Reality Check

I have had the most amazing adventures this year but it is mid November and the year is fast coming to an end. I have been invited to jury duty this coming week and do not yet know what time lines that might encompass. Last time, 25 years ago, I had to report daily for 2 weeks. We shall see on Monday.

Two days ago lost internet access and wondered how I ever managed to get through a day without being on the computer and on line. I should do it more often. The desk top is still out. Something about an IP address? The laptop works. But the big desk top is more fun and it has a touch screen. So much easier to see and to play  . . . uh . . . never mind.

The little boys keep coming for 4 days a week and we are having a lot of fun. Well, until little David keeps climbing onto my lap and pushing buttons, hence the internet issue. Also, some of the house phones do not ring. Something about pushing buttons. And Jonathan glued everything in his room at home with a jar of vaseline. Glad it was there so I did not have to clean it up here. Dawn dish soap helps.

This year I completely completed, including quilting and binding and gifting, 5 whole quilts. I started 3 new ones which is the norm for me. So actually, I am ahead in the numbers game. No, I guess I started 4. Not much work done on any of those at this point.

I worked on 11 of the 17 ufos for 2017. I have one more to post about that but I will save it for December. I did do a bit of work on that one at the retreat last week.

I am clearing the tables and decluttering some of the many project boxes that I pulled out and the new ones I started so there is room in the quilt room for the Q@F retreat here the first 2 days of December. My intent then is, while I have both 8 foot tables clear, to stretch out and layer the Dear Jane quilt and get it ready to big stitch hand quilt. It was suggested to quilt for just 20 minutes each day. I could do that. Maybe.

I have also been pre-washing the new fabrics I brought home so I can get at those broderie perse birds and flowers. 

I got the oil changed in my car before driving 7 hours to Shipshewana, but now have to find time to get my snow tires put on since winter is coming. And I have registered for the April retreat and booked not one, but two rooms.

The potted geraniums finally made it into the house for the winter last week when I was away. Now to clean up the wilted leaves and spent blossoms. Five down 12 to go.

The cows are all settled in the barns for the winter and we passed the bi-annual quality  milk inspection so we can carry on dairy farming for 2 more years.

The corn is not  yet combined nor is the high moisture corn in the small silo. Next week some time I hear.

So some of the amazing adventures were a trip to Poland with my now 10 year old Ava. A short term mission trip to Rwanda Africa. I have yet to post my Rwanda Reflections. And a quilt retreat and workshops with the Australian Di Ford-Hall. But the most amazing adventure of them all has to be publishing my first book. The temporary web site is up for proofing.

I have also been doing a bit of house work (yes really) and laundry. How come I do little boy laundry every week? Oh yes, on Thurs nights they get supper, a bath and clean pjs then I load them in their van and meet Mommy, who has my car, at the university so she can drive them home after her last class. They get home around 9:30-10 pm. We swap cars and I come home after picking up a few groceries since I am in town.

So the reality check is realizing that I will never complete the course work for my doctorate at the pace I am going and the procrastinating attitude I have had towards it. I have typed out exactly 3 pages in the past year. One of my OMG goals for November is to complete and submit one course. The text book has been on my desk for the past 2 months. That's when I typed out those pages. And I remembered to save them. I dropped all the hand written notes behind the desk just before I left for the retreat and now I have to figure out how to retrieve them.

Elly came over for a visit today and she offered  to help, until she saw how many spider webs there were back there after we got a light to look down. So we got out the spider web catcher and got rid of them. She could not fit down under the side of the desk to get them and I could not reach that far down from the top. There is a big book shelf beside the really heavy desk. Grampa had the outrageously creative idea to get a broom and weep them out. What a smart fella I am married to. Now I have all the notes and a cleared off desk. And fewer spider webs.

My OMG and slow sunday stitching project is to complete this 1857 block. I have been fiddling around with it this month. You have to figure out what you want and what leaves to cut out, them what order to stitch them down. I thought I had the first set of leaves placed equidistant on the circle I drew in the middle, until I got to the last triplet of leaves. I don't care that they are not straight and even, they are almost done. I kinda like the dark around those leaves. I get to do a tad bit more of this in the Bally Hall Birds Quilt. I have decided to do some of it by machine so I stand a chance to get it done before the end of this century.

