Quilters Sandwich

Today - I am pinning. Both children's zig zag quilts have to be done. Just had my machine cleaned so I hope it is going to be easy. Not really worth the expense to send it off to my long armer.

I also have to add the boarders to my nephews grad quilt. It is really quite nice with his initial all over the front in civil war fabrics. The boarder was quite the controversy. Both daughters and the lady working in the store all had different opinions. Finally we all "sort of" agreed that the navy with little taupe flecks was the best. Though no one was "overwhelmed" that this was the right choice. I personally think it is going to look GREAT. It also needs to be at the long armer ASAP. It is needed for the week after the Open house.

The Open House is a GREAT goal for finishing quilts - but there is a lot of work getting the bindings and tubes on the back in such a short time. Sewing them on by hand is the only thing I believe in. I not only love doing this stage as I find it relaxing - but it looks so much better than machine. Which is in my opinion - never quite right.

In between all of this - we are off to Oma and Opa's. It is the last chance the family can get together before the girls head off to school. Empty nest syndrome is around the corner.

Time to go and make a sandwich - or two.

Finished - off to the long armer

I finished. It took most of the day. But I finally finished the Holiday Quilt I was working on.
I totally underestimated the time it would take to put together. Why do I always do this?
I think I can sew faster than I can. I totally forget the amount of time it takes for the trimming, squaring up, cutting threads and pressing - I always seem to underestimate what can be accomplished.

Hard to believe but my 42 squares are together and the boarder is on.
I went back to purchase additional boarder fabric so I could cut it length wise.
It had little ornaments on it that were hanging from the tree - very directional.
Our youngest was working at the store, so we had lunch together when I went in to pick it up. I nice break in the day.

I got our oldest daughters to help me to finish the Pink and Green Zig Zag children's quilt. She was helping me cut and sew them together as I need them finished by the Open House on Sept 11th. I am truly running out of time. I really appreciated the help as it saved time. I think it is really quite cute for a little girls room.

Today - I am planning to pin together the 2 children's Zig Zag quilts and then quilting them. Hopefully by tonight I will be able to bind them together. But you know how my estimation of time is...........

Sewing Day

Busy Busy Sewing - trying to get the Christmas Quilt done for the store. I need 42 squares and I am presently sitting at 30. A few more to go and a border. It actually is quite easy - just a little time consuming as I am trying to go really slow so I do not have to rip out the seams. Lots of directions and doing it once - is a lot better than reverse sewing and doing it over again.

My daughter was helping out by putting the Zig Zag quilt together. She isn't very happy with it - but I have to say how cute it looks. Great for a little girls room. I said if she sewed the Rick Rack pattern - I would put the rows together.

Hopefully tomorrow - both will be done. Off to my machine........

Tooth Surgery

Sorry - I haven't posted all week - I had tooth surgery on Monday, and have not felt up to it. Mouth swollen, teeth aching, stitches and long threads inside my mouth driving me nuts.

I must not have been paying attention when I went in for my assessment as I thought it would be like filling a cavity. You would be frozen for a few hours and then everything would be back to normal. Boy was I wrong. I had grafting done on two of my teeth. 20 stitches she said.

Our daughters car broke down a couple of hours before I had to go in for surgery. We drove out and switched vehicles so she could take my car and go to her volunteer placement at the Humane Society as well as training in the city. My husband towed me back home. I then walked to my appointment it was only a few kilometers away. Initially I was going to walk home. I was really pleased that my husband called the office and arranged to come and pick me up when I was done. When I got home I crawled into bed and slept. The surgery took 1.5 hours. A long time to have your mouth open and not say a word. Thank goodness I was frozen.

Haven't felt up to sewing at all. A few errants for the family only. A couple of drives back and forth for our youngest so she could attend her orientation to college program. It was also her birthday, so we had to make sure her day was full of special surprises.

Last night we had our first "family" dinner of the summer. We went to our Dives, Dinners and Drive in joint in Hamilton.
"Hutches". Greasy fish and chips, beer and ice cream. The Kiddie cone was huge. My favourite - chocolate chip cookie dough.

I have to sew today - or I will never get my quilt done in time for the open house.
I am switching to every other Sunday afternoon shifts starting in Sept.
Committing to every Saturdays all year on my own is just too much at this stage of my life. With the girls both off at school - this seemed like the best option to stay involved with what I love yet still manage with my "real" job and its time commitments.

I am back

WOW - My only reader (my daughter) has been bugging me to start posting again. Since I only have one follower (that I know of), I felt I should honour her request as I always try to do what the kids would like.

I Just watched Corner Gas - Blog episode on the Internet. What a laugh, love love love this series. I can totally relate to the blogging episode. Watch it - and you will see the correlations.

Went off to Florida last week - looking for a winter retreat once we retire. An adventure for me. Travelling on my own, renting a car and driving around, walking into units for sale etc. I expect this independence of others but rarely of myself. But I did it.

