My Design Wall

Today I am going to share my design wall with you.

I am lucky enough to have space for a design wall that is 8' wide and goes from floor to ceiling.

When we installed it, my husband wondered at it's size. Now he admits that I've made great use of it!

Here is the view today...

Too many sewalongs....I know, I know!!!!

There is the latest block in the Harry Potter QAL, Hagrid, hosted by Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts...

Here are all the blocks, so far...

I wasn't sure of my fabric choices for Dumbledore, but I've grown to love him...even though he looks like he has a booger hanging out of his nose...

There is the Hand-pieced SAL....still keeping up...

In the above picture, you can also see three blocks for the Dear Jane sewalong that begins this month. I have to admit, I'm still nervous about this one....but the blocks are so sweet!


There is also the 52blocks52 weeks, that the Canadian Quilters' Association is hosting this year...

There is a block (the orange and green diamond block) that won't make the cut. I used a vintage fabric that I like and it turns out being too dull for the cheery 30's reproduction prints in the other blocks. 

I considered letting this project go....but it's only one 6" block per week so I'll keep at it.

Here is the area where some of my I Am Enough quilt is hanging out...

My One Monthly Goal for February had been to get three more components completed for the I Am Enough. That did not happen....I just got the Around the World section done.

My goal for March....I think it will be to get two more sections done for I Am Enough. Wish me luck!....I'm going to need it!

In the above picture, you can also see my February row of my Temperature Quilt entwined amongst the other "stuff". I'm not sure if I can get much sewing done today, but I will finish off the February part of the Temperature Quilt. I don't work on it daily, I find it easy enough to do it every five days or so since the blocks are simple. 

I think that about sums up all I want to say about the state of my design wall today...even though I've left a few items out. 

I am linking up with Elm Street Quilts for One Monthly Goal, and also with Elm Street Quilts for the Hand Pieced QAL.

Have a great weekend!

One Monthly Goal - February

Finally....it's Friday....but not only that....it should be the last day of extreme cold. For a little while anyway! 

I think it's true what they say, we Canadians do like to talk about the weather. But who can help it when it's been so very cold?

I'll have to work on my Temperature quilt on the weekend....I'm sure I'll be using some of the dark purple fabrics for this last couple of days. I'm also looking forward to beginning the second row of the quilt as it is the 1st of February today.

At the top of this picture is the Temperature quilt so far...

Most of what else you see in the picture is the progress on my I Am Enough quilt. I don't want this to end up in the UFO pile, so this project will be my One Monthly Goal for February. I'm not exactly sure how many steps were left to do for this quilt, but my goal will be to complete three steps....what they are, who knows....that has yet to be determined :)

Because it is link-up day for the Hand-Pieced QAL, I am posting pictures of my first two blocks...

I notice on Social Media that other people have been able to "twirl" their seams on the second block. I have not been so lucky....but after I post this I am going to re-address this situation...

....if other people can manage to do it, then darn it all, so can I!!

That's all for today....I have a few things I must do this morning, then I'll be taking it easy for the rest of the day with a new book to read or some English Paper Piecing. I hardly had any sleep last night so I know it will be an extremely unproductive day :(


Today I am linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?,  Elm Street Quilts for One Monthly Goal, and with Busy Hands Quilts for Finished or Not Fridays . Also, for the Hand-pieced QAL I am linking up with Elm Street Quilts and Simple.Handmade.EveryDay.

Stay warm people!

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

We finally have a bit of winter this weekend.

Yesterday was blustery and by the look of it outside, I plan on staying in again today!

I plan on having a bit of sewing time today and will work on a couple of things.

Here is the design wall this morning....

Along the top of the picture is the beginnings of my temperature quilt....I can tell already that I am going to love this quilt! I'm sure that today's block will include a dark purple for this extremely cold day.

The bottom block with the yellow in it is my first block for the #52blocks52weeks that CQA is hosting. My blocks will be made of 30's fabrics.

Just peeking into the bottom left corner of the pic is a bit of my I Am Enough quilt....which I thought would be the main focus of my sewing session today.....but, nope, I will be determined to do a couple of blocks of my One Monthly Goal, which is my Farm Girl Vintage blocks....three of which are done (in the middle of the picture).

