Chookshed Challenge

 

My Chookshed Challenge for Sept is Machine Applique. This is timely. I have about 100 hexie flowers to assemble for Stonefields. I am doing them by maxhine. I have many hexies prepped and ready to sew together for the border. I am starting at the other end of this quilt. Not sure why other than I can. I actually have a lot done so far. I am impressed with my productivity. Now to keep the momentum going. 

There are only 46 more flying geese to make for this border. I think I have most of the coloured bars cut out just need to cut more background squares. This will be my OMG goal for Sept. I am doing the sew and flip method. I like it. I will have a lot of 3/4 inch HST eventually for something mini. 

Devan and I are using them for leader enders. She is progressing with her Jelly Roll quilt. I will show pictures when her flimsy is ready. I am looking forward to that since she is using the big design wall and I want to put up all the Stonefields blocks and borders as I complete them. 

I am working on prepared edge applique. The one using starch and a brush and a hot iron. Not sure if I like it, but I will have lots of practice now that I have started. No hand applique for me for now. 

Check out on how Gretchen and Rebecca are doing. We are all making this quilt at the same time. I love that about this project. I am so inspired by their progress. 

Blessings,

Chris 

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We are Selling the Cows

 Who would have thought my Sweetie would suddenly, one day, announce that he was going to sell all the cows. This is no small matter. He has milked cows since he could walk and the Guernsey cows have been in the family for 92 years. But selling we are. 

Hence, my not completing my October OMG. Nor did I do any work on my book since that day. And the wedding quilt that was my OMG is still on the design wall in many pieces. The phone has not stopped ringing and I am on facebook constantly monitoring the sensational buzz we have created in the cow world. And emails have to be dealt with.

The whole selling the cows went from a simple selling 10 cows to one farmer, then he bought 20 more and we got a call and visit from a cattle auctioneer in Quebec and suddenly we are having an online video sale of 6 select cows and 45 heifers and calves and the rest being bought also. They have been clipping and grooming calves for days and the photographer is out there now taking portrait picture of all the girls. 

I took the Elly and Devan for a sleepover at our daughters this weekend and after the boys went to bed (they always go earlier than the girls), I pulled out the Rose of Sharon applique borders and had the girls pulling out the freezer paper from with the machine applique flowers. We will do the leaves today and tomorrow. I anticipate having the top to flimsy stage by Friday (I am such a dreamer), but the wedding is 12 days away and the long arm is booked. 

The online auction is only 10 days away. And I am playing games. Does not make any sense to me either. I have a clear schedule for this whole week and should get back to work. 

I think my OMG goal for November has to be completing the Biblical Blocks Quilt. And then I really should take time away from the computer because my eyes are starting to bother me as in everything is a bit foggy. I cannot make an appointment with my eye doctor as they have quietly been on strike for the past 2 months. I am on the priority list for appointments when they get back to serving us seniors who have OHIP. And the pain in my right hand has escalated in the past few months to the point that I have to do something different. Cutting back on sugar is the first thing and stopping playing games which requires a lot of mousing. Buying a new mouse and keyboard will certainly help since I often have to click and swipe 2-3 times for every function as well as certain keys refusing to cooperate. 

I will be back at the end of the month to let you know how I did. 

Blessings,

Chris

Change of OMG Plan

 So we got a phone call from an old friend inviting us to his wedding next month reminding us that I promised him a quilt. That means my OMG for October now is to have this quilt to a flimsy ready to get machine quilted. I can still do the Stitch for 15 Minutes a day thing but with this Biblical Blocks Quilt.

There are still 6 blocks to make. One is already cut out and ready to machine applique. All the borders are machine appliqued, just waiting to be sewn onto the quilt before adding the final flowers in the corners and between the swags to center them nicely. Fortunately, the teacher for this class had us cut ALL the borders and connecting triangles, including labeling them, first before making the blocks with the rest. Everything has been sitting in a project box for at least 15 years awaiting completion.

