Sew Sundays – And to all a good night! – Sunday, December 16, 2018

I am proud (and relieved) to announce I have completed all my projects to earn my PHD for 2018!  I completed all 12 chosen at the beginning of the challenge, and all projects I started in 2018.  Whew!

I haven’t kept up with the blogging, but that’s been more a case of picking my priorities.  2018 has been a year of numerous and significant changes for my family.  With my father’s passing, my aunt’s passing, and both of my sons moving out to start their lives on their own, each change introduced adjustments that needed to be digested, and along with that, unplanned tasks which needed to get done.  During the last half of this year I increasingly felt further and further behind in my plan to accomplish my PHD.

While this challenge has been a fun experience (and an excellent idea, Gail!), it ended up being more stressful for me than therapeutic.  In some cases I held tight to the saying that “finished is better than perfect” because of it.

But still, I’m glad I took on the challenge.  I have learned a great deal from it and sincerely appreciate the experience.  Thanks to my cousin, Gail for putting out this challenge!

And now – on to the eye candy!

PHD #3 – Feathered Star quilt

While I did announce in my Oct 14 post that this was completed, I didn’t share pictures.  This was a fun quilt to do and interestingly, I didn’t notice a mistake I had made in the piecing until I got to the quilting step.  I won’t point it out to you, because no one will ever see it unless they are looking…

PHD #6:  Away in a Manger quilt

If anyone is looking for a piecing pattern that enables great opportunity for FMQ fun without being intimidating, this pattern is a candidate.  While the piecing is simple, the FMQ was a blast.  I took the time to get really detailed in the corners and setting triangles.

 

And finally, PHD #7 – O Holy Night quilt

This quilt is a pattern of my own design – or at least to the best of my knowledge.  I wanted to make stars, and wanted to make flying geese and pinwheels.  I couldn’t find what I was looking for, sew…I made this up.  I’m pleased.

I bought this fabric last Christmas and intended to make a Christmas quilt with softer colours, and little contrast.  The stars actually show in the pictures better than in person – the colours are soft and subtle, exactly as I had intended.  I will be making this pattern again – I really, really like it!  However, the quilting on the next one will be very different.  I will outline the stars @1/4″ and the rest of the quilt will be an all over, uncomplicated quilting.  That will help make the stars stand out better and besides, hardly any of the quilting can be seen because of the pattern on the fabric.  I hope you enjoy it!

 

Summary of my PHD list (12/12 Done):

1. DONE – Dresden quilt – started Aug 2016 (May 21, 2018 post)
2. DONE –Autumn leaves quilt – August 2018 (Oct 14, 2018 post)
3. DONE – Feathered star quilt – (Dec 16, 2018 post)
4. DONE – Delectable Mountains quilt – (Oct 14, 2018 post)
5. DONE – Little Girl quilt – Jan 2018, gifted March 4, 2018
6. DONE – Christmas quilt #2 – “Away in a Manger” – Nov 2018 (Dec 16, 2018 post)
7. DONE – Christmas quilt #3 -“O Holy Night” – Dec 2018 (Dec 16, 2018 post)
8. DONE – Winnie the Pooh baby quilt – (Jan 14, 2018 post)
9. DONE – Bibs baby quilt – (Mar 18, 2018 post)
10. DONE – Lewe the Ewe baby quilt – (Jan 14, 2018 post)
11. DONE – Heros – (July 8, 2018 post)
12. DONE – Blues quilt – (Apr 8, 2018 post)

 

Although there is another PHD challenge already announced for 2019, I won’t be participating – mostly because I don’t have enough PHDs.  😉

I have, however, set my own challenge for myself in 2019.  I have challenged myself to use up scraps and stash – only buying backing and background fabric where absolutely necessary.  When I began quilting, I learned quickly to be cautious of the 2 pitfalls of quilting – (1) an abundance of  stash and (2) a mound of scraps.   And a couple weeks ago when I moved to my new sewing room (after my eldest moved out), while trying to put away my scraps and stash in my new space, I realized that I don’t want to get more totes or shelves to store fabric or scraps!  I want to use the fabric and scraps!

