Housecleaning is done

I have spent the last few days doing major housecleaning after finding signs of an uninvited houseguest with 4 legs.  My house needed a good cleaning as I discovered when I started moving things and finding debris from summer (dead flies and other yukkies).  And, I cleaned windows!  So, no sewing for me for most this past week and now I am working on getting hubby organized and ready for his hunting trip. 

However, before the cleaning spree began, I managed to get my star blocks put together but I think I need a small black outer border on this one. 

And I got my 10" bordered squares quilt put together, ready for quilting.

A couple of friends want to come and have a lesson (or two or three) next week while hubby is hunting so I played with this table runner idea. 

Now, off to the kitchen since I have had a request for home made bread for this hunting trip.  So, need to get out the breadmaker and see if I have any yeast on hand.  Clouds have definately rolled in this morning.  Rain predicted this afternoon so I may get some quality time with my sewing machine. 

What's on my design wall

My design wall is busy.  First, I have been playing with the 6½" blocks that I collected from an 'ugly' fabric swap with my Wednesday quilting group.  Last fall, I made my Let's Twist quilt and figured out to create my own ruler since my squares were larger than 5" and didn't want to cut them all down. If you check out my blog from May 27, 2012, you will see the first quilt I made using the first half of the blocks.  We traded squares every week for months! 

And, I thought I would show you a picture of my latest 'gadget' that I am using to keep myself organized and on track.  A ridiculously expensive white board that is peel and stick and I absolutely love it. 

The blocks I have been working on for a couple of days are the scrappy strips, cut with the Lazy Angle ruler and then using some scrappy blacks for the side piece.  I have enough made for a perfect size for a Quilt of Valour and will get them sewn together this afternoon - AFTER I fill all my bobbins, dust and oil my machine and change the needle.  It is servicing time.  I do that after I have used 10 bobbins of thread and will fill those so I know next time it is ready for some TLC.

And last but not least, a girlie preemie quilt.  I had an email this week from Honour House asking me if I could provide two preemie quilts for twins born to a military family.  The twins were premature and are living in the special care nursery at Royal Columbian and mom and dad are staying at Honour House to be near their daughters.  My friend has a quilt that is girlie and I made a rail fence which needs to be quilted and bound in the next day or two. 

Getting a few projects completed.

Placemats for my grandchildren are finished.

The project on my design wall is the same as one I just finished quilting and binding for Quilts of Valour.  I have another started - this is such a simple and easy quilt pattern thanks to Missouri Star Quilts. 

And two Hallowe'en pillowcases for my grandchildren are finished.

Fabricland has some great aboriginal fabrics in stock and I made a variety of pillowcases for my daughters and grandchildren for Christmas.  I don't think they read this blog so they won't know what is coming their way! 

Am close to getting a few other projects underway - keep watching!!

Abbotsford guild Quilts of Valour

I had some stacks of red maple leaves given to me, some fabrics, a stack of pillowcases and some quilts at the guild meeting on Tuesday.
Thank you to all who contributed to Quilts of Valour.  My cupboard is no longer empty!

A Baker's dozen and two more finished quilts

I have made 13 blocks for the Hugs across the nation using Stonehenge, Oh Canada fabric.  Hopefully enough variety to motivate quilters in my guild to buy some fabric and make a few blocks.  Northcott is donating money from all fabric purchased in this line, to Quilts of Valour, so that is a good thing. 
There are two local shops carrying the fabric: Wineberries and Fabricana.  Wineberries had two full bolts last week of each fabric. 

I have a quilt finished and ready for show and tell at guild tomorrow.  This is one that used a block called "Mary's block" or Three triangles and a square and was a class I took way back in 1995 from Suzanne Tessier Hammond, based on her book, The Value of Value.   Thanks to Bonnie for quilting this top for me.

And one more quilt that I made using my Lazy Angle ruler.  A great way to use up some strips out of my scrap strip container.  And one more huge thanks to Bonnie for quilting this one as well.  Now I am ready for guild tomorrow. 

Two finished quilts

I have two finished quilts ready for show and tell at guild on Tuesday and to begin the process of replenishing my stash for Quilts of Valour. 

The first is a quilt that I have been making maple leaf blocks for over a year and also had some blocks given to me by a guild member.  This is the second quilt I have made using Marge's idea of the alternating hourglass block.  I had some hourglass blocks left from the last quilt I made so used them and added new ones. 

The other quilt I have finished is a current one that I played with this summer.  I saw an online video and watched and copied the ideas.  Was fast and easy to make but will be perfect, I think, for Quilts of Valour.  So two to add to my cupboard. 

A little bit of cutting and stitching today.

Quilts of Valour Canada and Northcott Fabrics are promoting making quilt blocks with the theme Hugs across the Nation.  Only this line of fabric can be used and blocks need to be 8" finished so today I made a few with the fabric so that I can have a display at guild on Tuesday.  Too bad the fabric is so hard to find here locally but I managed to find a few of the bolts at Fabricana in Coquitlam on the weekend.

There is a fabulous moose fabric but it wasn't available and I might just have to order it online if I can't get the local quilt shops to carry this line of Stonehenge, Northcott, Oh Canada line? 

Fishing, family and no quilting

We went on vacation for a week and I did a lot of reading a little bit of fishing while my hubby did quite a bit of fishing.  Not a lot of fish came home with us but we had a good time.  We saw Orcas, eagles, dolphins, cruise ships, and sea otters.  Sunsets were gorgeous and the boat we were guests on was comfortable and roomy. 

I had my grandchildren here for a few days and that is always a noisy adventure with lots of fun.  They got to choose their pumpkins and write their names on them.  Now they have to wait two months for Halloween!

And this afternoon, I introduced myself to my sewing machine and finished piecing a table runner.