I’m so happy to have my 144 patch quilt completed. I first wrote about creating it quite some time ago in this blog entry. Now it’s finally completed and ready to gift or donate.

I found a lovely light and medium green plaid flannel to back it with – even better it was just big enough with very little waste.

I think I’ll make this one again, It was fun to make and I really like how it turned out. Maybe next time with a bright colour rather than the black.

Its going to be retreating day with not much else on the agenda so my goals are pretty high today. That and without goals I feel like I’m going to be without focus today. 

So here goes:

1. Mark the second Toronto Maple Leaf strippie quilt so the quilting lines will be straight (love my crayola washable markers) – DONE

2. Quilt it  – DONE

3. Make enough binding for both Maple Leaf strippie quilts.  – DONE

4. Machine sew binding on  front of strippie quilt number 1 – DONE

5. Machine sew binding on front of strippie quilt number 2 – DONE

Bonus achievements

6. Mark a small dancing 9 patch quilt for quilting

7. Remove wavy borders from a baby quilt – DONE

8. Remeasure, trim and reapply borders on said baby quilt, without the “bonus” wave – DONE – Not perfect but much better

Seems like a lot but none of the quilts are large and so long as I don’t get sidetracked by social media (wish me luck), it should be achievable. If I don’t get there today this gives me a roadmap for projects to tackle this week. 

I’ve been updating the January list I posted but I think it’s time I started a new post to update. – 7 completed as of March 22nd. Progress is being made!

1. En Provence – A Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt – top completed
2. Friendship Star baby quilt – top completed
3. Star blocks – loose blocks, top needs to be made – MIA
4. Alletaire – A Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt – Blocks need fixing and top needs to be finished
5. Halloween square pumpkin wall hanging – needs quilting
6. Cinema at 7 – top completed
7. Found charm square top – top made or donated?
8. Cross and Chains – top completed
9. Panel with bright yellow backing needs quilting finished or tossed
10. Too nice to cut lap quilt – top completed
11. Black and white wall hanging, finish quilting
12. Star Quilt in Allison Glass Fabrics – top completed
13. 100 Hugs in Pink and Purple – done
14. Black and white bed quilt – top completed
15. Coin Quilt – in pieces, top needs to be made
16. Bento Box Quilt – top completed
17. Galaxy Star – borders need to be added
18. Grand Something Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt – borders need to be added
19. ZigZag Nines (Bonnie Hunter) Made into several smaller quilts
    • 19a) square baby quilt
    • 19b) dancing nine patch blue border – top completed
    • 19c) dancing nine patch orange border – sandwiched
    • 19d) dancing nine patch green border – top completed
    • 19e) zigzag 1 – top completed
    • 19f) zigzag 2 – top completed
    • 19e) square baby quilt 2 – top completed
20. Arizona Crossroads – border to be added
21. Shannan’s Poly cotton Quilt – top to be finished
22. Black table runner – quilt or scrap
23. Peaky and spiky quilt – top to be finished
24. green and black (144 square) baby quilt – DONE
25. Twisted Star lap Quilt – top completed
26. Idaho Square dance variation – DONE March 29/2019
27. Star quilt (brights on black)- top completed
28. Maple leaf Strippie Quilt 1 – quilted
29. Maple leaf Strippie Quilt 2 – sandwiched
30. Marc’s Gradient Quilt in 3 colours – needs borders
31. Irish Star Quilt – borders?
32. Quilt top (not made by me) found at VV – needs quilting
33. Guild top 1 (not made by me) – needs binding finished
34. Guild top 2 (not made my me)- needs binding applied and sewn down
35. Whirlygig – top completed
36. Stars in sashing quilt – DONE
37. Stars touching – top completed
38. Black & brights Livejournal swap quilt – top needs to be made

This quilt started out as part of a much bigger quilt.

I was going to make a king size quilt called Rick Rack Nines designed by Bonnie Hunter but I got absolutely lost during it’s assembly. I picked it up three different times during assembly and each time just made more of a mess of it. I think it was because I had extra parts and because of that the instructions just didn’t make sense but at the point I was at, I couldn’t figure out how to get back to where I needed to be. Add to that I had no need for quilt that big, wasn’t fussy on the design anymore and wanted something I could actually complete. I like oversized queen quilts but this one would have made even those look small.

