Busy day . . .

Keith and I spent some quality time together this morning while binding continued to be sewn down – what a way to put in some time!

Yes, today is the reveal for the PhD (Projects Half Done) challenge. 

     

How many out of the seven listed did I get done?  Let’s count . . . 

PhD #1 was the 2009 Bunny Hill A Tisket a Tasket BOM – Done.

PhD #3 was a “still unnamed” quilt although every time I look at it I think of Neapolitan ice cream  - weird I know!  - Done

This is PhD #2 and it is the sample quilt (excuse the wrinkle, please) that I made for “26 Petals In My Canadian Garden” pattern that was featured on the front cover of Quilter’s Connection magazine.  Done.

This version does not include the 26 petals (I can’t remember how many are on there!) and was made from the Fig Tree line called Fig & Plum from Moda.

I love the 3-D geese in this quilt and the Prairie Points – both give the quilt nice texture.  I also had fun machine quilting this one . . . my first attempt at feathers and other squirrely maneuvers – great fun.

PhD #4 is also currently unnamed and was on my design wall for quite a few months before it was pulled down into this challenge.  Sure feels good to get my design wall cleared off!  Done.

This quilt was made using fabric I had won from BJ Lantz and I did have to do some soul searching as to how I was going to use the yellow and purple together.

It has turned out wonderful and it looked so good out there on the clothes line today . . . so bright and happy – my favorite kind of quilts.

This drunkard’s path quilt (PhD #5) was a workshop that I had taken about a year and half (or more) ago.  Done.

I really enjoyed the technique that was used to make this quilt and I really liked the quilt top, but life got in the way of finishing it.

I love the colors and the style of this quilt . . . very old fashioned, bright and white.  Fabric was designed by Mary Engelbreit for Moda and I love it!

Hubby hates this one though – not sure why, other than the colors I suppose.  I can’t wait to get it on one of the spare beds . . . I think it’s going to brighten the whole room!

This is PhD #6 and has been received by my wonderful machine quilter, Terry Whitman in Estevan, Saskatchewan.  With the embroidery on this one I did not feel comfortable finishing it off by myself . . . it’s needs something more spectacular than I can give it.  I’m going to count this as a finish (I know I cheat sometimes) because other than the binding, I am done with it!

I think this is PhD #7 that is listed on Myra’s blog . . . I never did get it added to the list I have going in the right hand sidebar though.  Unfortunately it still lays here . . undone . . and ignored . . still.  I think all the pieces are done and ready to be appliquéd on – maybe I’ll keep it around ‘til next year!

Well that’s it folks . . . six months of 2010 has passed us by already!  It does feel wonderful to finally have my six PhD’s all done(5 1/2, but who’s counting!) .  I can’t say that having them completed has created any extra space in the sewing room, but it still feels pretty darn good.  Thanks Myra for the challenge!

June is winding down . . .

Here we are heading into the last couple of days of June – WOW, where did that month go?!?!  I’m really hoping to get my PhD completed projects posted tomorrow – might be really late though – so be prepared.

We stopped at two quilt shops over the weekend – the first one was Bernice’s in Reston, Manitoba.  There is a bit of just about everything the quilter, knitter, embroiderer (is that a word!) could ever need – that store has everything. 

The Peace by Piece quilt group is having a Saturday workshop in November and I need to find 9 batiks in green and 9 batiks in red.  So now I have a shopping list for every quilt shop I head into – so far I have seven green tones and zero reds – the hunt continues, and I’m sure there will be modifications as I go.  I picked up a couple of pieces at Bernice’s and a couple more at the Weyburn Fabric Centre . . . plus a couple from last week – oh the miles I’ll be putting on to collect my perfect grouping.

Oh I know that Halloween is a ways off also, but I just couldn’t resist this piece at 50% off – even if it’s only for the backing of a project – I think it’s adorable!

And not so adorable is my little green froggie in the garden yesterday – I think he was more startled than me though – look at his back legs . . . they’re all crossed up around each other!  I’m not sure if he could have gone anywhere's real quick or not – be looked a lot like a pretzel when I took his picture. 

The inside guts of a poppy are really gross – but fascinating at the same time.

Taking bee photos is an exercise in it’s own right . . . boy, can these guys flit from one blossom to another.  You just get it into focus and then boom – he’s off again.

   

And a final photo from my garden . . . one of my very favorite flowers – even though it’s not yellow!  Columbines are so unique and this one turned out pretty darn good – might have to enlarge it for one of my picture frames - I think I’m due for a new rotation soon.

Hope I will to be back tomorrow with my finished PhD’s . . . can’t wait!!!! 

Plodding along . . .

I know, I know . . . I’ve disappeared again for a week.  Honest though I really haven’t gone anywhere – just nothing much going on to tell anyone . . . YAWN!  Kinda boring here right now.

I’ve been machine quilting some quilts every little chance that I get and when I’m not doing that I’m sewing binding on one that has already been quilted – like I said BORING!

