Shimmer

I don't understand the psychology of it, but when there is a snow/ice day I find it difficult to start work for the day.

I've told myself that I will make the commute up to the longarm after I write this post.....discipline, that's what I need!

It will be a short work-day, though, as I am beginning a new quilt today. So exciting, these new beginnings....I just have to keep that feeling going until it results in a finished quilt, right?

I am going to work on the cutting for Shimmer, a quilt and 
sew-along by Allison at Cluck Cluck Sew.

I am using some beautiful Jen Kingwell fabrics for my Shimmer...

I'd like to have all the background fabric cut today....and hopefully some of the prints.

I've been doing well with my Harry Potter QAL hosted by Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts. I'm really liking the blocks. This week we did the "Ron" block...

It's not too late to join in...this week is only block #3.


I am a woman who works well with lists. If there is a lot to do in preparation for a gathering at my house, for example, there will be a list involved.

I don't know why I'm not a list person when it comes to my quilting goals. This week a quilty friend shared her 2019 quilting list with me.....so I promptly made up my own list and stuck it up on the wall...

.....and it made me feel good :)

.....for a few minutes, because then I realised I forgot one item.

I fixed the list and stuck it back up...

Not bad, as the added project is easy, quick and won't last too long.

But wait, only a couple of minutes later I remembered something else...

Now, I was getting a tad nervous....was there going to be more???

Nope, that's it! Although I don't feel quite as happy as I did when the list first went up. Yesterday I had thought to remove Marshall from the list, which is the mystery quilt being offered by Quiltmania magazine this year. Today I'm not so sure. I'll have a think about it.

The Dear Jane sew-along starts in this next week. I have to admit that that one will be a challenge, but if I'm ever going to make a Dear Jane this will be the time.

Here is my block for this week for the Hand-pieced QAL....

I have to say, if you want to get nice results on a flying goose...hand-piecing is the way to do it!

That's all for me today, off to work I go!

I am linking up with Susan at Quilt Fabrication for Midweek Makers. I am also linking up with Lorna for Let's Bee Social, and with Patty at Elm Street Quilts for the Hand Pieced QAL.

Today's design wall.....

Today I thought I'd share a picture of how my design wall is looking. Last weekend everything had to come down and now it seems a bit refreshed for some reason.

It also reinforces what I know....that I can never seem to resist a sew-along! Surely I'm not the only one?....lol, I know I'm not!!!

I'm still loving the temperature quilt (along the top of the picture) and am looking forward to February, when I'll start adding a second row.

The large block on the right is a new sewalong called Miss Lizzy Blooms. The blocks are 18", nice and big and cheery.....there will be one block per month.

Below that are my first two blocks for the sewalong offered by the Canadian Quilters Association....#52blocks52weeks. I'm using my 30's prints because after all this time I still really love them.

There are a number of my Farm Girl Vintage blocks on the wall. Doing eight blocks of that quilt is my One Monthly Goal for January and it looks like I may be able to accomplish it. This was a sewalong a couple of years back and I'm sorry that I fell off the rails on this one because it results in a pretty sweet quilt.

My "braid" is on the design wall to remind me to get back at my I Am Enough quilts.....I'm pondering this being my goal for February.

And, finally, there is my Harry Potter block!!!

I love it!

This is the very beginning of a quilt-along that Lorna is offering at Sew Fresh Quilts....we've just started, so a great time to join in!


A quilt that has fallen by the wayside is my Simple Folk quilt. It is a BOM that was offered in 2018 by Sarah Fielke. 

I don't know why it's been months since I've worked on it, but I did prep a block a couple of days ago and have been poking at it.....I still like it and want to keep at it. I wonder if it's back on my radar because Sarah's new BOM starts next week????

So cute!

And, a bit of a tip here.....you'll notice that I fussy cut the bird in such a way that the pattern in the fabric will kinda represent an eye where the bird's eye should be?....well, that was a design choice instead of having to applique a very small circle/eye. I was going to use the opportunity to try to use the Appliquick tools that I bought a long time ago....but I chickened out once again :(


Today I am linking up with Lorna for Let's Bee Social (hopefully we'll see a few more Harry Potter blocks!), and with Susan at Quilt Fabrication for Midweek Makers.

Well, it looks like a messy morning out there and I have to get ready to go out in it. Hopefully you get to stay inside and do a bit of sewing!

Happy New Year !

I had a difficult time figuring out what my goal will be for January.

I've chosen to work on my Farm Girl Vintage quilt...

I have completed a couple more blocks lately. This will be a UFO that definitely needs moving along this year!

This will be a completed quilt in 2019!!!!

So, my goal this month will be to get eight more blocks done. I was going to say six, but nope, eight it will be!