So many choices, so little time!

The design wall got a major tidying up the other day as we needed to move it to the living room for a photo shoot. 

I needed to get a full-on shot of a quilt and finally had the brilliant idea of using the design wall. This meant taking everything down off the design wall and moving it to the living room....which meant moving all the furniture....which meant a chance at getting at all the dust bunnies that have been lurking under the couches....this was quite the process! 

We managed to get a nice shot...

If the quilt had been a couple of inches bigger I don't know what we would have done!

My slow stitching this morning consisted of some English Paper Piecing. This project is one I intend on working on when I need something for "on the go".....but I don't have anything else prepped at the moment so it got some attention today. This is for my Tula Nova quilt.

I think this quilt will probably progress quickly, for some reason. I haven't done EPP for a while and I do enjoy it. I'm thinking there should always be an ongoing EPP project!

I am linking up with Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching, and with Anina at Twiddletails for updates on Temperature Quilts.

My husband just commented on how it looks cold outside. Can it "look" cold????.....yes, I think it can.

A good day to stay indoors and get some sewing and reading done!

Here I go again......

Why, oh why, is it so hard to resist a sewalong????

Actually, I had been mulling over the idea for a couple of weeks of trying to work on a temperature quilt for 2019...so not a new idea here. 

....but, imagine my delight when I stumbled across a new-to-me blogger who is actually starting a "Temperature Quilt Along"!

This makes the idea even more fun!!!

You can meet Anina and read about the sewalong HERE at her blog, entitled Twiddletails.

I hope some of you will join in.

If so, you need to figure out which block you will use. Then you will allot a range of fabrics representing different temperatures through the year.

There are many examples of temperature quilts on Pinterest.

You can do just a square, or hexie, etc., to represent the high temperature of each day of the year. Something else to consider is choosing a 2-colour block.....the two colours will represent the high and low temperatures of each day. 

I think one of the reasons this appeals to me is that it reminds me a bit of my "A Day In My Life" quilt, for which I did a block per day for a year, each block representing the mood of the day. You can see that quilt HERE, which just happens to be a year ago.


This is the block I have chosen, half of the blocks will look like this and half will have the opposite corner snowballed....

These measure at 2.5"x 5.5". The large fabric will represent the high forecast of the day, the snowball will be the low. 

I will save the bonus HST to maybe use in the border.

...and here is my layout.....

Each horizontal row will represent one month. For the months that don't have 31 days, I will fill-in with blocks made with a neutral tone, most likely greys.

Starting this project makes it easier to turn away from a couple of others in the new year that have been tempting me. I really will try to keep new "starts" to a minimum. (bwahahaha!) No, I mean it this time!

My fabrics for this quilt will be based on this jellyroll...

... using a jellyroll was a wonderful suggestion by Karen at Quilt Junction. (thanks, Karen!) I will try to add some variety from my stash.

Here is a colour chart that I scooped off of Pinterest, showing the fabric colours that will represent the different degrees of temperature...I was happy to find one in Celcius!...

I'll have to add a few more colours for the Summer, as we've had many days over 25degrees the past few years!


In my last post, I showed my progress on my I Am Enough quilt. Since then I have finished my clamshell border and I just love it!!!

If anyone wants to "borrow" my idea of using different coloured clams, go for it!

Have a wonderful Autumn day!....lol, I was reminded this morning on the News that Winter starts next Friday, which kind of startled me as it's felt like Winter for a little while already!

I am linking up with Sarah for Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop!.

# I am enough

Good morning, slow stitchers!

It looks like a bleak morning out my window this morning. 

I did start to feel a bit of Christmas as we walked through a mall on Saturday. I even saw Santa dining at Swiss Chalet as we enjoyed our yearly quarter-chicken dinner!

I've enjoyed working on my #IAmEnough quilt this week.

I chose to use the back-basting method of applique for my monogram block (seeing a quilty-friend, KH, this past week gave me the idea, as she is using this method in her current applique project!). 

I thoroughly endorse the use of a small pair of scissors with a curved tip for snipping the fabrics without fear of snipping the wrong fabric! Also perfect for cutting out the background fabric behind a piece of applique. These are the Karen Kay Buckley ones that I have...

I chose to use the "McD" for the monogram to honour my second marriage, even though I kept my surname when we got married.

