Learning Another New Technique

I am always keen to learn.  This week it was another new technique, whew! Brain overload this month but it's all good.  At class on Tuesday M demonstrated Mini Mosaics by Paula Doyle.  There was an excited buzz around the room. Everyone eager to try something new.  A lot of preparation had been put into this evening by M.  Little envelopes were passed around giving each of us the basics for this little block.  Would we manage to get it finished within the allocated time? - well thanks to expert instructions and a look through the Mini Mosaic book, happy sewing machines and steaming irons I think most of us managed to complete our block.

Some of the instructions

 

I was so pleased with mine I think I will make it into a little coaster for my desk.  

What do you think?  Not perfect the purple block on the right is a bit off, not worth trying to fix this time but I know I was perhaps in too much of a hurry as usual.  I should have been more accurate in placing my squares on the grid and pressing them on to the fine adhesive interfacing backing, before sewing them in place - I will do better next time.  I have placed my order for the Mini Mosaic Quilts book and it should hopefully arrive early next week.  I am looking forward to reading it from cover to cover while I drink my morning coffee and trying out some of the other little designs.  I have also has a look at Paula's tutorials on YouTube which are fun to watch too.

The binding has not been sewn down yet on the third exploding block so I'll show you that next time.  I have however started on my second block of the Night Before Christmas quilt. The holly garland is done, and the first little stocking complete.  I did have a mad turn early this week and ran up a very quick and easy quilt top from a rather bright and cheery charm pack called Half Moon Modern by Moda.  It's been lying around for a while and it was calling me to do something with it.  I pieced it together using a wee piece of inky black mottled fabric which makes all the bright colours pop.  So......another Linus quilt in the making.  It is sandwiched together with a bright orange fleece and sitting ready to be quilted.

So this weeks list is: to continue with the rather large knitting project, sew down that binding, a little bit of quilting on the charm pack quilt and perhaps another stocking added to the garland, and of course coffee time reading of my new quilting book when it arrives - maybe a bit adventurous but I'll just see how it goes.

Donation to Charities

Tuesday at class was exciting - the reveal of our first block of the month for this session from Bunny Hill's Night Before Christmas sampler quilt.  This is what it is supposed to looks like in outline, and as usual mine is not exactly like this, in fact I don't think it's anything like this at all  to be totally honest - but I won't be revealing mine until December 2015 so you will just have to wait to see.  

Mine doesn't look exactly like this wee moosey!

Trials and tribulations, moans and groans, humphs and sighs, but I think we all did exceptionally well, especially as most of us have not attempted appliqué before especially with teeny tiny paws and ears!  We spent a lot of time discussing the different  techniques we had used - there are so many ways to appliqué thank goodness for Youtube and the internet blogs and tutorials.  We had come across a few pitfalls but I think we all enjoyed sharing tips and equipment ideas for the next block.  I am excited to continue with this project it will be a long road to travel and a long time in the making but I'm up for the challenge and it might just become an heirloom - or end up in a box unfinished!

On Thursday some of our members gave a demonstration and display at the local library.  I think it went down well and we had a good turn out of ladies keen to hear what we had to say about patchwork and quilting.  

Display of some of my quilts

I did sell a couple of my quilts the money being sent off to The Linus Project and Marie Curie Cancer Care.  I think our talk sparked some enthusiasm but regrettably our class is full and we cannot accommodate any more stitchers at the moment.

I am pleased to say I have another finish but it's just another exploding block this one is Sweet Memories - I'm getting bored with this now and need to move on.  It is however quick and easy to do and has been a good stash buster. It is fun to see how different layouts change the look of the quilt though.

Oh dear!  this one needs a good press - no outdoor photos today its too windy and rainy

Today I have spent my time sorting.  Sorting and scanning old photos to catalogue, sorting some quilting that wasn't quite right, sorting and updating my computer and backing up my files and sorting my blog.  I have updated My Gallery with the quilts I have finished so far this year. I have completed more than I thought. It's good to see them altogether in one place.

Next week I will be working on my final exploding block quilt (I won't do this block again for a while) together with my next appliqué block (which involves Christmas stockings), and a rather large knitting project I really must get on with.  

Enjoy your week folks.

Home Straight

I have had lots of parcels delivered to my door this week, which obviously means I have had a bit of a spending spree.  All essential purchases - of course.  I didn't make many purchases this year at the  Ingliston Quilt Show so I thought I would make up for it by shopping online.  

I ordered some 'Superior Masterpiece' threads from Barnyarns to help me along on my BOM appliqué project.  Unfortunately they sent me the wrong package so I eagerly await the replacement.  