 

This challenge is my personal challenge but if others want to join in I suppose I could figure out terms and conditions….however, considering I only have 2 blog followers…  lol

I will also plan to spend more time next year doing many, many smaller projects that I want to do but never have time to get to; things like table runners, placemats, covers for my sewing machines, etc.

This will likely be my last blog for 2018 so I wish you a very Merry Christmas – let it be happy, healthy, and safe – and to all, a good night.

Cheers all and enjoy your Sundays!

~ Terry ~

 

 

Sew Sundays – October 14, 2018 Playing Catchup!!

Hello my quilty friends.  Long time no..um…blog?

I know it’s been quite a while since I posted.  Life took a turn in July and it’s been difficult to keep on top of things.  I have managed to make time for quilting although even that is reduced.

I have somewhat of a backlog of updates, so without further adieu …

PHD #2 aka Autumn Leaves quilt is DONE.  I actually finished it in August.  It hasn’t been gifted yet so I will save the pictures for a future post, but suffice to say the Hunter Star pattern is now one of my favourites!  I simply adore how it looks and will be sure to make more of these in the future.

PHD #3 Feathered Star quilt:   My original idea for this quilt was to make several feathered stars with different, but complimentary, colour combinations.  The method to that madness was two-fold:

First, I would get practice making the feathered star; practice makes perfect.

Second, I would be able to see how different colour and value combinations change the look of the finished star.

After I made the second star, and was confident that it would compete with, not compliment, the first star and I realized my plan had to change course.  Coincidentally enough, during my summer Shop Hop I happened upon a copy of Eleanor Burns’ book “All Star Quilts”!  I never planned to make the variety of stars in that book, but it seemed like fate was telling me something.

And then fate told me something else…you didn’t buy enough fabric, silly.  And nope…couldn’t get more.  OK, let’s  call on my buddy, Mr. Improv.  Off to the fabric store, and many, many, MANY hours later, the flimsy is DONE!   I’m rather impressed with myself.  It was a great learning experience.  I will make more feathered stars in the future, but best of all – now that I have an actual pattern to follow, I’ll know how much fabric to buy!!

Sew…are you waiting for pictures?

I’m such a tease!  Well, I’ll give you one and make you wait for more…but not too long, cuz this baby is basted and ready for quilting.  Whoop Whoop!

PHD #4 Delectable Mountains Quilt is DONE! “Mountain View” was just finished this week.

This labour of love tenacity was one that was taken apart and restarted.  I’m happy with the results but really struggled with quilting the actual mountains.  I wanted to  accentuate the mountains, but in the end I wasn’t successful at that goal.

 

PHD #6 Christmas quilt #2 is ready for quilting.  Don’t be too impressed at my progress…this one has been ready for quilting since January.

Pics?  Nope…I gotta give you some reason to come back to my blog!

And …not on my PHD list, but part of the PHD requirements (finish what you start) is a wee quilt for someone who loves cats.  I happened upon this fabric in June and couldn’t resist.  And then to make it even cuter, I found this cute mouse fabric to use for the backing!

“Purrfection” is ready for gifting.

Finally…I need your help!

I will be ready to start piecing my last PHD quilt soon.  But, I can’t decide on a pattern.  It’s a Christmas quilt, and I know I want to do stars, preferably the kind which require flying geese.

Do you have any patterns that might work, especially one which you enjoyed making?  I’d love to hear from you!!

