Stick my head in the sand!

I don't watch TV, but I do have some occasions to watch TV - like when I'm at the gym. It does pass the time by quite quickly to watch a morning show while plugging out steps on the cardio machines. But the moment my 30 minutes are up, the TV shuts off!  So onFridayy, I'm watching and they run a trailer for the movie IT by Stephen King!  Can't watch, can't watch!  I'll have visions that won't be pretty. I read the book many years ago and well, my imagination was enough for me!  I know Ronda posted a picture a while back of the empty yellow rain slicker!  Yikes!  I simply looked down for the duration of the time the trailer was on the screen!

There's a major, major event happening in the world right now and while I'm not watching it on TV, I'm checking the newsfeed on the internet. I'm not sure why I (among many others) are mesmerized by these news feeds?  It is a terrible terrible thing that is happening to the people of the Caribbean area and I feel for them all. What drives me crazy is that the news people feel they have to be there to report on the situation.  And one of them was asked the question "if you don't need to leave, why do we?"   Good point and one that the reporter NEVER answered!

Listening to what is happening and how upside down these people's lives are and those recently in Houston or for that matter in any of the major disasters that have hit our world lately. Imagine leaving your home with what few possessions you can tuck in the car and not knowing if anything (including your home) will be there when you come back.  That's pretty scary but becoming a bigger reality as we move forward. We're very fortunate where we live, but it could be us!

Just one more reason to think about all the stuff we own and ask ourselves - what is important? If you had one hour to evacuate your house - what would you take?  Maybe the rest of it you don't need!

I'm really liking my pared down office (OK - so I still have a long, long way to go, but it's so much better).  While I'm waiting for pictures to load, I can file a few pieces of paper in the small stack that is on the slate for that day.  I actually feel like I'm getting ahead of the game!  What a super feeling that is!  Once I get all the paper filed in the filing cabinet, it'll be another job to cull what doesn't need to be there, but this is a very very good start for me. Don't worry - I question myself every day - "why did I let it get this way?"

I have to confess that I finished that Anne Perry book yesterday - it was GREAT.  I'm very glad I stumbled across her, but I would have at some point as I have one of her books on my shelf. While I was away, I learned of another author - Colin Dexter so I have the first book in that series and I started another book that I had borrowed from the library.  Yep -  I love to read!   Just have to be very careful - when I'm at home, I read during breaks, at lunch and dinner and before bed.  I don't have time right now to sit and read all day!  But the girls and I had fun sitting outside yesterday during the appointed times (OK - I cheated - I did read for a bit more than I stated!  Hey - it's the weekend, I'm allowed!

I made it to the bank and got in line, just in time.  Two minutes later and there was a HUGE line behind me.

And what else did I get done yesterday???

Ronald McDonald quilt - number one - DONE

Ronald McDonald quilt - number two - DONE!

 Both are trimmed and ready for someone to bind them.  I counted and I think there are still eight more to quilt!  They are small and easy to work into an evening, so I hope to get most of them done by the guild meeting next month?  I'll see - my busy season is ramping up and I don't have a lot of extra time!

Then it was over to the sewing machine where I worked on a sample for the PRISM class.  Making great progress with that and it's looking AMAZING!!!!   I didn't take a picture, but if you want to sign up for the class and buy a kit, call The Hobby Horse.  The class is NEXT SUNDAY, but there is still time to get organized.

PRISM squared

My fabrics cut!

Then it was onto the jewelry case.  I wanted to get at least the outer part done.  I ran out of thread part way through, but that was OK.  Since I had marked the Texture Magic, I had to load my fancy thread in the bobbin.  ONE bobbin exactly and it was all done. 

Ran out of thread

All the stitching is done

 I used a variegated thread so it's hard to see but it looks great!

Variegated thread

 And this is what the texture magic side looks like.

Texture Magic is stitched

Then you take your iron and steam the Texture Magic.  No touching the iron to the fabric - just a case of hovering and it shrinks up!

Texture Magic shrinking

Totally shrunk up!

 And what does it look like from the front???

Textured side

It's really hard to see in the picture and I'm not sure that it was worth it, but I'm always up for experimenting.  Now I have to get my list of tasks ready for this week and I'll see if I have time to do any more on this project.

While I was working on the long arm, I took a long look at the mess in the corner.  I had all those quilt tops of mine sorted and stored in totes.  They are labelled and listed in a book.  But after a couple of trunk shows and presentations this past summer, the area looks like - well it doesn't look pretty and things are all over.

A huge mess of quilt tops projects!

