This year...

Several quilt blogs that I follow do a summary for the year. I don't have my photos in a collage so will just copy them in without comment beginning with this small window hanging. They are in no particular order. The first 24 are a mix of small quilts to hang in the window, table toppers, up to queen-size bed quilts. Eleven of them were for refugees who became fast friends. The last four are tops only, given to a charity group to sandwich and quilt. I know, I cannot believe I did all this. It has been a hectic year besides.

Nearly ready to quilt it...

With full days and many interruptions, time to quilt is often way to short. However, I'm whacking away at blue scraps (again) and it appears this one will soon be ready to put on the longarm. The photo happened then I put another bit on the right side and have three more seams and maybe a border. It is about 56" square, but a border would be a good addition to make it a better lap size.

I love doing these. No plan at all, just make blocks with what is in the scrap bin, adding from stash if necessary, tossing in a few coordinating bits and pieces. It is total fun for me. No name for this one yet. I've another that is ready to quilt also, and also mostly blue scraps. Where they all came from is a bit of a mystery to me -- like who keeps sneaking into my sewing room and putting blue scraps in that bin? or what?

Merry Christmas to all -- in case I don't get back here for a few days.

Slower but Steadier

It seems to take me a long time to get a finish. Procrastination. Lazy. Too much else on my plate. Whatever the excuse, I finished three since the last post. 

These two are for refugees, the same family as three recently posted. They are a mom/dad and their adult children -- two young men and two young women. Beautiful people. They show their quilts off to every visitor! These two are similar. Both guys sent a picture of what they liked, and one of the pictures had a beautiful woman in it. 

That helped me work faster because this guy is a big tease and I could hardly wait to tease him... told him I was sorry that I could give only the quilt to him as I couldn't find that gal anywhere, no matter how hard I looked. He was laughing so hard, and especially because I found out he told another person that the woman in the photo was his girlfriend back where he had been living. He made that up, but I knew because I used it on Google search to see if there was a pattern for it so I could get an idea of how much fabric I'd need. I discovered that photo came off an add for a bedspread! What fun to out-do this guy and his crazy humor! 

 

The third one is a table runner Christmas gift for a DIL so cannot post it in case she peeks. Lots of other things on the go, like two improv quilts using blue scraps. I am still certain that scraps multiply in the dark or at least are related to rabbits.

Also have many other projects in various stages, mostly go-together fabrics in a box, some with a pattern or at least an idea. Having the five done/gifted is helping me get over that procrastination.

Much needed vacation

 Our daughter and hubby recently moved to a different city in a different state. They bought an older house that needs work but when they first walked into it, they "felt happy" and I now know why. This is their view out the living room window and off the patio. I may never go home!

Also while here, daughter gave me an older i-pad that she is not using. I'm now considering a Mac desktop as I discovered that Mac designers think a lot more like I do than the people at 'you know where' and my mind seems relieved. Time will tell. It could be relieved just from the views out each window in this house. Until then, we are enjoying 100 foot trees in fall colors and the peace and quiet of hearing only the occasional 'ping' off the 18th tee.

The to-do list and UFOs seem far, far away...

So Much Fun

This week demanded a break from making big quilts that match up with photos people sent me, so decided to hit the blue scrap box. Picked blue because the quilt on the roster was mostly blue and had leftovers. Dug out some orphans, noted that the scrap bin had a few little blocks in it too, ranging from 1.5" up to about 12" plus lots of pieces and strings. After sorting and making a few more odd shapes, they went on my design wall, got moved around and shuffled and sewn together. So far, this is the result. Any white showing still needs something stuck in there and I can see a couple of needed moves that would add rather than be a distraction.

Doing this is like playing... so much fun. I am hooked and forget to eat some days. Improv takes many forms, but for a person with a mind that thinks like a jazz jam session, this works for me. I don't add from the stash, at least not yet, just use the bits and pieces. Also discovered that I can throw other colors into the mix, any other colors, as long as they are used in at least three places. What a joyful discovery. 

It also works with the blocks... put in a few that are the same block, different sizes and colors but it hold this mess together, at least in my mind. The title of this one was easy: I'm calling it Bye Bye Blues... but saying bye to all of them is not quite true. From the looks of things, I might just have enough unused scraps to make another one.

Two Done, Two more in Progress

A refugee family of six arrived the first part of the month. They are super people. One of our friends described them as "pure gold." So mom and dad's quilt is done and two for their daughters. The top for one son is done and I'm cutting out pieces for the other son. All these are in their 20s so these are full size.They are designed according to photos they sent me, sort of. I took liberties with their choices. They do like bright colors however both these photos are not right. The gold/green one is actually brighter and the blue one is not this bright. Go figure?

I'm also working on scrap quilts. Pinterest has several layouts for orphan and scrap blocks so will try one of them soon. 

