February 9th - that means Valentine's Day this week... 5 days!

 Valentine's day in 5 days BUT I am ready and done with my well aged Valentine's table runners.  That feels good to finish ahead of time.  

I will go out of chronological order to show you what I have been working on and what I have accomplished.  This first one is a Kinderbell runner that has been in my life for a long time.  It lived in my Arizona house since 2017 and never got made so, it came home with me last year and finally, it is crossed off the list of 'want to make' projects. 

Shabby Fabrics, "A Year in Words - February" that has been around since 2016 and is now being worked on

Lots of tracing and applique but, one day at a time.

You have to make a mess when you are being creative and all my Valentine themed fabric is on the table.

This is Starlight from a Missouri Star Advent box 2023 (not so old!!) and I had the blocks made before Christmas but wasn't sure whether to keep them as individual blocks/table toppers, or, a runner.  I have to give thanks to the Facebook Advent box group who showed me their finished projects which inspired me to get this done.

Not much in my container for decorating which is fine with me.  Less to put out on display is less to tidy and put away later. 

All three are finished and now in various locations around the house.  So nice to cross these off the UFO list!

January's Running Doe sew Along was a pattern called Amelia and it made large blocks!  Two fat quarters were needed per block and I pulled out a lot of my reds and a variety of lighter ones to use, thinking it would make a nice Quilt of Valour.

In the meantime, I had a large number of preemie and children's quilts to get layered with backing and batting and put on the sewing desk for quilting.  What a mess... I pulled out all my flannelette and pieces of poly batting (preferred for light weight, easily laundered small quilts) and started piecing the battings and cutting the backings.  Disaster zone for a couple of days. 

Eventually, they all got prepped for the next step and were laid to wait patiently on the table.

In the meantime, the traditional guild I belong to, handed out some row by rows that had been donated, to each of us in December.  I offered to take any of the rows that spoke "Canadian" and this is the one I made.  This one was from a Campbell River quilt shop on Vancouver Island and it would be perfect for a QOV.  Hopefully, I will be able to gather up a few more from guild members and make a great Quilt of Valour. 

There has been lots of interruptions to my daily routine.  My husband had radiation for the month of January and part of February so my afternoons were spent driving to and from the cancer clinic.  One more surgery was done as well where he had day surgery for stents. 

When I made the Amelia quilt, her method was to add a squares and stitch down the center to create the flying geese or half square triangles on each block.  I added a second row of stitching to create another set of half square triangles and decided to make some Sawtooth stars for the beginning of another quilt.  I also had hst's left from a quilt last fall - browns and reds and wanted to use those. 

So, that started me off beginning my next quilt. These are 12" blocks so needed 30 to get a 5 x 6 quilt. 

In the meantime, however, I worked on quilting the baby/preemie quilts that were ready and waiting and here they all are!  Finished and labelled and ready for deliver to the local NICU and Ronald MacDonald house.  Thirteen of them!. These were all started and worked on during our modern guild Saturday sew-ins.  Those have come to a screeching halt due to the exorbitant hall rental fee for 2025.  I decided to just get them all finished and this took me almost two weeks from layering, then quilting, and finally binding. 

While I was at a guild meeting, a lovely gentleman, no names mentioned, handed me a plastic bag of fabric, asking for blue stars.  Since I was in the midst of making my red stars, I kept the same Sawtooth star happening and stitched up a couple of different options for a quilt that was being made. 

                                                                                I wanted to get back to my regular routine/regime that I began last year with quilting the last week of the month.  So, I loaded up my home quilting system with  the three different quilts that were waiting.  Amelia got finished.

The quilt made from the leftover half square triangles got finished as well and is now ready for donation.

This quilt top had been turned into me and it wasn't quite large enough so I added the green border to make it a little longer and wider and now it is also quilted and ready for donation.

