Friday Night Sew In was…Sew In

I felt really productive last night.  Little bits of this and that but it adds up to a lot!  First, I finished thirty of these blocks for DD # 3’s quilt.  I had started them earlier in the week but ran out of pieces and had to cut more, which I did on Thursday evening in preparation.  130 blocks finished and only 65 left to go.

Next up is my November Christmas Block Swap block, finally finished.  I’m only showing a side view of this to keep my swap partner in suspense.

Then I made the label for this quilt which we are raffling today at our local craft sale.  I was there most of the morning and already spent $100 – have to go back at 4 p.m. for the raffle draw and I’ll probably spend more!!!

Then I made these three blocks for a new quilt that I have been itching to start. 

My plan is to make a quilt based on the setting in this small quilt that I made a while back. 

I will need seven blocks in each colour and I know already that I don’t have enough yellows and oranges in my string scrap basket.  I may have to cut into yardage (gasp!).    I thought it was Freudian that I started with the red blocks – I love red, as you know if you’ve looked at my blog.  When I see those red blocks together I almost think I should just make an all red quilt!  Not enough red strings though.

And finally here are my postage stamp leader/ender blocks from last night.  I now have more than 450 of these blocks.  Another 100 or so and I’ll start putting them together into a quilt top.

A very successful Friday Night Sew In!

Janet

Thursday thinking

Em at Em Celebrates posts a Thursday thought.  I like this idea and am going to try it for a while.  Em has one of my favourite blogs with lots of good cheer and exciting happy quilts.  So I am going to emulate her in hopes some of that niceness will rub off.

Today I want to tell you about this quilt.

This quilt resides on my bed and has done so for about twenty years.  Here’s the story behind this quilt.

For twenty years I was a volunteer ambulance attendant in my small town.  The ambulance here is all volunteers – people get paid for going on a call but the dedication of being on call, ready and available to go is all voluntary.  I went on hundreds, probably thousands, of calls.  We had people with chronic illness, drunks who fell down, women in labour, hurt children, accidents, suicide attempts, heart attacks and more.  I got called away on Canada Day, during Thanksgiving dinner, on New Year’s Eve, at 2 in the morning and 4 in the morning and all the other hours of the day.  Some of the calls were funny, many were tragic.  A few times I felt that I helped save a life.  Much of the time I didn’t know what had transpired after we left the hospital.

One of the highways that runs through my town goes from a town on the Alaskan panhandle to Whitehorse.  Cruise ships come into the Alaskan town all summer and lots of tourists get off the boat and on a bus to go on some other adventure.  Those buses are a constant fixture on our highway in the summer.  They drive us crazy when they motor through our small town at 5 km an hour spewing their exhaust.  Then the tourists wander all over the road taking pictures and you have to play “dodge the tourist” to get to the post office or library or health centre. 

One summer day I got called out to an accident on the highway about thirty km toward Alaska.  I don’t remember the details of this call except that it was a motorcyclist and he was hurt.  First on the scene was a tour bus.  Someone on that bus had covered the motorcyclist with the purple quilt to keep him warm.  We took the man to the hospital in Whitehorse and when we left with our equipment the quilt was there amongst our other stuff.  I made some attempts to try and figure out who the quilt had come from but it was too vague; some tourist on some tour bus that went by on this certain day.  So I kept the quilt and put it on my bed.  It has stains and paint and cuts up one side where my youngest decided to learn how to use scissors. 

It is not a beautiful quilt anymore but it has been a lovely quilt.  I would never have chosen those colours but they are soft and beautiful.  The construction appears to be quilted blocks that were hand sewn together.  I wonder if the quilter was working on it while on the cruise ship.  I wonder who the quilter was, where he/she came from, if they minded the loss of this quilt. 

If you read this and recognize this quilt please let me know.  I won’t give it back but I certainly will thank you.

Janet

Looking for help with the hexies!

DD # 2 is whipping these hexies up so quickly that I have to start thinking about how I am going to join them together.  I have 39 hexies so far and I’m pretty sure I don’t have all she’s done yet.  When I called her today on Skype she was busy ironing fabric for the next set of hexies she’ll work on when she goes on shift tomorrow.  In case you are wondering she is on shift 24 hour days for two or three days.  She works outside of St John’s so stays at the provided apartment when working.  There is inevitably some down time and she keeps busy instead of just lying back and watching tv.  A true crafter at heart!

