Motivational Monday - checking in

It's a super day today. It's Monday. That means Monday sewing and time to check in for an update on what I've been doing and how my projects are coming along.

I set a goal last year to complete 12 (plus one bonus) UFO projects. Sadly there are still 7 UNFINISHED items on that list. Then I decided to forge ahead and put another 12 projects on the UFO list for 2018.

So how am I doing? Not so good it would appear. There are still SEVENTEEN projects not completed between the two lists. OH - that is NOT good at all.

The goal was to complete one project per month. Obviously, my goal setting skills are a little rusty.

What's the problem? It would appear that I'm good at finishing things. I have now completed FIFTY items this year. FIFTY - that's huge. In case you're wondering why the jump? I remembered two other projects that were sent to a magazine that I had forgotten to write down. I think I'm good now. See how easy it is to forget?  Very easy. I hope to post a picture of all the finished items at the end of the year. That will be hilarious!

Here's my latest finish. The apple quilt - it's DONE!!!!!

The apple quilt - DONE

Do you know what's nice about this finish? First off - it's number 50. Second, I started this quilt last summer at a workshop. There are tons of pieces in it and it's done! It never really languished as a UFO and technically it was because of that 50-hours a week gift that my ex-employer gave me that I got off my butt to get this finished. I'm super thrilled about it.

It was NOT on my list of things to get done yesterday. However, I had promised the quilt to someone so it could go in the Quilts at the Creek display that will be at Quilt X in September. I could have been scrambling at the last minute to get it delivered, but France was at the Sit n Sew yesterday and it would be easy for her to get it to its destination. So I put the binding on and hand stitched the sleeve. It's gone. Check it out at Quilt X in St. Marys.


Since I'm such a goal setter, here's my plan for the remainder of the year. There are 19 weeks left in the year. 17 projects - 19 weeks???  Oh yes - let's go for it. Those remaining 17 projects will be my SOLE (or almost) focus for the remainder of the year. I really really want to start the year with something fresh. I"m getting tired of seeing these UFOs on that list.

And I have a goal to finish ONE HUNDRED items by the end of the year. YES - ONE HUNDRED. It shouldn't be hard. There are 17 UFOs on the list and there are at least a dozen quilts that just need the binding attached - there's 30 right there. Throw in at least five for magazines and well - you can see that reaching one hundred won't be hard. These are mostly UFOs - the magazine stuff is new.

I know that some of those 17 will not get completed this year - some are heavy on applique and that will slow me down. But I have others that I've been working on and are very close to completion.

Take the scrappy quilts (remember - that was ONE UFO that became THREE quilts). I did get the second quilt top sewn together yesterday, but didn't get a picture - I'll have that for you tomorrow.

Here's the third one. As you can see, my math skills on the border blocks was a wee bit off. I was missing five blocks for the border.

Missing 5 border blocks for the third scrappy quilt

Those five blocks are now complete and this quilt top (it's one row longer than the other two) is ready to sew together. The binding is made, the backing is chosen.

Third scrappy quilt ready to sew together

I'm working on another quilt from the UFO list at Monday sewing. That quilt just needs one section of border sewn on and then the final border dealt with. I have chosen the backing and then the binding.

All the tasks to complete these two projects are in the Task Master for this week. It's going to be tight, but should be no reason why these two projects can't be taken off the UFO list by the end of the week. If not, then very early next week. I have several other UFOs that are very close to completion as well. It's all about FOCUS. I'm only going to let myself down if I don't get this mess cleaned up!

My question to you all is - how are you making out? We have 19 weeks left this year. Can you regroup? Can you tackle at least one or two of those UFOs and see what can be done? Remember - it's your list, but we make a list to help us focus. Hopefully, you're on track.

All my sewing days - both the Monday Sewing and the Sit Sews at my house are going to be devoted to getting these projects done. Yes - I might slip in my weekly block assignment (The Farmer's Wife) since I'm so close to getting that done, but the main focus will be those UFOs.

I'll share with you tomorrow what we were all working on at Monday sewing.

Have a great day!!!!


Ciao!!!!

The Monday that wasn't Monday

For the first time EVER in 16 years (I think), I didn't go to Monday even though it was a Monday sewing day. Now I've missed days in the past when I was working or on vacation, but yesterday was the first time I stayed home.

I just didn't have the time. OH MY GOD - I never thought I would say that but the issues with the long arm and the level of frustration that had ensued - well I needed to stay home and focus.

Here's the definition of frustration.

