September is amost over.... for another year.

I went back to look at my goals for September.  Today is Saturday... I have three days to see if I can finish one or two more on this list but feel that actually did accomplish a lot of what I hoped to get done.


1. Polka dot blocks -  ready to quilt
2. Solstice (will I ever get around to this?)
3. RCS blocks for Sept 19
4. Ohio Star blocks (not very excited about this)
5. Replace Joanne's US flag block
6. Cut up kid's fabrics for Yellow Brick Road quilts (heartstrings fq challenge)
7. Make up the zip pouches that I have kits for
8. Woodland kid's quilt - Mary's strippie pattern?
9. Quilter's planner blocks
10. In from the cold block
11. Make more of Marge's blocks
12. Make more hourglass blocks
13. Stitch some blocks for Canada Stitches
14.Teal block swap
15. Quilt rail fence #5
16. Quilt rail fence #6
17. Quilt Missouri Star Diamond Chain
18. Quilt Sparrow blocks quilt
19.Diamond Chain
20. Strippie kid's quilt 
21 Baby block preemie 1 & 2 

My husband is away on his annual hunting trip and, while it will be a short few days, I have done the heavy cleaning that I like to do when there is no one to walk on the wet carpet on our stairs or walk across the hardwood floors before the wax coating is dry.  The fridge is clean! Lots of jobs done but not much quilting, sadly.  However, am hoping for a good couple of days to see what can be finished up.  I still have a small jobs around the house, month end desk work to do and then am free to stitch (and do all the dirty laundry that comes home).

No pictures for you.  My zip pouches were the last things I made.  But, I did take two sewing machines in for servicing and crossing my fingers that my Janome will be back sooner than the date they aimed for.  Who knew that technicians were so busy?

I promise, pictures tomorrow!

Off to get more jobs finished and then sewing to  my heart's content.

3 days at retreat and a weekend of wet weather

 I spent three days last week at retreat with my Wednesday quilting group.  This is my room. 

 This is where we stitched to our heart's content.

 My personal set up with my machine and a borrowed design wall.

 These two baby brick preemie quilts got quilted and bound. And the strippie quilt got quilted and bound as well.

 I changed the U.S. flag at the top of this quilt and put in some maple leaves, made by Penny. 

 And, I played with using panels in Quilts of Valour

 A bowl cozy got finished that I started last December.  Why does it take so long?  And another Quilt of Valour, light in the window, got put together.

Lots of quilt tops now waiting for quilting.
This past weekend, I worked on my zip pouches... I meant to work on them at retreat but forgot to take fusible fleece with me.  The first is the Becca bag which inserts the zipper quite differently.

And then the others were kits from Connecting Threads that I finished up.

And one more made for a swap.

Busy and productive!

Too wet, too much rainy weather and am complaining

I was happy to see some rain  but not pleased that we have had a week of continuous rain.  The problem for me is that I balance my time sitting at my sewing machine and being inactive with my time on the tennis court.  I don't get many steps in a day when I am piecing and quilting.
And more rain predicted for the next couple of days.
The good news is that I cut our front grass yesterday because we actually had a few dry hours and it looks lovely and is turning a gradual shade of green... if you can picture that!
Last week I managed to get three of the six new blocks made for Quilts of Valour from the patterns released for 2019.

There were six blocks so I will get the next 3 blocks made before the October guild meeting.
And, I made some blocks for Canada Stitches (first responders) and collected a massive number from our guild on Tuesday.  They are now on their way to Alberta to be included for quilts given out at Can Praxis, Rocky Mountain House (horse camps for PTSD).

Our guild held a workshop/retreat day for making blocks and quilt tops for Quilts of Valour using the Light in the Window block / Log cabin.  I had a stack of blocks that were made previously and managed to get one quilt top put together and another guild member handed in a quilt top she had already made. You will notice that there is one block in the quilt top that wasn't made correctly but, I had already stitched it into the top and decided it would be the "Amish" block.  That means that no one is perfect and we need to accept our faults.  

I have finished the binding on my Missouri Star diamond chain, made from two charm packs (plus a few extra squares).

And my last rail fence block quilt is finished.

I have quilted my 2 preemie quilts made from a free pattern called baby blocks and just waiting to get the binding made and added to them.

Plus, I played with a strippie idea and it is quilted and also waiting for binding.

I have been piling up "stuff" (projects) to take to a quilting retreat that I am heading to this week for a few days.  It is better to have too much 'stuff' and too many ideas than run out of things to do.

I did finish my teal mug rug for the Ovarian cancer swap but need to wait until I get a few things organized to add to the parcel and get it mailed to the recipient. So, no pictures!
I didn't start anything new this week!  Wow... amazing!

Rainy week is here.

We have rain... and that means I should be getting my desk tidied, jobs that I have put off this summer done.  No excuses about it being too hot!
But, instead, I saw a video earlier last week and decided to pull out a jelly roll and play.  These are the blocks.  Not so sure I like the one extra from each set of strips but will keep working.  One jelly roll will make 9 - 20" blocks so a nice size finished quilt.

I did manage to get a few things crossed off my list from last week but, added in two more as well!

