OMG I Finished my May OMG

Two days ago, I saw a couple of OMG finishes, and thought, 'Did I sign up for one? And if I did, what was it?'  So I looked back through my posts, and yup, I did, when I did my Throwback Thursday post for May, it was embarrassingly apparent that the cushion cover I was featuring was incomplete...

No more!

I Like/Love #16

It is the last Thursday of the month, which means I write my gratitude post. I'm starting to get back into a routine, if only teaching yoga classes as usual this week, and trying to get back to the blog schedule. I realized yesterday I missed May DrEAMi! so I think I'll have that on Saturday June 2. If your regularly-planned quilting schedule got derailed by a just-have-to-make project this past month, then I hope you'll link it up. Squirrels are like rabbits right: multiplying in a blink!

Here are my notes of gratitude for the month of May. Interesting, in that Yvonne, the chaplain who directed Mum's Celebration of Life said in her talk, "Gratitude shifts everything. Even in the darkest of times, there's always something to be thankful for, if we are willing to look for it."

1. I love Spring. This is a photo taken on the public pathway between two houses in here (not ours) of the wonderful violets that carpet the grasses in early May, with a Forsythia (always associated with our five years here in the late 80s, as we had a beauty in our front yard then) and a towering Magnolia in the background. Such colours, perfect for a quilt right?

Plus Playtime QAL: Row 2 Construction

I'm wondering how many of you are already done part, or all, of row 2?! This second quilt I am making as part of the QAL was started as a leader/ender, and it wasn't long before it sort of took centre stage and I had several blocks together! The main page with links to all the steps is here.

Plus Playtime QAL: Row 1 Construction

My apologies for being late with this post. You can find the ezine issue with this pattern by going to Sew in Love With Fabric where you will find the newest issue, and can scroll back to January for the one that my quilt is in.

This week we are making the three blocks for row one. Follow the diagrams in the pattern in the ezine to make Block 1. Remember that you construct the blocks in columns. Below you see segments two and three using this method:

Hands2Help

Today is the final day to show your quilts for Sarah's Confessions of a Fabric Addict Hands2Help charity quilt drive. This is one of the quilts on my Q2FAL list.

I have one of my two almost ready (just needs binding) to be dropped off for Syrian refugees coming to Canada, who are making a new home in the Windsor area.

Week 4 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop

Welcome to week four of the New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop where we introduce quilt bloggers who are new to Quilting BlogLand. My hive named themselves In Stitches.

Carrie of Carrie Bee Creates made our button. That's one of her own quilts!

We hope you had a great week 3, and that you enjoy this last week of the hop!  This week Tracy at It's a T-Sweet Day, Joni of For the Love of Thread, and Sandy of Gray Barn Designs, are introducing themselves to you. I hope you can find some time to visit and leave them some comment love. Thank you so much to everyone who has been along on all four weeks of this hop! You will find Week 3 winners on last week's post.

Hands 2 Help Check In

I haven't written much about my Hands2Help quilts, but trust me, they are in production, both of them. I wanted to do a quick post to show you the flimsy of the first one.

Here's how it evolved:
Last year Preeti of Sew Preeti Quilts won a $25 gift certificate to Sew Sisters Quilt Shop (big sale this weekend, no affiliation, just enabling, as per usual). Well Preeti gave the gc to me because she said the postage would take the majority of it. I said well, I'd put it toward some Canada fabric that I wanted to use for a Syrian refugee quilt as one of my 2017 H2H charities. She approved! So I spent it and then some ha, and got a bunch of Canada fabric. However, the quilt didn't get made last year; I made the originally planned one for refugees.

So this year is the year. I just hadn't decided what pattern to do, and was letting it percolate, and getting a few ideas.... Then came the Humboldt bus crash tragedy. I made a half dozen blocks for the call for quilts. That pattern was it!

I played with arrangement: all the same orientation, or twist and turn?

Not only are mine and Preeti's fabrics in here, but also there is the Canadian cities fabric my brother sent me, leftovers from a jacket he had made for a Canada 150th Sesquicentennial thing at work. You will also see more Canada fabric he sent me which I'm using for the backing, in my finish post. Or maybe it will be an added pic or two to this one as it's about to be loaded onto Avril my longarm.

I settled upon alternating every other block and sewed up the twelve blocks in no time at all, entirely pieced on Tillie my little '51 Featherweight. It's her turn right now to work; Billie, my little '47 girl, is resting, but wanting to come out to play and keep in gear, nice and oiled and smooth too!

Oops, I see I have it upside down there; I aimed to have the big blocks of text fabric all one way.

Here is a funny outtake that I wish you could see 'live' in the Photos app, typical of often windy days here by Lake Erie.

I might not be on top of responses to comments this next little bit, so I hope (well I know) you'll forgive me. Brady will be 'in the house' in a few hours! I made him some new pj shorts as he's grown right out of his Frozen ones I made him a couple of years ago.

They turned out great! Sure hope they fit him okay but I made size 12 hoping they'll be baggy, as pjs should be. This is some of the fabric I bought off my friend who is de-stashing.

Speaking of her fabric, here are two pics of some more of it, 'Woodland' by Natalie Lymer of Cinderberry Stitches for Lecien Fabrics.

Please shoot me an email ephdra(at) gmail (dot) com if you are interested in buying any of this. It has been pre-washed, but is from a non-smoking home. $4/yard, minimum half yard cut. Postage extra!

A quick note:💥💝🎉🎊Starting today, this weekend is a free Watchathon at Craftsy (no code necessary) that I know I'll be partaking in... well, I hope to, here and there, especially when MacGyver and Brady are pounding away in the new garage that is now complete, well, inside it they'll be putting up drywall...

All done but finishing off the inside!

Linking up with the last check-in at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Oh, and one more thing: this is the final day for Week 3 of the New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop. Go here for the links to the blogger in my hive and the co-hosts, and the giveaway. Winners will be announced on Sunday.