A blast from the past!

 I have learned something about myself. Actually, I've known it for some time now. I can get up and work like mad all day. But if I have an interruption to my schedule, I'm a zombie for the rest of the day. Case in point, I had a trunk show yesterday morning, which went very well and was not far from home. Hello to all the members of the Busy Hands Quilt Guild in Cambridge. 

Then I got home in time to join the Monday Sewing Group for a bit, and well, instead of logging off at the usual 2 PM, we stayed until 4 PM. Meanwhile, on the call, I did nothing! I chatted and attempted to start sewing a binding onto a quilt. But after that, I did nothing. 

There are many things spinning in my head at this moment, and I just didn't want to cope with anything else. Nothing bad! Mostly a lot of e-mails had to be sent, which got sent in the middle of the night because my brain wouldn't shut off. 

Now, back to the guild meeting. I did my lecture on Modern Quilts, which is always fun to do, and OH MY -- even though I've done this lecture before, I decerned a distinct pattern in my modern quilts. They are NOT the same, but most of them in the show are designed by me, and there's one unique element in almost all of them! Should I tell you? 

Well, since some of you will never get to see the show, I'll tell you. There's almost always a diagonal line of some sort in the patterns! How weird is that, and as I mentioned, I'd never noticed it before yesterday. 

I also had some papers and a book to take with me this coming week, but do you think I could find them yesterday? OK -- so I didn't look too hard, but I've found EVERYTHING this morning. It's all packed in my portable office (backpack), and all I need to do is pack that suitcase - never mind, the Uber is coming in less than two hours! 

I'll be away all week, but I'm going to a quilt show (to work), so it's going to be all about quilting!!! In French! I'm excited -- I used to live in Montreal, but we're not in Montreal - we're in St. Hyacinthe, just outside Montreal. Here's a link to the show in case any of you want to pop by. I'm not sure why it needs to be FOUR days. 

And thank goodness for online check-in and no luggage, so it'll be easy to get on the plane. Getting home will be a bit more challenging as I have my sample suitcase to bring home. 

As for that binding, look what happened. Another darn join at the corner. Sigh......... I will have to take Rose's advice soon, or this will be the standard for every quilt! 

A join at the corner

While at the guild meeting yesterday, I ran into several people I used to sew with or who were in previous classes of mine. One lady brought in two quilts that she took in the $10 quilts at The Hobby Horse, and these were the one-hour-a-month lecture classes. Both of her quilts are done, gifted, and she brought them specifically to show me. How sweet was that? 

Enchanted Autumn

Quilter's Garden Patch

It was so awesome to see these finished quilts, and I'm happy to report that both of my tops are together. Not quilted, but together. And as I was searching for my paperwork this morning, I came across the list of these types of classes. I did a quick count, and I taught almost FIFTY of these classes at The Hobby Horse. We started in 2003. Can you believe that? I'm stunned. 

Don't forget that there were other classes I taught at Oh Look Fabric, Cockadoodle Quilts, and Sew Sisters. And there are a few I taught on my own, and I bet there are at least a dozen, if not more, of those. And I wonder why I have UFOs?? When I'm back, I will dig deeper and see how many are still on the UFO list. Oh my gosh --- I was so happy to find that paper. 

And the problem is that there are so many more that I want to make (teach) whatever. I want to make a Wendy Williams quilt, so I need to find a pattern that works and is not too expensive. 

OH --- I've had so many requests for the club/class information, and have I posted it yet? NO -- I haven't had a chance to work the dates into my calendar. 

But here's a quick recap. These are ongoing classes that will continue or START in 2023.

• UFO --- unless someone drops out, the TWO classes are FULL
• Out of the Box -- the people in the class will get the first chance to renew -- at this moment, it is full
• Machine Embroidery -- unless someone drops out, it's full 

So here is what you can expect NEW for 2023. Refer back to this post for more information. 

• A club for digital cutters (all brands)
• An EQ8 club for learning the software (not sure what level yet, as that depends on who signs up)
• The many little blocks club (got to find a better name for that one) 
• Embroidery software (mySewnet) only if there is enough interest 
• Jen Kingwell make-up class (for ANY of Jen Kingwell's patterns -- as long as you have started) 

I will try to find dates for all those while I'm away, so I can post when I'm back. But if you have any comments about the levels of the software you are interested in, let me know, as that will help me. 