I finished my little bit of colour that I started on the weekend. I needed a quick colour "fix" and this was quick and easy. Love it!

It's back to work for me today after a nice two weeks off. 

I had intended on doing some organising and straightening-up in the sewing room. What got accomplished?....nothing :(

It will actually just be a half-day on the longarm as I'll be on an outing to Niagara Falls this afternoon to run an errand. 



I did get my run in on Sunday....wasn't sure how it would be with the bit of snow we'd gotten overnight, but it just made for a beautiful run on the trail. 

Here is my running buddy, enjoying the moment ....

That's it for now....Happy New Year everyone!

I am linking up with Lorna for Let's Bee Social (I'm looking forward to her Harry Potter Quiltalong!), Susan at Quilt Fabrication for Midweek Makers, and with Elm Street Quilts for One Monthly Goal - January.

One Monthly Goal - December

Well, today shall be a day of recovery! 

I belong to two guilds.... at our guild meeting on Monday evening we had a wonderful catered turkey dinner where I definitely ate too much food. Yesterday, at the day guild, we had our Christmas potluck lunch...I can't say I over-ate too much, but more food than I would normally eat....and such a wide variety.

I woke up today wondering why my joints are so sore...but realised that I ate a lot of sugar the last two days, when I normally don't each much at all in my regular diet.

So today it's back to work and eating a bit more normal! Luckily, I don't have many holiday events for the rest of the month. 

It's time to figure out what my monthly goal for December will be. I had a couple of candidates and decided it will be Block 4 in my Queen's Garden quilt. This one takes precedence as I am leading this quilt as a BOM in the evening guild, so it needs to be done by the January meeting!

Here is my quilt, so far...

I'm quite happy with working with the neutral Japanese taupes. It takes some thought, and trial and error, for me to choose the neutrals for each block, and I'm loving the nubby texture of these fabrics.

Today I am linking up with Susan at Quilt Fabrication for Midweek Makers, Lorna for Let's Bee Social, and with Elm Street Quilts for One Monthly Goal. 

Soon,  I'll need to figure out what I will do for my Temperature Quilt. Are you going to play along? I will write a post on the subject soon, to tempt you!

One Monthly Goal -done!

I just have time for a quick post today to report my progress on my One Monthly Goal for November.

It's complete!

I kind of don't believe it as I've had intentions of a new Christmas tree skirt for at least five years, but here it is, freshly bound this morning...

I think it's 46" across and difficult to get a decent picture as we are still in the midst of very grey days :(

It makes me want to get my tree up right now!....but it's a bit early for me, I'll wait a couple of weeks.


To any longarmers out there who may be interested.....I am selling all of my Circle Lord templates. If anyone is interested just let me know and I'll send you more information. I am in Southern Ontario, Canada, but will ship anywhere.

I am linking up with Lorna for Let's Bee Social, and with Elm Street Quilts for One Monthly Goal. 

Hmm, I'll have to think hard on my goal for December....not sure what it will be!

Have a lovely day!

Busy times....

I have time for a quick post before getting ready for the next bit of "busy" before I can relax on Friday.

It's been a hectic couple of weeks, what with all the activities involved with a family wedding.

I'm happy to report that the wedding went off without a hitch (that I know of, anyway) and we all had a blast dancing the night away.

Here we are...all dressed-up and looking fine...

My eldest grandson, and my newly acquired granddaughter...

Now to prepare for two trunk shows!

All packed and ready to go...

I'll be speaking this evening and Thursday morning at the Oxford Quilters' Guild in Ingersoll, Ont....please join us if you can!

I took a few moments this morning to work on this past month's block for Save the Bees...

It's actually working up fairly quick. As you can see, I am old-school and baste the fabric to the paper. I've attempted doing glue-basting, but must be doing something wrong as I can't get good results.

Have a wonderful day....the sun is shining after the terrific winds we've experienced over the last 24 hours!

I am linking up with Lorna for Let's Bee Social and with Susan for Midweek Makers.

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!

#100days100blocks....almost a real quilt

Two years ago I participated in a sewalong on Instagram hosted by @gnomeangel.

The focus of the sewalong was this book by Tula Pink...

First, I have to say this is a lovely book. 

All of the blocks are quite different on the most part from blocks I have done before and they are all quick and easy. I had no problem keeping up with one block per day. 

When it was done, I went on down to my LQS for some grey fabric for sashing and ended up instead with a beautiful coral/salmon colour. The quilt is beautiful!....I was very happy with the results!

Even Cooper and Minnie enjoy a rare opportunity to be up on the bed with the quilt...

