Christmas Quilts

Most years I show you my same three Christmas quilts - one for the King bed, one for the Queen bed, and one for the living room.  THIS year I'm showing you some customer quilts.

This is a gorgeous selection of Cardinal fabrics.  It's not exactly a Christmas quilt, but the birds always evoke winter.

This one's really cute - just squares of Christmas fabrics stitched into a throw.

There's a ton of work in this one - Round the Twist or Garden Trellis quilt.  This version used a lot of half-square triangles.

And a very Canadian hockey quilt.

Since I'm officially on vacation until Jan. 6th, this TFUQ is getting booted off the list.  The blocks were cut using JAWS (the Accuquilt die cutter).  I dragged this around as a UFO for quite a while, and finished it earlier this year.  With the curved Apple Core piecing I need to do some extra-careful perimeter measuring for the binding.  And the binding must be bias to maneuver around the curves.  For curvy edges I also like to cut the binding just a wee bit narrower - usually I cut 2 1/2", but for this I'll cut 2 1/4".  And I'm not foolish enough to try attaching this binding with the longarm.

I have a big to-do list that I really hope to complete.  I have a bad habit of writing things down, and feeling pretty virtuous because I wrote them down.  Note to self... that doesn't actually get anything DONE.  So far all I've crossed off is the quilting for one Quilt of Valour.  That still needs the binding, but I'm waiting for some QOV labels to arrive in the mail, since I ran out of them.  Bookkeeping is also on the list.  I've managed to tick off an hour per day three days in a row (fell down on day four, but getting back on that horse today!).

Batik Cross, Quilts of Valour, End-of-season gardening, and the Current Book

This is a beautiful quilt.  The arrangement of fabrics make it glow.

Inside the cross was simply quilted, with 1/2" straight lines.

Today I woke up, came down to the 'sweat shop' and loaded up a Quilt of Valour.  These are done as my charitable donation work, and I have THREE of them that have been sitting here since early summer.  Hopefully, I can knock off two of them today, and maybe the third one next Sunday.  Alison from Sew What Else is probably wondering if I lost them.

GARDENING
As for the end-of-season gardening, I coulda kissed DH when I came home on Friday and found that he was rototilling the garden! Yay!  Now I won't have to keep bitching repeatedly politely ask him to do that once spring comes.

This fall has been incredibly beautiful, as far as the weather goes.  But alas, the fairy tale has come to a tragic end, with snow last night.  When I heard that it was on it's way I went and dug up the rosemary plant and some of the oregano.  They are now potted up in the house to keep my food nicely seasoned all winter. Unless, of course, I kill them. :P

BOOK
I'm currently reading Someone Else's Garden by Dipika Rai.  This is what DH refers to as "a Charla-book".  Charla is my Singapore niece who, when she was still living in Canada, had a diverse personal library filled with books that had very dark and disturbing themes.  This book? I almost put it down about a third of the way through because of the extent of abuse towards women.  I gave it one last chance by flipping to the back and checking if the character I was worried about was still around.  It's the kind of story where you REALLY want to know what happens but getting there is almost torturous. If I had the brains God gave me I would not read this at bedtime.

9-Patch Quilt, Stash Report, Zucchini Report

9-Patch - a beautiful, classic quilt pattern.

It was quilted with a classic pattern too - Orange Peel design.  Also called Pumpkin Seed design.  There is stitch-in-the-ditch along both sides of the skinny border, keeping that nice and crisp.  Then a pretty border pattern.  I made no attempt to line up the circles with the 9-patches - there is not enough vodka in the world to calm that kind of crazy.

Mmm, nice back!

This past week I had TWO outings.  Whew - the social life is picking up.  On one adventure I hit the new Village Square Quilt Shop in Burlington, which is where I bought the 2 fat quarters on my stash report.  The second outing was with my Red Hat gals - we went mini-golfing at the lovely Rock Chapel course in Flamborough.  It was nice that I did not win the award for Most Honest Golfer (also known as Worst Player EVER).

I have two quilts for the Quilts of Valour program quilted and washed, ready to return.  I get the tops, backs, & batting from the local QOV co-ordinator and do the quilting.  Up to 12 quilts annually.  Then I find some unsuspecting eager guild member and rope them into thank them profusely for doing the binding.  When I get them back I wash them and add the label.