I decided I’d make it into a number of smaller quilts. It’s going to become several wheelchair quilts destined for Long Term Care facilities, and a couple of baby quilts. I think all in all I will get six quilts out of it that will make a number different people happy. Nothing will go to waste.

So I made this small quilt that measures 36 inches square.

The fold in the fabric is just because I hadn’t laid it down flat it isn’t actually a fold. This quilt is nice and bright and cheery. The back is a lovely soft flannel printed with baby bottles. A close up of it is here:

A friend admired it so this one is going to live with her. I’m hoping to gift it to her soon, she already knows it’s coming in her direction.

Keeping track of my 2019 starts and finishes.

1. Dad’s lap quilt
2. Wheelchair lap quilt (green, orange, blue) – top completed
3. Quilt for Robynne – top completed – need to find backing
4. Wheelchair lap quilt (black, red, blue) – top completed
5. Chain Link Quilt – side borders need to be added
6. H blocks – not assembled
7. Dragonfly Happy blocks crib quilt – top completed
8. Happy blocks – not assembled

I found this pattern on the Wedding Dress Blue blog under the Calico Rose quiltalong tab at the top of the page. The quilt done in whites and scrappy fabrics didn’t interest me but I could imagine bright scrappy fabrics twinkling on a black background. I’m glad to say the finished quilt exceeded my expectations.

I’ve been working on this for way too long but with the thanks of my fiance Marc it finally got it quilted and after some brutal (black binding on black fabric is no fun to sew at all!) binding sessions getting all 30′ of binding completed, it’s finally on our bed!

And we are absolutely loving it!

Here is the list of UFO’s that have entered 2019 with me:

1. En Provence – A Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt – top completed
2. Friendship Star baby quilt – top completed
3. Star blocks – loose blocks, top needs to be made
4. Alletaire – A Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt – Blocks need fixing and top needs to be finished
5. Halloween square pumpkin wall hanging – needs quilting
6. Cinema at 7 – top completed
7. Found charm square top – top made or donated?
8. Cross and Chains – top completed
9. Panel with bright yellow backing needs quilting finished or tossed
10. Too nice to cut lap quilt – top completed
11. Black and white wall hanging, finish quilting
12. Star Quilt in Allison Glass Fabrics – top completed
13. 100 Hugs in Pink and Purple – done
14. Black and white bed quilt – top completed
15. Coin Quilt – in pieces, top needs to be made
16. Bento Box Quilt – top completed
17. My Quilt (Star something or other) – borders need to be added
18. That other Bonnie Hunter not finished Mystery Quilt – borders need to be added
19. ZigZag Nines (Bonnie Hunter) Made into several smaller quilts
    • 19a) square baby quilt
    • 19b) dancinng nine patch blue border
    • 19c) dancing nine patch orange border
    • 19d) dancing nine patch needs borders
    • 19e) zigzag 1
    • 19f) zigzag 2
    • 19e) to be assembled
20. Arizona Crossroads – border to be added
21. Shannan’s Poly cotton Quilt – top to be finished
22. Black table runner – quilt or scrap
23. Peaky and spiky quilt – top to be finished
24. green and black (144 square) baby quilt – DONE
25. Twisted Star lap Quilt – top completed
26. Idaho Square dance variation – quilted, needs binding
27. Star quilt (brights on black)- top completed
28. Maple leaf Strippie Quilt 1 – top completed
29. Maple leaf Strippie Quilt 2 – top completed
30. Marc’s Gradient Quilt in 3 colours – needs borders
31. Irish Star Quilt – borders?
32. Quilt top (not made by me) found at VV – needs quilting
33. Guild top 1 (not made by me) – needs binding finished
34. Guild top 2 (not made my me)- needs binding applied and sewn down
35. Whirlygig – top completed
36. Stars in sashing quilt – DONE
37. Stars touching – top completed
38. Black & brights Livejournal swap quilt – top needs to be made

There are also two started 2019 projects – a wheelchair quilt for Dad and a pile of “H” blocks that I’m making to either make into either wheelchair or baby quilts for charity. These will not be going on the 2020 UFO list.