The idea was to post one block per day for one hundred days on Instagram using the hashtag #100days100blocks. It was a fun time and when they decided to run the sewalong again last year I was sorely tempted...but resisted.

This year it came up again.....and on the day that it began, I figured what the heck!!!, I'm in!!!

I have to say, I enjoyed this 100days as much as the first. I decided to do this one in mainly "shirting" fabrics as a challenge. It wasn't long before some modern fabrics squeezed their way in, as well as a few subtle-coloured fabrics.

This time around I only missed posting on Instagram on one day. That was the day that I rushed upstairs to the sewing room late in the day, realising that I hadn't gotten my wee block done....and ended up with a nasty run-in with my rotary cutter.

....and number 100....

I only had to re-do one of the blocks. Here is the "before"...

....and after...

Here are some of them up on the wall....

At about the Day 75 point I had a vision of how I would put this together in the end. It will have no sashing, therefore making it a nice lap-sized quilt. It will have no binding, it will be have a facing instead. And, to me, it will represent a newspaper.

Now I just have to think of a name for the quilt. I am leaning toward "The Daily Mail", which is a newspaper my husband reads, but I am open to suggestions....please?

I am going to rush to get this one completed, as I would like to have it ready to include in my trunk show, which is to take place on November 7th and 8th in Ingersoll. Wish me luck, as we also have my son's wedding a few days before that!

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

And, because I am linking with Esther I guess I should show what is currently on the design wall....my version, so far, of her pattern, "Queen's Garden"!

I still have to add a few bits to the top block (which is actually the centre of the quilt). This one has been challenging to me...using all neutral Japanese taupes, although the fabrics are lovely to work with and needleturn very nicely.

Well, back to work for me....have a wonderful day!

One Monthly Goal - August

So......somehow July just sped on by and here we are in August....already.

I did not get my One Monthly Goal completed for July. I had high hopes right on up to the end of the month but it wasn't meant to be.

I figure, then, it must be meant to be for August, although, looking ahead, I'm not sure if it will be possible this month either. Oh well, I'll do my best to fit it in.

The quilt in question is my Nature's Neutrals...

I did manage to get a binding fabric picked out, thanks to inspiration from one of my quilty friends....so that is some kind of progress :)

Yesterday I picked up a few fabrics that I "need" for a small sewalong coming up next week (what the heck is the matter with me!) hosted by Jacquelynne Steves called Save the Bees, which you can have a look at HERE. It's just a small quilt, really, so how could I resist? 

Here are my fabrics...I just need to shop my stash for the rest...

I'm not one to make things from selvages, but I have to admit to starting saving some of them because they are just so cute...

As I was ready to finish my purchase I notice this fabric being folded back on the bolt....there was just a wee bit left and I could totally see it in a tote bag some day...

....and again with the selvage...

.....and, of course, in the above picture you can see the fat quarter of 30's that I picked up. Once in a while it's nice to fatten up the 30's box of fabric!

There is another sewalong starting today. 

This one is a mystery called Fun on the Farm and is hosted by Eleanor Burns. You can read about it HERE. I think I will try to hold off on this one until I see the next block. 

I thought this one would be pieced and would have no trouble keeping up with one block per month...but the first block is appliqued and I don't know how I could ever manage another hand-stitched project!

I'll print the first month's instructions off and wait and see.

Linking up with ....

Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Be Social
Susan at Quilt Fabrication for Midweek Makers
Elm Street Quilts for One Monthly Goal

Out, out damn spot!

The last few days I've definitely felt out of sync with the universe! I'm pretty sure it's not a full moon right now, so I have no explanation.

After working on a client's quilt yesterday, I mounted my grandson's birthday quilt, hoping to take time to get it done this week.

This is the one where I had a problem with some kind of stain on the quilt, which you can read about HERE. I'm not sure the mark will come out in the wash, so I figured I'd sew a label to the front of the quilt to cover it before quilting...just in case. 

Do you see what I see?....here, take a closer look....

Hmmm, I think it's more noticeable in person....the indigo fabric is running! I'm sure I washed these fabrics ahead of time. A friend of mine is going to give me a couple of colour catchers so I can wash the quilt after it's done....here's hoping for the best!

So, I have the quilt all ready to go, and now realise that I have to get a small quilt done for someone first.....so after I write this post I'll make my way to the sewing room to take this quilt off and hopefully get a fresh start with it later this week.

It's one of those weeks where I just would like to curl up with a bit of applique and ignore responsibilities! 

I did have a wonderful experience last weekend....my son and grandson ran the Smugglers' Run with me....

It was hot, and the trail is highly technical, but we had a lot of fun! I say the same as I did last year after that race....never again!!! lol

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

Have a good one!