Old & New Fabrics & a Woolly Monkey

A few weeks ago we visited my husband's aunt who lives a few hours away.  We stayed the night at her place, and she pulled out some quilts that were my husband's great-grandmother's quilts.  

These quilts were ever so carefully pieced together & were so lovely!!

These quilts were sewn with remnant fabrics and were, of course, all sewn by hand.

Quilt #1

A close-up of the quilting & some detail embroidery.

Quilt #2

I received my winning fabrics in the mail.

Here's the bundle of fabric (5 yards total) that I won from Toads U Sew.

Isn't this fabric just lovely??!!

Included with the 5 yards of fabric was also a small pattern booklet.  

I recently have been doing crocheting or knitting in the evenings while sitting beside my husband, and chatting or watching tv.

One of my evening projects: A crocheted sock monkey.

I played around with a few blocks of the black & white fabric...

Nine-patch with white/light in the corners, black in between and red in the middle.

Nine-patch with black in the corners, white/light in between and red in the middle

Disappearing 9 Patch #1

D9P #2

I'm not sure how I'll piece these blocks together: sew them together as 1 large quilt or place sashing in between the quilt blocks.

I also received my 2nd winning fabric pack: 

A Layer Cake, "Modern Workshop" by Liesl Gibson for Oliver + S which I won from Moose on the Porch Quilts 

I have many other projects to finish, so that will give me time to decide how I will use these fabrics.  

The May quilt block for Freckles Scrappy Star quilt-along.

Busy Working & Sewing

So (sew) ... I have had a busy last few weeks.

I worked a lot of shifts at my paid job at the hospital, but once home I was able to focus again on my wonderful husband and son and I also managed to get some sewing done. It feels so good to feel "caught up" - even though I still have a big list of things to sew & quilt.

Block #10 (Fresh Flower) for Moose on the Porch's "Layer Cake Quilt Along"

All 10 blocks thus far for the LCQA. I'm pretty sure I'll be using brown for the sashing.

Oh, the backing... it's going to be adorable!! I ordered some fabric that is going to used on the backing, but it will be revealed once the quilt is done. Yup, it's still a child's quilt.

The March block for the Scrappy Star quilt along, part of Calgary's Freckles Quilt Shop's Two Toonies Thursdays.

The 7 stars thus far, from September 2010 to March 2011.

I had this orange fabric sitting on the shelf what seemed forever. Actually, I bought it late last year but when I washed the cotton, I had added something dark, so the fabric stained blue patches. I had to go out and buy some more "orange" cotton fabric, but it just sat there for the longest time. Finally, I washed the fabric (didn't stain it this time) and quickly sewed this blanket together. I realized afterwards that it isn't fully rectangular, but I like the combination of the orange flannel with the yellow/orange cotton. Another baby gift ready to go...

Block-a-Palooza:

I would really have to rush it if I wanted to do the 12 blocks that are in the Block-a-Palooza quilt along, but I decided only to do 2 for now. Some of the blocks were pinwheels, but I chose these 2 b/c of the flying geese patches. I purchased a fat eighths specifically to do some of these blocks, so I just might do another 2 or 3 or 4 to make a table runner. The fabric has little Japanese blossoms printed on it - it's too cute.

Block #6 of the Block-a-Palooza

Block #3 of the Block-a-Palooza

The 2 Block-a-Palooza quilt blocks.

For Christmas, hubby gave me the Autumn Leaves Pre-fringed Quilt Kit. The leaves needed to be cut and appliqued (I've discovered I'm not really into applique). The fabric is a combination of various cottons and flannels. One thing about rag quilts is that they are very, very messy... thread shreds everywhere!!

I had laid out all the blocks for the leaves to be spaced out evenly, but somehow I messed up the blocks when sewing it all together. I didn't really realize that until the quilt was finished. Oh well, this quilt is NOT going to be pulled apart!!

Here's the quilt outside being ruffled by the wind before it got washed.

I joined another quilt-along: Birdie Stitches Block of the Month. Each month this year, there will be a new quilt block with embroidered centrepiece. This quilt-along requires 2 charm packs (which I did have) and 1 yard of fabric for the centrepieces & the sashing.

My charm packs: Bliss by Bonnie & Camille for Moda Fabrics.

White fabric for centrepiece: Kona white

January 2011 Birdie Stitches Block

February 2011 Birdie Stitches Block

The 2 blocks so far...

And here are some sneek peeks...

A quilt I recently finished.

A quilt I'm working on. Free motion is a learning curve.

I'm back to work tomorrow... it'll be a crazy work week, so that means no sewing for me, but perhaps I'll get some embroidery done for my 3rd (March) Birdie Stitches block.

December Sewing Projects

Two more days & 2010 will be done & over with... it's incredible how time flies!

I didn't do too much sewing this month as we were busy with work and Christmas. C'est la vie.

This is the December star for the monthly Sawtooth Star Sampler (Two Toonies Thursday) sold at Freckles Quilt Shop here in Calgary. I am loving these stars so far!

The 4 sawtooth stars:

Block #4 for the Layer Cake Quilt Along using Lollipops fabric.

The 4 blocks of the LCQA.

I also bought some flannel & knotted flannel panels together for baby gifts.

Happy New Year Everyone!

My First Quilt Block

The 2nd Thursday of each month, Freckles Quilt Shop (in Calgary) presents a quilt block that sells for $4 ("Two Xs Toonie Thursday"). The proceeds are donated to schools' lunch programs.

I decided to try my first quilt block. I discovered that Freckles' Two Xs Toonie Thursday quilt block is the same pattern from September to August but the colours vary per month. I guess I'll just have to do a table runner with the 3 blocks that I'll make; in September, I can start working on the next series of Two Xs Toonie Thursday quilt blocks!

This was my first quilt block, which I think is very nice. It measures ~10"x10"