As usual, send me an e-mail (elainetheriault@gmail.com) and put the name or some reference in the subject to help me sort it. I do NOT mind getting e-mails as long as there is an appropriate subject line. If you just say "classes," "homework," or "pictures," that will get lost. You have to put the specific name in the subject! Send an e-mail individually, but then put the names in the subject, or just send one e-mail per class. This is not the official sign-up as I don't have dates -- it's just a curiosity about the level of EQ8 or mySewnet so I can figure out how to advertise it better. 

OK -- that's it for me. I've got to run, finish throwing stuff in the suitcase, and walk the dogs. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

UFO Day

Our UFO club is pretty simple. You signed up and paid some money. Each month you attend the meeting (or participate via e-mail) if you're too far away. You pick a UFO and you make a commitment (which I diligently record in my new book) and you better have the homework done for the following month.

We got off to a rocky start in January because of the weather. But we had great attendance this past month and NO money so far has gone to the kitty. Yikes - we might be having water and crackers for our lunch in December. And that's perfectly OK.

It's so amazing to see all these projects being resurrected and getting finished at last. That's what it's all about - getting things done. Well, getting those UFOs done. Hopefully, we've all learned a lesson and no longer let something become a UFO.

Susan's task was to make one block for her Farm Girl Vintage quilt. She's using several of the Lori Holt books to get the blocks she wants for the quilt. I think this one came from the Farm Girl Vintage II or perhaps Spelling Bee. Her other task was to take inventory of what she had already made and to note the sizes of each. She accomplished all that and now has a plan on how many more blocks in either 6" or 12" that she needs to make.

Susan's block for her Farm Girl Vintage quilt

Sometimes, having a plan is half the battle.

Jane is working on a Kaleidoscope quilt by Brenda Henning. This quilt is for her son and it sounds like it's been hanging around for quite some time. Her goal was to finish all the blocks. The blocks are DONE. Her goal for this month is to assemble the quilt top (minus borders). She's going to a retreat this weekend. Guess what project is on her priority list?

Jane's Kaleidoscope blocks

Then she pulled out these blocks as well. I believe these came from a workshop taught by a local teacher. It's a wonky star block. Her goal is to get the top together with sashing between the blocks. No commitment for the borders on the quilt and that's perfectly fine. Remember, each person sets their own goals depending on how much time they have in the month.

Jane's Wonky Stars blocks

Linda has not been able to readily access her projects for six months because of a reno and a move. Can you imagine??  I would have died! Her goal was simply to FIND the project which she did just days before we met. Her sewing space is organized more or less. We haven't seen pictures yet.

Her goal is to finish sewing down the appliques in the borders. Thankfully, after she located the quilt, more of the applique was already stitched down than she thought. Yeah!!!!

The border of Linda's Spool Quilt

I had a good chuckle when she pulled out this block. I LOVE this quilt. It's called Christmas Pickle by Possibilities. It's an old pattern. I forgot to ask how many blocks are in the quilt. Lots of the components are made, but the blocks are not. This is the first block. Her commitment is to make three more. Curved seams!! Now that she's a better sewer, some of the curves in the previous blocks don't pass muster, so she's going to redo them.

Linda's block for the Christmas Pickle quilt

Sharon is working on the Piecemaker Calendar quilt from the year 2000. I almost felt like we were in confessional as each person brought out their project. But that's what this club is all about. We don't judge because we're all in the same boat.

This is the block that Sharon finished for January, but wasn't able to attend. That's a ton of applique in each block, but the block looks amazing.

Block three from the left in the top row. 

Here's a picture of the calendar. Someone had asked me if they were still making a calendar and the answer is NO. The last one was for the year 2017. To my knowledge, they are no longer making the calendar. Some of these calendars are somewhat simple and others - well, they're a lot of work. The first was 1988 and if anyone has that calendar, I'll be happy to buy it off you.

Piecemaker Calendar 2000

Here is Sharon's fourth block for the top row. She got a lot accomplished this past month. Her goal for the coming month is to add the trees to that mountain. I think there are 7 trees.

Sharon's current block

Here are the two rows that she has completed. It's a gorgeous quilt and while it's a ton of work, it's a piece of art to be treasured.

Sharon's Piecemaker Calendar quilt - the middle two rows

Ronda is making paper pieced sections for her winter scene wall hanging. Five more sections were completed. I hope she starts to sew it together soon! I'm dying to see it come together.

Ronda's paper pieced sections

 Her commitment for next month is to get six more sections sewn. Paper piecing is a slow process, but it's the best way to piece all these fiddly little pieces.