Yep - that was me to a T and when I'm frustrated over a long period of time, I - well, I'm not productive. I was so far behind so I needed the day to catch up. And I did. I felt much better when I went to bed last night. I think I'm going to have to take classes on FRUSTRATION MANAGEMENT. OH - just checked the internet - can you believe - they have therapy for that? It's lumped in with Anger management so that's not good. The other thing I need to focus on is better scheduling of my commitments. While I'm not bad, I have a tendency to tell myself that it can wait for a day and then too many things need to be done on the same day. I'm not over-committing, I'm just plain lazy!

Ah -- frustration is good for us. We just need to learn to control it or NOT let it control us.

But enough of all that negative stuff.

Oh, shoot - I goofed yesterday. The TorontoLove project was to honor those victims who were killed by a van that intentionally went onto the sidewalk. I said it was a bus crash. Where was my head????  I've changed yesterday's post.


So let's have a look at what I bought the other day on my way home.

Here's the book I purchased at the Agnes Queen's Art Gallery. It's some of the quilts in their quilt collection. I love seeing and reading the stories of these old quilts.

Heritage Quilt Collection from Agnes Queen's Art Gallery

Here's my Row by Row purchases. I got the pattern from Stitch by Stitch - it's a cute little frog pattern and I got the kit from Wilton Creek Fabrics. It's very cute and will go with a couple of other kits that I managed to snag this year. A whole lot less snagging than in the past. That's because I'm trying to be a responsible adult.

Row by Row stuff

 I see they had a cute hanger for the Music Theme. I wonder where Marilyn purchased hers???

I was trying to decide what fabric to buy at one of the shops. But what? Beautiful Christmas fabrics and a Halloween border print to die for. But I don't need any of these. I have so much. I do not need a specific color either. Then I spotted this ball of yarn to make handmade socks. AHA - now I have to get my sock knitter going so I can make the socks. It's a beautiful soft yarn and would feel yummy on the feet.

Ball of sock yarn

At the other shop, I caved on the Halloween fabric, but I only bought 1/2 meter of one and then an orange coordinate to go with it. What will I make? No idea. Halloween???  I'm not even a big fan, but the fabrics are to die for. There were a few others I could have gotten, but why?

And then a couple of prints with words on them. Like I need more of that either.

Fabrics with words on them

My Dad is a tinkerer. He's been fixing things all his life - mostly out of necessity, especially on the farm, but he also does it to keep his mind busy. He's been helping me with the long arm. I was determined that yesterday I was going to solve this problem or bust.

We were both pretty much convinced that the motor was fine. So I changed the fuse. Nothing. Turned the fuse around - the needle now went up and down. So I got a wee bit more done on the apple quilt. Then everything STOPPED. I left it as I  was frustrated and that's not good. Back to the machine - I fiddled with the buttons on the front - the needle went THUNK and then it worked again. Hmmm - this is very strange.

I got a wee bit more done and then it stopped. So back to the back of the machine. I gently touched one of the covers that are NOT screwed in and the needle went wild. Up and down sewing like mad. Thankfully it was NOT parked on my quilt.

Back to the front of the quilt and I quilted for hours!!!!  As you can appreciate - I was very apprehensive and I'm sewing manually, not using the computer at this point.

The big news of the day? The apple quilt is off the long arm.

My quilt - DONE!!!!!

I was never so happy to get a quilt off the long arm as I was for this one.

It has to be a loose connection. I'm NOT touching anything - I have too much to get done. So this is what the machine looks like right now.

I replaced only ONE screw because I needed to put the thread holder back in place. There are strings to hold various bits in place. Don't worry - it's all good.

String to hold a box out of the way of the table

More string to hold a cable out of the way

The three covers are just sitting there

It must be all the vibrations from the machine that finally loosened the connection????  Has to be - but what a total pain in the butt. It was only by fiddling with the machine ON that I was able to solve this problem. Did I care? Not at that point. I'm sure the health and safety people would have their noses out of joint on this and never mind that my entire screwdriver collection is ON THE STAIRS! I don't care about that either. It's only me who goes downstairs and I'm super careful. I ALWAYS hold the handrail. I'll move them later.

The tool collection

 I will need them to put everything back and I have a couple of things to do to the machine as well that I've been meaning to do for a while. I can't do that right now - too many other priorities, but once my urgent quilts are done - I'll take half a day and get everything back in order.

I spent all day Sunday madly cutting, sewing and pressing and voila - the next magazine quilt top
is done and it's now loaded on the long arm. That HAS to be off today and the next one is already on the design wall. You see? If I wasn't so frustrated and wasted so much time with that silly machine, I wouldn't be rushing now.

Oh well. Let's just say that the next time something like this happens, I'll be doing my triage on the long arm completely different from what happened this time.

