What's Next?

It is the beginning of November and wonderful adventures. I flew out to Kansas City Missoura last week to visit my quilt blogging buddy Gail who I met in person last year at Scrub Stitching in Australia. We have been zoom friends for about 4 years. 

She took me to an amazing quilt shop that just had a gzillion new bolts of reproduction. I only had a carryon bag. And we went to Angela Walters shop. That is worthy of a post of its own.

When she asked if I wanted to go to Hamilton, to visit the Missouri Star Quilts well, I just had to say yes. After all, I live in Hamilton, Ontario Canada. We traipesed our way through 14 of the 15 shops. I chose to skip the wool shop. 

It was an amazing 86 F. Not bad, considering we were having daily morning frost back home that week.

It was a quilting kind of visit so I took along 17 Churn Dash blocks to finish sewing together. I had all the hard part done. Just had to sew all the units together. I brought them home and put them all on the big design wall and here they are. Somehow I goofed in the math and made one too many with the white center. So now to locate the rest of the bits and make one more with a coloured center. After that, I can sew them altogether and have a flimsy. 

This is the end of the 2024 chookshed Challenge. I managed to move forward most of the quilts on my list. All except the one I did not want to work on. Serendipity. So, since I did not want to work on it, I pulled out all the project boxes, the pattern binder holding all 100 blocks, and I organized what I still had to do and printed off a couple of FPP papers and now have it ready to focus on the next time I do not want to work on it. I have been playing around with a list for 2025. 

The Chookshed Challenge has us focus on 10 projects, including starting a new one if we want. Well, I want. I want to start at least 7 new quilts. So, I wrote up a list and itemized everything that has to be done in order to be ready to start. That is a lot to do. Before I actually start. Then, because I was challenged to close a few loops, (been reading Redeeming Your Time by J Raynor), I made a brand new list of all the ufo's in my cupboard and alphabetized them in a small notebook, then jotted down all the steps that need doing and some thoughts about moving them forward. I put a 2026 date on several that can wait. 

I have often joined a finish it up challenge with different bloggers hoping to move quilts to the finish line. I do not work well with that kind of pressure. I want to enjoy my quilting, not feel like a failure when I do not. I do have a complete finish I am dying to share but need a couple of tall helpers to photograph the thing. Outside. In the autumn colourfulness. Soon.

I had the second writing workshop here this past Sat and am so excited to now have 10 women who want to write their stories. We will meet again at the end of November to learn how to write a "scene". We all know how to make a scene, well, at least I do. I have had lots of practice. But to write a scene - new learning curve.

My November writing goals are to write something, anything, every single day. Today I have written my morning Pages and the rest of this blog post. Now to document this on one of my tracking sheets. I have several. For writing and for quilting. 

My November OMG quilting goal will be to complete that Churn Dash flimsy. And any other machine sewing I manage to get done. 

Blessings,

Chris

linking with: alyciaquilts.blogspot.

smallquiltsanddollquilts.design-wall-monday- 

 ninamariesayre.off-wall-friday. 

its-time-for-fnwf. 

link-party-patchwork-quilts- 

To-Do Tuesday Oct 2024

I have posted my WIPS-B-GONE list for the next 2 months. I have been sewing in the SonRoom off and on for the past few months. As long as I do not try to do too much, I can make slow progress. Hand work is not possible these days and those wonderful Wonderclips are just too hard on my hands. 

My quilting To-Do Tuesday list for this week is:

1. Churn Dash - sew up the prepped blocks. Not sure how many there. This is my Chookshed Challenge project.  
2. Put them all up on the big design wall and take pictures. 
3. Press the Wedding Quilt and make a start on those mitered corners.
   