Wish me luck.

Blessings,

Chris

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March 2021 OMG Goal

Sometimes I agonize about what to choose for my OMG goal each month. Often I pick a goal and promptly work on something else. So, what if I were to suggest the choice of 2-3 different goals and complete one but not the others? Would that still count? Food for thought. 

One of the goals I have been thinking about is to remove some of the sashings already sewn onto the completed Ella blocks and redo them. I want to take a full quarter-inch seam allowance and show less brown, then sew sashing strips onto the rest of the completed blocks. I like to put them up on the big design all to look at and choose more colours, but that is a lot of work with so many pieces. 

Another goal could be to play a bit of catch-up on the pieced Ella blocks. There are far more applique blocks in the quilt. 

These are the 7 blocks I complete in Feb.

There are only 3 more months of blocks to be released and my goal is to have a flimsy by June. That is a lot of work. 

Then there is The QAL 2021 The Curves. To keep on track for that, I will have to sew all the blocks together but there will be a couple of hundred leaves yet to fuse, cut out, and applique on by machine. That will be a lot of work.  And, of course, I have to choose a final layout. It is a reproduction quilt but the little girls might talk me into adding a few modern dragonflies or butterflies. Wait a minute. Devan is learning to sew curves on the machine. I wonder? 

The RSC colour for March is green and I have all the green blocks complete for Bright Jane. I made exactly none of the yellow last month. 

So now that I have laid it all out like this, The Curves needs to be at the top of the OMG list to keep on track for that QAL. 

And in other news here at the Farm, My Sweetie's 92-year-old mother's toaster caught fire and she exited the house very quickly to get help. Five fire trucks, EMS, police, and road closure in rush hour traffic later, her kitchen was badly damaged. So one blessing is that she is no longer living alone in her house but staying with her youngest son here on the farm with family to look after her. 

Blessings,

Chris

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Completed OMG April 2019

I had 4 goals for my one-monthly-goal.

1.

I completed 2 Beyond the Cherry Trees blocks. 

These blocks were mostly needle-turned hand appliqued a long time ago

but now they are both complete. 

This flower had to wait until the end before it could go on since there are  many layers of stems and leaves and buds and it had to cover all of them at the same time. I re did some of the stems because they were too short to fit. First I appliqued on the red flower

Then I appliqued on the cream center. I stitched around the outside 

then did a reverse applique to expose the red center.

This next step was a bit tricky. 

I did a wavy cut in the middle of the cream

so I could do some more reverse applique.I have discovered the trick to a tiny seam allowance is to 

clip a very tiny cut into the concave curve. I used to cut them too deep and had trouble turning it smoothly. Practice.  

Okay. I admit. Those curves are not that great, but have you ever seen a perfect flower?
I have to remember that this is a reproduction of a red and green quilt from the 1850's
and there are a lot of wonky, ripply and less than perfect flowers and stems
that are amazing and I love every one of them.  

Another BTCT block. 

Again, practice and I got those green circles pretty smooth. 

I still have about 200 cherries to stitch onto the borders. 

2.

Six Morrell blocks finally got machine appliqued down. 

There will be lots more of these in the future. 

3.

The Almost Amish Double Irish Chain will finish at just over 100 inches square. 

Good thing I decided to not add the extra 2 rows of blocks.

It will go back into the quilt cupboard to be quilted some other time. 

4.

Also, I added 3200 words to SMOWJ, which should be at least the equivalent of 2 chapters.

and I have been reading and watching on-line lectures for one of my courses. 

So a very productive month. I have been trying to get to the local pool 2-3 times a week 

for waterfit. I managed to go 4 times a week back in March after all the little 

kidos stopped being sick and the snow went away.

Now to decide what my OMG will be for May. 

It will be small and simple. I hope. 

