84!

Huh? You are probably thinking.  84... uh, pieces you've cut for the next quilt!  wait... the number of FMQ designs you have tried? no... if you think like my sister, Linda, you'll be dying to say, "years old?!" bahaha.  Wrong on all. (hmm, maybe not on the FMQ designs, ha)

Two things.

84 km I walked in the month of May.  That's 52.2 miles!  (I have a great app, Map My Walk, that I use for walking, and my husband uses it for biking.  Free.)  That is a few kilometres short, because I did not record a couple of walks, like when my mum was here visiting.  I'm pretty impressed that I regularly walk 20 km or more per week with Rocco.

I think, but I'm not sure, that this is a black walnut tree, massive in any case!

84 followers on Bloglovin'.  Um, wow.  There has been a big jump lately due to the New Quilt Bloggers group I'm in, (see the sidebar button) as we follow each other, critique each other, learn, and improve our blogs.  You might start to see some changes as a result of being in this group! (It's taken another little jump since I started writing this post on the weekend!)

What am I working on right now?

Two things. (Okay, three if you count the handquilting I am plugging away at a bit each day, on that Christmas runner which is on my list for the Q2 FAL at On the Windy Side)

One is the next quilt pattern of Cheryl's I'm testing.  I couldn't decide which one, so I said, meh, I can do both...probably.  Out the window with my Q2 FAL list for Adrianne at On the Windy Side...

Here is the progress so far on Sea Star.  Fabric:

A 16-pack of pink fat quarters from Art Gallery fabric bought from Fat Quarter Shop this winter

This, however, is more like, OMG I-So-Love-Pink Star!  And well, I do!  Which takes me back to 1984-ish, and the dusky pink I had in our living room for the ensuing several years and through two houses...but we won't go there. Where we will go is my niece.  This quilt is going to her.

Progress on sewing the multitude of HSTs:

not a lot; it's been a run of rather non-sewing days, more yoga than sewing, which I'm okay with; more computer than sewing, which I'm not okay with

The other current project on the design wall is this blue quilt. This is on my list for Q2 FAL.  I had a brainwave to try my Stars quilt I designed and made for H2H with the blues!  Brilliant, n'est-ce pas?  I had planned on doing a different star quilt in one of Pam and Nicky Lintott's books, but then I came up with this plan with a few small changes.  First change is the blocks are 16" finished!  Bigger than the charity quilt.

Another little difference is the strip set centres (try saying 5 times in a row) compared to the first version as well.  Third difference: I'm turning the strip set blocks 90° as was suggested by a couple of people, to see if I get a woven effect.

You know there is something to be said about accumulating a rather large stash; it gives me some freedom to try something like this, to see, "what if I did this...", you know? That and keeping the walls insulated is my reasoning!  It was great fun to pull a ton of blue pieces out, some left over from previous projects, others destined for future projects (ahhh, when I was working full-time, and had the freedom to buy fabric just because I loved it and could visualize it growing up into a quilt...)

Eileen at Eileen Stitches and I had a conversation just yesterday about the similarities in our two cats.  OMG check out her current kittens quilt! Just saw it when I went for the link to her blog.  She said how her girl now loves to be on the cutting table, and I'd already taken this photo of Bella doing just that!  We both agree that fabric is like an aphrodisiac to our cats, and I would add that it sure is to us, too!  ;-)

Bella got as excited as I did at unfolding some not-looked-at-for-a-long-time fabrics!

If something doesn't quite work out in the "what if" department, I can always set it aside and use it in a seniors-in-wheelchairs charity quilt (I seem to have started something there).  That, or let Bella get all ecstatic and loll about on it, pose on it, crunch it up for an elbow rest...

You really didn't have to fan this out just for moi, but gee, thanks, mmrrrooowww!

Look at this beauty I snagged a photo of on Friday:  I just learned, from Wikipedia, and this Ontario site, that it is the symbol of Kentucky, and is a member of the magnolia family.  It also grows in only three places in Ontario:  the southern shore of Lake Huron, the northern shore of Lake Erie, where I am, and in the Niagara Peninsula.  There are many here in Kingsville.  This one, a massive tree, is just down the street from me!

