Vintage Quilt Finished

 This is a pretty top that I bought at a local antique/junk barn around the corner from me.  I paid $25 for it two years ago.

I need another quilt like a hole in the head, but I just could not walk away from the poor thing.  It's partially hand pieced and partially machine pieced.  To respect the era I used 100% cotton batting instead of my usual 80/20 blend.  That makes it a little more "flat".

You'll note the Mennonite Mistake (also known as a Humility Block) in the bottom right hand corner - that one pieced corner block is turned the wrong way.

I just happened to have (a common expression which is often heard spoken by most quilters, lol) a pink that was one shade darker than what the maker used for the sashings & border.  It was perfect for the binding, and I'm currently about half way through the hand stitching on that.

Here's the back.  I was a wee bit shy and had to piece in a bit of different fabric in one corner.  Nothing I plan on worrying about, though.  The list of my own quilts waiting for quilting is now down by one!

I had a couple people mention to me that my last blog post had a BIG FAT MISTAKE where I mentioned I was planning to sew through the Superbowl last Sunday.  Ahem.  I am now aware that the big event is THIS weekend, and I'm all prepared.  Two charm paks, one pattern, one card table, one sewing machine.  And a frozen lasagne.

It would be nice if I could be all newsy-like and tell you what I've been up to but...yeah, I got nothin'.  I'm doing a LOT of reading and a LOT of tv watching.  I did order seeds tonight - normally I go on a field trip to the seed store and spend a lovely hour or two wandering the aisles.  Do a little inner eye-roll when my bill adds up to almost $100 (saving sooo much money!! pfftt.) then head on home with my treasures.  This year I am doing a parcel pickup and my scheduled date is MARCH 8th.  WTH?  sigh. Ontario is still under stay-at-home orders, which should be ending late next week I think.  However this morning I read two different news articles, and one of them indicated the government is second-thinking and may leave the orders in place for a while.  I guess we'll find out when we find out.

COVID-19 UPDATE

WORLDWIDE:  106 million cases, 2.31 million deaths, 349,200 new cases Feb. 2/21

USA:   26.9 million cases, 460,000 deaths, 129,600 new yesterday

CANADA: 801,000 cases, 20,702 deaths, 4,022 new yesterday

ONTARIO: 280,000 cases, 6,435 deaths, 1,784 new yesterday The current stay-at-home order is in effect until Feb. 11th at the moment.

HAMILTON:  9,470 cases, 265 deaths, 63 new yesterday

Entertainment During The Pandemic, UFO's, Quilt Ideas, Local Happenings

SCHEDULING UPDATE
At the moment I still have seven quilts here that I will be working on.  As they're ready I'll contact you and arrange a porch pickup.
I am not taking in any quilts until the provincial restriction on non-essential businesses has been lifted.  I realize you might find that to be an inconvenience, but as a rule I do what the "people in charge" tell me to do. Depending on how long this situation persists it might mean your booking in May gets delayed until Julember, or whenever.  With all the UFO's that are being completed you can certainly be added to the calendar, so feel free to contact me.

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I was on retreat the first weekend of March and worked on these three tops.  The first little panel quilt is a challenge at the Binbrook guild.  It's due in June and I hope we're back to having meetings by then.

DH and I cleaned and defrosted the freezer.  We had to throw a few things out that have been hanging around too long, but overall it was pretty good except for the frost.  I really like the accessibility afforded by the upright but it seems to be much worse for frost, or perhaps I can just SEE it better.  Another plus:  it defrosted REALLY FAST.  Although we left everything in coolers outside overnight (it was well below freezing that night) we could easily have reloaded it within a couple of hours.

The cleanout located a couple bags of frozen cranberries, which meant I had to (had to?) make a cranberry loaf.  This was really good with the cheddar, so I will definitely make it again.

Deciding on quilting designs is helped along by a bit of doodling on cello wrap.

And when life gets to be too much, make brownies!  This is a Buttermilk Brownie recipe from an old Better Homes & Gardens cookbook.  I never have buttermilk, so I've always had to substitute with soured milk (by adding vinegar or lemon to regular milk, not by using the stuff that's gone off and makes your gag reflex kick in... in case you're new to cooking).  Now that I make my own yogurt I use the strained whey - it also adds that nice bit of tart flavour.  My other baking tip is to reduce the sugar by about 25% and to skip the icing.  Trust me, they are still quite edible.  I bake this in two 8" cake pans and hide one of them  in the freezer after baking.

