Baby Jack has arrived - the first grandson of Robin's sister Kaye and her husband Jan. That was certainly exciting news and we caught up with Kaye for lunch while she was staying with the new parents and baby to offer a helping hand. Luckily I had a baby quilt tucked away for a new arrival, wrapped it up and took it to our lunch date.
Yesterday another NYB block was done – 6 more to go! This block is called Pelican – there was another block something like this one but not quite the same On the wall next to a couple close by — linking to My Quilt Infatuation — And we all know a Pelican The next block […]
read moreMore blue fabric. More blue quilts.
This is one where the top was finished last year, then my machine stopped working. It was added to the pile waiting for a turn to be quilted. I am nearly caught up!
This was another exercise in using fabric from my stash. I had enough to make the small post and rail blocks which I then turned into nine large blocks. I then used one of the fabrics to run sashing between them and also create a border. By that stage I had used all of those fabrics up.
I didn’t have ...
read moreGood morning, my friends. It's still dark outside as I write this, and so I can't tell what the weather is going to be like today. The forecast calls for rain, but the weatherman continues to insist that we'll get three warmer drier days starting tomorrow. Fingers crossed because I really want to get outside and do some weeding.
After writing yesterday's post, I stitched the Tiny Heart for Day 20 of our stitch-along. This one has chain stitch, straight stitch, and cross stitch.
Good morning, my friends. It's still dark outside as I write this, and so I can't tell what the weather is going to be like today. The forecast calls for rain, but the weatherman continues to insist that we'll get three warmer drier days starting tomorrow. Fingers crossed because I really want to get outside and do some weeding.
After writing yesterday's post, I stitched the Tiny Heart for Day 20 of our stitch-along. This one has chain stitch, straight stitch, and cross stitch.
Good morning, my friends. It's a happy day because I finished quilting the Dot-to-Dot panel. The quilt-along was a very worthwhile effort, and I learned a lot. It gave me a new way to think about quilting designs. Also, it was a lot of practice, and that is never very much fun. Panels are a great way to practice and learn. I've done several for the exclusive purpose of practicing. You might remember the Dream Big quilts.
Good morning, my friends. It's a happy day because I finished quilting the Dot-to-Dot panel. The quilt-along was a very worthwhile effort, and I learned a lot. It gave me a new way to think about quilting designs. Also, it was a lot of practice, and that is never very much fun. Panels are a great way to practice and learn. I've done several for the exclusive purpose of practicing. You might remember the Dream Big quilts.
This quilt started out as a leader-ender in March 2022. You can read more about the process HERE.
In spite of the challenges, particularly it not being as large as I thought it would be, I am happy with the outcome.
It used so many scraps! And is that lovely mix of traditional and contemporary that I seem to lean towards.
Total pieces: 3456. Yardage (cut sizes) in top: 7-1/4 yards (more or less). Scraps are eternal, but they do add up fast. The top finished at 64″ x 72″. The small squares start at 1-1/2″.
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I love February! For a lover of hearts and pink and all things Valentine’s, it’s a beautiful month even if the weather doesn’t agree! Often in the Pacific Northwest, it’s also the time of year we get what I like to call “False Spring.” We get a few days of very pretty, hopeful weather that gets all the gardening people excited…then it settles down to rain for weeks. One of the other things I love is making baby quilts and there are a whole bunch of new babies on the way this spring. I found ...
read moreI can't believe I didn't blog at all in 2023. I'd love to say I'm just too busy but that wouldn't be the truth. I easily could have found the time to update. I will try to do better this year. I'm going to split my updates between quilting and cross stitching and other crafting stuff plus life updates to keep the post from being too long or picture heavy.
I did quilt some this past year, more than I thought I had. Amazing when you have to go back to look to see ...
read moreGood morning, my friends. It's a grocery shopping day today, and so the morning isn't as good as it could be. On the other hand, I have some overnight oatmeal downstairs, awaiting my final touches of cinnamon, golden raisins, and a little bit of brown sugar. And, see? When you get old, oatmeal is cause for celebration! Young people, you have a lot to look forward to. Follow me for more glimpses into the future.
