I had to move my quilting week up by 7 days which really threw me off my new routine. However, there is a need for Quilts of Valour in Comox, BC and I offered to help the rep by gathering, finishing and sending her 23 quilts.
I did have help from the Vernon presenter who sent me 8 finished quilts and one top. I also had another top turned in for quilting plus, I put together a few quick ones and also had a few on hand. A real boost came from a quilter in Surrey who sent me a notice that she had 3 finished quilts. Whew!!
All that I need to do is make a list of the quilts, bag them and find someone heading to or through Comox on Vancouver Island and has room for a lot of quilts in their back seat! A big job done although I have a request from my Kamloops presenter for a few more quilts for him to have on hand.
First is a batik double hourglass (Villa Rosa pattern) that I made using up a Hoffman dot jelly roll with a few more of my own strips added in. It didn't really look very Canadian so, on the back, I had a small panel, grey, with a map of Canada, so added that into the backing fabric.
It isn't a great picture of the back but you get the idea of how I used the smaller panel to add a touch of Canadiana to the quilt.
This top was made by Janet, a member of our Wednesday quilt Divas group and it is labeled and quilted and ready to head to Comox.
A super simple pattern that uses blocks with a black sashing on two sides and then they are turned to create the brick look. A 3 yard quilt with easy piecing and it was a good way to use up some Canadian/red fabrics. I used some red fabrics that were available at our last guild meeting... a generous donation by the husband of a deceased quilter. Instead of putting the fabrics away, I left them out so I would use them first. I have a quilting friend who calls this legacy fabric.
In the package of quilts from Vernon, there was a top waiting for quilting from the Silver Star quilters so that got finished with quilting, label and binding.
This is the back of the next quilt. I had another panel of Canadian cities and I still love the idea of using these panels on the backs of Quilts of Valour.
I refer to these as Carolyn blocks as I have used an idea that I saw while looking at Pinterest one day and the measurements were given for each of the pieces - and it makes great use of fat quarters with very little waste. The centers are 5.5" inches with a 2.5" border around and then a 3.5" border on the outside. The finished blocks are 15" which makes a nice size and it goes together quickly. Since I used mostly leaf and autumn fabrics, the Canadian panel on the back makes it perfect as a Quilt of Valour.
This block is available on the Quilts of Valour website and is called Parade Square. Another simple block to make with a four patch in the center and then the borders/sashing added. A friend saw this white fabric with the red maple leaves for a good price when she was at a quilt shop and bought me some yardage... thanks Marge! and I used more the red legacy fabrics mentioned above to create these blocks.
The last pattern in the Running Doe monthly challenge (Villa Rosa designer) is called Grandmother. I might have made this quilt a little too busy with such a wide variety of fabrics but, I like to use what I have on hand and I did have the squares of Canadian themed fabrics leftover over from a previous project so decided to use them. And again, more of the legacy red fabrics used in the 9 patches. That ends the Running Doe challenge although she does have a new one starting in January. I certainly made some patterns that didn't appeal to me and I would never have purchases so I did step out of my comfort zone some months.
Last weekend I decided to do something about my sewing machine arrangement. I have been thinking about it for awhile. It may not stay like this as the machine on the right doesn't get a lot of light at night and I don't really have any table space beside me to add extra light where it is needed. It is possible, (groan) that I might just turn the machine and table on the right back to facing the television as that worked well for many years. I was trying to get more table space behind each machine as I stitched on quilt tops, stitched on bindings (which I do by machine because of aging hands that cramp up when stitching by hand). I will say that a lot of dust bunnies and bits of fabrics got vacuumed up in the move. Wow... so much dust!
These blocks were our modern guild's block lotto in early October and I need to put them together. There is no lack of ideas by all the quilters that saw them on the design wall ... leave them as is, add sashings... add a border.... ?? The theme was fall flower colours... quite a variety but will make a colourful quilt for donation.
Always nice to end on a bright note. We have had every kind of weather and it can change hourly. After a brutal weekend of rain, this rainbow appeared late in the afternoon.
Time to get these quilt registration numbers recorded and figure out which bags I have on hand to package them in and then someway, somehow, get them to Comox, BC. It will happen and not only will I be happy, so will the Comox QOV rep as well as all the recipients who have been nominated for a quilt presentation. Quilted hugs bring smiles and happiness.
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