The Library Project Completion

It's been a great year working on The Library Project hosted by Adrienne over at Chezzetcook Modern Quilts.  Thanks, Adrienne!

I started my blog so I could participate...and to have the chance to win a prize, of course.  It was a great motivator to finish projects.

All four projects on my list were completed:

 

 

 



 

And then I added another project:

 

 



 

Thanks again to Adrienne and all her great sponsors.  And now for the final linkup.

 

 

 





Blogathon Canada: Atlantic Canada Day

It's Atlantic Canada Day on Blogathon Canada!  Sew Sisters Quilt Shop is once again hosting Blogathon Canada, which showcases bloggers across Canada.  My friend Linda over at Scrapmaster is one of today's featured bloggers.  I encourage you to check out what Linda has been up to and to visit other bloggers across the country.

So a little bit about myself.  I started quilting in 2003 when I took a class at my LQS to make a quilt for my nephew.  It was a flannel rail fence.  And it was tied, not quilted.  A project never to be repeated.  Sadly, that quilt has gone on to quilt heaven.  But don't worry, nephew has received many, many quilts over the years to make up for it.

Adrienne over at Chezzetcook Modern Quilts started The Library Project at the beginning of the year.  I wanted to win a prize, so I started my blog so I could participate.  You can read about my project choices here.

Who knew I'd have so much fun with the blog and that I would meet so many nice people.  Bloggers are so friendly and are always willing to provide advice and information.  I now have some new ideas for my blog.

I finished my fourth and final Library Project back in October.  So what to do?  I still wanted to participate (and to win a prize, of course) so I added another project to my list.

Jenn over A Quarter Inch From the Edge has been into English Paper Piecing hexies.  I am not a fan of hand quilting, but Jenn raves about EPP, so I thought I'd give it a try.  Here is my finished pillow.

It's a small pillow at 14 inches, but I'm happy with my first adventure with EPP.

I hope you enjoy visiting Atlantic Canada today.  Whatever you are working on this week, I hope you are having fun.

Thanks for stopping by to visit with me.

Sunday Finish...The Library Project Finale!

Sunday Finish doesn't have the same musical ring as Friday Finish...but I finished a huge quilt...with free motion quilting!!!  Show Off Sunday!!!

This was the fourth and last of my projects for The Library Project hosted by Adrienne over at Chezzetcook Modern Quilts.  Thanks Adrienne.  It has been fun, and it was a good motivator not to lose sight of projects.

The tutorial is found over at Happy Quilting.  It was a great tutorial and a fun quilt to make...I just didn't realize how large the quilt would finish.

The plan was to quilt this afternoon, but I'm second-guessing my choice of quilting.  Need some more time to ponder.  The sun is out this afternoon, so I think perhaps an outdoor adventure is in order.

I hope you found some quilt happiness this weekend.  I did!!

Show Off Saturday: The Baby Showers Edition

My quilt bee friend QJ, otherwise known as Jenn over at A Quarter Inch from the Edge, is expecting twins.  She is also a Girl Guide, so her Guiding friends hosted a baby shower.

It was difficult to decide what to make, but I finally decided on chevron quilts with sea creature fabric.


Quilts for Double Trouble

And then on Thursday, one of our quilt bees hosted another baby shower.  Two showers, two babies....two gifts needed of course.  But what to make?  I remembered I had some PUL fabric, so two changing pads.  Thanks to QB for the pattern.  Waterproof is always a good idea with babies.

Waterproof changing pads

I love these ducks and monsters.  I think a tote bag made with the monsters is next on the project list.

It's that time of the month for The Library Project update.  I finally quilted my postage stamp quilt.  The pattern is from Oh Fransson.

Postage Stamp Pattern

One more quilt to finish, and then I will have completed The Library Project.  I'm off two days next week, so I'm going to tackle this last quilt.  I have been procrastinating on this one because it's 85-inches square, and I'm going to do free motion quilting.  I had been feeling very overwhelmed on the amount of quilting to be done and the size of the quilt, but some encouragement this week from QJ has convinced me to get it done.

Since it's Saturday, showing off about my finishes this week and linking up with Sew Can She.

 What are you showing off about this week?

WIP...The Last of the Library Projects.