Blessings,

Chris

Everyone Needs a Week at a Quilt Retreat

It is hard to believe that the Shipshewana Quilt Retreat was a whole week ago. Where does the time go?  I had taken 5 projects to work on. I worked on 4 of them. I am such a dreamer and maybe a bit lacking in time management skills but we won't go there. At least not for now.

I took Almost Amish Irish Chain an old ufo to work on. It was supposed to be simple. I thought maybe 2 days to sew it together. But on day 3, Saturday, I realized that I was short on the tone on tone white background fabric so bought something similar and cut out the strips only to realize that I need yet more strips so back to the quilt shop. When I got home and continued to work on it, I found that I had cut many of the strips 3 x 7 instead of the required 3 x 8. So, I decided the finished size would be 84 x 84 before borders instead of 84 x 108. Now to sew all those blocks together before they fall off the wall or get mixed up.

I did get a bit of hand work done on one Beyond the Cherry Trees Block. I don't know why I did not do more hand work. The fact that I went shopping 5 times, had three 3 hour naps, went to the pool 4 times and talked half the night with my roommates, has nothing to do with that. At least I don't think it does.

I have yet to complete the insides of those 3 flowers and create 2 more. They will be challenging. But then, I always liked a challenged. At least that is what I have often said.

I will be working on this block and prepping the next one as my Slow Sunday Stitching project.


I used some of the red and white bits I had cut out with the GO Baby 2 years ago for the 150 Canadian Women BOW as leaders and enders. I did get 6 Morrell blocks machine appliqued. That was easy once I found the missing presser feet and bobbins. What I did not pull out to work on is the machine applique Huguenot Friendship Quilt Blocks. Maybe next retreat.

Oh, I also wrote a couple of chapters for SMOWJ. So the retreat was quite successful after all.

Blessings,
Chris

April 2019 OMG

My April one-monthly-goal will be

• to complete the Almost Amish Irish Chain to a flimsy
• to complete 2 BTCT hand applique blocks
• to complete the machine applique on 6 Morrell blocks
• to complete at least 2 more chapters on SMOWJ

And this is not an April Fools joke. 

I will be taking all this to the Shipshewana retreat next week.

I almost added complete the machine applique on the rest of 36 Huguenot Friendship Quilt but that would be a joke. But I might get it done also. 

Now to finish packing the project boxes. I need to find some thread to machine applique the hearts and the cone of Vanilla Milkshake thread for the Morrell blocks and a seam ripper. I have several. I should be able to locate one to take along. And travel insurance and US cash. I better get busy. 

Blessings,

Chris

Spring and the Shipshewana Quilt Retreat

The quilt retreat in Shipshewana Indiana is fast approaching. It officially begins 2 weeks from tomorrow but we plan to arrive Monday April 8 in the afternoon for a whole week of time away from home responsibilities and little people. Not that I don't like spending time with little people, but this is a quilting retreat. It will be me-time for those of us going. The retreat was sold out weeks ago so it will be a full room of quilters quilting quilts. I have been considering what projects to take along and have narrowed the list down to 5.                                        

1. Beyond the Cherry Trees

I have been working on this hand applique sampler from 

sentimental stitches

on and off for nearly 5 years. It is on now. There are just 4 more of the 25 sixteen inch blocks left to complete. Then the borders. 

This is my hand applique project for this year. 

2.  Huguenot Friendship Quilt

This was an impulse purchase a year ago. All the blocks are laser cut fusible appliques that I arranged and pressed into place. I have some of them machine appliqued down but still many of the 36 blocks to go. It is on my 2019 ufo list. 

3. Morrell Sampler

There will be 60 ten inch blocks and a twenty inch center block. 

I have several more than these blocks fused and pressed onto background squares ready to machine applique in place. Hopefully I will get a few more arrangements made now that I have located some amazing chintz fabrics in my cupboard. 

4. Almost Amish Irish Chain 

This is another ufo I want to complete this year. 

