Pineapple Log Cabin Done, Two Donation Quilts Started.

Some projects are quick to make and others aren't.  I made these blocks in 2023 as one of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects.  The quilt top was completed in January 2024.  Then it sat in the to be quilted pile as I pondered how to quilt it.  It kept telling me it wanted to be hand quilted so I finally relented, and started hand quilting it last fall.  I took a break from it for a while and then finished it in the Spring/Early Summer of this year.  I searched high and low through my stash for an appropriate fabric for the binding and had nothing.  I really wanted to use the grey background fabric as the binding so searched on the Internet to see if I could find some in a Canadian Store.  I found it and finally picked it up this past week.  It was a priority this week to get the binding made and sewn down.  Now, this quilt is ready to be displayed on the wall!  

I also added more stitches to my fall cross stitch, finishing off a leaf I started last week and making good progress on the bird. There is one more leaf to add below the branch in this section before moving along to the left. 

Christine and I attend a couple of the Crafter's Retreats at Camp Kintail each year.  The camp is run by the Presbyterian Church  and has a fundraising auction each fall.  I usually donate and item for the auction and, this year, decided to donate a lap quilt.  Today was Jelly Roll Day at the Oxford Guild so I got busy sewing.  I had all of the cutting done for these blocks earlier in the week.  I made 20 blocks and will add navy blue sashing before quilting it with my walking foot.  I need to have this done very soon so it will likely be my focus for the next little while.  The colourful fabrics are grunge and the navy was in my stash....I think it was leftover from a quilt back. 

I am also making a donation quilt for a fundraising raffle at the nursing home where my MIL lives.  I've got a good start on this one and hope to have it done by the end of October.  The fabrics all came from my batik bin.  I have been trying to use up my batiks for a while and was happy to find enough co-ordinating fabrics in the bin to make this quilt.  Both of these donation quilts will end up being lap sized. 

The Oxford Guild makes Quilts of Valour and handed out strips of fabric at our September meeting to make 16 patches.  They supplied with teal fabric and I added the other two fabrics to make four 16 patch blocks.  

The butterfly weed in my front garden is creating lots of fluffy seeds to spread around the neighbourhood. 

The sedum is in bloom now that gardening season is winding down. 

Finn and my daughter got a new mattress this week.  It is Finn approved. 

I will link up with Kathy, Angela and Frederique.  

Almost a Week at the Cottage

Christine and I spent most of a week at her cottage and did lots of sewing, chatting, watching movies and eating good food!  It was a bit buggy outside so we were mostly inside.  Christine has lots of bird feeders which she kept well stocked all week so there were lots of birds and other critters to see out the window. 

But first, the sewing!  I added yellow binding to my colour challenge quilt and, over a few days, finished hand stitching it down.  The dock was a good place to take some pictures. 

I did most of the hand stitching in the evenings while watching a movie and drinking tea. 

The colourful birds at the feeder were distracting, but in a good way!

For June, the RSC colour was "pastels" but since I don't have many pastels in my stash, I decided to make purple blocks this month.  I completed all the purple blocks for my four projects while we were at the cottage. 

The Kawartha Dairy just released a new ice cream flavour this week.  We had to try it, of course.  Delicious!

One of my goals for the week was to make the last (paper-pieced) block for my Summer Sorbet sampler from the Threadhouse Academy.  It took a while to make this block as there were four curved paper pieced sections and then curved piecing to put each quadrant together before sewing them all together to make the block.  I put all the blocks together into a finished quilt top before we headed home. I have fabric for backing at home and will work on getting that pieced and the quilt pin basted this week. 

Christine noticed a visitor under the bird feeders one day.  What does the fox say, you may ask?  Nothing.  He was too busy eating.  

Our friend, Cathy, from Eagles Wings Quilts came over for lunch and an afternoon of stitching and catching up. We had not seen Cathy since we were up at the Cottage last June!  I stitched my yellow binding, Cathy worked on some knitting, and Christine did some cross stitch.   A fun afternoon!

Down on the dock, I took a couple of pictures of Christine with her projects.  This Christmas wreath wall hanging had the binding sewn on at the cottage.  The double star with the grey background is for her colour challenge project and is the last of 12 blocks that she has made.  She will be able to assemble the quilt top now. The quilt top hanging in the screened porch is ready for quilting now that the borders have been added.  We also both worked on  Dream Bird coin pouches from the Taster Weekend for the Threadhouse Academy.  No pictures yet...I will take some when we finish our projects. 

You all know that Finn loves a sunbeam.  My daughter took these pictures this morning.  The second one shows her progress on the rounds of her crocheted blanket. 

I took lots of bird pictures at the cottage...  The goldfinches and the hummingbirds were fun to watch at the feeders. 

This squirrel and others were happy to munch on seeds that fell on the ground. 

I am on the program committee for the Oxford Quilters' Guild and we are organizing a 9 patch swap  mystery quilt for the 2026-27 year.  I made 20 nine patches in three colours while I was at the cottage.  Christine worked on making nine patches too but I didn't get any pictures of hers.  The instructions will soon be sent out to the participants in the swap.  I decided to get ahead of the game as I hate the last minute pressure of getting something done for a deadline.  I am also trying to encourage more guild members to sign up for the swap by sharing pictures of my nine-patches.  Each month, the participants will bring in 20 nine patches in a specific colour. The program committee will collect the baggies of nine patches and redistribute them evenly amongst the participants--each person will get 20 nine patches back at the next meeting, made by the other participants. We will swap nine-patches for 7 months for a total of 140 nine patches.  There are also constant blocks which will be made along the way.  At the end of the guild year, the final instructions on how to put everything together will be given out.  It will be fun to see everyone's quilts!

To end this very long and picture heavy post, I present a picture of a new type of featherless bird at the feeder...

I will link up with the RSC folks, the Slow Sunday Stitchers and Frederique. 

 

Two Retreats in a Row

 Yes... Christine and I were at quilting retreats two weekends in a row! I had a second set of projects lined up to take to our annual Spring Oxford Guild retreat before the Camp Kintail retreat.  The truth is that I could go on even more retreats and still come up with projects to work on.  Christine is in the same boat!

I finished up my chain link blocks for the vice president's challenge--I have decided to set them on point but have not decided if I want to add sashing or not before sewing them together.  I will have to audition sashing later.   

As you can see, Finn is very willing to help model my quilt blocks, often artfully rearranging them along the way. 

Next, I worked on my red Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks for March.  I put them on the floor for a photo this am and, again, Finn was there to help. 

I sewed the binding on my scrappy baby quilt and got it sewn down by hand at the retreat.  I still need to add a label.   The backing was purchased at an estate sale. 

I started my 12 Green Bottles Quilt, a Threadhouse Academy class with Jo Avery, at the November guild retreat and have not worked on it since then.  I find I need a good chunk of time and lots of space to work on this quilt as I audition colours for each part.  The first picture is going to be the centre block.  I hope to finish it soon.  

This is one of the borders on a corner section. 

As you can see, I have two corner blocks done and two more started.  I was pleased with the progress I made at the retreat.  Our guild is having a quilt show in the spring of 2027 and I hope to have this quilt done in time for the show. 

I will be linking up with the Slow Sunday Stitchers on Sunday morning, with Angela and the RSC group on Saturday and with Frederique too.