Found a condo unit that and I liked a lot. The agent my husband lined me up with was lovely. We had a lot of fun travelling around together one afternoon.
The unit I liked was an Older unit- and it needing some work, however, it is in the middle of a community with 2 - 18 hole golf courses, club houses with dinning options, tennis courts , swimming pool, fitness facility etc. I really liked it, as it was larger than the newer more modern communities. We will wait and see as when I got back we put an offer in on it.

Went off to a couple of quilt shops in the area when I was down there as well (how could I not) . Love the Joanne Fabrics shops in Florida as they leave a flyer at the main door so you can use the 40% coupon. The Buffalo store never has this. bought some backing fabric for a couple of quilts. My Christmas quilts for the store, the pink and green rick rack as well as as the pirate quilt. The price was untouchable and the quality appears to be good. Trying to get all of this done - as the Open House for the store is in two weeks - and I will still have to quilt, bind, and put an hanging tube on the back.

Our oldest is graduating next year - and our youngest has a plan a quilt to honour this occasion. I also purchased some fabric to go with this. But I cannot post as my only reader..............might be able to figure it out. I also have finalized my idea, which is good as I can now start collecting fabrics.

Purchased a couple of patterns at Rainbows End ( my favourite Florida shop) as well as pieces of lime green and black fabric to make a quilt bag for going to guild.

Going on Vacation

Today I laid out the Pirate Quilt on my design wall. I think it is going to look really cute. I might even purchase the accompanying fabric for the back. Will wait and see when it is finally sewn together, if I am going to invest the extra money and do this. I usually try to purchase good fabric for the back, but it is usually in neutrals. I also like doing this as you are able to see the quilting better when finished. The accompanying fabric in this case is a little busier, but could be used on either side.

My daughter and husband made me my design wall many years ago when I first started quilting. It was a Christmas gift. They made it together and it has followed us through 2 houses. It is absolutely something I could not live without. It really helps you to see the final product before you sew it together. You also have the advantage of leaving it out as it is up and out of the way. Lots of time to thinking about it, and get others opinions. The floor was good, but the wall allows you to take a step back and see balance and flow. It really was a special gift.

Our oldest daughter is going to try and get four squares together for a Christmas Table Runner for the store. It is a little paper pieced star of sorts. She is going to substitute some of the fabric that I purchased as she doesn't think it has enough "yellow" in the neutral. She really has a wonderful sense of colour and balance. A lot of customers come in the store just to see her and get her advise.

Hopefully when we return from vacation I will have a bit more time to finish off my some quilts. Might even have a little something to add to my stash if I am lucky.

Today I was busy working at the quilt shop. I really enjoy helping customers pick out fabrics, chatting about quilting and sharing new ideas. It really is rewarding. I truly would love to open a store one day. It is so positive and creative.

The shop was quiet from 6:00 on - so I got busy cutting up the squares for the my children's jelly roll quilts. One is for little boys using pirate fabric strips cut at 3.5" and 2" strips, the other is pink and green using 2.5 " strips. When sewn together they make a Rick Rack Pattern. It is really cute and a quick way to use up fabrics in your stash. I will post as soon as I am finished so you can have a look.

Away next week for our summer vacation. The girls will be working and hopefully have time to finish off a table runner for the store. It is paper pieced and quite pretty.

Busy working on the binding the fall jelly roll quilt for the shop. The fall colours are beautiful. I used a purple as a boarder as my sister loves this colour and my daughter picked it out thinking it looked perfect with the pattern. Not usually my colour of choice - but I really think it sets off the quilt nicely. It is a Streak of Lightening variation. Can't believe that I have just found a mistake though. Hopefully no one else will notice. I really thought I was careful as well. See if you can find it.
I was once told that no one was perfect except GOD. The Amish made quilts with an intentional mistake in it because of this belief. I do make an awful lot of "Amish" quilts if this is indeed the case.

I had so many extra pieces - that I created another quilt variation ; A little this and a little that. I just sent it off to my favourite long- arm quilter. Her workmanship is incredible. The tension is always perfect and her choice of patterns always enhances my quilts. I have never seen any of her work that it wasn't amazing.

I gave her my this and that quilt as well as my Second Jelly roll pattern for the shop. Both are variations from patterns found in the book Nickel Quilts and Nickel Quilts and More. I find the jelly roll strips a great way to speed up the process as well as using up your stash. Will post pictures once back.

Austrian Square

Today while doing errants together - My husband and I went to the sailing shop to purchase boat parts. What was to take only a "few" minutes actually ended up taking much longer. Great for me - as I sat in the car and listened to the vinyl channel 95.3 and stitched some of the embroidery for the Austrian square we purchased on our vacation last year. Nice pastel colours with lots of green stems and petals. Very relaxing and enjoyable. Lucky for me no one was around to hear the rock concert going on in the car. It was my own personal dance party.

You should note that when I was little I was part of the Sunday school choir. The church choir conductor said to me once that I should stand in the back row and mouth the words only. My voice was very "special" and should only be used for these occasions.