Blogger gone crazy...& an update on the Christmas quilt

Seems I published my last post 3 times!?! I hit publish and it went to a blank post, going to dashboard it showed my post as draft so I went in and hit Publish again same result. So I closed then went back in -- still at draft. Repeated the process a 3rd time. After that final publish where it finally took me back to dashboard after publish it showed 3 publishes of the same post. Gahhhh... so if you saw my post mulitple times last weekend I do apologize.

I didn't get my Christmas quilt sandwiched during the week as I hoped. Saturday was a lot of running around, Sunday morning cleaning while Chris did the groceries. I finally brought the backing, batting and top downstairs Sunday afternoon and got it done using spray adhesive then pinned. I have some leftover backing that I will have to make a mini quilt for the dogs with. As soon as I layed it down the dogs were all over it. I don't blame them the backing is incredibly soft.  I had thought about how I was going to quilt it while watching season 2 marathon of The Fall on Netflix. I think I'm going to start by an all over stitch in the ditch and go from there. I may make the mini quilt first, quilt it and see how it looks from the back before start in on the lap quilt. As you can see in the picture there are two identical blocks side by side. The only rule I set for myself on block placement was no two blocks the same side by side. I didn't catch it until I uploaded this picture. Don't you love the flash glaring off the pin -the joys of flash photography using your cell.

What I learned this week from other peoples posts: Stitch in the ditch is actually stitching in the ditch created from pressing to the side. I thought it meant stitching directly over your seam. There was a huge discussion about it on one of the groups I follow on Facebook. As expected there was some differing of opinions which caused the post to be closed to further comments to end the nastiness that had started. The explanation was that stitching directly on your seams can split the thread and weaken the seam but beside the seam strengthens. A few that sew directly on the seam brought up a few other well known quilters that teach to sew on the seam but it was pointed out they all press seams open which changes the rule. This is where I got confused - wouldn't that also cause weakness to your thread and therefore seam?

Honestly, when I'm quilting stitch in the ditch 1/4 end up on the seam, then others one side or the other... and lastly, the ones that end up no where near the seam so that would make me doing it right about 1/4 of the time no matter how you look at it. To loosely paraphrase the admin of the group her final thought was: do what you feel is right and if you sew on the seam and never had an issue keep on keeping on.

Radio silence and a finished top

My blog has been greatly neglected... which indicates how my sewing progess has been going. I've picked at things here and there but not enough to start some momentum. Excuses, well I can come up with a hundred. All valid, but when push comes to shove they are just that - Excuses. This year is speeding through and I have only one full finish so far. I'm all over the place and I jump from one project to the next before completing anything. I was itching to work on something easy but I had so many wip's and ufo's that its hard to justify starting another project. What to do?

The good thing is while I haven't done much of anything, I also hadn't been hitting the fabric stores to add to my fabric hoard. I've discovered my fabric tastes change constantly so unless I need something to complete a current project or I'm going to start a project immediately I'm going to refrain from visiting stores & online shops. Now that I said that, you know a bunch of fabric lines that I will fall instantly in love with are going to start popping up in my social feeds...

Last weekend I took a hard look at what was on my design wall it all seemed too fussy for my poor cluttered brain. Honestly, I can't take anything more intricate right now than strips for a log cabin, rail fence or maybe a rag quilt. With that honest self evaluation the decision was made. That jelly roll from last Christmas is exactly what the sanity police ordered.

I added in the elf material because I just love it. I started by cutting all the strips in 6.5 lengths and a white jelly roll into 2.5 squares. Simple chain piecing sewing one white to one of the Christmas stack.

It didn't take long to get a fair number done, from there combing two strips together then 4.... and voila! Can you believe it? While I know many can fully complete an easy quilt like this in less than a day, it took me about 20 hours from start to finish. I have to say I didn't stress making this one, I just enjoyed the process. I thought it may not be 'Christmassy' enough but my husband thinks it looks like wrapping paper. lol i'll take that as a win and started thinking of this one as All wrapped up..

With the top done I realized I didn't have anything for backing so went to the local fabric shop this afternoon for the first time in months and bought 2 meters of chenille and discovered it was a 40-50 % off everything sale weekend. I stopped myself from looking at anything else and only bought what I went in for.

I'm sure I've mentioned before that I love chenille/minky backs on my quilts I think it makes them a bit more cuddly. So far I've made nothing larger than a lap quilt so I really don't have the worry of extra weight and living in Ontario the warmer the better in winter months. Picture was taken after dark, it's actually more turquoise and matches the colour in the top.

