Get it done! July / August

I just looked up my "get it done" list for July, and surprisingly, I actually stuck to it and got everything done!


1-3. Finish quilt for quilt shop.  Since I'm just assembling the top, this includes finishing the top, making the (pieced) backing, quilting and binding it.  I think that's at least worth 3 items :)  Done, done, and done :)
4. Finish quilting bear paw.  It has to come off the long arm in order to finish the other quilt, so this was an easy choice.  Done

And, I even did one more, which was on my June list and never finished - Hunter's Star is quilted too.

And now what's next?

1. Storm at Sea is on the longarm, so I want to finish quilting it
2. Finish labyrinth top, and quilt it
3. finish binding Hunters Star, and Bear's Paw
4. bind Storm at Sea

Drop by Judy's blog to see what everyone else accomplished in July.

Editedto add pictures - because Mary asked :)

Design Wall Monday - July 29

My design wall today looks a lot like it did 2 days ago.  Still waiting for inspiration / a decision on the borders for my labyrinth quilt.  The choices are here - I think I'm leaning towards 2 dark blue borders around the stripe.

In the meantime, I'm working away on the binding for my Hunter's Star.  And quilting my storm at sea quilt.  And yesterday, just for a change, I sorted my scraps.  I have a plan for a new quilt, made entirely from scr
aps, so I sorted all my colours. Now I can see what I have, and I confirmed that this quilt will probably be green.  I have twice as much green scraps as anything else.

Check out Judy's blog for more design wall's today.

Stash Report - July 28

I pulled a quilt out of the closet yesterday, intending to load it on the long arm. It's so warm these days, and being in the basement is the best choice - and I keep telling myself I need to catch up on my quilting.  Plus, I need to ponder options for the borders on my labyrinth quilt. So, I pulled out an old quilt that has been waiting for attention for at least 2 years.  And I hated it :(  I had finished the quilt with a narrow dark border, and it just felt unfinished to me.  And then I laid it on the bed it was intended for, and it was too narrow (oh good, I can add another border) and too long (rats!).

Here's a picture of the quilt as it was when I pulled it out of the closet.  75"x95" - I have no idea what I was thinking when I made it that size.

I pondered my options for a few minutes, but since I'd already decided that it needed another border outside the dark strip it was a pretty easy decision.  Out came the seam ripper, and rather than spending the day in the nice cool basement quilting, I spent it taking a row out of the quilt, and making the borders fit again.  Of course this was a pieced border.  And 1 1/2 border blocks equals one center row - so removing the row turned out not to be as simple as I first thought.  But it's done now, and ready for the long arm. 


Binding for Hunter's star - came from the offcuts on the backing, so I guess it's already been counted.
New border for storm at sea - 1 1/2 yards
backing for storm at sea - 7 yards

Total used this week - 8 1/2 yards
Total stash usage this year: 158 1/4 yards out

Drop by Judy's blog for more stash reports today.

Border Choices

The center of my labyrinth quilt is done. Now, to choose borders.  I know I want to use the stripe, and the darkest blue.  But I'm not sure about the arrangement of colours, or what to use for the 3rd border.  Here are my thoughts currently.

First, the finished center.

And some slices, to show the detail on the border choices.

It's Growing

My labyrinth quilt is starting to grow.  This pattern is turning out to be less complicated than I expected, although I did lose 1/4" somewhere in the first round.  I thought I might be able to get it back, but that's not happening.   Fortunately, as long as I match up the diamond parts, I will never miss that 1/4".

In the meantime, my Hunter's Star is off the long arm and ready to bind.  By rights I should do that before I move forward with this new quilt, but that's not likely to happen :)  I should get to the binding sometime this weekend - I need a finish or two.

Design Wall Monday - July 22

I promised myself I wasn't going to start another quilt until I finished quilting at least one of my UFOs.  However, promises were made to be broken :)  This is on my design wall today.  I've started a labyrinth quilt, using Kaffe Fassett shot cottons.  The center medallion is done, and the stripes matched up just like I wanted.

I have not completely abandoned my promise.  My Hunter's Star quilt is 2/3 done on the long arm, and should be finished later this week.

Check out Judy's blog for more design walls today.

Stash Report - July 21

I love the amount of time I've been able to spend with my quilting the past couple of weeks.  And my stash usage is the better for it :)

1.5 yards borders & sashing for purple quilt
3 yards backing for purple quilt
1.5 yards binding for 3 charity quilts
4 yards backing for Hunter's Star

That's 10 yards used this week!  Backings are great for stash :)
Total stash usage this year: 149 3/4 yards out

Drop by Judy's blog for more stash reports today.

Progress Report

I spent all evening (after a last minute dance lesson) working on the angel quilt.  It is now off the long arm, and just needs binding. If I get an early start tomorrow, I should be able to get it bound before I have to leave for my class at the store.  Then I can drop off all 3 Alberta quilts.  On that note, I'd better get myself to bed, so that I can get up early.

Ready to ship

Two quilts for Alberta are complete.  I quilted them, and bound both this week.  I don't normally machine bind, but in this case I wanted to get the quilts done in a short period of time so I decided that was the best option. These two will be dropped off on Saturday and will make their way out west.

I am still working on the angels (or angles, as I apparently wrote the first time I posted about these blocks). I have this one loaded on my long arm and hope to get it done for Saturday too.

