June OMG Finish

 

This was my omg-one-monthly-goal for June for my Serendipity Quilt. 

Well it is done but I might redo it or replace it. I was so sure it was going to finish at 15 inches.

 And it does but only the corners. I started it 5 years ago and got stalled.

Now I remember why it did not get done back then.

Definitely not one of my favourite blocks.
 I still have one of these in 4 1/2 inch size to make for my Bright Jane quilt.
Colour wise it is a dark tone on tone green with a crisp white background.

Maybe it is a good thing I did this now because

 there is one in the Morrell with several more layers of diamonds.

 

I have decided I need to take a bogging / quilting break for the rest of the summer. I know. It will be hard to not spend time here every day reading what others are doing and sharing what I am doing. I love reading your comments and try to respond to everyone.  I even took time last week to write up no less than 7 blog posts, mostly for 17 ufos for 2017. But now instead of sharing what I have done and what I hope to do, I will come back at the end of summer and share what I actually did do. Not sure how much of any quilting I will do but rest assured, I will be doing something. I wonder what the RSC colour will be for July. I hope it is black or brown or neutrals because none of those are in my Bright Jane plan so I will not miss much there.

And why do I need to take a break? I am going to Rwanda in Africa in August for a short term mission trip. We will be modeling how to do a vacation Bible school program and I have lots to do to prepare. I just downloaded the 25 page training manual. Yikes! And we have been doing training meetings every other week for 2 months now.  Some times I drove the 3 hours to Lindsay and other times I skyped in. We have a fundraising concert there Sat night and I am speaking. Well, I am speaking for 2 minutes. So is every one else on the team. This Sunday we have some serious training with the missionaries who just sent out the manual that we have to read before then.

Also we are doing taxes tomorrow. A week late to file, but the accountant could not make it sooner and I did pay them back in April so we are good. And my old high school that closed some 30 years ago is having a reunion this weekend  and I am having dinner with some of my classmates tomorrow night. Should be great. I haven't seen some of them in decades. I graduated in 1970. Yup. That's a long time ago. When I get home, my daughter and her family will be here for a week then the little girls will be here the following week. You get the picture.  Also, I am now starting to work with my publisher to set up a website and a promotion plan for my book. Lots of reading there in the next 2 weeks. Good thing I like to read.

Have a fabulous summer everyone.
Blessings,
Chris
 

OMG July Quilting Goals

As the saying goes . . . Go big or go home . . .
I had a big project on the go for the past 2 months that I could not blog about, so could not commit to completing anything else that was of any size. For my July monthly goal, I want to start and complete the center block for the Morrell Album Quilt . I have so neglected this one. I had good intentions of making one block a week. That lasted for one week. Maybe two.  This center block measures 20 inches square and is not for the faint of heart. That has never stopped me from trying. So, try I will.

Morrell Center Block

The first thing I did was change my mind about the colours. There will be lots of detail on this one with applique and surrounded by a daunting red and cream dog tooth border. There are several ways I could approach this block. I am going to give hand piecing a try. At least for that pinwheel.

Also, I want to complete the GORF quilt by connecting all the quilted blocks together. It will be the first time using this method, do wish me luck.

Blessings,
Chris

Visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum Part 1

My sister Terry, niece Jenny and I took the train into London one day to visit the Victoria and Albert Museum. It was supposed to be an hour and a half ride that was delayed two hours because of an "incident" on the tracks at the next station. We were almost halfway and debated going back but the next train that pulled into the station was going directly to Liverpool St Station, so we got on it. It was fun trying to find our way through the underground to the correct subway train. I had my rollator with me, otherwise I could not have considered such a venture. With no elevators available, Jenny and I each took a side and carried the thing up and down stairs, slowly. It worked. One of the nice things about the rollator is that I could sit down when I need to get off my feet. Her fitbit told us we had walked 10,000 steps by the time we were leaving the museum. Not bad.

We arrived at the V&A at about 1 o'clock so the first t hing, after getting a map, was to have lunch. Salmon, stirfry and courgettes. Yummy. 

  The next thing was to take pictures of the  3 dining rooms. 