The Wrong Threads

 

Due to the big show at Alexandra Palace I need to wait until they return to base before they send out the correct ones. 

Next to arrive was a book Modern Neutrals  which I purchased from Kaleidoscope.  I saw this one at the Ingliston show but unfortunately it was sold out so I ordered it from their online shop instead.  There are some lovely quilts in this book and I have spent a good few coffee breaks this week browsing through the pages. Watch this space.  

Plush Addict have a superb range of fabrics and excellent quick service - my fabrics arrived within 48 hours nicely folded and securely packaged and with a wee extra tasty treat too!  Some of these fabrics I will use in my block of the month project so it will be a while before you see what was in this little package...........2015!

Finally the biggest package of the lot arrived when I was out yesterday.  Fortunately I had left a wee note on the door and this was in the porch when I arrived home.  No prizes for guessing what this one contains. 

A new roll of Warm and Natural

My Autumn Rays quilt is finished!  The Fall in the City leftovers and the Exploding Block Tutorial by Missouri Star Quilts came together to produce a nice wee quilt.  



Autumn Rays

Close up of the 'rays' - I may add more

 

Topped of by a quilting design courtesy of the Craftsy Class (all the classes are reduced in price this weekend so go check it out), Creative Quilting with your Walking Foot by Jacquie Gering.  This was a really informative class and  I would highly recommend it.  Jacquie's designs are a bit more complex than this one but hey,  give me a chance I think it's a good first effort and hopefully I will build up my skill a little at a time.  This is definitely something I found enjoyable and it has almost taken away the taboo of my dislike for stitching a quilting design.  Hurray for painters tape - a new tool in the box!

Ok this is a picture heavy blog this week - I'm on the home straight with this one.  The first quilt I started using the exploding blocks.  I've just got the binding to stitch down, the threads to bury and of course a label.   I'll show you the finished result next time.

Have a great week everyone.

Progress Report

While taking the photographs of the Candystripe and Pinwheel quilt for baby Emily last week in the garden I realised I had not taken a proper photograph of my Block of the Month Quilt for my album.   So while the sun was shining I pinned it on the line.  It was a bit breezy but between gusts I snapped this.



Class Block of the Month 2013 - 2014

This week has been a bit more productive thank goodness.  I was beginning to worry that my time management skills (the few I have) had deserted me completely. However the routine has returned and I managed a bit more sewing these last few nights.  More exploding blocks have been added to the bundle for the Linus Project Class Quilt or it might be quilts. 

Exploding Blocks for Linus

and I have done some additional knitting - a little knitted preemie baby blanket for project Linus.  

Knitting project

These little blankets are fun to make and can be picked up and a couple of rows knitted in no time at all, especially if you are catching up on TV you have missed.   A 100gm ball of baby wool 4mm knitting needles, 120 stitches, and knit until the ball is finished!  You can make up any pattern you like. I just like the basket weave look of knit 10 purl 10 with a 10 stitch stocking stitch border all around.

I have started and almost completed my first Block of my Night Before Christmas project.  I must say although it is very early days I have really enjoyed assembling this block.  Appliqué is a new skill for me and I have enjoyed researching the wide variety of different methods.  I must admit the thought of freezer paper, starch, needle turn and fusible web was all a bit daunting at first but when you take your time and take each step slowly and carefully it is such fun to see the small appliqué parts all coming together.  This first block also incorporates some embroidery stitches.  Over the years I have dabbled in many crafts and cross stitch and embroidery are not new to me.  It was fun finding all my threads again and making the right choice of threads from my boxes, remembering past projects with fondness.  I also took the opportunity to look through Mum's box of threads and incorporate some of them into mine, obviously the time is right.  I think they also need a tidy!

Messy Threads

It's another blustery wet morning here so perhaps I will find a few minutes now and then to go to my sewing table, the big question is which WIP will I choose?  

Have a great weekend folks.

Baby Quilt Finished

I see it's been over a week since I have updated this blog, my apologies. There is nothing worse than clicking on someone's blog to see that there has been no news, no update and no photos.  I will try and get back into my blogging routine soon.

I am delighted to say the jet lag has gone although it did linger for rather longer than usual this time for some reason.  I am blaming it on the Dreamliner - I had been told that it was supposed to help alleviate some of the symptoms of the jet lag but it certainly did not help me this time.  I am slowly beginning to get back into my routine at home and hopefully I will get back to the sewing machine very soon on a more regular basis.  First though I need to do a bit of tidying and some reorganisation of my sewing area. I am not very good at keeping things tidy when in the midst of projects.  I try and keep each project in separate baskets but in fact it would help greatly if I actually finished some of these projects in the baskets, especially the ones which have been around for a while. My scrap bucket is full and overflowing so I need to separate that out into the appropriate baskets too.  Can I have some more quilting time please?