Time to get that place back in shape!   There are 13 tubs and maybe 14 with a few more projects added.  I went through the first three this morning and hope to get through the rest today.  It just makes it a whole lot easier to find something when it is exactly where it's supposed to be. And trunk show season is coming up fast.  At least I did sort them according to what I needed more often and I really really should get those ones quilted!

Well, lots of stuff to do and not a whole lot of time, so I must focus on getting and staying organized so I'm wasting time!

On that note, it's time to get the day started (well I've been up for hours!)

Have a great day!!!!!

Ciao!

Motivational Monday - progress report

It was a whirlwind weekend and so nice to work WITHOUT a pressing deadline.  That's what happens when you plan. Or more likely there just weren't any major deadlines happening at this time.

It was another instance where that comperized long arm should would have come in handy as at one point, I had the long arm, the embroidery machine and the sewing  machine going at the same time. The embroidery machine was quite fine to run on it's own, but a little difficult to sew and quilt at the same time!

So what did I get done?

I got another one of the Ronald McDonald quilts done!  I counted and there are a few more to do, but they are small and if I focus in this temporary lull, I should get a few more done. The batting is ready for the next one as it had to be joined.

Ronald McDonald quilt - done!

I did get the blocks completed for the next deadline quilt. Well almost. I ran out of fabric!  I had some of this fabric at home - did NOT calculate how much was needed and well, I'm short ONE strip 2 1/2"!  And with today being a holiday, I won't get more until tomorrow. Doesn't matter - the blocks are done, I can sew most of the quilt top together and hope to do that later today.

While piecing the blocks, I was working on my next block for the pixelated apple. Notice all those black/white prints. Yes - I'm using a very busy background. Normally I don't do that as I hate busy background.  No - I don't hate them, I only dislike them when there's not enough contrast to really see the main focus of the quilt. In this case, the main focus is a big red apple - I think the busy background is OK!

One more pixelated block - almost done!

Those blocks are very time consuming, but when you only use them as enders and leaders - it takes a long time. No worries and I went through the black/white stash basket (having exhausted what was available in the black/white scrap basket) and have several more prints picked out to cut into teeny tiny squares.  Now if I were as smart as Peggy, I would know how many I need and I would have it cut and counted. Not going to happen. I'll cut a bunch and if I run out, I'll cut more.

The embroidery machine ran non-stop for two days. Well pretty much non-stop. I was on a roll and figured that if I was quilting/sewing, I could babysit the embrodiery machine. You see, I want to get that Halloween project done.  I have a few other embroidery projects that I want to do BUT I'm not starting anything new untiil this Halloween quilt is done!

Totally random thought here - did we not at one point spell Hallowe'en  with an apostrophe?  Or is that my imagination?

Embroidery machine - slaving away

This quilt uses a lot of black thread. I had purchased a large spool, but you can see that it is getting used up. I checked my thread boxes and found not one, not two, not three, but FOUR spools of the same black.  Why???   NO idea and if you look at them closely, you can see that three of them have been used. Why not use up the smallest one before moving to the next?  NO idea.

Lots of spool of black thread!

All those spools are now in the project box for this Halloween quilt.   I've made a list of what I'm running low. Black is definitely on the list!

So when I went to bed on Saturday night, this is what my design wall looked like.

Halloween blocks

That may mean nothing to you, but I did FOUR of those blocks in one day.  That's the equivalent of almost 200,000 stitches.  I'm not sure the speed of my machine, but there are lots of thread changes, placing fabric for the applique and trimming.  I average about 3 hours per block.


I managed to get a customer quilt done.  A HUGE customer quilt.

One half of the customer quilt

And the other half

 I bought a new camera lens a while back (NO MORE ISSUES with the camera), but the angle is different and I can't get back far enough to take one picture of these big quilts. The next customer quilt is loaded on the long arm and ready for tonight.

Let's see - oh yes - busy at the embroidery machine on Sunday as well and now look at the blocks.

Halloween blocks

 Yep - I was able to get THREE more blocks done yesterday. I could have gotten a fourth one in, but I had to drive my personal chef to the airport and we had dinner out and that killed my embroidery time. Looks like I might be having chocolate for dinner this week!

Let's see - oh yes - I did get some work done on one of my UFOs. I have a wee bit of work to get caught up on those.  I'm making progress. But instead of using it as enders and leaders, I'm going to have to dedicate a day to getting it done!

Blocks trimmed and ready for the next stage. 

Next piece to add on

But while I was watching a movie, I managed to get all the next little triangle pieces cut and marked.


