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 

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July 2024 Chookshed Challenge

 The number chosen for the Chookshed Challenge this month is #1 and that is the Macaron Mystery QAL.  I started this exactly 3 years ago to celebrate completing the Cherries Quilt. I found all the pieces. Some by accident when I was looking for a deck of cards yesterday. I did write on the challenge list to complete, quilt and bind this one. Considering my recent track record of stitching about twice each month for awhile, it will be interesting to see how far I get. 

To-Do-Tuesday list for this week:

1. Look through and organize all the pieces for Macaron Mystery.
2. Make a plan to progress. 
3. Progress.
4. Take pictures.
5. Post progress. 
6. Write something. 

That should be enough accountability for this week. The house has been full of family (8 last week, 24 yesterday, 9 today, 12 Thurs, one's flight got moved to Thurs, another 3 arrive on Friday, 5 leave next Mon, another leaves Tues, another returns and a mass exodus on Fri, leaving 3 if I did the math correctly). So, basically, family time at the farm and I am loving it. I do not have to feed them nor do I have to babysit any of them. 

We had a heat wave 2 weeks ago. It is not common for us to have 34C/93F temperatures here for more than a few days in the summer. And that is just what we had for about 3 days. It is fun to discover that the new SonRoom weathered this heat quite well. I turned off the floor heat and with the ceiling fans on medium, the temperature did not get over 75F in here. Had to remember to keep all the windows closed.  

My July OMG goal will be to have a completed top. Not sure which one it will be. I may surprise myself. 

Blessings,

Chris

No New Quilt Starts (Maybe)

 I am seriously considering no new quilt starts for 2022. I managed to go 2 whole years between starts back in 2018-2020. I was determined to complete the Cherries Quilt. In that time I also completed the 1857 Album and the Dear Daugther Sampler. 

Well, that is not entirely true. I started Dear Daughter in March of 2018. Then nothing new until Ella Maria Deacon in April 2020. So I actually went only a whole year without starting something. 

But what if Gay at Sentimental Stitches comes out with the reproduction of a certain applique quilt she showed us at one of the Shipshewana Retreats? I will have to decide. She has revealed 2 new quilt-a-longs so far in 2022.

potluck-block-of-the-week

This one has many blocks that I have already made in other samplers. But it is in 30s fabrics and I have so many. But then, I still have The 3030 Sampler on the go.  

little-blocks-365

She is offering a repeat of The Little Blocks 365. I did not start that one. I am already making some of those patterns in 4.5 inches to complete the Bright Jane quilt that has been languishing in a project box for years. I started that one in Sept 2014. That will be on my ufo completion list for the coming year. 

 uptown-applique-block-of-the-month

This one is truly unique. 

I don't have to decide today now do I?  

AND, bless her heart, Gay is considering extending the retreat for 2 more days !!!!! So, a whole WEEK of retreat quilting. I'd better get planning.

Blessings,

Chris

August 2021 OMG Goal

 You've heard the expression "Go big or Go home"? I made a preliminary list of 10 things to consider for my Aug OMG goal. I had not yet decided which of the options to choose. I then figured I would probably try to do all of them. Not necessarily for the OMG goal, but just to do all of them. There is something about writing them all down to give a reality check. Planning 10 goals for the month is daunting. But if those same goals are broken down into 2-3 goals per week like for the To-Do Tuesday, then it might be doable. Hmm . . . food for thought. 

1. 50th Anniversary Quilt aka Ella - This came to a screeching halt when we made the decision back in  April to postpone our 50th-anniversary celebration until next year.  Actually, it came to a halt when I set aside everything to finish the doctorate. But I completed that 2 months ago! The anniversary is on Aug 7 and we will have a small family get-together. My Slow Sunday Stitching project could be to continue hand appliqueing on one of the Ella blocks. But which one? There are 12 more to go. 

2. Macaron Mystery QAL - Clue #2 will be posted on Thurs. 

3. Summer 2021 QAL - We are on Clue # 8 and I have been working on that this week. 

4. Poppy's Polka Dot Garden - In order to continue on this new start from last month, I want to either choose a new background or chose a new colour palette or both and start again. 

5. Bright Jane - Depending on the RSC color for August, I could resume making the remaining blocks. I had moved away from doing the original blocks a long time ago and have been making other simple two-coloured blocks to add to the ones already made. As it turns out, the colour is aqua and I have all that colour done. 

6. 3030 Quilt - This was a BOM from last year and I got about halfway before starting the Ella BOM. The plan is to take inventory of what is made and what still needs to be made including the incredible center medallion applique and make a plan to continue. 

