy/mindless panto to stitch out. I do like how it turned out on the quilt.

I brought the quilt top up to the stage of having the binding machine stitched and then called it a night!

Now I'm ready to put on a documentary and get that binding hand stitched!

Thank you for stopping by my little corner in cyberspace!  Catch you all later! Cheers!

I'm on a roll ...!

On the last post, I made a mistake on the project I choose. I did not pick a project from 2007 but more from 2009. I will blog about the 2007 project on another post.

The pattern is from the 1998 Quilt Sampler magazine and is called Wish Upon a Star by A Stitch in Time, WI quilt shop. I actually started this quilt top in February 2009. As you saw from the prior post, all that was pieced were the blocks.

So, I got busy and started piecing the top!

Given that this is my quilt, I decided that I was going to do it differently than from what the original pattern instruction. Checked my stash and found this amazing 1930's reproduction fabric that would work perfectly with the quilt top.

For those of you that are curious as to what the original quilt looked like, here is a picture of the picture! lol

So now the quilt is ready for a play date with Penelope!

Catch you all later! Cheers!

I guess I like the block ....!

I finished hand stitched the binding on the Stardust quilt! Time to pick up a new UFO project!

It seemed like a good idea to peruse the UFO Quilt Projects - up to 2007 list. Thanks to Stashbuster, that's the year I began to keep an inventory of the quilting projects I started.

I decided to tackle project #16 - 1930 Reproduction Quilt (McCall's Pattern - Oct 99) started in 2002. Yea, that's the one. Let's get that baby completed. Open the plastic bin and ....

Gosh, I guess I like that block in reproduction fabrics! lol Luckily, it's a different layout!

What are you working on?

Thanks for stopping by my little corner in cyberspace! Catch you all later! Cheers!

We interrupt the hand stitching binding episode .....

To bring you the latest development on cat privileges ...

Hum .... Stella jumps on my lap right when I was about to turn a binding corner and proceeds to make herself comfortable.

I tried nudging her a bit to see if she would jump off, only to be given the look!

STOP everything and give in to my demands!

After some petting she is nice and snuggled in a quilt!

It always amazes me how a cat can fit on/in such a confined space! Between the queen size quilt and the cat, there wasn't much room available on my lap. Yet, she managed to not only get herself comfortable but bring my stitching rhythm to a grinding halt and get me to scratch her favourite spots!

I wish I had that much power. Not sure how it would look if I jumped on a person's lap and demanded attention! ROFLOL

Phew ... She's had enough and jumped off .... back to your regular schedule hand stitching program...