Failing as a quilter/blogger these days

 I am really failing at blogging - lots of ideas in my head but feel like I spend too much time on my computer most days so don't stop and type out a new post.  I really do admire my blogging friends who write a major post daily.  

Gardening and yard work seems to be taking my time but, am happy our front yard is looking so much better after all the parties held by raccoons this past winter.  The first picture shows the front lawn after a gardening company did some repair, added topsoil and grass seed as well as a treatment for the grubs that the chafer beetle lays (which is what the raccoons are digging for and creating a mess).  Lot of flowers have bloomed and I have planted dahlias, thanks to good friends giving us bulbs. 

 As for quilting, I am trying to finish up all the rainbow scrap challenge blocks made over the last few years and getting quite close to the end of containers.  The big challenge in June was to stitch the "oopsie" blocks which were Bonnie Hunter leader and enders and I had a large stack of them.  I did them using the rainbow scrap challenge colour of the month last year.  There are enough blocks for two quilts and the tops are now made, waiting patiently on hangers to be quilted. 

I did manage to finish and quilt the Running Doe May challenge of the pattern Kaleidoscope which were butterflies. I made two... using 13 blocks.  The original pattern used 12 but the blocks are very large (16") and the finished quilt would have been larger than I like for donating to our guild We Care program.  The smaller one has gone to the guild and the larger one will go to Ronald MacDonald house. 

 
 This was made from a block that was a rainbow scrap challenge in  2024. I made lots of the small blocks and then put them all together into a quilt and am smiling because I see one of the edge blocks is upside down.  Oh well.  

I also worked on this batik scrap quilt that started off with me stitching four patches from leftover bits and pieces and then went through my strips that were not full width of fabric and used those for the frames.  I think I did reduce my two containers of strip to 1.5 containers.  This has since been quilted and has gone to Quilts of Valour for an injured member of the Canadian Armed forces.  I was rushed when it was finished and didn't get a picture of the final quilt.  

A dear quilting friend who I lived near and enjoyed spending time with over a cup of tea died a few years ago and her son wanted to return a quilt to me that I had given her.  This is a Lone Star made in 1981.  The advantage of adding a label is that you would never remember all the details of when you make a quilt.  

I

I took this picture of binding strips laid out on my ironing board because I heard a complaint from a fellow quilter who was annoyed because she was making binding out of a fabric with no clear right and wrong side and she had a seam on the wrong side when she was joining the pieces.  I always line my binding strips up on the ironing board and press them in half before I join them to each other.  I like pressing the shorter strips rather than one massive long one.  And, there is no chance of stitching the seam on the wrong side of the fabric.  I finger press the seams open so once the pieces are joined, easy to then add the binding to the quilt.  

My peonies took forever to bloom this year but they are lasting nicely and look fabulous.  

A short blog... but it is done!  I think I am back on track with my monthly planning and last week of the month will be quilting tops and getting them bound so will have more to show you.  

What happened to April? It seems to be early May?

 I don't know why April came and went without me accomplishing much but I want to blame the sale of our house in Arizona.  The realtors wanted the house empty and when we last were there, everything was left ready for us to return and,  other than having the fridge emptied and laundry done, it was all as if we were coming home any moment.  So, a massive undertaking to empty the house from a distance.  My husband isn't well enough to travel and he isn't really capable of living alone for the time it would have taken me to jump in my car and drive down there... grab what I really wanted to keep and sell the rest and get back home.

It has taken our realtors over a month to go through the sewing room, the bedroom closets and drawers, the laundry room and kitchen as well as other nooks and crannies including two bathrooms and hall closet and empty it all. I spent a lot of time on Messenger with video calls, pictures via texting and long phone calls as I made decisions about what to keep and what to price things I didn't need or want.  Finally, this past weekend, there was an estate sale and also a pending buyer!  So all their work getting the house completely empty seems to have been worth it.

Usually, snowbirds sell their house with all the basics... furniture, appliances, kitchen equipment all there and linens, tools, whatever is in the house stays.  But, apparently, there are many "local" buyers and not so many snowbirds looking to purchase a home in a senior retirement community.  Gardener was hired to clean up the fruit trees and tidy up the front and back yards.  Then, everything I decided I could live without got put up for sale.  I invited the quilting group and tennis group to visit the house and get first pick.  I tried to remember my tennis friends by inviting them to choose a quilt or table runner if they saw something they liked. 

 All is done and now, the next task is to pack up what I want with a list in each box of items, country of origin (new because of tariffs on goods entering Canada) and thrift store value on used goods.  An annoying job but nothing can cross the border without that being done and, hopefully, most of what I want is from countries outside the USA.  

