Resolutions, Goals, UFO Challenges, oh my

The photo shows a reasonably close view of the "tiny blocks". These were done with the 1 1/2" BY 2 1/2" bricks. My sister wanted a wheel chair quilt for a friend of hers so the over all quilt is 36" by 44". I have not made a quilt for that specific purpose before so I have requested feedback. I also added ties near the top.
As the year winds down I tend to look back before looking forward. I have accomplished a lot but there is always more to do. For two years now I have managed to make the 50 quilts from stash challenge. I think after looking things over I will try for what the sports fans call a threepeat. I am certain there is no such word. There are a couple of interesting looking BOM's and quiltalongs coming up. I am considering them but do not want to create more UFO's. I will add the buttons to my side bar once I have firmly joined in.
We went to see Lincoln last night. We both thought it was a terrific movie. Although having not been brought up in the US we did not know how factual the story was. The acting was great. Wishing one and all a peaceful or should I say pieceful new year.  Joanne

Silence is golden except when......

you are a blogger. I have been working on those "secret" projects lately that can't be shown at this time. All the Christmas work is done all that remains is to enjoy the season. There will be lots happening in the new year. Earlier this month I was interviewed for the Renaissance magazine. It is distributed to retired teachers in Ontario. they are doing a feature issue on popular hobbies and pastimes so I sent in a proposal about quilting. I think I prefer to do my own writing as one can then control the perspective. I still need to send them some photos to use for the article. One question that stumped me was how many hours a day or a week do you spend quilting. When you try to quantify it it is hard to say. Some days it is only a few moments, other days it is all day. I have several quilts pinned and ready to quilt so hopefully photos next week.If you are travelling during the holiday period, safe travels. Piecefully, Joanne

This is how we tie one on, well maybe knot

These are two of the five quilts we tied at Scrapbag Quilters yesterday. The top one is all wild and bright polka dot fabrics. The lower picture is a double slice from the Missouri Star You tube video. I made the kits up for that workshop. We had a good day. We are all up to date with our quilts. We donated just over 190 this year and we have a dozen in reserve for January for emergencies. Our ten year total is close to 1200 donated. I am on for February so I need to get my thinking cap on for an idea and I need to start getting my kits ready. Piecefully, Joanne

The Challenge has begun

Last week at the Sewcializers Christmas luncheon the topic of the Giving Quilt for Project Linus came up. I had posted a link to the pattern in my previous post and one of the women followed the link, downloaded the pattern and challenged us all to have one done by the time she returns from Florida in early April. We talked a bit more about the challenge at the final Scrapbag meeting of the year and we have a few more participants. So thank you Cathy for issuing the challenge. I am looking forward to the show in the spring. Piecefully, Joanne

The Giving Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini...some thoughts

I finished reading Jennifer Chiaverini's latest Elm Creek book last evening. If you like her books you will more than likely enjoy this one. It is rather like spending time with some old friends. As often happens a week at Quilt Camp is happening and the stories of some of the participants are told. This week at Quilt Camp is a special one. It is the last camp of the season and is called Quiltsgiving. It takes place the week after American Thanksgiving. Each participant makes a Project Linus quilt to donate during the week long camp. The instructions for the quilt are verbalized throughout the story. The actual quilt directions can be found at here. Since the Kincardine Sunset Quilt Guild gives to Project Linus I found the stories of why the participants were at camp interesting and it got me thinking about why I make quilts for the cause. I suspect there are as many reasons as there are quilters. I know that I enjoy the creative process and when I was recovering from my cancer surgery and was given a quilt it meant the world to me that my friends would get together and make me a quilt. Piecefully, Joanne

A few more for Scrapbag Quilters

This generous baby size quilt is likely my last finish for Scrapbag Quilters this year. The big tying day is Wednesday but I am going to miss that sessions. Early in December the more than 200 quilts that we have available for distribution will be sorted and sent on their way to various local charities and people in need. Each year we seem to be able to finish a few more than the previous year. Over the course of this year we have distributed close to 40 quilts to individuals in need. This quilt pictured above was a simple nine patch. The centre of each nine patch was a pinwheel block made from "waste" or "bonus" triangles. Piecefully, Joanne