And I found a whole bunch more of the Only2 red and white blocks and nicely organized bits for many more blocks as I was tidying up the quilt closet so I have somewhere to put away the project boxes.

But in reality, I was looking for the heat-n-bond lite to fuse to the new fabric. I cannot believe I used more than 80 yards of the stuff. There has to be some more here somewhere. I will keep looking.

blessings,
Chris

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OMG Finish for April

 And one more BTCT block is complete.

This was my omg-one-monthly-goal. 

 for April.



Today I made up 4 yellow perfect circles for the centers of my imperfect flowers.

This will have to do for slow sunday stitching . 

I started stitching on this block in November on my way to Shipshewana in the back seat of the van. Got 8 leaves done.

Then I took it to Poland with me and did the rest of the leaves and buds.

I did not have enough bias strips to do the whole wreath

so made some more when I got home.



 I am off to babysit little boy grandchildren for 5 days

then my Quilting at the Farm friends will be coming on Sat.

I haven't seen them for a couple of months.

I have 2 BTCT blocks to take along for some slow stitching.

Blessings,

Chris



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Completed Quilts So Far in 2017

I was busy earlier this winter and spring completing five quilts that I took to Poland with me to give to my cousins as gifts. I made the right choice for colours. They were completely surprised and delightfully pleased.

This first one was made about 20 years ago but I misplaced the fabric for the backing and finally found it, pieced it together and sandwiched the quilt a few  years ago. I simply quilted curves diagonally starting with the corners. Robert and Krystyna love it.

This was one of the $10 quilts I had made blocks for several years ago. I bought a variety of blue and brown civil war reproduction fabrics in anticipation of completing. Ella loved it.

I had a different plan for this cousin, but my Sweet Farmer, in his great wisdom, said to quilt this one for Beata instead. I love this quilt. I used a variety of solid fabrics for crazy patch blocks and machine embroidered as many different designs as I could using variegated threads. I used the walking foot to straight stitch around the borders and sashing. Then, I made ties using some black perle cotton I found in one of the stuff drawers. The backing is a wide tan flannelette.

I have shown many pictures of this one since I started it in Shipshewana last November. Upon receiving it, Anya commented that she loved that it was a modern quilt. I had to chuckle since it is based on an antique quilt owned by Linda Collins. I started it at a workshop in Shipshewana. I believe there are 3248 pieces in this quilt. But who is counting?

Now this is the first quilt I thought about making when I had the idea more than a year ago to take quilts for my cousin  in Poland. This modern quilt was going to be perfect for a house that was decorated in basic black and white with zebra curtains and a touch of red. It is perfect - on their bed. Andrje and Ewa redid the living room with blues and yellows.

Here I used a variegated black and white thread and did large curves though each of the intersections. I like how the variegations look. I used a wide flannel backing.

 I think I deserve to start a brand new quilt. But I don't have time till May. Sigh.

Blessings,
Chris

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April Goals

How do we choose which project to start next? I have been busy this past month completing several quilts and thoughts of starting at least five new quilts  have been dancing through my head. I could not give in to them because I was on a mission to complete quilts.  I had to use the Bernina since the Brother machine messed up  and then I broke the acrylic darning foot from the Bernina. Fortunately, I had a metal one that I used to finish the free motion quilting for my 17-ufosin-2017 challenge. This month I will be working on beyond-the-cherry-trees-album-quilt. I am packing my bags to go to Poland to visit my family for Easter. She is not well. At 91 that is no surprise. I am taking 9 year old Ava with me. I plan to take some hand applique with me and at least one text book.

I have the entire pattern packet for the Caswell quilt from sentimental stitches in a box with fabrics and shirting  backgrounds waiting.