When I was working like a crazy person on Sunday to get that top together, I was listening to an audiobook. And I finished it in ONE day. Yes - I'm ripping through audiobooks like a maniac. I also put together my list of 17 books that I'm looking for. The library doesn't have them and that used bookstore in Orillia didn't have them.

I was at Value Village the other day and trying to remember which ones I didn't have. Their books are NOT in alphabetical order so it's a pain.

Here are two in particular that I'm looking for -

Black Dog by Stephen Booth
Exit Lines by Reginald Hill


If you have either - I'll buy, beg, borrow or steal them.

Oh yes - so there I was tempting fate yesterday. We had a MASSIVE storm in the afternoon. The rain was coming down so hard and the wind - it almost looked like a winter storm. Lightning and thunder. And I was on the long arm. HEY - I have a new motor if this one gets hit!!! Just can't get the old one off though! That screw is still stuck.

Then last night when I finally threw in the towel for the urgent stuff, I spent a bit of time going through the batting scrap bag and cutting 2 1/2" strips. The green bag is holding anything that is NOT 2 1/2" and will go for cat bed stuffing.

Bag of batting scraps to cut

So hopefully today - I'm back in business. Otherwise, I might be at yoga class learning to breathe it out!

This entire week is going to be silly but I'll get through it.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!

Back to reality

On the last day of any retreat, we're always allowed to stay until 3:00 PM. That's the check-out time, but without fail, many of the participants are out of the house by 10 AM, having packed up the night before. Gosh - that's an entire day of sewing they are missing. Who cares about laundry? And how long does it take to do laundry anyway?

However, I'm happy to report that this time? Oh no - we took total advantage of the day and the four of us left didn't get out of there until 3 PM. Technically we had one more day, but we did have to get home. One by one, the four of us packed up depending on what other things we had to do (Ronda had some real work to do so she did pack up a bit early). Shelly and Vivenda were working away until well after lunch and I packed up at 3 PM. It was awesome!!  I accomplished a whole lot on the last day so I was very glad for that.

Tidied up, took out the garbage and packed up the car. Let's just say that I'm glad that the extra sewing machine wasn't in the car because I don't know if everything would have fit inside!

Ronda and I stopped at a quilt store on the way home as I had to pick up a quilt of mine that they had borrowed. All the kits are now sold so the quilt can come home to me. This is a picture of the quilt and if you're interested and have all those Sesquicentennial panels at home, here's a link to the free pattern. 

Coast to Coast to Coast

Now here's a wee bit of sticker shock. I bought three meters of fabric, one half-meter, and two FQs. With tax, it was $90!!!!! That's insane, but the price per meter is $19.98.  All adds up very quickly these days which means that we just have to become smarter about what we buy. The half-meter and FQs are RED and I have several more projects to work on that need RED fabric. Two of the meters were for a kit that I bought at the CreativFestival and wasn't quite big enough for me so I'm going to add a border (probably should have only bought one meter - oh well!) and the last meter was just because!

I'll show you pictures of everything over the coming week. I don't have time today to do many pictures.

After our shopping expedition, Ronda and I stopped for a burger (and ice cream - more on the eating thing later this week) and then we went our separate ways. I got home, the girls were happy to see me. Not because they missed me as their Mom, but because I'm the person that takes them for walks and to the dog park.

I had a wee bit of work to finish prepping for today's THREE classes, but I also had to make a trip to Home Depot for some tuffet supplies. Got those and got the remaining three upholstery hoods made for the tuffet class. I was supposed to work on THREE blocks that I goofed on, but only had time to fix one. No worries - it'll all work out.

I'll have lots of pictures to share with you!

Oh, I did unpack somewhat this morning and I took this picture to share with you. It's DONE. The pixelated apple quilt top is DONE!!!!!

Pixelated apple quilt

I'm thrilled to bits. I never thought this would get completed, but I LOVE IT!!!!  I want to do another one.   I have stories about two more of these quilts, but no time this morning.

Now I have to find some cool backing fabric preferably with apples on it. I must check the stash, there could be something there. I think I'll bind it with red? white? (NO) black? green?  That's not important at this point, but I love those black on white prints for the background. And I definitely want to do another pixel quilt. But I have something else in mind first and I'll share that with you later this week as well.

On that note, I'm out of here. We're off to the dog park and then repack the car for today's tuffet class.

Have a great day!!!

Ciao!!

Had a good chat with my Dad last night - 85 years young and still going strong. He's a tinkerer and loves building/repairing motors and building parts for vintage tractors that can no longer be bought. I hope I'm like him when I'm that old in about 50 years!

Mission(s) accomplished

I ran around all day yesterday and I was able to check off a lot of the TODOs from my list.

The car is fixed, the water bottle is exchanged, the long arm should arrive by Friday and the magazine quilt will be dropped at the UPS store later today (I was hoping for yesterday, but that didn't happen!)

