Wow... already mid November

 My timeline for this month got messed up just like last month.  Twenty three completed quilts headed to Comox on Vancouver Island for Quilts of Valour.  Some were made by me, others by Vernon and Fraser Valley quilters.  Hopefully, in the next few weeks, many of the requests for wrapping an injured Canadian forces member will be fulfilled and these deserving military will be wrapped in a fabric hug. 

One of my presenters in Kamloops is in need of more quilts ... and the cupboard was empty.  However, my quilting friends came through and I finished up a few of the tops they gave me and I found some suitable quilts in my stash so I will have 8 quilts for delivery.  

So... the entire month so far has been stitching, quilting, labeling and binding for Quilts of Valour along with some other projects destined for a church bazaar that a good quilting friend is working with.  This Christmas quilt was given to me as a top a few years ago and I decided to finish it and donate it to the church bazaar.  If it doesn't sell, then it will be given to a family that the church members feel is in need of a quilted hug. 

Another friend gave me these blocks she made at her recent quilt retreat and I put them together.  I have since quilted and bound it and picture to follow later. 

This quilt was my nemesis  The blocks were given to me, each in a kit form from a special QOV provincial plan by QOV.  These blocks came from Alberta shops and someone donated to our guild and the We Care committee donated them to me.  For the last couple of years, I have been handing them out to my various quilting friends (thank you Carol and Wednesday Quilt Divas) to make and they all got finished.  I kept staring at it trying to figure out how to assemble and I finally did it with a little bad language and some seam ripping. 

I pulled out ALL my Christmas fabric and I had so much!!  The decision was made to make some Christmas pillowcases because they use 27" of fabric and I went through and pulled out all that was width of fabric and good for the body, the accent strip and the cuff.  In the end, all of my fabric from various storage places now fits into one container. 

I was stitching down the accent strip and was happy to realized that machine has an open arm when I remove the table. That made it a lot easier! 

I ended up with 14 pillowcases finished.  My intention was to give some to a guild Christmas table at a local bazaar but they decided to not do that so they have gone to the friend for her church bazaar.  If there are leftover pillowcases, I think that they would be perfect for Canuck Place... hospice for sick kids. 

Sadly, we have a problem in our front yard.  The raccoons are digging up the grass looking for the grubs laid by the Chafer beetle (an European invasive species) and they make a mess.  We tidied it as best as we could and after researching, found out that nothing can be done until spring when nematodes or chemicals can be used (or, beetle resistant grass planted) so we live with an ugly looking lawn.  I did sprinkle hot chili peppers (ground up) all over which worked for a few weeks and then they returned to the smorgasbord of treats. 

Halloween was fun for decorating the front porch but sadly only 3 trick or treaters.  I guess the little kids have all grown up!  At least it wasn't a rainy evening for those out knocking on doors.

Christmas  cake production got underway with lining the cake pans, soaking the fruit in brandy and then making the cakes.

They went into the oven with me writing down the times that each one would be finished.  This is a Christmas task that I do every few years.  Some of the cakes will end up in the freezer for next year and possibly the year after.

In the meantime, they are well soaked in brandy and wrapped tightly in saran wrap and aluminum foil and then in ziploc bags.  My mum would have put them into her various size cake tins but I have donated mine to the local thrift store. 

Remembrance Day on November 11 had me getting a picture of my Uncle Harold, my dad's older brother, and I remember growing up with this picture at my Grandparent's house.  He never came home from the war and so none of us ever met him.  But he certainly was never forgotten in our family.  There are only two of us left... my sister and I, and we do take time every year to think of him. 

The quilts that I have finished so far this month are the following.  A scrappy block made by Marge and I quilted and bound it.  She included the binding to finish it off nicely.

A panel made by Janet that I added another border to and then quilted and bound so it is ready for  a presentation

This is the various blocks I assembled, put together, quilted and bound and also ready for presentation to an injured Canadian military member.  Love that moose block!!

