Oh my goodness... Christmas is in 18 days!

 A sad state of my affairs when it has been more than a month since I posted but, as always, I have been busy stitching up a variety of projects.

These first few quilts are ones quilted and bound at the end of October.  There are two of the 16 patch quilts made from squares found in baggies in the drawer of a friend who moved and discovered two larger bags of small bags of squares and they had names on them. They are from some sort of swap many years ago with our guild and most of contributing quilters are no longer members of our group.  First step was to stitch each of the squares in each of the small baggies into blocks and then I decided to create some tops that would work for Quilts of Valour by adding in Canadian themed fabrics as alternate blocks. 

I also tried to keep to a colour family as the square in baggies were organized that way... baggies with blues, green, or reds, yellows and orange.  

The third quilt is another one for Quilts of Valour and it is the Running Doe monthly challenge for October called Waverly.

The first of November, I attended our guild retreat as a day stitcher and I was hoping it would work with my husband being dependent on me.  The first day was good and I was home in time to make dinner for us but the second day, he asked me how long I would be and by the third day, I went to play tennis in the morning and skipped the last of the retreat.  However, on my one full day, I worked on a variety of projects and got a few of my projects to the stage of being put onto my design wall at home
 

The first quilt, upside down, I did not make but was one of the many quilts I have been binding for a group of quilters who meet at the home of a long arm quilter. They have a room of donated fabric and are busy making quilt tops and getting them quilted and I pick them up to bind them.  They are returned to the group and another volunteer (or two or three), wash the quilt tops, and then sort them by size and theme so that they can donate appropriately to our community groups. 

Another cute quilt that I finished off with the binding. 

These were blocks I worked on at the guild retreat first of November.  Carolyn's "no waste" block using a variety of fat quarters.  

I had this kit cut a year ago and it sat waiting for me to get the blocks made.  A 3 yard quilt that I made extra blocks to get to a slightly larger size.  The green fabric is butterflies. 

One of the necessary 'jobs' when you are a quilter is to stop and take the time to organize your scraps and leftover fabric bits and strips.  I sorted them all into coloured piles because that is how I store my scrappy fabrics.  

I continued to work on making magic star blocks that I began after a demonstration by Carola at a modern guild meeting.  She came to the November retreat that was a traditional guild activity and demonstrated the same block with different measurements.  I carried on with what I had started 4 months previously and if you want some inspiration, look for magic stars on Pinterest.  

Last year, in the Advent box from Missouri Star, there was  panel of front doors and the instructions to make houses, trees and a layout suggestion.  I made one house to check the instructions and that got me started. 

I cut up lots of scraps into the correct sizes and then started stitching these as leaders and enders for my other projects.  So cute and very addictive.  I think I have enough and now need to cut the fabrics for the trees and get those made.  

I took this panel that was given to me by Quilts of Valour to the long arm quilting group hoping they would quilt it with a maple leaf pattern and they did a great job.  I got it bound and now it is ready for use as a background when doing a display for Quilts of Valour. A huge thank you to Debby and Helen. 

All of a sudden, it was time to pull out the Christmas decorations and start getting in the mood for the season.  I will admit, they sat there for 10 days because, the last week of the month is quilting week for me and I had over 11 quilt tops waiting to be finished.  And, once that was done, the first week of December was binding week.  That task was finished by Thursday and I began to sort out which decorations when where and was happily surprised by a note in one box that said "downstairs fireplace mantle".  I had also labelled the outside Christmas lights with where they went so there were no surprises with lengths being too short or too long.  I must remember to do more labeling when I put everything away in January because it is nice to be organized before you start. 

That annual task of cleaning my brass candlesticks which I started collecting more than fifty years ago.  There was a time when my husband and I loved to burn candles while eating in our dining room and especially when we had company or it was a festive meal at Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and birthdays.  Those days are long gone and I now use battery operated candles that have a timer in them so they come on as the rooms get dark and go off 6 hours later.  Love these new innovations! 

 

  I did another 3 bindings on kid's quilts for donation to the local community. 

This quilt top was donated to quilts of Valour by Christine at the guild retreat and I quilted and bound it.  Love the autumn leaf colours. 

The magic stars are finished, quilted and bound for donation to community quilts. 