I guess there is a good reason why one of them is called the Morris Room. 

 I was still trying to figure out my new camera using the zoom. Some of the photos came out blurry. 

Ceilings and archways, pillars and lights.

Can you tell I like architecture? 

Well, more like floor tiles in the older parts of the building, which, by the way is really really, big. 

I saw future quilts everywhere.

I cannot upload any more pictures right now so will save the other stuff for later. There were elevators and bathrooms. I am not used to washing my hands in a public washroom and seeing men in the mirror. I checked outside to make sure I had gone into the correct room. I had. There were 4 floors with over a hundred different displays in the free section. Because we had only 4 hours, we decided to not visit the ones that we would have had to pay for. One of them was Textiles of India. Another was shoes. Speaking of shoes, I did more walking that day than I do in a month at home. I bought a treadmill before I left and it is sitting in the living room waiting for someone to release it from its packaging and setting it up so I can walk on it.  I wonder if my rollator will fit on the conveyor?

Blessings,
Chris

Packing

I am starting to pack my bags for a family visit first to England then to Poland. My sister in China will be spending Christmas in Poland this year. She will arrive after I leave. I will be there earlier for our aunt's 90th birthday. Looking forward to that. My  younger sister lived in the very hot and dry Middle East for 4 years and left her very warm and heavy winter coat she used in her years in Mongolia at my house. So now my task is to get the coat to her. I can do  that. I thought about just wearing it, but alas, she is a couple of sizes smaller than me, so will have to pack it or carry it.

I have prepped 2 more Morrell blocks for applique. I plan to do the Broderie Perse by machine. I have a glossy cream thread to satin stitch the edges with. Well, I will try it out and see if I like it, but not this month. I also have 3 BTCT blocks that I have been carrying around with me for a while. All those circles. Many still to do.  But I have got the grape vine done. This was no easy task. They wind over and under each other. Some of my bias strips were too short to wind too far so had to do it in parts. But it is now done. I thought I had figured out the round circle thing. But those tiny ones are not so round. I finally drew circles on top to help. There will be still more after I complete these. There are about 28-30 per cluster. My goodness! I just realized that I have been eating a lot of grapes lately! Wonder why?

 I started two of the Morrell applique blocks. This is another that is similar to the CCCQ blocks so no thinking necessary. I hope.

 This is another Morrell applique block. It will have a saw-tooth border, but I will do that later by machine. So far I am using all French General fabrics including the creamy background.

Two more Antique Wedding Sampler blocks arrived in today's mail. Maybe next year. Blocks 24 and 25 of the Ben Biggs quilt were released today. I printed them off and filed them for now. I had a letter from my publisher today. It looks like 3-4 months once I submit the revised edited manuscript again. I will have 3 whole weeks over Christmas to do that. I am tempted to look at my 2015 goals list and see what I have accomplished but then I would be tempted to write one up for 2016, but I have a plane to catch in less than 4 days. There is still one bag of apples to make into applesauce and we had the water off all day to get the well cleaned out. First they took out the new pump and pipes, then they vacuumed out nearly twenty feet of sand. After that, the plumbers put the pump back in. The cows got some water before it quit, so the plumbers came back and finally called an electrician. I am glad I will be gone before all those bills arrive, because, I have a plane to catch. Come to think of it, I will have all those hours in the air where I cannot sleep to write all the lists I want. Or not. Might watch movies. But not taking any textbooks this time.

Blessings,
Chris

Busy

We have been making applesauce every day for the past week. About a bushel each day. We should be done soon. And Elly came over for the weekend. Something about her cat that ran away back in June showed up and they had a funeral service. Poor little girl. She was so happy the cat was found but did not understand why they were putting dirt on his box in the hole. So she came to the farm to get some animal time. Good thing she likes kielbasa since I had lots.

I am mentally packing my bags for a trip to England to visit one of my sisters for a week. Visiting the Victoria and Albert Museum is on the agenda. I wonder what amazing antique textiles will be on display? After that is a week in Poland to celebrate my aunt's 90th birthday. 