Tulip tree, aka Liriodendron tulipifera

Speaking of down the street, that's where I'm heading right now, put some more kilometres on that app!

I'm linking up the blue stars quilt project with Scraptastic Tuesday at Mrs. Sew and Sow. The background of the pink stars quilt fits the scraps category too come to think of it!

And also with Patchwork Times' Design Wall this week!

Orphan Adoption Event

Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework has come up with a brilliant idea.  Brilliant...if you can bear to part (um that might be moi) with an old, dusty WIP or maybe it's not even at that stage yet, then add your link to her Orphan Adoption Event!  Even if you don't have an orphan to link up (then my hat is off to you, whoa!) you can still 'bid' on those that are up for adoption.

Enter one of my WIPs, not really at that stage yet!

Several years ago, a very good friend of mine and I had the brilliant idea to buy enough of this rather cool marbled fabric to make several of these Magic Tiles quilts and sell them. 

We often shared patterns back then, and somehow, I usually ended up with the photocopy...

We each made a couple quilts.  And?  We never sold a one! So our brilliant idea kind of got snuffed out, and the squares we cut ready to assemble in more quilts....yeah, got nuttin'... might have another set languishing...

Anyhow, this project consists of twelve 14" squares plus about a metre of black "grout" fabric, and the pattern.  There is no fabric to make the inner border.  Don't feel obligated to make this pattern!

I would like the person to donate the finished quilt to a charity.

Since I live in Canada, and postage is often ridiculous, (don't get me started), I will ship this free to anyone within the continental US or within Canada. I do hope that you would sew it up in a timely manner (unlike the giver of said project, ha) and I'd love it if you posted about it if you are a blogger, and let me know when you do! Maybe you'll inspire me to do something with the second set.

How do you bid on this?

Simply leave me a comment telling me what charity you would sew it for.  If you are a no-reply blogger, please leave your email within your comment so I can contact you.  If you would rather email me personally regarding the charity you would sew this for, then you can contact me at ephdra (at) gmail (dot) com

I will leave this open until mid-week, so June 10 at midnight EST.  If there are loads of takers, I will use the random number generator to make the final call. I will include emails in the draw, no worries!

Check out some of the other projects up for grabs!  Cute cat blocks, Amy Butler, Kaffe Fassett, to name a few, and tempt you...

Linking up with WIPs be Gone at A Quilting Reader's Garden.

Grande Scrappy Tiles Flimsy

The top is done for the pattern I'm testing for Cheryl, at Meadow Mist Designs, and I just love it!

Had to hold it down with some pottery coasters and a small block as it is WINDY today!

I wrote two posts, here and here so far about this quilt.  After I'd sewn the first four blocks, I decided to lay out the remaining six so I could ensure even distribution of fabrics and colours and values.  I had 4 on my design wall and one squished onto my sewing table.

I still managed to repeat fabrics on more than one occasion, but phew! I caught it before I sewed it.  It was beginning to make my head hurt a bit: as well as ensuring no two fabrics were alike in each block, I also tried very hard, and succeeded except for one rectangle, in having each fabric in a different place within each block!

This part bored Bella to ... well, to sleep

Once I finished all the blocks, my design wall wasn't quite big enough, so I laid them down on the floor to start to play with the orientation of each one.  Here are the first six blocks as I make sure no two alike colours touch and that the fabrics are evenly distributed over the quilt top.

THIS part, she adores.  The blocks got scrunched up each time I walked away

There's something about newly laid out pieces of fabric, whether it's for cutting, for sewing if I stack things beside my sewing machine, for arranging blocks, or for admiring a flimsy laid out on the floor, she's just gotta get ON it and either hunker down as in the above photo, in readiness to scamper away, or curl and twist in purring cat happiness.  Sigh.  Cat fur is a fibre sadly lacking in the textiles I purchase apparently.

Yep, think this layout should work.  I like to take a picture at this point too, in case I get blocks turned around as I transport them from design wall, or floor here :-) to the sewing machine.  Oh yes, the voice of experience.  And in case Miss Bella decides to romp across them...

