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!

Friday finishes!

This morning I put the final stitches in the binding of my Quilty365, or as I am calling it, A Year in My Life.

This is such a special quilt to me. 

It was started as a sewalong with Audrey at Quilty Folk, with the idea of appliquing a circle per day for a year with the intention that the fabric chosen would reflect that particular day in some way. Most of mine were, but I have to admit that some days I just picked a fabric to get the block done! Although, I somehow think that subconsciously the fabric chosen probably did have meaning on any particular day!

My quilt spans November 12, 2015 to November 11, 2016. For those of you doing the math...a few of the blocks are not on the quilt....they will be incorporated into the label on the back.

I started with a circle, but right away remembered years ago wanting to do a quilt with appliqued hearts, so I switched it up.

Lots of memories in this quilt.

Birthdays...

...puppies born last Summer...

The day we found out that our twin grandbabies would be a boy and a girl!...

....and near the beginning of the quilt, quite a few purple blocks to represent pain I was experiencing at that time....

On a side note....

In the Fall of 2015 I was in a lot of pain....so much so that I considered asking my doctor for a handicapped parking pass. I now know that sugar is the culprit for me. I try now to avoid sugar and on the times I choose to indulge I'll get what I call my "sugar pain". 

The other day I had a visitor bring me a beautiful butter tart (a Canadian treat which is mostly sugar, and delicious!). I chose to go ahead and enjoy....and like clock-work 45 minutes later the sugar-pain shot down my legs. (It was worth it!)

My life has changed so much since this quilt was started almost two years ago now. The biggest being taking up running and really enjoying taking part in races! 

Here I am last weekend after the Disco Dash 5k....I had to ask this stranger to pose for a picture since he was probably the most authentically dressed!....

What I'd like to know is how on earth did this happen, and with probably a million stitches in the quilt, however did I even notice it??!!....

I marked this block with a pin so I would remember to go back and fix it. I don't know if you can quite see it, but one of the stitches is a big loop! I've tried to ease it in, but, nope, it wouldn't co-operate, so I'll go back and un-quilt a tiny bit of the quilt and fix it.

I will cherish this quilt! Among other things, it will represent a transition from pain to good health :)

I'm also happy to say that I have actually finished my OMG - One Monthly Goal!!!

My goal for August was to complete my Freefall quilt....and I did it...

This quilt measures about 39" square, so I think it will be a wall-hanging for the guest room.

I am linking up with Elm Street Quilts for One Monthly Goal-Finishes.

I am also linking with Busy Hands Quilts for Finished or Not Friday and with Mama Sparks World for Friday is Finish Day, and with Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get a WhoopWhoop!.

To end this post, I'll choose a bit of cuteness...

Our pups are doing well, they are now trying to use their spindly legs to hold up their chubby selves and walk around!

Have a lovely day!

A successful Retreat!

Back to the real world after a few lovely days on a quilting retreat hosted by Quilt Junction, held at the beautiful Elmhurst Inn in Ingersoll, Ontario.

The decision to go was definitely meant to be a one-time treat to myself....to go and relax, meet new quilting friends, be pampered in the Spa at the Inn and enjoy excellent cuisine. Well, I think this is now going to be a yearly thing! 

There were thirty of us set up in the Grand Ballroom, a beautiful large, bright room that was perfect for getting some sewing done....

Lana, our lovely hostess, had a booth set up just in case any of us had forgotten any essentials....or just needed a bit of retail therapy!

I was happy to start my Retreat with having lunch with my sister...of the four sisters she is the youngest and I am the oldest. We don't see each other very often so it was so special to get to spend an hour or so together...

I can't say enough about the food our group experienced during our stay....here is just a sample of our meals....

I wish I had taken a picture of this dish on the menu so I could remember what was in it and maybe try to replicate it. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to go back sometime!


I did manage to get some sewing done! I paced myself, since last time I spent too much time in a chair sewing resulted in being laid up with back problems for a couple of weeks. So...many breaks walking around looking at everyone else's inspiring work!

My main project was to complete my Happy Days quilt. After a rocky start things started to fall in place...

.....and.....it's done!!!!!......