7. Ben Biggs - The bin has been retrieved from the back hall where it was tucked away with 22 other bins of projects and fabrics 3 years ago when our son and his girls moved in. These were not accessible so got forgotten. The plan is to resume the prep work on the remaining blocks for machine applique and put them up on the design wall.

8. Jazz II - I bought a new sewing machine back in March and have yet to set it up and start playing with it. I ordered $400 of additional presser feet that did not come with it. No wonder the machine was so inexpensive even on sale. It has 12 inches of throat space and I plan to do machine quilting on it. Eventually. The intent is to set it up and practice machine quilting on something. 

9. Little girls cross-stitch - The girls are learning to cross-stitch. They both picked it up quickly and are stitching words onto bookmarks. 

10. BTCT - clean it up and layer ready for big stitch hand quilting. I have been doing some research (aka reading blogs endlessly) and found this series of posts by Wendy from The Peacock Party on hand quilting. 

I have been settling into my new quilt room. Okay. I have been taking up more and more quilting stuff. The room is looking quite cluttered now. Just the way I tend to make all my rooms. I want to get rid of a lot of my fabric but first want to revisit a few projects and make sure I have everything needed to complete them. In order to do this, I have to pull them out, one by one, and make sure. I do not have bins of neatly organized scraps. What I do have, is many well-organized project boxes containing everything needed to make and complete each quilt. The problem is, I am not completing them. And I did start 3 new ones in July. 

My Aug OMG will be to complete # 3 the Summer QAL Mystery to a flimsy. The Linky Party is Aug 24. I should be able to have a flimsy for then.

Until then blessings, 

Chris

Linking with:

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2020 Quilt Starts and Finishes

Frederique at Patchwork and Quilts is hosting a weekly linky party and has asked for finished and started quilts for 2020. Well, let me tell you. I finished nothing.  Well, I did finish my breakfast. 

 

No that is not entirely true. 

I did finish the Beyond the Cherry Trees Quilt top. 

It is not yet prepared for quilting. The plan is still to hand quilt it. Maybe next year. You can find the pattern here at  sentimentalstitches.

I only started 2 projects this year.  Gay at Sentimental Stitches offered a mystery block of the week back in June called 3030 Quilt. Thirty blocks in 30 weeks. We are at week 27. This is all I have made so far. There is an incredible appliqued center medallion that I will get to someday. And the final layout is still a mystery.

The other quilt I started was released monthly also by Sentimental Stitches starting back in Sept 2019. This is the Ella Maria Deacon Quilt 

Ella was originally made in 1841-42.

I have 8 blocks done and 7 more applique blocks prepped. 

I collected most of the blocks each month, paying half price for them. I started it in April. The plan is to make 50 of the 85 blocks. It is my 50th Anniversary Quilt project. 

I have plans to start the QAL 2021 The Curves! on Jan 1, 2021. I will post more about that in January since we are not allowed to actually begin making it until then. 

Blessings,

Chris

You can check out some of the other blogs here link-party-patchwork-quilts. 

BTCT Flimsy

My April goal for  Patty's one-monthly-goal was to complete the Beyond the Cherry Trees top and I did way ahead of schedule. I will not begin hand quilting it until later sometime. 

Squaring corners

Marking rounded corner

Rounded Corner

Pinning Stems

Pinning More Stems

Stitching Last Stem

Stitching Last Cherry

Last Stitch

Beyond the Cherry Trees Flimsy 100 X 100 

Whatever will I do for an encore?

Blessings,
Chris
linking with: easter-slow-sunday-stitching.  quiltingismorefunthanhousework. design-wall-monday.
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Quilt-In @ Farm

This Sat April 4 I am hosting a Quilt-In here at the Farm. I have invited all the friends on my Quilting @ Farm facebook group to join me in staying at home and quilting. We will be connecting on facebook chat live and doing our own thing in our own quilt rooms.

Once I gave myself permission to start making blocks for the Ella Maria Deacon Quilt, I was hesitant to actually get started. Maybe it was the adrenaline rush of the anticipation of wanting to start it that kept me wanting to start it. Maybe it's the wanting to complete my doctorate that has slowed me down. I have submitted 2 courses so far this year and 3 others on the go.

I have foundation patterns printed off and background fabrics chosen. After looking long and hard at the wonderful tone on tone cream fabric I was considering for the background, I think I might now use a variety of creamy prints and solids. I had to reprint the foundation patterns because I had printed them off at fit instead of actual. It is the difference between making the block the right size and being too small

This week I pre-washed some fabrics. I just like how they feel for hand applique. I had not intended to use turkey red or poison green or chrome yellow. There are a lot of those colours in the original. Instead, I plan to use softer reproduction colours. That stripe on top is for the sashing strips. I will use the lighter stripe and not the darker brown. I might add cornerstones.