I’m on holidays as of right now and hope to have something a bit more creative hit the cutting table next week.  This keeping your nose to the grindstone to get PhD’s done by the June 30th deadline is for the birds!  But I’m not a quitter, I’m a quilter, and I will take any challenge and give it the old college try – and I’m doing really good - I think the end is in sight.

We’re off to Weyburn, SK to visit by Dad this weekend so I’ll have six hours round trip to continue sewing on binding.  Wonder what my poor old fingers are going to feel like come Sunday night?

Have a great weekend everyone! 

Quilt Nights and Rainy Days

We are drenching wet here!  At 7:30 this morning we’d had 3 inches and it was still raining.

At least the tiger lilies are happy – although I’m not sure if this is a tiger lily . . . it has some different markings on it that would suggest it might be called by another name. 

 

At the last couple of Monday night quilt group meetings I have been taking photos but haven’t been getting them posted.  So today is the day!

Way back last September, the Peace by Piece group decided to work on a BOM garden themed quilt.  Each member had to choose a block, make two (one for themselves and one for a charity quilt) and provide copies of the pattern to each member in the group.  We have now completed twelve blocks, but it was not a requirement to use each of the blocks is we were only making a smaller version or wanted to make something different. 

These are the blocks that have been collected for the charity quilt and it will be getting put together over the Summer months and finished off when we get back together in the Fall.

I’ve only finished five of the blocks so far and I’m just getting organized to start working on the remainder – can’t wait to start in on these little birdhouses.  I decided I didn’t want my blocks to be 12x12 so mine are only 8x8 finished – not sure how these birdhouses are going to look shrunk down that much.  We’ll see!

 

  I took this picture almost a month ago and for the life of me I can’t remember who’s it is.  I do remember that it is hand quilted and I love the blues.  It is going to look great on someone’s bed come this Winter.

Off to the big city again this weekend, so there will be nothing going on in my sewing room.  I will be taking a quilt that needs the binding sewn on so hopefully that will be a finish for my PhD list come Monday.

Have a great weekend,

A Little Something . . .

to keep me busy over the weekend!

I pre-ordered this software from I Have a Notion and paid a lot less than what is posted now - pre-ordering is a very good thing :)

I have been upgrading my EQ ever since I first purchased it way back at the EQ4 stage - back in 2002 or before, I think.  Love this software and the versatility that it gives you for designing.  I also love that you can go to the Moda website and download the jpgs of the newest fabric collections that they have.  By doing this you can design your quilt on your screen with the fabrics that you have sitting on your cutting table at the time.  You really get a feel for what the finished quilt will look like and the color placements that work best for you.

If you've never used EQ before and have the opportunity to give it a trial run, make sure you do.  Even to purchase it out-right is really a great investment and will open lots of creative doors for you.  Who needs video games?  Us quilters have EQ and we can spend hours and hours designing and playing with this software.

Do you EQ?

Things . . .

        that just turned up in my garden and on my clothesline.

We had a nice evening the other night and after battling a few extra large mosquitoes, I was able to get some photos of some of the quilts that are STILL in progress at my house.This is the backside of my new favorite quilt.  I’m just waiting for the backing fabric to show up in the mail and then it will be sent on it’s way to the quilter.  This is a tiny sampling of the embroidery and appliqué.  Not sure why I decided to do the embroidery – it took forever!  Don’t get me wrong though . . . the quilt would not be same without the embroidery and it would not mean the same to me without the embroidery.  Anyway I’m sure this quilt will be in my family for many years to come . . . I don’t put that kind of work into something that will just get stored away in a cupboard!

This is a little quilt that is almost done and will hopefully get quilted by the end of June.

It is on my PhD list (right sidebar) and I’m liking how it’s turned out so far.  Love the piano key, multi-colored border . . . I think it framed it really nice.

This is the fabric that I won from BJ Lantz in August of 2009 and I’ve been having so much fun designing with this color way.  Just yesterday I found out that BJ has a new line of fabric coming out and it is certainly worth a trip over to her blog to have a look.  I love the first color way and could think of a few designs for that one!

And here is a little quilt that is just hanging around . . . needs some more thought put into it . . . wonder where that will take me.

I also wanted to thank everyone who popped over with such lovely comments last week.  Whether you came from the Moda Bake Shop, Amy’s Creative Spring Festival or from Quilter’s Connection – thanks to each and every one of you!  I was unable to get back to everyone on the list and I do apologize for that, but I did get to visit everyone’s blog and have a look at what everyone was doing – I love doing that.

My Week in Review . . .

Joan has finished her Garden Charm Table Runner and I think it looks great!  Head over and have a visit with her and she’ll explain the tartan plaid binding that she used – wonderful stuff!

Plus her heart buttons are adorable . . . do you know how many different styles of buttons are out there?  Take a Google moment and have a look – you’ll be amazed.

Carol also made one using the Bar Harbor charms and used embroidery instead of the flowers and buttons – you need to have a look at this one too – very patriotic.