Here's where I've ended off with the Four Patch Posie.  I got sick of the news Sunday night so I finished this up while I was waiting for the I Heart Radio Living Room Concert to start.  Now it needs quilting.

The panel quilt is finished and ready for presentation.

LOCAL COVID HAPPENINGS

3/22 Hamilton cases = 27
3/23 Ontario closing all non essential business as of midnight tomorrow. Porch dropoff of 2 quilts today and I won't open the bag until 27th at the earliest.  DH got 2 emergency bags of dog food, just in case.
3/24 Hydro rates are going down for 45 days - woo hoo, I can do laundry in the middle of the day for a change. Took a walk this morning to get away from the news, and spent a lot of time messaging with the Beach Girls about our respective needs for batting. I spoke to a customer who's a little annoyed I won't take her quilt now. Did not wash my face OR  make the bed this morning.  I thought this was just a facebook joke, but apparently it's not. 😜
3/25 I spoke to a customer who is picking up on Friday - she wanted to drop off 2 quilts.  I initially said yes since she was going to be on my porch anyways, then I called her back and said no. I've penciled her in for June.  It was 13 degrees today so we went for TWO walks. I set pea seeds in water tonight to presprout, and a friend has an "in" with someone at Stokes Seeds - she's trying to get us a seed order.  Apparently, seed companies have been overwhelmed with orders.  There are 100 new cases in Ontario today, and Hamilton is reporting 39 cases today. NY governor announced 5146 new cases in one day. Omg.
3/26 Any travellers coming in to the country are required to quarantine under the quarantine act - 14 days, the only exception is essential workers. Trump wants to put troops at the Canadian border. Wtf? Sigh. Nice day today, the pea seeds are soaking to presprout. A friend of ours quit her job at BMO because they have done nothing to protect the staff in the branch. Cases in the U.S. rose to 83,836 on Thursday — more than any other country, overtaking both Italy and China — while the death toll passed the 1,000 mark.
3/27 Regarding the McDonald's closure in Hamilton last week ...the employee FAKED the doctor's note. Lol.  Teenagers can be sooo stupid!  (and yes, that also applied to me when I was a teenager)
3/28  First death in Haldimand-Norfolk was announced last night, a resident of a  nursing home.  Current stats: Ontario 1144 with 19 deaths. Canada 5655 & 61 dead.
3/29 Ontario gatherings are now limited to no more than 5 people.  Six Nations starts limiting access to the reserve - they have two people tested positive. Haldimand-Norfolk has 23 cases.
3/30 Hamilton  has 70 cases today...from March 22nd (8 days) that's an increase of 43 cases.

I am quite horrified by the numbers coming out of the USA.  Their screwy health care system is leaving uninsured people to fend for themselves.  They can't afford to get tested (one news article reported a cost of $900.00 for the test), and if they land in the hospital they will end up bankrupted by the final bill.  HERE is a news article about a California teen who was denied medical care over a lack of insurance and subsequently died.  If you have precarious employment and live paycheque to paycheque, chances are pretty good that you will get sick but keep going to work.  If you have no medical insurance you won't go to the doctor, won't find out you're infected, and will carry on infecting everyone you come in contact with.  Dear God...  HERE's an article about medical insurers and their adjustments to the co-pay system from March 12th.  This should scare every American (AND every Canadian, since they're our next-door-neighbour).

Two More Off The List, Superbowl Prep, and the 2020 Pet Peeve

Every year I make a list of projects that I want to complete.  I call it my DO-IT CHALLENGE.  The first week of January my new list for 2020 included "complete 3 UFO's".  Well, by golly, here it is just past the first month end and I've knocked that one out of the park already.   

APPLE CORE  The pieces were cut using JAWS, and I used a pattern from the Accuquilt web site.  I increased the size of the quilt by quite a bit - it's plenty big enough for DH to take a nap under.

This is for the living room, to replace a quilt that has seen better days.  My plan for the OLD quilt is to cut it up into smaller bits and donate the little quilts to the SPCA.  I need to contact them to see what size they'd prefer.

I really like this pantograph, it has a nice modern feel to it.

STRIPPY HEXAGONS  Using the 2-1/2" strip die for JAWS made this quilt a lot easier than you'd think.  I pulled out leftover bits of cool fabrics, along with yellows & cream/whites.  Sew three strips together, then use a 60⁰ ruler to cut triangles. This gets you two blocks from each strip.

