Let is snow...

The dark snowballs are done but there is still the fun of arranging and putting them together! 

Here are my two piles of dark and light.

And now I have to get busy making a few Christmas gifts so the snowballs will be set aside for now. 

I'm wanting the quilt finished by January so I can enjoy it for January and February! Hopefully there will be time in December to get it finished!

Thanks for stopping by and happy stitching!

Snow Balls!

I spent a few hours yesterday sewing corner squares to a lot of snowballs! 

I pressed one just to show it opened!

Here is my stack of light snowballs. Now onto my dark snowballs! 

And maybe it was my fault for sewing snowballs... I saw the first snow of the season. 

It wasn't enough to stay on the ground but it was snow! The weather network is calling for flurries all week so I suppose winter has arrived in Saskatchewan!

These are a pretty easy sew so as I was stitching away I started thinking of Christmas. I am not making a lot this year but I do have a couple secret projects coming up!

Happy Stitching!

Winners and a funny thing about layer cakes!

Thank you so much to all of you that entered my draw for the little bags! My random number generator was my old school husband who was happy to throw out 3 numbers - comments #2, #7 and #4 ( that was his order!) Congratulations Quilter Kim, Regina and Roxanne! I'll be in touch with the three of you who won to get your addresses so I can get the bags sent to you! 

A long time ago I had a snowball quilt that I loved and used until it was a rag. It has been on my mind to make another. I had a layer cake from last year's Snowman Gatherings - perfect for a snowball quilt. But one layer cake wasn't enough so I bought another from this year's Snowman Gatherings line. Together they will make a fabulous quilt for my table this winter.

Here is the funny thing- last year's layer cake was 10" and this year's is about 1/8" larger. That is big enough to cut off the pinked edges and still have 10" to work with! You can just barely see in the picture below. I had already cut up all my dark squares before thinking I should take a photo of the difference.

Was this a fluke or is this the way with all the layer cakes now? Either way- I like it a lot!

I played a bit with trying the fan quilting design with my walking foot. Most people seem to do it free motion but my hands are happier this way. It would be not too hard on a smaller quilt. This is what I might use for the snowball quilt.

You do have to travel a bit but if you are careful it won't be too noticeable.

I finally finished piecing together my 2-3/4" courthouse step blocks. I love the chunks of light and dark.I rearranged the layout for hours and finally realized that the look was similar every time. I won't be quilting this until after Christmas. I have a few gifts to get made.

I know it's still October and it's not quite below freezing here yet but I couldn't resist getting this on up on the sewing room wall to enjoy this winter.

Thanks for stopping by and happy stitching!

Give Away * Winners Are Picked!*

After a blogging mishap, here is my giveaway!

I have not one, not two but three cute little zippered bags to send to three people who leave me a comment.

And please leave your email if you are a 'no reply' so I have a way to contact you if you are chosen!

I'm not sure when this give away will end...are there even three people out there reading this blog? 

I suppose it will end before my next post and when at least three people want to win a bag! 

These cute little bags are great for holding all sorts of things- thread, binding clips, hexagon papers...

Good luck! I know you'll enjoy one of these if you win!

Happy Stitching!

A gift quilted and finished!

I love finishing a quilt. 

I have been busy quilting a Christmas quilt that will be a gift. 

I lived with the quilt on my sewing room floor for more than a week before I finally decided how to quilt it. I wanted to do something curvy but in the end the quilt wanted a simple straight line grid.  

I love how it turned out.The quilt knew what it wanted.

 I was the one who resisted! 

The recipient will love it. It is about 72"square.

I had three leftover blocks and some of the green as well so I will make a small table runner.

And my poor machine quilting gloves sprung a hole. 

I have had these gloves a LONG time - more that 10 years so I got good use out of them. 

Here is my progress on my summer stars mini challenge. I have a small paper pieced border to add that I hope will tone down the sashing a bit! This is certainly out of my usual color zone!

Happy Stitching! 

My next post will be Number 250! So to celebrate I'll be having a fun giveaway and I'll be talking about my 2018 'quilty' challenge that I am giving myself! 

Ugly Duckling and a mini

My ugly duckling has turned into a swan...to me at least!

It's been bound, and washed and tested. 

It is soft and cuddly and it will be perfect for fall and winter naps.

And I started a new mini. My local quilt guild has a summer challenge to make a mini and technically I got it started while summer was still here. 

Here is my sample block - it's finished size is 2-1/4". It's so cute! 

After I made the sample I changed one fabric and started cutting and sewing.

And I joined the International Miniature Quilt Exchange on the Quilt Show.com. If anyone out there is interested in participating you can read more about it at The Quilt Show. 

Happy Stitching! 

Round and around and around...

I've been interested in trying some spiral quilting with the walking foot. I have a stack of quilts (is 4 quilts a stack?) basted and ready for machine quilting so here goes one! I am trying it out on my ugly squares quilt that will become my napping quilt this fall! Here is the start...so far so good.

Since it is so scrappy I decided to use up leftover machine quilting thread from previous projects. Here is the first one. It lasted a long time. There was more on the spool than I imagined.

This is the beginning of day 2 quilting a BIG spiral!

And thread number two.

And thread number three.

And what was left when I was finished the morning of day 3! 

Here is just the middle area of the quilt after it was quilted. It was a slow process but I am thrilled with the results! Would I do it again? YES! YES! YES!

What did I learn? 

 Go slow- you need to keep shifting your quilt around frequently. 

Take frequent breaks - you'll become mesmerized by the quilting and you'll start to drift from your path. 

Start small - this quilt is 72" square - a big one to start with but still very doable!