One of the things on my to-do list was to get a haircut. When the girl asked how I wanted it cut, I said like hers. Well, it looks nothing like hers. And I forgot that I wanted to get a good picture for the back cover of my book. Maybe it will grow quickly or I could wear a hat. Or maybe I can skip the picture part. Or I could submit a nice one from years ago.

I have done very little stitching since I got home from the retreat. But I knew that I had other things to do. I did a bit while babysitting the other night and then some more before going to bed a couple of nights. This might be completed before I leave so I will have to prep some more.

Morrell # 18

Good thing that I still have several BTCT blocks prepped so I will have some handwork to take along. Not sure of I will take any textbooks since what I am working on is computer stuff.

Blessings,
Chris

Shipshewana Retreat

How can life ever return to normal after 5 whole days of quilting in Shipshewana?
Thank you Gay Bomers and Brenda Papadakis for organizing these retreats.

After 8 hours on the road, we arrived at Gretchen's  farm where she invited us to stay overnight. I showed her my completed Dear Jane top and several works in progress that I had brought along, naively thinking I would get a lot of work done on each one. Then Gretchen proceeded to show us her completed quilts. Oh my goodness! She was ready and had about 20 (I forgot to count) full sized quilts that she had made over the years and the stories that go along with each one. Of course, my camera was packed away in the trunk of my car with dead batteries. I have been emailing with Gretchen since spring when we connected through our blogs and realized that our husbands have known each other for many years. We both raise Guernsey cows.

Now one the rules of quilt retreats include "what goes on at retreat stays at retreat", but I can share what I did. I started the Sarah Morrell quilt. Yup! I did.

 I got 10 of 12 foundation pieced strips for one of the blocks and prepped an applique block so I had something to hand stitch on. I did not have all the paper strips with me so could not finish it. Silly me. I thought I could get all 10 blocks foundation pieced.

Morrell Block #39

 I did have 4 BTCT blocks with me to work on, but starting on a new one is always exciting.

BTCT Block # 16

 I also took a workshop with Ann Holte.

Lancaster Diamond Sampler

 Ann made a reproduction of the original. It does look intimidating but will be very simple to make once you understand how to work with those 65 degree diamonds. It's all in the book.

 I made one block.

When I got home I started a new blog. It was easy. Too easy. The name? Quilting Morrell at the Farm.
Here I will journal my way through the making of  my Morrell quilt. If I can ever figure out how to set up a linky party, I will. That way others can come on board and share their progress also.

Blessings,
Chris

Pre-Washing Fabric

I know they do not look too white in this picture, but these colour catchers came out of the machine very white and clean.

 You have to love the French General fabrics. I first heard of them when I started the Ben Biggs QAL. I ended up purchasing not one, not two, but three fat quarter bundles from Craftsy on one of their outrageous sales last fall;  the classic selection, Rue Indienne, and Petite Prints. I also bought some yardage of the solid reds and light beigey one for the background on some of my quilt shop hops.

I cannot believe I am getting prepared to make yet another red quilt. This one will be red/pink, blues, golds/bieges and browns. Below is the second of four dryer loads of fat quarters I have been pre-washing. All this in anticipation of beginning the Sarah Morrell Quilt. I was taught to pre-wash all my fabrics for various reasons. I am making the Antique Wedding Sampler from kits from Homestead Heath and I am doing all that hand work with unwashed bits. I prefer the feel and softness of the washed fabric.

I am pulling the colours from this Winterthur Museum fabric from Andover. It took me about ten minutes to track it down on line after I saw others who had used it in their Morrell quilts for the broderie perse applique. This is going to be fun. If I can contain myself for now.

I am getting ready for the Just Takes 2 quilt retreat in Shipshewana Indiana in three weeks, but first I am flying out to New Brunswick to visit our daughter and the miracle grandson Jonathan. I have to teach him how to say "Gamma Kiss".  I have several BTCT blocks packed to take along to complete. I still have three blocks with countless circles to complete. They are all glue basted on the backgrounds so I will not have to keep track of tiny pins. The two little girl grand children were here over night Sunday and again tonight. Their daycare was closed yesterday and tomorrow so they come to the farm. They both know how to say Gramma Chris and Grampa Ken. Some of the most beautiful words in the world with little arms reaching around your neck and a sloppy "I love you" kiss. And, yes, I will be taking along just one textbook.

