End of September

The end of September is here and I have very little to show in the area of completed anything. 

I did work on a few Dear Daughter Blocks. 

This is one of the alternate blocks.

I still have to stitch the centers. Did not want to do that on the train.

One blue Bright Jane block for the RSC.

A good start on another. 

This is an alternate block using a stay-in foundation. 

I think I am going to like doing foundation piecing this way.

Two of my little girls were quite productive. 

Well, the 5 year old especially. 

 She had sewn several pairs of I Spy blocks together. 

Then she got creative. 

A cape for the elephant.

A cape for the turtle. 

She found several uses for the hearts I stitched up in May.

 A pollinator box she made at fair camp in July. 

She got a 3rd prize. 

Not bad for a 5 year old who uses glue 

at about the same speed her Gramma uses her credit card. 

More heart blocks.

More pairs of I Spy blocks.

Another cape. 

Our OMG goal was for the little girls to stitch up some of their blocks. 

 Since she only got as far as sewing 2 blocks together about 10 times, 

I entered these for her as a needlework item.

The 6 year old had gotten about 60 I Spy blocks sewn into pairs

then she sewed 6 pairs together. 

It is a good start. 

But she is a starter.  Like her Gramma. 

Actually,

this is what she prefers to be doing. 

And the second front tooth fell out the night before so

she could focus on her calf. 

Blessings, 

Gramma Chris

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September Reflections

The Fall Equinox is upon us and that means a few things.

• The calendar says Fall officially begins on Sat. 
• It always rains. 
• We could have our first frost of the season.
• Daytime temperatures are still high. 
• Nights are getting cooler. 
• Yesterday the kitchen air conditioner was on. 
• Today I wanted to turn on the furnace. 
• Turning on the furnace will dry out some of the moisture in this old house.
• The children have gone back to school.
• The new half time living here is 3 weeks in and so far things are working well. 
• The black walnut trees are the first to shed their leaves. 
• Actually, they are the last to open them in the spring. 
• The squirrels have planted many new trees around the house. 
• I saw a flock of about 60 Canada geese fly over. 
• They were noisy. 
• They are not Canadian geese. 
• They are Canada Geese.
• It is fall fair time. 
• That means we show cows. 
• I am retired so I do not show cows any more,. 
• Actually, I do not do any set up or take down or run errands any more. 
• Fact is, I am going away this weekend to a ladies retreat. 
• I baked a banana cake. 
• This has nothing to do with the season. I just finally had some brown bananas.
• Lots of bananas are eaten here these days. 
• And apples. 
• And yogurt. 
• The girls have entered some of their crafts and needlework.
• Elly had 12 seven inch blocks sewn together. 
• Devan had 2 blocks sewn together.
• I put socks on one day last week. 
• Now I don't know how to get rid of these dots. 
• I have been posting about ufos and enjoying the journey. 
• At this point, I have not pretended to try to complete any of them. 
• I just wanted a record of what is in the cupboard and why they are not yet complete. 

That's better.

I went to Upper Canada Village last weekend. It was a 6 hour drive so

I took the Via Rail train.

 Had a nap both ways and read a whole book.

Stitched on 2 Dear Daughter blocks.

And got a kink in my neck. Been going to waterfit at least 3 times a week now because I can. I will be seeing the little boys this weekend. I bet they have grown. Four year old Jonathan is now in school and learning to print his name. Two and a half year old David wanted snow so he emptied 3 cans of powder all over his room and carpet. Its been 3 whole weeks since I saw them and will be there for hugs and kisses tomorrow. And Sunday since I am babysitting then. 

I will be going to India for a ministry trip in just over 6 weeks from now and am collecting a few things to take along. I have saris and Punjabi dresses all over the living room. I need to get rid of a some of them. I have them in all sizes.

Blessings,
Chris

UFOs #11 Rose Medallion 2004

In winter 2003-2004 I took a bi-weekly Sacred Threads class with the infamous Rosemary Makhan where I learned how to draft my own blocks from a photo. She had a picture of an antique sampler quilt and we collaborated on drafting out each block to a 12 inch size. After the first class, I went home and redrafted the 4 blocks of the day into 9 inch blocks and very quickly completed my first Biblical Blocks Sampler. She also taught us the theory of drafting up the setting using graph paper. Who would have thought to use that? I had been drawing on the back of envelopes up until then. 

I was on a roll. I completed 2 large quilts that spring with the simple incentive of anyone whose quilts were completed and at her house by a certain date would be shipped off to the publisher of the newest book she was writing. I also started 6 more quilts that year and bought fabric for a couple of others.  

I had made several more blocks than I needed for the Sacred Threads class so decided to use some of the more complex ones and design my own quilt. Have you ever tried to bring 16 points together in the middle of a 12 inch block? It was suggested to use a hammer to flatten them.

I thought I would venture out and do some broderie perse sort of techniques with the rose applique blocks. I had good intentions but disastrous effects. And, trying to be daring in colour selection I bought this bold floral print but did not know how to work with it and I used a yellow for the background and fussy cut some shapes. I was working hard on my undergrad degree that year and started an internship at a pregnancy resource center where I did peer counseling with women in unplanned pregnancies as well as milking cows, etc. 
It ended up in yet another box.