Summary of my PHD list (9/12 Done):

1. DONE – Dresden quilt – started Aug 2016 (May 21, 2018 post)
2. DONE – Autumn leaves quilt – August 2018
3. Feathered star quilt – Ready to FMQ
4. DONE – Delectable Mountains quilt – October 2018 
5. DONE – Little Girl quilt – Jan 2018, gifted March 4, 2018
6. Christmas quilt #2 – Ready to FMQ
7. Christmas quilt #3 – Looking for pattern suggestions!  🙂
8. DONE – Winnie the Pooh baby quilt – (Jan 14, 2018 post)
9. DONE – Bibs baby quilt – (Mar 18, 2018 post)
10. DONE – Lewe the Ewe baby quilt – (Jan 14 post)
11. DONE – Heros – July 2018
12. DONE – Blues quilt – (Apr 8, 2018 post)

Cheers to all and I hope you Spend your Sundays Sewing!

Terry

 

 

 

 

Sew Sunday Jul 8, 2018 – Is Reverse progress still progress?

What happens to this

when you put it down for several months??

My cousin Gail, of Gail’s Quilts, wrote a blog about why a project becomes a UFO. It’s a great post so be sure to read it if you haven’t already! She effectively captured a couple of (internal) conversations I’ve had with the “Autumn Leaves” quilt (my PHD #2), but even more apply to my PHD #4!

As of earlier this year, PHD #4 only needed to be sandwiched and quilted. Borders were on and backing was purchased.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture of the flimsy with the borders on it. But it was the borders which were holding me back. At the time the flimsy was ready for borders, I got lazy and decided to pull something from my stash (which believe me can hardly be called a “stash”…it is EXTREMELY limited). Sew…I pulled black for a 2 1/2″ inner border and a strong yellow/gold for a wide (5 or 6”) outer border. I should have known I was in trouble when I did that, because picking a backing was even more difficult. I ended up buying some discounted backing from my LQS which was a black and white graphic pattern. Seriously…my choices went from bad to worse. It was quickly turning into a quilt that I was focusing on “getting done” rather than enjoying. And I knew that if I proceeded it would turn into a quilt which I would not want to gift to anyone.

Sew, I bit the bullet and removed the black and gold borders. Yup – If I’m gonna do it, I’m gonna do it right! I will provide more updates in future posts but for now, suffice to say my shoulders are already lighter!

After I spent an evening re-watching some Outlander episodes, and unsewing the borders on PHD#4, I picked up the Autumn Leaves quilt. It took me an entire evening (like … 4 or more hours) to figure out what the overall plan was, what I had done, what fabric was supposed to be used where, and where I needed to pick up. The next evening…I started up where I had left off. But…something was nagging…

I took a couple pictures with my phone and thought of the intended recipient and realized – it doesn’t work. It’s not right for the recipient’s personality.

Sew….Yup….I did it again! This time – every—-single—-block was entirely unsewn. And now this…

looks like this!!

And I couldn’t be happier! It’s a much better fit. It was well worth the effort.

Sew…my lesson with this experience…”Done” is not necessarily better than “perfect”.

And…not to make this post too long, but I would be neglectful if I didn’t post the fact that I actually did get one quilt done-done-done. PHD #11 is a quilt I had planned for my son, Adam. During my first year of quilting I (of course) made quilts for all of my children for their birthdays. When it came to Adam, I was rushed for time and ran out of materials so I made him a “lap” quilt instead of a bed quilt. Given he’s 6’3″, the lap quilt barely covers his thighs. Always reminded me of Dr. Seuss’ Ned and his little bed…

Sew…SURPRISE! Adam’s new BED-SIZED quilt, called “Heros” is done!

Summary of my PHD list (7/12 Done):

1. DONE – Dresden quilt – started Aug 2016 (May 21, 2018 post)
2. Autumn leaves quilt – flimsy done, ripped apart – flimsy done – progress this period
3. Feathered star quilt – one block made Sep 2017 – no progress this period
4. Delectable Mountains quilt – ready to sandwich – Reverse progress this period
5. DONE – Little Girl quilt – Jan 2018, gifted March 4, 2018
6. Christmas quilt #2 – ready to sandwich – no progress this period
7. Christmas quilt #3 – fabric purchased, pattern pending – no progress this period
8. DONE – Winnie the Pooh baby quilt – (Jan 14, 2018 post)
9. DONE – Bibs baby quilt – (Mar 18, 2018 post)
10. DONE – Lewe the Ewe baby quilt – (Jan 14 post)
11. DONE – Secret quilt – For my Son, Adam – (Jul 8, 2018 Post)
12. DONE – Blues quilt – (Apr 8, 2018 post)

Cheers all and I hope you enjoy your Sunday sewing!

