Belated Happy New Year 2013

Just before Christmas I had a few days in which I was really wanting to get some sewing done, so I sewed a few grey/pink/purple quilt blocks together.  I actually did 6 blocks but for some reason I only took pix of 2 of the blocks.  The blocks are different sizes ranging from 8" square to 24" square, and together will form a lovely large square quilt.  I am excited to one day finish this quilt, especially since some of the stars are so lovely.

I signed up for Heather Spence's "New Year's Day Mystery Quilt Along".

We were visiting family in Saskatchewan at the time so I got to my instructions a few days later. 

Here's the "Odds and Ends" by Moda Fabrics Jelly Roll that I ordered for this quilt.

Here is part of the NYDMQA quilt top.

At this current time, I do have the quilt finished but I will take a photo once it is quilted b/c that will really do the quilt top justice.  Initially I wasn't too sure about this quilt colours, but I now LOVE the finished quilt top!  Y'all just have to wait for the big reveal!

Chelsey, one of the participants for Heather Spence's Spring 2013 Mystery Quilt Along made a request to all participants of this quilt along: sew "Cotton Reel" blocks in specific colours & mail them in, and Chelsey will set them in a large queen size quilt.  The Spring 2013 MQ proceeds go toward little Wyatt who is battling cancer in Washington state.  Chelsey is generously going to donate this large queen size quilt to Wyatt's parents, and Wyatt will be the recipient of Chelsey's Spring quilt.  

Here is December's "Freebie 15" which is the Vintage Plates BOM done through my local quilt shop.

"Hazel Atlas"

The Hazel-Atlas glass company was a large producer of machine molded glass containers.  The company was founded in 1902 in Washington Pennsylvania.  H.A. Glass started by making glass inserts that fit inside zinc lid closures for bottles, eventually they produced much of the depression glass.  The colonial-block style was a simple kitchenware set of items complimentary to dishes.  This collection did not have a plate... and if you find a black piece you are lucky indeed as they are rare.

January 2013 Vintage Plates "Freebie 15" Block of the Month

Veronique Egg Trays

The Indiana Glass Company made egg relish or Veronique Egg Trays from golden amber, amber, and the carnival glass from the 1970s through the 1990s.  The Indians Glass Company has a very elusive past... it started in 1896 when George Brady and James Beatty formed the Beatty-Brand Glass company.  By the early 1900s they merged nineteen different glass companies into National Glass, which by 1904 became the Indiane Glass Company.  In 1907 the Indiana Glass Company was sold to a group of men after National Glass failed.  It was then officially purchased and incorporated in 1907.  The company still operates today.

Part of the instructions read "this block will test your inset [Y-]seam skills, so don't get frustated."

Don't get frustrated????????

Argh!  

This quilt block definitely test my patience & skills!!

Not one of my inset seams is perfect, but the iron has a way of flattening all sorts of quilting sins... and hopefully the finished quilted quilt will hide even more!  Just do not look too closely!  :)

(These vintage plates blocks measure 16" x 16" each.)

And finally... here's a sneak peek at the next 2 quilts of mine that are done... just awaiting binding to be finished.  I have one more finished quilt-minus-the-binding at home, but I'l buy the binding the next time I'm at my local quilt shop as they have better colours and fabrics than the chain fabric store.

Catching up...

Well, I thought with September would come plenty of time to finally catch up on my unfinished projects... but it has taken me an additional 2+ months to finally feel like I got somewhere in my sewing/quilting world!  

Funny how life simply gets so busy!

Remember this quilt?

This was my Spring 2012 Mystery Quilt.

I raffled it off for cancer, and we received $710 in donations that went toward the Canadian Cancer Society.  The winner of the quilt was Ellis V. of Lethbridge.

Congratulations, Ellis!

For the group of ladies from church that make quilts for people with cancer, I made this bag.  

The quilt top has the same design hearts on it, and I used leftover quilt fabrics to make this bag.

The bag is used to store the finished quilt.

Approximate size: 18" x 20"

I can't remember where I came across these wonky designs, but this brown quilt top is my version of someone else's quilt.  I just used some scrap fabrics.  (The colours on this pic are terrible: the colours are actually browns and some green/yellows.)

33" x 41"

 I finally finished up the last 2 blocks for Traditional Pastimes' Freebie 15 series.

"Seaweed" - September 2012
12" x 12"

"Sea Shells" - September 2012
12" x 12"

Traditional Pastimes came out with FUN COLOURS for the next year's Freebie 15 ~ YAY!!
This year we will be doing up Vintage Plates... what a fun idea... but I'm not sure how I'll display dinner plates on a bed.  (haha)  The finished quilt will be 92" square!