Blessings,
Chris

UFOs #10 Woodland Creatures BOM 2002

This was one of 5 quilt starts in 2002. I completed one last year. Others I have written about before. 

It was at Jilly Bean's Pride Quilt Shop that I discovered BOMs - Block of the Month programs. You signed up for the year. If you paid all up front, they paid the shipping. The first few months blocks arrived on schedule, but then, all the rest came at once and I was overwhelmed with the task. That and we had just taken over the family farm and I was overwhelmed with the paperwork involved in running a small business. I was smack in the middle of my anger-depression para-menopause journey and taking a couple of classes for my undergrad degree. Did I mention I was milking cows every day? I was. And driving tractor. 

Also, this was the year I started giving up doing stuff like my very big vegetable garden then the 3 hours of grass cutting. Also, this was the year I started flying to the east coast to visit my daughter.

All the patterns which were sold separately, were included and all the fabrics needed to make each of the nine 18 inch blocks plus the borders. I cut lots of freezer paper templates and fun fabrics. I never actually got anything stitched down. I had taken a machine applique workshop and I see that I bought all that really nice expensive mono-filiment thread. I opened one large spool and it exploded and was useless.  

However, the background fabric was not included. I was adamant that this quilt had to be big enough to fit a queen bed, so needed more than the required amount. I was on the hunt for a suitable looks-like-dark-but-not-solid-black background. Enough background. I eventually found what I wanted and purchased enough. I hoped.  

Now I am thinking I might make 2 smaller ones for the little boy grandchildren. I might even put the snake in somewhere along with the spiders and bugs. After all, the original was made for the designer's son. I think I will do the applique by machine. Goodness knows, I have enough different coloured threads. If I machine quilt it as I go, I can be more creative with bugs and spider webs, etc. 
I wonder if there is enough of the exact background fabric? 

Blessings,
Chris

UFOs #9 Country Bride 2 2002

I continue to amaze myself with how many 
quilts I have actually started and why I did 

not complete them. 

I had made one of these Country Bride quilts for my daughter when she got married in 1997. After all, she was a country bride growing up on a dairy farm. I hand appliqued and hand quilted the thing and even did a scalloped border.  

I impulsively (no surprise) decided to make a quick one for a friend getting married that summer. I was going to machine applique and machine quilt in squares. My daughter was helping me, but she and her husband suddenly decided to move to the east coast where he got a job as a pastor. We got all the applique done and even removed all the freezer paper. But did not get past that.

I have to remember that at this time I was still purchasing the very cheap and not so good quality but really nice colours from Joann's fabrics. I had made a few quick quilts in earlier years that wore out way too soon. My Sweet Farmer said he saw how much time I was putting into the hand applique and hand quilting of our daughter's quilt and said I should be using the best quality fabrics that I could find. And now I do. But not with this one.


One of the things that I was having trouble figuring out was how to applique the stems on by machine. I had done the first one by hand. I suppose there is nothing stopping me from doing them by hand here now is there? I think I might use these blocks to practice some fancy dancy free motion quilting.

All the borders are cut, the extra appliques for the top are made, batting and backing cut and ready to go. But they ended up in a very large pizza box to keep them nice and flat. We gave the bride an envelope with cash. We do that a lot. 

Blessings,

Chris

UFOs #8 Stained Glass Windows 2002

When I started quilting I was happy to make a few quilts and decided that I needed to make at least 2 quilts for each bed in my house. Then in December 2001 discovered an amazing quilt shop in Oakville on my way home from the airport after taking one of my sisters to the airport after our father's funeral. This quilt was hanging from the ceiling. I had to make one! Not only this one, but nearly every one hanging from the 14 foot ceiling. I walked through that shop gawking at all the wondrous quilts and patterns. I had to wait until Sept to take a Biblical Blocks class so I signed up for machine quilting, machine applique and foundation piecing.  

I was in the middle of doing an undergrad program in counseling studies, the details of taking over the family farm and all the farm books were in process and I was in the middle of a nightmare menopause journey as well as mourning the death of my father all while milking cows every day. I am writing a book about that time in my life and I realize now, that writing up these blog posts about my quilting journey is allowing me to revisit those difficult years albeit through the happy journey of quilting. Quilting, or at least starting new quilts became my happy place of escape from the realities of real life.

I started signing up for classes and making whatever they were offering. I had more money now and bought patterns and gadgets. Many I do not remember how to use. I even bought EPP papers to eventually learn to do that.

We did one block in the all day workshop and I went home and made a whole bunch of units. The challenge then became to find suitable fabrics for the stained glass effect. It took buying dozens of fat quarters in random colours for my "stash". Most of these are still in the stash. I realized that the newly available batiks gave the best stained glass effect. I wonder how many windows I will eventually make to complete something? 


Blessings,
Chris 

UFOs #7 Bricks and Mortar Kit 1998

I only started 2 quilts in 1998. I did complete one. Not this one. I thought if I got the whole kit and pattern I stood a chance to get it done. And it was easy, 

until I tried to figure out how to do the applique flowers on the borders using freezer paper because that is what I knew how to do. But this is flannelette. 

I think I would do raw edged applique with no fusing or paper. 

Blessings,
Chris