I hope to get this sandwiched and start quilting it by the weekend! Thinking simple quilting and red binding but we'll see once it's all quilted. I haven't been this excited to finish a quilt in a long while!

Radio silence and a finished top

My blog has been greatly neglected... which indicates how my sewing progess has been going. I've picked at things here and there but not enough to start some momentum. Excuses, well I can come up with a hundred. All valid, but when push comes to shove they are just that - Excuses. This year is speeding through and I have only one full finish so far. I'm all over the place and I jump from one project to the next before completing anything. I was itching to work on something easy but I had so many wip's and ufo's that its hard to justify starting another project. What to do?

The good thing is while I haven't done much of anything, I also hadn't been hitting the fabric stores to add to my fabric hoard. I've discovered my fabric tastes change constantly so unless I need something to complete a current project or I'm going to start a project immediately I'm going to refrain from visiting stores & online shops. Now that I said that, you know a bunch of fabric lines that I will fall instantly in love with are going to start popping up in my social feeds...

Last weekend I took a hard look at what was on my design wall it all seemed too fussy for my poor cluttered brain. Honestly, I can't take anything more intricate right now than strips for a log cabin, rail fence or maybe a rag quilt. With that honest self evaluation the decision was made. That jelly roll from last Christmas is exactly what the sanity police ordered.

I added in the elf material because I just love it. I started by cutting all the strips in 6.5 lengths and a white jelly roll into 2.5 squares. Simple chain piecing sewing one white to one of the Christmas stack.

It didn't take long to get a fair number done, from there combing two strips together then 4.... and voila! Can you believe it? While I know many can fully complete an easy quilt like this in less than a day, it took me about 20 hours from start to finish. I have to say I didn't stress making this one, I just enjoyed the process. I thought it may not be 'Christmassy' enough but my husband thinks it looks like wrapping paper. lol i'll take that as a win and started thinking of this one as All wrapped up..

With the top done I realized I didn't have anything for backing so went to the local fabric shop this afternoon for the first time in months and bought 2 meters of chenille and discovered it was a 40-50 % off everything sale weekend. I stopped myself from looking at anything else and only bought what I went in for.

I'm sure I've mentioned before that I love chenille/minky backs on my quilts I think it makes them a bit more cuddly. So far I've made nothing larger than a lap quilt so I really don't have the worry of extra weight and living in Ontario the warmer the better in winter months. Picture was taken after dark, it's actually more turquoise and matches the colour in the top.

I hope to get this sandwiched and start quilting it by the weekend! Thinking simple quilting and red binding but we'll see once it's all quilted. I haven't been this excited to finish a quilt in a long while!

Radio silence and a finished top

My blog has been greatly neglected... which indicates how my sewing progess has been going. I've picked at things here and there but not enough to start some momentum. Excuses, well I can come up with a hundred. All valid, but when push comes to shove they are just that - Excuses. This year is speeding through and I have only one full finish so far. I'm all over the place and I jump from one project to the next before completing anything. I was itching to work on something easy but I had so many wip's and ufo's that its hard to justify starting another project. What to do?

The good thing is while I haven't done much of anything, I also haven't been hitting the fabric stores to add to my fabric hoard. I've discovered my fabric tastes change constantly so unless I need something to complete a current project or I'm going to start a project immediately I'm going to refrain from visiting stores & online shops. Now that I said that, you know a bunch of fabric lines that I will fall instantly in love with are going to start popping up in my social feeds...

Last weekend I took a hard look at what was on my design wall it all seemed too fussy for my poor cluttered brain. Honestly, I can't take anything more intricate right now than strips for a log cabin, rail fence or maybe a rag quilt. With that honest self evaluation the decision was made. That jelly roll from last Christmas is exactly what the sanity police ordered.

I added in the elf material because I just love it. I started by cutting all the strips in 6.5 lengths and a white jelly roll into 2.5 squares. Simple chain piecing sewing one white to one of the Christmas stack.

It didn't take long to get a fair number done, from there combing two strips together then 4.... and voila! Can you believe it? While I know many can fully complete an easy quilt like this in less than a day, it took me about 20 hours from start to finish. I have to say I didn't stress making this one, I just enjoyed the process. I thought it may not be 'Christmassy' enough but my husband thinks it looks like wrapping paper. lol i'll take that as a win!

