Wednesday, 16 February 2022

Tickled Pink Blog Hop

 Today is the final day of the Tickled Pink Blog Hop! It is being hosted by Carla of Creatin' in the Sticks.  
It seems I have been bringing up the rear lately on these hops, I think they are leaving the best to the last. At least that is my opinion!

We were to create something with pink in it, with five granddaughters I may have a fair amount of pink.
Bird in the Air blocks centre

I pulled a couple Bird in the Air blocks out of my orphan block draw, sewed them together, and added a fabric square to each side.

quilt as you go

I decided to do a quilt-as-you-go method for my project. 

A variety of pink strips for the top

The above piece is 15'' x 15''. Looks okay, but I think it could use a little something more.

that's better

A little applique and I think the front of my project is done. Now on to the back I pulled a piece of fabric from my stash, no idea how old it is. My guess would be early 90's?

simple diagonal line quilting

I made a quilt sandwich of batting and the fabric, both sides of the sandwich use the same print.
I made this piece 15'' x 17''.

the back in the freshly fallen snow

By now I'm sure you're wondering what did she make. 

Tada! A project bag

I made a fully lined zippered project bag. The bag finished at 14 1/2'' x 14 1/2''. Now the next question is what will I be putting in it, at this point no idea. Maybe I will list it in my Etsy Store, StitchinatHome.

Let's see what my fellow bloggers have made, today's list is below.

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Friday, 4 February 2022

Project Quilting 13.3 Kitchen Influence

 Project Quilting is hosted by Kim Lapacek of Persimon Dreams. In this week's challenge, we were to use food and cooking as our inspiration. We could use food-printed novelty fabric, a functional kitchen item you get the idea.
My project uses a novelty print and a functional kitchen item. I decided to make a set of finger mitts. I googled and went done the Pinterest rabbit hole. In the end, I drew my own template. 

layering main fabric, lining, and Insul fleece

I didn't have any Insul-bright and we were in the midst of a winter storm event, but I did have a piece of Insul fleece. I used two layers of the Insul fleece I think I would have been better off using two layers of cotton batting. But live and learn, in this case, make and learn. 

all layered and stay stitched on the edges

As you can see both my main fabric and lining are a food novelty print from Anna Griffin from 2013. I'm not sure why I had these two 1/3 yd pieces, but at least I finally found a use for a bit of them.

all done and functional

The next set I make, I am going to make them a little wider, and space the fingers and thumb part a little wider also. 

Now back to finishing up the shoveling!


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Thursday, 27 January 2022

Polar Bear Plunge Blog Hop

The "Polar Bear Plunge" blog hop, is hosted by Joan of MooseStash Quilting. We are to use bears, blue, or anything cold or chilly in our projects.

Living not far from Port Dover, I know what a 'Polar Bear Plunge' is. However, that doesn't mean I will be doing anything like that. I like being warm and cozy too much, to run into the icy cold waters of Lake Erie!

Who doesn't like polar bears though? That is the direction I took with this project.

threads I used for stitching down the applique

While doing a little cleaning I found a box of 100 wt Invisafil thread. I like how the thread blended into the applique and didn't take away from it. 

auditioning Aurifil thread for fmqing

I added a few little trees and of course my polar bear. I wish now that I would have used a different fabric to make him from, as I don't think he shows up as well as he could. I used the Crafted Applique method, by Lara for all the applique on this project.

some thread painting on the trees and bushes around the water

I free motion quilted swirls in the sky using Aurifil 4663 a variegated blue, 5007 for the water. For the trees, I used 2026 chalk, 5023 medium green, and the bushes were done with 5010 tan.  

I named this piece 'Serenity', the definition of serenity is being calm and peaceful, and that is what I feel when I look at this piece.

Take a little time and enjoy a cuppa tea as you check out what my fellow blogger's interpretation of a polar bear plunge is.
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Saturday, 22 January 2022

Project Quilting 13.2 In Silhouette 'Winter~ Spring'

I love these challenges from Project Quilting! They are hosted by Kim of  Persimon Dreams. This week’s challenge was to focus on contrast and design.

Some people enjoy a sense of joy on a snowy day, not I. All that shoveling especially when I got 29cm of the white stuff..yuck. While I was looking for inspiration I came across a quote by Hal Borland "No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn." This brings me to my project for Project Quilting 13.2.

drawing of my design in Paint Shop Pro

First I drew an image in my graphics program Paint Shop Pro X9. I liked what I came up with, however cutting all those bits and pieces out was a little daunting. Not to mention that time was also a factor, one week doesn't allow for all that integrate cutting. I may have to invest in a cutting machine at some time in the future.

I had recently purchased some Transfer Artist Paper but hadn't tried it yet. It is transfer paper that you print on your printer (or you can even draw on it) then iron it onto fabric. It is less "plasticky" than other iron-on transfer products and can be used on many other materials besides fabric.

auditioning strips for the background fabric. Winter to the left and Spring colours to the right 


I printed it on the TAP and transferred it to my fabric following the directions included. I wasn't happy with just the printout, I wanted to add to it. I pulled some light scrap stripes and sewed them together. I pieced the TAP piece to the strips and still thought it needed more. But what? The challenge was a silhouette, so I thought, why not a silhouette of a tree?

this is taking shape, now to give it some life via free motion quilting

Next, I layered the top with Hobbs Thermore batting and a backing. I free-motion quilted through all of the layers. I used Aurifil #'s 2692, 2309, and5007. 

after some thread painting of the tree, I am happy with how this piece turned out

I'm looking forward to playing with TAP some more!