Terry

Sew Sundays – July (seriously? It’s July?) – July 1, 2018

Happy Sunday!

I have to confess – I found this post in my drafts – and it was originally titled “June (seriously?  It’s almost June?)”.  Just goes to show how easily time passes when you’re not watching.

Sew, June is almost over, and the merry month of May before it is also done.  How the months are flying.  I sure do hope summer falls on a weekend this year.

I have another finish to share.  The second quilt which I added to my to-do list.  This one is made as a trade with a friend who will be installing the backsplash in my new kitchen.  He wanted a quilt for his new grandson, and wanted to celebrate his favourite team (Toronto Maple Leafs)…I guess he figures it’s never too early to start imposing a grandfather’s influence.

 

I hope you enjoyed the video I shared last in my last post.  This week I’m sharing the wonderful Angela Walters.  All of her videos are such a treat – her personality is fresh and fun, inspiring but not intimidating.  I have her Shape by Shape books (1 and 2) and use them as my main references when I get Quilters Paralysis (that is, every time I set out to start quilting a new quilt!)

It’s pretty hard to pick a favourite from her portfolio of videos, but I’ve chosen her video on the “Swirl Chain“.  It’s a FMQ design that I’m attempting on my current project.  I will share the results when I’m finished with that project.

And finally, Melva, of melvalovesscraps has been doing a series of blog posts on family members who quilt called Quilters – Through the Generations.  Last week she featured my cousin, Gail (Quilting Gail).  This week she has featured my story.  Be sure to jump over to Melva’s blog and look at all the stories.

Summary of my PHD list (6/12 Done):

1. DONE – Dresden quilt – started Aug 2016 (May 21 post)
2. Autumn leaves quilt – flimsy in progress – no progress this period
3. Feathered star quilt – one block made Sep 2017 – no progress this period
4. Delectable Mountains quilt – removed the borders that were on it.  They were just “wrong”.  Now I have a new plan and am  looking forward to picking up this project again
5. DONE – Little Girl quilt – Jan 2018, gifted March 4, 2018
6. Christmas quilt #2 – ready to sandwich – no progress this period
7. Christmas quilt #3 – fabric purchased, pattern pending – no progress this period
8. DONE – Winnie the Pooh baby quilt – (Jan 14 post)
9. DONE – Bibs baby quilt – (Mar 18 post)
10. DONE – Lewe the Ewe baby quilt – (Jan 14 post)
11. Secret quilt – pattern: Alter-ego – FMQ now in progress 
12. DONE – Blues quilt – (Apr 8 post)

Cheers all and enjoy your Sunday!

~ Link ups ~

Karen – Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats

Gail – Quilting Gail

Ann – Laughing Gas Quilts

Rashida – no3quiltstudio

Stephanie – Lowcountry Quilts and Embroidery

Melva – Melva Loves Scraps

 

Sew Sundays – May 27, 2018 A Mixed Bag this week

Oh sew much to share this week!

1.  Let’s start with – A finish! I finished the Jacob’s Ladder quilt. It’s not on my PHD list but since one of the rules to get my PHD is that any quilts started must be finished, it counts. I enjoyed this pattern. It was simple and fast and fun to do.

2.  Last week I shared the finished Dresden quilt. What I didn’t mention was my learning from that one…the danger of blue chalk…

I don’t do much marking when I’m quilting but when I do I usually use blue chalk. This time though the chalk didn’t fully come out in the wash. Yikes! I’m not sure if washing it again and/or using stain remover might help.  If you have experienced, and resolved, this problem I would love to know.

