Quick Fall Quilt

Today I came across a storage bin full of kits that I had totally forgotten about.  Some I had purchased from Sew Divine (my local quilt shop) and quite a few that were gifts from friends and family over the past few years.  Mostly DH and DS.

With nothing planned for the day I decided to make up the first one in the pile.
After reading the instructions (yes DS....I actually RTFM), I went to work (okay...play).   Four hours later, which included a break for lunch, here's the first kit completely finished:

Now to decide if I work on the quilt that's on my frame.  Or play with another kit.  I noticed another lovely fall hanging in that bin.....

Birthday Quilt Finished

I was asked to make a Florida quilt for a friend's husband.  The catch was the quick turn around time.  The request came last Thursday and the husband's birthday is this Wednesday.  One week to make the quilt.

A quick search turned up the centre of a quilt I got started making with left over pieces ages ago.  It was put away when a new project was started and forgotten about.  Time to get a few borders on this centre.

At least I had kept all the complimentary fabric needed in the same tote bag.  No time wasted trying to find just what was needed in my stash.  It was all there waiting.

A day or so later and the top was ready to go on the frame.  No batting.  Off to the store to pick that up.  Then, what I thought I'd use for backing just would not work.  Off to the fabric store.  Fortunately I found just the right fabric on sale.  It was the end of the bolt.  Only 5" longer than what I needed. 

Bailey felt like sewing.  Only time I had to stop was to change the bobbin.
Even the binding went on smoothly.  This is too easy.  I was right.  Way too easy.

I used a decorative stitch on the top to stitch the binding down.  It looks great on the front of the quilt.  Turn it over and it's very wavy.  I'm not pleased with that at all.  But the front looks great!  So I'm not redoing it.  I just know that it wouldn't be any better the second time around.  Hope he likes it!

Another UFO Done!

Quite a while back Sew Divine had a fun fabric line they were selling that reminded me of Florida.  Disney World to be specific.

The quilt top was quickly made.  And then forgotten about.  It was rediscovered when looking for the next top to put on the quit frame.  It's time had come.

Just before the quilting started, I happened upon a video on using the Bailey sewing machine.  I had been missing a thread guide completely.  Time to fix that.  Full of confidence I re threaded my Bailey and promptly broke a needle.  Three broken needles later and a whole lot of broken thread, both upper and bobbin, I decided the heck with this.  I went back to giving that thread guide a miss.  Within a few hours the quilt was finished.  The only stopping happened at the end of the row or when the bobbin thread ran out.  Now that's fun quilting.

So here's the Florida quilt:

The quilting is swirls, waves and water plants (more or less).  Free motion at it's most fun.

When we stay at the Disney resorts, one of the things we enjoy seeing are the turtles.  There are a few of those in this quilt:

At EPCOT we always try to make time to see the dolphins:

Animal Kingdom flamingos:

And of course, the French Fry Stealer:

DH was busy over the weekend.  He decided to pick up a wind turbine to compliment his solar panels.  It's not mounted on a tower yet.  Hopefully soon!

This will be the second wind turbine on our block.  Hopefully other neighbours will become interested.

Turtle Power!

Sew Divine (my local quilt shop) gets some of the nicest panels in.  Recently I found a turtle panel there.  It was purchased and stashed away for a while.

After I finished making my Florida quilt top, the fabric left over was stashed away. 

During a sewing room cleaning I re-discovered the turtle panel and wouldn't you know.  The fabric left from the Florida quilt is just right!

So here's the finished quilt.  I quilted a few turtles into the quilt so a close up of one is also shown.

Happy 150 Canada Quilt

The Canada's 150 Birthday quilt is finished.  This quilt must have wanted to get done.  Seldom has a quilt come together at all stages so easily.  And all sides are even!

Next is cleaning the Bailey and loading the next quilt onto the frame.

Gasp....I plan on cooking today.  Pulled beef for sandwiches done in the pressure cooker.   When done in the slow cooker I'll leave it cooking all night.  It will be interesting to see how long it takes in the pressure cooker.

We had a few visitors yesterday evening.  For a while they were not getting along and a few karate kicks and punches were shared.  But they settled down for quite a long visit after a bit.

 Seven rabbits showed up.

Two months update

It's been two months since my last post.  Time flies?  Not really.  It seems like a very long time.

DS has moved into his home.  The condo sold.  He injured his eye just before his move.  Had an operation mid May.  Still in quite a bit of discomfort.  But he's home and has his cats back with him.  It's just going to take longer to get everything set up the way he wants.

DH injured his back.  He's just now starting to get his mobility back.  Still has some bad days.  It has not been easy getting the plants in and keeping the yard up.

My cataract surgery went well.  I can't wait until I can start wearing prescription glasses again.  Getting tired of the blurry life.  But there are some things to be said for not being able to see clearly.  I don't see the house work that needs to be done!  My leg is doing much better.  I only limp when I over do the walking.

Enough about health issues!  Lets talk quilting.  Not being able to see things clearly hasn't kept me from sewing.  As soon as I had the lifting and bending restrictions lifted, I was back in the sewing room.

One of my first projects was to embroider Daisy on to a friend's hat.  She wanted to individualize her hat from the thousands sold at Disney World.  Not many Daisy hats out there.

Some of the quilters on the hearts2hands group were talking about their Canada 150 Birthday quilts.  I searched my stash and found a panel and co-ordinating fabric.  Enough to make a small quilt along with the backing.  Here's Phileas checking it out.  The top is on my quilt frame at the moment.  Hopefully the quilting will be finished this evening or some time tomorrow.

Then I was given the opportunity to test a pattern for PineRose Designs.  Sorry, no early viewing of the top.  But I can show you the backing I pieced for the runner.

I can' wait to show off the finished project.  This was fun to make!

Now for something scary.  Mom decided she wanted an electric pressure cooker.  After much research and pricing, she decided on an Oster brand.  She is really enjoying using it.  So being a good mom, she decided to get me one as well.

As stated many times in the past....I really do not like to cook.  But I must say that using the pressure cooker has been interesting and so far - no flops.  So who knows.  If I can get DH to start eating stews, chili and soup, I just may start cooking on a regular basis.  I know that there are loads more that can be made in the pressure cooker.  But those are the things I like the most.  So there.

Virtual Retreat Weekend

The hearts2hands Yahoo group held another virtual quilting retreat weekend.  Not as many of us participated but it's still fun to pretend we're all together.

My project was to finish a top that had been on my frame way too long.  Unfortunately DS's cat, Phileas, discovered that quilts on a frame make a very comfortable cat bed.  The backing was a bit more stretchy than the top.  The sagging made getting the rest of the quilting a challenge.

If there hadn't been quite a bit of quilting already done on this quilt the solution would have been to remove it from the frame.  Then steam and press the fabrics in the hope of getting the stretch out.  But this was not an option.  So I did the best I could.  Few pleats, but lots of puckers.

Next step was to trim the backing and bat.  Phileas had to help with that.  Just as the ruler was in place and the rotary cutter to be used, he would jump at the quilt in an effort to pull it down to the floor.  What a helper.  No accidental cuts fortunately.  Bonnie got involved of course by sitting on the quilt to keep it from moving.  Even when it needed to be moved. 

Once the binding was added the quilt was washed and dried.  Using a lot of heat.
Here's the result:

You would think Phileas would be more complementary about the finished product since he was so involved in it.