I also have all ten months of Susan Smith's stonefields-quilt-block-of-the-month that I bought when I was in Australia two years ago.  I have an old collection of fabrics and various backgrounds ready in a project box waiting until I get back from Poland. These have been pre-washed because they were so wrinkly from sitting in a few boxes for years.

After I get home I am going to babysit the little boy grand children for four days and doubt I will get much stitching done. But who knows, I won't get any done if I do not prep some blocks and take them along,  

I see so many interesting patterns and projects  in blogland and am tempted by many of them. I have at least 80 blogs on my blog list. Most post weekly, some monthly. And some days when I am avoiding doing any real work I will wander off on rabbit trails and see what else is out there to see. I follow lots of blogs that are doing some of the same projects I am doing so I can get encouraged. But right now it seems that they are over whelming me with so many options.

I started talking about how we choose which quilt to make next. I am drooling over  the  150+Canadian+Women weekly quilt-a-long.

And I have  been collecting the patterns while they are free to make this tribute to Canadian women as we celebrate our 150 birthday as a nation. I have fabric. I bought some of the Northcott collection at Lens Mill Store when everything with red in it was 25% off. I like sales. I spend more than $200 on fabric that day. And I already had some in my cupboard with the Canadian national anthem and some with maple leaves. It is going to be a spectacular quilt. I am only 57 blocks behind. But I have a plan. I will pull out the GO cutter and some dies with one inch and one and a half inch options and blitz them.  They are all pieced with none appliqued. I like applique, but have enough of that in project boxes.

How do I choose which quilt to make next? I usually jump in impulsively and blitz it for a while. Starting quilts is so much fun, but I have tasted what it is like to complete not one but 4 quilts this past month. I could put off starting anything new for a whole month and complete another one or two. Maybe. But I have a plane to catch  Friday and  . . .  the power just went off . . .

It was off for a couple of hours so we went to bed really early since it was dark and very quiet. Eventually we heard the furnace come on so knew the power was back on. I have a family wedding to go to today and it is overcast and gloomy this morning, but the sun is supposed to come out this afternoon.

I do not have to worry about what I will start next since I do not have time this week which will be filled with appointments like dentist, massage, chiropractor and the little boy grandchildren are coming for a sleepover just before we leave. But I do have to decide what my omg-one-monthly-goal  will be for April. I will try to complete one, just one BTCT block. 

The RSC colour this month is multicolour. Since I am doing this challenge with my Bright Jane  and there are no multi colour fabrics I plan to make more aqua blocks since I prepped a whole bunch that did not get made in Feb. 

Come back at the end of the month to see how I did.

(I just received news that my 91 year old aunt passed away last  night so we go in sadness)

Blessings, 

Chris

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Completed CCCQ

So, without further ado, here is my completed Chester County Criswell Quilt. It finishes about ( I forgot to measure) 79 inches square. The blocks are 12 inches and I put a 3 1/2 inch border all around.

Part of the fascination with this quilt is the numbers that popped out. The original was made in 1852 as a wedding quilt. I was born in 1952. It was made in Chester County Pennsylvania. My father's name was Chester. And Mar 9 showed up somewhere and that was his birthday.
  
I started the BOM a bit over 2 years ago and kept pace with 1 1/2 blocks per month for a total of 32 twelve inch blocks and one 24 inch center block. I decided to do needle-turned hand applique. I love how relaxing it is once you get into the rhythm of it.

I started the center block as I was planning my first trip to Poland in Sept 2013. By golly, that is exactly when I started this blog! I was listening to hours and hours of Polish lessons on-line as I stitched that center block. Then I prepped several blocks and took them with me to Poland to meet my father's family for the very first time. I stitched throughout my visit. My then 88 year old aunt asked me what I was doing. Stitching says I. Why do you do that? To keep from biting my nails I replied. What are you going to do with it when you finish? Check out my first visit.