So how is everyone doing on their list of UFOs. Me - I'm not doing great.  I MUST get focused and get those two that I'm currently working on DONE!   I'm off to a sewing day today and I'm taking the project above and hope to make great progresson it. NOT as an ender and leader, but as the darn project of the day. Hmmm - I was going to take my small sewing machine, but I need speed - going to swap out for the bigger one.

It's a holiday here so I get to spend the day with the Monday group!  Can't wait, but first, the girls and I are off to the dog park.

Have a super day!!!


Ciao!!!

Quilt Canada - Day Three

I think this was a first for me, but the third day seemed to be way busier or as busy as the previous two days. How did that happen?  It's actually exciting - some of those people have multi-day passes (it's so worth it as there is much to see and hard to get done in one day!). But exciting to see so many people out.  Today is the last day!  This is the last day of trade shows for a couple of months!  Isn't that exciting!  Maybe not to you, but it is to me. I won't have any mad sewing (well still have four magazine quilts, but they have spaced out deadlines which I'm going to be working ahead of) and more blogging with QuiltSocial, but I'm going to be spending my weekends doing fun stuff. And I hear there is a retreat coming up real soon. I'm already planning what to pack. Do I dare restrict myself to one laundry basket?  Oh that's just silly! Load the car!

I think what I'm going to do is take ONE day this coming week. It's going to be a planning day. Planning for work - what needs to be done, (i.e. what patterns need to be written), how to be more efficient at how those patterns get written, future designs and figure out numbers/goals/objectives for that kind of stuff. I also have a ton of videos that I want to get produced. So far I've been working by the seat of my pants and I'm not happy with the results. NO - that's not right - I'm happy with the results, but not happy with the process - that's probably a better way of putting it.

So I'm going to sequester myself in my office or at home and figure out how to move forward in the most time-efficient manner. And I really need to look at that calendar of mine and make sure that everything is scheduled.  Speaking of scheduling - can you believe what I did?  So in years past and well most situations in my life - it appears that I'm a last minute girl. Not sure why - but that's me. So I thought I would be ahead of the game and I would do my stuff with Quilts at the Creek.  Remember I mentioned that the other day?  So the quilts are entered and I signed up for the workshops. I was chatting with the ladies from the Quilts at the Creek show and Val says, there is some bad news. Oh god - what did I do?  Well, it appears that I was even more efficient than I thought and I signed up for the same lecture and workshop TWICE!!!   See what happens when you do things so far in advance?  You forget you did them. No worries  - all is good, but we got a good laugh over that one.

I also need to sit down with that Task Master of mine. There are two things I need to do.  What is the list of critical quilts with deadlines?  List those with the deadline. Then work backwards to make sure that they will in fact get done on time. And I need to absolutely, positively be diligent about keeping that list up-to-date. No ifs, no ands, no buts. That will become a crucial part of my planning going forward.  Remember my motto - Prioritize - Focus - Win?  Well, I'm good at focusing, just not so good at prioritizing and if it isn't written down, it's not on my radar screen.

More wheeling and dealing at Quilt Canada yesterday.  I have to say that I'm pretty excited about some upcoming stuff and can't wait to get started.

I also had a peek at what was happening at Canada's Big Quilt Bee. Jackie gave me a tour towards the end of the day.  All I can say is that I had to pick my jaw off the floor. They have four long arms in those rooms, they have sewing machines and everyone was quilting quilts!   The sheer number of blocks and tops (didn't I predict that a couple of weeks ago?)  is unbelieveable.  I did take some pictures.

Blocks, tops and quilts

These are ALL tops that need quilting!

Busy bees!

They'll be doing the final tally later today, but the project will NOT be wrapped up for a while.  All those tops and blocks have to be finished.

It's too bad that more people didn't provide finished tops.  How many of us are sitting on stacks of fabric that could be donated for those backings?  It would have been a great way to get rid of some of that stuff!

I think I have 8 more quilts to quilt and then I'll be done with our part. Someone will bind and we can move on with a clear conscience.

I've learned over the years that "be careful what you wish for" because often times - it will come true!  And in ways that you had never imagined.  I think that is what happened with this Quilt Bee.  What I would like to see is more people pitch in to help finish this project. I'm not aware of how it's all working, but this is huge and the last thing we want is for these quilt tops/blocks to end up in someone's basement!  I'm pretty sure that won't happen, but there is a HUGE amount of work to be done!

They have reached their goal of 1,000 quilts.  What will the final tally be?  I predicted 1,500 on my blog.  But - well - I'm going to leave that thought hanging until they do the final tally!