So that was around suppertime yesterday, and then today I finished up the sewing and got my outside sunshiney pics, wind and all.

Ha, the wind started to lift the one section in the top right, but at least this photo got the bottom corner in.  I didn't even have time to stand on a patio chair for better height; it was okay! Held down, quick! Run to the end!  Snap! Snap!

Not fast enough for the last pic but I kind of like the wavy effect!

Lake Erie is spectacular today, so many shades of blue and an east wind whipping up frothy whitecaps...who needs the Gulf?  (ask me that in December)

Glad to get so many of these old fabrics into a rather pretty quilt, if I do say so myself!  I think I am going to meander quilt this on my Avanté with the Lily Pad design from Christina Cameli's book, Step By Step Free Motion Quilting that I used on one of the seniors' quilts, or possibly the Bear Claw motif I just got note of today from her blog, which I follow by email.

Lily pad motif is on the quilt on the left

Oh!  I dropped off these two seniors' wheelchair quilts this morning on my way home from yoga, and were they ever pleased!  They turned out to be a perfect size, and they were SO impressed with the ties that I'd sewn on.  These will go to those seniors who have little to no family that visits them, so that makes me pleased.  And, my guild has approached me to ask if I'd mind if we do this as our charity project for the Christmas party!! Uh, NO?!  I love it.  :-)  The year before last was placemats for Meals On Wheels that I wrote about here. Wow, that was only my 9th post... my #1 fan, faithful commenter, my sister, Linda, has not missed one post, reading, commenting, and telling me of any typos I may have made (oh and I do!)

So back to Grande Scrappy Tiles, soon available through Meadow Mist Designs.  I also had a thought to use flannel (once I pre-wash the snot out of it so it won't shrink) as the batting and have it as a summer quilt on our bed.  What say you?  Anyone done that before (other than me, in table runners)?  It's not quite big enough for a queen-size bed, but I never have just one quilt on our bed anyhow, so no biggie!  I think I will bind it with the original, the strongest, floral.

Linking up with WIP Wednesday and Let's Bee Social, see buttons below. :-)  So much always to admire, to be inspired by, and always new bloggers to meet.  I have to say, being part of the New Bloggers group has been so gratifying already and we are only 3 days in!

What's On My Design Wall Today

Well, on the mainstage of my design wall that is!

Two blocks done of nine!

This is Grande Scrappy Tiles, and it's a pattern I'm testing for Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs.  For the post that describes how I chose the fabrics for this sweet scrappy quilt, go here.  I'm pretty happy so far with how the prints play together, as well as the colours and the values.

There was a fair bit of cutting, and because I went shopping only in my stash, I didn't have just fat quarters, but some leftovers from other projects and some pieces that I had bought together with a future quilt in mind.  So this randomness added to the cutting.  Where I was able, I would cut a fat quarter and stack 2-3 and then cut as per the pattern.  I like that!  Three!  Three pieces in one!  (that will date me for those who know the mints commercial I'm parodying...didja get it?!)

Here is how I kept my pieces organized at first:

Seeing this on my sewing table makes me HAPPY!! Bubbles of quilty possibilities bouncing around in my chest...you know!

Once I had them all cut, which was right after I took the photo, I separated them into stacks of same-size shapes.  (ha, now I see the alliteration there...trying saying that 3 times in a row!)

And let the fun begin!  Here was the first block:

And....that's where I stopped last night because I was doing some um, dumb things which meant some reverse-sewing was in order, and I thought, 'Okay. Time to stop and start fresh tomorrow!'  The second block went together without a hitch.

So now I am building two blocks at a time on the design wall, so I can get the 21 different fabrics distributed evenly.  I can just see with my luck, having 3 or 4 pieces of the same fabric right in the last block or two!  You only use 15 of the 21 fabrics per block, as you can see, so I am going to control, control-freak that I can sometimes be, the scrappiness!