3.  A special visit…

My cousin Gail (Quilting Gail) and her darling hubby popped in for a visit.  Gail lives in BC and I’m in Ontario so its always a special treat when there is an opportunity to be able to connect in person.

She came with a hug from Ann (of Laughing Gas Quilts), so Ann, I wanted to assure you the hug delivery was received.

4.  Thinking about which PHD project to pick up next…

Difficult choice there – do I go for the one that will be a fast finish, or the one that challenges me bit and takes all my concentration?  Do I pick another one that just needs some quilting, or is it time to take a break and do some piecing?

Hmmm…we will have to see – I know I won’t be picking up the Christmas quilts; tis not the season (yet).

5.  And lastly, I will on occasion, share some of my favourite videos. The video this week is the video that broke the barrier for me when it comes to feathers. Since watching this video I have become fearless about feathers.

I don’t do bump back feathers, or traditional feathers. Mine are spineless (lol) and organic. They flow freely and I love sewing them!  I feel my feathers are in some ways my signature (I guess everyone’s fmq is actually) and pretty much every quilt I make has some.

Enough about me though…this is meant to give credit where its due – Thank you Quilting with Jeanne.  Let me know your thoughts on this video lesson.

Summary of my PHD list (6/12 Done):

1. Dresden quilt – DONE- started Aug 2016 (May 21 post)
2. Autumn leaves quilt – flimsy in progress – no progress this period
3. Feathered star quilt – one block made Sep 2017 – no progress this period
4. Delectable Mountains quilt – ready to sandwich – no progress this period
5. Little Girl quilt – DONE Jan 2018, gifted March 4, 2018
6. Christmas quilt #2 – ready to sandwich – no progress this period
7. Christmas quilt #3 – fabric purchased, pattern pending – no progress this period
8. Winnie the Pooh baby quilt – DONE (Jan 14 post)
9. Bibs baby quilt -DONE (Mar 18 post)
10. Lewe the Ewe baby quilt – DONE (Jan 14 post)
11. Secret quilt – fabric purchased – pattern: Alter-ego – no progress this period
12. Blues quilt – DONE (Apr 8 post)

Cheers all and enjoy your Sunday!

Terry

~ Link ups ~
Karen – Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats
Gail – Quilting Gail
Ann – Laughing Gas Quilts
Stephanie – Lowcountry Quilts and Embroidery
Melva – Melva Loves Scraps

Sew Sundays – Where have you been? May 21, 2018

It’s been a long time since my last post – a whole month in fact!  As I mentioned in my last post I’ve been busy with renos in my kitchen.  I honestly did not realize how disruptive it would be, and not necessarily from a physical perspective (using temporary tables and cutting boards as counters, spreading the contents of my kitchen across multiple rooms – go to the living room for a knife, go to the dining room for potatoes, etc.).  It was draining from a psychological perspective – my mind would not stop running, and my body seemed to keep pace.  But now the majority of the turmoil is done.

Here’s a shot of the kitchen before:

 

And here’s after:

I’m still missing the glass doors on the new section of cupboards,  the backsplash will be a while yet, and I need to change the wall colour but, as I said, the majority of the turmoil is done., and now my sons and I can get back to the basics as far as meal prep and such.

Sew, the important question:  what has this disruption done to my quilting journey?  Slowed things down, and increased my To-Do list by 2 quilts – both at the same time!  (Not a good combination…)

#1: To thank my friend for his help with getting the new kitchen, what better than to make him a quilt ?  I chose a pattern which has been on my “gotta do this” list:  Jacob’s ladder.  Here’s a picture before the flimsy was done.  It has been quilted and the label is on.  I just need to take some pictures and then wash (and take more pictures) 🙂

I’ll do a separate blog post on this soon.

