Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! 
This is one of the pumpkins carved at my house this year. If you are a "Finding Nemo" fan, you will recognize this classic "good feelings gone" scene. It's my marine biologist daughter's favourite movie, hence the angler fish pumpkin!

It's trick or treat day... time for costumes and candy!
It's also the last day of the month, so for OMG quilters, it's time for either bragging or fessing up. 

I'll be fessing up!

4 blocks quilted

In spite of working really hard to finish before the end of the month, my October UFO did not get finished. I knew that it was a lofty goal to piece a backing, pin baste the quilt sandwich, machine quilt the whole thing on my domestic sewing machine, and bind the quilt within one month. But sometimes you have to aim high, so I did!

And then you have to accept that sometimes you can't meet your lofty/unrealistic goals in spite of your best efforts, so I am!

quilt back

Each block is being quilted differently, which is a lot of starting and stopping. Some blocks are quilted with straight lines and some are free motion designs. 
I have quilted 7 of the 12 blocks, so am more than half way done with the quilting.
In November I hope to quilt the remaining 5 blocks, and finish the binding on the quilt.
I will be linking up to One Monthly Goal.

Mid Month UFO Update

My October UFO is the 2016 Aurifil BOM quilt. The month is half over, and half of the blocks are quilted, so I'm right on schedule! 
This will be a fun block to quilt today. First I am stitching-in-the-ditch around the sashing of the block (with the walking foot on) and then will switch to the free motion foot and figure out some kind of design.

UFO for October

This is the project I chose for October's UFO. This is the Aurifil Block of the Month project from 2016 (free patterns still available here). The blocks were made in 2016, and the top was sewn together in March of this year.
One of the lessons of this quilt was to remind me to not worry about fabric substitutions. I miscalculated on the sashing fabric amount and couldn't find any more of the red fabric in local quilt shops to finish sashing the blocks. Eventually I added a second red and you don't even notice it. And if you did notice it, I think it adds more interest to the quilt.

My first step will be to piece a backing and cut some batting. Pin basting will hopefully commence this week.

To see more UFO goals, hop over to One Monthly Goal.

Big Friday Finish!

It's such a great feeling to reach a goal that you set for yourself! Today I am patting myself on the back for finishing my UFO of the month - Tetris. 
This project was a quiltalong over at Happy Quilts in 2012. 
Yes... this quilt began 5 years ago!
The free pattern is still available on Melissa's blog - click here. And you can see other variations of the Tetris quilt at the link up here.


I added the letters to the top of my quilt because I love making letter blocks. I tried to make the letters look "boxy" in keeping with the Tetris theme.

If you check the UFO lists on the right hand side bar of my blog, you will see that the Tetris quilt has been on every list since 2013! 



And now I am so happy to be declaring this quilt to be "DONE"! It's a great feeling of accomplishment!
To see more Friday Finishes, hop over to Crazy Mom Quilts. And to see the September finishes over at One Monthly Goal, click here.

Machine Quilting Tetris

Monday night's visit to the Halton Hills Quilters' Guild was lots of fun! I didn't get lost on the way there, didn't get caught in traffic jams, didn't get lost in unorganized or sudden detours/road closures, and I even arrived to the meeting early. That was the easiest drive I have had in a long long time and made me realize how stressful the "season of construction" has been for driving! LOL
The Halton Hills quilt show is coming up in October so there was a lot of excitement about planning for that. It's a big undertaking to plan a quilt show and organize all the volunteers required to make it successful. At the meeting I got to see a couple of the quilts that will be featured at the show and it promises to be an inspiring event. Hope you can make it if you live close enough!

My UFO of the month is finally getting some attention. Nothing like leaving it until the last minute, since it's the last week of September! 

The "squares on black" border fabric was attached without drama. The whole quilt was pin basted on the weekend and the quilting was started. During the basting process I decided that the quilting was going to be primarily straight vertical lines for the main area of the quilt. It's fairly boring stitch-in-the-ditch quilting with the walking foot, but the quilt just didn't want anything fancier. And it's going very quickly so I might even make the end of week/month deadline!

