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.