The colours make me think of Easter.

Pretty, leafy pantograph.

Along with the star quilt UFO from my last post, there's my three UFO's done. 

As a little reward for myself, being so GOOD about my challenge list, I granted permission to me to start a new quilt tomorrow.  Tomorrow is the Superbowl.  I will stitch during the game, but watch during the commercials and the entertainment bits.  I know some people might think that's a little backwards.  They're probably the same people who think cutting up perfectly good fabric is weird.  What do they know.  Hmm?
The traveling sewing machine is upstairs by the tv, along with a prepped project and the necessary supplies.  DH still has to fetch the card table for me.   The quilt is very simple, using charm squares that I bought at Missouri Star Quilt Company a couple years ago, on one of Diane's bus trips.

Supper will be a frozen lasagne popped in the oven, and if I get really ambitious I'll make a salad.

THE 2020 PET PEEVE

Geez Louise.  Longarm is ONE WORD.  Long arm is an adjective and a noun.  I do not have a long arm, I am actually rather short.  Longarm is a noun or a verb, depending on it's use in a sentence.  I use a longarm quilting machine to perform longarm quilting (or "to longarm").
This is seriously driving me crazy, people.  I know that all of our "devices" change it to two words but if you persist, your device will eventually accept the new word.  Take back control - don't let the devices rule the world.

Prairie Points & Mug/Rug Swap

This is another one of those quilts where I hoped the maker would not come and pick it up after quilting.  Sadly, that didn't happen and it has gone back home.  The name of the block is Granny's Stars.

Prairie Points are definitely a challenge.  Once it's loaded on the longarm, flip the points OUT, baste one inch inside the base of the points, and leave the basting in.  Don't quilt anything beyond that - the maker will be turning the backing under and needs that space to work in.

The yoyo's added another bit of a challenge.  I outlined around the applique and the yoyo's, then modified the pantograph pattern which I used in the body of the quilt, and added freemotion quilting to fill the background.

Fresh, springy, and girly.

So pretty.

At one of my guilds the December meeting included a Mug and Rug swap.  It was done on a "make one, take one" basis, so if you didn't want to participate you didn't have to.  Here's my contribution.

And here's what I brought home.

I've been on vacation (or whatever it's called when you stay home and do chores?) for two weeks.  Sadie got clipped so she looks like a dog again, instead of a Wookiee.  All the upstairs windows (23 panes) and screens (11) have been scrubbed & shined.  My workroom has been defuzzed (you'll never find someone with MORE dust than me) and several hours has been spent on bookkeeping.  The house has been vacuumed and dusted.  I finished a UFO and quilted TWO of my own quilts - one needs hand stitching on the binding, but the other one is destined for the donation pile so it got machine binding.  I'll post pics of those later, but it makes my TFUQ list and UFO list look a little better. 😁  However, unfortunately while I was cleaning and defuzzing the workroom, I found ANOTHER UFO in a bag.  The blocks are all made and squared up, since 2008.  Geez Louise.
Now, I think I need a vacation from my vacation.

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!).

Vacation: Port-au-Stay-At-Home

The winter holiday is here.  Time to stay at home and get some sh*t done.  And relax, too, of course.
I started off my vacation by heading out on a field trip with a friend.

First stop Dundas, to the Carnegie Gallery.  They have a Christmas Market going on right now, with many artisans selling their wares.  There are no pics from inside the gallery - I was trying to avoid getting arrested.  Or being yelled at.  Not even a gentle scolding.  While we were in Dundas we made a stop at McGuire's Cheese Shop.  For the past several years I've apparently been making sure my pant size goes up a wee bit every Christmas so I treated myself to three lovely hunks of deliciousness.  A lemon stilton, a stout cheddar, and whatever it was they had on sample...it's from a local cheeserie and was absolutely delicious so I added that to my basket.  (It's also what I had for supper with a side of crackers and a glass of wine.  Not necessarily a healthy supper.)  However, in my defence:  we had lunch at the Bangkok Spoon where I had a S.A.L.A.D. with my meal.  So not a totally disreputable food day.

Next on the agenda was the Waterford Museum to see the exhibit of Red Cross Quilts.  This is on until Feb. 15, 2019 so try and get there if you're into quilts.
Excellent exhibit!!