As for quilting... I have been picking up quilts from the home of the modern quilters... one of our members has a long arm and allows the downstairs of their home to be the storage and sewing area for drop in guild members.  I am bringing home quilts and binding them, returning and picking up more.  An easy way for me to pitch in and help the guild. A couple of pictures that don't do the quilts justice but, have returned 9 that needed binding. 

I have been working on leftover bindings for Quilts for Survivors.  They are requesting finished bindings, measured and ready to use to be turned in at Quilt Canada in June.  Their goal is to go around the world in inches. I am doing my best and have about 3000" at this time. 

My April finishes are minimal.  This project on my design wall is what I am currently working on and it is made from a set of Rainbow Scrap challenge blocks from last year.  I need more so have dug out more scraps in a variety of colours to add to the number of blocks. 

I included this and you will see that nothing has happened with it since last month.  It really needs for me to focus on finishing it! There are lots more rows waiting to be included in a quilt top.

This was the Running Doe (Villa Rosa) sew along for April.  The pattern is Sky Diamonds and I used a lot of scrappy fat quarters to make this.  All the fabrics are Canadian themed prints.  It seems a bit busy but, used up scrap fabrics! 

These are garlic knots, again, another Rainbow scrap challenge from 2024. 

My rail fences from scraps made sometime in the last few years for the Rainbow scrap challenge.  A bit of a different setting that I saw called Wharf but really, was just adding in a strip between the blocks and setting them horizonally.  I still have a big stack of these blocks to deal with. 

A quick project from the Missouri Star Christmas Advent mystery box last December and I made a table topper. The instructions were intended to produce a pillow top with chenille strips on it but I decided a small topper was more useful for me.  I don't need more pillows in our home.

Lots of yard work being done because our weather has been great for this time of year. I am keeping the front lawn watered and watching the grass seed germinate from a month ago.  A very slow process. 

Our bottom hedge got trimmed and that meant some time spent gathering the trimmings and getting them from this lower level up to the driveway level.  Thankfully, great neighbours helped and it was done much faster than I could have done alone.  A new weed wacker and I got the grass on the bottom two levels all cut down and everything is temporarily tidy. There is still a lot more tidying and weeding to be done but an hour or two daily is enough for my aging body, especially after a morning of tennis.

Not much quilting but I do have a tidy yard and an empty house in Arizona. 

On target for April

 I think I am finally caught up and working with my self imposed time line.  Last year, Stephanie, member of our Heartstrings group gave me a great suggestion.  I was moaning, complaining, (maybe, even whining) about how I always feel scattered with my quilting.  Too many ideas, too many projects, so much fabric, inspired by Pinterest but never getting around to making any of the patterns I loved.   She gave me her monthly plan as a suggestion and it works for me.  First week of month is labeling and binding quilts finished the previous month, the second week is for working on blocks of the month or sew-alongs, third week is doing something new, different, and fun leaving the fourth week for quilting the tops made in the previous few weeks.  Love this plan!  It works for me.  However, I have been thrown off by so many medical appointments for my husband plus a surgery with a week in hospital and taking care of the yard whenever there is a nice day (which means warmer than 14ºC and sunshine) and all the other mundane tasks that come with being "the good wife". 

So, last week I made a stack of frankenbats... (joining leftover pieces into one large one), cut backings, and got busy on my home quilting system (B-line).  I hesitate to use it when he is sleeping (bedroom is above where my machine is) so loaded quilts and would take time to make bindings and start attaching them.  As of today... am up to date except for one small table topper. 

This is double pointed star block which was one of my 2024 Rainbow scrap projects.  

Bundles and bows was not my favourite block to make for RSC - somehow my brain didn't quite work properly when making blocks each month when it came to trimming.  However, if I don't point out the mistakes, maybe you won't see them?  This is square because the blocks are 15"  and 60 x 60 seemed like a good size for donation?

Material girls sew along using their 18 patch jelly roll pattern.  I changed this up because, the original pattern had the lines all going in the same direction and all I could think of was how painful it would be to have match e v e r y  single seam in the entire top.  UGH. So, I rotated and now it makes your eyes go wonky.  I used batik strips out of my scrap bins and instead of 2 full art bins, I am down to 1 plus ¼ of the second. 

Patterns by Jen monthly challenge from 2024 (and some blocks made in previous years).  Since she did twelve blocks giving us the pattern and colour for each month, that really didn't make enough for a full size quilt so, most of the months, I made two blocks.  I alternated the light and dark fabric placement and that gave me more than what I needed for 20 blocks... and of course, that means leftovers on a hanger.  Jen is no longer doing this monthly challenge. 

Villa Rose - Running Dove monthly quilt challenge called Transport.  Simple to do though mine doesn't seem to give the 3D effect that many other quilters managed to create.  