We'll have to see how that works out, but it will be done before the end of the month.  Then, back to my pile.  I want to start finishing quilts, so I'm trying to bribe myself with the new fabric I bought - I can cut into it, when I finish quilting & binding my Hunter Star quilt.

Stash Report

I've been working on quilts for donation this week.  Donated fabric doesn't count in my reports, but I do have some usage of my own to report this week.

I finished another charity quilt.  I'm pleased with how this one came out, after starting with 9 completely diverse blocks.  It's hard to see the border, because the floor is so dark, but  I think the attic window setting worked well.

3 yards - backing for challenge quilt
2 yard - sashing/borders for attic windows
4 yards - backing for attic windows & angels

9 yards used this week.

Total stash usage this year: 139 3/4 yards out

Drop by Judy's blog for more stash reports.

Finished projects

I dropped 2 quilts of at my local quilt shop today.  One is quilt is for a class I'll be teaching this fall at the store.  It's a quilt from Modern Patchwork.  I love the purples and greys we picked for it.  Even the back is pieced - every quilt in that book has a pieced back.

The second going to be heading out to Alberta, as part of the Quilts for Canmore quilt drive (see details on my post here).  I made this top at the last retreat I attended.  It was a speed challenge one night.  A layer cake of 10" squares, cut and sewn into this quilt top.  I won the challenge!  And now I'm donating this quilt.  I dropped it on the long arm on Thursday and did a quick loops pattern all over it.  Then bound it last night on my machine - I don't usually do that, but I wanted to get this sent off as quickly as possible.

Alberta quilts

I'm working on some quilts for the Alberta flood victims.  I picked up a couple of sets of blocks today, and now I need to figure out how to assemble them into.

These lovely angels came with the pink border fabric.  It looks like there is enough fabric to add sashing between the blocks - I was asked for 55x55 with borders, and without sashing that would mean 10" borders on each side. So rather than that, I think I'll add a couple inches of sashing and a 5 inch border.

These blocks are from a group of 18 blocks.  I think I'm going to split the set in two, because there are 2 distinct colour families in the set.  These blocks are the first set.  The sashing fabric I received isn't working for me, so I went digging and came up with a few options.  I'm probably going to go with the top one.  I don't know if it shows, but that is a cream fabric with tiny pink/lavender dots.  I think it pulls some of the common colour out from the blocks. The grey is a close second choice.

Still need to hunt down some border fabric for this one.  It will end up about 55x55 when I'm done.

Design Wall Monday

Another blank design wall today. But for good reason!  I finished the top and backing for my hexagon quilt, and even got it quilted last night.  Just needs binding now.  This is going to be a class in the fall, so I need to get it bound, photographed, and delivered to the store soon (like, this week).

I do need some input on a design "bed" decision.  I have my bear paw quilted and off the long arm. Now it's time to bind it - but I used every scrap of fabric I had - background, colours, and even the gold and brown sashing.  So I need to pick something new for the binding.  I have 4 options I think. 

A gold, which is close, but not quite, the gold I used.  Brown, or blue - again, not exactly the same shade as any of the blocks.  I did find a neutral - but it's not as close a match as I hoped, so I don't think I like it. 

So, what do you think?  I'm afraid the blue pulls the eye away from the center of the quilt, so I'm leaning towards the brown.

Check out Judy's blog for more design walls today.

And if you are interested in ways to help the Alberta flood victims, please have a look at yesterday's post.

Quilts for Alberta

You may have heard about the devastating floods that hit Albert 2 weeks ago. And to add insult to injury, Calgary was flooded again this weekend.  We all know how generous quilters are, and many are asking how we can help those in Alberta who have been hit by the flooding.  There are several organizations already setup and ready to collect quilts for those families.

One of these organizations is Quilts for Canmore.  They aim to provide comfort and consolation to residents of the Bow Valley who have been impacted by the 2013 floods.   They have a collection and distribution underway to families and individuals who need the comfort a quilt brings.  They would be very pleased to receive any quilts, finished tops or blocks .

Cheryl Arkison, http://naptimequilter.blogspot.ca/2013/06/slabs-for.html has been inviting quilters to make ’slab blocks” for making quilts to help some of the Albertans who lost everything in the recent flooding.  Take a look at her blog and find out how you can make a ‘slab’ to help make quilts. Generally, a slab block is one colour of fabric scraps sewn together in any interesting fashion you chose, measuring 15 1/2” by 15 1/2”. Cheryl has some long arm quilters ready to make the quilts from the blocks she receives.

If you are in the local (Ottawa, ON) area, the following quilt stores have agreed to accept the quilts and blocks for delivery to these organizations:

 

The Running Stitch in Kanata

Textile Traditions in Almonte

Pickle Dish in Carleton Place

Making Progress

I've been working away in my sewing room this week. Not as much as I had hoped - my vacation week turned into a work-week.  But I did make lots of progress on my current quilt.  The top is now done, and the back will soon follow. 

So in anticipation of this, I've been working away on my bear paw quilt, to get it off the long arm. 2 more passes should do it.  It's a good thing, too, because the deadline for the hexagon quilt just moved up into July, rather than August.  I need to get moving.

However, it's not all work around here.  My LQS is having their monthly "5th" sale - celebrating their 5th anniversary. So I dropped by and left with fabric for a couple more quilts.  I really need to stay out of the shop and get some more finishes under my belt this month.