Sunday, 7 February 2021

Virtual Vacation

 Time for Challenge 3 of Project Quilting 12. This time we are to we were to sew up a dream vacation in the future or maybe a memory from a past vacation or maybe build a bag. The project choice was ours to decide.

My dream vacation is simple. I'm trying to look forward to clear skies and sunny days with and have no destination in mind at this time. Just as long as the sun is shining that is all I need.
The world has been in turmoil with Covid-19 holding all our lives in its grasp.

I had a vision in my mind of what I wanted to do. I wasn't so sure if it would work out or not. Only one way to find out just to go for it.
fabric pull from stormy to clear skies

I was on a time crunch as I only started to put my idea to fabric this morning. So I do apologize for the lack of pictures.

My idea was to show the transition of the start of Covid-19 when we didn't even know what was going on and what the future was going to bring. To the world with vaccines and a return to as normal a life as we will have in the future.


thread selection time


The bottom of the piece represents the world. The cloudy stormy skies showing a change towards clear blue skies and radiant sunshine.

we had a fresh snowfall last night 

I am not so sure about this piece, it's okay but not exactly how I pictured it. I did a facing on this one and do not think I will use it as a placemat, even though it is the right size for one.

I hope we get to clear skies and sunny days sooner rather than later. 




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Saturday, 23 January 2021

Daisy

Challenge 2 of Project QUILTING Season 12 is fussy cutting. I am going to try and make a placemat for each challenge, whether or not I'll be successful depends on what the challenge is. Time will tell if I succeed or not. The second goal I set for myself is to use fabrics from my stash/older fabrics.

Let's see how I do with this challenge and my goals. My favourite block is a star block, so that was the starting point. The fabric I choose to fussy cut was an Anna Griffin from 2013, yup time this one got used. 

decision time, what to fussy cut from this piece

I forgot to take pictures as I was working on this, everything just seemed to fall into place and I never thought to grab the camera.  I turned under the edges of the cutout and used the buttonhole stitch to stitch it to the square for the centre of the star. 


please excuse the colours, I think the sun went on holidays 

I tried to keep the quilting simple

For the quilting I echoed the daisy and stitched in the ditch around the cutout. The yellow squares got straight lines. As you can see I did do feathers on both sides, I love feathers and just couldn't help myself. I used Thermore batting once again for this one.


for the backing I used a piece of the Anna Griffen fabric

So how did I do on my goals? Made a placemat ✓ Used stash/older fabric ✓ A win on both counts.

The next challenge is January 31st. Wonder what it is and how I'll do on my goals? 

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Tuesday, 19 January 2021

Shattered Heart

 In Ontario, where I live, we are in a lockdown situation to try to curb the numbers of Covid cases. Ontario Declares Second Provincial Emergency to Address COVID-19 Crisis and Save Lives. These lockdowns are hard for a person living alone. I have been trying to do more walking to keep myself active. I have also been slowly getting back into quilting. The blog hops I have been in recently have helped, I think my mojo may be returning.

Now let's get to the 'Hearts on Fire' blog hop, hosted by Carol of Just Let me Quilt. The rules were simple to make a heart project, only the heart can't be red. 


I ran a few different ideas through my mind but kept coming back to the same one. What else was I to do but go with it, I started with a quick sketch of an idea. 

graph paper comes in handy for quick sketches

Now that I had an idea I needed a plan on how to make it. Improv came to mind, although not my favourite method. But what the heck I might as well go right out of my comfort zone while I'm at it. 
I pulled out some Island Batiks that I won from Sandra of MMMQuilts. 

My hubby's favourite colour was blue and mine is green and those batiks were perfect for what I had in mind. 

I started to cut a few strips of the background and the coloured pieces and stitched them together. I was all in if it worked so much the better if not maybe I could paper piece it.


As I stitched the pieces together I added a background piece to each side.

slowly coming together from deepest green to blue

I kept thinking I hope this works and looks okay.


 A narrow 1/2 inch inner border and an outer 2-inch border. For the quilting, I kept it simple and just echoed the heart shape. 

After all that worrying about whether I was going to like it or not...I do. 

Sit back relax and see more hearts on fire from my fellow bloggers.

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Friday, 8 January 2021

A Touch of Yellow

 Challenge 1 of Project QUILTING Season 12. The first challenge is Illuminating + Ultimate Gray, make a  finished project, any size, using yellow & gray, and post by January 10. My project is a placemat I call 'A Touch of Yellow'. I pulled the fabric for this one from my scraps, yellow is not overly abundant in my stash or scraps, thus I only have a touch of it in my placemat. 

The colours are a little off as we have had a lack of sunshine lately.

I used up all of the print fabric I had, I received it from another quilter and have no information on it, but I thought it was perfect for this project and used it as the inspiration for the design. 

