First week of October- binding done!

 Binding done and working on a major clean up!

This is finished Strip Twist made in June 2023 so, a UFO!  I didn't know where to donate this quilt but decided on Quilts of Valour.  

I used a panel on the back that is a map of Canada thinking that it made the quilt more Canadian?

I had a stack of brown rail fences that were aging in a box and I also had a pattern called Honor from years ago which gave measurements for cutting off the two opposite corners of the blocks and adding fabric to create a bit of a star.  In order to make this one more Canadian, another panel was used on the back.  Kudos to Stephanie of Heartstrings for the suggestion to use panels on the backs of quilts.  Brilliant idea and all my panels are now gathered together and ready to use!

The September quilt-a-long with Running Doe (Villa Rosa) was a pattern called Buttons.  I struggled with which fabrics to use but took out a kit from a mystery box from 2023 and used the set of batiks.  I added in a couple from my own stash and because I didn't want a really large quilt, I made two.  One has 20 blocks and the smaller one used 12.  

Confetti is another quilt that I made using a bundle of fabrics from the same mystery box from 2023.  I am trying hard to use up and make the quilts and other projects that arrive in my home and I do love these boxes but not always thrilled with the patterns they include.  A fun quilt and was inspired by a triangle quilt being made at a sew in with the modern guild in August.  Thanks Debbie for the idea.

I am still working on making these double hourglass blocks.  The heartstrings group chose jelly rolls as the September challenge and I did make Honor with rail fences but, I wanted to use an actual jelly roll and found this Hoffman dots package tucked away in the UFO container.  I need to add some of my own fabrics to get the quilt to a finished size that I like but it is my leader and ender project at the moment and is perfect for stitching during Friday night zoom session with modern guild friends. 

A quilt top came from Susan G in New Brunswick last October and I have quilted the other tops earlier this year and the final one is done.  Such a pretty quilt and I think it will awesome for a wheel chair quilt or for someone sitting in their recliner.  Done and labeled.

All of the quilts I finished this month used "frankenbatts'  which means batting pieced together from leftover strips.  The bindings and backings came from my stash and the best part is - only one quilt waiting on a hanger and now that I know where I want to donate it, it will get finished and I may not wait for the end of the month. 

Lots of idea but am concentrating on using fabrics that are in bundles and still have a few from the mystery boxes but am determined to move them from waiting to be used into a quilt top. The main list of project is similar to other months.

- Rainbow scrap challenge (color choice is up to us)

- Patterns by Jen and block is in black/gray

- Double hour glass blocks finished

- Cut and create kits from bundles on hand

- quilt the top that has been on a hanger for a few years. 

- stitch a block for the modern guild block swap this month

- Heartstrings: fat quarter is the monthly choice of precut

So far, the list is not too long but, I will be adding to it as I create kits for mindless stitching. 

October - time to put September behind us and move forward

 My husband's radiation is finished and now he is healing from the ordeal and spending a lot of time sleeping.  For me, time for the caregiver to attend some of her appointments for her well being - today the optometrist, next week the dentist and ongoing C-pap phone appointments to keep me on track.  We are back to playing indoor tennis which is a bonus on a rainy or wet day.  

September was fairly productive.  My heartstrings group chose jelly rolls or 2.5" strips and I pulled out a set of aging blocks, found a pattern from years ago called Honor and it meant adding some triangle corners.  After finishing the quilt top, I realized that I should have use a darker or brighter corner fabric, but the top is done! It is labeled and quilted and waiting for binding.  I used panel on the back which makes it more suitable as a Quilt of Valour. 

While digging around in my bin of projects patiently waiting, I found a really old Bali pops jelly roll and decided that it would be a great time to use it.  My choice of pattern was a Villa Rosa double hourglass.

I won't have enough blocks with using just the package so am adding in more blocks made from strips from my stash of batiks, trying to find ones that have dots.  There isn't a lot of choice but I will intersperse them among the ones that are true dot pops. 

 

The last week of the month is is quilting time and I knew I didn't have a huge number of quilt tops on hangers so was a bit slow in getting started.  Our garden is still producing crazy amounts of zucchini and tomatoes so some picking time was needed.  I also needed to get the grass cut during nice weather when rain was in the forecast.  But, I did get started and now have a stack of them quilted and they are waiting for binding.

This triangle quilt that I worked on during the last modern guild sew in was put together and is one of the finished projects.

I also finished up the brown scrappy strips that I pieced for my monthly rainbow scrap challenge.

These are my brown leaders and enders that was inspired by Bonnie Hunter called oopsie daisy blocks. 

Running Doe chose Buttons as their pattern for the month of September and I was hesitant to get started because I wasn't inspired.  I went through my container of bundles of fabrics, (same one where I found the Hoffman strips) and there was a kit of yellow/pinkish batiks that came in a mystery box and I didn't like the pattern with it so, I decided it was a great way to complete the challenge. 

I did add in a few other batiks and ended up with two tops.  One is slightly smaller than the other but I think they are bright and cheery and need to figure out where to donate them. 

My bruises are fading after my fall but now I have a C-pap machine to contend with.  I would love to say I am leaping out of bed in the morning and my sleep is awesome.  But, I can't.  It is taking some getting used to as I am NOT a back sleeper and love to be on my stomach which doesn't work... so attempting some sleeping on my side and trying to make that work but, I feel like most of the night, I am awake.  The data however, shows that I am sleeping much better and having very few apnea episodes so... time will tell.  

First week of the month.  Binding week and I had great plans to start yesterday and ended up outside in the garden.  Today, I had great plans but, after morning tennis, a noon eye appointment, and starting to write my blog update, the power went out.  The best laid plans went awry.  Oh well... I did search out my lanterns for power outages, plugged a battery operated light into my power bank and just as it was getting a little bit dark (and just when I thought dinner would be a can of soup on my gas range), the power came back on.  

So, working on this blog after dinner, while a chocolate zucchini cake bakes and I will attempt to get one quilt bound before my 8pm sewing curfew.  (self imposed but nice to spend some with my husband before he goes to bed).