 And on the personal piecing front, I'm working on scrappy placemats made with Tumblers (cut by JAWS.  See the page at the top if you don't know what JAWS is.).  I think I have nine mats pieced so far.  And that's a good thing.  DH slops all over a placemat as soon as it hits the table.

STASH REPORT
Used this month:  0  (but hopefully this will change soon... 2 projects almost complete!!)
Used YTD:          64.2 m
Added this month:  .5 m
Added YTD:         119.75 m
NET 2014:           up 55.5 m

Much to my surprise, and DH's horror, the zucchini is managing to push out a couple more fruits.
ZUCCHINI REPORT
Picked this week:  1
Picked YTD:        60  Ha!  What a nice, round number.

Disappearing 9-Patch, Wildlife, Stash Report

Hey!  I finished the Disappearing 9-Patch! This just needs a label and then it's being donated to Quilts of Valour.  These are super-simple to make.  A link HERE for the instructions.

I've seen these totally random and scrappy.  I'm not crazy about them without a theme, so I was more structured in my fabric choice.  Every block had a yellow center surrounded by blue.  The corner units were scrappy reds.  Once this is cut apart you get a nice continuity in the quilt.
All of my patches were cut at 5", and I made 30 of the 9-patch blocks.  After adding a 2 1/2" outer border this finished at 69" x 82".


Mmm - I'm lovin' this new panto:  Undulating Leaves.

On Saturday we got a surprise visit from Mr. Snowy Owl.  When he took off his wing span was pretty darned impressive.  Hopefully he was hunting the stupid rabbit I showed you last week.

STASH REPORT
Used since last report 6 m
Used YTD         17.85 m
Added since last report 0
Added YTD  0000 (heh, heh, heh, back-patting)
Net YTD        (-17.85 m)

In spite of last night's light dusting of snow which made outside look really pretty, I am so sick of winter!!!  The back patio and the driveway are total sheets of ice.  I haven't been for a walk since Tuesday.  Why do we live here??  Should we move to Singapore and become the favorite/closest relatives of my great-niece?  One of my customers gave me a gift of a six month subscription to The Quilt Show - my exercise these days is winging the computer monitor around and getting on the torture machine while I watch Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims videos.  Yesterday I watched an episode on Scrap Quilts.  Next up I will learn all about hexies.  The site also has a bunch of puzzles from quilts, which I am totally addicted to.  sigh.  Spring, where are you?

Quilts of Valour & Squash Reports

I have said it before, and I'll say it again. I feel very blessed with the gifts I live with every day and I am happy to give some lovin' back where I can. But I still need to put groceries on the table, so there's a limit.  I have already quilted 14 this year.  For some of them I also threw in batting and backing.  And I made and donated two quilts of my own.  One more quilting freebie is coming up for QOV this year, then that's it until 2014.

Here are the most recent six...

Friendship Stars.

Nice.  This is a new pantograph, called Cedar.

Single Irish Chain.

Quilted with Bubbles. 

9-patch.

Quilted with Chinook.

I have no idea what quilt design this is.  The fabric is great - all Canadiana motifs.

Quilted with English Oak.

Friendship Stars.

Quilted with Path To My Heart.

Rail Fence.

Quilted with Celtic Hearts.

ZUCCHINI REPORT
Picked this week: 1
Picked YTD: 44

BS REPORT
Picked this week:  2 (gave them both away - traded for a turkey dinner!!  Good deal.)
Picked YTD:  13

BS Tidbit of the Week:  Exercise is the first thing on my calendar every day.  ha ha ha...

Donation Quilts & Garden Report

These are the donation quilts I was working on at Margaret's, up in the Kawarthas, in between bottles of wine cups of tea.

 - first up is the green/yellow that is destined for the Quilts of Valour.  Lots of remnants went into this.

These next two lap quilts are going to the Juravinsky for chemo patients.  There is a manly DUCK quilt, and a cute tiny-flower quilt that inadvertently had some spare parts quilted into it.

