an extra day off

The office is being painted today so I had a day at home.   As the gym is off limits  due to my recent butt injury the only other thing I could do was spend the day sewing.   I am resisting the temptation to begin any new projects, despite the long running list I have in my head.

I spent most of the day working on this project which I originally started quite a few years ago after taking a class on paper piecing. I love the secondary block pattern it makes with the border.

Vintage sheets

Like I needed another quilt to ponder.   In my mind I am working on Julia`s winter blues quilt and a green quilt for my niece Becky.  In my sewing room, I have the blue quilt, a huge pile of strings, one pink baby quilt and a bunch of  string blocks to finish.

To drive myself even crazier, I bought these beauties awhile back  when we visited the local St. Vincent de Paul thrift shop at St. Michaels.  I promised myself I would not get even consider another quilt, but these were too pretty to leave behind. For a lovely example of vintage sheet quilts, go here.

Vintage sheets would be perfect for a memory quilt for someone going into a nursing home, or moving away from home (because there is no place left to store her fabric).

Well the weather outstide is frightful

The fog rolled  in this morning, layering the trees with even more ice.   We can hear the trees crackle as the breeze hits their limbs.  Being surrounded by trees is great in the summer, but causes concern on winter days. 2600 homes in our area are without power, luckily we are not one of them.   My DH is clearing off  the deck and getting the generator ready just in case. Over the next two day the weather forecast is calling for snow, freezing rain, gusting winds, followed by more snow and high winds.  Sounds like quilting weather to me.

Yesterday I worked on a string quilt which I started a long time ago.  String quilts are a great way to use up those small bits of fabrics (strings).  This is  an excellent project for a beginner quilter, or when you want to do mindless not fussy sewing.  If you are interested in knowing more about this method check out Bonnie`s  at Quiltville  String Quilting Primer.   Check out the many different patterns and ideas for the string quilt at the end of the primer.   The only limitation on this fun to make  quilt is your fabric stash.

By mid afternoon I had most of the blocks and the borders  sewn together.   My DH is my quilt layout foreman.    I place the blocks on the bed in a pattern I think looks good.  Then he comes in and gives it the thumbs up or thumbs down.  When he makes a suggestion it oftens works better than my original idea.

The foundation of my string blocks is  9 inch squares of cotton. To match the thickness of the blocks  I decided to use denim for the borders  and crumb blocks on the corners.  This will be a  very heavy cover as the flannel back will add to the weight.  The perfect winter weather quilt.

February block

Isn`t this a sweet block, such a perfect Valentine! The February block was created by the very talented Pat of A Little of  This and A Little of Pat

I am  happy to say that I mailed the March blocks away today.   There is only one more block to receive, the one for April.  Boy did this past year fly by.

The members of the Cottage Block Swap live from the east coast (New Brunswick) to the west (California).  Knowing Canada Post, it will probably take a week or two before the blocks arrive at their destinations.

Due to being stricken with a cold, there wasn`t much sewing done this past weekend.   The weatherman is predicting a mighty nasty snow storm starting late tonight.   Maybe I will get a storm day tomorrow.  And there is no better way to spend a day then sewing!  Wish me luck!

Peroxide saves the day

I pricked my finger with a straight pin while working on the blue quilt.  Quickly I dropped the quilt to avoid any blood spots on the fabric.   Most of my quilts have enough DNA to duplicate me at any time.  More than once  I have run  the sewing needle through my finger or  had a mishap with the cutting blade.  Although I checked the quilt when it happened, it was not until the next day that I noticed this.   My DH thinks I should be outfitted with safety goggles, steel toed boots, a hard hat and work gloves each time I enter my sewing room.

Of course, the stain was on a white block.   Heaven knows it could not land on a dark blue block.   I remember reading peroxide could be used to remove blood stains from fabric.  As I was not in the mood to undo the block, it was worth a try.  I placed the stained block over a tall glass,  poured a teaspoon of water on the spot, followed with a capful of peroxide.  Instant bubbles.   Then I gently blotted the block with a dry cloth and repeated the capful of peroxide.   After three applications of peroxide, I rinsed the block throughly with warm running water.   I placed the quilt on the drying rack as I did not want to use the dryer  as the heat could set the stain.