So let's see what was happening here at the Three Cats Ranch yesterday. We thought we might wake up to some snow ...
read moreGood morning, my friends. It's a grocery shopping day today, and so the morning isn't as good as it could be. On the other hand, I have some overnight oatmeal downstairs, awaiting my final touches of cinnamon, golden raisins, and a little bit of brown sugar. And, see? When you get old, oatmeal is cause for celebration! Young people, you have a lot to look forward to. Follow me for more glimpses into the future.
So let's see what was happening here at the Three Cats Ranch yesterday. We thought we might wake up to some snow ...
read moreGood morning, my friends. It was all quilting, all the time yesterday. Compared to my previous day of sloth, yesterday was fairly productive.
February is International Embroidery Month, and so each day of February has started with the day's Tiny Heart. Yesterday's was only partially completed. The outer border will be stitched later. I happen to know it's the dreaded bullion stitch, and so it's just as well we put it off as long as possible. At least that way I'll be able to finish all the hearts before the bullion stitch has me wanting ...
read moreGood morning, my friends. It was all quilting, all the time yesterday. Compared to my previous day of sloth, yesterday was fairly productive.
February is International Embroidery Month, and so each day of February has started with the day's Tiny Heart. Yesterday's was only partially completed. The outer border will be stitched later. I happen to know it's the dreaded bullion stitch, and so it's just as well we put it off as long as possible. At least that way I'll be able to finish all the hearts before the bullion stitch has me wanting ...
read moreI wanted to share some of my OBW progress with QT Fabric panels Resplendent and Queen Bee.
QT’s Resplendent panel, measures 36″ by 42″. I decided to cut off the borders. They measured 3.25″ wide. I will save them for the quilt border and for binding. The inside of the panel measured 25 1/4″ wide.
I cut my aligned panels into 7 – 3.25″ strips and 1 – 2″ strip.
The strips yielded 105 sets of equilateral triangles.
QT’s Queen Bee
QT’s Queen Bee panel measures 36″ x 42″. I decided to cut off the 3 ...
read moreHappy Valentine's Day to all. I had to educate Robin about St Valentine - he didn't realise that there was indeed such a person. St Valentine was martyred on 14th February in the year 269 under instructions of Emperor Claudius 11 for helping Christian couples wed.
I like to bring out my bed quilt "Hearts of Love" for the months of November, our wedding month, and again in February, for Valentine's Day. The heart blocks were received some years ago when I took part in a block swap. Then I assembled the quilt using star blocks as part ...
read moreGood morning, my friends. It felt like a busy day yesterday, although it doesn't seem as if I have much to show for it. I was bothered by my left wrist for much of the day. It sometimes happens when I've been quilting. A few days ago, I noticed it was bothering me. By the time I was ready to do any sewing, it was feeling better and I forgot all about it. Then, yesterday the pain came back with a vengeance, and I ended up immobilizing it around noon. It doesn't hurt unless I move it ...
read moreGood morning, my friends. It felt like a busy day yesterday, although it doesn't seem as if I have much to show for it. I was bothered by my left wrist for much of the day. It sometimes happens when I've been quilting. A few days ago, I noticed it was bothering me. By the time I was ready to do any sewing, it was feeling better and I forgot all about it. Then, yesterday the pain came back with a vengeance, and I ended up immobilizing it around noon. It doesn't hurt unless I move it ...
read moreMost of the grid-based designs I have shared with you are stitched out horizontally. I have a vertical one for you today, which makes it more suitable for domestic machine quilters compared to longarm quilters. If you want to use this on a large project on a longarm, you would have to advance the quilt after stitching just a few hearts. That would take up way too much time. So, if you would like to use this design on a longarm, maybe consider turning your project 90 degrees and stitch it out on its side???
The Row of Hearts design ...
read moreGood morning, my friends. As I look out my window, there's some fog, but we're expecting a day of sunshine that will extend for the next several days. It'll be Mike's golden opportunity to finally finish off the trailer brakes. The poor man has been working on them for weeks, as weather permits. He's down to the last possible problem, and then they should be in proper working order. I'll be glad to know it's all finished since this is the sort of thing that bubbles up in the background of my feeble ...
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