So here are a couple of photos of two different sets; one portrays the flowers joined by hexies, the other shows the flowers joined by strips.  I’m not sure how one would do that setting but ….  I am also showing them with a white background and a green background (I wouldn’t use these green dots – but the fabric is representational). 

What I want to know: 

Your favourite setting.  And if you have suggestions for a setting I haven’t thought of.

Colours.  Light or dark?  Any particular colour way?  The hexies shown here are representative of the colours of the hexies.  There are a few that I haven’t shown and there are lots that have duplicates or triplicates. 

Thanks for letting me know what you think.

Janet

I’m a winner!

I can hardly believe it!  I’ve won seven giveaways over the past couple of months.  Some of them are taking a long time to get here but I have received three of them and I want to show them off. 

First up, I won this prize during Friday Night Sew In.  Heidi is one of the hostesses.  (no gender neutrality here!)  Because she was in the middle of a move she was slow with the mail out and sent me a bonus gift to make up for it.  I won a Bliss charm pack and she made me this lovely appliqued tea towel!  Lucky me!  Thanks so much Heidi.

I won three prizes in the Fall into Fall giveaway.  I wanted to participate in this one by having a giveaway but missed the deadline to do that so I made up for it by entering as many of the other giveaways as I could. 

First win was from Thearica.  She sent me sooo many things and they are lovely!  A BIG thank-you to you Thearica.

Yarn, two batik fabrics, a pattern book, thread, and lots of buttons.  Here’s a close up of the buttons…so cute.

And a couple of cute shelf sitters…

My second win in the Fall into Fall Giveaways was from Leslie.  She knows I love bright colours and I was so thrilled to win her giveaway of these beautiful bright oranges and related fall fabrics.  She also sent me a book of Judy Murrah designs.  I have another book by Judy Murrah which I use all the time.  Hope to find some inspiration in this one as well.  And I LOVE the fabric.  I’ve used some of it already in my grandkid’s Halloween bags.  Thank you Leslie!

In other news I have received installment # 3 of hexies from DD # 2.  This girl is on a roll!!!  I am going to have to start thinking about how I’m going to set these beauties.

And here is DD # 1 with her doll.  She ended up so cute and I’m really pleased with her, except that I’m going to modify her head/hat sometime in the future so the hat is removable. 

A couple of beauties!!

Janet

Christmas Quilt Along

Today I participated in the Christmas Quilt Along hosted by Quilt Sue at Quilt Times.  I have to confess I spent most of the day working on this

It is for DD # 1 whose birthday is next week.  The family are all coming for dinner tomorrow.  This is a pattern from Volume 8 Number 11 of Australian Country Threads.  I followed it pretty closely but now that I’ve made it once I know what I would do differently next time.  Like make the hat a separate piece so that the doll can have different costumes for different occasions.  (I’m thinking about when DD # 1 graduates in a year from now and how cute this doll would look in a graduation cap and gown.  I’ll have to see if I can do a modification of the head and hat.)

I have been working in the evenings on a couple of hand sewing projects for Christmas swaps.  This is for my November block for the Christmas Quilting Block swap…

The pattern is by Cyndi from Stitch, Stitch, Stitch

And this is for my Secret Santa swap…

Gotta go sew!

Janet

Remembrance Day

Today I have been thinking about my mom, my uncle and my aunt, my mother’s first husband who died in WW II and my husband’s cousin who has served three terms in Afghanistan.   Also about my Austrian relatives, people who I don’t know, Austrian Jews who probably didn’t survive the war.  Susan do you have any information?

Janet

The goat is travelling

I’m one of the secret sisters of the travelling goat.  This is a very secret club in which goats are flying around the world and having interesting experiences before they return home.  All the sisters are going to have global influence….in any future goat escapades!!!

My goat will leave tomorrow morning by dog team (aka Canada Post).  Today the huskies are chowing down on salmon to get their strength up for the long trip tomorrow.  My goat is going all the way to Maria in Australia.  How will the huskies get over the ocean you ask??? Why they meet up with Santa’s reindeer who run that leg of the journey.  Then I believe there is some kind of kangaroo express…..  Maybe this should be the sisterhood of the travelling reindeer or the travelling kangaroos! 

I forgot to take a picture of my goat before s/he left… but as a reminder of him/her I have this little goat waiting here for her sibling to come back home….

