Quick tip - Glue stick

I made a 6" wonky star block for a label today - and thought I'd share this tip.  Turn the edges of your label under, and use an ordinary washable glue stick to temporarily tack it down to to the back of your quilt.  So much easier to hand stitch down without a zillion pins, and will ensure it is straight and unpuckered.

It took me all week...

It took a whole week to finish stitching down the binding on my latest Shirt Stripe Boxes.  But it's still not done - it needs a label.  I'm bad at this - so I took a look around the internet for inspiration - and if Jenny from the Missouri Star Quilt Company says I can just write on the back of my quilt with a Sharpie...I'm all for it!

Just kidding...I'll try a little harder than that!  I'll get back to you with whatever I decide to do.

The reason it took so long to do the binding is because I tried very hard to work on my Plaid Obsession Quilt every night for at least an hour or two.  Last night I started putting the rows of blocks together!  

In the meantime...there's a sweet story in the video above.  Take a look if you have a spare 4 minutes and 11 seconds.

I Cheated

This week's Grandmother's Choice BOW was just a little too much work for me: Seven Pointed Star.  So I considered skipping this week altogether, because I am one block ahead...

But, instead I went back to the Civil War Quilts blog and picked out North Star as a substitute.  There is nothing I don't like about this block.  The sharp contrast between the fabrics is perfect, and I'm pleased that I took the time to get the red pattern all going in the right direction.

And besides...it kinda looks like THIS:

I hope you are celebrating today!

I finished piecing Shirt Stripes Boxes together last night!  I've been working away at the backing all week, along with the crumb blocks.  I have a sneaking suspicion I don't have enough fabric for the back.  

This is really annoying because I had enough shirt backs from all the shirts I used in the top to make the first quilt.  This is going to take some math to figure out.  I'm going to be really quite annoyed if I have to go and buy more blue and white striped shirts!

A Blue (& White!) Week

One of my goals for March is to finish assembling the top of my second Shirt-Stripe Boxes quilt top, piece the back - - - and lo and behold!  Didn't I forget I was making crumb blocks as I went along? Yikes!  another UFO!

The top was coming along quite nicely, until I realized I was short 4 9" blocks, and was all out of blue and white striped shirts.  How could that be?  I counted!  and counted!  I picked up an extra shirt on Monday, and not the 6 large rows are put together, and ready for vertical seams.

The back is just about pieced together too - - just need to check my math again before putting in the last seams.  AND I have about 18 or so crumb blocks done.

Thinking on my February Goals

January was a pretty good month!  But what will February's goals look like?

So I've sat down with pencil and paper to consider what's on the list, which seems like it might be a little ambitious, but I'm going to give it a shot!

1) 4 Grandmother's Choice BOW blocks
I've been able to keep up with this all of the month of January by making it my Saturday morning project.

2) 4 Dear Jane blocks

3) Finish adding borders to Black & White quilt top

4) Finish piecing Shirt Stripes top, piece the back together

5) Sandwich & pin baste Heart of the Home, machine quilt on domestic machine, and bind. I think I will take another look at this and possibly add a border.

Sunday Sewing

I've gotten the first of six strips for Shirt Stripe Boxes!


It's been a quiet weekend around here.  The snow has been almost constantly falling for two days, though nothing is sticking (thankfully!)  But the roads are slippery, and the blowing snow is annoying, so we've pretty much been shut-ins all weekend.

Guild Night!

I nearly forgot it was Guild Night! 



Virginia Ingleby was our guest speaker at tonight's meeting.  Virginia opened her own quilting store "Undercover Quilts and More” five years ago.  The store is located in a historic building in downtown Fergus.  I made sure to check with Virgnina directly about where in Fergus she was located, because I have tried looking for it before.  Should be pretty easy to find -- when there is a Tim Horton's reference in any directions, I'm there.


I took a few minutes at break time to check out the library -- LO AND BEHOLD!!!  I found the two books I've been desperate to find.


First up:





There is a quilt in this book that I have been admiring for months. I turn green with envy every time I open JulieKQuilts blog, and see this quilt in her header.


And next:





FINALLY!  The directions to finish the Shirt Stripes Boxes quilt.


My version will be twice as wide as the one in the book, and will be perfectly sized for our queen-sized bed (I hope)!

