Oh my goodness... Christmas is in 18 days!

 A sad state of my affairs when it has been more than a month since I posted but, as always, I have been busy stitching up a variety of projects.

These first few quilts are ones quilted and bound at the end of October.  There are two of the 16 patch quilts made from squares found in baggies in the drawer of a friend who moved and discovered two larger bags of small bags of squares and they had names on them. They are from some sort of swap many years ago with our guild and most of contributing quilters are no longer members of our group.  First step was to stitch each of the squares in each of the small baggies into blocks and then I decided to create some tops that would work for Quilts of Valour by adding in Canadian themed fabrics as alternate blocks. 

I also tried to keep to a colour family as the square in baggies were organized that way... baggies with blues, green, or reds, yellows and orange.  

The third quilt is another one for Quilts of Valour and it is the Running Doe monthly challenge for October called Waverly.

The first of November, I attended our guild retreat as a day stitcher and I was hoping it would work with my husband being dependent on me.  The first day was good and I was home in time to make dinner for us but the second day, he asked me how long I would be and by the third day, I went to play tennis in the morning and skipped the last of the retreat.  However, on my one full day, I worked on a variety of projects and got a few of my projects to the stage of being put onto my design wall at home
 

The first quilt, upside down, I did not make but was one of the many quilts I have been binding for a group of quilters who meet at the home of a long arm quilter. They have a room of donated fabric and are busy making quilt tops and getting them quilted and I pick them up to bind them.  They are returned to the group and another volunteer (or two or three), wash the quilt tops, and then sort them by size and theme so that they can donate appropriately to our community groups. 

Another cute quilt that I finished off with the binding. 

These were blocks I worked on at the guild retreat first of November.  Carolyn's "no waste" block using a variety of fat quarters.  

I had this kit cut a year ago and it sat waiting for me to get the blocks made.  A 3 yard quilt that I made extra blocks to get to a slightly larger size.  The green fabric is butterflies. 

One of the necessary 'jobs' when you are a quilter is to stop and take the time to organize your scraps and leftover fabric bits and strips.  I sorted them all into coloured piles because that is how I store my scrappy fabrics.  

I continued to work on making magic star blocks that I began after a demonstration by Carola at a modern guild meeting.  She came to the November retreat that was a traditional guild activity and demonstrated the same block with different measurements.  I carried on with what I had started 4 months previously and if you want some inspiration, look for magic stars on Pinterest.  

Last year, in the Advent box from Missouri Star, there was  panel of front doors and the instructions to make houses, trees and a layout suggestion.  I made one house to check the instructions and that got me started. 

I cut up lots of scraps into the correct sizes and then started stitching these as leaders and enders for my other projects.  So cute and very addictive.  I think I have enough and now need to cut the fabrics for the trees and get those made.  

I took this panel that was given to me by Quilts of Valour to the long arm quilting group hoping they would quilt it with a maple leaf pattern and they did a great job.  I got it bound and now it is ready for use as a background when doing a display for Quilts of Valour. A huge thank you to Debby and Helen. 

All of a sudden, it was time to pull out the Christmas decorations and start getting in the mood for the season.  I will admit, they sat there for 10 days because, the last week of the month is quilting week for me and I had over 11 quilt tops waiting to be finished.  And, once that was done, the first week of December was binding week.  That task was finished by Thursday and I began to sort out which decorations when where and was happily surprised by a note in one box that said "downstairs fireplace mantle".  I had also labelled the outside Christmas lights with where they went so there were no surprises with lengths being too short or too long.  I must remember to do more labeling when I put everything away in January because it is nice to be organized before you start. 

That annual task of cleaning my brass candlesticks which I started collecting more than fifty years ago.  There was a time when my husband and I loved to burn candles while eating in our dining room and especially when we had company or it was a festive meal at Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and birthdays.  Those days are long gone and I now use battery operated candles that have a timer in them so they come on as the rooms get dark and go off 6 hours later.  Love these new innovations! 

 

  I did another 3 bindings on kid's quilts for donation to the local community. 

This quilt top was donated to quilts of Valour by Christine at the guild retreat and I quilted and bound it.  Love the autumn leaf colours. 

The magic stars are finished, quilted and bound for donation to community quilts. 

The Carolyn's no waste blocks from random fat quarters are quilted and bound, another one for Quilts of Valour. 

This is a close up of the block in the quilt that follows.  Cathy donated this to Quilts of Valour and while I was quilting it, I figured out how she made the blocks and this is an awesome way to use up scraps.  I need to write down the directions I figured out before the quilt gets donated.  

The finished quilt using the block above.  Very striking and perfect for Quilts of Valour.

This is Town Square and one of my favorite 3 yard quilt patterns.  I used the Northcott poppy print in the center of the blocks.  Northcott contributes to Quilts of Valour with every yard of their Oh Canada line of prints that is purchased. 

The last of the sixteen patch quilts that were made from baggies with names of quilt guild members and we have figured that possibly this was a year 2000 challenge?  No one remembers.  I added in 3 blocks of Canadian themed fabric so that it will work nicely for Quilts of Valour. 

The November quilt challenge from Villa Rosa Running Doe quilts and this pattern is called Weave.  I pulled out some children's prints and altered the size of the strips so that I would have a finished quilt that is perfect for a child.  

This is the finished butterfly quilt, bound and ready for Community Quilts or, Ronald MacDonald house. 

This last quilt top was donated by Jean, another volunteer with Community quilts and I quilted and bound it and hopefully, someone will enjoy the horizontal city scene through Quilts of Valour.  

If I don't get back to my blog update later this month, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy, healthy New Year.