Then I prepped several blocks so I could back baste the fabrics on ready to hand applique later.
This will be my project for Sat so I can sit at the computer desk all day and still be productive.

I told my friends to remember to comb their hair and that we can see everything behind them when on camera. PJs are totally appropriate. Well, appropriate ones are. We begin promptly at 9 am, assuming I get out of bed by then and comb my hair.

Blessings,
Chris

Linking with: needleandthreadnetwork.  off-wall-friday  frombolttobeauty. wendysquiltsandmore.

April 2020 OMG Goal

is to turn all this into a flimsy.

Now to reconcile all the corners. 
Each one will be unique.

Bottom Right Corner

Top Right Corner

Top Left Corner

Bottom Left Corner

Blessings,

Chris

Linking with: OMG,  wednesday-wait-loss, myquiltinfatuation. midweek-makers.
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March 2020 OMG Completion

My March goal for OMG was to complete the applique birds on these BTCT blocks. I know. It was such a simple goal but I have discovered that the hand applique that I have loved so much over the years is now hurting my fingers too much so I have been doing machine work instead.

Blessings,
Chris 

Linking with: elmstreetquilts.

Guess What I Am Doing?

Until next time,
Chris

linking up with: slow-sunday-stitching.

March 2020 OMG Goal

My March one-monthly-goal will be to hand applique those 4 little birds onto these 
Beyond the Chery Trees blocks. 
So close to the finish!

And why is my goal so tiny??
Because I have been writing!!
I submitted a course this week that I started back in 2014. 

I am halfway through another course I started in 2015. I took the textbook to Australia with me. 

I was given the syllabi for 2 more. Finally! I will be done with ethics and skills and get to move into mental health. As I was perusing one of the books, I remembered that I might be a tad bit ADHD and that explains a lot of things. You can read about my confessions here.
Blessings,
Chris

linking to: slow-sunday-stitching. quiltingismorefunthanhousework.

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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Decisions Decisions

Since completing the rest of the Beyond the Cherry Trees borders, I have been trying to decide what my Feb OMG will be. Will I assemble all 25 blocks and add the borders for a flimsy?
I can't do that yet. After it is assembled, I still have to finish the corners with a few more cherries and leaves. But before I can do any of that, I want to add a few more birds. At least 4. Oh, and I wanted to write where I was when I was stitching on the blocks. Five continents, three provinces, and countless states.

And, I also want to add the date and maybe my initials. I told 6-year od Devan that I wanted to put the date 2020 on to the red bowl with the fruit in it. She suggested the big green bowl.

 When I asked why she said the red bowl block already has a lot in it and the green bowl did not. She had added extra grapes on it a couple of years ago.


Then there is the case of hand quilting. Do I want to assemble the completed thing and hand quilt it that way? It turns out that way back on Christmas Day I trimmed all 25 blocks to 16 1/2 inches ready to assemble them. Then I realized that the finished blocks are supposed to be 16 1/2 inches making the center 3 inches shorter. The borders would have to be shortened to fit. I left on extra bias vine to blend the corners and did not stitch quite to the end of the pattern. Speaking of pattern, I dropped all the pattern pieces into the recycle bin back in December when I put the final cherries in place. Oops. I will have to figure out the corners from a picture of the original. I like doing that sort of thing. Then it was suggested that I hand quilt each block individually and assemble them later. I have researched the Potholder Method.

I think it is fun now to post a few pictures with borders showing. You will have to wait until later to see what I end up doing. In the meantime, I submitted another course and have writing to do. My goal of 2000 words today is a tad short with 2000 still to go.

Blessings,
Chris
frombolttobeauty. off-wall-friday.

January 2020 OMG Completion

My Jan one-monthly-goal was to complete the final 2 borders for

 Beyond the Cherry Trees. 

And I did. 

The next step is to stitch on a couple more birds. 

I will add the little red bird onto 

David's oops block. 

The red mark on the lower-left corner got trimmed off.

I will be stitching that tomorrow for slow-sunday-stitching.

So excited!

Blessings, 

Chris 

January 2020 OMG Goal

January's one-monthly-goal  will be to complete the last 2 borders for Beyond the Cherry Trees.

Blessings,
Chris
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December 2019 OMG Completion

My December one-monthly-goal was to complete the appliqued cherries and embroidered stems on one more border. 
There are now 2 completed borders and only 2 more to go. 
Those will be my January goal.