   I had the whole thing out last week to see what to do. There are 3 borders sewn on that will be mitered all at the same time. The last 2 quilts I made with this pattern were mitered on border at a time. and what am I thinking? I have yet another Jinny Beyer border print quilt sitting on the sidelines waiting for me to start it. I will not be alone in that journey since I have 2 quilting friends making the same quilt from kits we bought on Craftsy back in 2015. No hurry. 
4. Blog more often. Life has settled down here on the farm into a nice rythym with the grandkids back in school. My Sweetie is the "Uber Eats" driver in the family. He makes breakfast for the girls and drives them to school 3-4 days a week and now also picks them up 2 nights a week since Elly is in rugby. That is a lot of driving. I did it all 2 weeks ago and am glad I do not have to do it all the time. Their dad started a new job a year ago and needs the help. Their school is 30 minutes from here. 

My OMG goal for October will be to have one completed flimsy ready for quilting. If I designate a specific one, you know I will work on the other one. 

Blessings,

Chris

linking with ninamariesayre.off-wall-friday.

WIPS-B-GONE 2024

 Leanne at Devoted Quilter has again issued the challenge to complete some projects over the next 61 days. I have chosen to work on the following. 

1. Churn Dash. This was a Chookshed SAL 2 years ago. I am using some old Robin Pandolph fabrics and several creamy solid backgrounds. There will be 63 blocks. This is also my Oct Chookshed Challenge project. 

2. Summer QAL mystery quilt from 2021. I have most of those blocks sewn together. Next will come a couple of borders if I can remember what I had been

thinking last time I worked on it. 

3. Macaron Mystery QAL. I have an oops to figure out before completing the side triangles. Then there will be a 1 inch black border, 3 inch creamy border and possibly 5 inch dark focus fabric border. I think I have enough of the creamy fabric for the backing. If not, I have wide back options. 

4. Wedding Quilt. I had the thing out last week to see what I have to do to get the 3 outside  borders mitered. My hands are not happy working with wonder clips or pins.  This is one of the inner borders that I had to redo. 

5. Dolls of the World jumped off the pile on the table in the corner of the Blue Room and said. "Hey! What about me?" So this is on the list. 

Remember the Cherries Quilt? I completed all the hand applique on this 100 inch square quilt from Sentimental Stitches back in 2020. I worked on it for 6 years. I found someone to hand quilt it for me. So excited! I will take it next week for her to get started.  

I have a couple of new projects I want to start. Let's see how long I can last waiting until I get some noticable progress on the above. 

Blessings,

Chris

linking with quiltfabrication/midweek-makers 

alyciaquilts.finished-or-not 

quiltingpatch-patchwork-quilts- 

Revisiting 23 UFOs

  Some thoughts on revisiting 23 unfinished projects.

1. There should be at least 23.
2. These do not have be unfinished quilts. I'm sure I have something else unfinished to work on. 
3. I think 2 weeks on each project should be just enough time to have some fun without creating unnecessary stress to complete. 
4. Completion is not the goal.
5. Having fun is. 
6. And if I liked the project enough to have invested that kind of money and time in the first place, then I should enjoy myself playing with it again. 
7. No pressure to finish anything. 
8. Playing is the goal. 
9. Linking up with some of the encouragement parties in blogland is a great idea if that will keep me motivated. 
10. Okay, I like to make lists and could spend the first month just writing and re-writing my goals and to-do lists, but I already did that. 
11. That is not the goal.
12. Having fun working on the projects is the goal.
13. Two weeks per project times 23 projects does not equal 52 weeks.
14. I guess that's like working on 2 projects each month.  
15. Working on more than one at a time is okay.
16. As long as I am having fun. 
17. Starting new projects is not forbidden. 
18. This is for revisiting ufos. 
19. Unless I start a new project early in the year and it becomes a ufo by year's end, then it counts.  
20. Writing up an elaborate list of ufos is a great idea.
21. Checking it twice is nice and so is colour coding. 
22. But completion is not the goal.
23. Having fun is. 