Layout for block #3

You might have noticed a couple of new buttons on my sidebar, one of which is the New Quilt Bloggers group I've joined this year.  This should be fun and informative for me!  Last year I was too shy to join in, had like 3 followers, lol, but through linking up in various linky parties and joining in with (my favourite) Scrap-a-Palooza over the summer, I met some amazing, just amazing and genuinely wonderful people, and have had my quilting life, make that my life, so enriched.  So...here's to a whole bunch more enrichment about to happen, and improvements about to be made.  Hang on to your hats!  I'm hanging on to mine!  I'm off to write my intro to the group right now!

Linking up with DWM at Patchwork Times.  It's always fun and inspirational to see what others are up to.

Sharing the Process

So this is one of two patterns I'm testing for Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs.  I love testing patterns.  (cough) This is only my second.  Ha!  But I still love it.  I think the English teacher in me loves the marking/grading aspect; the quilter LOVES the playing in my fabric stash (OMG I have to do this MORE; I am like Bella with a knitted scarf or afghan, rrrrrowwwwrrr, knead, knead, purr, purr, where have you been all my life? kind of warm and fuzzy feelings) okay.... totally lost my train of thought....phew! Shake! Okay!

So here are my fabrics.  All these photos are under the Ott-Lite.  (Would you believe I bought these about 10 years ago with the idea of making a jacket with them?  Kinda glad I never got to it.) I've made some great quilted jackets, all but one, however, which read as a solid.  Had I sewn one with these fabrics, I can hear my brother saying, as he did about a beautiful, hand-knitted, hand-dyed, hand-woven wool heavy sweater I bought, and paid good money for, "How many couches did you kill for that sweater, Sa-sa?"  Still loves to tease.  And I digress.  Again.

Then I started closely reading the pattern for Grande Scrappy Tiles.  Um what was I thinking?  I had six fabrics to start with, once I added in a light.  I need 21!!

HALLELUJAH!! (how exciting--more fabrics!)

So I got my Weeks Ringle on (just discovered she also writes an interesting weekly-haha-blog), and tried to do a Stash Rx on my choices.  Because I love sharing my thought (what I remember, lol) and design process, and I love reading others' thought  and design processes, and because I have now taken the process pledge (thank you Julie, for having that button on your blog, and curious, I had to check it out) here is how I arrived at the block you see below.

Disclaimer:  I have a double-major in English and French degree, and do not profess to know all the colour rules, so there very well could be some grave errors here, but it's my party...

Adding in an interesting light.

The light has flecks in it, which have made it more difficult to use as they seem to pop and annoy, rather than interest the viewer.  Here, it works.

Adding in pinks, and score! I like this taupe light as it picks up the beiges in the floral

I decided to aim for 4 pinks, blues, burgundies and greens in range from dark to light. That would make 19 fabrics all told with the 2 lights.  I'd fill in 2 more maybe at the end.

4 pinks done, found a raspberry/burgundy marble I'm liking with the flecks of purpley-blue in it

Not sure on that white background though of the one pink. I remembered Weeks saying not to add in white if it isn't there, and the backgrounds here are cream.  Also like the different character of the rose one with the "jacks" shapes on it.

Took it out.

Now for the blues

Weeks also says that prints that are similar, as in large scale, or quite intense bold ones, or, in this case, floral, can be combined.  So I decided to add in some blue florals that have more than one colour and cream in them.  Hmmm.

Trying for some larger range from light to dark; also for a variety in prints

I remember Jinny Beyer saying to always put a bit of black in a quilt, and also that quilters often don't go dark enough or light enough.  So, I'm trying to go darker than I think.  The coral in the blue/coral floral is bothering me here, and the blue-green plaid just isn't doing it, the dark blue flecked one which I used for a binding on another quilt has white pops in it.  Not sure on the top left dark tiny blue floral. It's on a black background and even though JB said always add some black, this one seems too different.

I removed these, thinking the turquoise was the wrong shade of blue, even though I liked the change in motif

Still unsure as I look at the photos the next morning as I'm writing this up, about removing that black background blue floral!  I also did remove the blue/green plaid, and the coral floral.

Blues decided upon

Love finding that stripe! And another green floral, not sure on the pale green small floral

I also was interested to see the tree bark green, which I bought for a backing of some future quilt, might work here too, and change the floral up a bit too.  Not sure on the very pale green. It has soft pops of purpley-blue (is that periwinkle?) though which I'm liking.  Also the modern (and newest fabric in the lot) green with beads(?) and lines on it--interesting, but I don't know... My head is starting to hurt! As are my eyes.

