Stitching slowly but surely

I have pictures of the last few quilts that I have finished.  These are UFO's and feels good to get them off hangers and done!
First is the quilt from my cousin's wife... she sent me two quilts last year and this one is the second one.  I finished one last fall but this one needed some piecing and the top blocks was an American flag and I replaced that block with two maple leaves.  A little more Canadian, eh? The original pattern called for lots of applique but, that isn't going to happen!  A finished quilt ready to keep someone warm and comforted.

Then there are two Christmas quilts which prompted the cleaning and organizing of my Christmas fabrics when I was looking for binding.
One is made from 10" squares which I sliced in half and the fabric was called Ugly Sweaters.  It has been sitting in my Arizona sewing room for ages and now, it is a finished quilt.

This next one was made from a 10" package of blue Christmas type fabrics and I kept to the original pattern that came with them.  Another finished quilt! 

I started to work on my RCS 2019 blocks and got one quilt laid out and the blocks are stitched together.  And, while getting ready to press the top, got distracted by laying out more blocks into a different pattern.  I am not too sure how this will work out for balance as I want the quilt 10 blocks in one direction and 12 in the other to get a quilt 60 x 72".  I will continue to play for a bit.

And there is a kit from the Modern Quilt guild that needs to be layered, quilted and bound that I have to add to my list of projects waiting to be loaded on the frame.

My white board is looking a little better although I keep adding new projects to it. All the sticky notes on the wall below the board are things that I have managed to accomplish this month. 

I did get my fat quarter quilt finished.  This was a UFO from a few years ago and was originally a kit from Connecting Threads and intended for a totally different pattern called Offset.  However, I wanted to make another one of these quilts since I was supposed to be teaching the class in April to my local guild.  That never happened, but the quilt is done.

I have my Heartstrings April challenge quilts (which was to pick a jelly roll) and I have made 2 preemies that are layered and ready for me to hopefully quilt and bind this week.  I just realized that Thursday is the last day of the month.

And, I thought that it would be a good idea to make a quilt for Nova Scotia.  The Maritime Modern guild has put out a call for blue and white quilts to be sent to them finished and to be there by June.  I sent the idea to my Wednesday quilt group and right away, Marge made some blocks and dropped them off at my house the next day.  So, that got me motivated to get more blocks made and next thing, this quilt is on my design wall. 

Marge also dropped off two quilts of valour for me that use panels and were made by her and Penny.  Great use of panels and love the maple leaves.  Well done!  I am in the process of adding labels to both of them and when COVID makes an exit, I will have a good stack of quilts for donation to our injured military.

This morning I made some cinnamon buns after watching pictures on Facebook of everyone working with yeast breads.  My good friend gave me some yeast so I dug out the Kitchenaid mixer and got to work.  Of course, my husband is thrilled with freshly made buns.

And this week also saw some outside work with lawn cut, weeding done and a new brick wall put together so that we can add dirt and plant some flowers or put our begonia bulbs in there. 

Our yard is looking quite lovely.  Perfect time of year and nothing has dried out yet in the warmth of the summer.

So, some yard work, some piecing, some quilting, and some baking.  Hopefully, this time next week, I will have a report of successful Moh's surgery for my husband and even more success with finding out the next step for help for his knee. 
Have a good week and to quote one of my favourite tv shows, 'stay safe out there'.

Waiting but busy, finally!

We are waiting... and waiting.... my husband had x rays on his knee and waiting for results.  Not too sure how COVID affects getting the results of the tests?  And he is waiting for the removal of a rapidly growing skin cancer behind his ear.  He had his first surgery at the end of March and, for a reason, unknown to us, the surgeon decided his actual ear needed to have Moh's surgery first?  In the meantime, this ugly blob is growing and painful and he just wants it gone!  We have a date for the end of the month.  COVID has affected this surgery because the surgeon is doing half the normal surgeries in a day to keep the patients well spaced out and I cannot argue with that.

Weather here has been gorgeous and yard work is getting done.  The view of the farms and their tilling of the soil, getting read for planting and the cutting of silage looks a bit like a patchwork quilt?  The trees are flowering and leaves are ready to appear.

So, what I have accomplished other than weeding?  Three more buckets for fabric scraps got made.  One had to be Christmas because I am busy quilting three different Christmas quilts.  And, I started looking for binding fabric and got a big surprise... so  much Christmas fabric here! Who knew? I thought all my seasonal fabric was in my 'other' house.

 

These all got sorted.  I found a lovely table cloth piece that needs to be serged with a small hem and it will be perfect.  There are scraps for donation.  And all my colours are now put away, all by colour family and easy to find.  The fat quarters went into a bin with old ufo Xmas kits and projects.  I am organized!  