The peroxide did the trick! No more stain.    The blue quilt is almost finished.   At first considered a border of bricks, one of each of the fabrics used in the quilt.  I have now decided to finish the quilt with a small white border and a binding of all the blues.  That at least is today`s plan.

Bunnies are ready to leave the burrow

I have surprised myself by finishing the March blocks for the cottage swap before the end of February.  Here are the twelve blocks laid out and ready to be mailed across the country.  Now all I need to do is find the addresses.   The block was not that difficult, I  wish I would have read the instructions to the end.  The topsy- turvy triangle borders gave me a bit of worry, especially where they narrowed.  At the end of the patterns. there is a reference to Lynn D who made her borders wider, then cut the blocks down to the 9.5 size.  I read this when I had three blocks left, and found it much easier with the wider border.

My March block was number eleven in the 12 block swap.  I seriously need to decide how to put the blocks together in a quilt.  Here is a gallery of completed quilts.  Which one do you like best?

Still sewing the blues

Each day the sun sets a bit later,  providing me with a few more minutes of natural light for  sewing.  I prefer natural light, especially when  cutting fabric.  This by far has been the easiest quilt yet, once all the rectangles, brick and binding were cut.

My daughter calls me the `the queen of borders`, and this quilt will be no exception.   I plan to sew a white 2.5 inch border along the main body of the quilt, then a border of small bricks, then a 1.5 inch border of navy, followed by a larger border of dark blue fabric.  The binding will be multi coloured made from strips of each fabric in the quilt.  It is an excellent stash buster.  I am seriously thinking of making the same pattern in shades of green.   If I enjoy a quilt, it is not unusual to make the same patterns two or three times.

I like a quilt that hangs down over the bed, at both ends and the sides.  There shouldn`t be any problem with this quilt covering a queen sized bed generously.

The last few days have been extremely cold in the Maritimes, .  At 5:10 this morning it was minus 25 degrees, This afternoon it is a balmy minus 10.   Bring on the sunscreen.

Blue moon

I could not wait to get home today to work on the blue quilt.  Digging through my stash I found even more blue fabric.  I also found a blue quilted wall hanging I bought before Christmas at a church bazaar.

Can you believe that I purchased this beauty (brand new) for $3.00?   Does any one know the name of this method?

Got the blues, but I am happy

As I am still recuperating from the 7 hour road trip on Friday, I spent most of  the weekend indoors, sewing.   On the home front, my grand-daughter Sarah was discharged from the hospital on Friday and will be recuperating at her parents.  Sarah needs to stay off school for at least two weeks, and off work for a few weeks more.

When I first took up quilting my friend J told me to always have a least four projects on the go.  One should be a `wanted to do` project, one should be `a have to do ` project, and the other two should be of various skill levels.   That way, when one project was causing problems, or if I just wanted to sew for the sheer pleasure, I would have an easy project to work on.   Now that I have a room dedicated once more to sewing, I can have two or three projects on the go.  Most of the weekend I spent sewing my cottage block swaps, being extra careful.   With five weeks left,  I have more than half the blocks completed.

By late yesterday evening I wanted to do mindless sewing.  Nothing fancy. Nothing that required extra attention or care.  Digging through the numerous bins of not quite finished projects I came across the blue quilt.  This quilt I started last year, but put away when the house was went on the market.   This straight seam project was the best mindless sewing I could fine.   The blocks were already cut and simply required being sewn together.   Rather than a design wall, I used the design door to hang the completed rows.  The plan is to use a 4×7 block of every blue fabric I have in my stash with few repeats.  So far so good.

TA-DA

Three down, nine more to go.  I plan to complete my month of March contribution to the Cottage Swap by mid February.  If I can get the blocks in the mail by then, they should arrive during the first week of March.

The fabric is from the Sharon Reynold `Is It Spring Yet?`line.    I am taking extra care as many of the contributors are seasoned quilters. For the past week I have had stitching problems.  Instead of a straight line, the stitches were like a gathering stitch.   On the weekend, after I had read the manual for the umpteenth time I called my old friend J.  I explained the problem and after two questions, `Did you change threads? Did you change bobbins?` my problem was solved.  I was once again a happy sewer.  Seems my sewing machine did not take to the pre-threaded bobbins I received as a Christmas present.  Once I replaced the bobbin, my machine and the stitches were singing pretty.   After all it is a Singer!