I used Thermore batting and like it for projects like this. I used Aurifil # 4670 a variegated grey 40 wt thread, and did simple straight line quilting, which is hard for me as I love doing feathers and swirls but felt that the lines would look best on this piece.

The finished size is 14'' x 11''.

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Tuesday, 29 December 2020

My Quilting Resolution Blog Hop

   Thank you Carla of Creatin' in the Sticks for hosting this blog hop!  I normally do not make News Year's resolutions, I don't want the stress of not accomplishing them hanging over me all year long. This year, as we all know has not been kind to anyone. So out with the old and in with the new kinder, gentler, I hope year ahead. 

To avoid getting overwhelmed by my resolutions in 2021 my goals are simple, as the best resolutions are stress-free. I aim to not accomplish my goals in one month but over the course of the entire year. 

My resolutions are as follows:

1. I hate, yes I know rather harsh but true none the less, UFO's. I have one hanging over my head, that has been there since my hubby passed away. I resolve to finish it up and list the pattern in my Etsy Shop.

started in March of 2020, the top is finished and it is basted just waiting for the quilting to start

2: Is this panel, I had printed by Spoonflower. The print is a photo taken by my daughter in law, I edited it and had it printed. My goal is to add a few borders round-robin style. Sound like a fun project! Do you have a panel, any panel, and want to play along with me. If so let me know in the comments. When leaving a comment please make sure you are not a no-reply commenter.

sunset on Tyson Lake

Those are two simple relatively easy to accomplish resolutions. 

Want to see what other bloggers have in mind for 2021, here is the list.






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Sunday, 20 December 2020

A Little Christmas

 This year is different in so many ways! And yet we will still be giving gifts. Whether by mail or for those that we can thankfully celebrate Christmas with, in person.

We as quilters are creative people, making gifts for our loved ones is something we can and do enjoy from the planning right through to the finish. I haven't done a lot of sewing this year or made many gifts, my sewjo has been sadly lacking.

When we give handmade gifts we give something personal and individual to the person receiving the gift. We are also giving a piece of ourselves every time we make and give a gift. Even if we make two of the same items, each one is unique and made with love. The love we have for each individual person is also unique to that person, and this is what gives each piece special meaning.

A homemade gift for my daughter

I think we give gifts; as a way to celebrate life, love, and friendships. 

I wish each and everyone a happy holiday season this very unusual Christmas season!

Did you make any homemade gifts this year for someone near and dear or perhaps a friend?


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Wednesday, 2 December 2020

2020 Virtual Cookie Exchange Blog Hop

 This is day 3 of the Virtual Cookie Exchange and Christmas Blog Hop, hosted by Carol at Just Let Me Quilt. 


What better time than Christmas to share a sweet treat, even if we can't all be together this year, we can always pop some cookies in the mail and share the joy of giving that makes Christmas so merry! Christmas is definitely going to be different for me. Normally I am a Christmas nut but with the loss of my hubby and not being able to have Christmas with all my children and grandchildren this year I am dreading it.

The cookie recipe I will be sharing this year is Cinnamon Roll Cookies. My grandma made the best cinnamon rolls, you know the ones made with sweet yeast dough. Yum, I do make them but these cookies are so much easier and almost as good. I think you'll enjoy them as much as my family does.

Cinnamon Roll Cookies

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla 
Filling
2 Tablespoons butter, melted and slightly cooled
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
Icing
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla 

Cookie Dough:
Using a mixer, beat the butter for 1 minute on high speed until creamy. Beat in the sugar until completely creamed and smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined.

Making the rolls: 
Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Roll each portion out in a rectangle approximately 9×7 inches to about 1/4″ thickness. 
Kind of a rectangle, but it's all good

Spread 1 tablespoon of melted butter onto each rectangle. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together then sprinkle evenly over each roll.

cinnamon sugar sprinkled on rolled out dough

Working slowly, tightly roll up each rectangle into a 9-inch log. If the dough cracks use your fingers to smooth it out. Some cracks are fine. Wrap in plastic wrap, and chill the logs of dough for at least 2 hours. 
Preheat oven to 350°F. 
Remove dough logs from the refrigerator. Cut into 1/2 inch slices. Place slices onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper 2 inches apart.
Bake for 10-11 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove from the oven, allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.

Icing: 
Mix all of the icing ingredients together. Drizzle over cookies. Cover and store cookies at room temperature for up to 5 days. They also freeze well.

I like to place parchment paper under the cookies before drizzling the icing. I reused the parchment that I used when baking the cookies.

For my Christmas project, I made a  pillow top, in traditional colours.


I kept the quilting simple as I wanted a soft fluffy pillow. You can get the pattern in my Etsy shop.

Take a little time to visit the other blogs and pick up some more recipes for sweet treats.

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