Heartstrings - a group that I belong to, chose strips for the January challenge.  I dug out a couple of bins of odds and ends 2.5" strips and started stitching.  I kept at it for almost a week and now have 110 blocks and they are 10".  I will make the quilt tops 6 x7 which means 42 blocks per quilt so have enough for two with 26 blocks leftover.  However, there are still loads of strips but none are full width of fabric so will be a little extra work to piece them together to get 10" blocks.  Making two quilt tops is next on my list.  I forget what this month is but I think squares?  I will have to check and figure out what to make to use up stash fabrics.

A lovely gift for me from Barbara.  She was ill in December and missed our guild meeting where we exchanged gifts so she gave this to me.  I have something for her, but she will have to wait until I see her in March.

Our weather has been strange for January and into February.  We are dry!  Gorgeous sunsets, cold weather, below freezing (unusual for us) but we need rain and we know it is on the way, eventually.  But, so nice to wake up to sunshine in the mornings. 

This beautiful quilt was made by Connie and quilted by Joanne and is a Quilt of Valour made for a retired Canadian Armed forces veteran who served 34 years and his wife wanted this special quilt made for him.  She provided the pattern and fabric and my two good guild friends donated their time and talent to make it happen.

Yippee... last day of radiation!  Now the healing of skin begins and hopefully, his hand is cancer free.

The Quilting Dove pattern for February is Lantern and I already had the pattern in my Villa Rosa box and now need to figure out which fabrics to use.  I am thinking of batiks?  I have seen some great variations that other members of the group have completed so, lots of inspiration.

Friday was the Canadian Quilt of Valour sew day and this is the block pattern, called Zig Zag and designed for us by Lisa Compton and is free on the Quilts of Valour website.  I made the blocks while sewing during the Zoom time and then dug through my bin of Canadian themed fabric and cut some 12.5" blocks to use with the alternating zig zag blocks.  This is now ready and waiting for the last week of February... quilting week!

One of the fabrics I used was one I loved and is very old.  Many years ago, when this fabric appeared in our local shops, I bought two bolts of it!  And this is the last of what remained. 

So, now, I am back on my quilting schedule which makes me happy.  I have cut and am working on some bright star blocks which are being given to friends of a dear guild member and long time fabric store owner who died suddenly in December when a tree fell on her, in her driveway, during a wind storm.  Very sad but her friends are determined to make quilts for her favourite charity and have asked us to make blocks for them to assemble.  So far, this is what I have and I will continue to make them as leaders and enders for my current sewing projects. 

Yesterday, I was able to wrap the finished Quilt of Valour around the shoulders of the recipient of this quilt. It is always a great feeling to let a veteran know that we appreciate the efforts of the Canadian Armed forces to defend and protect our country and to be involved in Peace Keeping around the world. 

Now, what is next? 

I have decided that I am not going to make the rainbow scraps challenge each month, but, instead, work on stitching together all the blocks from the past two years.  They are patiently sitting and waiting for me to put them together into quilt tops.  

- Heartstring strip blocks from January to be assembled

- Heartstring blocks for February (when I find out what it is?)

- Stashbuster blocks for 2025 (which I may make in various colours )

- Lantern quilt top from Running Doe quilt of the month

I know there are many other projects on my lists but, listing less is better and not as overwhelming.  There are lots of appointments for my husband in the next couple of weeks and I am hoping to play indoor tennis twice a week but, my afternoons are free until it is time to be outside dealing with raccoon damage and tidying up gardens after winter is past and spring is arriving. 

January 3rd - all is calm but maybe not as well as it could be.

 As mentioned, we are in the midst of daily radiation for my husband's hand - the skin cancer is deep and surgery was not an option if he wanted to keep the use of his thumb and first finger.  So daily, we head to the hospital.  The good news for me is that appointments are scheduled for after noon so I can enjoy playing tennis 3 times a week and get my exercise while having fun.  He also has an appointment for renal artery stents mid January and it will be day surgery with him spending at least 6 hours in recovery before he will be released.  After than will be femoral artery stents but that isn't considered to be critical so the date could be any time this spring.  But, radiation will continue to mid February and makes me appreciate free parking for cancer patients. 