Four of us had a trip to the Scottish Quilt Championships, at Ingliston this weekend.  We had a lovely day out and enjoyed the company, we decided it was a little disappointing this year.  It was not as busy as I have seen it in the past and we discovered that a number of the usual trade stands were missing as there was a clash of dates and some retailers were attending another show down south.  We still managed to spend a good few hours wanderering around and admiring the fantastic display quilts.  I only bought a few pieces of fabric and some needles and probably did not spend as much as usual. Not a bad thing really.

Purchases made at the quilt show

I have finished the little baby quilt I started in Canada and I am really quite pleased with it, and yes the pink does make it pop!  It will be delivered later this weekend and  I hope Emily enjoys rolling around on it.  It's been a lovely day again today and nice to be able to get a photograph in the garden although it is a bit breezy for photos.  The acers are beautiful and beginning to change to their autumn colours as you can probably see peeking out under the quilt.

Candystripes and Pinwheels
 

 

I hope you enjoy what's left of the holiday weekend.

Home Again

Well it's 4am and I am sitting drinking coffee and reading blogs wide awake and have been for the last hour!  Our holiday is over for another wee while and I am delighted to say we had a great time, it's sad to say goodbye to the mountains, it was such a stunning day yesterday I must admit it did bring a tear to my eye as we travelled along highway 1A for the last time this summer on our way to the Airport.  The sky was bright blue not a cloud to be seen and the mountains and rivers so crisp and clear.

Yesterday was a long day. We wondered why the British Airways check in desk was all decorated with balloons and flowers when we arrived at the airport to check in our bags.  We soon discovered we were flying home on the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner on it's first flight out of Calgary.  Well I for one was not terribly impressed however we must move with technology and I guess we don't have a choice of plane we fly in. I think I would rather have had more legroom and better food than all the gadgetry of games, films, tv shows etc on our little screens which in my opinion were too close to see clearly anyway. Ok so that's my rant over.  After the 8 hour flight and a change at Heathrow Techie was waiting to meet us and taxi us home,  it was so good to see him again.

I am hoping we have some good weather here for the next few days at least so I can get back in to the routine before having to look out my winter woollies and put away my summer clothes for another year.

My coffee is finished so I'm now going to head back to bed in the hope that I can have a few more hours shut eye and fit back into our new time zone again.

Quilting will resume as soon as I can get my unpacking done and my head sorted out.

The Sunshine Returns

Some of the ladies in our quilting class are embarking on a huge appliqué project.  I for one have not made great advances in appliqué over the years I have been quilting - in fact I think I have made one little table runner way back when using the fusible method.  Our project is a Christmas  block of the month and we plan to have it finished by December 2015.  The ladies made a start last week back home and to show willing I had a little practice and was reasonably pleased with the results.

This week has not been what we were hoping for during our holiday break.  I understand it is often the case around this time of year a few flakes fall,  but this year seems to have been the heaviest snowfall for some time.  I believe the snow in Alberta even made the news back home.  However we are fortunate that we had winter clothes to keep us cosy.  

Yesterday morning was very misty and the mountains were just shadows lurking behind the mist first thing.  As the morning progressed the mist burned off and we had a beautiful blue sky day.  I am sure I have shown you this view before but I never tire of it. A day for a drive!

We had a stunning afternoon travelling down the Kananaskis Highway.  Crisp clear sunlight catching the snow topped mountains, clear blue green lakes and very few cars on the road.  I have taken so many photos over the years in different seasons I'm afraid the camera stayed in it's case and I just soaked up the photo stream in my head - memories of a wonderful afternoon.  The trees and undergrowth colours are just beginning to change towards Highwood Pass the highest part of highway 40.  Our favourite spot at Mist Creek is no longer.

The floods of last year have washed away the banks of the creek where the little picnic tables stood, the once idyllic spot is strewn with trees and boulders where the creek has changed it's path - that's nature for you.  I think in time the area will be renewed and the banks will once again play host to the picnic tables and families enjoying an afternoon picnic.  Lots of work has already been done and continues, along the highway to replace the road which was washed away in a number of places during the floods of 2013. 

I have managed a bit of sewing in the evenings and I am really pleased to report I have only one more 'hardware' block to piece, thank goodness!   Then I can sew all the blocks together to make a reasonable sized quilt, it will not be the size stated in the pattern which asks for 30 blocks. I'm stopping at 16!  I am so fed up with this project, I seem to have been doing it for years.  Of course I'm going to have to look at these fabrics again as I've lots left over haven't I.  

Have a wonderful week whatever you are doing.