Ronda's homework for next month

Lynn finished her snowflake quilt - somehow I didn't get a picture of it. I'll do that and share tomorrow since I don't have time to finish all the pictures today.

She's now working on a new quilt. Hey - a NEW quilt? Does that mean she has no more UFOs??? Anyway, she is using several embroidery files and making her own blocks. The cats are from Cat's Meow from Lunchbox Quilts and the quilted background came from another design company whose name I've forgotten.

Lynne's embroidered cat blocks

Did you see my pen on the table?? Oh - why are there so many pens around?

Diane needed to get the last border on this quilt and get it sandwiched so she can quilt it this coming month. She's also going to get the binding on for the next meeting. I think this is one area where we all struggle. It's mostly easy to get the quilt top done, but how do you quilt it? So we had a chat about that and I think she's fired up to get this done.

Diane's quilt is sandwiched and ready to quilt

Liz is working on the Garden Quilt by Amy Bradley. Her homework for January was to get the applique shapes done for three blocks. 

Block One

Block Two

Block Three

None of the pictures in today's post really do justice to the quilts or the blocks. They are so pretty and bright in person!

Anyway, Liz's homework for February was to finish the satin stitching on two blocks from the same quilt.

All the edges on Liz's blocks are satin stitched

And she had one more block with silver in it, so while she had the thread on the sewing machine, she did that one as well. A bonus block!!!

One more block from the Garden Quilt

Liz was having quite the time with the needle gumming up from the fusible and highly recommended using these needles. I happened to have a pack and I'm going to try them for my little monthly applique quilts.

Nonstick Needles

Her homework for this coming month is getting the satin stitching completed on these two blocks. That should be a piece of cake after all that other work. And it's nice to see that Liz does have other quilts in the works than Christmas quilts!!!

Two more blocks from the Garden Quilt 

 OH - I almost forgot, she's going to satin stitch around the rain boots as well. Which are totally adorable. I want a pair like that!!!

One more of Liz's homework blocks

Shelly is working on this quilt. When I first saw the picture, I called it the blob quilt, but it's called the Abacus quilt. I guess it looks like an abacus.

Abacus quilt pattern

Her goal for the month was to sort out what she had and figure out a plan going forward. She succeeded and has a detailed plan until May to get this project completed.

The bits for the Abacus quilt

 The goal is to make all the components as shown below made for next month.

One of the components in the quilt

Dede is working on Rosewood Cottage. Her goal was to get that border around the center part which she did. The coloring of this quilt is so soft and so pretty. But finding fabrics that match - well, those are NOT common colors.

The border is on the center part

 She also had to finish the stitching on this bottom border. That's done.

The last border is stitched in place

 Her goal for next month is to add the pieced border to the quilt. Then we had a look at what fabrics she has left and would any of them work for the final two borders. I think we chose wisely? Like I said, this is a very hard colorway to match.

Do these work for the next two borders?

I have more show and tell, but I've run out of time. I'll finish the UFO show and tell tomorrow. But isn't it amazing to see how dedicated we all are and how we're striving to get those UFOs finished? The big trick is to keep working on the UFOs. If you want to start a new project, go ahead, but you cannot let that become a UFO. The number of projects completed in a year (including UFOs) should be LARGER than the number of new projects started. Keep that in mind when you start something new.

Anyway, does anyone else want to share pictures of your UFOs? Let me know what kind of progress you're making on your own.

On that note, I see we have more snow last night. Yeah!! I'll be out shoveling the driveway as soon as we're back from our walk.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!

The first day...............

I had no refined sugar yesterday and I survived. WOW - imagine that. It wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. I LOVE the smoothies and although my immersion blender works great, I think a blender is in order for other things. I see some of you have given me some suggestions. I need to evaluate fast and get one by the weekend. Tried to make lentil meatballs last night and a tad hard to mash up without a blender to do the work for me. As a result, they were a bit dry but tasty!

What's funny about all this is all the things that I used to yell at M about - how come you're buying almond butter at almost $11 a jar and almond milk - who wants to drink almond milk?  Let's just say that you should be careful what you say. What's even funnier is that she is here at the moment and we had a good laugh about it yesterday. She says we're both more grown up now! She even ate my dinner last night. I think that is the first time that the three of us ate the same thing for dinner in YEARS! I'm not sure DH will continue (he hadn't planned, but for him to give up that glass of wine? I think hell will have to freeze over first!)

