Spinning Squirrels and Maggots Quilt Progress!

I went to Jacqui's house last night for a little QNIC (Quilters' Night in Canada) and worked on the borders for my spinning 4 patch--spinning squirrels and maggots quilt. All of the purple blocks are done but I am still working on the blue blocks. Here is a sneak peak at how this quilt is going to look when it is done. I have a piece of the original Australian fabric that I started with to use for the border. Others at QNIC were also working on Spinning 4 Patch quilts--one was done with cat fabrics for the quilter's daughter for Christmas and the other was a charity quilt for cancer patients at our local hospital. This method of cutting and sewing the blocks makes for very interesting quilts!

Christmas Lights Flimsy Done!

Here it is!!! I purchased the fabric for the borders on Friday night at Cherished Pieces in Tillsonburg. I washed the fabric this morning and then put the borders on this afternoon. Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville is starting another mystery, Carolina Christmas, this coming weekend which I hope to make. Christmas Lights is the first Quiltville mystery I have ever done. I do not think I will do this next mystery quilt in Christmas colours. I have to take a look at my stash to see what I can come up with...

I just spoke to the long arm quilter and he has time to quilt this quilt next weekend!!! It will be ready for Advent/Christmas! I bought flannel backing for this quilt which I will have to piece early this week. This quilt will probably live on the back of our couch in the family room for the Christmas season--nice to cuddle up in while watching old Christmas movies with my husband and my daughter, when she gets home for the holidays from university.

I finished my Inchie Ornaments for the swap and they will go out in the mail tomorrow to an address in the USA. I will post a picture when I hear that they have arrived at their destination.

Onto the next projects--table runners which will be Christmas gifts, and two placemats for Meals on Wheels--this is an outreach project for the London Friendship Quilters' Guild. I will post pictures when they are done.

Finish #3

I finished sewing the binding on this wall hanging before my last guild meeting so it was ready for show and tell. Now, I just have to figure out where I am going to hang it. I just love the colours in this quilt! The pattern was from Claudia's Quilts and was a border of month mystery quilt. I still have to take a picture of the last quilt I showed at the meeting.

Last night, my husband and I went to the sale at Cherished Pieces in Tillsonburg where I purchased backings and borders for three more quilts that I have put together recently. No pictures yet but I will blog about them as I finish them. I also bought some Christmas turnovers to make some Christmas gifts. I was at a friend's house the other night working on cutting out some applique pieces for more gifts. Lots to do here in the next few weeks, but I feel like I have a good start on everything.

My First Bag!

Brenda Miller of "Among Brenda's Quilts" fame was the speaker at the London Friendship Quilter's Guild meeting this past Thursday night. She presented a trunk show and the story of her quilt design business. It was a great evening with lots of interesting quilts and bags that she had designed over the years.

Yesterday, she led a workshop for several guild members on her "Out and About Bag". We started sewing at 9am and I did not leave to go home until 4:30pm. Others were still sewing when I left. It was a great day. I had been up late the night before getting all of the cutting out done before the workshop so last night, I was tired, but pleased with the bag that I had made that day. I managed to find everything I needed for the bag in my stash. That is a good thing because I did not have time to go shopping!

I used a charm pack for my flying geese border and the outside pockets of my bag. Brenda's bags are all lined with no raw edges showing. Even the pockets are lined! It takes a little longer but makes for a better bag in the end.There were also pockets inside the bag to keep things such as a pen, cell phone, etc.


Above, you can see the cinch closure at the top of the bag.

And, here is my finished "Out and About Bag":
Thanks for a great day, Brenda!

Ready for Show and Tell!

I just finished the last stitch on the binding of the 4th quilt that I have bound this week, just in time for show and tell at my guild meeting tomorrow night. I got caught up on a lot of old TV shows that we had recorded over the past few nights as I sewed. I will put pictures of the last two quilts on my blog after tomorrow night.

Now, I must get going on the inchie ornament swap and get it in the mail by the end of the month. As well, I need to work on some Christmas gifts. I am also hoping to do the next Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt "Carolina Christmas", although I think I am going to pick a different colour scheme than red, green and gold. I will have to go digging into my stash to see what I can come up with.

2 down, 2 to go!

I am going to call this Mahone Bay Stars--I purchased the fabric in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia at Suttles and Seawinds. Two of the four quilts are now done! I just have two more bindings to finish and I will have 4 items for show and tell on Thursday... That's one per night. I guess I know what I am doing for the next couple of evenings.

Quilt "til You Wilt Report

What a glorious day of sewing! Karen and I were among the first to arrive in the ballroom at a local hotel at 7:52 am. We had our sewing stuff and machines up and running by 8am. 26 quilters spent all day quilting--finishing UFO's, starting new projects, chatting and sharing inspiration and encouragement for each other. We cheered when people held up finished projects! The food was fabulous--pastries, bagels, fresh fruit and yogurt for breakfast, sandwiches, salad, crudites, homemade soup, fruit and squares for lunch and salad, garlic bread, lasagna, pasta primavera and strawberry shortcake for dessert. Pop, water, juice, coffee and tea were available all day. AND, no dishes and cleaning up to do!!! You can check the London Friendship Quilters Guild blog for pictures of everyone's projects.

One of the quilters had this pencil case with her and it says it all:
I brought several projects with me in hopes of finishing them off. First, I machine sewed the binding on three quilts that I recently got back from the long arm quilter:


"The Plan" is to finish hand sewing the binding down by Thursday night so I can bring them to the guild meeting for show and tell. Time will tell...

Next, I finished sewing all the blocks of my Fractured Squares quilt. This has been an ongoing project for several months. It kept getting put aside every time there was another project with an urgent deadline.
I laid out all of the blocks on the floor and then sewed them all together. I did not bring the border fabric with me so I will do that later. I am just glad to have all of the blocks pieced and put together!
I also got a good start on my MIL's Christmas gift--she hinted that she wanted a Fall table runner for her dining room table at Thanksgiving. I did not have all of the fabric with me that I needed to finish it off.
Last, but not least, I worked on the last 12 blocks for my disappearing 9 patch. I did not take any pictures of them but will post a picture when I get the top together.

It was a great day... Karen and I left to go home at 8:15pm. There were still a few others there when we left. We had the room at the hotel until 9pm. By 9:30 pm, I was asleep on the couch at home.

Stay posted for more pictures later in the week as I finish the binding on those 3 quilts.

A Finish!

I put the binding on this little quilt the other night. I have been very busy lately--not much sewing time. I have 3 more quilts to bind before next Thursday night so I will have them ready for show and tell at the London Friendship Quilters' Guild meeting. I will be spending my evening tonight getting ready for Quilt 'til You Wilt tomorrow. It runs from 8am to 9 pm and I have big plans to finish a lot of UFO's!

A Parcel in the Mail

Back in September, I signed up for the Inchie Quilts Christmas Ornament Swap. I have not made my ornaments to send to my swapee yet, but I received mine in the mail this past week, all the way from Texas! They are very nice and I look forward to hanging them on my tree. Charis also sent me a little cross stitch kit and two fat quarters. Thanks Charis!!! I will put a special thank you gift in the mail tomorrow!

In case you did not know, an Inchie is a 1 inch by 1 inch quilt that is often embellished with beads or buttons or embroidery or special quilting. I have never made any Inchies before and thought this would be a good opportunity to give it a try. I am supposed to mail my Inchie Ornaments before the end of November. They are next on my list of sewing projects after I get the binding on the quilts I just got back from the machine quilters. I want to have something to show at show and tell at the next guild meeting...