My goal for April was to have this quilt top done. I am linking up with Elm Street Quilts for OMG-One Monthly Goal, April Finish!

I'll set aside some time this Summer to get it quilted up in time for the Fall Fair season. I had thought to do an edge-to-edge quilting design on it, but after seeing it laid out in full I now think a light custom job is in order. I love it!

Day 2....I wanted to get the next step complete in my version of Sandra Walker's sew-along, Freefall Spring Quilt-Along.  I had the prep-work done ahead of time and was happy to get them sewn together....all ready for the next step. It was fun, also, to learn a couple of slick techniques for these blocks....thanks, Sandra Walker! 

I want to keep on track with this sew-along since I think this may be a good entrant into this year's Fall Fair category that is celebrating Canada's Sesquicentennial! I am linking this post to Sandra's linky party at Musings of a Menopausal Melon. Check it out to see other quilters' take on Freefall!

My final project for the Retreat was to assemble my Nature's Neutrals. 

This was a quilt made of blocks from a group exchange. The blocks are 5" unfinished and we were to make 2 sets of eight blocks per month for two years. Each month we submitted our blocks and came away with sixteen different blocks. 

I did not want this quilt to wait years to be done, so it was on the list for this week.

Here it is...

I have kept a few blocks aside so I could make a decision at this point to see if the quilt needed to be wider or longer, etc. So, an hour of work sometime in the near future will see this one truly done! 

During our Retreat, Lana did a couple of demos and also showed us how to construct a little fabric "box" meant to put our odd bits of thread and snippets of fabric into...

Thanks, Lana....this will be put into my applique bag for the times I get together for stitching with friends!

All in all, a very successful Retreat....not to mention making new quilty friends. Can't wait 'til next year!

Today I am linking up with Busy Hands Quilts for Finished or Not Fridays, Koka Quilts for sew, stitch, snap, SHARE, and with Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get a Whoop-Whoop!.

Happy Days, the saga continues...

I was able to get a little bit of sewing done yesterday during the snowstorm. 

My goal this month is to have the top done on my Happy Days quilt. As I've mentioned before, I'm not terribly proficient at paper-piecing, so I'm ok with substituting a couple of "regular" blocks just to get going on this quilt.

I had gotten this far...

...and decided that the circled area could use some yellow to balance out the quilt.

So here is the block with the yellow, so pretty...

...but when I put it in it's place on the design wall it was shouting out like a beacon to me....

I decided to live with it 'til this morning to see if I would change my mind, but no, still didn't like it!

I spent maybe fifteen minutes this morning fixing it.  Instead of making a whole new block I just tore out the offending player...

...popped in a bit of Tula Pink (of which most of the quilt is pieced with already)...

I think it was worth the fifteen minutes to swap it out, I'm much happier. I still wonder a bit about that red Cotton and Steel fabric, but I think it picks up a bit of a similar red elsewhere in the quilt so I will relax and call the block "done"!

I have ten leaves to applique and the top will be ready to sew together. I think I'm on-track to finishing by the end of the month. There is a pieced border to attach but a lot of the components to that are ready to go.


In case any of you are doing the Jen Kingwell quilt, Long Time Gone, there is a sew-along starting today. You can see what's what on this post by Snips Snippets.

Today I am linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social and with Silly Mama Quilts for WIP's - Works in Progress.

Today on my Design Wall...

Yesterday I had a bit of sewing time so I thought I'd get this month's block done for one of my guild's Mystery BOM.

Here is the first block from last month...

...very nice, worked up great! 

I have a collection of Cotton&Steel fabrics that I am going to use for this quilt.

I pulled out the directions for this month's block. Oh, great, who wants to ever work in 16th's of an inch!!!!

Are you kidding me!!!???

My brain seemed to wrap itself around this kind of thing a little easier fifteen years ago :(

I forged ahead. The block definitely isn't perfect but it'll do.

I already messed up and had to re-cut some of my precious horse fabric (wish I'd bought more than a fat-quarter), so this one is a keeper.

I am liking the fresh, fun fabrics!

Visit Patchwork Times to see what is on other quilters' design walls today!

I'm also linking with Quilt Story for Fabric Tuesday.