Now how can we keep this generousity from our quilters/guilds going through the coming year? How can we keep this exciting momentum from Quilt Canada? Oh - if only I could wave my magic wand and all would be done!

Before I forget, I taught an all day class on perfecting the hand applique stitch. The ladies were from all over - Sudbury, Powassan (do you know where that is?), near London, Ontario, Ottawa and Montreal and even Chicago. What a fun group and we all learned some cool things.  I'm going to be showing some of the things that I learned from them later this week. I LOVE when I learn from the group and I saw some exciting things. Thanks to all of you  - it was a great day!

On that note, I'm going to get to the show early. I've not really seen any of the quilts and I need to do that. The show closes at 4 today and once our booth is down, I'm going to stay and help pack up the show quilts.  Then home for a rest because tomorrow is a heavy sewing/quilting day and no time for dilly dallying!

Have a super day!!!


Ciao!!!!

Again - thanks to everyone who stopped by the booth yesterday.  So nice to see you all.  I have one last lecture this morning untiil 11 and then I'm around for the rest of the day. I'm the one with the Canada flags on my head!

Motivational Monday on a MONDAY

My Task Master and I are at odds these days.  I'm madly sewing things, just not my personal stuff and the Task Master is not happy!  I have one last trade show before a lull this summer and I'm taking a break. Can't wait! So for the next couple of weeks, the Task Master will be grumbling!

However, I thought I would share with you what I have been working on. 

This is a brand new quilt. So brand new that the fabric was cut on Friday. This is the FIRST project made with this fabric in Canada! And I got to make it.  The picture doesn't do justice to the quilt at all. In person, it's beautiful. A touch of gold shimmer. The collection is Northcott's Artisan Spirit Shimmer - Flight of Fancy. Comes in three color ways. The one pictured is the Earth color way.  I like the other two better because they are brighter, but the request was for this one so that's the one I made. 

Fantasy quilt designed by Paula Toups

The top is made and there isn't time to quilt it, but the customer is OK with that.  So this quilt will shortly be in a FedEx box and on it's way to the US.  There are SEVEN borders on that quilt so I did a LOT of pinning.

I got two more quilts quilted up for Canada's Big Quilt Bee. They are trimmed and now there are four waiting for the bindings to be sewn on. I'm going to try to get two more done this week and then Jane can pick up six. The remainder will have to wait until after Quilt Canada.

Ronald McDonald quilt - done

Second Ronald McDonald quilt - done!

I hate to say this, but I saw some stats posted on Facebook about the Canada Big Quilt Bee.  Over 800 quilt have been received.  No problem - quilts are good.   BUT - there are over 500 TOPS. Remember my math from yesterday????   That will take MANY MANY days to get those all quilted. If you're working on one of these quilts, do CQA a favour and send them a QUILT, not a top!

I think I'm going to have to expand my design wall or sew faster!  In the picture below, you can see, I'm now up to THREE layers of quilts.  The green one is my Block of the Month (more on that another day), the red maple leaf one is my Sesquicentennial quilt and of course, the Flight of Fancy quilt.

Three layers of quilts on the design wall

The Fantasy quilt is now gone.  I made TWO of the four maple leaf borders for my Sesquicentennial quilt so hopefully that will be off the wall very soon, leaving only the Block of the Monday which just needs the borders sewn on. I guess I can live with a 12 foot wide design wall. Just sew faster!!!

If you haven't seen my Sesquicentennial quilt, here's the link to the free pattern.  And this is what it looks like.  I can't even remember if I posted a picture - life's a bit of a blur some days!

Maple Leaf Forever

And don't forget that if you want to follow along as I make this quilt, you can watch my video.  The quilt I'm sewing in the video is the one that I'm just finishing up now. And a HUGE thank you to those of you who have downloaded the pattern, and to those who have made the quilt (I know Heather made it) and to those of you watched the video!

So Task Master - please bear with me for three more weeks. Then I'm going to just say NO to anything that isn't my personal stuff.

And on that note, it's time to get this day started.

Have a great day!!!


Ciao!!!

Forty three

The number of quilts made by our guild is 43!  I wonder if that includes the one that I had at my house?  This is for the Canada Big Quilt Bee if you didn't see the post from two days ago.