 

 Also, my bruises are almost all gone. Most came  with no pain but those still on my legs hurt to touch. I'm thanking God for surviving such a tumble. My daughter keeps saying, "Why didn't you break something?" as if it were a given for someone my age. We just rejoice that this turned out the way it has. I went to a specialist today, and he just shook his head and told me to carry on!

September starts and stops

The start for this month: I finished a little fall quilt to hang in my window. It was easy and a temptation to do some free-motion practice, but maybe later. I had other things happening...

One was a quilt for a refugee that is now on the longarm. Picture later. It is coming along fine, but I'm off my feet a bit, but not fully stopped because of this other thing that happened...

Our youngest son got married on Friday, the first of September. We prayed for good weather -- it rained Thursday and the smoke from wildfires in BC was so bad Saturday that people were advised to stay inside. The wedding was outside on Friday and the weather was PERFECT! Thank You, Lord. Our kids were all here and the wedding was lovely. The bride > stunning. The photographer is going to try and get her on a magazine cover. Then we drove from the botanical gardens to downtown, and my hubby dropped me at the restaurant where the reception would be. The foyer was dark, the curved staircase long and when I stepped off to go down, I stepped into thin air.

Headfirst. I thought instantly to turn sideways and roll rather than go head over heels, so stopped about halfway and could not move for a long moment. Then, with a little help, got up and walked to the banquet room and sat down. Ice packs, concerns, but the good Lord had me focused on the wedding and the guests, even though they were not there yet. I had bruises on my arms, but they vanished before the meal was over. 

Then I slept all night, and was feeling okay next day except for two places: left foot and right shoulder. The foot was soon black. The shoulder bruise came up today, six days after getting battered on those metal-edged risers. However, I'm not broken and not sore all over, just bruises everywhere. Our oldest son remarked that he thinks I must be moonlighting as a stunt woman. 😄

So if anyone reading this wonders about guardian angels, wonder no more. Thank you God, for not only protecting me from far worse, but also giving me peace and joy so I didn't whine and feel sorry for myself and put a damper on an incredibly lovely day. 

Now, back to that quilt...

August Quilt

Had to make this in a hurry then forgot to hang it until August 2 and forgot to take a photo. So here it is, as promised. Told you it was simple. Making plan for September but don't you know it . . . making plans does not equal making the quilt! 😊

Also finished quilting a lap quilt and will post it soon. Life has been so hectic that I have to write everything down or it will get lost in the pile. Sigh. Wedding (youngest son) soon, good and sad family events, invitations, meetings, friends that need prayer, invites to dinner, appointments, and all sorts of calls and texts that seem important at the time. When this rush is over . . . 

I'm still here...

Whew, has life been busy. I have finished another quilt for a refugee couple and have four more on the go for their family. Also whipped up a little August landscape for my dining room window. We have had so many things going on that I'm too tired to describe them all, but healthy, enjoying lovely weather, trying new recipes, and quilt, quilt, quilt 'til I wilt... literally.

This is the quilt for the refugee couple. They asked for this but sent a picture of a knitted afghan... fortunately there is a pattern online for the quilted version. It is called "Pixelated Rose" and the pattern is pink but their photo was blue. And no, I did not cut a zillion 2.5" squares. If an area was bigger, then it was cut accordingly. It is quilted with a panto called "Leafarama" using Glide in white 60 weight, which amazingly shows up as texture on the white background and almost disappears on the colors, even those dark leaves. If you have never tried Glide, give it a go. It never breaks and comes in many colors and variegated also.

The August window quilt was a quick one I just sketched on an 11.5" x 17" paper and cut out/pasted/sewed the pieces and put a backing on, turned it and did a bit more quilting. It is little but kinda cute.

Oops, thought I took a photo. Here is the sketch showing the values. I stuck to normal colors except the upper sky has a strip of blue-green that we really don't see very often!

Added to this, we welcomed a refugee family of five plus grandma, in July, sponsored by our church, at the airport and helped get them and their luggage to their new home. It was instant bonding, just like our own kids/sister/brother. Feel like we've known them all our lives. Lots of emotion and joy and getting them settled. And the hubby and wife are both world class cooks as well as being all-around incredible people.

Besides that, our youngest son is getting married in 3 weeks. Glad he and his honey are doing everything. I just have to tie balloons to some chairs and loan him my easel! At least so far...

More Scrap bin browns. . .

 I took the last quilt top posted and two other tops plus a table topper finished to the 'sew days' of our local guild outreach department. This group will quilt and finish the tops, including labels, and give them where needed. We support several charities and gave away about 200 quilts this past year. If I go to the place where they work together, I talk too much and don't get much done, so I drop in, pick up fabrics etc. and take them home where I can work without the lovely distraction of gabbing with friends. Of course, when dropping something off, I get in on the chatter.

These are the tops and the little quilt that went in today... and the one yesterday also went in. See it here.

This one has peach even if the photo looks pink. The one below it has a soft warm beige sashing that looks grey on my screen. Sigh.

