Just a little Champagne update

It's on the frame and a couple of turns have been taken from both sides now. We didn't do anything fancy in the borders. Just stitched in the ditch on either side of the green strip. We decided to quilt the log cabin blocks as squares. It's easy if you start with the centre square. Ann kept getting mixed up and would quilt through some of the lines. Marg and I marked the squares with pins and she still didn't get it. So now they have a system whereby Marg would show Ann which lines to quilt and after Ann finished them, Marg would show her the next lines. It's slow going but we are in no hurry.

Quilting again

I have several quilts that need to be quilted and this one was just small enough that I figured I could quilt it and get it off the frame before Christmas.

First of all, I had to get a backing for it. This piece of fabric just about fit exactly. I'm not concerned as to whether or not the backing and the front match or are in some way co-ordinated. This is the reverse of the fabric.

I had to do a bit of fudging because there were two circular parts taken off this side so I had to cut and piece a strip. 

Now, the quilt's all stretched out and pinned in place ready to be quilted. I am thinking of putting an X through all the black squares. Hopefully, I can devote time to getting this done. I have several books on tape to keep me company. Stay tuned...

Linking up to The Needle and Thread Network and to Esther's W.I.P.

Just continuing on...

I'm still trying to get one quilt put together.

 It's slow going but I don't want to have to rip out any seams.

I have also been knitting. I decided I would knit the sleeves to Patric's sweater at one time. The back is done so once these are complete, I only have to knit the front. Hopefully, it won't take me too long. I chose this yarn because it has 25% wool and is machine washable. There were several nice variegated yarns but this is the one I thought would look like nice for a little boy.

My babies...

thirty years ago.

Happy Birthday Maili.

Finishing bit by bit

I have quite a few projects in plastic boxes and I really want to start new things. Since I am a hand quilter, it takes time but then so does sewing blocks together. I figure if I can just work on things a bit at a time, something will get finished eventually.

I'm going to try to get this quilt put together. Right now it's just in pieces and it's been in pieces for a while. If I get the top all done, at least it can be put in the waiting line of things to be hand quilted.

This was a freebie pattern from the Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan quilt store 'The Quilt Patch" called Auntie Alice. It's not big - about a lap quilt size. The pattern called for red but since I am not a red person, I dove into my navy blue scraps. The pattern also didn't dictate that I put darker squares into the 16-patch to make it directional. I just liked that idea. It's nice to be able to take a pattern and make it your own.

 I managed to sew up another block on Quilt Doodle Doodle's BOM. I think I have two more rows to complete and then the whole top will be done. I fell behind because I went to BC for a while and I am thinking of revising one of the rows.

Swaps

I don't usually go in for swaps but I have taken part in the last two mug rug swaps that were offered by the Quilting Gallery. They have a new one beginning soon and sign-ups are now until the 26th of November. Go here to sign up if you are so inclined. It's called Happy New Year Mug Rug Swap. The one that just ended was called Neighbours and Friends Mug Rug Swap.

We were to make two mug rugs each. 

The patterns were given to us (it came with the sign-up fee.) We could do what we wanted with regards to fabrics and I decided that they just needed more embroidery.

These two went to my swap partner Janelle, in Australia.

And just this week I received my mug rugs from Janelle.

There was a pattern for a butterfly but neither Janelle nor I used it. She embroidered hers and I appliqued mine - one I cut out of fabric.

Aren't they adorable together? Hand quilted too.

Janelle also sent this Christmas ornament. It has a couple of extra charms on it and will be going on my twig Christmas tree that I put up in my kitchen every year.

Enjoy - Part 2

Sorry I didn't get a chance to upload these yesterday. Here's the rest of the quilts. Sit back, grab a tea or a coffee and ENJOY!!

I love nine-patch quilts. They are so versatile and yet so very simple.

Batiks in blue.

Judy and I studied this quilt. She was the one who noticed that it was done a block at a time. It used to be called apartment style quilting because you sew up the square, layer it, quilt it and once all the squares were done, you put it together with sashing strips. Now it's called 'quilt as you go.' It's a lot of work and my friend Marg made one like it years ago and said she would never do another one like it. Years ago (25+ years) some people used wide sashing with batting in it and where four of the blocks came together, there was a poof. The poof should have been quilted down but wasn't and maybe on a bed it looked good but hanging the quilt made the construction stand out and looked a bit faulty.

I went back to take a better shot of this. Using thin sashing strips helped to make this quilt look seamless.

I loved the pattern. It looked like a variation on Jacob's ladder.

Oh look. It's Patric's Teddies. I borrowed the quilt back from Patric in September when I was in BC. I still love this quilt and it was a lot of fun to make.

 I'm sorry I didn't manage to photograph the cards on these. As you can see from the heads, it was a busy section.

 Sorry, I didn't get a photo of the blurb for this one either.

Although you can't really tell, these flowers are 3D.

Since my battery kept dying, I thought I would show part of two blocks so you could see the 3D construction.

There are some quilts we would never do and this one is one that Judy said she would never make. Me? I would never make an English paper-pieced hexagon quilt.

This is a stunning quilt.

A bit of the detail that's in this quilt.

Made by a man and it was machine appliqued - using the hem stitch. It was hard to find those stitches.

Yes, it was for sale.

I love Hawaiian quilts and I love batiks and solids.

I liked this one up close more than in this overall shot. Maybe it was all the fabrics that I liked.

It's nice to find a pattern specifically for some fabrics in one's stash.

I do like the 3D effect that one can get with just fabrics.

Wow, quilted in the ditch. That's a lot of quilting.

Oh look, another one of my quilts.

Simple but effective. Just two blocks repeated.

It's always nice to see hand quilted quilts.

I really like this pattern and it's a great one to use up all those random squares one collected years ago from swaps and from visiting quilt shows (some quilt shows used to give attendees a 'quilter's candy'.)

Judy was impressed that these were made of wool.

Too bad the quilt was so high up. It would have been nice to see the details.

A two-colour quilt.

 Looks like she persevered and it paid off. Hand quilted too.

A very modern feel to this. A great way to show off those fabrics you are finding hard to cut into.

Well, that's it for now.

I hope you liked the show.