It's been a tad warm in the evenings for sewing (but I'm not complaining -- just commenting).  Combine the warm weather with my newly acquired hot flashes...it doesn't make for a pleasant sewing experience.  But it's time to get some sewing done!!

I finished the quilt top for my fourth and final The Library Project hosted by Adrienne over at Chezzetcook Modern Quilts.  I wanted to try the Broken Herringbone tutorial posted by Play Crafts.

Broken Herringbone

I've been attempting to try new things to get out of my comfort zone.  I'm glad I tried this block, but it's not for me.  I didn't enjoy making it, and there is a lot of wasted fabric.  The horror!!  Now I have to find something to do with the scraps.  The tutorial was great in that the instructions were very detailed and clear, with lots of photos.

I was so very much done at six blocks.  The Squares (one of my quilt bees is called Q-Squared) had to convince me to make three more blocks so that I could actually make something useable.  It finishes about 40-inches square.

The purples in the photo don't show very well, but I guess that's the price of taking photos in the house.  One of the (many) downfalls of working full-time is that by the time I get any sewing done in the evening, it's too dark outside to take photos.

I've been hesitant to try improv piecing as I'm a girl that needs a pattern.  But I liked a block posted by Jenn over at A Quarter Inch from the Edge, so I decided to give it a try.  I did 8-inch blocks as indicated in the tutorial by The Undercover Crafter.

Shattered Glass Block

I did enjoy making these blocks, although it was difficult not to try to line up all the strips.  I did attempt to line them up in a few blocks...couldn't resist the temptation.

Now the dilemma...how to quilt???  Any suggestions?

Now that I have a collection of quilt tops, it's time to get focused and get them all sandwiched and quilted.  And then come up with some names for them.

Since it's Wednesday, I'm linking up with Freshly Pieced.

Shweshwe Quilt Top is Done

I finished the Shweshwe quilt top!!  What a relief to have it finished.  The plan is to get it sandwiched and quilted over the weekend.

Shweshwe Quilt Top 

I don't name my quilts, but I think this one will be named.  I have no idea whatsoever what that name will be.  But I feel that since the fabric came all the way from South Africa (and it took a lot of searching to find the quilt shop) and contains 512 HST's, it deserves a name.

But the most exciting news of the week is that I met Kaffe Fasset and Brandon Mably.  My quilt guild, Mariners Quilt Guild (plus Mahone Bay Quilters Guild and Mayflower Quilters Guild), hosted Kaffe Fassett (and Brandon Mably) for "Life in Colour: An Evening with Kaffe Fassett Lecture and Book Signing."

I had the privilege to pick them up at the airport.  That was so exciting, and I'm still on a high that I met them and had a conversation.  The lecture was informative and engaging.  We're hoping to bring them back next year for a workshop.



Brandon Mably, me, and Kaffe Fassett at the book signing 

But even more importantly, Brandon liked my orange quilt!!!  That's correct, it doesn't have a name other than orange quilt.



We had quilts displayed around the lecture hall.  Brandon said he liked the orange quilt over there, that he hadn't seen one with all orange.  After the initial shock, I proudly said, it's mine.  And after the lecture, he showed it to Kaffe.   I make things that I enjoy and don't care what others think, but it was exciting that someone of that caliber liked one of my quilts.  Now I feel this quilt needs a name, but oddly, Orange Quilt, seems to be the only thing that keeps coming to me.

If you have any thoughts on what I should call my quilts, please let me know.  I'd love to hear how you go about naming your quilts.

Linking up with Adrienne over at Chezzetcook Modern Quilts for the monthly update to The Library Project.

They are Done!!!

Two years.  32 8.5-inch blocks.  16 HST's per block.  512 HST's in total.  My Shweshwe blocks are finally completed!  I bought the fabric in July 2012 when I visited South Africa.  You can read about Shweshewe fabric here.  Here are some of the blocks:



Shweshwe Blocks

I was super productive today at the Maritime Modern Quilt Guild Sew In today.  The day started with a mere 8 blocks completed, and the day ended with all 32 blocks completed.  Give this quilter a gold star.

