Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Good Grief!

Good grief: how can it be 2.5 weeks since my last post? I've been sewing and reading as per usual, maybe a bit more reading than sewing to be honest. Let me fill you in on what's been happening around here. If you follow me on Instagram you'll have a bit of an idea. I've joined in with Leanne at Devoted Quilter on Instagram for her WIPS challenge once again this year. This year it's just two months, 61 days, so during this second quarter, I set my sights a bit lower, looking to complete two goals. One I met Sunday morning.
This is my knitted selvages rug, the second one I've made over the years. It's bigger than the first one.

Each side is a bit different colour-wise.


It turned out a lot more even in size; the first one is a bit wonky, but somehow with this one, despite it taking probably close to two years to knit, I kept the tension better. Why nearly two years in the making? I didn't work on it very often for one, and for another, you need selvages, which haha, wasn't too hard for me to assemble over those years with the amount of fabric I've chopped up and made into quilts! These are really durable and warm rugs. I like to have one in the winter months at my longarm as the floor is a bit cold along the wall where I stand.

Something else a bit different was the way I joined the selvages. Notice that there are no knots, no sticky-outy selvage ends. I used Nancy's Grace and Peace Quilting way of joining them. Very slick!

My other goal for this quarter is to finish Brianne's pumpkin quilt. I gave a peek at a couple of the blocks in my last post. Well, I'm pleased to report that the top is done as of last week, the Minky is bought for the back, the batting cut, and all I have to do is load it all (square the Minky first) and do a simple quilting motif all over it. This is the daughter who does not really like quilts. However. She actually ASKED me to please make this quilt. She has a thing for the old farm truck, and fall is her favourite season, so yes, it was perfect. All I did was make the truck in turquoises because she has 'hits' of it throughout her home, walls here and there and accessories, and of course pumpkins in pinks, oranges and turquoises.

I love how it turned out and so does she! I had some issues with the pattern, three errors, two of which were major and involved some serious ripping out time. I've let Brittany, the designer, know, and when I politely requested a refund, she readily obliged. So there's that. However. This is a pretty popular pattern, kitted by AGF in some big quilt shops online, so I do hope she revises and reissues the pattern asap, and sends it back out to those who have already bought it. It sounds like she plans to. It really is an adorable design; the original is a Christmas version, with trees and stars and a red truck.

It's a generous-sized throw, 62" x 72", and the fabrics are all from my stash, ranging from Kona to Art Gallery and everything in between! It feels so good to have used up a bunch of the stash. And yes, I used nearly 3 yards of the cream background yardage I'd bought (4 metres tbh) many years ago when I was working, and could literally stash stuff like that for future unplanned quilts. I am also using this cream in my RSC hot air balloons quilt.

That leads me to the leader/ender type of sewing I always try to do. I am well on the way to the final hot air balloon block, a multi-colour one, and I have the front and back done of yet another 'Postcard from Sweden' makeup pouch. They sell almost as fast as I make them, a good thing. One of these days, I'll make a project bag, a suggestion from Jocelyn at Canadian Needle Nana, and possibly add those to my shop.
Just needs quilting and assembly


Behind the scenes I've been organizing another pattern release. It's been tech-edited and ready to sell for just about two months, so it's high time I put it out there. It was in Make Modern last year. I've added a second quilt layout which looks pretty cool. Always nice to have options! Five lovely ladies are sewing versions of it, my favourite part! Can't wait to show you their magical creations. You can get some sneak peeks at #headingnorthquiltpattern on Instagram.

Another project on my wipsbgone2022 list on which I've actually made terrific headway is my Lazy Daisy quilt. It would appear that it is done!
Right down to the binding! 
However!
I stitched in the ditch through every seam on Avril, my longarm. Now I am going back in to do some big stitch quilting with coton perlé, making an 'x' through each square and outlining the daisies and their centres. It has 100% wool batting, so it should quilt like butter, though I've made a total of one stitch so far! I thought I'd quilt in the car on the way home from London airport from where I picked up MacGyver from his week out west with Brianne and Brady, but two reasons prevented it: 1) the fall colours were breathtaking, to the point of me getting tight in the chest and choked up in the throat at the splendour, and 2) we ran out of light because I had the brilliant idea to bring along the dogs and stop at Grosvenor Park along the Thames River near Western University for an incredible walk before driving back down the 401 two hours to home.
Isn't the sky incredible too? This is taken with my iPhone 12 mini, no filters used.

I'll have a few more pics of that wonderful walk, (note they're on Instagram if you can't wait) as well as a note on the reading I've done in my Thursday Gratitude post, which will come to you from the Catskills! We're taking a wee trip. Lazy Daisy will be coming with me for hand stitching.