Blessings,
Chris
linking with: quiltingismorefunthanhousework. wendysquiltsandmore. off-wall-friday.  frombolttobeauty.blogspot.  tgiff. confessionsofafabricaddict. 
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December 2019 OMG Goal

My December one-monthly-goal will be to complete one more border with the appliqued cherries and the embroidered stems. I realized that the 4 borders are the equivalence of 10 blocks. Maybe that is why it has been taking me longer than I had anticipated.

Who knows, maybe I could get all 3 done. 
Blessings, 
Chris


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November 2019 OMG Completion

I did meet my November one-monthly goal of embroidering the stems onto one BTCT border. It took about 2 hours while visiting my daughter one day as I sat at the dining room table in the warmth of the sun as it lit up my workspace and reflected off the newly fallen snow on the deck outside. 

I had forgotten how much I enjoy hand embroidery. Now to do this 3 more times. 
Blessings,
Chris
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November 2019 OMG Goal

November's one-monthly-goal. will be to complete the embroidery on one of the borders for BTCT. It will be a nice change from stitching circles.

Bottom border. I left extra fabric and bias stem to join to the sides. I will add a few more leaves after the corners are all connected. 

I took one border to England with me a few weeks ago and happily stitched away in my sister's conservatory - a lovely sunroom. I enjoyed watching the weather change from fog to rain to sun to rain to sun then more rain. I have dreamed of having one on the back of my old farmhouse for years and years. Maybe one day. But in the meantime, it is November and the leaves are falling off the trees and the rest of the airconditioning units must come out of the windows. This year we had 5 going. No wonder our hydro bill was up from last year.

The oil got changed in my car and the snow tires will go on soon. I actually bought new socks and wore them the other day. Last week I had the little boys here for 4 whole days. They had a 4 day weekend from school so to the farm they wanted to come. Grampa had 2 large dump trucks of dirt deposited in the yard so the boys each had their own mountain to climb and excavate. One was a volcano I was told. And they asked to put blocks on the design wall. How could I say no?

Dear Jane 2 and Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks. I did get the brown and beigey squares cut out with the GO cutter.

November is also NaNoWriMo month. National Novel Writing Month. I anticipate completing my first draft this month. I have so far resisted starting on the Ella Maria Deacon Quilt, even though I read about it, write about it, dream about it, talk about it and drool over the picture of it. I have a project box filled with Jane Austin reproduction fabrics and 10 yards of a yummy tone on tone creamy fabric I found in the cupboard. I brought home some fabric from England that will be perfect for a bit of Broderie Perse applique. I really like doing that. But I will control myself and wait until January. It might be 12:01 am, but it will be next year.

The cleaning lady is here doing her magic on the dirt that accumulated since her last visit. On her last visit, we had a new toilet installed. How nice to be able to flush with only one flick of the wrist.

I will be back at the end of the month to share how much embroidery gets done.
Blessings,
Chris

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Learning to Knit

Almost 12-year-old Ava won 3 door prizes at the Sunday Slow Stitching Retreat a few week. Two of the prizes included yarn as well as her goodie bag. I found a pair of knitting needles among the stuff when I was looking for the red thread to continue needle turn appliqueing red circles on Beyond The Cherry Trees borders. It was in a box of scraps from my Rainbow Scrap Challenge project. Now how did it get in there? But I digress.

The other night I told Ava I was going to teach her to knit. The first thing was to roll a ball of purple yarn. She whined and complained but did it. It is more like a pear or pomegranate than a ball but she did it. Next, I showed her how to cast on. I was her age when I learned to do that with 2 needles. I had to remember how since I have not knitted anything in some 20 years, and that when I was teaching 10 year olds how to knit.

She shrieked, "I don't know how to do that!!" Well of course not. That is what I was going to teach her to do. After a few tries, she got it. Then she was eager to learn to do the first stitches. I told her it was bedtime and she would have to wait until Friday for her next lesson. "Can I take it to school to work on?"

"No. But, if you want to practice, you can do that with a pencil and some string." So she got some string and a pencil. I think we have a convert.

I won one door prize and 6 year old Devan claimed it as well as what was left in my goodie bag that I had not traded with Ava. There was a pretty purple and green charm pack. I have ideas. But I had a plane to catch on Sat and was out of the country visiting a sister. I took one BTCT border to stitch on cherries. There will be at least 167 by the time I finish all 4 borders so only about 110 to go.

When all is said and done, I said more than I did. I did not complete my OMG for October. I did get one border filled with appliqued cherries but not the second one. That will have to be next month's goal. But for now, I need to keep writing.

Blessings,
Chrislinking up with: needleandthreadnetwork