Welcome blogathon visitors

Welcome to visitors from Sew Sister's Blogathon. It has been an interesting cross country tour. Thanks to all the behind the scenes organizers. I do not have a special post for today. I would invite you to have a look around. I primarily create Community Outreach quilts in a scrappy style. I live in Southampton, on the east coast of Lake Huron. We have held the lake effect snows at bay for a while but I don't think we will be able to do that much longer. Piecefully, Joanne

Treasure Box Quilt

Traceyjay offered this quiltalong a couple of months ago. I actually finished it in time for the linky party. This quilt will be a Project Linus donation quilt for the Kincardine Sunset Quilters Guild. It made a dint in the pink collection but that one seems to keep getting replenished. The guild meeting was this week. Prizes from the quilt show were handed out and all the normal activites took place. The Past Presidents challenge was "issued". It is a crayon colour challenge. We had to reach into a black bag and take a crayon. Then using that colour and its complement we are to come up with a quilt design by the end of April. That should really say a finished quilt by the end of April.
Friday evening and Saturday I went on the local Christmas homes tour with my next door neighbour and her daughter's Mother in Law. We had a great time and saw many beautiful homes that were also beautifully decorated. Kind of puts you in the mood. Christmas is no longer strictly red and green.
The on-line group Canadian Quilters are having a Virtual Retreat today. So I think I will head back to the machine for a little while. Piecefully, Joanne

Blog Hops and Linky parties

Lately there seem to be a plethora of blog hops and linky parties. They can become a sink hole for time or an opportunity to expand your horizons. This week Quiltmaker magazine is hosting a blog hop to publicize their soon to be released magazine. And many bloggers who have had quilt alongs are hosting linky parties for followers to show their results. Following a blog hop can lead you to new bloggers whose style appeals to you, linky parties can show you what others have done with a similar challenge. Sew Sisters, a quilt shop in Toronto is hosting a blog hop of Canadian quilters later this month. Visit their blog for more details.  Piecefully, Joanne

A great day of sewing at the library

Yesterday the Sewcializers had a full day of sewing at the library. I completely finished my tote bag before I came home. Elizabeth was our teacher for the day and she did a terrific job. We had the cutting instructions ahead of time. That was really necessary because it was a full day of sewing. I have been working on the blocks for Traceyjay's Treasure Box quilt along here. Today I finished all the blocks and trimmed them up. I am hoping to get enough time tomorrow to create my layout and perhaps get the rows sewn together.  Piecefully, Joanne

Scrapbag quilters, brown quilts and busy times

It has been a busy quilting week. The show was a tremendous success on all sides. And we had terrific coverage in the local press.
Then Wednesday our Scrapbag Quilters group met. Cathy did the project for us this time and I got a kit with manly browns, greens and some earthy prints. An easy block to put together. Her other kits were great and we will have some wonderful quilts once they have their borders and are quilted.
And finally my brown finish for this month. It all came from stash. The diamond pattern is from Mary's Quilts page. The strings are sewn on rectangles that start at 7" by 10". The big thing to remember is that half the strings must lean to the left and the other half must lean to the right. Then just sew.
Grandsons are visiting for the weekend so that accounts for the busy times. Piecefully, Joanne

Kincardine Sunset Quilters Show today and Saturday

Here are two photos taken after the set up was complete yesterday. The show starts today, Friday and continues tomorrow. I am on duty tomorrow. Join us if you can. Princes Street, Kincardine. Lots of construction, parking available at the former Foodland parking lot. Piecefully, Joanne 

Can Brown be beautiful?

Jeni Baker at In Color Order is running a Block of the Month on her blog this year showing different ways of using Half Square Triangles to make a block. These are the first 10, only two more to go and then I can assemble them. I had these "bonus" HST left from a Bonnie Hunter project and just hope I have enough left for the remaining two months. Dylan liked his quilt enough he wanted to take it to school for show and tell. His Mom convinced him that a picture of him with his quilt would be a better choice.
It is Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend, so Happy Thanksgiving to those who might be celebrating.
I have a quilty week lined up with Kincardine Sunset Quilt Guild Wednesday and hopefully a shop hop Thursday and Friday. Piecefully, Joanne

Not top secret at all

Clearly not the best photo in the world but Dylan likes his new quilt. He said it was quite soft enough. He arrived with some mending for me to do too. Patching the knees of tiny little jeans is not the easiest task in the world but I will give it a try. Piecefully, Joanne