The little one is a truer color.

Now I'm making more refugee quilts for another family arriving next month. The family of five came last week. We were part of the group that met them at the airport. What a night that was! I will never forget the instant bonding. They and us too felt as if we all belonged together. They were in danger for nearly 10 years and are thrilled to be here with no need to look over their shoulders.

 

Out of the scrap bin...

The brown scrap bin yielded 150 slab blocks at 6.5" and looks like I will get three quilts from this pile of scraps. I've added bits from larger pieces and fat quarters, but the brown bin is now empty! How long that will last is anyone's guess.

This first top was designed around an orphan block that someone donated to our guild. Many donors are people who cannot quilt for health reasons, or from families who have lost their quilting mother or grandmother. The block is 18.5" so was perfect for my 6.5" blocks. I had plain ones also so used them to give some space to this orphan. Putting the slab blocks around it was pure fun. 

This top is 63" square and going to the guild community outreach group for quilting. I did make some binding, also leftover scraps, that will work and have some brown backing that will do this one and the second one on the design wall. Photo of it later...

 

This one is for QofV

detail

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I finished this quilt last week. It was quick and easy, a simple log cabin. It will go to Canadian Quilts of Valour next week at our Guild Sew Day. The leader takes donations to each charity. This group will take tops to finished quilts. If they come in unfinished, they are sandwiched and quilted, bound, labeled or whatever is needed. The Guild gives away more than 200 quilts a year. They will put a label on this one.

Size: 60.5" x 81"
Panto: Leafarama
Thread: Glide "Yellow Whisper"

Then I did a quick sew for this June window quilt. It was done in a day and is hanging until the end of the month. June Birds is 20.25 x26.75 and totally made up with a little help from a couple of bird books. It isn't much, but will be viewed from the sidewalk outside our yard, about 30 feet away! 😀

Our Guild show was last weekend, one of the best shows ever! I have no pictures but eventually the posting for the show will be on the EDQG.ca website. More than 200 entries, fine workmanship with the difficult decision of voting for Viewers' Choice. It took me hours to decide and I could have marked my ticket with almost any number. 

Now I'm tackling a box of scraps. It was labeled "BROWN" but anything close got tossed in, like orange or yellow with a bit of brown (or not), taupe, and tans and a few strays in other colors. I started making 6.5" slabs, then strip blocks the same size, a few pieces big enough for plain blocks that size, and am at nearly 100 of them. There is a plan in mind, but we will see what happens on the design wall. Hard to believe what can be done with a box only 12 x 12 x 17. It was stuffed, now empty with a few strips hanging on my longarm. This is (almost) mindless sewing and very relaxing.

We did get a good rain that settled the smoke and some of the fires. It is still dry and smokey a bit again this week, with more rain needed. Many people lost everything and our guild is now making quilts for them also.

Another Finish and praying for rain

Five quilts done for a family who will arrive in Canada in early July... and the fifth one is finished. They are excited to finally have tickets and I am so glad to have their quilts completed. This one is square, will work on a bed but also to keep warm in our cold winters. It is called Sleeping under Stars and Flowers because there are stars all over the backing. The quilting on the big blossom isn't showing well here.

Now I'm working on a simple log cabin. Blocks were done weeks ago. Since it is 6 x 8 blocks, I had to get creative with an arrangement but have two rows sewn. Picture next time.

With the wildfires in our area, being outside is not pleasant. The air quality is off the charts. Rain is forecast next week so hopefully we will get reprieve. More than 15,000 people have been evacuated from various areas and the news two days ago said the area burned was 20 times the area of Calgary, a city with a population of 1,640,000 and with a typical prairie city sprawl. 

The fires are not close to where we live, but the smoke has reduced visibility like no fog ever has. Our air quality is 11.7 times above the recommended limit given by the WHO. Normal is 4-15, we are at 228 and it could go higher. This is a daytime image. Glad for AC and tight windows.

A Finish and a Start

The older teen boy wanted a computer gamer theme or soccer for his quilt. What is the matter with quilt fabric manufactures? They make online game fabric which is cute -- for little kids. There is nothing much for soccer except white balls on a green background. 

So I found this panel of gears and made the top but could not think of a name. So I googled the panel and found "Steampunk" -- a term used with computer games. So it is called "Steampunk, maybe?" 

My gamer friends say that's "Pretty close." I hope the boy likes it. I do, and it was fun to make. Fabric is gold, black and browns, metallic running through, very cool.

The other one is for his grandmother. It is not finished, needs about 10" of borders, but I like it so far. She sent a picture of a quilt with a big flower in the middle, so I looked and this is was the only one I could find of left of that big blossom that was popular months ago. Some bright colored pieces, but she wanted light. Anyway, I'm having fun with this too. The outer corners are in soft greens, not a great photo in artificial light. Hope to get some daylight next time. Quilting it will be interesting. 

But later. I have a hockey game to watch!