Green Bright Jane Blocks for May

In spite of all my great intentions,

I got only 4 green Bright Jane blocks made this month.

 But it is only Sunday

so I still have three days to make more.

Maybe

 

But I also had hoped to get at least this one completed for Serendipity.

 Oh well

there is always next month.

 

But wait!

I am going to Africa in 66 days

so lots of training and babysitting grand children

and family vacationing here.

 

Blessings,

Chris 

OMG May Completion

Antique Wedding Sampler by Di Ford in process.

I appliqued the big leaves 2 years ago when I started collecting

 the BOM from Homestead Hearth.

This will be a very expensive project.

However,

 



 

I realize that the bits of fabric included in each month's kits

has enough of most of them to make a second quilt.

If  had cut the big leaves differently,

I would have had enough for 2.

Do I want to make 2?

 



 

Block 5 is complete.

It will be set on point eventually. 

 



 

There are only 24 more blocks to make. 

Blessings,
Chris

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Going on a Lion Hunt

Did I mention that I am home for a bit? I lied. I have been away for a few days, went away last weekend and then again next week end and again the following weekend for team training.
Team training you ask? Yes. Team training. What for?

Well, I am going to Africa this summer. Yup. Africa . . . Rwanda specifically.
I have already decided which BTCT block I will be prepping to take along. It's no secret that I have been on many short term mission trips and specifically to India where I love to go to encourage women. I was invited to join this team going from two different churches. There will be ten of us. I will not be the oldest on the team.

Did you know that there are 100 babies born each day in this part of Rwanda? It is a small land locked country in central East Africa. There was a dreadful genocide that happened there in 1994, the same year my daughter turned 16 on  a summer mission trip to Ghana. That was also in Africa.

The purpose of this trip will be to build relationships. We will be modelling how to do a Vacation Bible School program. This should be interesting. I get terrified by other peoples little kids. Not my own. I love spending time with my little girl and little boy grandchildren. After all, I have known each of them since they were still wet at birth.

In a small country where nearly a million people killed each other, many children were left without parents to raise them and give them an example of how to do things. These children have grown up and are having children of their own. My specific role will be to model the unique perspective of a loving grandparent.

We will be going on a one day safari to one of the wildlife preserves. I plan to stay in the vehicle for that day. Well, so will everyone else. Those are the rules. I have been doing research about Rwanda and Africa in general. I love how I can see over the edge of Victoria Falls (well maybe not love) from Google Earth on my big screen desktop  computer. But that is not in Rwanda. Nor is the source of the Nile River. And Lake Victoria is almost twice the size of Rwanda. Really.

The count down is on. We leave in 70 days.

Blessings,
Chris

Serendipity: Another 17 ufos in 2017

Now that I am home for bit, I am trying to get to the local pool to do some waterfit exercises.  I can do all the jumping, jogging and giggling I want with salt water up to my armpits. I usually choose a spot near the wall closest to the exit. I leave a bit early to get under one of the showers before the crowd exits. There are 3 showers and usually about 40 women. What can I say . . . I don't like crowds and with my back, I have trouble standing in line waiting my turn.  And 30 minutes usually leaves me feeling like jelly.

Anyway, as I started to say, I stand near the wall closest to the instructor, the crowd behind me, I have a perfect view of the tiling surrounding the pool. It is 2 shades of brown and cream coloured, one inch tiles set totally random. It gives me ideas. The tiles in the shower are mostly white with 2 shades of medium green, 2 shades of medium blues and 2 shades of medium purples. The colours are rather sparse at the top, near the ceiling but have a few more as they go towards the floor. In the passage leading to the change room, the tiles are totally random in blues and greens and purples and cream. Did I say totally random? Each time I am doing my jogging or jumping jacks, I stare at the wall. It is really inspiring. I have thought about taking this idea to use as a border for my Serendipity Quilt.

It is the justtakes2 quilt that I discovered Dec 30, 2011, just 2 days before the first on line QAL I ever joined. I haven't completed it yet. I was using it as a reward each week as I completed assignments for the masters degree I was working on at the time.

 I graduated that spring and got stuck on a couple of tough blocks.

 I have ideas like using one of my GO dies that cuts 1 1/2 inch strips  to cut many coloured and white strips and sew them together randomly for the borders. I figure I would need at least 3-4000, maybe more, maybe a lot less.

I am making each of the 100 blocks in different Jinny Beyer pallet colours.

I will keep going to waterfit and I will probably keep thinking about borders that have totally random one inch squares.

Blessings,
Chris

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 midweek-makers.

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Antique Wedding Sampler

Last month I was following a rabbit trail on quaker quilt history 

from  the barbara brackman blog 

about an antique quilt towards the end of the post. 

 Di Ford Hall from Australia reproduced many of the blocks from this quilt in her

Antique Wedding Sampler. Now this quilt fascinates me.

I fell in love with it when I saw blocks showing up on various blogs.

So it was no surprise that I impulsively jumped in 

and ordered the blocks of the month

from Homestead Hearth when they were available 2 years ago.

This will definitely be the most expensive quilt I will ever make.

 I paid almost as much in shipping as for each of the block kits and the exchange on the dollar.

Each block will cost me about $17 Canadian.

That's each 12 inch block.

Carole from wheels on the warrandyte bus  has made two of them.

She showed me her blocks in progress when I met her in Australia two years ago.

 I was just starting my first block.

Then I started a couple more. I chose some easy needle turn applique.

Why do I have problems finishing them???

I have all 25 kits in colours someone else chose.

The colours are wonderful.

Many I would not have thought to include.

 And none of them are in my fabric cupboard.



There is much applique on these blocks but there is also going to be much hand piecing

 and hand piecing and I are not good friends right now.

What is hindering me besides swollen arthritic hands that struggle with hand piecing?

Possibly if I stopped eating so much sugar that would  help. 

 No. It would definitely help.

This quilt is on my  17-ufos-in-2017 list.

Why did I put it so far down on the list?

Nothing stopping me from putting it at the top which would now about be #7. 

It could be my  OMG for May .

Completing one block not the whole thing.

Now I need to be

pulling out the box and sorting through the 25 neatly packaged kits.

 Wait, several are already started. So Choosing one to complete.

 Or choosing one to start. Or not.
So yes. It will be my one monthly goal for May.
To pull it out, pat the fabrics and complete one of the already started blocks. 

Blessings,
Chris

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midweek-makers.

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wips-be-gone-.

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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