This is the table runner that I’ve been working on since my last sewing day with the Undercover Stripper group.  I have all the pieces paper-pieced and it’s all ready to sew together but I thought I’d wait until our next sewing day together to finish it off.  It’s turning out pretty good so far and I’m really loving the colors – pattern by Judy Niemeyer called Seasonal Table Runners.

  Spent all day Friday sewing the borders on this quilt . . . I’m waiting for the backing fabric to show up and then I think I’m going to send this one out to Estevan for some magic quilting to be done on it.  This quilt is turning into another one of my very favorites and I’d hate to wreck it with my quilting inadequacies.

Finally finished all the quilting on this biggie and I’m in the midst of hand stitching the binding down . . . re-runs on TV are not conducive to sewing on binding . . .  

I even found some time to sit and doodle for an hour or two . . . always love doing that.

Tomorrow is back to the old office and working for a living . . . you can only play for so long right?  Another four weeks and I’ve booked off for another week . . . can’t wait!

OMG! It’s On The Cover!

 

26 Petals in My Canadian Garden

This is one of those projects that has taken me away from all my PhD’s (in the right hand column) and has kept me very busy with all the goings on to get this quilt, on time, to all the places it’s needed to be.  Now just like an awards ceremony (because I really do feel like I received a cover award) I need to acknowledge all the people that helped me out with this one:

Thank you to my wonderful, talented, very amicable machine quilter over in Estevan, Saskatchewan . . . Terry Whitman at The Meandering Star dropped everything and took this albatross of a quilt under her wing and created absolute magic all over it. 

Thank you also to Shirley over at Shirley’s Sewing in Moosomin, Saskatchewan for shipping all the samples of Canadian Cottage by Robyn Pandolph over to me here in Manitoba.  I believe the fabric had hardly come in the quilt shop door when it was already being sent out to me in little packages so that I could get my color palette nailed down for this design.  Of course there were many shipments after that initial one for more yardage of this or that before it was finally complete.   Shirley – you can now erase my VISA card number from your memory – I won’t be doing this again for a while!

I also have to thank my proofreader extraordinaire . . . Sheila – thank you for being so thorough and checking and double checking every little cut and word that I put in those directions.

And last but not least, thank you to Heather (at Quilter’s Connection)  for putting up with me wanting to use a Walmart smiley face for a photo – she would just not listen when I told her that photos of me ALWAYS are weird!  Heather you were great to work with and thank you so much for the cover.

  If you don’t subscribe to the magazine, be sure to check in early June at your nearest quilt shop, or Chapters/Indigo store.   The magazine is also carried in some independent newsstands across the country!

Can’t wait to get my copy . . . there’s a new feature called “Find A Teacher” and we’re always looking for new and wonderful ideas to learn in the two groups that I belong to.  I wonder if there are any teachers close to where we live?

I’m on holidays this week and just loving it!  I better get back to my HST and flying geese though or they’ll never get done . . .

Loonie Blooms Update

I just had an email from Gerda out in Edmonton, Alberta and she let me know that she was having problems downloading the pattern for Loonie Blooms – the file was huge and it took forever.

So I went back to the drawing board and have this pattern resaved in a file that should only take a couple of minutes (versus 10 minutes) to download.

If you click on the “FREE Patterns” up by my blog header you will find the link to this pattern – in both formats – fast and slow.  Don’t think you’ll be looking at the slow one but have left it there just in case there is a link I forgot to change somewhere.

Please let me know if you are having trouble with any of the links and I will do my best to get them fixed – even if I need to call my computer techie guys.

Happy Quilting!

Happy, happy day!

Pinch me now . . .

Today is the day that my Garden Charm Runner recipe is posted up on the  Moda Bake Shop.  If you haven’t already been over there to have a peek please head on over.

If you’ve come from the Bake Shop to my blog – WELCOME!

Thank you to everyone for stopping by . . . I’ m so pleased to meet you.

Prairie Pine Burrs

  

Amy’s Creative Side is once more hosting the Blogger’s Quilt Festival and this is my entry – Prairie Pine Burrs. 

This is one of my newest patterns but has actually been a work in progress for almost two years. 

While I was working on the appliquéd one I was also making this one (in the three smaller photos) for a girl that was working for me at the time – the blocks are all paper pieced and seemed to take quite some time to get all the blocks for both quilts done.  A jelly roll and yardage for the star burst, the background and borders was all that was needed to make this quilt and was so much fun to use all the different prints in the roll.

The appliquéd quilt took some extra time of course but is so worth it in the end.

The embroidery took a lot more time to do (especially for me!), but when I see it now, I’m so happy that I took the time to do it.

The flower center yo-yo’s were the crowning glory and the final touch for this quilt and this has turned into one of my favorite quilts – so far!

Thanks Amy for hosting this Festival again . . . I love looking at all of the great quilts that are posted and seeing what everyone has been up to.