Excuses, excuses, excuses

About the middle of August the phone wasn't working. We put in a request for a service call but then later on we had phone service again so we cancelled the service call. What a cascade that set in motion. They cancelled our phone service, then after a couple of REALLY long calls to BELL we got the service back and eventually got our old number back. Then somewhere in the system something noticed the phone number had changed so our Internet service was cancelled. More phone calls, are you getting the picture? Meanwhile our wireless set-up wasn't working but it couldn't be dealt with until the Internet was back up and running.
I think/hope we are back up and running. I am worn out dealing with this. Meanwhile I realized I let four Scrapbag quilts out of the house without taking their pictures.
I did take three Project Linus quilts to Kincardine for quilt guild this month.Guild is getting back up and getting ready for our show next month.
My younger grandson asked me to make him a soft quilt. Translation, he wants a quilt with Minkee on the back. So I asked him what size quilt he wanted and he replied he wanted "a Dylan sized quilt". I loved that response. Checking with his Mom she wants a quilt for his bed so I have been working on that instead of net surfing.
I have managed to stitch 860" of binding for my September report in to CQA for their Cross Canada binding stitching project.
Maybe October will be a more tranquil month and the technology will behave.  Piecefully, Joanne

Another set of bricks

This simple brick quilt has been waiting for a while to get quilted. I managed to get several quilts quilted this week and this one got its binding sewn down too. The Canadian Quilters Association is having a fun challenge and it started on September 1st. Members keep track of how many inches of binding they are able to sew and once a month report in to the director at large. Guilds are being encouraged to take on the challenge so the director at large will not have a mailbox crash on reporting day. We are going to see how far across the TransCanada Trail we can stitch. I have completed the binding on two small quilts and this one for a total so far of 368". Imagine how far we can go if all the members particpate!
It is going to be a quilty week. Kincardine Sunset Quilt Guild starts up this week and then I have a few days away with some friends for some quality sewing time and some laughs and good food thrown in too. Piecefully yours, Joanne

Double Blue for brother Bill

This little quilt, or should I say quiltlet is for my brother Bill to hang on the door at the facility he lives in now. I used some scraps from the blue quilt I made for him and some other bits of blue that I had in my scrap bag. Hopefully when it get hung on his door it will help him recognize his door from amongst the many choices. The border and backing are Canadian hockey fabric that too is something he would know. Piecefully, Joanne

Another quilt with feet

This little quilt is not quilted yet but is another scrappy one. I was reading the Quilty Pleasures blog and one of the contributors suggested making these blocks as Leaders and Enders. Well that got me started. The block components are 1 1/2" by 2 1/2" bricks. There are four of each colour. I have no repeats but there are some fabric duplicates. Once quilted it will be a Project Linus donation quilt for the Kincardine Sunset Guild. Someone gave me a milk bag full of scraps and many of them found their way into this quilt.
There have been very few finishes this summer as we have been busy one way and another with family. When the weather changes and the fall routines get started we expect to have more "free" time on our hands.
Piecefully, Joanne

Grey-Bruce Home Economics group

What a tremendous day! We created a quilt top for the Habitat for Humanity build in Hanover. The sun was very bright when we took the picture so it is a little washed out. The pattern is from a Turn Twenty book. I think it was Turn Twenty Times Four. The quilt took 20 fat quarters and then two borders. The colours we used were in the purple/royal family with a few hints of green. An analagous colour scheme for sure. The organizers had the plan well in hand. I was a sewer for the day. We had pressers, cutters, design wall people. Everyone had a job. The day was not as frantic this year as last so there was more time for visiting. We enjoyed a lovely pot luck lunch. Our host's cottage is right on the shore at Big Bay so when we weren't doing our designated task we had a beautiful view out the many windows. Piecefully, Joanne

Am I blue?

July's colour for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is blue. I just finished this blue bento box for my brother. It is a lap size quilt approximately 45" square. It was started at a workshop in May so it did not take long to complete.
As to what else I have been doing. I am able to cross an event off my bucket list. I went on a bus trip with the Kincardine Sunset Quilt Guild to the Vermont Quilt Festival. No it was not a bus trip on my list, it was the Vermont Festival. The timing has always been an issue. So this year I made it. We had a great trip with stops at Keepsake Quilting in New Hampshire and an overnight stay and dinner in Scholarie New York,  where I met blogger Sharon Vrooman of Vrooman's Quilts. Her Mom gave an after dinner trunk show that was wonderful. Sharon did a blog post on our visit. Piecefully, Joanne

Can you find the purple?

