First Day of Vacation Productivity

It's day one of vacation, and I've got two projects completed...and there are still more hours left in the day.

First up is my Michael Miller challenge hosted by The Modern Quilt Guild.  The first project went by the wayside as I realized I had cut some of the templates the wrong way.  Since we were only given a fat eighth of each of the six fabrics, I couldn't afford to waste any.  And I didn't enjoy cutting the templates.  I thought it would be a good challenge to try a new technique -- but if it's stressful and causing headache, it's not worth it.  So I changed direction.  The finished project is not what I had envisioned, but I am happy with it nonetheless.  Once I make a sleeve, it will hang in my sewing room.

And yes, that's FMQ in a star motif, although some of the stars are a bit wonky.

Then I decided to give the Aurifil 50wt  thread another try on my commissioned baby quilt.  I tried a few needles sizes and upped the tension on my machine.  My poor Singer didn't know what was going on -- it's never had the tension that high before.  All in all, it was a success, although I am not happy with the large holes in the quilting.  Although the tension problem was fixed, the thread continued to break on a regular basis, both while FMQ and using the walking foot.  I'll keep trying until the spool is done, but I think I'll stick with my trusted Gutermann thread.

Now it's time to sit back and read a book.  Wonder how supper can magically appear and the housework magically get done....

Sew In Day

It was another Sew In with Maritime Modern Quilt Guild.  But first I participated in the Epic Canadian 5K race.  I'm a walker, pretending to be runner, but I achieved a personal best today -- 5K walk/jog in 46:57.  Yeah me!!!!  That's three minutes off my usual 50 minutes.

Then it was off to sew with the ladies.  It was good to finally meet Julia from Jada's Quilting Adventures.  I decided to work on a plus quilt for a commissioned baby quilt.  Once all the blocks were sewn together, I realized that it was far too big for a baby quilt.  So this evening, I cut it half and continued on.  Now to figure out how to quilt it.  Suggestions?

I'll add a border to the other half and make another baby quilt -- a gift that is long overdue.

Thanks to QJ for lending me her Hex N More ruler so I could cut my fabric for some Candy Dish Pillows. 

Next week is going to be an adventure -- a whole week of vacation with no plans.  I've never had a week of vacation without going somewhere.  I hope to get a lot of quilting done and hopefully a sew day with QJ.  Perhaps a trip to the Shore Shore to visit with QD.

Well time for a soak in the tub to soothe the aches muscles from all the walking/running and quilting today.

What a Weekend!

This is my second post in two days.  Who am I???  I never thought that I'd have anything to write about, but this is day two of my quilt ramblings.  It's been a wild and crazy week, and I just had to share.  You can read about the first part of the week here.

Today was all about finishing up projects.  Sandwiched two quilts this morning before church.  I started quilting as soon as I got home from church -- and now realize that I didn't eat lunch.  Then it was off to a Pathfinder meeting.  For those of you new to Guiding, you can learn more at Girl Guides of Canada.  Back home for some more sewing and the pickup of the commissioned quilt.  And then realized once again that I hadn't eaten.  It's been a busy weekend, and I am tired.

The baby quilt is finished.  Quilt label to go on tomorrow and then delivered on Tuesday.

I tried Aurifil 50 wt for this project.  Although my friend Scrapmaster raves about this thread, I was not impressed.  I did not have much success with free-motion quilting.  The thread broke four times, and the bobbin thread broke once.  I admit my FMQ skills are not very good, but this was the worse quilting I've done.  Oh well...it is what it is.  I will play with the Aurifil and hope I begin to like it.

Although the commissioned quilt has not gone to its final destination, I will share as the recipient does not follow my blog and does not know a quilt is being made for her.

Before I fall into bed, here is the fabric I purchased during my fourth adventure this week to my LQS.  I'm going to use these to make Jaybird Quilts Candy Dish pillow pattern.  There are several patterns from Jaybird Quilts that I plan to make.  As you have probably guessed, orange is my favourite colour.  I found the orange and yellow fabrics and started a collection.  QJ and QD had a lot of input (aka peer pressure) into the choices -- but I have to admit that their choices were spot on.

Before I fall asleep onto the laptop, I'm linking up with Molli Sparkles Sunday Stash.

Quilt Top Finishes

The week started out with a F.A.R.T (for you non-quilters, check out the quilting abbreviations at Quarter Inch from the Edge) on Monday with QJ.  We stopped for lunch on the way, and then we put a dent in our shopping lists.  But this was after a trip to my LQS on my own first thing in the morning before meeting up with QJ.  And then after the F.A.R.T., we ended up back at our LQS.  Three fabric purchases in one day...that's an all-time personal best.

On the way to quilt club on Thursday, I had to run to the LQS for an item for a commissioned project and ran into QJ.  You'd think we had already purchased enough fabric three days previous.  Enjoyed a great quilting day with three of the four Squares (QJ and QD) today...and of course, we ended up the LQS.  And more fabric was purchased.  I think my credit card is going to start smoking from all the use this week.

I finished a quilt top today for a commissioned project in the QPP (quilt protection plan).  Here is a sneak peek...the beginnings of a pillow from the scraps.

I received the June fat quarter collection from Sew Sisters Quilt Shop.  Since it was novelty prints, it screamed baby quilt.  This will be a gift for one of the Judges I work with -- for his new grandson who was born last month.  Sssh...don't spill the beans.

I bought some Aurifil thread during one of my many fabric shopping expeditions this week.  Several members of Maritime Modern Quilt Guild rave about this thread and how much better free-motion quilting is with it, so I'm going to give it a try.

It was a productive week, and I managed to finish two quilt tops on my Library Project (hosted by Chezzetcook Modern Quilts.  You can read about my projects here.

I'm amazed at how much sewing was done this week when I had so little time.  Tomorrow I hope to finish up the QPP project and the baby quilt.

I hope your week ended as productively and as fun as mine did.  Quilting is a good stress release and makes me happy.

Linking up with Chezzetcook Modern Quilts.