There are a few other things that need to be done, but those can be done when I'm away. Like e-mails - I can send those from the retreat.

The car is packed and there is only ONE tote bag of projects.

Retreat project bag

I would say that's about the same size as a laundry basket. All my supplies, all my tools - everything but the sewing machine are in that bag!  Which is good because there really isn't any room left in the car. I had to pack up the Husqvarna Viking Epic to take to the CreativFestival and the box for that machine is HUGE - plus the wagon to transport it once I get there and well, I think you get the picture! I'm full up!

Now I have a problem. It's a good problem, but of course, I've left it until the last minute. I was trying to find an outfit that I could wear to the CreativFestival. Remember all that weight I lost? Well, it would appear that pretty much NONE of the pants in that huge pile are going to fit me anymore.

Lots of pants, but none will fit

I was laughing because it's not like they don't fit - it's like I'm swimming in them. They are 1, 2 or 3 sizes too big. I tried on a few pairs last night, had a good laugh and a happy dance, then they got washed and they are in the giveaway pile. I'll do the rest next week. But it would appear there are TWO pairs out of that pile that fit. A pair of jeans and a pair of LuLu Lemon pants. OK - it's LuLu for the show. With a long top, it'll be just fine!!!

I did get a wee bit of sewing done yesterday. Well, I had to put that binding on the quilt and sew a sleeve on. That got done and that was finish number TWENTY-EIGHT for the year!!!!  Isn't that exciting??  I'm taking pictures and putting them in a folder so that at the end of the year, I can reflect back on what I accomplished this year! Never mind looking at what I started, but I'm doing great - most of what I've started new this year is already completed and I am working on those UFOs. 

Speaking of UFOs, here is the triple four patch quilt. This was on the UFO list. Now it's on the TO BE QUILTED list. The top is done, the backing is made and the scrappy binding is prepared.

Triple four patch

Hopefully, when the long arm comes back, I'll be able to slip a few of mine between the customer/magazine quilts.  Of course, I'm going to schedule that. I'm on a roll!!

I had to do some cutting yesterday in order to lay out the next block for the pixel quilt. I've cut all the green and all the red that is required to finish. I've got a good supply of white and more white strips in the bag so hopefully, I'll be good to finish the quilt.

Laying out the next block for the pixel quilt

Not sure how much I'll get done as I've a lot of chain piecing with me for the retreat. We'll see how it goes.

Since I no longer have a laptop, I have to blog on the iPad and that presents a wee challenge. It's like there is a buffer in it and it will only let me post so much?  I don't know.  But I've got pictures edited and loaded so hopefully, I can get some blog posts out for you!! I can show you what else I've been working on as well as a couple more treatsure that I unearthed.

On that note, I must get the girls out for their walk.

Have a super day!!!


Ciao!!!!

Let's try that one more time..........

You know how it is. Sometimes we struggle to get things done either because of time constraints or actually scheduling the event or we don't want to do it. We would hope that when you get something done that it's done! This week has been a tad challenging and today I get to fix things!

My car needed a wee bit of repair so I took the car in last week to get it fixed. I was happy that they could fit me in so quickly and it barely cost anything to do the repair. However, when I was zooming on the highway that night, I could hear some vibrations and that means they did NOT fix the problem. So guess where I'm going back to this morning? Yep - the car repair place.

I bought a couple of 18 L bottles of water on the weekend for my water cooler. I noticed that one of them was wet on the bottom and the thought crossed my mind to pick a different one, but I did not! Guess what - that darn bottle is leaking and leaking badly. It's currently sitting in the sink and has lost at least 1/2 of the bottle. I'm taking it back to the store today to get a new one. GRRRRR

Leaky bottle of water

The third thing that happened is a CRISIS!!!!  I was a guest speaker last night and I had just pulled into the parking lot when I received a phone call that I had been waiting for all day. News that my long arm was ready to be shipped and they wanted payment. When the person told me how much I owed, I was a bit shocked. It was 1/5 of what the amount should have been. So I asked her what she did to the machine. Cleaned, serviced and the new interchangeable foot installed. So no computer was added?  Nope!!!!   ACK!!!!!!!   This was the end of the day for her so now we have to wait until this morning to see what's going on. And how quickly can that machine get back to me?  I NEED it for the weekend - well, I need it by Monday! I have quilts to get done. I have deadlines!!!!

It's been crazy busy this past week with speaking engagements at guilds, classes and getting my challenge done. I got the challenge done and it was delivered yesterday. Just so desperately needed more contrast, but it's OK. That's finish number 27 for the year!!!   I'm super excited about that. I was supposed to have a class tonight, but that was canceled which is perfect because I have a LOT to do before I'm off tomorrow.