See you in a couple of weeks
Blessings,
Chris

Sisters Time

Facebook has been all astir about the Sarah  Morrell Quilt by Di Ford since March. The official kick off date is today with the center block. The plan is to do 3 blocks a month. The center is 20 inches and the other 60 blocks finish at 10 inches. This is not for the faint of heart.

Di Ford's Morrell Pattern

The pattern is now available at sentimental stitches. I have been drooling over this quilt ever since I saw Carole's post two years ago and ordered the pattern from Threadbear in Australia. It arrived in Feb 2014 and I proceeded to find fabrics to make it, someday. Because choosing fabrics is not my strength, I got 2 fat quarter bundles of French General from Craftsy for 40% off back in November and a few plaids from Threadbear on my Australia trip. And I bought the rest of the bolt from Pinegrove Quits in  Buffalo a year ago. You get the picture. I have been preparing for this for a while now. Can I resist the temptation to jump right in and start it? But when is the "official:" start of a new quilt?  Is it when I start cutting fabric or putting in the first stitch? I even located some Winterthur reproduction panels for the broderie perse. Today, as I was catching up on blog reading, I scrolled down through 4 years of Sue Garman posts to find her insights on her twirly balls technique, since that is the same pattern in the center block. Why should I hand piece a gzillion triangles when I can applique them?

Fabric for the Morell

In the meantime, it is the first of the month and that means the next free Ben Biggs BOM block. I downloaded it, saved it, printed it off and taped the 4 sheets together to prepare the layout.  But it did not seem to fit right. So I measured it. Now I cannot imagine how I could have made a mistake in printing it off. After all,  I am on my 4th printer since I started this in Jan 2014. Sigh. I went back through all the patterns I have printed off so far. All 19 of them. I only have about 10 machine applique down and only one with the corner buds because I could not decide what colour to make them. Thankfully. It appears that some of the patterns have been printed  "fit" and some "actual". This may not seem to be too big a deal. Except that had I stitched down all the corner buds to date, many would have been off set and that would have bothered me very  much. So, most of my patterns have been printed off to make 15 inch blocks instead of the 16 inches that I had hoped to make.

Ben Biggs # 19

I went back and re-printed the two that were too big. Then, I traced and cut out the shapes from the wash-away fuseable that I am using and put everything back into the box. After all, I am trying to only focus on completing the Criswell Quilt. I have not done any stitching for the past ten days since it has been family time here at the Farm. My three sisters and I went on an overnight shopping trip to Buffalo NY. We visited several quilt shops, shared a hotel room and did not kill each other. Actually, it was a lot of fun. And, I found a few fat quarters of Shot Cotton stripes for the 1718 Coverlet that released the next bunch of blocks. I have 16 done so far. Also, two months of Antique Wedding Sampler blocks were in my mailbox when we got home. 

Sisters

We ended up at The Quilting Bee in Fonthill where I had attended a lecture/demo by none other than Judi Madsen of green fairy quilts last week. I do not own a long arm quilting machine but thought I could learn some skills anyway. Back in Feb I had  booked a long arm for next week at a local quilt shop for two different days to machine quilt up two wedding quilts my daughter made last winter. This machine is a robot and will do a simple edge-to-edge design and I just have to babysit it, but that is okay for now.

Me and Judi Madsen

Now that I have turned the page on a very messy calendar to the new month of July, I see that I have lots to look forward to, so any quilting aspirations will have to wait until another month. My son and his family are moving next week so I will have the three little girl grandchildren here for the next two weekends and I am leading a small  ministry group for women here at the Farm on Tues nights in July. I have a meeting with my editor tomorrow to begin the first official edit of my book and I will be machine quilting the Bed of Blue Roses in sections. Good thing that most of the family house guests have returned home. The rain has finally ended and the sun is supposed to shine for 2 whole weeks.