Blessings,

Chris

23 UFOs for 2023

Call me crazy if you like. Or join me in the New Year as I set my quilting goals. Meredith had a challenge back in 2017 to revisit 17 ufos for 3 weeks each. The goal was to move projects forward. If a completion took place, well that was a bonus. That year I completed about 5. Probably the most I ever completed in a year. I did, however, pull out 17 old projects and took photos, and wrote up 17 blog posts. It was great fun, and I even added a few stitches to some of them. But that year I did quite a bit of traveling (I was in Poland and Rwanda and Indiana) then the little boys showed up 4 days a week for a year with diaper bags in tow while there mama went back to school, so little got accomplished in the quilting area.

I do not like the stress of a deadline to finish something. Never have. Probably never will. Well, I do like to finish the food on my plate. Except the pumpkin soup when I was 9. I did not finish it. Although I sat in front of it all day. I don't care for pumpkin anything, especially pumpkin spice. Give me chocolate and caramel any day. 

I have been participating in WIPS-B-GONE this fall, and I set my goal really low. To complete 2 smaller quilts that had minimal work left to do. And then there was the Wedding Quilt. The pressure I put on myself, with a bit of help from my Sweetie, kept me from enjoying working on it. Okay. Family commitments, health issues, and house guests kept me busy. This one is still a work in progress with progress. 

I have had several other crazy quilt-related ideas, like going to Australia for Scrub Stitching In April. Wait! I am going to Scrub Stitching in Australia in April! And my Sweetie is going too! It should be great fun. We have made a few short road trips together, but it's been about 14 years since we both got on a plane together and flew off somewhere for the fun of it. And since he is retired and has no cows to milk, we can stay away as long as we want. It's not that he is afraid of flying. We had to plan that trip a year in advance to breed cows to not calve while we were gone. That was my ingenious idea, and it worked. 

I will be back with more thoughts on this Crazy Goal to revisit 23 Quilts in 2023. And, no. I am not setting up a linky party. That is too much like work, and I want to quilt. Making comments would be n ice if anyone wants to participate. 

Blessings,

Chris

linking to: texasquiltgal.to-do-tuesday

November 2022 OMG Goal

 I did not meet my October goal. Fact is, I hardly even tried. And why?

Besides a long weekend filled with family and people and food, I ended up with covid and lost a week of being productive. Well, that is not entirely true. The week we were sick, my Sweetie and I made not one, not two, but three big pots of soup and two crock pots of stew. Just because we could, and we had a lot of vegetables that needed processing. Like, someone dropped off a half bushel of brussel sprouts so they now live in the deep freezer. So, we now have lots and lots of meals in the freezer in case we get sick and do not want to cook. 

Also, I got a message from my daughter that 6-year-old David was missing me and was snuggling up in a sweater I gave his mom to sleep in because it reminded him of the good memories he had with Gramma. Not sure what was going on in his head, other than I had covid, and so did his dad and mom at the same time. He said the sweater smelled like the farm. How wonderful! So, I went over for a few days to snuggle the boys. 

Alas, I recovered from the covid. It was a mild case, and I was out of it for about 4-5 days, then the nasal congestion. I had to cancel the surgery that I have been waiting 5 months for. It will be sometime next month. Something about anesthetic and congestion not going together. I did get lots of handwork done on Lucy because the prep work and thinking part was done. Just got to sit and stitch my heart away.

I am struggling with using the fancy-dancy laptop that I just had to have. I bought it nearly 2 years ago and do very little writing on it. And why? Because I cannot see the letters on the silver keys. My fingers know where most of the letters are, but they miss often, and I have to continually go back and edit. Hence, I use the desktop which has a black keyboard with white letters. Easy to see. But I still make mistakes. Sheesh. 

I do use it most days in my quilt room, just not for writing. It has a touch screen. I love that. I can take it outside to use, as long as I remember to charge it. Nothing quite like it dying in the middle of a zoom meeting. And I discovered the link to write a new post. So that is why I am writing a new post on the laptop.