With the top done I realized I didn't have anything for backing so went to the local fabric shop this afternoon for the first time in months and bought 2 meters of chenille and discovered it was a 40-50 % off everything sale weekend. I stopped myself from looking at anything else and only bought what I went in for.

I'm sure I've mentioned before that I love chenille/minky backs on my quilts I think it makes them a bit more cuddly. So far I've made nothing larger than a lap quilt so I really don't have the worry of extra weight and living in Ontario the warmer the better in winter months. Picture was taken after dark, it's actually more turquoise and matches the colour in the top.

I hope to get this sandwiched and start quilting it by the weekend! Thinking simple quilting and red binding but we'll see once it's all quilted. I haven't been this excited to finish a quilt in a long while!

August the month that kept on giving ...antibiotics?!?

Normally, I hate to see September arrive as it brings with it the end summer which is my favorite season. This year is another story... August couldn't be over fast enough! It gave us a run of nothing but health issues. I started the month with a head cold that turned into Bronchitis and a sinus infection. 10 days of antibiotics cleared me up then Chris lands in the hospital with a perforated colon from diverticulitis. Thankfully he responded to high doses of anitbiotics and was released after 5 days and was off work for another week. His work is very physical and with 13 hour shifts I won't say it's been an easy road the past weeks but at this point I don't think he'll need surgery. He has a follow up with the surgeon this week, hopefully with the major dietary changes that have happened while he's healing then once healed high fiber lifestyle minus nuts/seeds or corn/popcorn for him will be enough to prevent another bout.

My day job has been more insane than usual but since Chris being discharged we've been walking in the evenings which is really helping me shake off the stresses of the day.

On the sewing front not a lot to report but and I almost have the top of the surprise quilt done after a power session over the long weekend. Hopefully I will get it finished next weekend.

Most of our spare time has been spent looking at the house with a critical eye and discussing how to make our house work bether for us. The want list is high and many are on the someday plan but a few have made it to first priority list. More on that when the ideas are more than a planning phase.

Hopefully next post will be full of quilted goodness

Tales from a slacker

My title pretty much sums up my last month. During the workday, I look longingly at my sewing machine and never make my way back after dinner. My days off, I couldn't get my butt up to my sewing room. This week has been the exception....

My husband put a project on my plate (probably to motivate me). I'd post more but it's a gift and he keeps telling people to check my blog. With my luck that one person would see the post. He even bought a fat quarter bundle online last week which arrived Thursday.  The fabric is bit dark so on Saturday afternoon I bought some orange for the background to brighten it up. Again, this quilt has stars (not really a big surprise I love stars!).

Also getting me going was starting an fmq sampler. A few months ago I joined the facebook sit down free motion quilters group, I hadn't done any of the exercises but enjoyed looking at what everyone posts. A bunch of new followers got together to do the sampler that was first released when the group was created. This all happened Tuesday and I responded I'd do it as well, I check the post around 8pm Wednesday and apparently it started that day. I got my whole clothcut sandwiched, printed off the work sheets to build muscle memory and worked those for a few days. I finally got ready on Saturday and I'm pretty pleased how it turned out. A bit shakey in areas and some holes but overall not bad for my first attempt. More importantly I'm looking forward to the next lesson!

Lastly, just a quick kid brag moment. My youngest graduates from high school at the end of June. She finished her self directed classes early so she has 2 spares out of 4 classes for the rest of this semester. Long story short she asked the art teacher if she could do a painting just to burn time until her last class of the day started. To the left is the result of that few hours.

Busy busy busy

It's been awhile since my last post. My new sewing room/office has had a bit of jigging, hutch moved out second design area put up and a new to me sewing machine has moved in.  

Mom has been holding on to her mothers sewing machine for over 30 years and decided it was a shame for it to be unused. My Grannie Jean bought this machine in the 60's brand new and was her pride and joy.  Its a Singer touch and sew model 600. She was self taught sewer, knitter, crocheter. She made most of their clothes (8 kids) and was an incredible smocker. All the pieces are in the accessory box and in a cabinet she bought for this machine with knee control. The stool is a trasure trove sewing box full of needle, pickers, pins, thread, etc with a few things added by my mom over the years . This machine needs some minor TLC (oiling, cleaning) but is in fabulous shape considering it's been sitting since her death in '83.

Sewing box 

This Thursday (May 19th) would have been her 102 birthday.  She was an incredible woman and I think of her everytime I see this machine. I am very lucky to have received this incredible machine

I have made some progress on M's Petal patch quilt and my leaders/enders project. More on that next  post!