Now, I start far more quilts  than I ever finish, but I was determined to complete this one. I only had 2 years to do that. It was on my second visit last year that I decided to complete it and give it to my aunt for her 90th birthday. At Christmas last year, I had all my family that came to celebrate here at the Farm sign their names and birth dates. That was 23 of us. One of my sisters living in England came to visit in June so she signed her name and those of her children and grand children. I added our parents names and machine quilted the thing in 2 days just before flying out to Poland 2 weeks ago. I used a gray on cream toile for the backing.

As the quilt was being presented to my our aunt, I told the story through an interpreter and then invited everyone at the party to sign their names also. 

She loves it.

Happy 90th birthday Ciocia Albina
Chris

Applesauce and Laundry

Today we officially began making applesauce. Our 4 dwarf tress had another bumper crop and there are still 8 big feed bags filled with apples sitting in the porch keeping cool.  We can applesauce for the whole year or 2 if there are lots. There are two Golden Delicious, one Empire and one Mutsu.

     Two of the little girl grandchildren helped Grampa pick apples two weeks ago. 

 It is such a beautiful warm fall day here. I went to waterfit this afternoon. It is one physical activity that I can do because there is little impact on my joints. Today, however, first I forgot my underwear. I usually put on my bathing suit at home. I know I put the underwear in the bag with an extra towel since I planned to wash my hair since it was going to be wet anyway. So I did, but did not have the extra towel. Then when I got home and went to hang up the $78 new bathing suit, it was not in the bag nor was my shampoo. Sigh. I probably should drive back into town and find it. It took me a few months to find a swim suit in my size. But it is a beautiful day and I could use some more sunshine. After all, it is November and lots of brilliant sunshine is a gift, one of the few things I learned in grade 11 geography. That and how to read a road map.  

Also, I must clarify that when I "pre-wash" my fabrics, I do not use soap or fabric softener. I fill up my top load machine with either warm or cold water, depending if the cold water pressure lets me. Today we had replaced the water intake valve and ran through a load of farmer work clothes and they were totally covered in sand. So, I cleaned the machine, then filled it up with cold water but it was totally filled with sand again, so I drained it and did yet another load and drained that. Then I washed a load of towels and after that some of the laundry from my trip. As it turned out, a water hose in the barn had come off and the well was draining and drawing sand. Yuk. This is one of the things we have to deal with on the farm and hard water fed well that also feeds 120 head of cows.

I do not like to agitate it too much so the threads do not ravel and get knotted up. I turn off the machine then add the fabric to the water and slosh it up and down by hand until everything is wet. I let it soak for 15-20 minutes or a couple of hours if I forget, then spin it out and dry in the dryer. I might put in a dozen fat quarters in the dryer at a time. I will add the tiniest piece of a fabric sheet to cut the static. I used to take them out when still a bit damp then press them but anymore I just let them dry totally and get them out right away. I give them a quick press before folding.

I got some applique done on BTCT circles and leaves while visiting my daughter but got more hugs and kisses in from my grandson. I got lots of homework done this trip. I will be returning there in 9 weeks to stay for the birth of their second baby.

Next week I am going to Shipshewana Indiana for the Just Takes 2 retreat with Brenda Papadakis and Gay Bomers. I have some of my bags and projects packed and will complete that as soon as I can do the rest of my laundry. Then I will be off to Europe. Sounds so adventurous. I will be going to visit my sister In England for a week then to help my aunt celebrate her 90th birthday in Poland. That I am really looking forward to.

But first, I received the completed content edit of my manuscript back and now to approve all the edits and onto the next stage of publishing my book.

I did drive back into town and found my wet bathing suit and shampoo bottle and found the underwear on the floor where they fell out of the bag when I took the bathing suit out to put on.

Blessings,
Chris

Boxing Day 2013

Today I phoned my Aunt Albina in Poland to wish her a Merry Christmas. Arranged it with her grandson last night on face book. What did we ever do before facebook? It was through facebook that my family here in Canada made the connection with our family in Poland back in March and I visited there in October.

