Some days........

Yesterday started off foggy and wet.  After having coffee and hangin out with the puppy I decided to get the show on the road!  A brief cleanup and then upstairs to the studio to take on some long over due projects.

First up......the leftover blocks from CQA.  These blocks were leftovers from the big block challenge and I must say there was a reason they were leftovers!  Quite the sad group if I do say so myself.  The challenge for me is to make a quilt top that will go to one of the gals in the VMQG for quilting and then it will be passed on to a refugee group.  What an amazing way to play it forward and I really want to be a part of it!

I should have taken a photo of the original blocks.  What to do with them?????  I hummed and hawed for a while.  Unsure of just what my plan of attack would be and then I thought " They're too big, too messy, too colourful and there's no place for the eye to rest."

Out came the rotary cutter and I started cutting.  Each one got chopped into 4 and suddenly they were looking less "OMG" and more "hmmmm, these are really interesting!" 

To put them all together, block beside block, would have been a horrible mess so I decided to put a sashing strip on 2 sides.  A nice dark blue seemed to be the trick as the blocks are mostly purples, pinks and blue combinations.  At the moment they are on the design wall on point but as I type this I am thinking that maybe I will do something different.  Because the blue will add continuity to the plethora of colour I feel that I need to keep them consistent so chain piecing here I come.

I'm not going to spend a lot of time trying to figure it all out as time is of the essence but I am very pleased that I got this far.  Now the bad news........you know that you are out of sewing practise when chopping up blocks causes you to break a blood vessel in your thumb and turn your thumb an amazing shade of purple.  Man!  Does it hurt!

It's not going to stop me from completing the top however!  Picture to follow.

"Morgan the Magnificent"

 

 

This is baby Morgan and with all babies, I figured that he needed a quilt.  The quilt is super simple as I doubt that he will really care about the design and I also doubt as to the longevity of the quilt once he gets his new little puppy teeth into it.  His new parents are great outdoors people so the theme is greens, outdoors, deer, bears and cabins.  Having his name appliqued on the top seemed fitting.

As you can see he cozied up to it right away!

Block of the Month!

 

Here is my contribution to the block of the month.  Just a simple paper pieced square in a square block.  The center is fussy cut.  I love the little fox guys.

I entered 4 blocks and couldn't believe my luck!

 

I WON!

 

The choice of how to put them together is up to me and after a lot of consideration, this is what I came up with.

I felt the nod to the VMQG, my tribe, would be fitting.

 

Here is the results.  I LOVE it!

 

It is going to be going up in the hallway, outside my quilt studio.  Every time I walk into that space I will be greeted by 50 quilters, cheering me on.  The warm and fuzzy feelings are awesome. 

Thanks to everyone that made a block.

 

Whatever became of the Madrona Road Challenge?????

Many months ago, I posted about the Madrona Road challenge with the Vancouver Modern Guild.  It was a lot of fun and a real challenge for me, particularly since I'm not a huge fan of blue and yellow.

I had it all ready, the top only, to take to the meeting for the big reveal only to discover that several of the blocks or the components were turned.

I'm not over the top concerned with this usually, but you can't stand in front of some the best quilters in the Lower Mainland with turned squares.....so I took it apart.

I showed what I had that was correct and then brought it home and stuffed it onto a shelf and there it has sat for many months.

I am over the top happy to say that it is now finished......it is quilted.....and it is my new good neighbour screen in my laundry room!

When the sun is shining, it looks for all the world like stained glass.  I love it and it makes me happy, particularly when I see my neighbours head walking past the window!

 



A New Flag for the Backyard.

I was feeling rather angry with myself for not accomplishing more in the past month or so.  Not really beating myself up but just disappointed that I didn't have more accomplished.  It's not like I just stood around doing nothing...or did I ? ? ?

 

I completed this little flag yesterday.  I would have posted the picture of the one it replaced, but I'm too embarrassed.  I'm sure that it's been flying every summer on that pole for the past 5 years.  It was faded, tattered and I think a spider made a nest in one corner of it and crapped all over it as well.

 

This is from a Kim Schaeffer book.  The original pattern was for a table runner or a place mat, but I just spun the ends and make an elongated flag out of it. 

 

Since watermelon is my favorite food on the planet, it seemed fitting for summer!

 

 



Summer Time Activities!

 



 

We LOVE our hot pickled beans.  We love them for lunch, for dinner.....sometimes even with a cleansing ale at the end of the evening with some cheese.  We haven't made them in years and it would appear that in retirement, I have a need to go back to the olden days.  Maybe I'm trying to  make up for all the times I worked, rather than did the domestic diva stuff, I'm not sure.  But one thing that I do know is that I can't wait for Christmas to give them a try!

 



Spring is on it's way!

 

OK Spring!

I know you're out there somewhere!

 

 





There you are!  My favorite sign of spring!  Snowdrops!

I took this shot lying on the sidewalk on Moncton Street in Steveston....much to my husband's dismay!

Hahahaha!









 My Madrona Road challenge is languishing on the design wall. I can't seem to get going with all the squaring up of the blocks. It's tedious and lets face it, more than a bit boring...so that's sitting for the moment. I have to finish it in time for the next Vancouver Modern meeting, 3rd week in March, so I still have time and lets face it, I work the VERY best under pressure!  It's been a great challenge for me.  I tried a new pattern, tweaked it to my own liking and working with blue, black, yellow and white was quite interesting.

So what have I been doing......well, here it is.....Jazz Hands by Sarah Fielke from the book Material Obsession 2 (More Modern Quilts with Traditional Roots) by Kathy Doughty and Sarah Fielke. 

 

Usually I would never tackle hand piecing, let alone the hand piecing of 72 little tiny template pieces, but here it is......just the thing for a cold, wet February day!  I just love how the wind picked up the bottom corner as I took that shot!

                                                                                                                                                                       

 

At the moment, the sun is shining and I'm off for a walk to my favorite place on the planet.  I am so fortunate.  Have a great week...quilt on!

 

Patchwork fish!