This Too Shall Pass

Technology is a wonderful thing.  I’m writing this post from an isolation room at our local hospital as I sit with my Aunt.  She has been sick for a week and unfortunately isn’t getting any better.  Our wonderful family doctor came to see her at home on Tuesday and administered some shots to help with the nausea and diarrhea, but they didn’t do the trick, so yesterday he asked me to call for an ambulance to take her to Emergency.  First of all, how many doctors do you know that still make house calls?  He is one in a million and I don’t know what we are going to do when he retires.  I made him a quilt a few years ago and almost every time I see him, he tells me how much he treasures it.  I just hope he knows how much we treasure him.

My Aunt is such a trooper.  She has had a lot of illness in her life and somehow always manages to stay cheerful.  She is like a mother to me and I love her to bits.  I just hope they can help her to feel better.  It isn’t the flu, but some intestinal virus – they aren’t sure exactly what, which is why she is in isolation.  So, I’m sitting typing this with latex gloves on and a very unbecoming yellow gown.  It’s a bit of a joke, really, as some nurses ‘suit up’ and some don’t and they are flitting to and fro from patient to patient.

I finished my Starry Eyed Quilt and got the binding sewn on.  This was a pattern from the Moda Bakeshop website and I’d like to do another one some day.

I believe the fabric line I used for this was called Ruby and it just takes one layer cake and two charm packs.

One of these pictures was taken with a flash and the other without.  Maybe one day I’ll learn to use my camera properly – it has a dozen settings and all I ever use is ‘auto’. 

Speaking of good pictures, my son Ian took this picture of my baby.  I absolutely love it!

His little world is upside down right now as I’ve been out so much.  I took him over to my Aunt’s earlier this morning while I changed her bed, etc. and he searched the house for her.  I hope she will be home soon – we all miss her!

 

I Feel Good

As James Brown would say! I’ve been busy quilting tops this week – tops that have been completed for quite a few months years and have been patiently waiting to become a quilt.  This one is called Birthday Presents by Atkinson Designs and I believe it was in the book Take Two and Add a Few.  It’s been so long ago since I bought it, that I can’t remember.

I quilted this with the Swirls design from Circle Lord.  This has a batik back on it and I was a bit concerned that it might give me problems but I shouldn’t have worried.  Tillie handled it with ease and the tension was perfect.  I used a variegated King Tut on the the top and a Super Bob in the bobbin.

I just took my Starry Eyed quilt off the frame this afternoon, so once I get it bound, I’ll post some pictures.  What I should say, is after my hands recover from hand sewing the binding on this quilt, I’ll start on the next!

I was looking at all the tops still to be quilted on my rack downstairs and there is one in particular that has been there forever.  I don’t like it anymore and I don’t want to quilt it either, so I think I will just donate it the way it is.  I loved the fabric – Paris Flea Market – in fact they have just brought that line back as it was so popular.  It was a swap done many, many years ago on the About.com quilting forum.  I just read recently that you don’t have to finish everything you start.  There is no crime in giving it to someone who likes it or donating it as a charity quilt.  Therefore, I can get rid of it with a clear conscience – that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

We must have been out of our minds when we did it, but Lee and I signed up for a class through our Guild that was held on Wednesday night.  Why on earth I thought it would be a good idea to haul everything out to a class at the end of January is beyond me.  Did I mention that it was FREEZING here all week and UNBEARABLY COLD at night?  Brave stupid souls that we are, we went and it was actually quite interesting.  Next month – oh yes, we didn’t just sign up for one month, we signed up for three – in the middle of winter – it must have been Lee’s idea – anyway, next month we are somehow going to be making a strip pieced star.  I’ll let you know how it turns out.

This quilt is going on Tillie next.

 

I can’t remember if I put a border on this or not, but if I didn’t, I think I should, don’t you?

Winter is in the Building!

The glorious weather we had is now just a distant memory.  It’s freezing here today and it’s supposed to get colder as the week goes on – lovely!  A good excuse to stay home and sew.

On Saturday, our local quilt store hosted Sherri Hissey from Border Creek Station.  Sherri designs the Mystery Quilt that I have done for the past three years.  She was really entertaining and showed us some gorgeous quilts.  I did take some pictures, but the room was very small, so I didn’t get the proper perspective for good pictures.  I’ll share a few of my favourites.

 

This one was done as a leader/ender project and Sherri did it completely from her scraps.

This lets you see just how small the room was and why my vantage point wasn’t ideal.  Ron, Sherri’s husband, helps her with the business and does all her binding.  A handy man to have around!

 

 

I got my Poinsettias de Noel top finished.  I realized while doing this that I have a very short attention span.  I had only worked on this top for 3 weeks, but already I was sick of it.  I have a whole new admiration for quilters who spend months and years on certain projects.

If you look at the top left in the picture, you’ll see Molly.  I spent ages trying to get this laid out flat to get the picture, then as soon as I stepped away, she plunked herself down right in the middle of it!  You’d think there was catnip in quilt tops the way she is attracted to them.  Just shortly after this picture was taken, Ben had to come and lie on it too – so I guess it now has the seal of approval from both of my little quilt inspectors.

We have quite a few squirrels in our neighbourhood and one of them has no tail.  He is so cute – he almost looks like a bunny.  It doesn’t seem to bother him and he can still climb trees and walk along wires.  I don’t know if he lost it in an accident or he was born this way, but he has been without it for a couple of years.

Isn’t he cute!!  We also have a squirrel that comes right up to our patio door and puts his paws on the glass until we throw out peanuts.  We have the best fed (and fattest) squirrels in the neighbourhood!