I gave up TV eight years ago. Cold turkey. I don't miss it. I can do the same with sugar!

My biggest problem is not drinking enough water. I'm going to have to get a glass and guzzle it as I can't remember to drink throughout the day. I'm on glass number two already. Had two cups of tea which helped the snack issue. And no there was no sugar in either cup. OK - I'm going to admit that the sugar thing is a comfort food or more likely just a really bad habit. I don't need it and I always thought it made my tea taste better, but if you learn how to make a proper cup of tea, the green tea is not bad. Don't overboil (thankfully we have a kettle with multiple heat temperatures on it) and don't over steep. Those are wise words of wisdom from M. That kettle which we've had for several years is a really cool thing. It's a kettle for making tea. You choose the kind of tea you're making and then hit start and it will heat up to the temperature best for that kind of tea.

I did something else yesterday that I've been meaning to do for a while. I took my laptop in to get the data pulled off of it. YIKES!!!  I haven't really been using it but occasionally I needed to get an e-mail address or a file. I had some errands to do and in that neighborhood, so I grabbed an extra hard drive and the laptop and away it went. I had a very pleasant surprise when the manager of the mobility department remembered me and we had a nice little conversation and she indicated that I could trade in the laptop for a store credit. I'll see what they give me - the thing is old and the battery is dead! But I really need to do something about this keyboard. It's so stiff - I don't like it. I prefer the touch of a laptop keyboard. Huge difference. But I'd go back to that Best Buy in a heartbeat - they were very helpful.

However I had to go to the library to pick up some items I had ordered. One of them was a set of CDs for Quilting Arts. Yikes - I used to watch CDs on my laptop. Now I'll have to learn how to work that damn TV???  Or find them online?

Made good progress in the quilting world as well. I got one of the tops done. Yeah! I got the backing cut and hope to get it on the long arm and quilted today. I was hoping to do custom quilting, but simple custom quilting - you know my casual style. I made excellent progress on the other top. I'm not done, but I should be able to finish it today. I just can't work late - 8 PM and my body says - that's enough!

I promised you pictures and I've got pictures today. I had a peek back at the blog and I don't think I posted pictures once from those on-going classes that we had last year. How the heck did that happen? I hope that will change this year. I just need to get over this week, next week will be busy with bindings, but after that, the schedule is pretty wide open!

So these are some of the first blocks that the group made with Quilter's Patch by Laundry Basket Quilts. Once that other hard disk comes back, my plan is to get all these darn pictures organized. Like these blocks - there is no need to keep the originals although I could as I have lots of disk space. But they need to be organized. That is going to be huge, but shouldn't take too long and there is nothing like being able to find your pictures when you want them.

Quilter's Patch

 I'm not sure in what order that we made these blocks, but I found two sets of pictures on one camera. So you are getting to see one set of pictures today and hopefully the second set tomorrow. Then I need to check my other camera and my phone to find the rest. See what I mean? Totally insane to have three devices that take pictures and then not consolidate them in one place.

Of course, I don't remember who did what! But suffice it to say that the blocks are awesome. No - I'm not done my quilt, but it's on the list to finish this year and I'm on a mission.

On that note, I have a couple of errands that need to be done outside the house and I had better do them today rather than tomorrow when the weather is supposed to be crap. What is today's date? January 11th. I haven't had to put gas in my car this year and I still have half a tank!  When I worked, one tank didn't last the week!  Am I happy??  You bet!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Back to class today!

It seems like it's been forever since I taught a quilt class. But this is normal for this time of year. December is always quiet. I love it - we always say, everyone is so busy in December getting ready for Christmas. I guess this is true, but wow - an entire month? Anyway, I digress. It's nice to take a break and now here we are almost at the end of January which is very scary. Where is the time going?

I woke up VERY early yesterday morning. Had a couple of things on my mind so as I mentioned, I got up and cut out that quilt which I will sew over the weekend. Along with TWO other quilts that need to be sewn this weekend - bits and pieces of them are either sewn together or cut out so it's not as bad as it sounds and none are huge.

But the waking up early thing means early to bed. We went out for dinner last night and half way through dinner, I'm like - OH OH. I need to go to sleep NOW. We finished up and I came home and went to bed and slept soundly. Ready to go today!  I think  my biological clock would like to get up at 3:30 or 4 AM and go to bed at 8 PM.  That seems to work for me these days - it's weird.

