Mid November 2020 and still in the midst of THE pandemic

 Wow, who knew that this COVID 19 was going to hang around so long.  I am not really happy to be home in BC when I would normally be in the Arizona sunshine.  It is more than that.  Normally, I would be active and playing tennis daily if not twice daily some days.  And I would be quilting and visiting with my crafty friends.  And we would be attending pot lucks, picnics, entertaining friends for dinner and, at this time, would be planning a large gathering at our home to celebrate Thanksgiving.  

But, here I sit in dreary, dark, wet BC.  It is hard to make the best of this situation although we did manage a few days of tennis last week when we were lucky enough to play in almost freezing temps on barely dry courts but if you want to play, you have to go with the conditions.  

This week isn't looking so good for being outdoors on the court.  But, on the other hand, it is a good thing we are home.  My husband has a couple of Moh's surgeries coming up on his hands plus two iron infusions for him in December and I have a PET scan to look at a spot in my lungs. 

The plus side of all of this is that some UFO's are getting tackled as well, of course, 'oh look', a new project! 

The first week of November, I made a huge effort to get quilts loaded on the B-line and quilted.  And, I was successful.  It felt so good! The first quilt is one from January that I made while in Arizona.  It was a challenge from my Heartstrings group and we were to use a 'bundle'. I had a bundle of fat quarters and added in more to have enough for 20 blocks and a decent size, finished quilt.  It is now quilted and bound.

This quilt was a kit on sale from Connecting Threads.  It is also now finished and ready to be donated to Quilts of Valour.

This quilt came from a set of Jolly Bars (5"x 10") that I had on hand in Arizona.  I pulled out a jelly roll that sort of went the jolly bars and started stitching without any real plan.  It is now done and in the 'to be donated' pile of quilts.

A UFO!  I'm not sure if I started this in 2019 or 2018 and need to go back and search the blog.   It was a jelly roll and was very bright colours.  The pattern created hourglass/pinwheels. I had made a block to test the pattern and then I put it away.  Now, done! 

And, one of my favourite block patterns to make.  This block makes excellent use of your fabric with little or no waste.  I cut up some 6" squares for the centers of the blocks that were leftover from backings.  And, now in the pile of quilts for Quilts of Valour.  It is hard to see but the white fabric has red maple leaves on it... they look like polka dots from a distance.

Then last week happened and I wandered away from the B-line and decided to get all the above quilts bound.  It actually took more time that I had figured on?  

And of course, a few new project started calling my name. Heartstrings challenge for November is to use charm packs. I had three waiting for me that were Stonehenge Oh Canada fabrics.  I decided on a split 9 patch and I started stitching.

After I had the quilt top made, I decided it was too small so dug around in my Oh Canada fabrics and found a border to use and got that added. It is hard to see the fabrics from a distance so added in a close up of what some of the fabrics look like.  Another project residing on a hanger waiting for quilting and binding.

I also cut up and stitched the fabric from the FVMQG.  They hand out bags of fabrics and you can do as you wish with them.  Since the fabric was 'critters', it is obviously suited for a child so I made two quilt tops, each are 40" x50".  They will go back to the guild and get kitted up with batting and backing and binding.

I have this quilt under my needle on my domestic machine and started quilting and then got distracted by my piecing projects.  This would be a good project to work on while watching Hallmark movies!

And, I dug out my Canada 52 blocks challenge.  I actually have 56 blocks for a 7 x 8 setting.  A few of the blocks had been made last January in Arizona and needed to have their sashings added.  That is now done and these can go up on the design wall and are ready to be stitched into a quilt top.  And, once I get them quilted, there will be another UFO done.  This was started late fall 2019.  Not ancient, but old enough to be finished up soon.

This is my next project in a bag for FVMQG.  I have 3 fabrics and each measures around a yard. I found a cute pattern that doesn't require cutting up the fabric too much and it is for 3 fabrics so this is what is going to get made.

And then there are bento blocks.  I had a number of them made last fall and earlier this year and they have sat on their hanger.  Then a donation of blocks arrived in the mail.  I only needed two more blocks to have enough for a quilt.  Two more blocks were made and now these are also ready to get laid out on the design wall and turned into a quilt top for Quilts of Valour. 

In the meantime, if it is dry, we head out to the courts for games and drills. 

And on lovely, sunny days, we enjoy our view of Mt. Baker. 

Today, it is blustery with a wind warning so back to my sewing machine!! This is my updated list and am happy to have crossed off a few projects.

November 2020

1.       Quilt 2 preemies

2.       Quilt Christmas tumblers

3.       Quilt Christmas framed fat quarters

4.       Quilt child’s white/leftover hsts

5.       Quilt framed jolly bars

6.       Quilt Cdn squares 3 yd quilt

7.       Quilt Twizzle

8.       Quilt Ohio Star

9.       Quilt gray/bright jelly roll hst

10.   Quilt hourglass jelly roll

11.   Quilt Stepping stones

12.   Quilt fat quarters framed Heartstrings Jan

13.   Cdn Happy Blocks

14.   Solstice (UFO)

15.   Aunt Gracie’s charms (UFO)

16.   Mors bags: food  themes

17.   10 min tablerunner (UFO)

18.   Row by Row 2016 moose scenic (UFO)

19.   Hot pads – jelly roll/rope

20.   Mystery step 3 Meadowland

21.   FVMQG: Make #1 Nov quilts A and B

22.   FVMQG: Make #2 Nov                                                                                                                               

 

D

H

24