And Another One is Done

Crazy thing happened to blogger tonight. All my stats have disappeared. I wonder why. Maybe posting twice in the same day was over load. Numbers keep us left brain function people checking things out all the time and then some more.

CCCQ Block # 12

Maybe by the time I quilt this and its washed, no one will notice that the wreath is not perfectly round.

Blessings,
Chris

CCCQ Block # 12

Almost done

CCCQ block # 12

Not too excited about the outcome of those very tiny little reverse applique rose buds. I should have it completed today. I am hosting and teaching the Second GORF retreat here starting today with dill pickle soup for lunch.
I remembered the potatoes this time. 

GORF Blessings,

Chris 

And Still More Work On CCCQ

This is what I have been working on for the past 2 days. I listened to no less than 9 lectures and kept my hands busy as well as doing the required test for the Ethics course I am presently working on.
I did not like working with this particular fabric. It was hard to see the stitching lines that I drew on with a frixion pen and the fabric is quite soft and moved around more than others I have worked with. But it is complete and not the worst looking block.

CCCQ Block # 32

 This next one is the last block released. It is challenging my skills. I did not enjoy making all those jelly beans. As a matter of fact, I found a whole jar of jelly beans that one of our granddaughters won at a picnic here at the farm last year. They had been put away so she would not eat them all at once. Humph. I ate some the other day and had a dreadfully upset stomach, so made sure the rest of the jar went out with the trash yesterday. I think they look more like tiny hamburgers. Or maybe yoyos.

CCCQ Block #33

There will be 7 more of those round thingies reverse appliqued after I finish that first one. Not as daunting as it might have been at first thought, but then, I did have my mind engaged in ethical issues while  my hands were busy stitching.

I can't believe that I am almost done blessings,
Chris

And More Work On CCCQ

 I completed another CCCQ block. That leaves only 3 more to go and they are all in process. On Sunday  I took time to lay all the blocks out on the design wall in order then stacked them up. And because I was avoiding doing some homework, I started squaring them up to a nice neat 12.5 inches. The center block is supposed to finish at 24 inches. I hope I got it correct.

 I love using the great big cutter, but need to be more careful next time.

Three year old Elly is learning to use the really, really, really sharp Dear  Jane scissors. She will be totally spoiled for cutting when she enters junior kindergarten in 2 years time. 

And Devan loved the new game of putting all the pins in the pumpkin pin cushion. We did not leave any pins behind but we did get caught eating cookies in the family room. Mommy found a few crumbs we missed. Oops.

There is an invitation to a new QAL. I impulsively signed up and bought the pattern at 12:17 this morning. I have more than enough left over fabric from both CCCQ and Ben Biggs so will not have to buy any if I decide to go with those colours and I even have background fabric. Now to decide which size I want to make it? 9,16 or 20 inch blocks? I like the idea of reproducing original antique quilts. But I also jumped on board with  hugs 'n kisses  for an EPP QAL

There was a noisy murder of crows hanging out in the back yard this morning. What a racket!
Fall will soon be here Blessings,
Chris

A Bit of Work on CCCQ

I finally had a whole evening babysitting just the 2 little girls at their own house the other night. The 7 year old is away at her aunt's for 2 weeks and Mommy and Daddy are getting back into a routine with hockey. The past month was topsy turvey for them with the move to a new house in a new city. The distance from the Farm is exactly the same but in the other direction. It was easier to have them come to the Farm as they are settling in..

Three and a half year old Elly tried out Gramma's sharp scissors for the first time. I was so proud of her. I did not have my camera along to document the journey. Too bad. I gave her a scrap of red fabric and, using both hands, she cut it into a thousand tiny pieces then picked up every one that fell onto the family room carpet. In the meantime, two year old Devan was content to take all the pins out of my applique square. I counted before to make sure I go them all back. She picked up all the ones that fell onto the carpet. Then she put away all her princess toys and informed me that the tiny cup belonged in the lego box. Now I know.

CCCQ # 31

 I got one more CCCQ block complete leaving only 4 more to go. Not sure why I chose cheddar for this block other than I could.

CCCQ # 12

This is the only wreath design in the quilt. It kind of scared me off for a while with the reverse applique inside those buds. So now I am getting practiced up for the jelly beans in the last block.

Babysitting at their house now includes the dog who is not supposed to be on the couch, but I'm not going to tell him that. He ended up laying at my feet for 3 hours as I sat up to the new kitchen counter on a stool to do some serious stitching and even wrote a few pages of notes for various projects that I have been neglecting. That's where the light was best. 

Summer's almost over and the cricketts are singing Blessings,
Chris

Life After House Guests

CCCQ # 31

The last of the house guests left early this morning when I took our daughter, son-in-law and the miracle grandson to the airport for an early morning flight back to New Brunswick. I  may not see them now until January when the newest grandbaby is due. But who knows, I may fly out to visit them later this fall. Maybe. I am planning a trip to Poland in December for my aunt's 90th birthday and  in November I am going to the Just Takes 2 quilt retreat in Shipshewana in  Indiana. And I will be leading another woman's small group Bible study for church this fall. Also, yesterday I set the date and am drawing up the plans for a new beginner's quilt group at the Farm twice a month staring in October.

I was looking at the 2015 goals list to see how I am doing so far. I have not been able to focus on school work and writing the two extra chapters for my book. That means the release date may not be before Christmas  now. We shall see. I have done very little applique lately since I had the little girl grandchildren here overnight often instead of babysitting at their house. So, since I will be babysitting at their house tomorrow, I think I can plan for at least 4 hours of me time to get going on the final CCCQ blocks.

I have a GORF retreat booked here in two weeks. I still have not completed mine. So much for the "real fast". I can work on it while the new girls are making theirs as I demonstrate how to do the raw edged applique.

Full of Optimism Blessings,
Chris

And The Winner is . . .

Our grandson and his mommy and daddy arrived late last night for a visit. We each have 2 weddings this week. We are both going to the same wedding tomorrow and to different ones next Saturday. I got the men to do the draw before breakfast this morning.

Elly Sienkiewicz's book Fancy Applique will be going to Sherry from adventures in northern health.

 

And we chose a second winner because we could. Threads From the 30's will be heading to Sharon in Australia chester criswell quilt.

Thank you everyone who posted a comment. And to those who read my blog and not comment. I really enjoy writing and posting. I sometimes wish I could do it every day but then I would not get much else done. So I will continue to post one or two times per week.

CCCQ # 31

 
In the meantime, I got the final two Criswell blocks prepped last week. I have been having camera and slow internet issues so was not able to upload the photos until now.

CCCQ #12

  I babysat the first time the other night in our son's new bungalow. Not only did I have the three girls, I had the dog to look after. Seven year old Ava stayed up with me until Mom and Dad came home so she could come home with me. It was great. No internet. No cable. No TV. No house phone. So we sat at the table and I stitched and she played with my light  and we chatted about lots of things.

Congratulatory Blessings,
Chris