I rearranged the quilt room so I could have more table space to work more efficiently. I now have both the 8-foot folding tables set up in the middle of the room. I have my books spread out on one table facing north and the quilting on the other table facing south.

The table lamps are attached to the sides between the 2 tables, so I can easily turn them to whichever table I am working on. All this to say, I have one of the lamps hanging over the top of the laptop, and I can actually now see the keys. 

Since it is Tuesday, I have a To-Do-Tuesday list this week:

1. Write something profound.
2. Do not gloat or boast.
3. Complete one Lucy corner square.
4. Plant bulbs.
5. Ignore the Wedding Quilt.

My OMG for this month will be to complete 8 Churn Dash blocks. I did not get any done in October. I am planning to make 63 blocks and have 25 made so far.  

linking with: texasquiltgal.to-do-tuesday-

quiltingpatch link-party-patchwork-quilts-

design-wall-monday- 

wednesday-wait-loss-300 

midweek-makers-

wendysquiltsandmore.

stitchingcubbyhole.

Blessings,

Chris 

 

A Quilt Finish

 I want to shout it from the rooftops that I have completed a quilt!!!

This is the first WIPS-B-GONE finish.

Disappearing 9-Patch in 30s Repro fabrics

The backing is a novelty print from Joanns purchased 

many years ago.

And I finally get to show off a quilt roll.

The baby shower is on the patio in half an hour. Guess I need to get it wrapped. 

Blessings,

Chris

OMG October 2022

 So I did not meet my September OMG goal. No surprise. I did not meet it in  June or May or April either. So now it will be my October goal to finish the wedding quilt. I did make progress. Just not enough. In the meantime, we are hosting a baby shower (my Sweetie's idea to welcome new neighbours) this Sat evening on the patio. It is finished. Mostly. A few more shrubs will go into the ground in the spring. But for now, it is done and paid. 

The baby quilt is one of my ufos the Disappearing 9-Patch that I had intended to finish and give to one of my 4 youngest grandchildren, but they are all in school now and too big. This new little one should enjoy it. 

This is one of 4 ufos I am planning to finish up for WIPS-B-GONE with Leanne at Devoted Quilter. I still have to do the binding but have a couple of hours tomorrow afternoon to get that done now that the quilting is complete. Everyone else is posting progress on Instagram but I do not do Instagram so will post here when I have something to show. 

We have new neighbors on 3 sides of our farm. So my Sweetie thought it would be nice to get everyone to meet everyone and then he thought surprising the mom-to-be would be nice too. He has so much more time to think and play now that he is retired. My goodness, it was exactly a year ago that he announced that he intended to sell all the cows. And, we have such a nice patio to hang out on. Too bad it is October and a bit chilly. But that is what sweaters and jackets are for. 

Blessings,

Chris

To-Do Tuesday in Mid June

 Last week's list looked like this:

To-Do Tuesday 

1. I packed a box of Lucy stuff so anticipate making some progress on this handwork. I tried to sew baste and join a few 1-inch squares but that is awkward for my arthritic hands so I may end up using glue on those. Sew basting the hexies works just fine. 
   
   
   
2. Download the pictures I took and post them. Downloaded but not posted.
3. Do a post about the wedding. Soon. 

This week's list will be simpler:

Continue the Biblical Blocks Wedding Quilt.

Cut out the fabric for the Churn Dash SAL. 

I decided to go with 2 bins of Moda scraps from a challenge project about 20 years ago. These are soft colours from some old Robyn Pandolph collections.  

Sew for 15 minutes a day. 

