Christmas VacationTo-Do List Wrapup

Chic Picnic - quilted & bound & labeled.  Many of the fabrics in this have special meaning for me, so the whole time I was hand stitching the binding I just felt... happy.

The fabrics are so busy that the time spent to custom quilt this was wasted, but since it's mine... I figure I'm worth it.

I used up some random fabrics on the back.

In keeping with the "word" theme of the quilt, I included my QUILT GIRL comic strip yardage.  (Spoiler alert:  she saved the day.)

I made two kids drag-around quilts which I'll donate to the Catholic Children's Aid.  A big pat-myself-on-the-back for the mitered striped border on the right.

It was a few years ago that a friend gave me the panel, the border print, and a half meter of the stripe.  I had the remnants of a whole bolt of the stripe in my own stash, so I used it on the back.

Sixteen placemats quilted for Meals on Wheels.

I completed eight out of fifteen items on my list, and the day is not over yet.  I've already taken Sadie for her walk (brrr - chilly wind!) and DH has supper under control, so this afternoon I will tackle the mending pile. 

Random winter stuff & Almost at the END of the January Challenge

In no particular order...
I have a headache today.  This is very unusual for me.

Here is the Binbrook Fold/Rip/Snip Challenge quilt.  Our meeting was cancelled last night because of the sh*tty weather.  Stupid winter.

Here is the back side of the quilt.  Hopefully we will donate these all to the Catholic Children's Aid Society for those poor kids who come to them with nothing but the clothes on their back(s).  What a horrid way to spend your childhood.

This guy was NOT my friend.  Ultimately, he drowned.  Too bad, so sad.

The kitchen can be a very dangerous place.  Hell.  I need a manicure, or something.  Photo was taken while I was quilting Guild placemats for Meals on Wheels.

Fecking winter is not over yet.  I much prefer July weather.  Give me 30c. any day.

Since it IS still winter, I thought I'd share this with you.  I totally LOVE those ornaments in the blue/white border.

MY PERSONAL JANUARY CHALLENGE
In case you missed it, the challenge was to stop eating/drinking after 8 pm.  I blew it one more night - two Saturdays ago we were out playing cards at a Boy Scout fundraiser in Mississauga.  When we got home at 11 pm, apparently I needed to eat a piece of apple pie.  I also kind of blew it last Saturday but that was TOTALLY Martina's fault.  She forced (!) me to eat a frozen chocolate/sherbet stick at 8:15.  Yes it was good. 👅 I only have two nights to go.  I certainly SLEEP better so I'll probably try to continue my New.Good.Habit.

Fishies quilt and Quilting Retreat

This is a cute little fish quilt made for this gal's husband.  A perfect size for watching tv.

Fish were quilted in the setting triangles.

S.I.D. around everything, and scales in the fish parts.

A running school of fish in the border.  Variegated thread was used on the whole thing, including the s.i.d.

RETREAT
This past weekend was the annual retreat for the Binbrook guild at Crieff Hills in Puslinch, On. We stay in St. Luke building, arriving Friday morning and leaving after lunch on Sunday.  Our meals are included (Friday lunch/supper, Saturday breakfast/lunch/supper, Sunday breakfast/lunch).  As a rule we bunk double in the rooms.  For fourteen of us the total cost was about $250.00 per person.

I had this quilt top pieced by 4 pm on Saturday.  I had already spent Thursday getting everything cut out, so it was ready to go when I arrived.  A link to the pattern is HERE.  I made a smaller version than the pattern - twelve blocks instead of twenty. 

In the evenings I worked on hand sewing the binding on my table runner.  This was my January project using the Quick Curve Ruler.
 

Sunday morning was spent on a few more Tumbler placemats.  These four are made with the reds and greens and will likely go to Meals on Wheels. I have been piecing placemats from these tumbers since...February 2014 and I STILL have more pieces to work with.  The next batch is all browns.  These pieces were all cut by 'JAWS', the Studio Cutter by Accuquilt.  See the tab at the top if you'd like to rent JAWS and whittle down your scrap stash.

How to Quilt Multiple Placemats, and UFO Report

Here is a little tutorial on how to get a zillion placemats done for Meals on Wheels.

Start with a customer who gives you a large bag of remnants - mostly man-stuff like fishing & camping fabrics.

Add another customer who gives you a box of started scrappy quilt blocks.

Take those two items to your quilt guild, and guilt the members into taking some of that stuff home to make wee placemat tops that measure somewhere in the vicinity of 12-ish inches by 18-ish inches.  While they are groaning and rolling their eyes at you, remind them that they DO NOT NEED TO QUILT THEM.  If they are still giving you a hard time, let your eyes get a little watery as though you might be starting to cry, and tell them about how your mom used to get little gifts from Meals on Wheels and it really cheered her up.  That should work.

When they bring them back to you the next month, take 'em all  home and try to find one backing fabric that will look ok with ALL of the wee tops.  This is definitely a challenge!  Here, you can see that I found a nice neutral in my stash.

Pin those puppies on to a very large hunk of backing fabric which has been matched up with a very large hunk of batting.  Allow three inches of space all around each placemat.  And use a thinner batt - pouffy stuff tends to tip over wine glasses.  Not that seniors drink wine, of course.  :-)

Baste around the edges of each placemat.

Quilt them.  Stay INSIDE each placemat with the stitching - you'll see why in a second.

Cut them apart, leaving a generous one inch of backing all the way around.  Trim off the batting at the edge of the wee top. This way, you can simply turn the backing over to the top, folding over twice, and top stitch in place for binding. 

I have a very fancy name for this binding, calling it "Back To Front Self Binding".  Ahem.

UFO CHALLENGE UPDATE

Ta da...  Here is the Blooming 9-Patch all done.  Binding finished and everything.  Even labelled.  Now I'm waiting for Margaret to pull the number for months March & April.  I am going on a retreat this weekend so maybe I could do a little work on the next one.

Have I shown you my cutie-patootie lately?