I continued to work on my Christmas, Advent, and mystery box projects that had accumulated in drawers for the last few years and I have almost finished anything that is seasonal for this time of year.  I do have some hand embroidery snowflakes, a small glass case requiring hand stitching to the metal frame and others that are more timeless.  

However, I did pull out two Valentine's projects and it would be nice to have them done by the first or second week of February.  There were two table runners and I am going to combine them into one project. I also have three blocks I made early December in white/pink/red and aqua that we decided would look on my dining room table for February so they need to be assembled with sashing, quilted and bound.  

I managed to piece my cardinal and only added a small border as I wanted it to finish at 12.5" to fit my small stand in my stairwell.  It will look bright and happy during winter ugly weather.  

It was interesting that two different Advent Boxes from 2023 had the same project instructions with different fabrics but, each had the fancy zippers.  A very super simple project and am now sad that I gave away all my fancy zippers because I wasn't sure where or how to use them.  I used my own fabric for the lighter ones - a canvas with scissors on it that worked well with the colour of the zippers.  The reason for that was that I didn't do a good job of putting the fabric with the patterns when I got them.  For those that haven't done an Advent bag, the various companies tend to give the parts of a project over two or three days.  You get the fabric one day, pattern another day and then notions on the third day. This year I took care to make sure I put all of the parts together into one bag so there is no confusion of wondering what goes with which? 

This was an example of combined projects.  The canvas fabric and lining (as well as the rest of the fabric pieces) came with a pattern by Cherry Tree Quilts in Summerland (a summer box).  I really didn't need another tote so I grabbed the two larger pieces of fabric and used them with the fabric bag pattern which was from a different Advent Box (Watergirl Quilts in Ontario).  The bag pattern was from 2023 and I liked the pattern because it gives 5 different sizes and cutting for each.  Simple project but it is also completed! 

These are two more smaller project. A drawstring bag and a cell phone bag for around the neck. I am hoping my passport fits in the mesh side. Otherwise it will be for guild meetings with a zippered pocket for coins.

I am in the midst of taking Christmas down though my outside sides tend to add a bit of brightness on these dark, wet, dreary nights so they might get to stay up a little longer.  

For January, I am about to start stitching blocks together from our past modern guild sew ins.   Sadly, we might not have more sew ins since the senior's center decided to change our costs from being very reasonable for a Saturday to us paying over $50 per hour which would be over $300 for a day of using the room which is a massive jump and if we had 10 people sewing, it would be over $30 each for the day.  Nothing is provided other than the space with a small kitchen and bathrooms and storage cupboard.  Until someone can find us something more reasonable to rent and use, our time together once a month is gone.  

Plus, I have my Valentine's projects to work on... it will be mid February before we realize it so time to get the sewing machine purring on these projects. 

I don't have many pictures today and I am not writing a list of what I want to accomplish but will post as I finish up some the projects on my wish list.  

Happy New Year to all and hopefully, healthy, happy and financially stable. 

Closing in on the end of 2024 - my final report?

 I don't know if I will get more projects completed today or this weekend but there are lots waiting for me.  I did divide the projects from past years of Advent boxes and mystery boxes into two categories - Christmas and all others that weren't seasonal. I have made an effort to work on Christmas themed projects and made some placemats for Meals on Wheels although, I kept two of the blue ones for us to use in January as they are winter themed, not Christmas.  I also made some placemats from the leftovers that I had after making our new tree skirt.  There is a 3D mug rug that was in this year's Advent box and I also made the Hexie mug rugs from a kit in 2023 and then decided to cut up some fat quarters and make the four patch mug rugs.  All of these are finished projects! 