I was dawdling and decided to update my ufo list on the sidebar. Why? Who knows. It was not on my to-do list so I did it. I joined the PHD Challenge at the beginning of the year, but have not done much on any of those quilts. I have, however, been working on a different ufo,  Biblical Blocks as a wedding gift for my son and his wife. I wanted to add it to the list, so I just added it and 19 others. Last fall I donated and gave away quite a few unfinished quilt projects. I might do that again but not too fast. I have wanted to work on a few different quilts than the ones on the list. Am I the only one who does this? Linking with Linda texasquiltgal.to-do-tuesday

myquiltinfatuation.  party-patchwork-quilts- 

Blessings,

Chris

February 2022 OMG Goal

 It looks like January was all about To-Do Tuesdays. I did accomplish many things on my various lists. Remember, I love to write lists. Now to learn to love to check off items from the list when I complete them. February takes me in a completely new direction. I have a manuscript to complete. I have used every excuse imaginable to avoid getting it done. But I realize that actually doing the writing is easier than dealing with all the avoidance. 

My quilting goals often are monumental. Go big or go home. But Baby steps seem to get many further along the road to successful completion. Not me. I do feast or famine. All or nothing. Can an old dog really learn new tricks? Well, this old dog has had to learn lots of new tricks lately. After all, my husband retired a couple of months ago and I am adapting to having him here all the time. He is still trying to figure out what his life will look like now that he no longer milks cows and he cannot be out on his tractor doing fieldwork in mid-winter. 

For OMG monthly goals, I often write down one or many several specific goals and promptly work on anything else but what my goal is. This month may not be any different, but I do like to set goals. This has to be specific, right? Nearly a year ago I bought a new Babylock Jazz II  sewing machine with a 12-inch throat space for the specific purpose of doing machine quilting. I have not actually done ANY sewing on it. Yet. My OMG goal for this month will be to get started on using this machine and getting some quilting started. Baby steps. I have several smaller quilts nearly ready for this. Two of them are printed panels I bought for this very thing.

I plan to quilt along with Angela Walters on her Help How do I Quilt It? Free Motion Quilt-a-Long. I bought the panel when it was released a long time ago. I have a whole box of exciting threads I won here on the OMG draw in May from Aurifil Threads. They sent me no less than 12 three packs of the Endangered Species collection.

I also found an amazing printed panel

called Apricot and Ash Cloud Floral from Fat Quarter Shop. This will be a place for me to learn to machine quilt around faux applique so I can eventually quilt around my real hand-stitched applique quilts. It should arrive soon. I hope. 

But first up will be my oldest UFO from 1979. This Dolls of the World was a kit I bought and painted the pictures onto the fabric. It was awol in one of the cupboards in one of the rooms somewhere in this big ole farmhouse and came to light when we did some serious declutter a few years ago. I have some red rose fabric for the backing. I think there is enough to use for a border also. 

My OMG goal for February will be to layer these small quilts and start machine quilting them. No promises of a finish. But I have to start starting somewhere. And, both big folding tables are empty in the middle of the quilt room begging to be used to stretch out and layer quilts before this room gets turned into a greenhouse again in anticipation of a summer vegetable garden. 

Blessings,

Chris

linking with: quiltinggail.phd-in-2022-

smallquiltsanddollquilts.design-wall-monday- 

katiemaequilts./boms-away

free-motion-mavericks.

wendysquiltsandmore.

alyciaquiltsfinished or not friday

ninamariesayre.on-off-wall-friday.

A Few More Blocks

Eight teal blocks to add to the pile.

There are still 4 green and 5 pink, so 18 more blocks to go. For some reason, there was no red in the bundles. Either that or I found something else to do with the red fat quarter. I think I have 80 completed blocks.
This will either be a really big quilt or possibly 2 smaller ones. I am considering letting the little girls do the layout. If I make 2, then they can each design their own.
Linking up with Angela at so scrappy..
Blessings,
Chris
linking up with: oh-scrap.

February 2020 OMG Completion

I have been limiting my sewing time to the weekends only. And why? Because I have been writing! I have another course almost complete. I am 2 pages short for my book report. On the last course I submitted, they deducted 3 marks for being a half-page too little. Yikes! 

For my one-monthly-goal  I made a "whole bunch" of blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge including 4 orange Bright Jane blocks bringing the total up to 12. Still need 8 more. 