Thrifting in Guelph

I thought I was finally finished all of the blocks for my Shirt Stripe Boxes.  I pressed and squared up the last of my blocks last night and discovered that I'm 24 3.5" blocks short.  Just one more shirt!

So Hubby and I headed out bright and early this morning and hit a couple of thrift stores.  There's five thrift stores that I enjoy visiting when I'm in the neighbourhood. 

Bibles for Missions is almosty hyper-compulsively organized - big, bright, and spacious.  They price their items intelligently.  However, I haven't found anything really spectacular there myself.  Hubby on the other hand, bought a beautiful London Fog leather coat for $18 there a few weeks back.  Nothing today -- it was closed!

St. Vincent de Paul's is also well organized, although space becomes a little crowded in the back room.  Prices are good too.  I have been able to find a couple of things -- a gorgeous pair of grey and black plaid slacks (name brand) perfect for the office, and today I found a pair of jeans, and a couple of vintage aprons that I am going to cut up for quilts.  No shirts, so off to our next stop.

Goodwill is a big store out near the junction of 6 and 7.  Aisles are nice and wide, but the racks are too crowded to have a good look.  My arms are aching after a few minutes of pushing hangers apart.  The prices are very high (in my humble opinion).  I did find two really good quality cutter shirts, and a couple of books.  Hubby found a shirt for himself.

Value Village - I could spend hours here.  A little pricey, but the variety of items is very good, and the stock always seems fresh. I didn't see anything I couldn't live without today, but then I didn't really spend enough time to have a good look -- and I wasn't looking for anything either, so there was no challenge of a hunt.

We didn't make it to Salvation Army this morning.  It's a very well stocked store compared to other Sally Ann's I've shopped.  I've had good experiences with the staff.  Once, I was buying a piece of glass, which was marked $2.99, which I thought was fair, but when the clerk saw the price, she wondered aloud what the person was thinking when he/she priced it, and only charged me $.99.  Another time I was buying some cutter shirts, and the clerk gave me a sale price -- even though I didn't see any signage about sales anywhere.

No big plans for New Year's Eve for me and Hubby.  Itty Bitty is playing a gig in Brantford tonight - so we're on our own.  The neighbours have invited us down for a party, to which we should make a brief appearance.  Maybe I'll ring in the New Year by finishing those last 24 blocks!

Weekend Warrior!

 Fourth Fridays in Guelph means celebrating the creative, neighbourly, interesting, cool, welcoming vibe of Downtown Guelph on the Fourth Friday of each month, to join in a culture crawl taking in a variety of interesting artistic happenings -- art galleries, musical performances, etc.  Hubby refused to partake of any spoken word events (what?  come on!  you can brag to your friends that you went to a poetry reading!) but we did catch some ice sculpture taking place out in our front yard - stopping to watch a man carve a lifesize reindeer with power tools. 

Then we headed just around the corner for a wine tasting event at the Red Brick Cafe, with our neighbour Mike.  We spent a couple of hours there, trying four different wines from Italy, Spain, and California - 1 white and 3 reds.  I'm not much a wine drinker - but we were provided with tasting notes for each wine -- I didn't think the white tasted like grass at all, but I did notice the lemon-lime finish. 

Hubby has gone 'home' to St. Thomas today, so I spent the afternoon at the office putting in some "lieu time" (I want to take Tues. afternoon off) tidying up some files, clearing off my desk, finishing up some documentation. 

Tonight I'm cutting up fabric for Shirt Stripe Boxes and listening to CBC radio.  I love CBC radio - especially Saturday nights - first Randy Bachman's Vinyl Tap and then Saturday Night Blues.   Take a listen to the podcasts available on the websites and see if you don't become a fan!

Hubby is a Funny Guy

That Hubby of mine is a really funny guy.  I have to share some Hubby-isms.  (I bet you have one just like him at home!)


This morning I woke up with a bizarre thought in my head.  I was remembering a TV commercial from my childhood for a toy called "Digger the Dog".  Still lying in bed, I asked Hubby: "Do you remember a commercial from a long long long time ago for a toy called Digger the Dog?"


He immediately starts singing: "Digger the Dog -- he likes to go with you -- when you explore..."



I couldn't believe my ears!  I laughed myself silly, and jumped out of bed to check youtube and see if he had it right! 