We wandered around the museum to see what else they had out for display.
Hah. 😀 Thank goodness we have better equipment to stitch with today.

The museum is kind of next door to the quilt shop, so we also popped over to Quilt Junction and dropped a few dollars.  And bumped into a quilting buddy in the shop.

My vacation list of things that need attention, in no particular order:

I'm only on day three of "vacation" - this is quilted and off the TFUQ list.  And thank you, but NO, don't remind me that now, day three, is already past twelve noon and I should get my arse in gear.

Binding inside angles is something I haven't tackled before so there's a bit of a learning curve.  The YouTube video I watched (OMG, I swear you can learn anything on YouTube) demonstrates hand stitching the miter on the front side first, then folding the binding over to the back and hand stitching the back miter closed, and THEN stitching the binding down.  I need to figure that out, but working on BLACK is not my favorite thing anymore.

I'll keep you posted with my to-do list progress...

Animal Quilts (and reflections on humiliation) & One of My Own

I've seen some of the cutest animals this fall...

It's almost enough to make me want to be a kid again.  But... um, no.  Maybe not. 
Highlights of my childhood involve lots of teasing over my name (surname of Marshall was always being translated into either "martian" or "marshmallow").  Also being called "four-eyes" because of the glasses.  And being the shortest kid in class meant I always had to be at the head of the line.  Being the worst at sports meant I was always the last one chosen for any sports team.  I remember school being let out early the day Kennedy was shot, and some asshole bully punched me in the stomach while I was walking home.  Then there was the bully-brat down the street who would not let me pass.  For God's sake.  I was in KINDERGARTEN.  I went home crying and mom had to walk me to school.  So...many memories of humiliation.  I'm happy to leave them behind me. 
In adulthood I'm often referred to as a snob (because at heart I am actually quite shy).  And I've had people get sooo pissed off at me and throw taunts of being "a hotshot" which was, in truth, the funniest one.  That came from a woman who got mad at me because SHE didn't know how to use word processing software (she should have - that was part of the skill-set required for the job).  After weeks of her interrupting my work by asking me how to do this, and how to do that, I finally called her on her poor knowledge and suggested she should spend some time learning this stuff HERSELF.  People can be lazy and stupid and mean sometimes.  I try to ignore it now, but sometimes I... just... can't. 😬  Several years ago I told an asshole in the grocery store to shut up because he was mad about the little old lady who was taking too long with the cashier.  She needed assistance, and needed her groceries to be double bagged because she had to take the bus home. All I could think about was my mom, and how she was probably in exactly the same boat on many occasions.  So, I told dickhead to shut up.
Wow.  Now I've put myself in a crabby mood with all these bad memories!

Anyhow. I managed to finish the Apple Core top.  All of this was cut using JAWS. Over the holidays this baby should get quilted.  I seem to have a growing pile of tops that need to be finished.

T-Shirt Quilt & Winterruption recap

T-shirt quilts are a great way to showcase someone's hobby, or chronicle their life.  Make sure you fuse the shirts to a lightweight interfacing otherwise when you're quilting they are going to slither and slide all over the place.  This was beautifully pieced (and fused! 😀).

There was one shirt that was being particularly uncooperative.  It wasn't normal t-shirt jersey, it was more like a thermal knit.  I subdued it with a sheet of doctor paper and painters tape.  The paper was ripped off after quilting.  Worked like a charm.

Somehow during WINTERRUPTION we neglected to take any photos.  The weekend will just have to live in our memories (which is probably a guarantee that details will be pretty distorted).
The gals arrived on Thursday.  I felt quite sorry for them because of the horrid fog they had to drive through.  For supper I fed them Teriyaki Chicken Thighs with basmati rice, salad, and Maple Spiced Poached Pears.
Friday we were joined by Judy Lyons, the quilt appraiser from Burlington.  Diane had a couple of quilts that needed appraisals, so we enticed Judy with a delicious lunch.  I love visiting with Judy - she is always full of interesting stories, and she did not disappoint.
Saturday we went on our field trip to Dundas.  Lunch at the Thirsty Cactus (I can especially recommend the Pulled Pork Fries - OMG, delicious!!!), on to the Feathering Quilt Shop, bumming around up and down King Street, then heading up to hwy. 5 and the Dutch Mill Country Market.
On Sunday the girls left a bit before lunch and had an easy drive home, with blessedly NICE weather.
I spent Sunday afternoon finishing the Singapore Batiks tablecloth quilt top that's been on my UFO list for a few years now.  I can finally move it over the the TFUQ listing.