18 comments:

  1. So fun to see a catch-up post from you this morning, Sandra! Brianne's pumpkin quilt is wonderful - love the different colored pumpkins and the farm truck, too. How great that she asked for a quilt! You've been busy with lots of other cute projects, too. Beautiful fall colors - we've enjoyed that here this year, as well!

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  2. Lots of good things happening in your quilting world. Had to check Nancy's way of joining those strips. I may try this sometime. I do save selvedges and have never used them. I love the pumpkin quilt and the colors are just so much fun - so sorry for the trouble with the pattern. Heading North is lovely and it will be fun to see the different versions!

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  3. The pumpkin quilt looks amazing, and I'm so glad that Brianne is excited about it as well. What a bummer there were so many pretty major mistakes, and hopefully the designer gets those fixed and sent out to everyone ASAP. It's always a fear of mine that I miss something big on the patterns I edit (I know my own patterns would have major errors if I didn't get them edited, too). Have a great trip and I look forward to seeing how the big stitching evolves the Lazy Daisy quilt.

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  4. Love your mat. What size needles did you use?

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  5. So good to see a post pop up from you. I'm missing so many bloggers these days who enjoy other social media now. The farm truck & cute pumpkins are great & just right for the season of "Halloween" . Look forward to seeing it quilted & the finishing off of your daisy quilt too. Your mats are great, but I don't cut my selvages off till I'm using the fabric all cut for the piecing. Might look at your Heading North in MM & have a play with it, though I have a large one I've designed on the go at the moment after finishing up some UFOs ready for quilting. Thanks for sharing a post, take care & hugs. BTW, love the autumnal photo.

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  6. Oh those colours, the trees are looking gorgeous. I've knitted a couple of selvedge rugs too, and use then in front of my wasking machine and laundry tub. I love your lazy daisy quilt, such a nice simple idea, but so effective!

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  7. Brianne's pumpkin quilt is great! I like the turquoise and pumpkins. Can't wait to see how you quilt this beauty.

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  8. Beautiful fall colors! I love the makeup pouch and all the colors, do you sell the pattern? 🥰

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    1. You are a no-reply Pamela so I’ll answer you here. I just based it on one from Moda Bakeshop years ago that was done with charms.

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  9. You've been making lots of progress. I love the pumpkin quilt. I just picked up a piece of extra wide minky (90 inches) at Fabricville for a quilt I'm keeping for myself. I think I'll go back and get another couple of pieces. I love minky on the back of quilts.

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  10. Great job on knitting another rug, Sandra! I love Brianne's pumpkin/truck quilt! The turq makes it so cute and modern!!!

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  11. You have been busy! I love the knitted rug. I have never tried knitting, only crochet. The pumpkin quilt is gorgeous! I love how you made it to match her house colors. I am lookin forward to seeing the quilting. I also have a hand quilting project right now. It is so peaceful to work on. Mine is also bound as the edges are quilted and it was basted on my long arm.

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  12. Such wonderful projects that we get to see. I love the turquoise truck but think I like the old red ones better. But all those beautiful pumpkins!! Congratulations on using your stash! That little rug is so nice. I've thought about doing one but can no longer do the knitting. Don't know if I could braid one. Are they soft to stand on? Can't wait to see the quilts the testers make. That is such a nice pattern. Hope your vacation is wonderful.

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  13. I love Brianne's pumpkin quilt and turquoise truck. It'll be perfect with a minky back. I'm glad to know you've been busy with good things because I even noticed that you haven't posted for a bit. (Of course, I've been neglecting my own sewing and blog.) I always enjoy seeing your creativity shine!

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  14. Love the daisy quilt, and the pumpkin quilt. I have saved a lot of my selvedges but like Susan I don't tend to cut my selvedges off until after I've just the fabric so don't end up with nice long pieces. I also don't knit but like the idea of trying to braid or plait one; hmmm got me thinking now :-) I love the Autumn colours too but I have to confess winter really makes my heart sing. Lovely crisp mornings, frost, snow, winter wonderlands. I could go on but you get the idea :-) Now to go take a teaser photo of my Heading North quilt :-)

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  15. Hi Sandra! I often find myself choked up over the beauty before us this fall. Goodness, those trees coupled with the blue sky and the clouds is just gorgeous. It does take your breath away, right?!! That crocheted rug is SO COOL. I love everything about it. I wish I had saved selvages just for this wonderful slow-moving project. It's about my speed lately. {{Hugs}} a bunch. ~smile~ Roseanne

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  16. You have been busy! Love the pumpkin quilt with the truck, that is so cute. The crocheted rug turned out beautifully. Hopefully the next couple of weeks are as productive. Happy stitching.

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