A couple of weeks ago, I guess Hubby had had quite enough of my bad attitude.  He looked at my left wrist tattoo, which says "Strength & Purpose", and suggested: "Why don't you get "Patience & Understanding" on the other wrist?"


Last night, I was merrily sewing away on crumb blocks from all the scraps from the Shirt Stripe Boxes blocks that I've been working on.

HE: Are you still working on that same quilt?
ME: Yep  (...well, technically not -- but it was too complicated to explain that I was merely using up the scraps that "that same quilt" had given birth to)
HE: You've been working on that for awhile.
ME: Yep
HE: It's taking a long time. I would have thought you were done by now!

(sigh)  That Hubby....he's always cracking me up!

Sunday morning

I did a block count this morning, and I'm nearly at the halfway point - 198 blocks towards a total of 406.  And I have used 9 shirts so far.  I've also been peicing some crumb blocks from the left overs.

Out of the blue, I baked peanut butter chocolate chip cookies last night, and fed warm, chewy cookies to Hubby right off the baking sheet.

Gibson is sitting on top of the dining room table, about 15 feet away from me, looking at me as if I'm nuts.  That's fair, because I spend most of the day doing the exact same thing -- looking at him and wondering if he is nuts.  He does the weirdest stuff.  This morning he has played hockey with a bottle cap, writhed in unadulterated pleasure on a towel on the bathroom floor, chewed happily away on a tiny strip of fabric, and pawed everything he can off the coffee table. 

Actually, now that I think about it....probably what he is thinking is...."Get off your ass and clean this dump up!"

Early morning sewing

I was up before the crack of dawn this morning, and sewed some more blocks for Shirt Stripe Boxes - The Sequel!  I did some calculations the other day, and it looks like I'll have to make this version 50% bigger than the first version I made, which was 33% bigger than the book instructions.  Go big or go home!

I can't express how much fun it is to put these blocks together.  I don't always get the stripes perfectly matched up, and in fact, the instructions give permission to let the stripes wave a little -- but it's so exciting when they come out perfect!

Rough day at work...whew!  Glad to have my bra off, and my slippers on.  I've made myself a cup of tea, and I'm going to catch up with this week's episode of "House".

You're sure it's Thursday?

With the help of good ole Gibson (aka: Gibby Kitty) ...

...(he always looks mad, doesn't he?) I WAS able to get all 80 of my Virginia Bound blocks done, and even sewn into pairs!

Here's my first of the nine quilts I intend to finish this year (perhaps this summer???)

What's today....Thursday?

As promised, Block #3 of my Baltimore Folk Fusion is completed.  I wish I had used a darker colour for the cat, but it's done.

I also finished the binding on my Shirt-Stripes Boxes quilt.  I'll take a photo tonight, when my 'crew' is here to help, and post it tomorrow. I can't express how please I am with the final product.  It's wonderful!

And finally, I got 10 more blocks completed for Virginia Bound.  I'm now at 68, leaving 22 to go, and guess what?  I have those 22 blocks partially done.  I might be able to finish those this morning, and start assembly!  Very exciting!!!

Oooh!  And I just checked the weather forecast for today.  Lookin' good!  Might actually be able to get back outside again - - it's been a wee bit chilly for the past week.  Tomorrow appears to be PERFECT for outdoor relaxing--a high of 24!

G'mornin'!

Busy day yesterday.  Hubby and I ran some errands in the morning, and while he napped in the afternoon, I got half of the binding on my Shirt-Stripes Boxes quilt.

I also disassembled most of the shirts I picked up yard sale-ing on the weekend, and worked away a bit at my 3rd Baltimore Folk Fusion block.  I should have it done today, and will be able to post a photo tomorrow.

Other than that?  Well...I'm still thinking about my timetable for next year, and what to do about it.  If I was smart, I'd go ahead and pick up a couple more credits this summer...ugh......

Making Progress

First, I got my little lunch bag done last night:

I think it turned out cute.  And, just as I was tying the loose ends off, the phone rang.  My Shirt-Stripe Boxes quilt was ready to pick up from the quilter!  YAY!!!  Itty Bitty drove me over (he's becoming a much more natural driver, and practices daily) to pick it up.  I'm so happy with it!  I think I'll work on assembling the binding today.