The pieces finished at 15 1/2'' x 10''.

Challenge 2 completed!







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Saturday, 8 January 2022

Project 13.1 'Colour Snippets'

 It's time for Project Quilting hosted by Kim of  Persimon Dreams. The first challenge is called 'All the Colours', we were to use at least 5 colours. At first, I wasn't sure what I was going to make. Then during the middle of a sleepless night inspiration struck of course that was Friday night. Could I do this in one day? Yup!

definitely at least 5 colours

I think I better clarify something, I do not keep pieces this small. What I did was I took small pieces of Steam a Seam Lite and adhered scraps to them then cut those up with scissors.

scraps adhered to small leftover pieces of Steam a seam 

I then dropped the small snippets of adhered fabric to piece of a white fabric scrap. I adhered them to the fabric following manufacture instructions. I then cut the piece below into 2 1/2'' squares.

scattered snippets, the background fabric I used looked like it had snippets of white already

Next, I pulled out some 2 1/2'' HST's from my collection of leftover HST's from various projects.

some of my leftover or bonus HST's

Before you get thinking boy, is she ever organized, to a small extent with these I am. However, I have lots that aren't trimmed and nice and neatly stored.  That's a distant future organization job.


Snippets of colour

Some quick FMQing of sort of concentric circles in the squares with the snippets and arcs in the HST's. I could have done a better job of the arcs in the border. But overall I am happy with how the piece turned out.

I treated myself to flowers on New Years Eve, they still look good

My flowers look good on this piece, it is 9'' x 12''. I used Hobbs Thermore batting which I like to use in table runners and wall hangings and Aurifil #2110 for the quilting. Challenge 1 finished.









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Sunday, 26 December 2021

Granddaughter Quilt 'Shining Star'

The gifting of the quilt I made for one of my 5 granddaughters is done. I can now show you her quilt.

Nevaeh is my youngest son's oldest daughter and is 13, she has been through two major surgeries in her life already. The first when she was only a month old and the second when she was six. She is doing fine and hopefully will stay that way. When I asked what colour to make her quilt, all I was told was black. I just couldn't make a completely black quilt and was totally lost as to how to proceed.

Northcott Kensington Park border print and Northcott Shimmer 

When I saw this border print from Northcott I fell in love with it and my hope was that Nevaeh would too.  It was now Nov 9th, approximately 6 weeks until Christmas, and no plan in sight. Time to open EQ8 and start designing. 


I also used Kona black. The centre block is 24'' by 24''. 

More playing with inset seams

As if I didn't get enough inset seams making the block for the Virtual Cookie Exchange project you can read more about that here, I made four of the above blocks, what was I thinking?

Dec 4th and a long way to go

Piecing this top was a priority, I wonder if the Elves feel like this at this time of year?

Dec 5th a completely pieced top, excuse the poor lighting 

A sense of relief, with a finished top, now on to the quilting and 20 days till Christmas, with no idea how I wanted to quilt it. I started by stitching in the ditch, and then I let the quilt start talking to me. 



I kept the centre fairly simple. I outlined the bird and added some gentle curves. Straight lines radiating out from the centre and more curves.
I wanted the stars to pop so I echoed each star and in the background, I quilted small loop de loops and stars.
The black side borders I quilted feathers and the border print got straight lines spaced at an inch and a half.

the quilt required two holder uppers and of course, the wind was blowing

Binding and quilting were finished on Dec 21st, after more than 45 hours of quilting all on my domestic machine. I was one happy grandma!!

the back shows the quilting. My daughter helped hold it up

The quilt finished at 100 inches long by 90 inches wide. I think she was happy with her quilt.


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Tuesday, 7 December 2021

Virtual Cookie Exchange 2021

 Welcome to the Virtual Cookie Exchange and blog hop hosted by Carol at Just Let Me Quilt. This is my favorite blog hop of the year, who doesn't like to see new ideas and swap recipes for Christmas yummies and projects. 

The recipe I am sharing this year is for a Gingerbread Mug Cake. I like gingerbread but with only me to eat it, my waistline would not appreciate it. I have been trying different recipes and tweaking them to my liking. Serves one, just my size.

getting ready to make my mug cake, an essential item is a microwave-safe mug


Gingerbread Mug Cake

4 tablespoons All-Purpose Flour
1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 tablespoon Dark Brown Sugar
3 tablespoons Milk
1/2 tablespoon Canola Oil, or other neutral oil
1/2 tablespoon Dark Molasses
1/8 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Ground Ginger
Pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients in a microwave-safe mug. Use a fork or small whisk to mix until smooth. 
Microwave for 45 seconds to 1 minute until just set.
Cool and Enjoy. Allow to cool slightly, top with whipped cream if desired!

ready to enjoy, I was out of whipped cream but it was still good


This year's Christmas project didn't go as planned. I picked out fabrics and designed a block.

turquoise fabric pull 

 I made one block of what was to be 20 and had second , okay lots of thoughts one being was I completely crazy. The block has more inset seams than I care to even think about.

inset seams
and just look at all those inset seams

 The quilt would look stunning in my humble opinion.

EQ mockup I do love the secondary pattern the blocks form

And here is where reality came in, this was going to be a lot of work and oh yeah require an awful lot of patience to make 19 more blocks.

I think one of these blocks is plenty


I am rethinking how to use the one block I did make and incorporate it into a new quilt idea. As a result, I do not have a finished project. Yes I could have made it into a pillow, but I'm not sure I really want to do that.

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


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