Now I just need to get binding on it. 

I can't wait to get it washed and ready for a nap!

And I have another UFO on the go. I have each row done so now I just have to sew those together. And you can't really see that first column as it is covered with sticky notes so I know what the row is. 

I can't wait to get this done! But first I want to get another quilt quilted. Three to go! 

Happy Stitching!

Summer Butterflies, UFO's and Gifts!

It's been a busy few weeks! I was away for a short holiday and I had a guest in my sewing room for a few days! That means not too much time for sewing. I have begun some gift making already so those things remain secret for now. 

Before going away I managed to get my butterflies all together and basted. I LOVE the colors! They are certainly not my usual colors but I think they suit the theme! One of these quilts will be for me and the other will be a gift!

I started big stitching the first one with a ecru perle cotton. For the second one I will look for something in a light variegated color - maybe a Sulky 12wt. 

I haven't gotten far on it so I guess this will be for next summer.  

I always have a pile of leftover charm squares but these really do not blend with my existing pile so I am going to make a 'slab' with the leftovers and then make that into a couple of Sweetpea Pods.

I also got my next border pinned and not a stitch sewn yet...

I've been in gift mode so I pulled these gold and silver prints for a special Christmas gift.

While I was putting my sewing room back together after my guest left, I sorted through my UFO's. How could it be that I have more...not less...arrrrr! I am pinning the list to my bulletin board and will try my hardest to not start anything new until I have made some progress.

While on the plane heading to Montreal for my holiday, my Kindle decided it's battery was going to act up and died after being fully charged the night before (I thought it was a goner for sure but it seems to be working again). 

I needed a book for the trip so I picked up this at the airport bookstore in Toronto during our layover. It was inspiring but does NOT encourage me to finish my UFO list unless that is the challenge! It wants me to start something new...something challenging...something maybe a little crazy...

For the last few years I have been completely intrigued by the many '365' quilty challenges...circles, stars, sampler blocks and even non quilty challenges...such as a photo a day. There have been so many daily challenges and even weekly challenges that are inspiring. 

I think next year will be the year that I challenge myself but do I have what it takes to commit? 

That is the biggest question of all!

Does anyone else have the urge but doesn't want to be left with a big project you might not finish?

Happy Stitching!

Summer Cleaning

Summer has been hot and dry here and there has not been much sewing going on. Our air conditioning is not working and until the part we need arrives that means most days there is NO way I have been wanting to turn on an iron.

I've basted 3 more quilts so that is 4 quilts that need machine quilting. Another case of there being NO way I'm going to sit with a warm quilt on top of me. And a reminder to self...do not get such a backlog of quilts to finish ever again. It seems a bit overwhelming!

I finished another round on my hexagons. The next section I'll be starting is a row of neutral, then color (blue for this round) and then neutral again. The rounds just keep getting bigger but this is still pretty small. It is just 16" across! 

I arranged my courthouse steps blocks on my design wall. Here are all the rows organized to sew together! It took a bit of rearranging but I finally got it to a point where it had the look I was wanting. I can't wait for a cooler day so I can turn on my iron!

I made this tote bag and gave it away to a friend! I know she will enjoy it. 

It turned out wonderful! 

And I had picked up this cute little butterfly pattern thinking it would be sweet wall hanging on my condo door. Again it was the case of I can't on my iron because it is so hot but I got into my sewing room really early in the morning one day last week and got them fused. 

I buttonhole stitched all around and all that is left is the cute little antenna's! 

This is a great project for a charm pack! 

There are enough butterflies for two little quilts! I wonder who will get the second one?

I hope I actually get it done while summer is still here. Fall is showing up everywhere in the stores reminding me that it is not far away!

And I've also been slowly stitching away on my applique quilt. I am almost finished the second border. As I've been stitching I've been planning a bit of embroidery to add to it, and maybe a bit of beading as well. I'll get a photo next time to show!

Happy Stitching!  

Paper piecing leap of faith!

150 courthouse steps blocks are done! Whew! Here is the last of them.

I'm trying this new product from Quilters Select. It says you don't have to remove the sheets and they will soften when washed. Did I try a test sample? No! I'm having a leap of faith. These blocks are so small that it will only be a wall hanging a bit less than 30" x 45" so I am not concerned with the 'cuddle' factor! 

After completing these last blocks I decided I had better baste down the edges before trimming. I used a water soluble thread because once I start piecing the blocks together I may want to remove some of the outer edge of the backing paper that is in the seam allowance. Water soluble thread will be so easy to remove!

Here is a block all basted and trimmed! 

And here are many blocks trimmed.

Next step is to get my portable design wall out and start arranging.

I am loving this! 

Happy Stitching!

Progress!

I've been busy but have managed to squeeze in some sewing and prepping!

Here is part of my next border pinned down on my whimsical flowers quilt! 

It has me thinking...do I do embroidery? Do I add texture with big stitching and perle cotton? Do I add beads? Too many decisions! 

And another 10 courthouse steps blocks have been sewn!

 I took a bit of time to pin up the groups of blocks so that I could see what colors I need more of. I still have about 50 blocks to go!

I finished off a punch needle project. The pattern was from the Spring 2012 Primitive Quilts and Projects magazine. It still needs to be antiqued and framed but I am undecided about the antiquing - Do I do a little? A lot? None? 

Finally I filled my case for making my little hexagons.

 I'm just cutting little squares. 

And then when I baste I just trim the corners off.

It's a pretty easy way to do it. 

Now I have enough to get my next round done - 24 little flowers all around! 

Happy Stitching!