#2:  Shortly before my kitchen reno’s started, my friend’s brother asked if I would make a quilt for his new grandson.  I hesitated because I have my PHD list, and I knew that I would be very busy with the kitchen shortly, as well as the onset of spring (whenever that decided to finally arrive, and stay, in Ontario)…

However, as we started talking more, he shared some pictures of the work he did in his own kitchen – completely tearing it down and starting from scratch.  When he got to the pictures of the tiling / backsplash he did, a light bulb came on!  Sew…I made a deal…He will be installing my backsplash, and I’m making the quilt he asked for.  Fair deal, in my opinion!  I have the flimsy done and am ready to sandwich that quilt.  I’ll post pictures when it’s completed.

In the midst of all this chaos, I actually have been able to get some of my other quilting work done.  I finished one quilt off my PHD list.  (In case you’re counting, that’s 1 PHD, 1 quilt start to finish, and 1 flimsy since Apr 21).

PHD #1 – The infamous Dresden quilt.  Done.  In my April 21 post I mentioned that I wasn’t happy with the quilting I did in the centre block.  But, now that I’ve been able to step away from it, I like it.  It is still not what I had intended, and I was looking forward to stretching myself with the plan I had for that block (I mean, how often do you get the chance to quilt a 22″ square blank canvas?), but I’m ok with the results.

Summary of my PHD list (6/12 Done):

1. Dresden quilt – DONE- started Aug 2016 (May 21 post)
2. Autumn leaves quilt – flimsy in progress – no progress this period
3. Feathered star quilt – one block made Sep 2017 – no progress this period
4. Delectable Mountains quilt – ready to sandwich – no progress this period
5. Little Girl quilt – DONE Jan 2018, gifted March 4, 2018
6. Christmas quilt #2 – ready to sandwich – no progress this period
7. Christmas quilt #3 – fabric purchased, pattern pending – no progress this period
8. Winnie the Pooh baby quilt – DONE (Jan 14 post)
9. Bibs baby quilt -DONE (Mar 18 post)
10. Lewe the Ewe baby quilt – DONE (Jan 14 post)
11. Secret quilt – fabric purchased – pattern: Alter-ego – no progress this period
12. Blues quilt – DONE (Apr 8 post)

Cheers all and enjoy your Sunday Holiday Monday!

Terry

 

Sew Sundays – April 22, 2018 – Bizzy Week

Hi and Happy Sunday!

It’s been a busy week and I haven’t had much time in my sewing room…when I have had time I’ve simply been too exhausted to sew because I’m in the midst of a kitchen reno.  Between that and the blog hop, my week “vacation (from work)” has been filled every minute.

Still, I did get a bit of time to work on the Dresden Quilt – to see more about that quilt click here.

Things started as planned – I did an outline of the dresden a curved arch inside them.  Looking Good!!

But then, I came to the centre block…ye ol’ troublemaker!!

My lesson for the week – don’t rush to get something finished – especially if you are tired.  I had planned to do something spectacular with the centre block, but in my rush I forgot what it was and did something else.  It’s not that it’s a bit off or not precisely what I had intended — it’s waaaaay off what I had planned and I’m extremely not happy with the results.  I’ve spent a considerable amount of time oscillating between ripping it out and leaving it.  In the end I’m going to leave it not because “a finished quilt is better than a perfect quilt”, but more because I’m worried about damaging the fabric.  I will post pictures when the FMQ is done so you will see what I’m talking about.

I dunno, perhaps it’s me, but I feel like this quilt has a personality.  Does anyone else ever start to feel like they develop an actual relationship with their projects?  This one is like it has a mind of its own and is challenging me at every turn…sigh…

I need to keep this week’s blog short – I’m sure you will have enough to read come Monday and the start of week 2 of the Blog Hop!  Comments I received from the hop were very helpful and there were even some suggestions/requests for future posts.  Sew at some point, I will start organizing my thoughts for future posts.

Happy Sunday and I hope you spend some of it sewing…

Cheers

Terry

Hop along with me!

Hi, I’m Terry from Southern Ontario and thanks for stopping by my blog!