Yesterday was a super productive day.  A number of us worked on the quilts for the Ronald McDonald Houses. Why did I volunteer precious time for this cause?  This initiative was started many months ago with a goal of 1,000 quilts. Who would have thought that they would accomplish this?  Personally, I think the number will be closer to 1,500 but that is my guess.  Guilds/quilters could make a simple block or two, a quilt top or two or make a finished quilt. Of the 43 that our guild donated, about 3/4 were finished. Binding, labels, everything!   But those others were not done.

Let's do a bit of math for a moment. There are a couple of rooms set up at Quilt Canada where volunteers will be working on completing quilts for the project. I do believe that the volunteer slots are FULL for this event, but volunteers for other positions are welcome. There are a couple of long arms and sewing machines dedicated to this task. The show is open for a total of 32 hours. You know it's going to take a bit of time to get everyone organized. And let's say that they can quilt ONE quilt in one hour. Two long arms - 32 hours per machine - that means the maximum they can quilt is 64 quilts.   (Technically, it can be done faster, but if you're working with volunteers and depending on their skill level, it may take longer).  Even if we suppose that they do the economy of scale thing like I did yesterday and the person doing the quilting is fast. Let's say they get TWO done each hour - that is still only 128 quilts and I'm talking about the small ones - the bigger ones will take double the time.   If our guild had donated 12 quilts that were NOT quilted, that equates to 10% of the total capacity of what could be accomplished that weekend. See where I'm coming from?  And what will those organizers do when the event is over and they are still left with blocks and tops. Someone will have to get busy to complete them.

So that's why I volunteered to get these done. The satisfaction of knowing that our guild donated 43 completed quilts rather than add to the workload. I'm fast and I'm efficient - I can get a lot done in a short period of time.

Besides, our little group had a lot of fun yesterday.  Helen Anne and Jane were set to arrive at 9 AM. The girls (that would be Lexi and Murphy) were staring out the window about 8:55 and I thought that one of them must have arrived.  Nope - that would be Heather (on her motorcycle no less - a big one - I should have taken a picture of her!)  That was a surprise and I whisked her downstairs to start stitching a binding on one of the quilts that I had quilted a while back. Shortly thereafter Jane arrived and we started matching up backings to tops, Helen Anne was dispatched to the long arm and soon we had a buzzing little bee happening.

Heather did extremely well despite the fact that she had never used a sewing machine without a presser foot lever before. I think she a natural for sewing the binding on by machine.  And I thought I heard a comment from her corner of the room about how nice that extension table is. So smooth, no edges catching on your project. I also heard a rumor that Heather went for a bike ride after she left my house - 321 KM (with friends and hubby). It was a gorgeous day!

Heather checking the width of her binding seam

Once Jane and I had sorted through the backings and tops - I think she brought backings for almost all the quilts, it was time to start making miles and miles of binding. Since we now had an extra person, I shoved a pile of stuff away on those work tables, whipped out a sewing machine and Jane was good to go for binding.  I met up with Jane at the quilt store in the afternoon. She had expressed an interest in taking an EQ class with me. After I saw what she had in her hand (a printout of a quilt from EQ), there is no need for Jane to take the class!

Jane making miles and miles of binding

Helen Anne was put to work on the long arm and did a super job. She was the perfect person for the job because not only has she used my machine before, but she rents out time on someone else's machine.  And the double backing worked like a charm. The quilts we did have to load went super fast as we did it together. Helen Anne was off for a hike with her sister in the afternoon.

Helen Anne at the helm of the long arm

Heather still binding that quilt by machine

Binding is done!

One more quilted!

After Heather left, it was Jane's turn to learn how to put the binding on by machine.

One more binding was done!

After they left, I went outside and sat in the gazebo for a bit. Off to the quilt store where I ran into Jane, back to the gazebo and it must have been close to four by the time I got back to work!

I finished the second of the two quilts that Helen Anne and I had loaded. She quilted one and I did the other.

Another quilt - DONE

And one more - DONE

In total, we got four quilts quilted, two were bound, miles of binding was made. The backings that needed to be pieced wee assembled and some of the battings were joined to the appropriate size.

The next two quilts are loaded - well two backs and one quilt. A job for later this morning when I need a break from the sewing machine.

Next batch is loaded

So if you're making some of these quilts for Ronald McDonald House, try if at all possible to finish the quilts. At least get it quilted.  Everything takes time and the more that gets done while we have full momentum going, the better it is going to be. Otherwise, there will much to get done after the event and it will become a chore.  Get those quilts done NOW!!!!  Wouldn't it be amazing if those two volunteer rooms were idle? That would be the ideal, but I don't think that's going to happen. I bet those rooms will be hopping!