Let me tell you about goats.  I knew I had some wool fabric but couldn’t find it anywhere.  My friend Dahn and I drove over the snowy mountain pass (in her all wheel drive, fully equipped vehicle) to Alaska yesterday where we raided the quilt shop and I bought wools.  (How many of you make a trip to another country for a shopping spree in a town where there are only three stores open and the only restaurant closes at 2 p.m.?)  

This morning I had a moment of clarity and remembered where I had stored my wool fabric twenty years ago when I last used it.  Now I have lots of wool.  The piece that Lucy is resting on above is a small remnant of a Hudson Bay blanket that DH and I were given for a wedding present.  There was a fire 6 months after our wedding and we lost everything we owned.  This scrap of the blanket managed to escape and I kept it thinking I’d make something out of it.  Hudson Bay blankets are beautiful and warm.

I also found this dress that I made for myself at least 30 years ago…

Whatever was I thinking?  What will I do with it now???

While we’re on the vintage theme – here is the second instalment of hexies from DD # 2.  They arrived in the mail yesterday!  What a fabulous job she is doing!

Happy travelling, goat!

Janet

All Hallows Eve

We had the grandkids overnight so that the big kids could go out and play…

The alien, the trapper with his beaver, a fisherman, a Dutch fan from the World Cup (with a real vuvuzela).  DD # 3 is a rocket and DD # 1 is a bunch of grapes.  Neither of them were finished dressing when the pic was taken.

We took the grandchildren to a friend’s house for a pumpkin carving contest.

The finished pumpkins…..DH won the prize with the second pumpkin from the left….

 

Today I whipped up bags (literally the fastest bags I’ve ever made) for Ella and Declan to take out trick or treating…

They’ve gone home for the festivities.  Granddaughter is going to be a cat, grandson Batman.

Happy Halloween!!!

Janet

Blogger’s Quilt Festival

I am entering this quilt for the festival…

I chose this quilt because:

1) I just finished it

2) I really like it

3) I learned some things while making it.

I didn’t make this quilt on my own.  It was a collaborative effort by my local little quilt group.  Linda H., Francine, Diane and I all worked on the layout.  Francine organized the blocks for sewing.  Linda P. did all the piecing.  I matched seams and pinned rows – I take responsibility for all the corners that don’t match.  Diane and I squared it up, measured for the borders and pinned them on.  Linda P. sewed them on.  I did the straight line quilting (again I take responsibility for some of the lines being wonky.  And I did the binding.  This quilt is going to be raffled to make money to buy a couple of sewing machines for our group.  The older ladies all have machines but there are a few teens who come out and they don’t have machines.

The fabrics for this quilt all came out of my stash, but they were all hand me down fabrics from others.  When my friend Dahn got new dye materials in late summer and destashed a lot of her old fabric to me there was a pile of 5 inch squares.  Here they are in this quilt.  The backing fabric came from another friend.  Kim, who doesn’t sew and doesn’t own a sewing machine, decided she was going to make wrap around skirts for an abortion clinic.  She bought yard and yards of material.  Ten years later, when she was cleaning out her garage, she gifted it all to me.

What did I learn? 

I learned that a simple quilt can be beautiful.  I gravitate toward complicated  patterns, tiny pieces and other things that take time. 

I learned that every fabric has it’s place.  I couldn’t see how that green and white fabric was going to fit in this quilt.  Then we used it for the border and ahhh…..it was perfect.

I learned that it is possible to use nothing but stash fabrics in a quilt.  (I will use any excuse to BUY fabric.)

More pictures.  It was dull and grey out so the light wasn’t the best, but now it’s a raging snowstorm so I got the pictures just in time!

I see a stray thread….

Please click on the Blogger’s Quilt Festival button on my sidebar to see all the quilts.

Janet

Bonanza!

I’ve had a bit of a mail bonanza lately so there are a few items I’d like to show…

First up are my brown bag fabrics received from Leslie.  The brown bag contest has rules….use 90% of the 2 yards of fabric gifted, add any amount you like from your stash and can add one new piece.  Make something by March 2011.  I like the fabrics Leslie sent. She thought they might go well with my sailboat…. I’ve got ideas but nothing started yet.

Next is this block received from Heather in Nova Scotia.  Heather doesn’t have a blog but she was my swap partner for my first month in the Christmas block swap. I asked for wonky stars in Christmas fabrics on a snowy background.   This one is a beauty – if they are all this nice I’m going to be a happy girl!  I can’t show what I made her because she hasn’t received it yet.