Wonderful Family Blessings,
Chris

Sarah Morrell Album Quilt

Someone asked me about the Morrell Quilt and then I just threw it out there on facebook and got some interesting discussion going. I purchased the pattern a year ago from Threadbear.
I have collected some fabrics and a background and am resisting the urge to impulsively jump in and start the thing.  Every once in a while I pull out the box and sort through the fabrics and I have read over the pattern a couple of times to get an overview.

So, I have written it in (in ink) in my January 2016 daytimer to begin. The CCCQ will soon be complete after the final 3 blocks are released. The 1718 Coverlet is an 11 month QAL which will take me to December 2015. And Ben Biggs will offer the last of 25 blocks in January 2016. Sounds perfectly logical to me. There is no time line for the BTCT so I can enjoy it whenever I want. I have 3 wedding quilts to machine quilt and one of them is only half made so far. I committed to a publishing contract and will  submit  my Denine manuscript this month. The sun is shining today and there is mud in my yard. Lovely, gooey, stinky mud. Oh, I almost forgot, the Antique Wedding Sampler BOM from Homestead Hearth just began. I got the first block and the background in the mail and it will go until April 2016. 

Yes. I can do anything on a day like today.

Logical Blessings,

Chris

Quilting Goals for July

Today I went shopping then had lunch with a friend. I have been waiting for an opportunity to go to St. Jacob's about an hour from here to visit the Antique Warehouse near the famous St. Jacob's farmers market. The last time I was there, in the fall, I saw a book of antique quilts that I regretted not buying. It was not there today but I found a couple of other treasures. The Art of Quilts by Ruth Marler is one of them. As I was flipping through the pages to decide if I really wanted to invest the $10, I spotted this picture. Had to have it.

The first time I ever heard of the The Morrell Quilt was reading about Carole's completed one in Sept.                See the picture here     
I tracked down the pattern at Threadbare and ordered it in Nov, then had to wait a couple of months until they could print off a copy for me and paid the unheard of sum of $30 to have it shipped to me late Feb.

So, will I make this amazing sampler quilt? I sure hope so. I have the perfect background and 2 yards of a red French General sort of solid that I am using for BTCT. Will there be enough for both? Probably not, but I don't have to worry about that right now. I am determined to complete Dear Jane this month.

My old printer is dying a very noisy death and last night I got the brand new one installed and functioning properly after asking for help so I was able to print off the new BOM patterns.  Then I wrote a Quilt Goals for July list while I was watching Pride and Prejudice on my laptop and prepping blocks and then could not get to sleep.

• Top of the list is prep CCCQ #23.   Check.
• Prep BB #6 & #7.   Partly done. I have to remember that I am machine appliqueing these.
• More prep on BTCT # 4. Need more 1/4 inch bias strips. I turned the green print fabric over to use the back for some of the leaves and thought I would make bias strips out of the solid back.  
• Complete BTCT # 17 which I prepped and took with me last week. Should get it done tonight.
• I had booked time on a longarm for next week to quilt a disappearring 9 patch my daughter made for a wedding quilt for next month. Today I went looking for a suitable wide backing. Got really lucky to find the flannel wide backs 30% off so I bought the rest of the bolt of some plain white to use instead of batting and enough print for 2 queen quilt backs. Have to preshrink it first.
• Complete Dear Jane. 
• Complete GORF. The Red and Green GO Real Fast Quilt has been sitting patiently in a neat pile all layered and ready to complete the machine quilting in sections. I marked the cross hatch lines while babysitting back in the spring, then blitzed Dear Jane triangles. I have 3 girls all ready to go to do the weekend retreat as soon as we can all agree on a date. The plan is to prepare ALL the blocks and borders and get most of it machine appliqued in a weekend using my Go cutter gadgets. I do plan on making another one.  This one will not be in traditional colours.
• Get started on my son and daughter in law's Bali Wedding Star Quilt by Judy Neimeyer. I tracked down enough foundation patterns and fabrics for a king size last year and have not yet started it. Maybe I can get it done for their anniversary in Sept. Maybe.

Blessings,
Chris

Morrell Quilt

 

This arrived in today's mail.  Going to  be very busy.

Blessings,
Chris