GARDEN REPORT
The garden is planted, although I still need to find Butternut Squash seeds or plants, and I have to buy more basil seeds since I lost (?) the package that was in my hand two weeks ago.  Hate it when that happens!!  The zucchini has been planted in the big pile of semi-composted grass/garden clippings collected over the past year - this is an experiment, so I'm wondering about planting another patch, conventionally, in some dirt.  If I don't have zucchini to torment DH with, how will I amuse myself all summer? On the back patio I will be planting some herbs in pots to save myself from walking all - the - way  to the far end of the yard when I'm in the middle of making supper.  So, I still have some work to do, but for the most part I am on weed patrol for the next while.

the Teapot and other stuff

Here is the teapot I painted on Red Hat day.  Honestly - no 6-year-old could have done better.  And it makes a fine cup of tea.

I'm getting ready to head off to Margaret's for a long weekend retreat.  I've cut up more scraps - this time it's yellows and greens.  I still have a couple of UFO's that I should be working on, and I will (!) take one with me, but I have an itch to start something new.

I made a pillowcase to hold the quilt that has gone to Quilts of Valour.  Now I can take another meter off my stash report. Gotta love cheater fabric.

Gardening season is upon us.  Yay!!  Dandelions and grass galore in my flower beds.  The friggin' rabbit is eating my bridal wreath spireas right down to the ground.  Little bastard. My nose is running from adult-onset-allergies, so badly that I just want to stuff a couple of tampons in my nostrils.  But it's warm and my fingernails are dirty.

This afternoon I will be making a ...
CAKE.

Scrappy Quilt for Quilts of Valour and Stash Report

Way back in January, before I broke my wrist, I did a post about a scrappy quilt I was starting - the link is here. I went to the guild's extra UFO sewing day on January 23rd and got the quilt top sewn together, all except for attaching the borders.  The next day I went to the hospital.  Dumb.  Anyways...

My b.i.l. and his wife came Friday night and spent the night.  We are on their route to our niece's apartment, where they were scheduled to remove some furniture (which oddly enough, is being stored in our basement for the next several months).  After Saturday's breakfast, and the guys heading off for their job as moving men then returning with all necessary  furniture, we went out for a late lunch at the local restaurant.

They hit the road for home early enough that I finished up a couple of small jobs left over from the week, then still  had Saturday night.  And no plans.  So I finished up this quilt which will be donated to the Quilts of Valour program.  All that is left to do now is a label, and binding which I think will be red, then a run through the washing machine.

This leads me to the first stash report in several months.
STASH REPORT
Used this month   6 m.
Used YTD           11.8 m.
Purchased this month  3 m.
Purchased YTD          3 m.
Net so far...               - 8.8 m. 
 

Blue beach quilt & stash report

This is a great beach theme quilt that makes me long for summer.

I did some outlining in the shell border

The center panel also includes outlining along with some background quilting.

Some little star-fishy quilting between the small blocks.

JANUARY STASH REPORT

I provided the backing for a couple of Quilts of Valour that I quilted.  With my new broken wrist I think that might be all that happens for the next little while.

And speaking of broken bones, do you suppose I would have fared better at the arena if I'd been wearing these?  I could have fallen in style.  Pfftt - if I had skates like this I think I'd frame them.

leisure time

I've been self employed for 12 years now.  The first few years were not very busy for me - I had time to watch the sewing shows that are on tv in the afternoon, and I had time to take skills-upgrading classes and go to networking meetings.  Those were the days when I spent as much time working ON my business as I did working IN my business.  Now I stay busy pretty much all the time.  I schedule vacations and play days on my work calendar, and I pencil in my own quilts on the schedule - just like I do for customer quilts. 

This past weekend I took two days to myself, when I SHOULD have been out cleaning up the gardens (the canna lilies still need to be dug out and put away for the winter, and let me tell you - they look awful right now!).
But, I have baby Christmas gifts done.  You only get to see one piece - I don't want to spoil the surprise.

I have a Quilt of Valour quilted and ready for binding.  I thought that was an appropriate way to spend Remembrance Day.

I made two loaves of Honey Oatmeal bread.  You can see that loaf #1 is disappearing fast.  Jean & Dave popped in while I was working on this - they stayed for coffee and zucchini loaf (my freezer overfloweth...).  It was appropriate that I was wearing the apron that Jean made for me a few years ago.

And I caved in and took Sadie for a nice long walk.  This is her "Aren't you done YET?" pose.