Have a look at the studio - it's a mess. The cutting table is down to a wee bit in the corner - yet again! But at least the rest of it is NOT heaped.

The cutting table is a mess

The ironing board is also full of stuff that needs to be dealt with.

The ironing board is also a mess

The sewing table and the project tables are just as bad! Today, I'll be focused on getting some of this stuff put away. The only urgent thing is to get the binding on a quilt and get it to the UPS store. It's not a big quilt so that shouldn't be too difficult to handle. 

Yesterday was an AMAZING sewing day. I started with the usual - my six blocks for the 150 Canadian Women quilt.  That makes 102 blocks - DONE!!!!  I'm now over 1/3 of the way through the blocks.

Six more blocks for 150 Canadian Women quilt

I was super excited because I was finished by about 11 AM. There have been days when I ONLY got to work on those blocks. And I have to say that some days it was discouraging to only work on those blocks, but being on a mission, I didn't want to put them aside. I'm now down to 48 blocks - that's another 8 weeks. That's still two months, but the best news, I peeked ahead and NONE of the remaining patterns seem to be too time-consuming to make. As I work on these blocks, I'm reminded of all the other projects involving lots of blocks that I still have to complete - Sylvia's Bridal Sampler, Farmer's Wife and The Hobo Quilt come to mind! It looks like I'll be sewing sets of blocks at least for the remainder of the year. Never mind the other Block of the Month type quilts that are waiting. More on that another day this week.

I was able to get quite a bit of other work done and I'll share that with you tomorrow. There's a lot happening!!!

And guess what???  YES - one more block on the pixel quilt is completed. I'm so excited about this. When I started it last summer, I thought it would never get done and here it is almost complete!  Goes to show you what a little bit of focus can do!! There are two big blocks and four half blocks left to go. I'm taking the whole thing to the sewing retreat with me and let's see what can get done.

Pixel quilt

A HUGE thank you to the Erin Village Quilters for allowing me to present my lecture on Modern Quilting last night. It's super exciting to present the modern world to quilters. It was a lot of fun and they're a very enthusiastic and productive group!

I should mention about the Trend-Tex challenge. I know they received a HUGE number of quilts which is very exciting. CQA is going to have as many of those quilts on display at the CreativFestival as they possibly can - they have 30 feet of display. I can't wait to see what the others did with the fabric. The theme was Celebration. The quilts will be auctioned off (silent auction) at Quilt Canada in Vancouver at the end of May. I've picked up several quilts over the years from the Tren-Tex challenge. It's fun to own little bits of art from fellow quilters and the proceeds go to supporting the Canadian Quilter's Association. It's important that we support our local (national) quilt organizations.  So, if you go to the CreativFestival and see one of the Trend-Tex challenges that you like, you just need to find someone who is going to Quilt Canada so they can bid for you. Trust me - I've done it before and WON!!

On that note, I'm out of here. I've a LOT of stuff to get done today - quilts to redesign for a mazagine, binding for the last outstanding magazine quilt, cutting, prepping, packing up the sewing machine, ordering supplies, etc. I'm LIMITING myself to one tote bag of projects for the retreat. It's going to be a challenging day!

I'll leave you today with today's link to QUILTsocial where Julie is using the fabric markers to color black/white fabric.

 Have a super day!!!!


Ciao!!!!

Cutting it close

So I was madly working on my Trend-tex challenge yesterday. Cut, measure, slice, cut, measure, slice. Quilt, quilt, quilt. For the most part, I'm pretty happy with it, but it could have had a wee bit more contrast. Not my fault. I only used the fabrics that came in the kit. I guess that's part of the challenge! Well, something to keep in my experience file for the next challenge and yes, there'll be a next challenge.

The binding has to be made from the same fabrics. Hm - that was a challenge. I figured out what size of quilt I could make with a certain size square so I make continuous bias binding. That needed a big square. So while I was hacking and slashing, I had calculated the size that the piece would need to be and use a square for the binding. I made the binding last night and it was stitched on this morning. How much was left? NOT MUCH. There wasn't much left of the other fabrics either. I pretty much used them all up!!!

Leftover scrap of binding

Not even enough to keep!!!  That was cutting it a wee bit close. I would have had to improvise this morning if it wasn't long enough. The quilt gods were on my side!!!

As I was hacking and slashing, I was also working on the pixel quilt. One more block is done!!!!  That leaves THREE big blocks and four small blocks and the quilt will be finished.