The straight quilting lines are continuing right into the borders. You can see that the the backing fabric (on the right of the photo) is a black on white print that I'm happy to be using up from my stash. 

UFO Report

The month of August is split into 2 parts in my mind... before my fall and after. Before was too busy with preparing for a week vacation, then the vacation (which was so busy I needed a holiday to recover from it), then the fall on the Saturday of vacation week, followed by 2 weeks of pain, working very few hours, not sewing at all, and going to medical appointments.


Overall it was a total bust for UFO progress. 
But healing is slowly happening and I'm so thankful to be pain-free most of the time (except when sitting).
So September will be "Tetris Redux". I'll get the border sewn on, and get this baby quilted!
Linking up to One Monthly Goal.

August UFO on the Design Wall

2017 is more than half over, and I have only finished 3 quilts from the list of 12 (list on the side bar). That puts my UFO completion rate at 25%. Ugh!! Surely I can do better the second half of the year?!? August is a busy month, so I'm picking a project that should be an easy finish. 

This Tetris quilt top was made in 2012 in a quiltalong over at the Happy Quilting blog. It was on my UFO list for a few years. I decided I wanted to finish it this month, and just now realized that it's not even on my 2017 UFO list! HA! That's so funny since it was on the UFO list every year from 2013 to 2016 and then it fell off the list I guess?
Oh well, I'm psyched for it now, so my August goal will be to add the fabric at the top as an outside border, and then to machine quilt and finish up this quilt.
The word "tetris" is used as a verb at my house, especially when trying to pack things into the refrigerator or freezer after grocery shopping, or when we are packing to go camping. We say "can you tetris that pile of stuff into the car"? This will be a fun family quilt to have around and it will be finally finished in a few short weeks...hopefully!

Linking up to the UFO dream board linky at One Monthly Goal and Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts.

Empty Design Wall

Nothing is on my design wall today.

That is a rare occurrence here in my quilt studio.

I am trying to stay focused on my UFO of the month, which is the bear quilt. I finally attached the last two borders (a light, and a dark green) and here is a photo of the next stage of quilting - pin basting.

It's not a fun task, but it is necessary to move to the next fun task, which is the machine quilting step.

To see some design wall postings, hop over to Small Quilts.

Design Wall Monday

The Bear quilt is back on the design wall. 
Wow that last border was a lot of work! I had a terrible time with the measurements and redid a couple of the ends of the seams more than once. You know how it is when the outside edge of the quilt is wider that the inside measurements, and you try to make it fit and the fabric is just pulling too much? But if you give too much fabric, the border becomes a hot wavy mess! Attaching borders are my least favourite part of making a quilt for sure! And I'm planning to maybe add two more...a light and then a dark.
This quilt is a pattern of Lorna's from Sew Fresh Quilts. Her designs are intricate, detail oriented, and lots of fun to challenge yourself to make. Did you see her Canadiana version of the bear quilt? Check it out here. It's amazing and features two pieced bears in the finished quilt. 
It was my goal in June to finish this bear quilt. I did almost finish the quilt top. So my UFO goal for July will be the same as June's was... to finish this quilt.
To see more design wall posts, hop over to Small Quilts.
To see more UFO promises, hop over to One Monthly Goal.

Bear Update

The month is half over, but the Bear is not nearing completion. I was hoping to have the top completed and the quilting started by now.
After reading the comments last week, I put in a sashing row below the word Killarney, as that was the popular suggestion.  I sewed 5 more bear paw blocks with sashings and am ready to attach it to the top. The next step is to add sashings on both sides and the centre will be done.
This quilt pattern is from the MOD Bear Paw QAL at Sew Fresh Quilts, and the last border is a paw print pattern that goes all around the quilt, so that's what I'll be cutting out to sew this weekend.
To see what other quilters are working on this week, hop over to the Sew Fresh Quilts link up and see Lorna's new adorable fox quilt pattern.