My Rainbow scrap challenge blocks are done.  This month is purple.

I narrowed down my fabric choices for my Teal mini swap (to support ovarian cancer research) and am ready to go full steam ahead.

I am participating in a mystery and the clues are released the first week of the month.  I have clue one finished.

And the last of my rail fence quilts is quilted and bound.  I ended up with 6 of them!

I also have a finished hug blocks quilt... quilted by Kelly for Victoria quilts (cancer patients) and it heading back to her now that the binding is complete.

And, Harper (from the Cloth shop) is bound and finished.

I did cut my fat quarters for Yellow brick road quilts for kids... forgot to take a picture but, all the blocks are made and just need to be laid out.  I think I will have enough for 3 or 4 quilts.  Pictures to come.
I am going to be presenting a workshop on Tuesday for my guild and we will be making the "Light in the window" log cabin blocks for Quilts of Valour so am dragging out all my supplies and need to fill my vehicle today.  My husband will be rolling his eyes at me!
Quilts of Valour has released a new booklet of hug blocks and I am going to cut a few kits which include a new block and the Northcott Oh Canada fabric to make it.  I need these done by tonight so I can take them tomorrow for the guild members in case they are interested. This has been on my list all summer but more fun and stressful to wait until the night before! 

Off for my second round of knee injections this morning.  And am determined to end today feeling organized!  Crossing my fingers that it happens.
Enjoy your week. 

September and a mixture of summer and autumn weather.

Today is September 1st and it makes me happy that I don't have to return to work on Tuesday... even though it has been 17 years, I still celebrate my retirement.

A new month and my list of quilting goals still has some carry overs from July and August but I am determined to not get side tracked by new projects and ideas!

1. Polka dot blocks -  ready to quilt
2. Solstice (will I ever get around to this?)
3. RCS blocks for Sept 19
4. Ohio Star blocks (not very excited about this)
5. Replace Joanne's US flag block
6. Cut up kid's fabrics for Yellow Brick Road quilts (heartstrings fq challenge)
7. Make up the zip pouches that I have kits for
8. Woodland kid's quilt - Mary's strippie pattern?
9. Quilter's planner blocks
10. In from the cold block
11. Make more of Marge's blocks
12. Make more hourglass blocks
13. Stitch some blocks for Canada Stitches
14.Teal block swap
15. Quilt rail fence #5
16. Quilt rail fence #6
17. Quilt Missouri Star Diamond Chain
18. Quilt Sparrow blocks quilt
19.Diamond Chain
20. Strippie kid's quilt 
21 Baby block preemie 1 & 2 
 


I am loving my post it notes on my white board and it is really working for me. I can move the post it notes from being an idea to a project for the month and then to needs quilting and binding.  And when finished, it comes off!  And a great way to inspire me when I am figuring out what to work on next.

My last rail fence quilt from August got finished last week.  This is #4

Another rail fence block quilt is finished.  It is on the list for this month and I finished the binding last night so am ahead of myself.

I also got some blocks made for Canada Stitches (quilts for first responders at Can Praxis, horsecamp for PTSD).

My last rail fence block quilt is ready to load on the machine for quilting.

I had a quilt that I made earlier this year, using up the last of my Happy blocks, given to me to bind.  I donated the quilt to Victoria Quilts and my friend Kelly did a fabulous job quilting it.  Victoria quilts cover patients under going chemo therapy or cancer treatments with a quilt but it must have flannel on the back.  Kelly has the flannel and she played with various quilting designs in each of the blocks.
It will get bound this week... I have it stitched on one side, now to sit and hand stitch while I watch the US Open tennis this coming week.

I also got my strips made for my purple RCS blocks for September.  Now to get them stitched with the white squares and create hst's and add to my stash of blocks from the previous months.

I have my quilt tops ready to quilt and they have the backings and battings cut to size.

My teal swap, mug rug, is still waiting but I added more teal prints to the basket. Unfortunately, my swap partner is in hospital after having a major health issue so am waiting until she is back home to get going on my project.  She asked for brights so will narrow my choices down.

And a stack of fat quarters from forever ago!  I have had these for a very long time.  One of my groups that I belong to (Heartstrings) chose fat quarters as their precut of the month so I pulled out the stack and might try some of the pattern ideas that they are sharing.

Otherwise, it will still be tennis daily since the weather is still dry and tennis on tv with the US Open all this week.  And I should be dealing with some of the large zucchinis that my husband didn't see until they were huge.
My grandson has moved back home now that his parents have returned from their summer cabin so I have cleaned his bedroom thoroughly and all the bedding is washed and bathroom is clean.  The feather duvet that he uses has developed a lot of pinholes and the feathers were poking out and so lots of vacuuming to get those floating bits under control and I have tried to stitch up the holes but have also decided he can switch to a poly duvet next time he is here.  He isn't a quiet, calm sleeper and bunches the duvet which am sure helps to push the feathers through the fabric.

Hello September, good bye August.  Time moves on but I had a great August and accomplished a lot of projects, played a lot of tennis and got to enjoy having my 18yr old guy in my daily life.