Pixel quilt

Isn't that looking amazing? I'm super excited to get the blocks completed. The end is in sight. Nothing like a focus to get something accomplished. This quilt deserves a cool backing. Got to find some funky apple fabric to put on the back. I had to cut more greens before I could lay out the next block, but it's ready to go this morning and I'll be using that as my ender and leader as I put together my six blocks from 150 Canadian Women. They look much easier today than the last couple of weeks.

I have other pictures to show you, but no time this morning. Mondays are sewing day and I really should do the blog post the night before.

I'm off to retreat later this week. There just doesn't seem to be enough time to get ready!!  April was a busy month for speaking engagements. I have one more this evening at the Erin Village Quilter's Guild. The topic is Modern Quilting! Should be loads of fun.

OK - I admit that I took some time to relax yesterday and finished another novel. What was hilarious is that when I went to enter it into the database, the darn book was already there. Really?  Yep - I checked the date that I had read the book - 2012 - the same year the book came out. It mustn't have been that memorable as I did NOT remember reading it at all. Wasn't my favorite book, but a nice little fluffy read.

I'm going to leave you with two links this morning. First check out QUILTsocial. They're using fabric markers this week. OH - I have the same markers. I had better read those posts for inspiration. The markers would be good for challenges and other various interesting things on quilts.

The second link is the CreativFestival. YES - it's this weekend.  Friday and Saturday. I haven't been in a couple of years so I'm looking forward to going. And I see that Libs Elliott is doing a lecture. I wonder if I could sneak into that. She has been the presenter at several of my guilds (three different occasions) and I've not been able to make it once!!!!

On that note, I'm out of here to finish getting ready for Monday sewing.

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Prepping..................

Hm - I'm not supposed to be prepping more stuff and by prepping, I mean cutting new projects. I'm supposed to be clearing stuff up! Here's the thing - I'm off to two sewing retreats this month. I know - don't judge me on that!  It was the only time we could book the dates. And while I already have stuff cut and ready to sew, I also have stuff that needs to be prepped for my upcoming classes and so I had better make sure that I'm ready as I won't have tons of time at home to get the sewing done.

I got two table runners cut this morning and FOUR more to cut later this morning. Then a quick look into the project boxes that were pulled off the shelf in preparation for the retreats to make sure that everything is good to go and I'll be set for the retreats and for the classes. I had a peek into one box that was on the sewing table this morning and yes - everything is prepped and ready to go so it's now in the retreat bag. There's only going to be ONE bag. I swear!

I didn't get as much done as I would have liked yesterday. Had something to do with napping and a book. Oh god - what's the matter with me? No deadline - ZERO pressure to perform!

However, I did make great headway on my TrendTex challenge and I hope to have the top completed today. Then it just needs to be quilted and bound. It's due on Sunday. BUT I have a guild meeting, a day of work outside the house and a class on Saturday so there isn't a whole lot of time to get it finished. And there's one more challenge that has a looming date! OK -- better get myself organized for that deadline.

Speaking of table runners, I do have all the pictures edited for the homework for the table runner class and those will be posted tomorrow morning.

I did a wee bit more prep for the pixel quilt. I'm not cutting huge quantities at this point in the project, but I still want to have a variety of fabric. I have a few strips of background cut from various fabrics and as I run out of squares for a particular fabric, I cut more of that one.

More background squares for the pixel quilt

 And I got some greens cut for the leaves. Again, I don't want to cut tons of the green - although any leftovers are going to a good project which I've already started and I'm sure I shared it with you. Well, I'll share again when the apple quilt is completed.

Green squares for the pixel quilt

 Here's my little bag of squares. OK - looking at this little bag, it doesn't look like nearly enough to make 3 big blocks and 4 half blocks. I guess I'll be cutting some more. But I've enough for the next block for sure.

Squares for the next block

 You know how we put off cleaning the iron. I had noticed that it was getting a wee bit grubby. Well, I had no choice after this happened. The backing came off the circle and stuck to the iron. Time to get out the iron cleaner.

Oops - that wasn't supposed to happen

 But look!  It's beautiful and clean now!!!!  Then I pressed the fabric for the two table runners and cut that.  Yeah!

Nice and clean now

You know that I'm working o the 150 Canadian Women quilt. Technically, a red and white sampler. Someone told me about another red/white quilt yesterday and the link came up in my newsfeed this morning. It's gorgeous. But NO - this isn't even on my radar screen, although it's beautiful.
It's called Scarlet Sampler and is a raffle quilt for Nebraska State Quilt Guild. A lot of the states (all of the states???) hold a statewide quilt show which is kind of cool. That would be fun to go to. Must do some research.

On that note, I'm out of here. Lots to do today including a class on English Paper Piecing and I have to finish getting my presentation ready for this evening. The topic is Log Cabins quilts at the Mississauga Quilters Guild. It's going to be an amazing show.