Over the years I’ve explored various crafts – some I’ve only dipped my toes in, and others I plunged in as deep as I could.  From tole painting, flower arranging (I tried to start a business and was hired to do a few weddings), paper tole (remember those 3-D pictures in frames?  Gosh…they ARE lots of fun to do!), stenciling, wood crafts, buttons, bows, ribbons, and pipe cleaners are not unfamiliar to me.  But there was always something in my way. For the most part it was usefulness.  Like really…how many flower arrangements does one person need in their home…seriously?!

I’ve always loved sewing but there too – once my children started school the only way I could get them to wear something I made was if it was Halloween…hmmm…should I be insulted?

But then it happened…my daughter informed me of the impending arrival of my first grandchild.  That was it … a baby quilt. I had made quilts for my children when I was expecting them, but at that point all I knew was to get a panel, sandwich it (I used poly, cuz I didn’t know any better), and hand stitch an outline.  Ta Da! Ya…well…not for me.  It was all I could do to make my third (and last) baby quilt. Good riddance!

But now…well, we’ve come a long way, baby!  Or at least quilting has.  My cousin, Gail (Gail’s Quilting) lives in BC and has been quilting…gosh, I don’t really know how long. All I know is that our family raves about “a quilt from Gail”.  Sew…. “Hey Gail…whaddup?!”

Yes, and before you know it, and before my grandson was born February 10, 2017 (7 months after I started quilting), I had 6 quilts completed.

Hey Kolten – what do you think of Grammie’s quilting?

What a journey it has been.  I often felt much like a sponge..soaking up as much as I could – watching videos, shows, reading blogs, reading articles…anything I could get my hands on!

This summer I am coming up to the end of my second year quilting – it seems like I’ve been doing it forever, in a good way!  I just completed my 23rd quilt (I haven’t counted any of the other smaller projects I completed, or started – zipper bags, placemats, table runners, etc.)

Here is some eye candy from my latest…

And a few others – I can’t actually say which are my favourites…

“One More Hand” – gifted to my Dad Ross McMullen March 2017

“Home Sweet Home” – gifted to my friend Lilly Bain March 2017

My quilting tip: I place a large piece of plexiglass on my sandwiched quilts and use a dry erase marker to plan what to quilt.  Then I keep the plexiglass handy so I can check back to it.   If you had to give a new quilter a “secret tip”, what would it be?

Sew – a bit more about me, outside of my quilting life…

I’m a project manager for a large insurance company and am fortunate to have the luxury (for the time being anyway) to work from home most of the time.  The commute to my office takes between 60-90 minutes and is on a major highway in Southern Ontario where I live – I’m sure my Dad started sleeping better when I started working from home.

I love music and enjoy finding not-so-well-known artists who simply amaze me!  When I’m sewing or quilting, I listen to biographies or historical documentary videos…I enjoy learning.

I have my beautiful daughter, grandson, and son-in-law (as I mentioned) and two kind and caring sons.  This photo was taken last summer (2017) and the pose is a reproduction of a photo from when my kidlets were 4, 6, and 8.  I LOVE how it turned out!

Oh – we have two cats – Rikki, a black domestic short hair who is a talker; and Bobbie, a white domestic short hair who sheds more hair than 17 cats put together!!  But he’s such a sweetie, he’s too hard to resist.

Life is good.

In the 2018 New QuiltBloggers Blog Hop I am part of hive3 – the

“>Happy Stitching Team

– along with the following ladies…take a moment to hop over and see what they are up to!

Karen – tunaquilts
Rashida – no3quiltstudio
Sherry – poweredbyquilting
Liz – savoreverystitch
Terri – meanderingsalonglizardcreek
April – jandabendquilts
Stephanie – lowcountryquiltsandembroidery

Thanks for stopping on your hop!  I would love to hear from you – you will likely be hearing from me…I’m still full of quilting questions!  Speaking of which – Do you prefer to use pre-packaged fabric/kits (which also includes fat quarter packs/layer cakes/jelly rolls, etc.) or do you prefer to select every fabric in your quilts separately?
~Cheers~!