My objective for 2019 is to not necessarily get my UFO list to zero, I don’t think that’s realistic but I think what is realistic is to get the list halved going into 2020. If I can do better great, but I don’t want to set myself up for either failure or stress. That defeats the purpose of a hobby that I do for enjoyment.

Marc came home not long ago and told me that a friend of ours is in the family way once again. It’s a little too early to know if it’s a boy or a girl so I’m making sure I’m prepared. I’m undecided whether to keep this new quilt in the same theme as the quilts for her older two children and do a sea theme or do something else entirely. Here are two very bad pictures of the quilts I made for the older two children:

Part of me is tempted to break with the theme and make the new arrival a 100-Hugs quilt from the Wedding Dress Blue blog. I have a blue and green one all ready to go for a little boy:

And I’m working on a pink and purple 100-Hugs Quilt for a girl. I haven’t had much time to sew lately so it’s been coming along slowly.

No worries whatever I decide. Baby quilts always find a home!

Last weekend I headed to quilt retreat with one of the quilt guilds I belong to. Four days up north of the city in cottage country, with great ladies, my favourite hobby, lots of good food and snacks and wonderful scenery.  Just what I needed after a crazy few months of work and life in general.

Here are some of the views of the resort where we stayed

Beautiful, isn’t it?

As beautiful as it was it was chilly outside which kept me inside quilting up a storm.

I had started the and constructed the 3.5″ squares for a Galaxy quilt by Deb Tucker before I arrived at the retreat. A good thing, as there was some swearing involved in getting my pieces the right size and not an 1/8th of an inch shy of the right size. However, my perseverance paid off and the top (other than the outer purple border which is not on yet) went together very nicely:

I also had cut out a quilt for Marc before the retreat but had not sewn it together. He’d wanted a quilt made of solids in three colours. I’d found this quilt called Geometric Graduation 2 by Greta Grama that fit the bill perfectly. It too needs outer borders but the rest is together:

It was fun to do but after a while I did need a break from dealing with solid black material with solid black thread. The 132 blocks were easy to put together, however,placement did take a bit of concentration. This too needs outer borders. I just wasn’t in the mood to tackle outer borders at retreat (that and I just didn’t have enough time).

Last but least I made a simple Mary’s Strippie quilt top with some Toronto Maple Leaf juvenile fabric:

I was productive. I have another Maple Leaf Strippie cut out that I didn’t get to and I, of course, have to get the borders on the two quilts I started.

All very different in style but I liked that as it gave me a very nice variety of things to work on and stopped me from getting bored.

A few more pictures from the restort:

A few weeks ago Marc and I took a course at a local quilt studio, Whirls n Swirls Quilting Studio run by the lovely Tracey, teaching us how to use their APQS long arm quilting machines.  Yes, I managed to convince my man to join me in learning to quilt on a a long arm. He has tried a bit of piecing and quilting on my domestic machine but it really isn’t his thing yet still he was willing to try this type of quilting – I’m very lucky and I actually think he’s better at the mechanics of operating the long arm than I am.  For our lesson we quilted on a quilt panel that they supplied and then donated to a local charity.

Today we went in to quilt a quilt I had pieced.  I picked a long finished quilt top from the Wedding Dress Blue blog (I love Deanna’s patterns) called Calico Rose to quilt as my first long armed quilt. Why start with something small when you can start big?

Here it is folded in 4 and not yet quilted:

Here it is on the machine with Marc quilting away on it.

It took us four hours to quilt –  a fraction of the time it would have taken me at home.  It was also so much easier doing it on the long arm rather than fighting getting it through the the the throat of my home sewing machine. My shoulders, back and arms are loving the decision I made to do this at Tracey’s studio. It still needs to be  trimmed and binding to be made for it. I’m wavering back and forth between solid black binding and scrappy colourful binding.  I’ll decide while I get prepared for quilt retreat starting at the end of the week.