Have a great day1!!!

Ciao!!!

Dream BIG!!!!

I can't help it!  I'm a dreamer! I suffer from delusional doability! But you can't fault me for having goals!  I just need a wee bit more focus. However, I don't think I need to really get on my own case because while I'm not super focused, I'm way more focused than I ever was and I'm allowed a wee bit of deviation now and then. And I'm finishing projects left and right!

Let me just interject a quick sentence here about my food. I struggled to eat enough calories yesterday. What to eat? And I wasn't hungry! I'm going to have to have a protein shake every day in order to get the calorie count up or I'm going to be wasting away to nothing and we need our strength for quilting!

It was a super productive day yesterday. NOT!!!!   I spent almost the entire day at Monday sewing working on the six blocks of 150 Canadian Women. BUT I got them done and I didn't make any mistakes in cutting, but I had to rip a few times. Four of the six blocks used the Tri-Recs ruler and were just more fiddly.  But they are done and they're in the project case waiting for the remainder of the blocks to be completed.

Six more blocks from 150 Canadian Women

That means that 96 blocks are complete!!!  What's more exciting is that there are only 54 left to sew and if I do 6 a week, well, that leaves 9 weeks.  NINE WEEKS!!!!   That's awesome. The girls at Monday have not been a help. "Oh, they get easier after this part." They lied!  "Oh, they get easier after this part." Well, I did peek ahead and the remainder of the blocks do appear to be easier, but that doesn't mean anything. I had to do some ripping on the easiest of the blocks above! The hash block because I sewed a row in the wrong place! But the cutting should be faster and so should the piecing - technically!

Then it was back to the project on the design wall because I want to get it finished for tonight to take to my presentation on Scrap Quilts. It's looking amazing and I'm thrilled with it. Just a few more seams and it'll be together. Don't worry, I've documented pictures as I went along and you'll see it tomorrow. The pictures are even edited and waiting to be uploaded.

But as I was working on the small blocks yesterday and the other project, I was also working on the pixelated apple quilt. Here I'm twirling all those seams on the back of the quilt.  I know that it's a lot of work, but if I'm going to do the project, I may as well do it so I'll be happy with it.

Twirling seams

 And I LOVE LOVE LOVE how flat the quilt is on the front. There is no rippling, no lumpiness, no way to see that the quilt was actually sewn in blocks. I LOVE it - it's my little quirk!

Flat seams on the front

And what does the quilt look like from the front? I'm absolutely in love with the quilt.  Here's the top so far. If I would have been really good, I could have used graduated colors of red to show highlights. NO - not even going to go there!!!  I'm happy with the heart being the focus.

Pixel quilt

There are still eight blocks to make. Well technically, 4 full blocks and 4 half blocks.

Here is block 13 - it's almost together and then we get into more green on the blocks.

Block 13 of the pixel quilt

But then a very bad thing happened in the studio. As I was prepping for my presentation tonight (scrap quilts) and my presentation on Thursday night (log cabin quilts) to the Mississauga Guild, I remembered a couple of things and so I went digging in one of my storage areas. I knew exactly what I was looking for and I knew exactly where it was stored. Sure enough, there it was. I will reveal what's in the box to the guild tonight and I'll share this with the rest of you later this week. It's a real treasure in there, but only to someone like me! Let's just call is Pandora's box!

A treasure box

 However, I also found these two boxes which when I opened them, I remembered them, but I had forgotten them. This is going to be a super ender/leader project. Now I think I have three projects lined up for ender/leader! I can't help myself!!!  I'll show you this one later as well. By the way, these boxes are BRIMMING with pre-cut pieces (pre-cut by me!)  Hey - I'm not far from finishing the pixel quilt, I need to have something to immediately switch to!

A great project for enders and leaders

 And I found this box which I'll share with you. This is where we need to make the decisions. But actually it wasn't that hard, but I wonder how many more of these boxes are sitting around the studio.

Project box

 Yes, I remember this project. I even made a quilt that I gave to my cousin when she got married. That quilt was made years ago! It wasn't long after I started quilting that I acquired this pattern.

Inside the box, I found the pattern for Lover's Knot Placemats by Quilt in a Day. There were four pieces of fabric - probably enough to make 6 placemats?  And a bundle of Thermolam which was to be the inside of the placemats. NOTHING was cut.

All the supplies for placemats

Since nothing was cut and there really isn't a reason to make these placemats and I'm not sure, I would choose those fabrics now.  I filed the fabrics in the appropriate bins of fabric, the Thermolam went in the batting closet and the book went on the shelf. One project - OUT OF THE WAY. GONE!!!!   That feels great!!!   I know there are more like that and when I unearth them, I'll make a decision whether to keep or disassemble.