I like this idea, as I used my wedding gloves from my first marriage in a previous block...

I also began this week's section of #IAmEnough. This is what I've been stitching this weekend, the clamshell border...

It's working up fairly quickly, and I'm loving it!...

Now, as I'm finishing up here, the sun has decided to show itself and it looks like we'll have a beautiful day, after-all.

I am linking up with Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching.

# I Am Enough

Such a pleasant morning of slow stitching to start my day. 

I got started on this embroidery block for the I Am Enough quilt...

I pressed a piece of soft interfacing onto the back of the block. This makes it nice to embroider without the use of a hoop. 

I'm using a Wonderfil thread for the embroidery called Eleganza. It is a 8wt perle cotton. I found the spool in my stash of specialty threads....I don't know what I ever bought it for, but it's working out nicely on this piece...

I still need to figure out the monogram block for this quilt. I could applique the letters....but now I'm wondering if doing this same embroidery would be nice.

I'm liking that for the hand block I thought to use my wedding gloves from my first wedding....

.....and now, for the monogram block, I will use the letters "McD" to honour my second marriage. 

This quilt is certainly evolving into quite the meaningful journey. I think it was meant to be that way by the coordinators, but it's just starting to sink in with me!

On the original block, the colour wheel, I wasn't sure about whether or not to applique something onto the centre. Then I got inspiration from another quilter's colour wheel and added a cherry to mine....cherry trees have a very sentimental place in my family's hearts.

While I was stitching this morning, I decided to begin listening to a podcast that I've heard about recently. I'm pretty sure it was someone mentioning it at some point thru' Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching....I can't remember who, sorry!

The podcast is called the QuiltFiction Podcast and is the recitation of a novel called Friendship Album 1933.

I'm enjoying it....but have to remind myself to listen closely and not start daydreaming, so I don't lose track of the story.

I think my goal today will be to figure out once and for all what I am doing about the monogram block for my quilt.

 I am linking up with Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching. 

I will close with issuing a challenge! Bloggers love to read comments on their blogs. I challenge you to read and leave a comment on five of the bloggers linking up with Kathy today!

I will challenge myself to do the same on ten of the linked blogs!

Have a lovely day!

An Observation...

I've made a couple of changes recently to the way my day unfolds.

An unexpected bonus is that I seem to have made a bit more time for piecing, which is nice because that has been sorely lacking for a couple of years.

I've made good progress on my One Monthly Goal for this month...which, to be honest, I thought I wouldn't find a bit of time for! 

For a few years I've needed a new Christmas tree skirt. I began nice and early this year at Retreat in May...but made an error, shoved it aside and promptly forgot about it.

Well, this week things are looking hopeful to actually finishing it in time for Christmas!

I love doing Lone Star quilts and haven't made one in a while. My last tree skirt was the same pattern. For a moment yesterday I thought it would be nice to hand-quilt this piece, but then I gave my head a shake....this will be on the floor, under a pile of Christmas presents....machine-quilting will suffice!



I've had time to do the odd bit of sewing on my "I Am Enough" quilt.

I put some of the pieces up on the design wall. The beauty of a large design wall....I didn't have to disturb the Farm Girl Vintage blocks that were already up...

This is when I made my observation.

 I've often said I've gone through the "fabric change of life", since the bulk of my work over the years has been "country" colours (think Debbie Mumm). Now, I gravitate to the bright, cheery modern fabrics. 

Part of me is sure that this happens, of course, because we are influenced by what is going on in the fabric world at any given time.

Over the years I've also often worked with 30's reproduction prints....and that's what I notice in the above picture. To me, the bright, cheerful, clear, modern fabrics of the I Am Enough project are very much the same mood as the 30's fabrics in the Farm Girl Vintage! 

As much as I'm sure that I am influenced by trend...the thought of the similarities of the two types of fabrics pleases me for some strange reason.


Finally, I have to do my part to enable others to look to a new project, don't I??? Bwahahaha!

In the past, I've enjoyed taking part in Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville mystery, which always starts the day after the American thanksgiving....which is this week.

The last couple of years I've held back, as it's usually my busy time of year as a longarm quilter.