That meant that I had to get my homework for class prepped this morning. Running a tad behind, the girls will get to go to the park this afternoon, not this morning. I'm sure they will be fine with that since they're already outside running around like two crazed lunatics. All they want to do is play. And I swear that when I let them in or out that they conspire with each other. "See I told you it would work" or stuff like that. I'm not sure who is the conspirer, I think they both have fun with it.

I'm teaching TWO pieced quilts this year. Very different from each other - if you didn't see them, check out this blog post with the details. I'm pretty excited about both of them.  One of them is going to get made twice - can you figure out which one???

While both are fairly easy, there's going to loads of tips in order to be successful with both.  Have a look at this block - ah???   What is that? You have to wait until tomorrow when I show you the finished block.

Pieces cut for a block

I got the most beautiful thank-you card for a quilt that I gave away - remember the bicycle quilt?  Well, I got a beautiful card - on the outside is a cute bike and the inside was a beautiful message that brought a tear to my eye. I'm just glad that the quilt was appreciated and is going to be used.  I will give anything away (no requests please! - unsolicited giveaways are my favourite), but if it isn't going to be appreciated, I have no desire to give anything to anyone.

Thank you card

And I have to warn you that something DANGEROUS is going to happen in our house today. I'm so afraid to even mention it. I'll take pictures and let's just pray.  Here's a hint - what is the one thing in the world that I have the most trouble with?  Yep - technology! And that's all I'm going to say.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!

Baby it's cold outside!

What's with this cold weather?  It feels like the middle of winter.  BUT when one has things to do in the house, I can't really complain.  I didn't get as much done as I would have liked yesterday, but still made good progress.  

Let's see - I still have a tote bag to finish. I needed fusible fleece and I got some yesterday so that shouldn't take too long to finish up. I wanted to make two journal covers - one of them got made this morning.  And if you want to make a journal cover, check out my tutorial that I posted a couple of years ago on QUILTSocial.  It's fast - I think I made the one cover this morning in less than an hour and I had to refresh  my memory (from the tutorial) on how to do it. They are fast, very easy and you are only limited by your creativity!   I'm making a couple with one of Northcott's new fabric lines to take with me to Spring Market. Let's see, then there is a vest and a stuffed toy that I would like to make. The line is called a Stitch in Time.  comes in TWO different colorways.  While it doesn't ship to stores until January of 2017, if you want your local shop to carry it, NOW is the time to ask the shop to order.  It is orderable NOW, but after these orders, it's gone! 

I did manage to get a couple of things accomplished yesterday - I had two of my ongoing classes in the morning.  As usual, I was perusing the shelves at Sew Sisters and came across a fabric that I had been looking for.  That was a great find.  Then I showed the group the round robin that I'm working on from the Grand River Modern Quilt Guild and got the perfect idea from the group.  It's even hand work, so if I'm smart, I could prep it and sew it on the plane on Wednesday.  It just so happened that the Fusible Fleece that I wanted was on sale at Sew Sisters!

Then off to deliver my sick sewing machine to be fixed.  I think it is serious, John thinks it just needs oil.  Bottom line, I've decided to take my favourite sewing machine to work - yes - I'm going to sew every day  - what the heck!  The machine is almost 20 years old, a few parts don't work - the needle threader and the thread cutter, but I'm so used to not using them, it's no big deal.  Then I'm going to pull that Ruby out and start sewing on that at home.  Gosh, the machine is brand new, although I've had it for 3 years!   Out with the small machines - we're bringing the big guns in!  It'll be great because I was a bit limited in the capacity of the machine I had at work.  I think I might have to buy a new insert for my sewing table. Oh well......   And while I was at Brampton Sew n Serge dropping off my machine, I found the companion fabric to the one that I found earlier at Sew Sisters.   What are the chances of that?????

I took pictures yesterday - we had some interesting blocks, but I'm behind and so going to show you the rest of the class pictures from last weekend. 

Eat, Sleep, Golf quilt by Amy Bradley

The pictures are from the Garden Quilt by Amy Bradley.  I see she has a new pattern out - all about golf. It's very cute, although I didn't buy it yesterday when I saw it at Sew Sisters.   I have many of her patterns, but haven't made any.  I'm hoping to get things under control and actually start to do something for me!  That's FUN!!!!

Garden Quilt by Amy Bradley

It appears that as this class winds down next month, the class size is also dwindling!  Marilyn brought in all her finished blocks and she was the only one that brought in work. No worries - the quality of the work was IMPECCABLE.  I would say that Marilyn has mastered machine applique - she's a PRO at it.  I'm very impressed.  

