Retreat prepared for and attended and now home again.

 Before I left for retreat, I got these preemie quilts bound and labeled and delivered to our guild rep who takes them to the NICU at our local hospital. These are all made from 2 sets of layer cakes that I cut up into 5" squares.

 

I started packing for retreat once these were finished. I cut three projects for Quilts of Valour using the patterns from the 3 x 1 yd. patterns. 

Packing is a nuisance but I had been gathering projects to take with me for the last few months. First, I worked on finishing up another couple of blocks for a quilt that is for the Survivor project.  A friend needs three quilts and myself and my Wednesday quilting group made some blocks and I offered to finish up the third quilt for her.  We were short 3 blocks so those got made and the top put together.  Now, to get it quilted and bound. 

Sorry that you have to turn your head for this quilt.  It is a panel that I have had for a year or two and at retreat, figured out the math (thanks Penny) and added rail fence blocks to get it to the correct size.  So, yes, another top to quilt and bind for Quilts of Valour.

This is our retreat venue.  Lots of room and space to work plus a few design walls.

I had cut kits for preemie quilts a few months ago when I was made other quilts for the NICU and thought that they would make a good retreat project.  So here are four finished tops.

And these are the tops for Quilts of Valour made from some of the three - one yard quilt patterns. 

This was the mystery quilt that I did not work on but I will make one. 

I came home to beautiful weather and managed to get our front grass cut and Mt. Baker was stunning on Friday evening.  Today... we have horrible rain that isn't letting up.How can weather change so quickly? 

Since the weather is horrible, I unpacked from retreat and also dug out my Autumn decor items and started making my home look like the season has changed.  The nasty weather outside tells me that I was right on target. My 'old' Debbie Mumm scarecrow is now hanging on the wall in my stairwell.

The living room mantle is decorated.

My dining room looks like autumn.  Hard to believe when you look out those windows that it is pouring with rain?

And my stairwell is very fallish looking.

Lots of tops to quilt and still some mess to clean up but I will get there, especially if this lousy weather continues!  Happy autumn! 

Rainy, Pacific northwest kind of day.

 Our weather has changed and while we had a very hot day on Thursday, the temperatures changed rapidly.  It is much cooler and wet.  I am holding off on turning on the furnace but have been doing some baking and oven meals this weekend. The oven warms up the kitchen a little and takes the dampness out of the air. I haven't put away my shorts and tank tops yet because with September weather, you never know if I might wear them again. 

I was fairly productive in my sewing studio but the big job was to do a major clean up including dusting and vacuuming.  I work better in a clean and tidy area and really do function better with a "place for everything and everything in its place". 

I worked on my September Rainbow scrap challenge blocks and the strip pieced, 16 patch stars, friendship stars and rail fences are done. 

I also made my Patterns by Jen block of the month and the colour theme was pineapple. 

This quilt came back to me from a long arm quilter in Chilliwack and she quilted the hug blocks quilt that was made earlier this year from blocks that were given to me by Lezley Zwall.  It is ready for donation to Quilts of Valour. 

I made bindings and layered my preemie quilts and hope to get them quilted this week.  I usually do some pretty simple straight line, stitch in the ditch type of quilting so not too challenging. 

 

The blocks I started working with last week got finished while listening to a book on tape.  I have finished the Bridgerton series and listening while sewing is a great plan.  Thank you to all who suggested it.  The top has gone to the long arm quilter who returned the hug block quilt for her to finish for me. 

I am working on a list of projects to take to retreat with me and need to narrow down all my ideas and what I have waiting to be finished.  

In the meantime, have also watched and been impressed with our Canadian players at the U.S. Open this past two weeks.  WOW!  Lots of cheering happening in this house.  We continue to play tennis every weekend day morning that the courts are dry.  

Life is good! 

September 1st and fall is in the air.

 We have gone from hot, summer weather to some rainy days and yesterday was cold!  Today back to sunshine and warmth so typical September weather.  I managed to accomplish some finishes and am on the way to getting some other projects completed.  This first one is the split 4 patch that is now quilted and waiting for binding (which is made). 

This is one more of the ways I am using up the 2 layers cakes from August.  This top is waiting for pressing, layering, quilting and binding.  But, it will happen!

One more idea for working with the layer cakes, cut into 4.5" squares.  I am going to make split 9 patches but use each part as block.  They will measure 6" and for a preemie, I need 30 blocks. 

This is how the stitched and cut block looks but I will be putting 5 across so I won't make 4 patches stitched together but will lay out the entire quilt top first.

A UFO that was started two years ago and I have dug out strips to work with to make more of these blocks.  The blocks measure 8" finished so for a Quilt of Valour, I will need 72 blocks.  I have a way to go to get them all done.

This is a Sunbonnet Sue and Sam quilt top that was made by a member of our guild who has since deceased and I offered to layer, quilt and bind the quilt.  It is actually kind of cute even if it isn't my normal type of quilt that I make.  The figures were all hand appliqued and I machine stitched around the edges so that it would be machine washable.

My finished projects!  Three preemie quilts for boys from the two layer cakes.