The Carolyn's no waste blocks from random fat quarters are quilted and bound, another one for Quilts of Valour. 

This is a close up of the block in the quilt that follows.  Cathy donated this to Quilts of Valour and while I was quilting it, I figured out how she made the blocks and this is an awesome way to use up scraps.  I need to write down the directions I figured out before the quilt gets donated.  

The finished quilt using the block above.  Very striking and perfect for Quilts of Valour.

This is Town Square and one of my favorite 3 yard quilt patterns.  I used the Northcott poppy print in the center of the blocks.  Northcott contributes to Quilts of Valour with every yard of their Oh Canada line of prints that is purchased. 

The last of the sixteen patch quilts that were made from baggies with names of quilt guild members and we have figured that possibly this was a year 2000 challenge?  No one remembers.  I added in 3 blocks of Canadian themed fabric so that it will work nicely for Quilts of Valour. 

The November quilt challenge from Villa Rosa Running Doe quilts and this pattern is called Weave.  I pulled out some children's prints and altered the size of the strips so that I would have a finished quilt that is perfect for a child.  

This is the finished butterfly quilt, bound and ready for Community Quilts or, Ronald MacDonald house. 

This last quilt top was donated by Jean, another volunteer with Community quilts and I quilted and bound it and hopefully, someone will enjoy the horizontal city scene through Quilts of Valour.  

If I don't get back to my blog update later this month, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy, healthy New Year.  

 

Far too long but busy days mean less computer time

 I will admit that one of the hardest things about getting older is that it seems to take me longer to accomplish what I used to be able to do quickly and in a short time.  My lists look longer because I am slower to cross off tasks.  I have the greatest of plans and fall short at the end of the day.  Oh well... accepting this is hard but I cannot slow down the aging process.

It seems that a lot of the yard work is now in my hands and while I don't mind weeding and cutting grass, at times it is frustrating to take care of the outside 'stuff'.  I continue to play tennis between 2 and 3 times a week which is good for my fitness but takes me away from my home duties.  

Towards the end of September, a good friend and her partner drove from Mesa to here with ALL OF MY MESA STUFF.  There was a mix of suitcases, boxes and vacuum sealed heavy plastic bags and in total 14 of them containing quilting items, clothing, pictures, and other odds and ends that I had indicated that we either needed or wanted.  Included in that were prescription glasses that my husband had safely tucked away in his top dresser drawer in Mesa as well as family pictures that it is nice to have back.  Everything was piled up  and I managed to tackle the biggest of the items fairly quickly but all the quilting fabric, rulers, and bits and pieces took me forever to find new homes for them.  

A great picture of friends from Mesa.  One couple drove from Vernon to chat with our visiting friends because the woman that delivered our belongings was also our realtor and they wanted to confer with her in person.  The weather was lovely and 10 days later, the highways heading east and north were covered in snow - winter arrived but after we had our visit. 

One awesome item that arrived was my tennis bag!  Love this bag - am a Vera Bradley fan.

 I had worked really hard all summer to get our green grass back to being healthy and happy with no grubs but, I failed and the products I used were not successful.  After waking up to this one morning in September, I was feeling defeated but a neighbour out walking came to the rescue.  He had a gardening company coming to treat his lawn with chemicals and sent them over to my house.  The grass got sprayed and since then we have seen a couple of small holes but apparently, if the grubs were alive, they would be awful tasting so the raccoons have moved on (to my next door neighbour's back yard).  

I continued to work on half square triangles using  white with black print fabrics with bright colours for the other half of the block.  I was going by a picture so just made this by guessing and pulling out scraps. 

Running Doe's quilt of the month for September was Stargazer and I decided to pull out lots of reds with creams. 

In the meantime, I have been busy picking up quilts from our local long armer's home where a group work on quilting donated tops and I have been binding them.  Lots of binding!  

I cut a stack of odd fat quarters that sort of went together and made a quilt top using the Carolyn block. 

Stargazer had to be put up on the design wall because you make all the parts first and then figure out how they all go together.  This isn't my favourite way of assembling a quilt but there was no way to avoid stitching the rows together (slowly, checking for errors).  

I made a couple of googly eyes for a block lotto for the modern guild October meeting.  I was really happy to not win!   But the eyes have gone with all the others.  

I did get some autumn decor done but now, it is time for Halloween!!  