So I eliminated the small floral, thinking it was too cutesy and not in the olive or asparagus-colour range. I've kept the real light because I'm just realizing that I only have one real light!  Only a few real darks.  Uh oh, is this too ho-hum? Too medium-range only?

Burgundies...which are reading awfully similar to the pinks I already did!

There is some white in a couple of these, so I'm not sure.  I really like the fossil fern one; the tone is perfect and the print is different.  I also love the middle-of-the-photo roll of two-tone burgundy; when I found it, I just thought 'Yes!' and it's perfect. And I kept thinking I need a blue that is dark but richer, more in the deep royal colour. Found this marble, so I'm going to add it.  I need 21; my formula of 4 of each colour plus main floral and light doesn't yield 21 total.

So I decided to arrange my 22 (I think by this time) fabrics from dark to light, ignoring the colours, and see what I had:

22 here, mostly in the mediums, mostly floral or softer motifs

I did three things:  First, I looked at this under the Ott-Lite, then I shut off all the lights except for one small one, so I could view the run in semi-darkness, a great tip (see my tips and Aha! posts under the tab up top), and finally looked at the thumbnail of the photo (which creates distance, and you can often detect not-so-good pops or jumps). I came to these observations:
Lots of mediums, maybe too much.
Unsure of the paisley purpley-pink. (4th from the lights side) but I like that it's paisley.
The fossil fern (which I love!) reads the same as the marbled one with the purpley-blue poofs in it, as well as pretty similar to the one with the black "jacks" in it; one has to go.
I do need to keep that very pale green...I think.  If it is still bugging me, maybe that's an indication it should go.

Final 21!  What do you think?

This took me about an hour and a half.  It was so much fun, and such a rush (who needs drugs?!) to rifle through all my stash, petting and caressing, smoothing and admiring, finding treasures (man I have a LOT of blue fabric) and trying to get more of the fabric INTO quilts!!

So, next step is to make the blocks, which are 24.5" unfinished.  Any thoughts or suggestions about my final 21 are much appreciated.  I still love that fossil fern, still am thinking about that black background tiny blue floral in the 7th photo, still unsure of the purpley-pink paisley and the very pale green.  Ya, are you seeing a trend here?  Hate making decisions, second-guess myself...

Linking up with Pink Doxies Pet Project Saturday.

Update:  Judy's suggestion in the comments:

When I look at this, especially without my glasses (I'm near-sighted, which can be a wonderful advantage when wanting to fuzz the fabrics together!) I see where I didn't have these arranged quite correctly, but I'd kind of figured that out, BUT I think this will work!  I think there is a good range, and I don't think there are too many mediums.  Thanks Judy!!

And, since I posted, I JUST found out that I can let the cat (finally) out of the bag:
I'm a Moda Bakeshop designer!!  See my Pyramid Pouch here!  Now to get the button for my sidebar, and write about it for tomorrow!  Eeeek!

Hands2Help Charity Quilt

This sweet little quilt is going to the Canadian charity Because You Matter.

I posted about how the design evolved here.

I know I will be making another, not sure if it will be in time to send off with this one though, but rotating every other strip set block to create a woven effect. This was suggested by a couple of readers, and I think it is a great idea!  It was too late (and I was too lazy to unpick the already-sewn blocks) when I got the suggestions.

I did something I've never done before on this quilt, as well as something I haven't done for some time.

Something I've never done before is stitch in the ditch on my Bernina before loading it onto my Avanté. I've read that Sarah of Confessions of a Fabric Addict does this fairly regularly.  I wanted needed to on this quilt because I had "Franken-batted" the batting a fair bit!

Empty bag!!! A good thing.  I mainly used this batting (that's 3 quilts in a row, all for charity) and various smaller pieces of it and some Warm 'n Natural for this quilt. No affiliation. It's just a lovely soft, drapes-well batting. :-)

A few of the back with the vertical lines ditch-stitched

And the front: I stitched vertically on either side of the columns of strips blocks, as well as in the ditch between the border and the quilt top

From here I loaded it onto the Avanté, once I trimmed the bottom edge and made sure the top edge was square. 