Two preemies for girls from the layer cakes. 

These are blocks that I have made for more survivor quilts.  A friend knows of 3 survivors of residential schools and wants to make quilts for them so I offered to make some blocks and asked my Wednesday group if they wanted to contribute.  Each quilt needs 12 blocks so I have made enough for one and more blocks have come in so hopefully, we will have a nice variety in each of the quilts.

My aqua rail fence blocks for August Rainbow scrap challenge got made. I also got the 16 patch star made plus my Patterns by Jen 'mushroom' coloured blocks made.  The top block looks like mushroom colours but the second one, I am not so sure what I was thinking?

I had a two time outs last week from quilting.  My grandson needed me to drive him into Vancouver for an appointment with a retinal specialist.  He only has vision in one eye (due to being so prematurely) and his 'good' eye needs to be checked regularly to be ahead of any problems that might arise to impair his vision in his only eye with sight.  

Then my husband got called in for another Moh's surgery as they had a cancellation and of course, he took the opportunity without hesitation.  It of course, means me driving him and waiting while he has the day surgery.  The good part about this is that I have free wifi there through our cable company which offere wireless to their customers.  Thank you Shaw! 

So, I am getting caught up on my August projects and moving forward with September.  I am not sure what the Rainbow scrap challenge colour is but I know the PBJ colour is pineapple so I can dig out some of those scraps for my blocks.  She is very efficient at publishing the block instructions on the first of the month so I already have it printed off and ready and waiting. 

Stay safe this weekend.  And for those of you heading back to school either as teacher or student, I wish you all the possible success for a great year in the classroom or with online learning.  Am so happy that I am retired! 

Death in the family, a special wedding, a fishing trip and a lot of reading.

 It has been a month since I posted but I really do have some valid excuses for not accomplishing much in my quilting world.  

On July 24th, my brother died after fighting brain cancer for 7 years.  He fought brilliantly for a long time and didn't give up.  He certainly lived past all expectations although the last year was a tough battle when a second tumor appeared that grew aggressively. 

 

He was my younger brother and probably the only person that I had known the longest?  I certainly knew him longer than anyone else in our world.   Of course, heading to Vancouver Island for his funeral and celebration of his life was frustrating with no ferry reservations available.  I have spent my life taking a ferry trip on and off the island and have sat in the parking lots for many hours over the years.  One thing that I actually enjoy about waiting for a ferry (as long as I don't have anyone in the car who is bored and frustrated) is that it gives me time to read.  I have started reading the Bridgerton series and am totally hooked into the series.  My quilting friends have raved about the series on Netflix but since we don't have that service, books are the next best thing.  

Reading and quilting cannot co-exist in my world.  It is one or the other.  Once I start a book, I am determined to keep reading until it is finished and to heck with quilting, housework etc. 

We also attended a lovely wedding that took place in a great place "My secret garden" and it was lovely.  The bride is our neighbour and she is a very special person and someone to be admired.  Despite her autism, she is a busy person and works at a local fast food place, keeping it spotlessly clean.  She married her high school sweetheart and the wedding was special and perfect. 

Then we were invited on a fishing trip with friends and of course, that meant another trip to Vancouver Island with NO reservations.  UGH.  But, I did get a lot of reading time.  We missed the first ferry in the morning by one car!  It has happened to me before but my husband was extremely annoyed and it wasn't a great start to our trip.  Oh well... we survived and came home with a cooler containing some salmon and halibut so we were happy. 

 

My list the last time I posted was as follows: 

1. Organize t-shirts and get made into a quilt top

2. Finish up blocks for Quilts for Survivors and get them in to the mail 

3. Stitch up the layer cake quilts for preemies, layer them and quilt and bind. 

4. Quilt and bind a Sunbonnet Sue quilt that has been waiting for a few weeks to be completed. 

5. Stitch down applique blocks

6. Work on wonky hearts from Mary's quilts. 

7. Quilt and bind a quilt top from the modern guild 

Not much done!  But, this week, I did get myself organized to get back into the quilting groove.  I managed to quilt the preemies and they wait now to get bound. 

 I have started cutting up another layer cake and trying some new ideas for blocks.  I am not really thrilled with the first one but I will persevere and get it finished and playing with one more idea that is ready for stitching. 

I am working on my Rainbow scrap challenge for August and have my aqua pieces cut for the 16 patch star, rail fences and friendship star.

 

 I  do have my strip pieced blocks done for August.  

And I made some quilt tops for the quilts for Survivors (of residential schools in Canada) plus a stack of blocks.  The tops were mailed to a long arm quilter in Alberta who offered her services to quilt them and the blocks, along with some fabrics and thread, were mailed to Vanessa who is the driving force behind this projects. I posted my heart blocks and split 9 patch blocks in my last blog entry but I also made a stack of rail fence blocks. I found quite a few batik fabrics in my stash with orange in them.

I have begun working on the Sunbonnet Sue quilt but it is slow going since it isn't one of my own quilting projects.

So now you know what I have been spending my time doing the last month... busy but also some relaxing times and now, am ready to tackle my July and August projects because September will be here soon!