While I was in the same closet, I came across this kit. It's one of those ones by Happy Hollow. I love her kits. They are super cute. This is a small ornament. I'm needing some small projects that I can work on at Monday sewing because I just need a break after sewing all those blocks for the 150 Canadian Women quilt.

Ornament kit

Hmm, what's inside? A candy and a small plastic bag with all the supplies to make the ornament.

What's inside?

I tossed the packaging in the recycling and the candy in the garbage and I'm putting the project in my Monday bag which will also come with me to the retreat which is NEXT WEEK. I'm so not ready!

Oh, while I was in the closet, I also found a Block of the Month - not done of course! It's fusible applique. It would be nice to have a change from piecing on Mondays. I may take that. I'm not even sure what state it is in, but I'll check it out.

I think this quote pretty much sums me up!

Dream Bigger quote!

I do have a lot of e-mails that I need to get sent out today and to get prepping for my presentation on Thursday night - the log cabin one. I have a class, meetings, a day of work and more classes and that's all just this week. It's going to be a crazy week, but nothing I can't handle!

On that note, I'm out of here!!

Have a super day!

Ciao!!!

I survived Easter brunch

No, this blog is not going to focus on food. I'll briefly tell you about my brunch experience and then we're back to quilting!

So there's this huge spread of buffet tables. A seafood and fancy meats (I'll pass on that one), an omelet table (yes), salads (hmm, none of them look low fat at all - pass), the veggies - yes, the pasta table - pass, the meat table - yes, the dessert table - of course - YES!!!  In all, I had one omelet with some bacon, ham, a wee bit of salmon, some green beans, potatoes, fruit and three small desserts. Four plates. I was full, BUT not stuffed when we were done. I was NOT hungry at all for the rest of the day. But finally, at 7 PM I decided to have a small salad because I was getting a headache.

Lessons learned from the day? I did NOT overeat on my calories for the day. YES, you can eat at a buffet and still watch what you eat. It's probably easier than ordering a la carte. Portion size, please!! No alcohol. It's NOT good to eat the total daily calories at one sitting. While I wasn't hungry, my brain fancied a wee snack in the afternoon. I pushed those thoughts away because it was just a MENTAL NEED versus want! 

Now back to quilting. The next block - number eleven is done on the pixel quilt. The three blocks are sewn together, but not to the big section yet. But wait until tomorrow - there's more!!!

Pixel quilt

I got all 36 blocks of this quilt sewn together. Then as I was thinking about it and knowing that I'm going to put a black 1st border on the quilt, I'm thinking I should NOT have put any black around the perimeter of the quilt. Some days, my brain works well and some days it does not. That means there are FIVE blocks that should be repositioned. I'll put it up on the design wall and see what we can do without having to do a major rip job. I know it's not necessary. This isn't a show quilt, it's not an heirloom, but I know that it would better if no black were on the perimeter. The black will bleed into the border. Perhaps, I'll cut the black border strips and put them against the quilt to see if it makes any difference. Then I'll decide.

Fickle Pickle - blocks are together

Then it was time to get the 6 blocks for today's sewing together for 150 Canadian Women. Here are the 6 from last week. I'm not sure where I am with the numbers. I've got the next 6 cut and I'll update the tally tomorrow. But progress is being made. I'm getting excited to move on, but at the same time, I'll be glad when the blocks are completed. I'm getting tired!

Six more blocks for 150 Canadian Women

Here's the quilt book that I'm reading right now. I LOVE this book. The quilts are super simple but very effective (most of them). There are a couple that I'd love to find a similar fabric - it's all Japanese and not sure that anyone sells this style of Japanese fabric. But I'm game to try with something else. They're just simple and I love simple!!

East-Meets-West Quilts by Patricia Belyea

On Saturday, I did pop down to the birding store that I found online and found myself a beautiful windchime. There were quite a few in the store and all tuned to specific notes. Some were big, some were tinkling bells. I got a medium sized one and I LOVE IT!!!

Wind chime back in the gazebo

Isn't that gorgeous?

The name of the store that I found is Urban Nature Store.  They had all kinds of cool backyard stuff and they had gorgeous Charlie Harper puzzles. I was tempted, but I didn't. Anyway, if you're in the area and looking for cool backyard stuff - check them out. 

I've got a couple of URGENT e-mails to send out this morning before I walk the girls and then leave. I'd better get that done!!!

But let me leave you with this quilting link. More quilts and fashion.  The dress is really cool and has some neat elements in it that would be perfect for a modern quilt. But read the article to see where the influence came from. 

On that note, have a great day!!!!

Ciao!!!