November quilting days - Part 1

 The Minion madness continues!  Faye 2 received this inflatable Minion from one of her grandchildren and brought it to quilting. How cute is he?

Here is Jane working hard as usual! 

Carole is working on a new table topper - more to follow later in the blog!

This is a kit Faye 2 bought from Connecting Threads - I believe that Faye 1 bought the same kit. It is a panel with borders and a light set. It is refreshing to see a Christmas kit in these lovely blue colours!

This is Faye 2's lovely completed quilt top - and she very generously donated to the Patchwork Network Quilters - and Cheryl, who is in charge of Charity Quilt Distribution in our large guild, is going to have to long-arm quilted and donate it to the Make A Wish Foundation. One young person is going to be very happy to be the recipient of this quilt - that you Faye!!!

Here's Myrtle working on some of her block-of-the-month blocks. Those who are working on the bom quilt are going to have beautiful quilts - the finished blocks make me wish I had joined in but the massive amount of work to piece the blocks makes me happy that I didn't!

Carmen is working on a large, lovely, hand-needle-turn-appliqued quilt - such patience!

Faye is thinking .... very hard ..... about her block-of-the month!

And the thinking continues with Carole .....

I made some bibs for my new great-niece - I love making bibs and this time I used terry cloth for the backing.

This is the two-hour basket - the tutorial is on line. 

And this is two rows of my hopefully soon-to-be 5 row Trees Up, Lights On quilt. I quilted each block separately and then joined the finished, quilted blocks together.

This is one of Judy's completed blocks for the Quilts of Valour project at our large guild. Very nice!

This is one of Faye 2's bom blocks .... very nice!

And these are Jane's blocks (I think!) - made for Charity blocks for our large guild. The before and after blocks show the transformation a simple blocks goes through to become a complex looking block!

Here is Jane with a finished block - what a great design!

This is Cheryl's finished Piece of Cake quilt top with borders - very colourful!!

That's all for now - stay tuned for November, Part Two!

Bev

October Quilting Retreat

I know this is a little late, but I do believe in the adage 'better late than never'! In October we had our annual 3-day quilting retreat and as usual, we had a great time.

Darlene stopped in and showed us the quilt she made for her new daughter-in-law - lovely job!

And then we played our first round of strip poker - always fun and unpredictable, just when you think you're out, you can win. Look at these die hard players!

 Carmen won the first game of brown fabric strips - good job Carmen!

Here's Myrtle working on her very colourful quilt!

Faye 2 has a lot of cutting ahead of her - looking good!

This gorgeous purple and black & white and gray quilt looks like a sashed disappearing 9-patch - very striking Jane!

This odd looking contraption is a sewing machine foot pedal rest - for keeping the foot from slipping away on you -  at least that's what I'm calling it. It works too!

This is another finished quilt top from Jane - love the blue and green batiks!

Doesn't Cheryl look like a very efficient waitress? She was writing down the orders for our lunch from Swiss Chalet, which was a great meal.

Here is Faye 2's first finished block - this was a kit from Connecting Threads. We all love their fabrics and kits.

This beautiful fall-coloured quilt is another beauty from Carmen. It still needs its borders.

These are some charity blocks that I finished at our retreat - they are for our larger quilt guild for both Charity quilts and Quilts of Valour.

Here is Judy cutting some fabric for a charity quilt. Did you notice that.......

... her shoes (and hoodie) match her fabric? That requires planning!

Meantime, Cheryl is working on a rather tricky looking block. Looking great! 

Jane is putting together some rows from a quilt pattern that a number of us bought while in Moose Jaw in the spring - it uses Layer Cakes - 10 inch squares - and seems to go together quite quickly.

This baby quilt (for a new great-niece Abbigail) was a kit I purchases at the Hamel's booth during the Creative Stitches show in Sherwood Park in September - fast and fun!

Our dinner order from Swiss Chalet arrived and some Twisted Lemonade hit the spot!

Here is Jane's quilt top all finished - great job! The pattern is called "A Piece of Cake".