Marilyn's blocks

more blocks by Marilyn

And one more by Marilyn

Detail of one flower center

Wow - I can't wait to see the quilt finished. At least the quilt top.  I had to abandon mine at some point, but I do hope to get back into it.  Since I'll be teaching a lot less classes next year, there is less prep and less time out of the studio and hopefully I'll be able to get some stuff done for me.  Or I wait until I retire at which time, I'm going to refuse to do ANYTHING outside of the house!  I mean, no volunteering for anything!


Speaking of volunteering, you remember a couple of days ago, that I wrote a post on donations during major disasters - like the fires in Fort MacMurray.  Well guess what - they are inundated with unwanted stuff. In particular clothes.  I think we all need to look at the quantity of clothes that we buy and STOP buying.  Think about it - how many T-shirts do you own?  OK - now how many of those do you actually wear on a regular basis?  OK - so what are you going to do with the rest?   But more importantly, why are you going to buy another one?   I feel the need to purge again - I find pitching clothes is now the easiest thing.  So easy that I can't even remember getting rid of stuff like my housecoat!    There are still things in my closet that I don't wear, some of it is brand new.  I need to rotate things around a bit and get rid of stuff.  I'd like it down to the point where all my clothes fit in one suitcase (except cycling clothes and winter stuff).  Shouldn't be hard - I don't need a huge variety of stuff.  At least the clothes are all sorted by category, so I could pick one category a day and eliminate!!!!!!   It pained me the other day when I pulled out a beautiful sweater only to find that it had a couple of small holes in the front.  From catching the sweater?  Moths?  I don't know, but I pitched it - it's of no use to anyone.  


So if you want to help in any situation, it's ALWAYS best - donate money or check to see that what you're going to donate is actually needed.

On that note - I've got work to do today and I'd better get started.

Have a great day!!!!

Ciao!!!!

Garden Quilt show n tell

I slipped a bit this weekend - I did NOT do my appointment with myself until Sunday evening and you know what?   I missed doing that.  I find that by putting everything (this is all quilt related) in that little book with lists and then picking what needs to be the focus of the coming week - well it's working.   I'm really shocked that I actually found something that works for ME!!!

Now one of the biggest issues is to keep it updated so when something new comes in - it MUST be documented, otherwise the whole thing will fall apart and I have been super diligent about that. I have to say that I'm not really crossing anything off those lists as far as being completely finished but I should have a whole bunch that I can cross off soon.  And yes - I've added things to the various lists - but only quilts to be quilted for customers so that's OK. 

I get about 1/4 of my weekly task list completed - so I have to evaluate that.  Lots of  items these past couple of weeks have been big and so I must learn to spread those out and break them down even further. Bottom line - nothing is getting through the cracks, nothing is being forgotten and that's all I care about. 

Now I must devise the same system for work because while I use to lament that I wasn't all that busy - nope things are different now. And that's a good thing.  I knew that would happen - it just takes time to get into the swing of things. 

The show n tell today is from Garden Time by Amy Bradley. 

Garden Time quilt by Amy Bradley

Not sure where everyone was for the class, but it was pretty small.   Doesn't matter - we had fun those of us that were there.   Have a look. 

Borders - one side and bottom - Liz

The other two borders - one side and top - Liz

Some of the smaller blocks - Marilyn

Borders - side - Marilyn

Borders - top and bottom - Marilyn

These quilts are coming together beautifully.   I've been working on mine on Monday mornings with my Monday group.  I have so much applique that I had to find a dedicated time to make it happen and yes I'm behind on the prep work for this quilt.  Monday mornings is a perfect time to work on it.  I've been tracing images for the last couple of weeks. Last night, I got one block ready for cutting and that's what I'll be doing this morning.  If I'm lucky - I might even get everything glued down into an actual block.  Yes - we'll divide and conquer and get something done!!!!

Smaller blocks - Ruthi

Ruthi invested in a new sewing machine.  She was able to scan in this block and then the sewing machine did all the stippling around the gloves.

Quilted by the sewing machine

Oh yes the features of these new sewing machines would knock your socks off!!!!

Speaking of sewing machine and their features - it's my week to blog on QUILTSocial and I'm chatting about the Husqvarna Viking Designer Jade | 35 again.  There are some great tips this week. on decorative stitching.    Check it out.

On that note - I'm out of here.

Have an awesome day!!!!!!!!!!!

Ciao!!!!!!!