I was asked to finish a Legacy quilt.  This quilt was started with hand quilting by a woman who sadly died and the quilt needed finishing.  We didn't have the option of hand quilting as we wanted to give this to her husband who so generously donated her entire sewing room to three different guilds and there was a lot of fabric.  I showed the unfinished quilt to my Wednesday group and it was decided that I should do a simple stipple in the green border and part of the red to finish it and support the hand quilting, not detract from it.  She had made the backing large enough for self binding and the entire quilt and binding was basted thoroughly with super fine thread.  So, I stitched down the binding on the machine as my hands won't let me do that much hand stitching. 

The plan it to deliver it to her husband after a label is attached and he will have it in plenty of time to have on his bed at Christmas. 

A fun time at our Saturday sew in.  We celebrated the 80th birthday of one of our guild members so a nice group showed up to sing Happy Birthday.  I took a lot of kits that I had cut with me and came home with the first step done in each of them.  They are now pressed and subcut and ready for the next step at December's sew in. 

And guess who came back for another grub party?  More lawn torn up.  What a mucky mess. 

I was showing our traditional guild how I store my scraps of fabric.  I always sort by colour where possible and have fabric buckets made for storing them.  Easy to grab and use and then shove them all back in and put on the shelf.  Any of the larger pieces, fat quarter size, or width of fabric, go into Art bins or into clear shoe boxes with lids so it is easy to see what is inside.  Some are so full, I can barely close them! 

Now, third week of the month, time to resume my regularly scheduled plan for what to accomplish.  I have my QOV presenter coming this week to pick up quilts and I have them ready for him!   And, I have done a good cleaning and organizing of my space, just in time to make it messy again. 

Last week of October

 I had to move my quilting week up by 7 days which really threw me off my new routine.  However, there is a need for Quilts of Valour in Comox, BC and I offered to help the rep by gathering, finishing and sending her 23 quilts.  

I did have help from the Vernon presenter who sent me 8 finished quilts and one top.  I also had another top turned in for quilting plus, I put together a few quick ones and also had a few on hand.  A real boost came from a quilter in Surrey who sent me a notice that she had 3 finished quilts.  Whew!!  

All that I need to do is make a list of the quilts, bag them and find someone heading to or through Comox on Vancouver Island and has room for a lot of quilts in their back seat!   A big job done although I have a request from my Kamloops presenter for a few more quilts for him to have on hand.  

First is a batik double hourglass (Villa Rosa pattern) that I made using up a Hoffman dot jelly roll with a few more of my own strips added in.  It didn't really look very Canadian so, on the back, I had a small panel, grey, with a map of Canada, so added that into the backing fabric.  

It isn't a great picture of the back but you get the idea of how I used the smaller panel to add a touch of Canadiana to the quilt.

This top was made by Janet, a member of our Wednesday quilt Divas group and it is labeled and quilted and ready to head to Comox.

A super simple pattern that uses blocks with a black sashing on two sides and then they are turned to create the brick look.  A 3 yard quilt with easy piecing and it was a good way to use up some Canadian/red fabrics.  I used some red fabrics that were available at our last guild meeting... a generous donation by the husband of a deceased quilter. Instead of putting the fabrics away, I left them out so I would use them first.  I have a quilting friend who calls this legacy fabric. 

In the package of quilts from Vernon, there was a top waiting for quilting from the Silver Star quilters so that got finished with quilting, label and binding. 

This is the back of the next quilt.  I had another panel of Canadian cities and I still love the idea of using these panels on the backs of Quilts of Valour. 

I refer to these as Carolyn blocks as I have used an idea that I saw while looking at Pinterest one day and the measurements were given for each of the pieces - and it makes great use of fat quarters with very little waste.  The centers are 5.5" inches with a 2.5" border around and then a 3.5" border on the outside. The finished blocks are 15" which makes a nice size and it goes together quickly.  Since I used mostly leaf and autumn fabrics, the Canadian panel on the back makes it perfect as a Quilt of Valour.