Originally, these blocks were based on the Slab block designed by Cheryl Arkinson. However, the variety of blocks - well, everyone made up their own thing which is just great. Some of the quilts are absolutely beautiful, like that gray and white one above. I want that one!

Jane is collecting quilts and tops from other guilds - oh Jane?   How many tops are you getting?  Are most of the quilts completely done? I forgot to ask that question yesterday. I know that she is still sitting on about 100 blocks - leftovers from our guild (our guild made a total of 536 blocks) and other random blocks she received from people.

What a fun morning and we got a lot done for just the four of us.  Actually, if there had of been any more people, it wouldn't have worked.  Thanks again to Heather, Helen Anne and Jane. It was a fun morning and we got something done!!!!  Glad everyone got out yesterday to enjoy the day because it's pouring rain today!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!!

Economies of scale

It's Saturday morning!  Bright and early - well not so early. We've already been to the dog park for over an hour, we've all eaten breakfast, loaded two quilts on the long arm, made two battings and sewed up a bunch of half square triangles and it's not even 9 AM!!!!

Let me explain.

Helen Anne is coming over to quilt up some of those Ronald McDonald quilts for the guild. I got two tops and two backs at the meeting so I could have everything ready to go this moring. The tops are the same size so I sewed the two backs together one after the other, not side by side. So technically when I loaded the "one" back, it's really backing for two quilts. I loaded one top and when that one is done, the next top goes on - no need to load the second backing because it's already there.  That's easy to do because they are the same size.

I said I would donate the batting for these two (and more if I need to). I sorted through all my batting left overs (which are marked with the size - bet quilting tip EVER!!!)   I found SIX pieces of batting that sewn together would make the battings for the two quilts.

Tags from the used up pieces of batting

Having each piece marked with the size saves so much time.  I don't remember where or how I came up with that brilliant idea, but it's been a fabulous thing!

Instead of using the fusible tape to put the pieces together, I decided to sew them together with a triple zig zag.  It's fast and easy. These pieces are not huge so it works well on the sewing machine. and I LOVE that curved edge extension table on the Husqvarna Viking Desinger Topaz 50 because the batting pieces just glide over the surface.   In very little time, those two battings were made. One is already loaded on the machine waiting for Helen Anne to arrive.

Piecing the batting together on the sewing machine

The temperature is gorgeous outside and I'm a bit envious that I won't have time to get out on my bike. But that's a decision that I made. I did play hookey all evening yesterday. Sat out in the gazebo for a bit and read. No quilting, no work!

However, the amount of work to do - well there'll always be a lot of work. I can't help it - this is all my parents' fault.  Ideal hands are a bad thing!  But I thought I would try something different. You see, I now have a magic wand. Whenever someone at work asks for a new project or a new pattern designed and written - I can wave my magic wand, say some enchanting words and POOF - a finished project!  DH wants to know if it will replenish his beer mug.  I said "NO - don't be silly! It only works for quilting". Now wouldn't that be cool if it actually worked?  But then where is all the fun?

My magic quilting wand!

Well enough silliness for this morning. It's time to pull the rabbit out of the hat and get to work. There is no time for dilly-dallying today. We've got quilts to quilt, battings to piece together, half square triangles to trim and tops to sew together.  There is NO time for play!  Well maybe just a  little, but much later in the day.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!

Canada's Big Quilt Bee

I've mentioned Canada's Big Quilt Bee on numerous occasions.  It's hosted by the Canadian Quilter's Association.  

Logo for Canada Big Quilt Bee

The goal is to donate 1,000 quilts to Ronald McDonald houses across Canada. The deadline - mid-June.  Don't forget that Quilt Canada is fast approaching - June 14 - 17.  If you're in the area, you MUST attend.  There are some amazing quilt displays, amazing booths (including Northcott!) and lectures by ME. And there are other classes and lectures as well!  More info on all this in the next day or so!

As I visited various guilds over the past year on my lecture tour (doesn't that sound so official, but I was just doing my trunk show!). Anyway, the response from EVERY guild that I visited was incredible. I want to say that the participation rate from guild members was the highest I've ever seen for any kind of activity.  I'm not sure what the percentage was for our guild, but it was high and I believe in total, that over FIVE HUNDRED blocks were made by the members. That's a LOT of blocks, given that our membership is about 160?  

Those blocks were then made up into quilts.  I think that we ended up with 40 quilts. That means that most quilts made were the small ones that used 12 blocks. I want to say that about 3/4 of them are quilted.  I don't have the exact numbers as the final tally was being bantered back and forth last night. I hope we get a final tally before we make the donation. HEY - I like numbers.  Give me a firm number!