I think I'll give it a go this year. The quilt is a bit smaller than the past years....and, as my friend has said, at least try to do a bit each week of that week's clue. 

So....have a look at the intro and see if it interests you. Bonnie's instructions are always very clear. The only year gave up on one was due to very unfortunate colour choices on my part.

You can see the introduction HERE. The quilt is called Good Fortune.

Today I am linking up with Lorna for Let's Bee Social, Susan for Midweek Makers, and Esther for WOW, WIPs on Wednesdays.

Have a lovely, quilty day!

TGIF

It seems like it's been a looong week.

Not much planned for the weekend, so I imagine we'll get some stuff done around the house.

 Our dog,Cooper, has been under the weather, hopefully he's on the mend now. I won't go into messy details, but he and I have shared four showers this week :(

We've had our first real snow this last 24 hours...it's too soon! 

On to quilty things....

I've re-arranged how I begin my days and one of the bonuses is that, along with my regular longarming, I seem to have a bit of time for piecing my own quilts....woohoo!!! 

Maybe I'll actually make some headway with the UFO pile?!

I do have one goal. It is to get back at my Farm Goal Vintage....

It's been on my mind ever since May, when I saw my friend's completed one. Such a sweet quilt!

I think I'll try to make a note each week of what I'd like to accomplish....and the first will be to do two of these blocks per week!

Here are three blocks that have been done not too long ago, along with two (on the right) that are being relegated to the orphan-block pile...

My original background fabric is the red dotted one. Then I picked up the red "cheerio" fabric, thinking to throw some of that into the mix. The problem?.....the cheerio fabric is off-white and the original is pure white....so in real life the cheerio ones look awful.

Another problem??....I can't find the collection of blocks that I've finished a while ago!!! No worries, they must be in the sewing room somewhere.

Looking back on the week, I do seem to have accomplished a bit more than usual.

I am up-to-date on the Eleanor Burns Fun on the Farm sewalong. There is still time to join in, we're only at Month 4 of 12...

I've also made progress on my I Am Enough quilt...

I was nervous of how the braid would turn out, but I love it! We were to do a "hand" block and for some reason I remembered that I've kept my wedding gloves all these years from when Greg and I were married 35 years ago. I guess they were meant to be included in this quilt!

The next block is a monogram block. Even though I did not change my name when I married Iain, my monogram block will be "McD", to honour my marriage to him.

The more this quilt progresses, the more I love it. This quilt really is a personal journey.


I'm still intent on starting a Temperature Quilt in the new year. There are a few examples on Pinterest. I do like this chart and it will be the one I use to make my quilt. 

I also want to share something for those of you that have always wanted to learn to hand-piece but don't know where to start.

Patty at Elm Street Quilts will be hosting a Hand-piecing Quilt-along in the new year. She has already shared some tips on her blog. If you are interested in trying to hand-piece, you can check it out HERE.


That's all for now.....off to complete one of my Farm Girl blocks!

Have a wonderful, quilty day. I am linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get A Whoop, Whoop?, and with Busy Hands Quilts for Finished or Not Friday.

Love those sewalongs!

Not much going on around here lately as my focus is on keeping up with the longarming until I have to take a little break for my son's wedding and my trunk show.

I have tried to squeeze in a little time for catching up on a couple of sewalongs.

Here is my Farmer's Daughter block, which is this month's block for the Eleanor Burn's Fun on the Farm Sewalong...

I tried to square it up with a bit of a wonk in it, for interest, but there wasn't enough room to wonk it enough....so it may just look like a mistake. Oh, well!


A friend of mine is leading a sewalong with one of the guild's that is taking place online. It's called "I Am Enough". If you are on Instagram, check it out with the hashtag #iamenoughquiltalong.

What is it about sewalongs/quiltalongs that I find so hard to resist??? I don't know!!!!!

Here is my first block, The Colour Wheel, which is supposed to set the tone for the quilt...

In my last post, I wrote on how I was going on a trail run with my run buddy, my daughter, and her girlfriend. I just have to share a couple of pictures of that wonderful morning out in nature...

I hope we can make it back to the Dundas Conservation Area before Winter sets in for another run :)

Today I am linking up with Lorna for Let's Bee Social, and with Susan at Quilt Fabrication for Midweek Makers.

Have a great day!