This block is available on the Quilts of Valour website and is called Parade Square.  Another simple block to make with a four patch in the center and then the borders/sashing added.   A friend saw this white fabric with the red maple leaves for a good price when she was at a quilt shop and bought me some yardage... thanks Marge! and I used more the red legacy fabrics mentioned above to create these blocks.

The last pattern in the Running Doe monthly challenge (Villa Rosa designer) is called Grandmother. I might have made this quilt a little too busy with such a wide variety of fabrics but, I like to use what I have on hand and I did have the squares of Canadian themed fabrics leftover over from a previous project so decided to use them.  And again, more of the legacy red fabrics used in the 9 patches.  That ends the Running Doe challenge although she does have a new one starting in January.  I certainly made some patterns that didn't appeal to me and I would never have purchases so I did step out of my comfort zone some months.  

Last weekend I decided to do something about my sewing machine arrangement.  I have been thinking about it for awhile.  It may not stay like this as the machine on the right doesn't get a lot of light at night and I don't really have any table space beside me to add extra light where it is needed.  It is possible, (groan) that I might just turn the machine and table on the right back to facing the television as that worked well for many years.  I was trying to get more table space behind each machine as I stitched on quilt tops, stitched on bindings (which I do by machine because of aging hands that cramp up when stitching by hand).  I will say that a lot of dust bunnies and bits of fabrics got vacuumed up in the move.  Wow... so much dust! 

These blocks were our modern guild's block lotto in early October and I need to put them together.  There is no lack of ideas by all the quilters that saw them on the design wall ... leave them as is, add sashings... add a border.... ??  The theme was fall flower colours... quite a variety but will make a colourful quilt for donation.

Always nice to end on a bright note.  We have had every kind of weather and it can change hourly.  After a brutal weekend of rain, this rainbow appeared late in the afternoon. 

Time to get these quilt registration numbers recorded and figure out which bags I have on hand to package them in and then someway, somehow, get them to Comox, BC.  It will happen and not only will I be happy, so will the Comox QOV rep as well as all the recipients who have been nominated for a quilt presentation.  Quilted hugs bring smiles and happiness. 

First week of October- binding done!

 Binding done and working on a major clean up!

This is finished Strip Twist made in June 2023 so, a UFO!  I didn't know where to donate this quilt but decided on Quilts of Valour.  

I used a panel on the back that is a map of Canada thinking that it made the quilt more Canadian?

I had a stack of brown rail fences that were aging in a box and I also had a pattern called Honor from years ago which gave measurements for cutting off the two opposite corners of the blocks and adding fabric to create a bit of a star.  In order to make this one more Canadian, another panel was used on the back.  Kudos to Stephanie of Heartstrings for the suggestion to use panels on the backs of quilts.  Brilliant idea and all my panels are now gathered together and ready to use!

The September quilt-a-long with Running Doe (Villa Rosa) was a pattern called Buttons.  I struggled with which fabrics to use but took out a kit from a mystery box from 2023 and used the set of batiks.  I added in a couple from my own stash and because I didn't want a really large quilt, I made two.  One has 20 blocks and the smaller one used 12.  

Confetti is another quilt that I made using a bundle of fabrics from the same mystery box from 2023.  I am trying hard to use up and make the quilts and other projects that arrive in my home and I do love these boxes but not always thrilled with the patterns they include.  A fun quilt and was inspired by a triangle quilt being made at a sew in with the modern guild in August.  Thanks Debbie for the idea.

I am still working on making these double hourglass blocks.  The heartstrings group chose jelly rolls as the September challenge and I did make Honor with rail fences but, I wanted to use an actual jelly roll and found this Hoffman dots package tucked away in the UFO container.  I need to add some of my own fabrics to get the quilt to a finished size that I like but it is my leader and ender project at the moment and is perfect for stitching during Friday night zoom session with modern guild friends. 

A quilt top came from Susan G in New Brunswick last October and I have quilted the other tops earlier this year and the final one is done.  Such a pretty quilt and I think it will awesome for a wheel chair quilt or for someone sitting in their recliner.  Done and labeled.