And to think, the only reason I joined facebook in the first place was for an assignment for a mandatory course called "Church Leadership in the 21st Century" my first year in seminary. I scored a whopping C on the assignment all because I did not know what WiFi was. Guess I am too  old to fully comprehend some things . . .  like  . . . BFF. My 6 year old granddaughter had to educate me on that one. I had to get wireless internet, join facebook and  join the group in order to get the instructions for the assignment. I had my first and only migraine over that assignment. I had just returned home from  a trip to India during reading week Feb 2009. Drove into town to school the next morning and knocked on my faculty advisor's office door at precisely 9:30 am. He looked up, said good  morning and informed me that our meeting was the following week, but since I was there and he had time we had our one and only meeting. Jet lag does interesting things with your brain. I had to get the farm books ready for the accountant to do our taxes that week and double booked him the same hour I was getting my teeth cleaned. I chose the dentist and left my bookkeeper/daughter-in-law to deal with the accountant. Did I mention that I had a research paper due on the Vatican II Council that week?
I worked feverishly over that facebook assignment, mostly trying to figure out how to find the group and the video instructions. Facebook had just changed its format and I was just trying to figure out facebook. I had 2 friends and belonged to 1 group that I could not find. I have a lot more friends now and know how to find my way around until facebook updates changes. Two years later one of the young students educated me on WiFi and the fact that every student at that university had access to free high speed internet simply by signing in with their student number. Now that is another story.

Interesting how easy it is to go off on a tangent . . . ADHD kicking in . . . love it . . .

My Aunt Albina talks about our visit every time some of the family get together. I am told she has a new focus on life. She turned 88 last week. Can hardly wait until I return to visit again in the coming year.
We also had dinner at my son's house today. It was wonderful to have both  my children and their families together.  Watching our 22 month old granddaughter help Grampa unwrap his present. Every bit of paper torn off had to go into the recycle bin immediately. I did take pictures but left the camera there. Oops.
Farmers always have to come home early to do the chores. My daughter and I ended up watching the movie Julie and Julia. I howled throughout as I recalled  my own experiences in college 43 years ago learning how not to make tomato aspic and fry fish as well as recently being challenged to start blogging to work on my writing skills. Now that is yet another story and I am babysitting tomorrow so . . .
Blessings,
Chris

My Mommy

It is Remembrance Day here in Canada. Every year on November 11 we remember those who died in war and those who survived fighting for the freedom that we enjoy as a way of life. I have not always honoured this special day, however, since visiting  my mother's place of birth last month, l have a new appreciation and awe of the heroic woman I called Mom. 

My Mother was 13 years old in Sept 1939 when the Germans began occupying Poland. She dropped out of school and spent the next 5 years living in the midst of all the atrocities committed against the Polish people, especially the 350,000 Jews  most of whom were put to death for no other reason than they were Jewish. As I was driven through what used to be the Jewish Getto in wartime Warsaw  last month, I could not help but recall the scenes from the movie "Shindler's List" that was made in black and white to use actual film footage of the time.

When my sister and I met relatives in Poland for the very first time last month, we were taken to the Museum of the Warsaw Rising 1944 where we made a very emotional journey through each of the 63 days that the citizens of Warsaw rose up and defied the German armies. I spent 3 hours looking for her face in the many photos and film clips. Most of the insurgents as they were called died and the city of Warsaw was destroyed and burned.  http://vimeo.com/16582392 

My 18 year old mother was among the 1000 who survived and among the thousands of Poles who spent the rest of the war in prison camps. An actual footage movie will be coming out next year to commemorate the 70th anniversary.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2397873/Warsaw-Uprising-colour-Black-white-photos-turned-incredible-feature-movie.html

She met my soldier father when  he was taking food to her refugee camp. You see, he was a butcher and had served as a cook in the army. He made the most phenomenal Polish sausage and bigos. They were married soon after and were given the opportunity to to move to any commonwealth county of their choice. They chose Canada.

My 20 year old mother was 7 months pregnant, with a toddler in tow, when she arrived at  Pier 21 in  Halifax where all those who immigrated to Canada first made port. My parents bought a small farm near Brantford Ontario. Five more babies arrived in the years to come. My mother never returned to her place of birth. She died at age 73.