L blocks - another Rainbow scrap challenge quilt.  Each month, when the colour was announced, I would make a stack of blocks in that colour.  Of course, I never planned or counted so have quite a few leftover blocks that will make a baby/preemie quilt (or two or three?). 

There is a challenge issued by Quilts for Survivors asking for binding - they want all your extra bindings joined on the diagonal, and when finished, to measure the length of your strips in inches, and send to them at Quilt Canada in June.  This is the start of joining all my bits of leftovers.  It would also be a good way to use up some 2.5" strips that you don't have plans for in making a quilt. 

Love this cute zip pouch.  I won it at our modern guild meeting in March (we usually do Zoom for January and February so no weather decisions to make) and I love it.  Thank you Colleen, known for her super cute pouches. 

There is a challenge with the modern guild.  We were given an envelope with the name of a block pattern and a crayon... I got a green crayon and Old Maid's puzzle block.  We could add white, gray or black to go with our crayon.  This will be fun to see them all on the design wall this week at guild meeting.  The best part is that I didn't leave it until the last minute!

Now that I have finish quilts with binding added, it is time to do a major clean up.  I have a huge pile of leftover strips of batting and backings after trimming my quilts.  I will work though these and discard the small bits and will trim these leftovers into the largest width possible.  This is where a lot of my scrappy strips come from when I work with scraps.

I added more fabric to the binding box ready to stitch for Quilts for Survivors

This is the only top waiting for quilting - it is from the Christmas Advent box 2024 and am trying to make one project a month from previous boxes. I am not being successful but the idea rides around in my brain. 

One reason for the lack of working on Advent box projects is these darn row x rows.  These ones are waiting for the applique to be stitched down and then they can go into quilt tops.  The more I get finished, the better the choices for putting some tops together.  The theme from this rows was "water" which is quite perfect for the Pacific Northwest. 

Oh my goodness... a clean design wall.  Don't worry, I still have a few containers of blocks made from the Rainbow scrap challenges of previous years.  Will attempt to put 3 more tops together this month. 

 

This is slow going but am trying to create a quilt top for Quilts of valour using some of the row x rows that have been completed by both myself and my traditional quilting guild.  Again, these are water themed rows so they do all work together but I need to figure out sashings. 

Glorious weather here in the Pacific Northwest - tulips and daffodils are blooming.  Yard work is calling.

These pictures are of my sewing machine Janome 6600 in Mesa, Arizona.  I realize that my blog readers are probably not in that area but we have listed our home for sale in the Valley of the Sun and I would like to sell this machine, table and accessories.  You never know when a quilter knows a quilter who would love to have one of these machines and doesn't have to haul her machine back and forth as a Snowbird? 

So, up to date after the first week of April and it feels good.  More appointments this week for my husband but also two guild meetings to attend and two mornings of tennis.  Retirement and aging is not boring!!  Never a quiet or dull moment. 

February quilts finally finished.

 March has been a crazy month.  My husband had surgery so that meant pre-surgical appointments including blood tests and iron infusions along with 2 units of blood transfusion.  I feel like I have been living at the hospital.  I expected one or two days of being in the hospital post surgery - WRONG - 7 days and I lost all my time I had organized for binding quilts that I quilted in February.

OH WELL... best laid plans.... 

In the last few days I finally got the bindings done.  First is a quilt using a variety of blues with a pattern I call Carolyn's blocks because I never been able to find the original source of the cutting fat quarters.  

Running Doe quilt along  (Villa Rosa) called Lanterns.  I use strips from my batik bins.

Two quilts  made from blocks that were a Heartstrings challenge to use strips.  I made enough blocks for two quilt tops.  Now bound and ready for donation.

Second quilt using the strips from my scrap strip bins.  I managed to condense 2 bins into one.

This was a sew-a-long with GE Designs.  It used fat quarters and I pulled out a strange assortment of fabrics, and colours.  The pattern is Jolee. 

My project for the Quilts of Valour Sew Day in early February was to make a quilt using the 2025 pattern for the alternating blocks called Zig Zag. 

I am currently working on using blocks from my Rainbow scrap challenge that were all made last year. This L block is put together, waiting for quilting.
 

Material Girls has a challenge this month to make a 16 patch jelly roll quilt.  These blocks need some trimming and I literally threw them on the wall to see if I liked this setting.  The pattern has them all lined up, nice and even.  That means a LOT of seam matching and this way, only corners need to match? 

I have made an effort to tame the disaster of my sewing space being a "dumping" while I was at the hospital, all day, every day.  And, my list for the last week of the month is organized.  I have a few tops to get quilted that I did not take pictures of.  

One day at a time and eventually projects get finished.