When the Scraps talk, you are supposed to listen

Carole over at From my Carolina Home (here) is running a Scrap Mystery and I heard my scraps say you need to do this one. I was gifted with a bag of "vintage" Christmas triangles. Not half square triangles, just triangles. So first task was to sew them into half square triangles. This is a photo of four blocks for step 3 which was posted yesterday. Since it is a mystery I have no idea where it is heading but I am more than happy to be up to date. The background fabrics are a little busy for my liking and may make the pattern difficult to see but I will have to wait on that one too. There is still time to join in. This is her second Scrap Dance Mystery. I did not know about last year's project in time to join in. It is good to be back with my sewing machine going and the iron at the ready. Piecefully, Joanne
Linking with Cynthia for Oh Scrap!(here)

Hands to Help finale for 2015

I did a little laundry today. I like to wash a quilt before it is donated. Nita will be getting the second from the right quilt and the wife of a friend from the gym will be getting the third from the left. The others have not got specific homes yet. Quilts 3,4 and 5 on the line were all Mystery quilts and they turned out OK. Or at least I think they did.
My other donated quilt for Hands to Help this year is going to Project Linus through our quilt guild. I have what feels like a million tops that need quilting so I need to knuckle down and get some more ready to donate. I really feel that is what I should be doing with my time at this point in my life.
I enjoyed a wonderful retreat in Tobermory with some local quilting friends. It was fairly cold so nice to stay inside and get some sewing done. The women who plan this event do such a great job. We ate well, we had fun, we got some work done. And this year we had a totally unexpected surprise. On Saturday afternoon a woman came to the door at the Lodge. She was a quilter who was going out of quilting and giving away what remained of her stash. We were all invited to come to her place at 4:00. We went, we had a ball. She had bags for us and everything was laid out by colour. I got several quilts worth of very nice scraps (fat quarter sized pieces). Everyone got something. Piecefully, Joanne

Willow Weave a Mystery Quilt Along Finish

Almost a year ago Doreen of Aunt Reen's Place (here) held a mystery jelly roll quilt along. I thought I would join in and the quilt you see is my result. Of course everyone else finished theirs ages ago. It turned out to be much larger than I imagined. At this time I plan to donate it to a raffle sponsored by my local University Women's group. It was decided that this year two of the interest groups would assemble a basket or container that reflects the interests of the group and that this would be available for an in-house raffle at our end of the year meeting. My book group was on the list for this year. So who does not want to snuggle under a lovely big quilt while reading a good book? There will likely be some liquid refreshment and of course some chocolate in our container. With any luck we will raise some funds for the larger group to help off set our meeting room and speaker expenses. Piecefully, Joanne

The local snow hill keeps growing

When the town plows out our tiny street, they pile up the snow on a vacant lot. This is the snow pile before the last four days of blowing snow. It is even bigger now. Why would a quilting blogger talk about snow? Well all the snow outside has kept me inside sewing. I completed the testing of another quilt for The Quilt Pattern Magazine. It is called Grecian Stars and the pattern will be included in their July issue. Unfortunately I can't show you a picture at this time. As the snow was getting started earlier this week the Kincardine Sunset Quilters held a Mystery Quilt workshop. Denise did one last year and is doing one again this year. The room we have to work in at St. Anthony's Church in Kincardine is lovely and spacious with good lighting. I got to step 7 out of 13. Second day of work is scheduled for this coming Tuesday. (And the Weather Network says 10-15 cm of snow). I have two new blocks to test for Quiltmakers 100 blocks volume 9 and in between I am working on some string blocks. Piecefully, Joanne

I love a good mystery whether it is a book or a quilt

This is a mystery quilt pattern I tested for The Quilt Pattern Magazine (TQPM) an on-line quilting magazine. the designer is a Canadian, Janet Barker from Calgary. I gave the quilt to my sister this past weekend. Only a little late for a milestone birthday she had this year.
Not certain how this photo is working. The little blue patches on the border are turtles. I have a thing for turtles so thought Linda could think of me when she used the quilt.  Piecefully, Joanne

Something cheerful on a gray day

 This is one of the Mystery for Relay quilts. I believe it is number 30. Marge does a terrific job writing these mysteries. It is already to donate. 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

The Giving Quilt

It has been a busy week in the quilting department. I have finally assembled my top based on The Giving Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini. It is bright and cheerful and hopefully will be just the ticket for some child needing a Project Linus quilt later this year. I still have a little time to get it quilted before Cathy returns. The challenge was to make one before she returned from Florida.
Tuesday the Kincardine Sunset Guild had a Mystery Quilt workshop. Denise taught the class and she was so well organized. I got a large chunk of the work done at the workshop and finished the blocks yesterday. I have the rows to sew together next.
We did not get as big a storm as family a couple of hours south of us. When we used to live in Guelph a true sign of a snow day was when the University shut down. It was closed on Friday. Today the sun is shining and it feels as though all is right with the world. Piecefully, Joanne

Celtic knot duvet cover done and on the bed

This project has taken far too long to finish. I cannot remember how long ago I made the top. A couple of years ago at least. It was presented as a mystery on a blog with a new section every couple of weeks. Deborah Cohen in Australia created the original design. I believe a pattern can be purchased that has different sizes. This one is a queen size. We wanted to make it a duvet cover. So I "quilted" the finished top to a layer of cotton, no batting between the layers. For the back of the duvet cover I used some extra wide quilt backing. I joined the front and back with a zipper so it will be easy to take off the bed and laundered as needed. It is "scrappy" in that the pinks, whites and blacks are various pieces. The mottled grey with pink in it was the only piece of fabric that was used consistently throughout the entire quilt. I am happy with it. The other bed upstairs also needs a new duvet cover so I need to keep working.  Piecefully, Joanne

No pictures today. It has been a busy week with some quilty events. Wednesday was Scrap Bag Quilters. Elaine made the kits for this month and what a treat to just sew for the day and not be "responsible" for anything. I finished my top by lunch time and started a second one which I brought home to finish. Jeanette was out for the first time since October and is happy to have her cancer treatments behind her. I am making good progress on my red rainbow scrap challenge but know that it won't be finished before the end of the month. Tonight we went out to celebrate my husband's not really a birthday event. He is one of those special people born on February 29th so young forever. Our favourite restaurant is on winter hours so it was tonight or later next week. There are a few Mysteries coming up in the next little while so I have been looking through the stash for material suitable for them. I have reached 16 on my 50 quilts from stash challenge so that is coming along also. Hope to have some finishes in the next little while. Joanne