Well if not, then how about the blue or the green or the orange or the yellow or the wild pink? This is yet another of my tiny bricks quilts. This one is just over 36" square and I think will make a happy baby quilt. The print that is scattered throughout is the funky sheep fabric that I used for my sister's quilt. I think life is going to start settling down and I can look at perhaps finishing a couple of quilts. Piecefully, Joanne

Second annual retreat

Here we are "modelling" our mystery quilt tops. the activity went quite well. I told them we were going to use Pat Speth's Nickel Quilt strategies and that the quilt would be crib size. I also gave them the number of light, medium and dark nickels to have with them. Only two had ever done mysteries before and those were not overly successful or so they said. I believe all were pleased with the results.
Cathy and Gayle planned a terrific retreat and the weather made us want to stay inside so we all got some serious sewing done. The food was tasty and nutritious. Great company. Not much more one could ask for. We also had a murder mystery to maintain the theme. Before the weekend we got our characters and what props we would need. The night of the mystery event we were given our scripts. Imagine my surprise when I found out I was the murderer. That meant I could tell lots of mis-directing lies. We laughed ourselves silly with that activity and only one person guessed me as the guilty party. Piecefully, Joanne

Perhaps 50% yellow will count

I was given a baggie of 1 1/2" yellow squares andsome 1 1/2" strips. The next questions was what to do with them. I have always wanted to try the Bento box design and Tracy Brookshier's revised pattern has directions for creating the block using 1 1/2" strips. So I used up some of the small squares andsome of the strips. I had all kinds of blue. This little quilt is roughly 24" by 30". I still had all kinds of yellow squares and not as many strips so I have started working on the same size block but more of them to make a larger quilt.
I attended an "official" Bento box workshop this week after making my first little one and was rather disappointed. The instructor only had one sample and it only showed one variation. The revised pattern gives cutting directions for 5 different sizes of strips and shows several different lay outs.
My trunk show in Kincardine went well and they asked if I would do a workshop next year. I said as long as it wasn't in the winter I would do one. Winter driving in our area can be awful or even impossible. The Hwy that goes through our town is the one that is closed most often during the winter months.
I am really hoping that once we get through the next month or so that I can get back to some more regular sewing sessions. I miss them.  Joanne

A terrific mini workshop

I had a great day with Kathy Wagner yesterday of the blog kathysquilts. She came to Owen Sound to give a trunk show for the Bluewater Quilters 25th anniversary and then stayed to do a workshop the following day. I had a couple of other pieces I played with but the ones on the cutting board show the scale. We got a terrific package of notes and she had so many samples for us to have a look at. My friend Jeanette drove over and back I felt very pampered.

Next challenge is helping our daughter finish her move. But meanwhile I am going on a short retreat tomorrow with some new friends from the Canadian Quilters On-line Yahoo group.

Medium size double slice

I finished this little baby size quilt recently. It is another double slice style/pattern. I started with 7" blocks because that is what the scraps would allow. It is bright and cheerful and with a soft blue flannel backing it will keep some baby warm at night.

Not many finishes recently as we have been dealing with far too many health issues and our planned trip to the Netherlands is off.

The Cat's Meow

This is the only picture I have of "The Cat's Meow" quilt. I am showing it to one of my sewing buddies. It was a kit I purchased and have finally finished. I was so anxious to get it in the mail to its new owner that I neglected to get a good full on photo. It is heading south of the border so I hope it has no difficulties at Customs. Joanne

Colour makes a difference

This topper is the same pattern as the finished quilt I showed in the previous post. It is a Scrap Bag top and hopefully will soon be quilted and ready to donate as needed.

I need some sunshine

The price we are paying for the milder than usual winter is a lack of cold crisp sunny days. I don't know which is worse. I finished this quilt this week so it had to fill in for some sunshine. The pattern is called Stashbuster and one of the Scrapbag Quilters found it. I started with some wild rainbow sheep and then pulled colours to go with the sheep. I made this for my sister because she collects sheep but I don't know if she will like it because it is quite bright. I will ask. The grandsons are coming for a visit this weekend so no sewing for me. Joanne

A new string quilt

This little string quilt used up many little left overs I had hanging around. There are 36 square blocks each at 6 1/2". Each block was constructed in exactly the same manner with a medium blue centre then on one side a blue and pink striped fabric and on the other a green and pink striped fabric. Then a stripe of the pink and then in each corner a piece of green. When trimmed and assembled this is what you get. Joanne

A budding block designer???