Two of the Christmas quilts finished that I made during November in Arizona.  I was determined to get my Christmas fabric stash and kits down to a reasonable amount (and smaller container).  The bottom quilt was made from a layer cake of a fabric line called Ugly Sweaters.  Better pictures will follow when I get them hung up but I knew you couldn't wait to see what I have been working on!

And another UFO got quilted.  This was a top sent to me in pieces by my cousin's wife, Joanne.  I put it together and it is quilted and bound and ready for donation. And there is one more that has been quilted sitting on the 'waiting' table ... waiting for binding.

I am working on using my jelly roll for the Heartstrings April challenge and had all the pink blocks made and they were happily on my design wall and the sliding door got opened with a lovely breeze blowing.  I am now making more blocks in the blues and reds and will lay them out again, one for a girl preemie and one for a boy preemie.  And, I hope to get them laid out, stitched, quilted and bound before the end of April. 

And am playing with my Rainbow scrap challenge blocks from 2019... not sure what I want to do but not liking the diagonal rows.

More projects waiting for me.  I have some quilt tops from March to be quilted and bound.  Loads of kits.  No end in sight.  But, at least some progress! 
We have rain coming this week... of course, am sure when the tennis courts get opened, we will have crummy weather but, our tennis group is going to meet for a walk tomorrow morning so we can catch up with each other... using correct social distancing, of course!!

Easter Sunday

A strange Easter to not be sharing a meal with family and friends but, I have a small turkey roasting, the house smells good and will leave a platter of meat with gravy and stuffing on my neighbour's doorstep.  She is leaving us some dessert and we live close enough we can wave to each other through the window or, go out on our upstairs patios and chat.  A bit chilly to sit outside but the sunshine is truly something to appreciate and be thankful for.  The farmers are all out working, tilling the soil and getting ready for spring planting.  Life carries on as we socially isolate from each other.

This week, our modern quilt guild had a show and tell on Facebook and it was fun to see what everyone is working on.
As usual, I am scattered, working on this, moving to that.  Jack of all trades, master of none?  Sometimes it feels that way.

This is another log cabin Quilts of Valour quilt.  And, when done, I organized all my leftover strips!

I have a few buckets made and they are already filled with strips and scraps.

The colour for rainbow scrap challenge this month is bright and light blues.  I have all my variety of blocks made and can cross that off April's list.

Of course, I had to start something new after seeing inspiration on Mary's blog this morning.  The heartstrings group chose strips for their April challenge and I had a half jelly roll of 20 strips so started playing.

Two Easter table toppers got made!  They look nice on end tables and a good way to use up some of the Easter fabric in my stash.

So there you have it.  Things are fairly neat, tidy and organized and am determined to get some tops quilted this week!  But it is sunny and the weeds are also calling my name.
Enjoy your week.  Stay safe at home, away from others and hopefully, be creative and productive!

One day at a time - just like everyone else!

Slow and steady seems to be my mantra.  I am spending far too much time on my computer, laptop and cell phone?  I am trying to change that habit but it is a slow going to avoid the temptation.  I have stopped spending as much time on my computer and thus, not as much blogging going on.

As far as sewing goes, I feel like I am spinning my wheels but I do have some progress. I managed to add borders to this quilt to make it a little larger.

And this panel got used along with some log cabin blocks from last year's Quilts of Valour block drive.

I am working on another one but ran out of log cabin blocks so they are cut and ready to stitch. Great way to use panels from our 150th birthday celebrations.

In the picture above, the log cabin blocks are smothered by some mask making - which I am not happy with so will try again and in the very back of the picture, there is a blue bucket that I made.  This month is light and bright blues for the Rainbow scrap challenge so I dug mine out and first thing, made a bucket. 
I have two more buckets ready to sew on the sewing machine: a teal one and a green one, to try and catch up from what I did while in Arizona for the first three colours.
The best news is that I finally loaded a quilt on the B-line and got it quilted and the binding was all made so just need to get it attached and stitched down. That job is next in line!

There was a bit of sidetracking this morning when I realized that this weekend is Easter!  So, dug out my container and pulled out a few things to add a bit of Easter to our decor. 

I did make some of the Quilts of Valour 2020 blocks and have more strips cut to make more when my other jobs are done.

As always, while working on projects, I have created another crazy mess! 

Last but not least, this quilt top got put together and pressed and now I have 3 more tops to add to the pile of quilts waiting to be quilted and bound.

Take care, stay healthy and I know, if you are like me, there are so many projects to work on at home as well as the other icky things like cleaning windows, working on income tax, spring cleaning, weeding, grass cutting... the list goes on!