FNSI and Design Wall Monday

The Bear quilt (pattern by Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts) is my UFO of the month and I have been working on it regularly. 

The progress is not really noticeable because much of the work is going on in my brain. I'm happy with the two bear paw blocks on the left of "Killarney"  bringing that row up to the necessary width. 
Now I'm trying to decide what looks better - green sashing or no sashing below "Killarney"? And do I want a dark green sashing around this whole section of the quilt?
One of the factors in the decision is that I purchased more neutral background fabric to make the quilt larger (it started as a wallhanging but has grown to a lap quilt), but just realized it's not exactly the same.
I have been using the neutral fabric (in the middle) which looks cream coloured, and the new fabric (on the bottom) looks more white. I intend to use it anyway for the next border, but I might need another fabric around this section of the quilt so that the change in background fabric doesn't bug me so much.


I had cut all the pieces to make one more row of bear paw blocks which will either go on the top or bottom of this section.
Friday night there was an impromptu FNSI and I intended to get all of these sewn.



However, my friend Barbara finally located Canada's 150th birthday limited edition vodka (see my blogpost about it here) and she was making fabulous Cosmopolitans for us. I think that explains the lack of further progress! What happens at FNSI, stays at FNSI!
Linking up to Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts.

UFO Report

Well, the intended UFO finish of the month did not receive any attention at all in the month of May. I could not find the fabric I thought I had reserved for the backing and got preoccupied with finishing Grand Illusion to donate to my local guild instead. That's okay... a UFO got finished, just not the one I had intended to finish in the month of May!
So what's up for June?
The Bear quilt is getting priority because I want it finished for camping season this year. I have all the fabric I need to completely finish this quilt, so I plan to focus, focus, and focus. The next step is making two or three more rows of bear paw blocks.
To see more UFO projects for the month of June, hop over to One Monthly Goal link up.

UFO update

April is more than half over and I am not exactly on track with my UFO goals, but am making progress in the right direction. I was hoping to have the quilt top finished by now and ready for pin basting, in order to be able to finish the quilt by the end of the month. That goal doesn't feel impossible at the moment, but we'll see what progress the next week brings.

There were 3 tasks to do:
1) The areas of the quilt top that needed to be improved (so I could like the quilt more) are now fixed. That task involved tedious unsewing and resewing, but I'm happy with the changes.

2) The scrappy piano key border strips are almost finished.


3) I made 4 scrappy asterisk blocks and they will be perfect for the cornerstone blocks at the ends of the border strips.

Now I just need some time to connect all these parts together into a quilt top!

PS... hop over the Cynthia's blog to see her fabulous colourwash scrap vortex quilt. She pieced it as a leader-ender project... just wow!
PPS... hop over to the Oh Scrap! link up for more scrappiness and thoughts about backings.

April's UFO

My UFO focus for April is the Scrap Vortex. This quilt was started 2 years ago and inspired by a quiltalong at Crazy Mom Quilts. It's such a fun technique for using up scraps and after teaching the improv class in Paris last month, I've been stoked about finishing this quilt.

Here are the tasks:

1) fixing the top 3 things about the quilt top that aren't quite right for my eyes.

2) piecing a scrappy border and attaching it to the quilt top. 

3) spiral quilting using the Crazy Mom Quilts tutorial. It only makes sense that since Amanda Jean started this quilt, I'd use her fabulous quilting idea too!

4) piece and add a scrappy binding. 

Can all this be done in one month? Well, my regular blog readers know that my goals usually exceed my available time.  Considering that my goal for last September took me SEVEN months to finish, I'd say I have a severe case of "delusional doability" (a perfectly coined term I learned from Elaine Therault)!!
Linky up to the April Goal link up and crossing my fingers for a finish within one month!

UFO Groundhog Day

Happy Groundhog Day!