I have chosen to honour my mother's memory each year at this remembrance time. She is more a hero to me now than ever before. I wish she was alive today so I could hug her and tell her how much I love her.

Blessings,
Chris

CCCQ #4

 I joined the Chester County Criswell Quilt Block of the Month at the beginning of year 2  which put me a whole 12 blocks behind, so, I figured that I could make 1 1/2 blocks per month and still finish when the final block is revealed somewhere around July 2015. Yeah, right. This month I completed block #9 and gave it away to my 88 year old aunt who helped me stitch on it. I had #1 partly stitched up and gave it to an artistic cousin  in Poland who got really excited about it. I am still working on the squigglies on block #13. AND, I have completed block #4.

Those little reverse appliqued  squigglies have really challenged me. I ironed freezer paper to the back of the block and basted it to the background. I then needle turned the edges under using a #10 milliners needle. I like the longer needle for turning under as it is easier for these arthritic fingers to manipulate successfully. However, the seam allowances were a bit too scant and it was challenging to turn under enough fabric without raw edges peeking out. Also, the freezer paper was not sticking therefore some of them were moving.

I took 7 threaded needles to Poland with me and came home with 2. One I gave to my cousin along with the spool of matching thread. I am sure the others will show up somewhere.

Blessings,
Chris

Visit to Poland

I traveled to Poland 2 weeks ago to meet my father's younger sister and her family for the very first time ever. We made a connection through facebook back in March after one of  my brothers posted a wedding picture of our parents looking for family.
Czeslaw and Halina met in 1945 after WWII and were married Feb 9, 1946 and moved to Canada in 1948.
His sister Albina was only 10 when he left home in 1935 and she saw him for 1 day when he returned to Poland only once in 1966 to see his mother who died a few months later. Halina died at age 73 in 1999 and Czeslaw in 2001 at age 81.
Halina never returned to the land of her birth.

So,  my 88 year old Aunt Albina is a real fire cracker. I pulled out my CCCQ blocks the first morning and she asked me to show her what I was doing . . . perhaps another quilting convert. When asked why I did this stitching thing, I replied that I liked to keep my  hands busy . . . an alternative to chewing off all my nails.
She stitched on this block for a while then commented her glasses weren't very good then stitched some more and again commented about her glasses. She stitched from left to right and I stitch from right to left.

Anyway, by the end of the week I finished the thing, removed the freezer paper to her wonder and amazement and then gave it to her as a gift. Not sure what she will eventually do with it, but it pleased her to receive it.
When I asked if I could go shopping to a fabric store, I was first taken to a store selling curtain materials, then to another selling upholstery material and finally to a tailor shop. I'm not sure quilting is a well known craft in Warsaw at this point, at least in my family there.

Blessings,
Chris

CCCQ Perspective

 I have most of this block done except for the 8 squigglies that go around the center.
This block will finish at 24" square and is the largest single block I have appliqued and have learned a few things.

• The angle at which you take the picture can make all the difference in how it looks when posted.
• Centering the pattern on a print is a good idea.
• Centering the pattern on an uneven print is not always easy to do.

 

• It is a good idea to be careful when outlining the center of the pattern as it will show every mistake when stitched.
• It is difficult to see a blue Frixion pen marking on a red and gold print especially when you forget to mark part of it.
• It is easy to make mistakes when reverse appliqueing a center when you cannot see the markings clearly.
• I will redo the lower left corner of the center because that is the only thing I can see on this block for now.

Otherwise, I am really quite happy with the whole thing. I am off to Poland tomorrow to meet with relatives for the very first time ever and will be gone for 2 weeks. I have prepped several blocks to take with me to work on. These ones have freezer paper ironed onto the back. I glued under some of the seam allowances and will needle turn other parts.

 When I get back from Poland, I will be going to the Quilt Farm www.quiltfarm.net for a retreat I had organized last winter. Cannot miss the opportunity to be locked away in a quilt shop for a whole weekend with my bestest quilting friends. I will be working on Dear Jane corner kites.