A friend in our Wednesday quilting group discovered two large bags which contained a lot of smaller snack bags, each filled with 16 2.5" squares and judging by some of the names on the bags, they are from a very long time ago.  We divided some of them up and I ended up with a lot of blue and green packages which I took my time sewing together into 16 patches.  This was my first idea but when I laid them out, it was far too busy so onto plan B which you will see further down. 

I managed to finish up Bonnie Hunter's leader and ender challenge and got the blocks put together.  I decided it would be good for Quilts of Valour so put a panel on the back of the quilt to make it a little more Canadian. 

The bright triangles from scraps got finished and will also be a Quilt of Valour. 

These are rainbow strip challenge blocks from the past few years and am working on getting the blocks that have accumulated into quilt tops.  This will also be for Quilts of Valour and again, used a panel on the back to make it a little more Canadian. 

The assorted fat quarters that are now put together into a finished quilt.  I love this block for using a bunch of fabric that you aren't quite sure what to do with but when put together, they seem to work.  

At our modern guild quilt meeting, we draw for doorprizes that some of us contribute and I won these fabulous cookies decorated for Halloween.  

Fresh snow on Mount Baker.  Winter is coming. 

The next group of quilts are NOT ones I have made but are the ones I have put the binding onto for the longarm group who quilt donated tops and then donate to various charities in our city.  

Flutterby is the Running Doe pattern for October and I chose to use more Canadian themed prints (that I had cut for the blue/green sixteen patches but they didn't work) and then a red/black combination for the short pieces.  This is close to being ready to stitch together but another pattern that has to be done in columns which is slower and less efficient that my usual way of putting blocks together. 

One more of the group of sixteen patches found in a drawer and these are reds, oranges, yellows and browns.  I pulled out more of the Canadian themed prints and put a border around them and now have a Quilt of Valour waiting to be pressed, quilted and bound. 

There is always more binding being made for quilts waiting to get their edges finished. 

A full bag of quilts bound and ready to leave my house. Love Ikea bags!

The worst part of my hobby is cleaning up after a quilt has been quilted and trimmed.  Some are pieces of batting and backing that can't be salvaged but a lot of the trimmings can be cut into 4 or 5 inch strips and the same with the backing fabrics.  This was an entire afternoon of sorting, cutting and folding.  All done! 

I have started another Bonnie Hunter leader and ender and so far have been tackling my bin of green scraps.  

This is another picture of the red/brown sixteen patch blocks, STILL waiting to be pressed.  That is not a favourite activity and usually wait until I get a phone call that know will be long. 

Tidying is happening.  I still have loads of small bags full of fabric pieces from my Arizona sewing room and will eventually go through them all, but, in the meantime, it is a little tidier and more contained.  

My very favourite ruler rack came home from Mesa.  It mounts on the wall and is on a bit of an angle so rulers are easily accessible.  I mounted it in front of my white board which might have been a bit of a mistake but I can work around it.  It is perfect above the cutting table and love having the rulers out of the way but easy to grab.  I bought this many years ago at a quilt show in Tucson and have never seen one since.  

This wall hanging also came home from Arizona and is now on the wall.  It is bright, cheerful and makes me smile so it is front and center! 

I do love my Janome machines but I DO NOT LOVE their dual feed ankle which holds the various feet.  I had to replace the one I had on my Janome 8200 and now, the one on my M7 is broken.  With the price you pay for these sewing machines, you would think that they could come up with a better design for this part?  Now, I need to figure out the easiest way to replace it ... checking to see who has them in stock?  I use the even feed for all the bindings I am doing - there was some quiet cursing when it happened but that was drowned out by the Blue Jays winning home run hit last night!   

Time to decorate for Halloween and get ready for my quilting spree next week (last week of the month).  I only have a couple of quilts to quilt and bind so that makes me happy though it means I didn't accomplish as much this month as I would like.  Enjoy the 31st.  Our neighbour's are having a costume party so it will be fun to sit outside and watch their guests arrive.  We are invited but these costumes will be elaborate and I am past the time in my life where I want to get creative with my appearance.  But, will be fun to watch!  We will be in New Westminster for Moh's surgery that day so a glass of wine, sitting in my driveway will be a lovely way to enjoy the evening's entertainment.