October's Freebie 15 Companion:

"Abbey" Vintage Plate

This romantic ruined abbey pattern first saw the light of day in the 1800s as Abbey Wreath and was made by Adams.  At the Adams bankruptcy sale in 1861 George Jones bought the printing plates for the design, but it was not until 1901 that his sons re-launched their "new" Abbey pattern.  It became hugely popular and remained in production until 1940, with many people first coming across it in the mid 1930s when the breakfast cereal Shredded Wheat offered free dishes and discounts across a range of breakfast and teaware in Abbey." 

8" x 8"

I only made one small dinner plate, but I "broke" my second dish... I started cutting the fabrics wrong, so this is what I ended up with.  

I will have to figure out how to use this "plate"... but I'll probably make a new plate.

8" x 8"

October's Freebie 15: this lovely bright, fun-coloured plate:

"Aynsley England" Vintage Plate

The pottery firm of Aynsley and Sons opened in Stoke-on-Trent in 1775.  Over the centuries, the Aynsley firm perfected the art of making English bone china, and it continues to be recognized for the high production qualities.  Even though the company has introduced many modern designs, many of the early traditional patterns including "Orchard Gold" and "Cottage Garden" continue to be produced today, and are exported to stores in over 80 countries.

16" x 16"

A crib quilt made of extra fabrics.

37" x 42"

Back of the crib quilt.

 Every Friday for the past 6 Fridays, I have been participating in Heather Spence's Fall 2012 Mystery Quilt.   This is my second quilt along with Heather, and it has been fun.
The pattern proceeds benefit someone living with cancer.

Fall 2012 Mystery Quilt
61" x 61"

 And FINALLY... the 24 2011-2012 Freebie 15 & Companion quilt blocks... all sewn together.
I have to add some sashing & about 200+ hourglass units around the edges, but at least the quilt blocks are sewn together.
I wish I would have done sashing between the blocks, but there is no way I'll be pulling this quilt apart!
All in all, I'm happy with it.  I has been a great learning experience, even though I didn't always enjoy the minute sewing/quilting required for some of these blocks, but I did it!
I'll post pix when I finally finish the quilt top!

Top measures 69" x 69" at this point... and still not done!

Summer Catch-Up

What a busy summer it has been! 

The weather has been very beautiful, despite a few hail storms, one of which damaged the siding on our garage, but at least the mosquitoes have been minimal this year!

We have had lots of company this month, but I did manage (between company visiting) to get some sewing done.

I caught up on my "Freebie 15" blocks...

July's Freebie 15 block: "Tidal Pool"

July's Freebie 15 Companion block: "Starfish"

August Freebie 15 block: "Whirlpool"

August Freebie 15 Companion block: "Seagulls"
I just cannot seem to follow these instructions... usually, I LOVE flying geese blocks, but the instructions for this quilt along's flying geese are just hopeless for me!!  Argh!

I sewed some little gifts:
Placemat to Go for a co-worker's little girl.

Just add some chalk & it's ready to go!

Rolled up for on-the-go.

A mini "quilt" which measured ~10"x10".

Something Old, Something New, & A Mystery

I pulled out some old quilts that I had downstairs... they are my husband's quilts, but they are made by his grandmother & his grand-aunt... but aren't they just ever so lovely???

The more I quilt, the more I really appreciate the older quilts and all the work that was involved in making them... everything from recycling old clothing, cutting the fabric pieces by hand and hand sewing.  

Looking at old quilts makes me appreciate my sewing machine!!!

This quilt was made by my husband's Grandma

Quilt made by Auntie Mildred in her younger days (she is now in her 80s)

I finished my "Origins" (by Basic Grey) table runner. 

White backing, brown binding.

I made my first "sun dial" - 4 quarters sewn together.

This is "Block 0" for New York Beauty Quilt Along.

There are a total of 10 different patterns for these sundials, but I think I am done.

It was fun trying it out, though!

I now have to decide if I'll quilt this quilt top (24" x 24") or if I should add some more borders or stars.

I finished up this month's 2 blocks for Freebie 15.

This year's theme is "Sand & Sea Glass"

Freebie #7: The Boardwalk

Freebie Companion #7: No Diving

I had to do some tweaking with the companion block because the quilt kit had white for the starfish (that's what I call them) but I wanted them brown, so I swapped fabrics and then was short some fabrics within this kit... but I made it all work.

And finally... I have signed up for a Mystery Quilt with Heather Spence Designs!

Heather Spence has designed a mystery quilt and the pattern is $10.  

The $10 is given to a cancer patient who needs financial help with their medical bills.

You can find more information about Heather's Mystery Blog here.

On April 27, I will receive an email with the first instructions to the Mystery Quilt, and these emails will continue once weekly for 5-6 weeks.

I have 2 of the 5 required fabrics, so I will have to go shopping yet for some more fabric.