The December blocks for Patterns by Jen got made using 'gold' as the colour of the month.  Now, I have the twelve months of blocks and need to put them together.  Jen is not doing her pattern and colour of the month in 2024 so the last year of this monthly challenge.

I came across a cute and quick pattern to make little containers and cut up a few quarters to play with fabric.  I made a couple from sewing themed fabric and put all my clips into it - instead of having clips scattered here, there and everywhere.  These were perfect gifts for quilting friends.

I found the right batting that can be used in the microwave and made more bowls to hold hot dishes from the oven or microwave.  Instead of Christmas, I dug out some food related fabrics to make the bowls.  For these, I used my accuquilt cutter.  First I cut Christmas ones and took them to our last sew in for those that wanted to stitch them up. 

I also gave away this table runner that was waiting for quilting and one of the guild members was happy to take it and she has finished it.  A win-win situation.  Am so happy to see her stitching down the binding. 

I made a few bowls to take as door prizes to my guild meetings in December.  These ones were not microwave friendly as I used the potholder/ovenmitt batting which holds the heat. 

 

Then some smaller projects got done from this year's advent box.  I made a cute cell phone table holder which I gave away as a gift and a kleenex tissue holder which I will attach to my tennis bag.  The cellphone holder was a gift and the recipient seemed to like it.

I have a tennis friend who had some well aged (vintage?) Christmas projects that needed the binding done on them.  I also added a hanging sleeve to each on and got them ready for her to use next year.  I am sure these are made from fabric that was typical of what we used 35 years ago. 

These two table toppers were in my Christmas stash and am guessing they are probably of the same vintage as the projects above.  They were blocks in a panel and I cut it up, made two toppers, quilted and bound them.  They are definitely folk art themed.  But, nice that they are finished! 

I made these quick bookmarks from a kit in this year's advent box - done! These are in use by myself and my husband.

In the Missouri Star Advent box, there was this cute little sewing machine ready for us to assemble from all the parts.  It can hang on your tree as an ornament or be a sweet decor item. 

A quick recap of some of the smaller Advent box projects I have completed this week.  The bookmark was simple and quick. The coiled coaster was another easy project and the thread was included which was a bonus.  There was  a kit for a simple Wallet complete with pattern and interfacing and fabric plus a small square of velcro.  Missouri Star included special fabric for bowl covers but I made a huge goof when I read the pattern instructions.  Measure twice and cut once.  I read to trace the bowl and add ½" around the circle but after doing that and cutting out my fabric, I reread and it was 1½" so my bowl covers are going too small for the bowls I wanted them to fit.  Oh well. 

My post it note wall has all of the current Christmas projects plus the older, non Christmas themed kits listed and I also separated them into two different containers.  I will continue to work on the ones that aren't Christmas themed for the next few days.  I think anything Christmas will go back into the container of fabrics and get pulled out again in November - only 11 months away!  I did reduce the number of small projects and I made a good effort at getting the new ones for 2024 completed.  There are a few embroidery projects that are snowflake themed that will be good for January.

Some baking got done and made a few plates of treats for friends and neighbours. 

The highlight of this week was a friendly deer came to munch on kale and flowers while I was sewing. 

We are in the midst of radiation treatments for my husband - 30 of them on skin cancer that is in the joint of his hand where thumb meets first finger and not sure it is has gone into the bone.  Surgery was not an option because of ligaments, tendons, and nerves so radiation was the choice for treatment.  And we are also waiting for surgery to stent his arteries leading to his kidneys as well as his femoral arteries in his legs.  When those are done, we are hoping he can walk without pain and that the improved circulation will also improve the quality of his life?  

While we are missing AZ sunshine and warmth, we are appreciative that his surgeries will happen within the next few months and some skin cancers will also be taken care of.  

Hoping you all had a lovely, calm and happy time at Christmas and that the New Year will bring lots of time for quilting!  For me, this is going to be a year of making an effort to use up some fabrics, sew quilts from my scraps and generally reduce my stash?  More sewing and less shopping.