Mississauga Quilter's Guild - donation for Canada Big Quilt Bee

Same quilts - other side

And I have one of the quilts at home that needs the binding sewn on which is going to happen tomorrow.

Jane, who was our fearless leader was able to get fabulous prizes and those were drawn last night.  I don't think I made even one block for this project, but I did make blocks for the quilt that is being donated by our retreat group. I assembled and quilted that quilt which just needs to be bound, but do you think I can find the binding?  It's made, but where is it???

However I did assemble one quilt for the guild and quilted it and I'll be spending some of my precious time tomorrow to get the remainder of the quilts quilted and bound as well as donating whatever materials are missing to complete them so I think I helped as well!  It's a super place to get rid of those larger batting scraps that are hanging around. These quilts are small - it'll be perfect - a win-win all around. So while Helen Anne is busy quilting, I'll be prepping and Jane will be sewing bindings!  How much can we get done in a couple of hours?  A LOT cause I'll be cracking the whip!

Jane and Vanna (I mean Heather) handing out the prizes

While Jane did an awesome job moderating this portion of the program, Vanna (Heather) entertained us with her antics!

Handing out the Northcott bundle of Sesquicentennial fabrics

It was an amazing display of coming together for a great cause!  I'm proud of what my guild accomplished (although they could have quilted more quilts!). I'm proud of all Canadian quilters who participated.  And it would be so cool to see all the quilts together, but that isn't possible.  However I hear there might be something equally interesting about this project at Quilt Canada. This is just a rumour at this point - I can't wait to see if it's true.

Anyway on that note, there's so much to do today, I'm not sure where to start. So I'm just going to grab the first thing on the top of the pile and try to get it done. That's what I've done the last couple of days and I can't seem to get past the top two items which isn't good!

Have a super day!!!!


Ciao!!!

Motivational Monday - January - DONE!

Yes - you read that right!  I'm finished my January UFO. Well, as finished as I wanted to get it. The backing is done, the top is complete and the binding is made.  It's in the stack of "to be quilted" and I'm OK with that. I thought it would be fun to throw it on the long arm, but I have other things to do so it will just have to wait.

The important thing - the January UFO is DONE!

The backing for the January UFO - DONE

 Here's the reason that things take so long. I saved all the little bits from cutting the strips and triangles for the one-block wonder top. Not one to throw stuff away, I joined all the bits and then inserted them into the backing. Why??  Because I could!    I know - totally insane!!!

The backing, the binding and the top - DONE!

I thought it was time to dig out the March UFO.  February UFO is going to take some time and it's become my ender and leader project. There's a ton of sewing in it - fussy sewing - adding small triangles to a lot of pieces.  But it will get done as is witness to the January UFO.

So let's look at March.  In this laundry basket are FOUR quilt tops.  They all require the binding and borders to be made. The backings are these pieces of fleece so technically all that is required for the backings is to cut the appropriate length. That's easy!!!

Fleece backings for four quilts

The tops already have ONE border on them, but there is a scrappy border to go on and then another border of the brown. The binding is also brown.

First border on the quilts (2 more to go)

A LOT of fabric so no danger of running out.

Fabric for the borders and binding

I decided to make each of the quilts a tad different. Well one of them at least. Instead of adding two borders, I cut ONE wide scrappy border.  The length of the border strip is made. I now need to cut the lengths that I need and sew them to the quilt. One is pinned on, but no time today to sew it on.

The border is made for quilt number one

Ronda came over to sew today. I love her method - she has other friends who sew and every week for the last four weeks, she's been visiting a different friend for a day. She brings her sewing machine and projects and gets a LOT done. It also encouraged me to get sewing for the day.

Center four blocks for Ronda's Kaleidoscope

 I was also working on the Kaleidoscope quilt.  I got my four center blocks done.  Notice how Ronda and I seem to work on the same quilts???  She is copying me - just saying!

My four blocks for Kaleidoscope

 But not before I had to make one more of the green/yellow units. Do you think I could find it?  I had made some units up for the class in January, but couldn't find this last one. Same as I couldn't find two of the four patches. I had to cut an extra one of those and Ronda had one extra. So where are  my bits????

I did manage to find the missing yellow/green unit. It was included in the bits for Month Two. Go figure!  Now I have an extra unit.

The missing unit is found!!!

