International Plowing Match

In September, 2010, the International Plowing Match will take place in Central Elgin, on property owned by the St. Thomas airport. A tent city will be erected on the site and thousands of people from all over will descend on the area to take in the plowing competitions, displays, food and events. One large tent will be dedicated to quilting. I plan on entering a few quilts into the competition which will take place on May 28th and 29th at the Southwold Keystone Complex in Shedden. I still have a while to meet the deadline for the quilt competition, however, the deadline for the block competition is today!

I have had the kit to make the block since May 2009 and have been thinking about what I might do with the fabrics provided for months now. This morning, I finally took the material out and made my block. We had to use at least 4 of the 5 fabrics provided and we were not allowed to add any other fabrics. These blocks will be made up into quilts which will be on display at the Plowing Match. If you happen to go to the quilt tent and see the quilts, you can look for my block:
For more information about the International Plowing Match and the Quilt Competitions, please go to www.ipm2010.com.

Just in Time!

This is the fall table runner I made for my MIL for Christmas. The material is from a Moda Fat quarter bundle called "Acorn Hollow". I made a cobblestones quilt using most of the FQ's in this bundle just over a year ago and the squares in the center block were leftovers from that quilt. My MIL was very pleased with her gift and can hardly wait until the fall rolls around again so she can put the runner on her dining room table! Last year for Christmas, I made her a winter table topper which she has on her table right now. My MIL already has a spring/summer table topper that I made her as well. My SIL received the "Figgy Pudding" turnover table runner shown in a previous post for Christmas. We were at her house for supper tonight and she had it out on the island in her kitchen. It warms "the cockles of my heart" when people like the gifts I make for them!!!

Still Sewing

I'm still not finished all of my sewing projects that must be done by the 25th! Yikes! I am running out of time. I have to work almost all day tomorrow too! The above candle mat is for a young woman at my church. I will give it to her tomorrow night at the Christmas Eve church service.

I finished piecing the table runner that I am giving to my MIL tonight. It still needs to be quilted and bound. Guess what I am doing when I get home from work tomorrow? Check back tomorrow for pictures of her finished runner. It is for her dining room table for the fall season. She has runners for the other seasons of the year, but not the fall.

I am a Christmas Gift Machine...

I made this table runner from a Moda Figgy Pudding turnover. This is the first time I have purchased a turnover. The red border fabric is leftover from my Christmas lights quilt in the next post. The red fabric is all gone now--I even purchased extra when I bought it for the quilt so that I could build up my red stash. I guess I will just have to go shopping for more red fabric! This is another Christmas gift. It is getting down to the wire now and I still have quite a few gifts not quite done yet... I guess there will be some evenings at the sewing machine to try to get them finished in time. (Yes--that is the toe of my shoe in the picture...)

Christmas Lights is Done!!!

It has even got a label!!! This quilt was quilted by the quilting man--a quilting friend's husband who has claimed their quilting machine as his own. There are holly leaves and berries quilted on it, which go quite well with the border fabric.
There are no decorations on our tree yet. My daughter just got home from University last night so we are going to decorate the tree all together, maybe tomorrow night. My husband is out at a meeting tonight for work. We bought the rocking chair when my daughter was first born--she turned 18 last week. Where did the time go???? The Christmas tree skirt which I made when we got married 20 years ago will get put around the tree once the decorations are on.

Tired of my Mittens yet???

Another table runner gift! Nancy came over last night and we had a QNIC. I finished off this table runner and pieced and quilted another one--no mittens on this one!!! I have to figure out what to use for binding. Only one week to go until the big day and I still have lots to do. Some of my cards got mailed today. We hope to do some more this weekend. My neices are coming for a sleepover at our house this weekend. We are going to decorate gingerbread trains! They love to sleep in our "special guest" room under one of the quilts that I made. My daughter gets home from university on Sunday. This will be a busy weekend!!!

A Christmas Gift

I am slowly checking off the projects I hope to finish in time for Christmas gift giving! This table runner is for someone at work. I just finished doing the binding and the label. I made some progress on another gift tonight as well, but it is not done yet. My friend, Pat, and I enjoyed a cup of tea together while she knitted a sweater for her grandson and I sewed. Wednesday is my next sewing night. Maybe some friends can come over for QNIC???

An Evening of Sewing

I spent the whole evening at the sewing machine last night. I made progress on a number of projects but only completed a few smaller items. Our quilt guild has challenged each member (there are over 100 of us!) to make two placemats to be given to clients of "Meals on Wheels"--a service that provides hot meals to mostly seniors who may not be able to get out to shop or cook for themselves. I finished my placemats and also made a post card for our post card exchange at the guild meeting on Thursday night. You might notice a theme going on with some of my projects... (Just look back a couple of posts...) I have more gifts underway but no pictures to show yet. Keep checking back... there may be more pictures tomorrow night if I get something done and I'm not too tired to do a post!

Star Hot Pad Class

I took a class with Jacqui this past Wednesday night and learned how to make these round hot pads. I think I am going to give this one to my MIL for Christmas (don't tell!). I am going to put a loop on the back so that she can hang it up in her kitchen. She likes sheep so she should like the fabric! I would like to make a few more before Christmas. I have a long list of projects to finish before Christmas but I am not crossing them off very quickly!!!

Mittens Table Runner

We recently had our backyard landscaped --it was a sea of mud for quite a while as it rained much of the time they were working on it. Our neighbours gave us permission to take out a couple of sections of the fence between our yards so that the bobcat could get into our yard with the dirt, rocks, pavers for the patio, etc. The project is complete now and looks great. The neighbour's fence has been re-installed and the sod has been laid. It all looks so much better now! To thank them for letting us use part of their side yard during the project, I made this table runner for them. I finished it today and we will take it over to their house tonight along with a bottle of wine. Thank goodness for great neighbours!!!

Comfort Quilt Pieced

Tonight, Pat and I got together to put this quilt top together. The blocks were made by members of the Elgin Piecemakers as a tinners project last year. A piece of material was put into a large coffee tin. Each month, a member of the guild got one tin to make one 12 1/2 inch block using some of the focus fabric included in the tin. Each tin had a theme. At the end of the year, there were 16 blocks in each tin and the blocks were sold in a silent auction. I purchased two sets of blocks--garden blocks and basket blocks. pat and I picked out 20 blocks from the two tins that we thought went together. She purchased sashing and I supplied the green corner block material from my stash. The green fabric will also be used for a 5 inch border for the entire quilt. Tonight, I sewed and Pat ironed and cut. She took the top home to add the borders and then it will be taken to the quilting man to be quilted. The members of the guild are all paired up and each pair is making one quilt for cancer patients at our local hospital. We did one set of quilts already and donated them to the hospital back in June this year. Apparently, they have all been given away to the cancer patients and the hospital needs more now. They will soon have 8 more quilts! All of the quilts are to be done for our January meeting show and tell. I will be sure to post pictures of all of the quilts at that time.