The week was spent nose-to-the-grindstone.  The coming week I'll be celebrating my birthday, then heading off on the weekend for the Binbrook Guild retreat where I can enjoy doing some more piecing on my Apple Core quilt.  

It was all about the PUPPY (and a Stash Report)

At retreat I managed to get this assembled without incident.  Now added to the TFUQ listing.

But in reality, this year's Tobermory Retreat was all about ANNI.

There was a bit of swearing at the little twit gentle persuasion, asking the little darling to give back the pieces.  And I learned a new term:  F.R.A.P.  Doggie crazies.  Click here.

Anyhow... this was Thursday's project.  The Double Wedding Ring that has not seen the light of day since March.  And it probably won't see daylight again until next March.  I figured out that this needs to be laid out in three rows at a time, since every row encompasses the row above AND the row below.  At least, that's how it seems to be working out as a scrappy quilt.

I have a stash report that includes the cosmetic bag yardage, AND a couple of items that were mailed off to Singapore as Christmas gifts for my great-niece.  Note to readers:  if you need to mail Christmas parcels this early, make sure you bought your Christmas cards last year, because you will not find them in the stores in October.

STASH REPORT
Used this month:  3.75 m
Used YTD:         67.95 m
Added this month:  0
Added YTD:      119.75 m
NET YTD:         + 51.8 m

Another Pretty from MQX and the STASH REPORT

This wasn't an award winner at MQX, but I think it's so pretty.  I didn't photo the card with the name of the maker, so if you know who it is let me know and I'll update this.
I love the way she (he?) fussy cut the blades.

And here is my TFUQ - the Batik Cats.  Formerly the March/April Challenge.  Yay - it's on the frame right now being quilted.  Since it's Easter weekend I thought I'd take some time to work on my own stuff.

I dragged out my invoice from New England Quilt Supply and added up the yardage I purchased.  gulp.

STASH REPORT
Used This Month  12.25 m
Used YTD            36 m
Added This Month  110.75 m
Added YTD            113 m
NET 2014                77 m increase in stash.  Ick.

When Diane came to repossess her quilt, she brought Karen with her.  Karen is pumping up her mom's stash, so she's actually the one who used the 12.25 m on this report.  Two chunks of yardage were cut up using JAWS' new Apple Core die.  I cannot wait to see that project when she gets it finished!

Springtime Firsts that happened yesterday:

• I used the solar dryer to dry the sheets
• four daffodils are blooming
• no fire in my workroom fireplace

UFO Challenge 2014

I am participating in another UFO challenge this year.  Without a couple other gals to kick my butt I am likely to keep these projects hanging around for a looong time.

This is supposed to be a stress-free challenge because we get TWO months for each item.  We agreed to preselect item #1 for Jan/Feb, then Margaret will draw a number on the first of March, May, July, Sept. and Nov.
 

	ITEM	CHALLENGE DETAILS	DATES	STATUS
1	60's Dresden Plates	TFUQ.  This is the January project, regardless of number drawn.	jan/feb	done jan /14
2	Blooming 9-Patch	Needs outer border, then quilting.
3	Bowtie Quilt	TFUQ.
4	Double Wedding Ring	Pieces are cut.  Stitching to be started.
5	Brown Bats from BOM	Top to be made, quilted & bound.		top done jan
6	Piece 'O Cake Quilt	Hand applique.  One block must be done for challenge.

The other girls are going to throw me out of the group - I've already finished #1, and I'm almost finished #5.  No, those are not MY toys on the floor.  This quilt has ended up to be the perfect size for the Chemo Quilts we donate to Juravinski Hospital, so that's where it will go.

#5 - the Brown Bats won from the Binbrook Guild Block of the Month

The taskmaster.  Also, owner of the toys in above pic.

The POLAR VORTEX is back. I was awake at 4:30 this morning and it was friggin' cold in here!  The taskmaster was squirming herself around, getting more horizontal on the bed, trying to push me out with her arse.  I got out of bed at 5:50 and came down to throw a couple more logs on the fire and make a nice yummy pot of oatmeal.

I'm going to the Caledonia Guild sewing day today (it's an extra UFO day!) to see if I can get some socializing stitching done. I've been inside so much this winter I'm beginning to feel like Howard Hughes, but without the money.