Sew Sundays – April 8, 2018 – Double Vision, Double Focus

Hi! I’m Terry and welcome to my blog.

This summer I am coming up to the end of my second year quilting – it seems like I’ve been doing it forever, in a good way!

This year I have two areas of focus: Earning my PHD, and participating in the Blog Hop.

The first is a challenge presented by my cousin, Gail, who lives in BC. Although we grew up across the country, her inspiration and encouragement has helped me find my quilting path, and (for me) has helped to deepen our connection as well as many other connections within the family. She truly has stitched the family together.

Gail started a challenge to work on your PHD. In this case, it’s Projects Half Done.

I had been following her blog, so when I saw this challenge, it piqued my interest. But oh, no…one of the rules was you needed to have a minimum of 12 projects to complete in the year. No waaay would I, after having been quilting only about a year and a half, have that many UFOs!!

Well whaddya know…I did find 12. Poopers. Oh, I mean Yea!!! I can work on my PHD. COOL!!

My previous blog posts talk about the progress so far, so I invite you to browse through those older posts. This post I’m announcing I’ve completed my 5th of the 12 UFOs on my PHD list! Whoop Whoop!

I’ve been working on the Blues quilt. This one had already been sandwiched (for quilters I think it should actually be “sandwished”) when the PHD challenge started, so I didn’t have too much to left to do on it.

Sew…is it eye candy time yet?!

 

I’ve discovered I get bored easily when I’m FMQing…so I change things up. Maybe too much? I tend to do what I call “graffiti quilting” … a bit of whatever I feel like. But…I’m happy with the results.

One of the things I like most about this quilt is the name. I’ve been starting my blog posts with the title “Sew Sundays”. (I sew a lot on Sundays, the entire day as often as possible!) Sew, when I finished the binding and sat back to think of a name…the fabric looked very “sunny”, and there were “daisies” in it. Ta Da!! The name:

Summary of my PHD list (5/12 Done):

1. Dresden quilt – started Aug 2016; flimsy done, ready to sandwich
2. Autumn leaves quilt – flimsy in progress – no progress this period
3. Feathered star quilt – one block made Sep 2017 – no progress this period
4. Delectable Mountains quilt – ready to sandwich – no progress this period
5. Little Girl quilt – DONE Jan 2018, gifted March 4, 2018
6. Christmas quilt #2 – ready to sandwich – no progress this period
7. Christmas quilt #3 – fabric purchased, pattern pending – no progress this period
8. Winnie the Pooh baby quilt – DONE (Jan 14 post)
9. Bibs baby quilt -DONE (Mar 18 post)
10. Lewe the Ewe baby quilt – DONE (Jan 14 post)
11. Secret quilt – fabric purchased – pattern: Alter-ego – no progress this period
12. Blues quilt – DONE (Apr 8 post)

The other focus right now is participating in the 2018 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop.
Since I’m new to blogging, as well as quilting, I thought it may be a good idea to join the hop and see what else I should learn that I don’t even know I should know. The purpose of my blog is for fun! It’s a way for me to share.

I am part of hive3 along with the following ladies…take a moment to hop over and see what they are up to!
~ Link ups ~

Karen – tunaquilts
Rashida – no3quiltstudio
Sherry – poweredbyquilting
Liz – savoreverystitch
Terri – meanderingsalonglizardcreek
April – jandabendquilts
Stephanie – lowcountryquiltsandembroidery

Happy sewing and enjoy your Sunday!
~Cheers~

Terry

Sew Sunday March 24, 2018 Coasting…

Well..despite my lesson in impulse buying, there are times when I come across somethjng that simply HAS to come home with me.

These cute coaster – just needing to be sewn – fit that description.

Aren’t they ADORABLE?

These may find their way into Christmas gifts at some point but for now they were just a fun little project.

I had a busy week but did spend some time fmq one of the quilts on my PHD list and searching for 1/2 yard of fabric I need for a border on the Dresden quilt. With any luck I will have another quilt checked off my list by next Sunday.

Until then..happy quilting.