I handed in my MMQG block for the new guild banner.  We received the fabric Thursday night.  Thinking that Linda would be the first to have her block completed, I made it a point to get my block done last night because I didn't want to be the last person to hand it in at the August meeting.  Imagine my surprise...I was the only one with a completed block today.  Give this quilter another gold star.

Block for MMQG Banner

Have been slowing moving out of my comfort zone and trying some new techniques such as improv piecing.

The Jawbreaker pillow looked lonely, so voila...another one.



Jawbreaker Pillows

Next week is another opportunity to continue making sewing a part of my regular routine.  We had a great discussion today at Sew In about quilters being identified as traditional, modern, etc.  Do what makes you happy.  That's my plan.  I'm a quilter...end of...no identifier needed.  So give this quilter another gold star.

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.

One of These Things is Not Like the Others...

One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn't belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?


I can laugh about it today, but last night was a different matter.  I was working on another The Library Project (hosted by Chezzetcook Modern Quilts) and realized I made a grave error.  There are five groups of five fat quarters.  Here are the first three groups:

 

 

 

Did you guess which thing was not like the others?

Did you guess which thing just doesn't belong?
If you guessed this [the middle] one is not like the others,
Then you're absolutely...right!

 

Each group of five fat quarters is to be cut into five sections.  You can read about the Refracted TNT here.  Somehow, I got cut happy and cut the middle group into six sections.  Oh well...nothing to do but sew up the pieces.

 

I used two fat quarter collections with a few other fabrics mixed in.  I decided to mix up the colours, but am now thinking that I should have grouped all the like colours together.  Lesson learned for next time.

 

I'm linking up with WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced.

Quilty Fun at MMQG Sew In

Oh what fun we had at the MMQG Sew In yesterday.  There were new members to meet and fabulous projects to look at.  It was a productive day of sewing and fun fellowship.  Hop on over to Maritime Modern Quilt Guild for more information about the guild.

I finished all the blocks for one of my Library Projects (hop over to Chezzetcook Modern Quilts to read more about The Library Project QAL).  It's time to break into the mini bolt of Kona Snow.  It's been so great saying I own a bolt of fabric (granted it's only 2.5 yards), but the time has come for Snow to fulfill its purpose as sashing between these blocks.

This is based on a project by Elizabeth Hartman over at Oh Fransson.  I'll have to start thinking about how to quilt this project.

It's been a great quilting weekend.  I hope to fit in more sewing this week...or perhaps a visit to my LQS..........

The Library Project Fiasco

There hasn't been a lot of sewing going on in this house during the month of May.  I did, however, get together with my quilt bee, Q-Squared, a few weeks ago.  I had pre-cut a few projects, so I grabbed a container and headed out for a sewing day.  I made great progress, but while working on the blocks at home a few days later, it hit me...it was not on the Library Project list.  I felt so dejected for having put so much time into sewing, but then I got over it -- I was making progress with a project!  I'm still linking up with Adrienne over at Chezzetcook Modern Quilts.  Here are some of the 48 blocks and then four of them arranged.

Hey, Squares.  You were right...I should have followed the pattern instructions and sewn the block to the piece of paper.  In the end, it was needed to square up the block.  argh....I have a few blocks that are off centre because I didn't cut them down accurately.  Oh well...life goes on.  I had fun making the blocks even though there was a lot of fabric wastage.  I'm sure teacher QJ will tell me that wastage is not a word, but the Squares know how much I detest wasting fabric.  Pause....I've gone to the dictionary....wastage is a word!!!   It means:  wasteful use of something valuable : loss of something by using too much of it or using it in a way that is not necessary or effective.  So true, so true!!!!

As I cleaning, okay attempting to clean, my sewing room, I stumbled across a photo of my very first quilt.  I realize that I have been quilting for 10 years.  I made my first quilt for my nephew L in the fall of 2003 for his fourth birthday.  He was so cute back then.  I took a class at my LQS and made a flannel rail fence.  I think the quilt has now gone on to quilt heaven, but nephew L has received many more quilts from me to make up for it.

In the early days, I didn't take photos of my quilts or keep track of the quilts I made.  I need to organize my quilt book and ensure that I have a photo of all my quilts.  It's interesting to look back and see how far I've come along.