Did you ever see the movie Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray? It's a classic story about learning to be a better person when given the opportunity to live one day over and over until you get it right. The moral of the story is the same my "quote of the year" for 2017... see the bottom of my blog.
If only we had the chance for "do overs".
Well, luckily for me, I am getting the chance for a quilting "do over".
Since last September I have had the SAME project as my "UFO of the month". That means 5 months have passed and this Votes For Women quilt is still not done. 
Perhaps the lengthy making of this quilt is paralleling the neverending fight for women's rights?!? 
In September I made the remaining block, thought about the quilt, and made decisions about the layout and sashing. In October I sewed the blocks together into 3 panels. In November and December I machine quilted the first panel. In January I machine quilted the second panel. I have just finished trimming both of these panels and am ready to join them together quilt-as-you-go style.
This is my Groundhog Day quilt! I just keep looking at this quilt, wishing it was finished, making tiny baby steps toward the goal, but not finishing it.
SO for the 6th month in a row, I am making it my goal to finish this quilt. It's embarrassing to admit this. But there it is. I wonder if they might kick me out of the One Monthly Goal club for never reaching my monthly goal?!?
Note to self: set more reasonable goals in order to feel great about meeting them by the end of the month, instead of setting grandiose goals and always feeling disappointed that I didn't meet them! 
To see the February goal link up click here.

UFO Report

The second Votes For Women panel is quilted! 
This is a 42 block quilt that was a sampler project from Barbara Brackman which started in 2012, and is made from reproduction fabrics. I am quilting it in 3 sections, and this panel is the two columns of blocks which will be on the left side of the quilt. It feels like a big accomplishment since I've been working on it for a few weeks.
The panel looks like it's curved in this long photo, but it's an optical illusion due to leaning on my design wall.
Each of the 14 blocks in this panel was quilted individually. I viewed each block as a mini quilt needing a unique quilt design to be created. I didn't mark any quilting designs, and just tried to create as many continuous curved lines as possible.

By Jessica Hagy

The next task is to piece a backing, prep a batting, then pin baste the third panel. You can see all the panels here. 
It feels like I have crossed a psychological hurdle on finishing this quilt and am stoked to get to work on the last panel. 
Linking up to Sew Fresh Quilts.

First UFO for 2017

My first UFO goal for the year is the same as my goal for the November and December of last year. UGH. I just can't give up on it now because I am making some progress, just not fast enough to finish within a month. Or two. Or three.
This is the most recent photo of machine quilting panel #2 on my Votes For Women quilt. Each panel has 14 blocks. I stitch around each block in the ditch with my walking foot, and then put the free motion foot on and quilt each one with a different design. I'm almost finished quilting half of the blocks on this panel.
Could this be the month that it becomes a finished quilt? I hope so!
Linking up with the goal setting party at One Monthly Goal.

UFO List for 2017

It takes a lot of time to sort through a big UFO closet of a long time quilter. It's like the closet in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe... there is a whole other world in there! You can peek in, but once you step in, you could be gone for hours. Here's a video clip from the movie that shows exactly how I looked peeking into the UFO closet (although I am a little bit taller than Lucy!)


Here is my UFO list for 2017, many of which have been in various stages of production for many years... never give up hope!



1) Scrap Dance Tango - this project needs a fabulous border fabric (still to be found) and quilting to finish.

2) Broken Dishes - this project is currently a pile of blocks from a block swap this year. All fabrics are red reproduction fabrics and I have the perfect layout in mind. I hope to work on this at quilt camp in February.

3) Allietare - This quilt top was finished in November and needs to be quilted. It's fairly large for me to quilt myself, but I'm going to attempt it!

4) Aurifil BOM - I have one more paper pieced block to sew and then the blocks can be sewn into a quilt top. 

5) The Bear - this was a quiltalong from Sew Fresh Quilts that I had hoped to finish for Christmas. It was not even close to being finished! I have ideas for a fun border, but need the time to work on it.