I made another 10 blocks for the Corn and Beans UFO. I turned these blocks on point and they look like baskets. This gives me ideas. 

Also, I decided to dust off an old quilt book and play along.
My day will be Friday, March 6. I found the perfect book to revisit. You will have to wait to see what book that is and how I was inspired.

Blessings,

Chris

linking with needleandthreadnetwork.  design-wall-monday-february-24-2020.  wednesday-wait-loss.  midweek-makers.  myquiltinfatuation.  put-your-foot-down.
off-wall-friday. wendysquiltsandmore.  frombolttobeauty.

February 2020 OMG Goals

I am hard-pressed to decide just what to do for my February one-monthly-goal.

I got my Bright Jane orange blocks and patterns organized last week when the colour was revealed early. I like that. I have several tiny blocks made so far. I am trying to rationalize myself into choosing a goal. Some months I have made it super simple to get it done. Other times I have made it super challenging. Sometimes it is very specific - complete 8 blocks. Other times is is vague - move this one forward. I like specific but vague works too.

My quilting for the past year has been focused on working on my Beyond the Cherry Trees blocks and borders as well as the Rainbow Scrap Challenge with the Corn and Beans ufo. I am still writing my book. Very slowly but working on it. And, I am trying to complete my doctorate. I submitted one course last month and have another almost done. Some of my non-quilting goals will be to complete and submit three courses.

My February OMG will be to make "a whole bunch" of orange blocks either for Bright Jane and/or the Corn and Beans. Now is that vaguely specific enough? Or is it specifically vague? Either way, it will be orange blocks. And there are 5 Saturdays. I have been sewing and not writing on Saturdays.
Blessings,
Chris
quiltingismorefunthanhousework. needleandthreadnetwork. design-wall-monday-  midweek-makers.
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frombolttobeauty.  wendysquiltsandmore.  finished-or-not-friday.

20 Machine Quilting Goals for 2020

My track record for completing UFOs is rather small. But if I work on each of them a little, then they will all move a bit closer to completion. Or so I tell myself.

I thought I would like to focus on my machine quilting skills. I took a 2-day workshop with Sue Patten in October and invested in a couple of her favourite rulers. She designs rulers and her son has set up a business making and selling them.

So, in no particular order, here are some goals to practice my machine quilting skills on my domestic Brother machine in the coming year. Some of these are either in the flimsy stage or already sandwiched ready to quilt. Others are obvious prep work.

1. Adhere grips onto rulers
2. Wind bobbins
3. Clean Brother machine
4. Clean Bernina machine
5. Practice ruler work on class sample from workshop in Oct
6. Angela Walters Freemotion QAL
7. Disappearing Nine-Patch
8. Disappearing Four-Patch
9. Country Bride 2 appliqued blocks
10. Country Bride 2 plain blocks
11. Country Bride 2 borders
12. Butterflies
13. 1857 Sampler outline blocks and corner leaves
14. 1857 Sampler quilt blocks
15. Dear Jane sashing
16. Dear Jane blocks
17. Dear Jane borders 
18. Quilt Ellyse's I-Spy quilt
19. Quilt Devan's I-Spy quilt. 
20. Teach Ava to machine quilt her quilt. 

Maybe my goals for 2021 can be to bind all these quilts.
Blessings,
Chris

RSC Browns

I made 18 units with browns and beiges and creams. I only got the white, cream and beige mixed up twice. I turned on an extra lamp and was more careful after that.  I have really enjoyed working on these blocks. The blocks finish at 8 inches.

When the girls came home from school on Monday, I had Devan arrange all the blocks on the wall. There are a lot of dark colours in there. There are still reds and greens and oranges to do.  I started with the pinks and yellows back in Aug and there are a few more of those colours in the box.

It is not mindless sewing as there are a lot of triangles, but there is a rhythm once I got into it.