Weekend Update - a little of this and that

In keeping with my new goal of completing 9 UFO's this year, I dropped Shirt Stripe Boxes off to Mr. Quiltman on Monday evening.  Since then, I've been piecing the borders for my Black & White Quilt.  I got the pieced border on tonight, and now I don't know what to do.  It's only 70x70.  Too big for a lap quilt?  Too small for a bed quilt??  What do you think I should do???

Two more weeks of school left!  Next weekend (the long four day Easter weekend) will be filled with assignments to be handed in. 

Gotta tell you...it's been a sad week.  My friend lost her husband last Saturday, and while I've tried to be supportive for her, I feel AWFUL!!!  I suppose it's got to be the accumulation of lots of stressors and losses since the New Year, but truthfully?  I am terribly depressed. I find myself thinking about my friend all the time; getting choked up and misty eyed. 

I'm just going to power through the next couple of weeks, and then I can take some time and get some perspective on everything I've experienced these past two or three months. It's been challenging - between my ill health in Feb, the death of my ex-husband, Sailor Boy moving to the Maritimes, and now my friend's husband's death, not to mention the rapid-fire trauma of a high-school guidance department - - so many crises, two student deaths in three weeks,  horrible stories, and frustrated efforts to be helpful. It ain't easy, particularly when all I really want to do is snatch up some of these kids and bring them home with me!!! 

Hubby and I took a day off to ourselves today.  We went to Komoka first, to a Nostalgia Show.  That was fun.  I saw a couple of things I would have liked to have brought home with me, but oh my! the prices!!!  OUCH!  Still, it was fun to browse around.  Then we had lunch at the Little Beaver in Komoka and then off we went to the Spring Gardening Show at Canadale Nurseries.  The local hospital was having a fundraiser there with an old time "penny sale". I bought $5 in tickets, and put a lot of them into the draws for some lovely pieces of stained glass and garden ornaments.  No calls yet, so I guess I haven't won! SHUCKS!! But it was fun to see all the spring flowers, and interesting items.

We sat down tonight and made up our "to-do" lists for the week.  Itty Bitty and I are completely swamped.  Not one extra thing can be squeezed into our tightly scheduled calenders.  But we HAVE to get our passport photos done this week - - ugh!!!  I want to come home from Nova Scotia through the States next month (I'd love to see Portland,ME again!) so we need to have passports.

Goal ACHIEVED!!!

I DID IT!

My goal to use $1000 in coupons has been achieved!  In fact....if you scroll down to my ticker at the bottom, you'll see I went well over my goal today.  This weekend is Bonus Redemption Days at Shopper's Drug Mart, and I had enough Optimum Points to redeem $200 worth of free products, PLUS I used an additional $30 in coupons.

Now to set myself another goal....hmmmmmm.

It should probably be quilt related.  It's March.  How about finishing 9 UFO's before the end of the year?  That would be a challenge!  I know just where I will start.  I'd love to finish the Kaffe Fasset inspired shirt quilt (Shirt Stripe Boxes)I started last summer.

Oh Mr. Quilter Man!!! I'm bringing a quilt over for you!!!  ;)

Another Flimsy Finish - I'm on HOLIDAYS!!

I used the cut off tri's from my Lucky Stars quilt top to make HSTs, then arranged them into this doll-sized quilt. It's about 20" by 25".

I also pieced together the back of my Shirt Stripes Boxes quilt last night, and I'll have to take a photo later, because it turned out very interesting! It took a total of 19 shirts to piece both the back and front, though many of them were children's and ladies' sized shirts. If I had been able to find more men's shirts, it would have taken fewer.

And here is my partner in crime!

No more pencils! No more books!

I finished piecing my Shirt Stripes Boxes quilt top. The Kaffe Fassett pattern showed three 18" wide strips, but I added a fourth to make it 72" across.

Here's an interesting link for you: Quilts, Quilters, Quilting, and Patchwork in Adult Fiction.

I was interested to read in the Super Shopper Weekly News that the local public library is now offering audiobooks online that can be downloaded for free. I'm very excited about this! I tried to look into this, but I didn't see a link anywhere on the library website, so I'll have to go in and check it out.

I'd like to work on some UFO's while I'm on my short vacation. I've promised myself not to start ANY new projects, and to use what I have in my stash already - -NO BUYING! How do you suppose I'll do?