7) Pink Improv quilt - this was started at a Quilt Canada class last year. It's a fun quilt and it needs to be finished.

8) Spools - this is an epic Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt started in 2013. It's a really fun project and although it's large, I'd like to try machine quilting it myself.







8) Scrap Vortex - started in a quiltalong with Crazy Mom Quilts. It's my favourite scrap quilt ever and I want to finish it this year.

9) Quiltbug Mystery - this was the Super Bowl project from last year, so it's not that old! It just needs to be machine quilted and I want to donate it to my local guild's comfort quilt project, so hope to finish it in the first half of 2017.

10) Kissy Fishy - this was another Sew Fresh Quilts pattern that I really loved. It needs more blocks and quilting.

11) Log Cabin - this project was started by a friend of mine in 2013, pieced in 2014 and 2015, and finally became a quilt top last year. Maybe this year it will become a finished quilt?!

12) Grand Illusion - this Quiltville mystery was started in 2014 and hasn't had much attention in about 2 years. I sewed with yardage on this mystery and discovered that it just didn't appeal to me. I found out that I am a true scrappy quilter! Also the design was a bit too frenetic for me, so I didn't really enjoy working on it. But it's time for it to be finished and move out of my sewing space.

So that's the grand 2017 UFO list. Some of these projects are easy finishes and some are more complex, but they all want to become finished quilts, so wish me luck! To help me stay on track with my UFO goals, I will be linking up with One Monthly Goal and Patchwork Times. 

UFO Report

I realized I had set a lofty UFO goal for November, and I didn't even come close to meeting it! However I did get started on it, so it's all good. I realized I was making this project into a very big challenge in my mind, and was therefore procrastinating getting started. Once I decided to look at this project as "only 48 miniature projects to quilt", it seemed more manageable to me, and I got the first panel pin basted to start the quilting.
I have the perfect recipe for enjoyable quilting with my Brother 1500, which is:
*Aurifil thread in the top and in the bobbin, 
*a Magic Bobbin Washer in the bobbin, 
*a Topstitching 90 needle (which reduces skipped stitches), and
*Machinger gloves.
It took me a long time to find this perfect formula and I spent a lot of money over the years on fancy threads that only made me 1) swear a lot, 2) waste valuable time on testing and adjusting terrible thread tension, and 3) struggle with machine quilting. But this combination is as smooth as silk, with perfect tension every time with my sewing machine.

For each block I put the walking foot on and stitch-in-the-ditch around the inside edge of the sashing.
But I only sew to where the screwdriver is pointing so that it will be easier to attach this panel to the others because there will be no quilting close to the edges where the seam allowances will be.

Once that is done, I put one of my free motion quilting feet on the sewing machine and get started on the block. This photo shows an open toe foot that works well when I want to see exactly where the line should start and stop.

And this free motion foot has a plastic disc that is good to use when the block does not lay flat. It seems to mash the quilt top a little flatter to quilt through, but it's less precise. I use this one when there are lots of bulky seams to quilt over/through. 
I am viewing each block as a miniature quilt, and try to think of a design to quilt that has as many continuous lines, and as few stops/starts as possible.
Right now I am more than half finished quilting the centre panel. 
My December goal will be to finish the machine quilting on all 3 of the panels of my Votes For Women quilt. It's another lofty goal, especially at this busy time of the year, but I will have some days off over the holidays and might have the opportunity to work on it then.
Hop over to One Monthly Goal and see what other quilters are going to work on in December.

November UFO

Well, I made a lot of progress on my October UFO goal, but whether I reached my goal or not is debatable!

I wanted to get my Votes For Women blocks into a quilt top. I did get the block layout done, and I did get them sewn into 3 sections. I decided to machine quilt the sections separately and then join them in a quilt-as-you-go method.
But I never got going on the quilting part because I got distracted by all the other fun things happening in the sewing studio. It's all good!
So my goal for November will be to get the machine quilting done on the 3 panels. 
Check out the other UFO goals for November over at One Monthly Goal.