Top edge pinned the first time...

Then realized the bottom edge wasn't squared, so unloaded, squared it, then reloaded.  When will I learn/remember?

Ready to quilt!

And tout fini!  Something I haven't done for some time is single fold binding.  I had no choice; I had mere inches left of the pink text fabric. 

I thought the backing I'd picked up might be a little too strong for the softness of the front, but now it's done, I think it's fine!  It's a really soft, albeit a little light in weight, cotton.

So today after I'd washed and dried it, I took a few more pictures since it was sunny and not storming!

 All kinds of crinkly quilty awesome-ness in the bright sun

close-up in the shade - can you see the word I randomly quilted?  "hugs"

I did a loops and leaves and flower all-over meander

I was surprised just how hard it was NOT to echo-quilt the stars or dot-to-dot quilt the geese, and not do swirls in that lovely white negative space...but time is of the essence, so all-over meander it had to be!

I really love the batting, I may have said that before, and this soft backing just makes for such a soft and snuggly quilt.  Hopefully the snuggles, softness, and healing thoughts of comforting a child that I had while stitching this all will be felt when whoever is the recipient holds onto this.

This is all that's left!

I never did use the bottom novelty fabric in this one, but I'm sure it will find its way into yet another quilt.  I'm very happy that I put such a dent in the leftover strips and pieces from the original quilt.

Stay tuned for a pattern for how to make this quilt.

Quilt Stats:
Size: 38.5X42"
Pattern: Original design
Fabrics: scraps from my stash + purchased backing
Batting: the majority is Pellon Nature's Touch 100% cotton scraps + a couple pieces ofWarm 'n Natural
Threads: pieced with Gutermann; quilted with Robison Anton Rayon
Quilted on my Bernina (ditch-stitched) and FMQ on my Avanté


Linking up:
Can I Get A Whoop! Whoop!
TGIFF
Finish It Up Friday
See the buttons on the sidebar! Lots of inspiration.

Have My Cake and Eat it Too

I wrote this earlier today, and then life happened and so did a few thunderstorms... so here we go:

Today is a red-letter day for me.

I used to think two things about aging:
1.  that I would NEVER live to be FORTY
2.  that I would NEVER live to see the year 2000

(because the world would probably end by then.)

Well, I made it.

And then some.

Today my very first pension cheque from the teaching profession, albeit only half a full pension amount, got deposited into our bank account. I also used to believe in the early years of teaching, that I would quit by 50 because that is just SO OLD, and I need time to do all the things I want to do! Well, I'm a few years past that "old" age (it's so not old!) and I feel much the same as I did at about age 28-30; however, I'd like to think maybe a little more wisdom and serenity have settled upon me.

So we bought these two beauties to celebrate:

Note the shrapnel from a couple of the storms that passed through! These two got a little drenched.  Mandevilla vines.

Maybe I'll take my husband out for supper as a further celebration.

Or maybe we'll stay home and enjoy a homemade supper with maybe a second glass of wine for moi!  Rebel.
(We did, and I did.)

What do I mean by the title of this post?
Of the 30 years of teaching I did, from age 22-52, several were part-time years.  This allowed me to stay home for all, or chunks, of the days when my girls were babies and growing up.  I had the best of both worlds:  mummy time (SO many good memories abound), but also adult time, (SO many friendships made with both colleagues and students and still kept today), validation that I was contributing to the good in the world by teaching young people, yet validation that I was able to spend a decent amount of time, IMHO, with my daughters.  Yes, I only get half of what I could have got, had I, either not been part-time, or taught until age 61.  I don't mind; I have my sanity, my health, my optimism!

I wouldn't change a thing.

I managed to snap a quick photo or two on the porch of the Hands2Help quilt I finished this afternoon.  It was raining pretty hard at the time!

More tomorrow once I've washed it.  Here is the back:

 

Today is also a red-letter day because I am about to upload a pattern of mine that has been accepted...more on that pretty soon!