Sashiko Workshop in Kincardine

We were fortunate to have Renske Helmuth come to the Kincardine Sunset Quilters Guild this week and teach a beginner Sashiko workshop. I was one of the lucky ones to get signed up. I finished one square at the workshop and have a good start on my second block. Renske started us off with paper so that we could easily see the progression of the stitches and how simple straight stitches can build up to the final pattern. We did both square designs and round ones. She also had some resources for us to look at and some beautiful finished quilts with Shasiko designs incorporated into the quilt. She will be teaching this workshop at Quilt Canada next June so watch for the sign up if this is something you may find interesting. Renske is an excellent teacher. I had a great time and it was certainly good to be back stitching.  Piecefully, Joanne

Kincardine Sunset Quilters Guild starts a new year

Mary Coates the guild past co-chair finished her quilt from the Scrap quilt workshop I taught last May. It is a hit with all her family and I can see why. Ann Finlayson our incoming co-chair is on the right. She was part of the measuring team. This year our Guild is joining the Walk to Niagara Challenge from the Canadian Quilters Association. So after show and tell the quilt or project goes to the measurement table for a measurement. We did not have a large number of items at this meeting.
The Executive has done a marvelous job of lining up workshops and programs for the coming year. There is a good variety, as they say, something for everyone. Piecefully, Joanne

Where does the time go?

This quilt is ready to go to the Scrapbag group on Wednesday this week. It was a Mystery quilt started on the Mystery for Relay yahoo group. Believe it or not I still have blue scraps after finishing this one. Marge ran this again as a New Year's Mystery so there are likely many of them around. I like the simple clean lines.

The Mystery quilt on the right is not quilted but it is assembled. The Kincardine Sunset Quilt guild had a Mystery class for this one. I sewed all day long and did not think I was anywhere near finished. Got everything out the next day and surprised myself with how close I actually was to being finished.

Today I sent in my final binding numbers for the cross Canada adventure with the Canadian Quilters Association. This fun activity went on for 6 months and the goal was to see if members and member guilds could sew enough binding to cross Canada. My final total for the 6 month activity was 4602 inches or approximately 128 yards.

I had the pleasure of seeing an article I wrote in the most recent issue of the Canadian Quilter. I wrote about Virtual Groups and what they might offer to some specific quilters. I have enjoyed getting back to doing a little writing. Keeps my mind active if nothing else. 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