What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

So far, this month has been a bust for quilting.  Life has been busy and I'm tired by the time evening rolls along.  Now that it is mid-month .... I had better get my butt into gear and get something done!

I did pull out my donation box looking to see what was in there that could be used.  These two blocks were pulled out and I wondered what could be done with them.  There were other blocks but .... blah .... they just didn't work.  So, these blocks stayed and then I started to play.

I've been working on this UFO whenever I had a moment to just sit and sew.  Slowly, but surely, it is starting to come together.

Cornerstone fabric was selected, but it needed something.

Much, much progress has been made on this project .... because ....  that is the only thing I'm working on right now, except for bindings!  I'm obsessed with these hexies!

After looking at this photo, I realized that most of the hexies have been turned around ... so great progress has been made.   Since this quilt will be reversible, I want the back to look interesting too and colour placement is crucial.  You can probably see some triangle scraps sitting on top of some hexies.  Those are the back colours that will be used of which some are off on the ...

After a couple of weeks of appliqueing, my Dilly Flowers is a top!

So happy to have this done!  I've been busy frankenpiecing batting pieces for this top.  This is a lap size top, so pulling batting pieces for this is much easier than for a full size top.   My hubby asked why not use the roll of batting instead?  Smaller pieces just need to be used up first; otherwise, things will get out of control!  You all know how that is, don't you?  LOL

I just want to bring to your attention that the vine design is ...

One morning last week, I looked outside the kitchen patio door and saw something dark at the top of our hill.  Did someone throw out a Xmas tree or a garbage bag or was it a person?  What was it?

Zoomed in for a closer look.  Nope, still can't see what it is.  Lordy, it is big .... was it a bear?  No, wrong colour as the bears here are black and this is kind of ...

It feels good to get this top done and ready to bring to the LAer in the new year.

This top went together rather quickly which is so surprising to me.  What I try to do is assemble pieces to make at least one block before going to bed.  In the morning, those pieces are ready to be sewn together.  This way, it feels that something is getting accomplished and it motivates me to get more ready for the next day.  It was a good evening when five to ten blocks got ready for the morning.  This top came mostly ...

The year is running out .... just one more monthly binding challenge for this year.

No-blog Mary and I met our November challenge.

Mary did two small quilts.  She took photos of one but the second one was gifted before she remembered to take a photo.  Mary did say that Xmas gifts will be very easy this year .... a number of her finished quilts, runners, etc. will be gifted.  A win-win, I would say!!

My two quilts got done plus a third one.  Wow, bonus!!!!  Posts will be coming for these two quilts.

This UFO only needed two border blocks and it could have been done ages ago.  Oh well, it is done now and this top and another are with my favourite LAer, Kathy.

Not much quilting is going on in my life right now.  This is cottage time and my sister and I have been busy doing a bit of redo ...... painting and flooring.  It never ends, but we enjoy our work done so far.  I even cut down a wee tree by hand.  It took about half an hour of sawing, but it got down.  This little cedar tree was blocking my sister's view of part of the lake and she asked if 'we' could cut it down.  I knew what the 'we' entailed ..... me!  LOL

A few weeks ago, I ...

There are only have a few more days left this month to get the binding done on my April challenge quilt!  This is the home stretch.  After this, there will be a sleeve and a label to add to complete the challenge.

 I haven't shown you this new project that I may have started!  LOL  May have started?  I would say definitely started!  Some kind of applique will be added to the top and bottom to give it more of a look.  Right now, it is kinda boring .... to me anyway.  

This pattern has come from a Facebook site called "English Paper Piecing Society".  I saw the pattern and just knew that I had to do it.

Yep .... another squirrel came to play ....

Fifteen years blogging!  OMG!

Where has the time gone?  It doesn't feel like I've been blogging that long.  Yet, the math tells me so.

How can I sum up my 15 years?  

When I first started blogging in February 2007, my first post wasn't much to read about.  Would anyone even bother.  Well, yes you did.  It took a while to get into a rhythm and my posts became more interesting as the years went by.  

What happened during all those years?

Older family members have passed on and new ones have arrived to take their place ...

January was so good for no-blog Mary and myself that we have selected what quilt we will bind for February.

This is my quilt:

Well, my friend (no-blog Mary) and I have completed the January binding challenge!  Wooo hoooo!

My quilt is bound, label and sleeve on ..... DONE!

 

Next month, I will have been blogging for 15 yrs.  Fifteen years!  Holy cow!  How much longer will I blog?  Time will only tell ....

In the meantime, it was time to get around to publishing my blog posts into book form.  I'm using Blog2Print and surprise, surprise, it is very easy to do.  This is my first book.  This past year was chosen so that I could see the quality, etc.  Very happy with it.  So happy, that an additional two more books have been ordered. 

I'm quite happy with my choice of binding for my "Presents Galore" quilt.  It took a while to hand cut the bias strips and then matching the pattern when sewing the strips together; but, oh, so worth it!

Whew ..... I was striving for a year-end (more like a decade) goal and it got achieved yesterday!  Time to celebrate!

This project is moving along better than planned.

Fabrics on the right side are being auditioned.  Which ones will be the lucky ones to go into this quilt?  Pick me, no pick me .....

Now that all the blocks have been sewn together, it is time to deal with those interesting borders.

What fabrics to use, what fabrics to use?  That is my decision now.

I think for the first border, the darker red is a must.  Now, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the scroll meets up well in the corners but there may be a slight adjustment and I have allowed for that by having extra fabric at the ends of the scroll!  I'm also debating about circles as cornerstones in the blocks.

This is what I saw when the curtains were opened this morning.  Usually, my hubby has them open by the time I get downstairs but not this morning.  Why?  Surprise!

Where have the years gone?  One day I'm 20, then 50 and .... wham ..... 70!  Thank you to my dear family for arranging this.