Blessings,
Chris

CCCQ Block #13

Progress on the Polish lessons and block 13 is coming along nicely. I have learned how to say hello, introduce myself, count to 20, ask directions to the bathroom and order cake at the confectionery. All very important things to know.                                           

 

This is a close up of the stitching. I basted the large red fabric onto the background then drew the design on. I am cutting away between the lines one leaf at a time and making a small cut into the seam allowance on the inside curves to help it turn under more smoothly. As you can see, the distance between some of the lines is about 1/8 of an inch, so needle turning is my best choice here.

I am using a few 3/4 inch applique pins to hold each leaf in place until I stitch past each one then move it on to the next one. I try not to have too many pins in the fabric so I do not prick myself as I move my hands. I am rolling up the extra fabric from the back to the front to avoid catching it with the needle as I stitch. I am particularly aware of this today as I had to un-sew a bit and redo it.

 

The background fabric is one that looks aged and stained. I hunted a long time to find just the right thing for a reproduction quilt project and  when I did find it 3 years ago in a small shop outside of Lancaster Pennsylvania, I bought the whole 15 yard bolt for $2.50 per yard.

Blessings,
Chris

What's wrong with this picture?

A group of us meet here at the Farm Saturday mornings to Quilt at the Farm. Four years ago we started the Dear Jane journey dearjane.com . Jane A. Stickle completed her original quilt in War Time 1863 making 169 four and a half inch blocks, 52 triangles and 4 corner kites using a total of 5602 pieces of fabric.
I finally completed the 169 blocks using Civil War reproduction fabrics and connected all the blocks together with 1/2" sashing strips. Then I connected the 13 rows together.  It was only after I hung it back up on the design wall to gloat over that I discovered the error . . . sigh . . . 

If I had a nickle (we no longer use pennies in Canada) for every error, I would be a rich woman. I taught the class as I was learning how to do it myself. This is truly a sampler quilt as we learned to paper piece, hand piece and at least 8 different ways to do applique. And yes, a 1/2 inch error is a serious thing I discovered when I forgot to add a sashing strip between B-5 and B-6 and had to unsew  the long sashing strips and redo them.
Blessings,
Chris

New CCCQ Quilt Start

It has been 3 weeks since I started my blog. I am still learning how to get around here. I was asked what this blog will be focusing on. The main interests in my life these days, besides family, are quilting, travel, ministry and education. I have lived on a dairy farm all my life and I never tire of this view from my desk.

It is not fair to backtrack through the 37 some quilts in progress, so I will begin where I am right now.

I am going to Poland in 2 weeks to meet some relatives for the very first time and in preparation, I am re-learning some basic Polish survival phrases. Doing the simple repetitive stiching on an applique block has kept my hands busy as my  mind is reviewing vocabulary  from my first language.

This month I joined in The Chester County Criswell  one year into the BOM (block of the month). The original  Criswell Quilt was made in 1852 for the marriage of Alice McClellan Criswell and Jesse Jackson Smith in Chester County, Pennsylvania. The present owner is a descendant and lives in Australia.
My first block is #13 Alice Criswell. This center block will finish at 24" square. This is the largest applique block I have ever attempted. I laid the 20" red print fabric right side up onto the right side of the background fabric then, basted it from corner to corner, top to bottom and side to side to hold it in place.

I traced 1/4 of the pattern onto freezer paper, folded it in half and cut out half the design. The freezer paper comes  on an 18" wide roll so I could  not do the entire pattern in one piece. Using the basting lines as a guide, I ironed it in place then traced around the design with a Frixion pen. This is supposed to disappear when heat is applied. We shall see. I then removed the paper and did the same on the other half of the fabric.

The original basting stitches are nicely holding the large piece in place as I cut away between the leaf designs. I have several tiny applique pins holding the individual leaves in place as I needle turn under the seam allowance around the markings using my favourite #10 straw or millners needle. So far, I am really happy with how it is working out.The fabric is an older Old Sturbridge Village Scarlett. I liked it so  much I bought the whole bolt. . .  enought to share.