All of the quilts I finished this month used "frankenbatts'  which means batting pieced together from leftover strips.  The bindings and backings came from my stash and the best part is - only one quilt waiting on a hanger and now that I know where I want to donate it, it will get finished and I may not wait for the end of the month. 

Lots of idea but am concentrating on using fabrics that are in bundles and still have a few from the mystery boxes but am determined to move them from waiting to be used into a quilt top. The main list of project is similar to other months.

- Rainbow scrap challenge (color choice is up to us)

- Patterns by Jen and block is in black/gray

- Double hour glass blocks finished

- Cut and create kits from bundles on hand

- quilt the top that has been on a hanger for a few years. 

- stitch a block for the modern guild block swap this month

- Heartstrings: fat quarter is the monthly choice of precut

So far, the list is not too long but, I will be adding to it as I create kits for mindless stitching. 

October - time to put September behind us and move forward

 My husband's radiation is finished and now he is healing from the ordeal and spending a lot of time sleeping.  For me, time for the caregiver to attend some of her appointments for her well being - today the optometrist, next week the dentist and ongoing C-pap phone appointments to keep me on track.  We are back to playing indoor tennis which is a bonus on a rainy or wet day.  

September was fairly productive.  My heartstrings group chose jelly rolls or 2.5" strips and I pulled out a set of aging blocks, found a pattern from years ago called Honor and it meant adding some triangle corners.  After finishing the quilt top, I realized that I should have use a darker or brighter corner fabric, but the top is done! It is labeled and quilted and waiting for binding.  I used panel on the back which makes it more suitable as a Quilt of Valour. 

While digging around in my bin of projects patiently waiting, I found a really old Bali pops jelly roll and decided that it would be a great time to use it.  My choice of pattern was a Villa Rosa double hourglass.

I won't have enough blocks with using just the package so am adding in more blocks made from strips from my stash of batiks, trying to find ones that have dots.  There isn't a lot of choice but I will intersperse them among the ones that are true dot pops. 

 

The last week of the month is is quilting time and I knew I didn't have a huge number of quilt tops on hangers so was a bit slow in getting started.  Our garden is still producing crazy amounts of zucchini and tomatoes so some picking time was needed.  I also needed to get the grass cut during nice weather when rain was in the forecast.  But, I did get started and now have a stack of them quilted and they are waiting for binding.

This triangle quilt that I worked on during the last modern guild sew in was put together and is one of the finished projects.

I also finished up the brown scrappy strips that I pieced for my monthly rainbow scrap challenge.

These are my brown leaders and enders that was inspired by Bonnie Hunter called oopsie daisy blocks. 

Running Doe chose Buttons as their pattern for the month of September and I was hesitant to get started because I wasn't inspired.  I went through my container of bundles of fabrics, (same one where I found the Hoffman strips) and there was a kit of yellow/pinkish batiks that came in a mystery box and I didn't like the pattern with it so, I decided it was a great way to complete the challenge. 

I did add in a few other batiks and ended up with two tops.  One is slightly smaller than the other but I think they are bright and cheery and need to figure out where to donate them. 

My bruises are fading after my fall but now I have a C-pap machine to contend with.  I would love to say I am leaping out of bed in the morning and my sleep is awesome.  But, I can't.  It is taking some getting used to as I am NOT a back sleeper and love to be on my stomach which doesn't work... so attempting some sleeping on my side and trying to make that work but, I feel like most of the night, I am awake.  The data however, shows that I am sleeping much better and having very few apnea episodes so... time will tell.  

First week of the month.  Binding week and I had great plans to start yesterday and ended up outside in the garden.  Today, I had great plans but, after morning tennis, a noon eye appointment, and starting to write my blog update, the power went out.  The best laid plans went awry.  Oh well... I did search out my lanterns for power outages, plugged a battery operated light into my power bank and just as it was getting a little bit dark (and just when I thought dinner would be a can of soup on my gas range), the power came back on.  

So, working on this blog after dinner, while a chocolate zucchini cake bakes and I will attempt to get one quilt bound before my 8pm sewing curfew.  (self imposed but nice to spend some with my husband before he goes to bed).