So Ronda pulls out her next project. Hmmm - got lots of fabric here. It's also a project that I made. Actually I made two of them  - one was the lap size, the other was the queen sized which I haven't quite finished because I HATE the way the borders were designed. It was a mystery so I had all my fabric cut and then realized how the next step was sewn and I'm still balking at that one.  I think I need to put the quilt into EQ7 and redesign the border with what fabric/blocks I have.  I won't mention the name of the quilt to protect the designer.

Ronda is thinking because there is a lot of fabric that she must have a lot of sewing still to do. Turns out she has to sew on four borders (which are made) and the quilt top is done. That was supposed to be her March project. I told her to get something else a bit more complicated!  Thank goodness we're friends!  She took it quite well and agreed to find something else to work on.

She also found not one, but TWO rulers - Tucker Trimmers no less!  Apparently she had to borrow these from someone. No idea that she owned her own and of course, no idea where they were!

Almost finished UFO

Last week, when Ronda was sewing with another one of her friends (actually I think it's a brilliant idea!), she made this bag. It's the Crafty Tote from Quilts and More (designed by me!). Instead of making it with squares, she used yardage from her favourite movie - Wizard of Oz.  Now isn't that a cool idea.

Crafty Tote in Wizard of Oz fabric

The other side

The ends of the bag!

 Nice job Ronda!

Now here's something else to consider. If you've been following along, you know the story of the upcoming retreat and that darn laundry basket. Tish supposedly brings all her work (tools and supplies) in ONE laundry basket for a five-day retreat.  I think that's rubbish!  But I thought I could perhaps see if it was possible. I've been thinking about it a lot.

Have a look at what Ronda brought to my house for a few hours!  THREE bags!!!  Now one of the them was just a show n tell, but still!!!!

Ronda's project bags for the day

 She says that she will likely fill the two totes with projects for the retreat. I will try to cut down, but on almost all retreats (and I'm way better than I used to be).  No that's not true. I used to travel with someone to the retreats and so I had only the back seat in which to put my stuff. Now I have the entire car - OK - so I'm worse!

But here's the thing - the last couple of retreats?  I've worked on almost everything that I took.  Often, I need to just bring the project to the next step for a class for instance. Or only so much of it is cut.  I'll try to bring projects that I can take to completion to cut down what I take. Or maybe, I'll just wing stuff in the car and let it go!

Our local guild managed to put together 303 blocks for Canada's Bee Quilt Bee. While that's great, someone needs to be putting those quilts together.  I have already made one quilt with our retreat group but I decided that I could piece the top of a small one as well.

I took 12 blocks home with me and they are now together as a top.

One more quilt top for the Quilt Bee is DONE

Hmmm - I must have some backing somewhere in the house.  I found a piece of flannel that was washed and almost the right size. Then I found another smaller piece (not washed - which I will wash) and between the two of them, I've got a backing.

Backing for the Canada quilt

Then I was back to working on the Kaleidoscope blocks.  I put more blocks up on the wall and was quite happy with them.

Center bits of the Kaleidoscope quilt

Then I was looking ahead to the next section and OH MY GOD. What's this???   Did I make a goof???  Well, I did sort of. I never even mentioned the tricky part to the class, althought it was quite clear as I had cut my fabrics.  I just didn't read the pattern very well.  Can you spot the mistake? It's slight and I'm NOT changing it.


Ronda got one more project done before she left.  This cute little bag.

Cute little bag completed by Ronda!

It's amazing what you can get done when you put your mind to it. I'm quite happy with the progress. I didn't get a chance to update the Task Master this weekend, so that must be done tomorrow. I think I'll be checking off a few boxes which will allow me to add a few more.

I see from the Facebook group that many of you are also getting projects completed. Or completed to the stage that you wanted to get them. That is so super exciting.

I've been in a bit of a funk for the last couple of days. Busy with work, busy with sewing for work and when I get home, I just don't have the heart to sew for me. But Ronda invited herself over (which was a good thing) and got me back in the groove.  So if you're in a funk, can you arrange a sewing date with a friend?  Even if you don't get a lot done - well I always get tons done when someone else is around. There are no chances to slack off.

Here's the other thing - can you arrange a couple of days away (like at a retreat) to sew to your hearts content??  Retreats are super exciting.  I have a spot open for the week prior to Easter is anyone is interested.  It's not that expensive and promises to be loads of fun. It's about one hour north of Toronto.  If you're interested, e-mail me and I'll give you more details.  Well you can have a look at the web site for the retreat house and see how beautiful it is. And it's five minutes away from a superb quilt shop. That's very deadly!

On that note - have a great week. Keep posting those pictures and inspiration/motivations to us.

Ciao!!!!