2018 is one third over!

This is my monthly Quilter's planner block for April.  I actually had it made earlier but forgot to post the picture.

We are getting some dry days and have even had a day of warmth and heat!  Of course, it was short lived and we went right back to rain.  The tulip fields below me are in full bloom now.

I spent some time with my sister and just when you think you have a messy quilting room, you see someone who is far worse off with their organization.  She has been brilliant with our parents but sadly, her storage room has had no TLC for at least 6 months and she is a window display artist and when a window gets emptied, it gets shoved in here and she grabs what she needs for her next job.  So, we emptied one aisle and got to work.

Was a totally different experience than working with fabric!  But a lovely day and perfect working conditions.
My only real quilting project this last few weeks was a quilt for the Humboldt Broncos and it is on its way to Saskatchewan and am hoping the recipient gets some warmth and feels my hugs when they wrap up in it. This was a great pattern and I know one quilter who is making a quilt for her guest bed using the block!

Am still working on my stargazer blocks, one at a time!  Only 5 left to finish! 

 

 

And a nice stack of green rail fences made from scrap fabrics.  Green was the stashbuster colour for March and I made string blocks but didn't get the rail fence ones done.

I do have three quilt tops from last fall for Quilts of Valour Canada spray basted with batting and backing and ready to quilt and bind.  Hopefully, that is first on the agenda for May.  But in the meantime, I have been making blocks for Canada Stitches and decided to work on Maple Leaf blocks for April.  The blocks are in the mail to their destination. A big thanks to my Quilting Diva friends who made a nice variety blocks to add to what I had made.

I have already completed the blocks for May so I can show them to my Quilting Diva friends in case they want to make some again this month.   This one is the Disappearing 4 patch and if you aren't familiar, this is the basic technique.  I started off with 6" squares and the slice in all four directions was 1.5" inches from the seam line.  If you make this block, measure twice and cut once!  I messed up my first block. The four center sections get reversed and all is stitched back together again.  Great use of scraps! And thanks to Dee for her fabric contributions to the cause.

Off to set up my machine to do some free motion on these QOVC quilts!

Mid April... well maybe a little later than that!

As usual, I am behind but will eventually be caught up - maybe?
It has been a horrid month of rain since we returned from our winter home and one would think that it would be perfect for sewing but it is so hard to get motivated on dark, dreary, wet days.  I am definitely a sunshine person and the brightness and warmth motivate me.

On a rare sunny day, I ventured outside to look at my blooming flowers and to see what is coming up.  I was so worried about my peony and my Icelandic poppies I planted last year but they are both showing signs of coming to life.
I really haven't done much sewing.  This crazy dizziness/vertigo is really annoying but had a good few days last week so manged to accomplish a few things.
I got my yellow/gold scrap strip blocks done though have more of the wider strips cut to make the rail fences in both yellow and green since I didn't get last month's done.

And I did get two donation quilts basted, quilted and bound that were from guild demonstrations last fall - toonie Tuesday.  I showed the two options for making log cabin blocks and used half square triangles in the center.  Hopefully these  quilts will make two young girls happy at Peardonville House.

And five preemie quilts finished made from 'happy' blocks.

A quilt that I worked on last fall leftover from the Great Canadian Quilt bee 2017 and handed over to me from the FVMQG for finishing is done.  I added borders to make the quilt large enough for Quilts of Valour and got it quilted and bound and all is done! I did NOT make the center of the quilt... and if someone knows of the quilt maker, I would gladly add their name to the label. 

I also got to work last weekend on a quilt for the Humboldt Broncos.  The Saskatoon Modern Quilt is making quilts for the hockey player's and their families but they have asked for donations of at least 200 quilts to be given to anyone who helped or was associated with the bus crash... first responders, helicopter pilots, ambulance drivers and paramedics, nurses, doctors and all hospital staff as well as volunteers and those that stepped in to help out in some way along with anyone who works with the hockey team.  I have my top done and stopped today to buy some flannel backing with a hockey theme and the quilt will get finished as quickly as I can mange and sent off to Humboldt.

I also have been making some blocks for a group called Canada Stitches.  While I am involved with Quilts of Valour, those quilts are for armed forces only and there are many first responders from the police, RCMP, ambulance workers and others who can apply for a quilt from Canada Stitches.  This month, I decided to make blocks using their maple leaf theme in masculine or autumn colours.

So a small stack of these will get mailed off in the next week or two for inclusion in the quilts they make.
And so it goes... a bit of sewing here and there!  I did get my windmill blocks put together into a quilt top and that is now added to the list of projects needing to be quilted.

Hopefully, I will have more projects completed so that you will hear from me more often!

In the rain... life in the slow lane.

This is what we left behind to come home to rainy, wet, gloomy weather.

Lovely, sunny, happy yard with spring flowers just starting to look fabulous.

To be fair, we have had one or two nice days here in the Pacific northwest since returning.  But snow on the mountains and very few days where we can venture outside to the tennis court.

I have unpacked all the boxes that I sent to myself.  "If it fits, it ships' boxes are awesome.  Fabric is heavy!The quilt tops I brought home are hung and waiting to be layered, quilted and bound before they head to their various charitable destinations. The ones hanging to the right of the picture were left behind last fall, not getting finished before we headed south to the sunshine.

Before I left to come home, I had a few more "finishes".
Portlandia by Villa Rosa is a top.

And my green strip blocks for March were completed for the Rainbow Challenge.

My windmill blocks were completed but not put together.

And here they are on my design wall here at home... needing to be rearranged and stitched together.

And two more stargazer blocks were made.

And, I have some economy blocks that I have been working on for the last few years but they haven't had much attention.  I pulled the container out and made some more blocks and went through scraps and cut a bunch  more for stitching this fall or next spring.

I have not accomplished much in the last two weeks but I did manage to get 7 small quilts spray basted and ready for quilting.  I also have put away and organized everything that was in my 'boxes'.  They are unpacked and ready for recycling.  I only leave my sewing space for 5 months but my poor memory forgets totally what I have and where it is.  I need to re-acquaint myself with what is here and where it is!

I have my yellow strips pulled out from my shelves ready for this month's rainbow challenge and I have binding fabrics for these quilts pulled as well.  But progress is slow as I work on other, more demanding projects, like income tax (ugh) and stocking the pantry and freezer.  Tennis weather will be here soon so working on some of these projects is my goal in this rainy weather.  Now, if only my health would improve.  I am suffering from mouth ulcers on my poor tongue and also vertigo?  But, good weather for napping so most afternoons, our house is calm and quiet while the two seniors that live here are comfy on the sofa or in bed for their snooze time.