Then I got the first instalment of completed hexies from DD # 2.  They are looking great!

I received this lovely pincushion and a few other goodies in the scrappy pincushion swap.  These goodies came all the way from Fiona in Ireland.  I`ve named this pincushion Goldie and the Bear.  I love it!  Below it is the one I sent out to Jeni.

 

And last but not least I received this postcard.  Sometime ago I sewed a couple of blocks to donate to this quilt for Errick who has cancer.  The quilt was made by Lucia and she was overwhelmed with donations.  She ended up making a quilt  for Errick, potholders, a zippered bag, a book showing the process and a mini quilt for his son.  What a labour of love.  Then she sent us all this thank-you note.  What a treasure!

I’ve been busy working on this quilt with the ladies from my hometown crafting group.  It’s going to be raffled off to raise some money for our group.  We get to use our local community club in exchange for cleaning it twice a month.  Lots of floor space to lay things out on = lots of floors to clean!  

Have to go and quilt this puppy now!

Janet

A slow week

It’s been a slow week around here.  The weather is snowy, rainy, cold and very much like winter.  I put my car in the ditch going to work yesterday.   I have studded tires and AWD and I NEVER have traction issues, but I got a flat tire and the road was glare ice.  Other than the flat tire and some gravel in the brakes there was no damage to me or my car, but while DH and I were there changing the tire one of my neighbours rolled his brand new SUV in the same spot.  He had his wife, two children and dog in the vehicle.  Thank God they only had scrapes and bruises, but the vehicle was very smashed up.  The daughter (about 12 years old) commented when I arrived at the vehicle – “seat belts DO work!”  Then a third car went into the ditch, right side up and right way around in the same area.  Needless to say I was shook up and when we finally got things sorted out about noon I had long given up any plans to go to work. The highway crews hadn’t been out – they thought since it was only –2 it wouldn’t be icy!!

I haven’t done much sewing in the last few days -regrouping after finishing the quilt I guess.  I did make this trio of hot pads (or coasters) from my pile of little scraps.  My LQS saves them for me for the postage stamp quilt but I have so many, sometimes I just have to play.  These really are square although they look wonky in the first two pictures.  I’ve given all three away already….but I have enough little scraps in these colours left to make one for myself.

I am participating in Friday Night Sew In this week – haven’t yet decided what to work on – and on Saturday my local “craft” group is having an all day get together.  I guess I’ll get back on board with sewing then.

Peg, from Pieces on my Mind and I did a swap of some vegies.  I sent her a lettuce and tomato salad and she sent me these two lovely oranges, carrots and pumpkins!  I’m thrilled as I didn’t have any orange vegies in my original line up!  Good for Vitamin A you know…..and C as well….

She also sent me a FQ each of these cute quilting themed fabrics!  I’m sure to think of something fun to do with them.  Thanks so much Peg!

And on a final note – thanks for all the loving comments on my quilt.  I do love how it turned out.  There were two ladies, Peg and Lesley (Canadians of course), who braved answering the quiz about the provincial tartan.  They were both right although Peg waffled a bit on which province.  It was Nova Scotia…

• The Nova Scotia tartan was the first provincial tartan in Canada.
• Tartan reflects the important contribution of the Scots to the founding of Nova Scotia.
• The very name Nova Scotia is Latin for New Scotland.
• The tartan was originally designed in 1953 for the agricultural exhibition in Truro. It was officially adopted by the province in 1955.
• The blue and white in the tartan stand for the sea, the greens represent the forests, red is for the royal lion on the Shield of Arms, and gold for the province's historic Royal Charter.

Peg picked the right fabric but wondered if it was the Yukon’s tartan.  She opined that the Yukon isn’t a province ….our “premier” (head of the legislative assembly) thinks the Yukon is a province :)   This is our tartan…

The Yukon tartan is a recent and non-traditional addition to the world's official tartans. The woven cloth is composed of green, dark blue, magenta, yellow and white stripes in varying widths on a light blue background.

The crystalline blue background represents Yukon's sky and the green symbolizes the territory's forests. White symbolizes snow and yellow suggest Yukon's gold. Magenta is the colour of fireweed, Yukon's floral emblem, and dark blue represents the mountains.

There are prizes in the mail for both of you.  Congratulations on your Canadiana knowledge.

Janet