On day two, Margaret, Judy's friend, stopped in to make a jewelry roll - fun!

Myrtle's completed quilt top - love the variety of colour and sashing detail adds so much to the quilt - perfection!

Cheryl was putting fabric together for a quilt back but we may have convinced her that it should be a quilt all by itself!

Carole and Faye 2 fell in love with these crocheted minions that were given to the bowling alley for a silent auction - they had to order their own!

Cheryl is busy putting together a colourful batik quilt top using the same pattern as Jane (I think).

This is number 7 of the Necessary Clutch wallet - this one is for my sister in law in Kingston, Leslie. It uses almost the same fabrics as the first wallet that I made for myself.

Day 2 saw the second round of Strip Poker, this time with 10 inch squares of solid coloured fabric - and guess who won? The lucky and fabulous Carmen!

A group photo - Myrtle, Judy, Faye 1, Jane, Faye 2 and myself in the back and Cheryl, Carmen and Carole in the front.

This is the Quilting Gallery table mat for the current swap - Carole finished the one for her swap partner but I haven't yet started mine - soon!

And Carole's first 2 rows of the Row by Row from our guild. Looking good.

That's all for now - so sorry for the long time between posting, I hope you will enjoy seeing what we worked on in October.

Bev

September Activities

September is a great time to hit the sewing machine - there is something about the crisp, cool fall air that makes me want to get back to quilting; maybe it's the gorgeous fall colours the inspire us all. 

Our September birthday was our lovely Faye; we all enjoyed the great cake! 

Cheryl has been busy working on this fabulous Christmas String quilt; string quilts are lovely and are a great way to use up your stash. You just need to throw abandon to the wind and sew - and in the end, the scrappiness of the quilt is beautiful - great job Cheryl!

Carmen was working on first aid kits for her two children - what a great idea! Love the red cross! 

Carmen will fill the kits with basic medical supplies so that her children will be well equipped at sporting and extracurricular events - so smart! 

Cheryl wasted no time in getting onto another quilt - 

As you can see, a simple 9 patch block, rail fence block and a background block can make a lovely, colourful quilt!

These are blocks that Judy is making for our guild; they will be sorted and put together to make charity quilts that will be distributed in the Sherwood Park and Edmonton area. 

These are Carole's placemats - lovely fabric Carole!

This can only be the work of our needle-turn applique expert, Carmen! Beautiful work - all the little fabric pieces are hand stitched to the background fabric by turning the edge of the fabric under with the hand needle as you stitch the piece down. 

(it's extra nice, so I made the photo extra big!) 

Another block of Carmen's from the same quilt - it is going be absolutely beautiful! Way to go Carmen!

Another top in the works by Cheryl - very bright, lots of movement!  

This was a UFO of mine from quite a few years ago - it used 'turnovers', triangular pieces of fabric from one fabric line. I don't think turnovers ever became very popular, certainly not like charm packs or jelly rolls, and I think I know why - they are not much fun to sew with! But I'm happy to have a UFO completed!

And this was my second UFO to get completed - just needs the binding to be sewn by hand. This 12 x 12 was the combination of 2 Patchabilities kits - each was originally 6 x 16 but I combined them to make a 12 x 12 so that I can use it in my stand where I change the blocks monthly. 

This is mine too - a Kathy Schmitz pattern - I LOVE her patterns - check them out HERE  She uses a combination of embroidery and patchwork and her patterns are diverse - from table runners to 12 x 12 to full size quilts. The only problem is - I can't find them in my LQS. I bought this pattern in Minnesota last fall and I have recently found them at Hamels - a Canadian web based company. The link to their website is RIGHT HERE! 

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A close-up of the embroidery - don't look too close please! 

I think this is our birthday girl, Faye, working on the block of the month - love the black and white!

Judy is working on an apron - love the fabric!

And Faye 2 is contemplating - I think if I remember correctly, this is a convergence quilt - looking good! This quilt was inspired by Faye's sister-in-law, Judi - good job Judi!

That's all for now folks!

Bev