I'm off to a Sew In on Saturday with Maritime Modern Quilt Guild so I need to decide on which Library Project to work on.  In an effort to get back to more regular sewing, I'm going to pre-cut several projects over the coming weeks.

Happy sewing everyone.

Happy Easter!

It was a great long weekend of church, relaxation, and sewing.  Sadly, I just spent two hours trying to fix the problem with my computer, so I'm just getting in under the wire with Easter greetings.

I finished a baby quilt using HST's cast-offs from a previous project.  It now has a home as a friend become a grandmother this weekend.

My monthly fat quarter collection from Sew Sisters Quilt Shop arrived in all its purple glory.  It screamed Easter quilt, but I decided to spread my sewing wings and make some pillows using Heather Bostic's book Pillow Pop.  I am very pleased and can't wait to make some more.

Slowly making progress with my HST's using my South African Shweshwe fabric...8 blocks down...24 more to go.  Linking up with Adrienne's The Library Project over at Chezzetcook Modern Quilts.

I used up some leftover strips from my Girl Scouts of USA fabric to make a strip quilt.

This seems to be the week to stretch my quilting abilities.  I signed up for the Michael Miller challenge hosted by the Modern Quilt Guild.  The project I have chosen uses templates...what was I thinking???  Here are the fabrics we were given:

I think I finally understand the process of creating posts.  Now on to learn how to do other things.  I hope you all have a chance to quilt this week.  I hope to sneak in a bit more sewing tomorrow provided I get all my Girl Guide paperwork done.

Library Project Update

Most of March was spent working on a project in the QPP.  The quilt was delivered today, so I can now share.  Wings of Eagles quilt pattern for CJW for her birthday.  The pattern is based on Isaiah 40:31 -- "But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint."

Although there was limited sewing on the Library Projects during March, I made progress and cut fabric for a couple of the projects.  And finally, this past Saturday, I got together with two of the Squares and started sewing HST's for my Shweshwe quilt.

Here are all 512 HST's (2.5 inches)...

I was quite excited to travel to South Africa in 2012.  QJ had researched Shweshwe fabric and where to purchase, so imagine my surprise when I opened Fons and Porter's Love of Quilting and discovered a pattern using Shweshwe fabric a few months before my trip.  In all my excitement, clearly, I was not paying attention to the fact that there were 512 HST's.  And then when I was cutting the fabric, I CLEARLY did not pay attention once again.  I think I finally clued in when I started sewing that there were many little pieces, and then when I started ironing, I realized just how big of a pile 512 HST's are.

Considering this fabric has been in my stash since July 2012, I am so glad that I am finally making progress.  Therefore, am linking up with Adrienne over at Chezzetcook Modern Quilts.  Although it's a tad late for the March check in, I think I'm close enough to be considered in the neighbourhood for meeting the deadline.

Thanks to Jenn over at A Quarter Inch from the Edge for the assistance and advice for maintaining my blog.  Hoping that I get the hang of things and starting blogging on a regular basis.

The Library Project

It's Friday night, and I'm scrambling to create a blog so I can participate in The Library Project hosted by Adrienne over at Chezzetcook Modern Quilts.  I heard there is a prize to be had this month.  So here goes.

I had toyed with joining TLP earlier, but I couldn't make up my mind on the projects, and I felt left out not having a blog.  It seems that prize-pressure is a good motivator.

I have chosen four projects that have been on my to-do list for some time:

1.  Ko Ko pattern from May/June 2012 issue of Fons and Porters Love of Quilting.  The pattern uses Shweshwe fabric from South Africa.  I have some lovely Shweshwe fabric that I picked up in Johannesburg.  You can learn more about Shweshwe fabric here.

2.  Broken Herringbone.  I'll be following a tutorial by Play Crafts.

3.  Refracted for TNT.  I'll be following a tutorial by Happy Quilting.

4.  Stamp Collection.  I'll be following a tutorial by Oh Fransson.


Here's my link up for February's check in.  Thanks to Jenn over at A Quarter Inch from the Edge for the head's up on the prizes.

Now off to organize some projects to work on tomorrow at the Sew In hosted by Maritime Modern Quilt Guild.  I'm also hoping to get some blog advice from the ladies.