Sixty two down and thirty-eight more to go. Maybe.

Blessings,
Chris

linking with so scrappy

September 2019 OMG Completion

My September one-monthly-goal 

was to sew together these 16 purple blocks.

Purple was the RSC colour for September. 

There are many ways to put these together.

Wonder what the colour will be for October?

Blessings,

Chris

linking to: show-me-something-purple.

Options

I thought this pattern was Corn and Beans

but it does look like Ocean Waves. 

The blocks so far are just randomly placed. 

I will let the little girls play with placement after I get a few more colours made.

And the 6 year old added her option.

Blessings,

Chris

linking to: off the wall Friday
myquiltinfatuation.

Sept 2019 OMG Goal

The RSC colour for September is purple!!

This is what I have found already cut and sewn together of the 8 purple fabrics so this should be an easy goal for OMG this month.

And this is how 2 of the blocks will go together. I like that most of the prep work is already done. I can just enjoy sewing them all together. After this, I will have to cut squares and sew half-square triangles together but that is not too difficult.



Blessings,
Chris

linking with
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quilting is more fun than housework.
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needleandthreadnetwork.
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New Project for RSC

I am back from my blogging break over the summer.

I was racking my brain trying to figure out if I had a ufo that would lend itself to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and I came up with this one. I wrote about it last year. You can read that here.

I started with the yellow because most of these blocks were already partly sewn together. It is a good thing because I would have had much difficulty trying to figure out how the pieces went together.
And, since pink was July's colour, I sewed these up next. They were also partly sewn together.
I am making 2 squares of each colour. The colours really are much brighter than they look in the pictures here.

The August colour was light blue. I just sewed together all the blue shades except midnight blue and black. They were way too dark to show up against that black theme fabric.

So far, I am happy with all these. I certainly hope September's colour will be purple because I have all the purple half square triangles already sewn together. This will be a busy month for us here at the Farm and we will be making a trip to the Big E in Springfield Massachusetts at the end of the month.

Twenty-eight down and only 72 more to go.

Blessings,
Chris
linking to: peacock party
finished-or-not-finished-friday.
moving-it-forward.

Everyone Needs a Week at a Quilt Retreat

It is hard to believe that the Shipshewana Quilt Retreat was a whole week ago. Where does the time go?  I had taken 5 projects to work on. I worked on 4 of them. I am such a dreamer and maybe a bit lacking in time management skills but we won't go there. At least not for now.

I took Almost Amish Irish Chain an old ufo to work on. It was supposed to be simple. I thought maybe 2 days to sew it together. But on day 3, Saturday, I realized that I was short on the tone on tone white background fabric so bought something similar and cut out the strips only to realize that I need yet more strips so back to the quilt shop. When I got home and continued to work on it, I found that I had cut many of the strips 3 x 7 instead of the required 3 x 8. So, I decided the finished size would be 84 x 84 before borders instead of 84 x 108. Now to sew all those blocks together before they fall off the wall or get mixed up.

I did get a bit of hand work done on one Beyond the Cherry Trees Block. I don't know why I did not do more hand work. The fact that I went shopping 5 times, had three 3 hour naps, went to the pool 4 times and talked half the night with my roommates, has nothing to do with that. At least I don't think it does.

I have yet to complete the insides of those 3 flowers and create 2 more. They will be challenging. But then, I always liked a challenged. At least that is what I have often said.

I will be working on this block and prepping the next one as my Slow Sunday Stitching project.


I used some of the red and white bits I had cut out with the GO Baby 2 years ago for the 150 Canadian Women BOW as leaders and enders. I did get 6 Morrell blocks machine appliqued. That was easy once I found the missing presser feet and bobbins. What I did not pull out to work on is the machine applique Huguenot Friendship Quilt Blocks. Maybe next retreat.

Oh, I also wrote a couple of chapters for SMOWJ. So the retreat was quite successful after all.

Blessings,
Chris