I know I wanted to take it easy in the quilting department, but I just couldn't resist this quilt along, and it called out to my heart strings... and since I had 2 meters of fabrics at home that I didn't know what to do with... I'll now coordinate some new fabrics with that one fabric to make this lovely quilt.

I love Heather's last mystery quilt (Autumn 2011) so I am sure this quilt will also be lovely.

If you're a quilter, come join the Mystery Quilt fun!!

One-Quarters Through 2012!!

Wowie... time is just flying!!  It's April already!  I love it!  Spring is in the air and so it the nicer weather (although I really can't complain as it has been such a mild winter).

My projects in the last week and a bit have been fairly low-key... finishing up some quilt blocks.

Heart in the Sand - Freebie 15 (March 2012)

Footprints
Freebie Companion
This pattern called for templates in which there were about 36 little bird prints on the sand... but I just couldn't stomach doing such little blocks... so I did these 6 pairs of foot(bird) prints instead.
(Hmmm... looks like I got a few crooked lines again!

March Freebie & Freebie Companion & little hourglass blocks (12 in total)
For the 6 months of this quilt along, I now have 72 little hourglass blocks!!!

The first 6 months of the "Freebie 15" blocks.
This is going to be one very nice quilt when it's done.
If I had a ocean/lake cottage, this finished quilt would live there.  :)

These 2 blocks are for Jovita.
Jovita was one of the block designers for the Fat Quarter Stars Quilt Along, but recently she lost both her twins at 20 weeks.  Konda, organizer of the FQSQA, asked the quilt-alongers if we would sew a heart and a 9-patch for Jovita, and Konda will have all the blocks sewn into a quilt.
Now, how nice it that???  :)
Such a beautiful keepsake for such a heartbreaking loss.

I decided to make more hearts with the leftover scraps from the Freebie 15 fabric... and now I have green, blue, brown and pink hearts (6.5" square each) which I will incorporate into a quilt somehow, one day.

I "stumbled" upon a newish quilt along... New York Beauty Quilt Along.
This photo shows 2 of the first block of the quilt along.
This is my first EVER block in which I have had to sew a rounded corner... I think it looks ok so far, eh??
These blocks look like a cappuccino sun (not anything New York).  

January Quilt Blocks

 I have been taking it pretty easy this month in the sewing department.  After a busy Christmas, it was nice to catch up on things around the house; I worked a few shifts at the hospital, and I had 2 photo sessions which required hours of photo editing.

I told myself I was not able to tackle sewing until the photo editing was done... and so now that's finished, I have been sewing for the past few days... Ahhh... bliss!!

The first 2 quilt blocks are for the Fat Quarters Stars Quilt Along:

Block 8  - "Easy Spinning Star" 

Block 9 - "Make Mine a Double"

All 9 blocks so far - 3 more to go.

My local quilt shop, Traditional Pastimes, has a few BOM on the go, and I am doing the "Freebie 15" quilt along... if I go to the shop on the 15th, I get the main block for free (provided my quilt block is done) and I simply need to purchase the companion for that month's block.

First up is the "freebie 15" - the log cabin designs were supposed to be really narrow strips, but I gave up and cheated, substituting a block then finishing the final 3 rounds of the cabin.  

The original log cabin centre required strips of x/16th"  - ??seriously??  I can barely sew a straight x/4th" any given time.  I'm still pleased with how this block turned out.

Block 4 Freebie - "Skipping Stones"

Block 4 Companion - "Riptide"

Freebie 15 & Companion & 18 small hour glass units (3.5" x 3.5")

The first 4 Freebie 15s & the companions

When the Freebie 15 & Companions are done, there will be 24 12" blocks + all the 3.5x3.5" hourglass units... I can hardly wait... it will be a large (queen or king-size) quilt... and oh so nice.  Too bad I don't have a cottage by the ocean.  :)

Keeping Busy but Slowing Down

With Christmas just around the corner, I have been busy but definitely slowing down.  It's been a time of catching up on those small projects in my sewing stash, and it feels so good to get this accomplished.

Cotton/flannel baby receiving blanket & foam block with tags.

Baby Sun Ray Toys

Block 5 "Strawberry Fields Star" for Moose on the Porch's quilt along.
Fabric: "Indian Summer" by Riley Blake.

Block 2a for Sand and Sea Glass quilt along

Block 2 for Sand and Sea Glass quilt along
I kinda messed this one up a bit... and I wish the star points were brown instead of the cream.  Oh well.

12 - 3.5" hourglass blocks

I finally finished the last Star Sampler block.  I was unable to finish this set b/c the local quilt store where I had purchased this set closed.  Another local quilt store has helped me select this star with a "courtyard steps" centre.

All 12 stars - done.
Now to decide how to set them into a quilt top... but that will have to wait until next year.

This quilt top has been sitting in bits & pieces on my sewing project stash for what seems forever... so it feels nice to get it done.  I'll finish this one next year, too.