This is my simple block in answer to Sarah's challenge. Details of the challenge can be found http://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/2012/01/whats-cookin-at-sweatshop-week-18-lots.html Sarah received the book Cut the Scraps for a gift and challenged readers to create a block using Joan Ford's Scrap Busting System. In her system she cuts her scraps into 2, 3 1/2, and 5 inch squares. The block I designed has two four patches made using 2" squares, then a larger four patch using the smaller four patches with 3 1/2" squares and then finally on the outside edge I took two 5" squares cut them on the diagonal and sewed them in place. Everything matched up well. the block is 9" and will finish at 8 1/2". Thank you Sarah for the challenge. This is the first time I have tried to actually design something myself. Joanne

A small doll quilt made with strings

This little doll quilt was made from green strings that were 1 1/2" wide. I joined the lot of them end to end to make a very long string. Then folded it back on itself three different times and sewed the long side each time to end up with a strata that was 8 1/2" wide. This was then cut into three equal pieces which were then resewn to make the rectangle shape. A very relaxing way to put a small top together.

Check out the String Thing Along for more string quilt ideas. Joanne

Double the laughs with Double Slice

No pictures today to protect the identities of the "guilty" parties. What a day we had at Scrapbag Quilters yesterday! We got a good start right at 9:00. I had two sample quilts to show the pattern. I posted pictures of these a couple of weeks ago. I explained how to do the block, showed it with a sample and handed out written and pictorial instructions. All I can say is then let the fun begin. By the end of the afternoon we were giggling something fierce and suggesting that "mistake" was variation 10. We doubled the salary of our presser when we doubled her responsibilities and added quality control to her title.
All in good fun and we finished the day with 5 good size quilt tops either assembled or almost assembled. Mine is to the blocks stage but I had other things to do so did not get as much sewing in as I had thought I might.
Next month we are having a finish up day where we will work on kits that have been made for other times and not yet completed. Joanne

Beginning to see a little red

I have spent a lot of time with red fabric this month. These are the sample blocks for the Community Outreach afternoon we had earlier this week. I cut up miles of red fabric and more miles of white fabric. The fabric was then subcut into 5" squares and 2 1/2" strips. On outreach afternoon. A couple of sewers made HST with red and white. Another person made red and white four patches. We had a couple of people pressing, then some others squaring blocks. As the afternoon wore on we were able to assemble 10 blocks and have the makings ready for another 18. If I make a few more 4 Patches we probably could make at least 8 more blocks. I will take these to Scrap Bag quilters on Wednesday so the rest of the group can see what we accomplished in a short afternoon of work. Joanne

Yet another interesting looking BOM

I think I should not sit down at the computer any more. There are so many interesting things going on out there and I want to do them all. I have had a flu bug this week that has kept me in bed so nothing new to report on the sewing front. Maybe early next week. Joanne

Double slice-large and small

These are the two double slice samples for the next Scrapbag Quilters day. The small one was made with charm squares and the large one with layer cake size pieces. The pattern was found at the Missouri Star Quilt Company blog and they had made a YouTube video to show the process. I made my own layer cake from scraps and put the sample together. I am ready almost two weeks early.

Yesterday was the Kincardine Sunset Quilt Guild meeting. I drove down. It was a great meeting with lots going on and what a spectalular day for a drive. Weather is threatening a big change for today. I see more indoor quilting time on my horizon. Joanne

Sew Scraps Along a new scrap quilt along

Pleasant Home is having another Sew Scraps Along. She is featuring inspirational posts and tutorials. Today was the first tutorial. What a scrap buster! I am looking forward to what else she has instore. I spent a few hours yesterday taming my red scraps. Well not all my red scraps but a laundry baskets worth. I soaked them first and then set some of the "bleeders" with salt. Then lightly dried them, pressed them all and then cut them into 5" strips, 2 1/2" strips, 1 1/2" strips and a few 2" strips. I want to make a scrappy red and white Jacob's Ladder and that will use the 5" and the 2 1/2" strips. I might do another mini lasagna with the 1 1/2" or save them until I have another colour to put with them. Joanne