January?

The calendar says it’s January, but the temperature thinks we’re in the southern hemisphere.  It was over 60 F here yesterday and today – not bad for Southern Ontario!!  In fact, a couple of crocuses were blooming in our front garden.  They are in for a big shock though as the temperatures are supposed to plummet at the beginning of the week.

I’ve been working away on my Poinsettias de Noel and this is what it looks like now.

That big area in the middle is going to have a pot of poinsettias in it.  I cut them all out last night and will start to get them assembled hopefully tomorrow.  There will be red sashing between the blocks and a black floral border – at least there will be when I get it done!

I took a break from it today to get some charity quilts quilted.  I managed to get 3 of them done and the binding sewn on, all ready to be hand stitched on Tuesday at our Cuddle Quilt Day.  While I was in my longarm room, I took a look at all my tops waiting to be quilted.  I must do something about that.  If the backs would magically piece themselves they would get quilted a whole lot faster. 

Lee and I were talking about making a bucket list of quilts.  We all have quilts that we want to make, but somehow something else comes along and some quilts always get put on the back burner.  As I was looking through some of my pictures today, I came across this one.

It’s called Circle of Hope and I ‘think’ I got the pattern from Keepsake a couple of years ago.  It wouldn’t be difficult, so I need to JUST DO IT!!  Another quilt on my bucket list is a Hunter’s Star.

It’s not like I want to make a New York Beauty (although that would be nice too) so I need to get busy and start crossing things off my Quilting Bucket list – the list that I haven’t made yet

The Golden Globes are on tonight and Jon Bon Jovi has been nominated in the Original Song category with “Not Running Anymore”.  He’s up against some tough competition with Adele in the category.  I like them both, so as long as one of them wins, I’ll be happy!

I’m afraid I’ve had to put a verification code on my comments as  I have been getting so much spam and it’s really annoying.  It makes you wonder – do they really get any business from all those spam comment links? 

Routine

It’s so nice to have everything back to normal.  Christmas isn’t my favourite time of year – I find it a very sad time so I’m glad it’s over.  I haven’t quite figured out why I buy so many Christmas projects, when I don’t like Christmas, but for some reason I’m always drawn to them.

These little guys were finished before Christmas but I had to wait until Sandra got them before I could show them to you.

 

The pattern is called Penguins on Parade by Whistlepig Designs. 

I also made this little jewelry holder for Sandra for Christmas.  We had a little tutorial on them at Retreat, but I modified mine somewhat and made it bigger. 

 

I filled it with all kinds of things from Forever 21 – it’s all about quantity, not quality

I did start my Poinsettias de Noel block of the month – last week!  At least it should be finished by next Christmas.  Here’s a picture of my progress.  These look really busy all together like this, but they are sashed and placed around an appliqued panel in the middle.

I’ve been using Triangulations for my triangles on these blocks and I’m really pleased with the results.  It’s a CD that let’s you print out whatever size half square or quarter square triangle you need and you only need to print out the sizes you need and the quantities of each.  If you are thinking that they are like Thangles, they are MUCH better and faster and you have whatever size you need at hand without having to buy a package.

I just noticed when I went to look for the link for you, that she now has flying geese available.  I’ll have to order that!  These blocks have gone together like a charm and a couple of them have 64 pieces.  I’ve tried so many different methods for HSTs – I have every ruler ever manufactured, but this method is by far my favourite.  It might take a little longer, but it’s worth it to me to get the accuracy.

I’ll leave you with this saying that I saw on Pinterest the other day.  Truer words have never been spoken.

Charm Party Tote

I have had several requests asking for the name of the pattern for my tote.  It’s called Charm Party Tote and if you can’t find it at your local quilt store, here is a link to it on Amazon.

Please, if you leave a comment and would like a reply, make sure you leave an e-mail address so I can respond to you.

 

My cousin in Scotland was the happy recipient of this tote for Christmas.

Fons & Porter’s Log Cabin E-Book

Back in the middle of December, I received an e-mail from Fons & Porter asking if I would be interested in reviewing their e-book on Log Cabins.  Since I’ve always been a fan of their magazine and their quilt show, I quickly replied that I’d love to and received the e-book by return e-mail.

First of all, I must admit I don’t use an e-reader.  I’m one of those old fashioned people that like to hold a book in my hand, turn the pages, see how many I’ve read and how many are left to go.  That being said, I can also understand the convenience of having an electronic reader, especially when travelling and also for convenience of immediate downloads.

I was really impressed with the Log Cabin book.  It covers the traditional, chevron and courthouse steps log cabin blocks and illustrates many different layouts.   As well as giving a history of the blocks, it also gives you a cutting chart for various sizes ranging from 4 1/2” to 13 1/2”.  There is also a fully illustrated pattern for ‘Bears in Bertie’s Cabin’ a combination bears paw and log cabin quilt designed especially for Fons and Porter by Ricky Timms.

This book really is full of useful information and includes a tutorial on binding with piping, Liz’s lumpless binding and bobbin work with trapunto.  There are lots of illustrations throughout and easy to follow instructions.Since the book came in PDF format, that means you can transfer it to iBooks on your iPad or iPhone which is a big plus for me as far as convenience goes.  Since I almost always have my phone with me, if you see the perfect fabric for a log cabin, you have all the fabric requirements at your fingertips.

I’ve saved the best for last.   Fons & Porter have provided me with this link so that you, too, can get a free copy of this wonderful e-book.  Just click here.

Since I don’t like posting without a couple of pictures, here are a couple of log cabins from my collection.