I thought it would be a super simple project for the retreat since all the hard work is done and I only have to sew everything together. 

Not quite. I still have to prep the heart applique shapes and I plan to practice 

the turned-edge-with-starch method. 

5. 150 Canadian Women

This is not on my ufo list for this year but it lends itself well for a 

leader-ender project so that it will be. 

There are many of the 6 inch squares already cut out and ready for stitching just waiting for me to pay attention to it. 

 

I still have some machine quilting to do on Dear Daughter

 before we leave so I can take it for show and tell. 

I have not done much of any kind of quilting this past month. What I did do was look after  my wonderful little boy and little girl grandchildren. March Break ended up being one sick week. Literally. Seven of the 9 people here were sick with a stomach bug that lasted for 2 days each. Fortunately for me, the little children's parents were both here to tend to the details and clean ups. I remained healthy. What I did do, however, was read 7 of the 8 Anne of Green Gables books. I read the 8th one last month. I also reached level 1000 of Candy Crush. I decided to retire there. I have written several thousand words for my book SMOWJ and the research continues. Now to finish the machine quilting so I can start quilting the next one while everything is ready. Spring is here and little things are popping up in my flower beds and the lawn is beginning to look a bit green. 

Blessings, 

Chris

BTW Sun I woke up to 3 inches of snow. 

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End of May 2018 Progress

A Heart a Day for the Month of May

I have been enjoying  hand appliqueing hearts onto these 4 inch squares.
This challenge came from Deb at Happy to be Scrappy
I missed one day but have caught up. Have no idea where this will lead,
but it has been an interesting lesson in slowing down and doing one small thing consistently.
 I decided that if I do it in the morning it is enjoyable, but, if I leave it until night, it becomes something that HAS to be done and is no longer fun. There are still 6 to stitch.
This is one of my new 6 & 6 for 2018 Challenge.

Bright Jane

This one came out to play this spring and the  superscrappy RSC  colour for May has been pink/rose.
 I am using one of my Featherweights. I have been doing foundation piecing on the blocks this past year because I have all the foundation patterns prepared and printed onto Carol Doak's special paper left over from my first Dear Jane quilt that I completed in 2014 but am still machine quilting.
And
I added sashing strips to the right side and bottoms of most of the finished blocks
in preparation to assemble the top some day.
The blocks are 4 1/2 inches. There will be 169.

I had all 60 completed blocks and the bright border flags up on the design wall and asked the little boys to take them down and put them into project boxes. They could not reach the top row even on the 3-step stool. But I have new converts to play with my blocks.
 Jonathan had walked into the quilt room and exclaimed "WOW!" when he saw them. 

David had not noticed but came and gave me hugs and kisses first.

Dear Daughter

My OMG one-monthly-goal for May was to complete the hand applique on 4 blocks and add the sashing and cornerstones. I was ahead since I made several extra donuts and 3 alternate blocks. Next month there will be a couple of flower blocks. I intend to make the easier ones and skip the more intricate if I can. But then there will be 2 bird blocks in November and I am looking forward to making them. These blocks finish at 8 inches and the sashing is 3 inches.

Huguenot Friendship Quilt

After sewing on the Dear Daughter sashing and cornerstones, I changed the thread to red silk and continued machine appliqueing these blocks with a fine straight stitch using the Bernina.
 It is really boring but this is an impulse project and I work on it between other things.
It will get exciting again when I can put the border together after
all the blocks are complete and the center assembled.
These 36 blocks will be 8 inches set on point with alternate white squares and setting triangles
with an applique border.

Antique Wedding Sampler

For some crazy reason, I pulled out the kits I purchased from Homestead Hearth 2-3 years ago and started working on just one block. Then, since I was prepping corner appliques for one, it was easy to prep them for 2 others, so I did. I had photocopied the patterns onto extra heavy freezer paper and cut out the diamonds and triangles for 3 sunflower blocks when I was in Shipshewana in April.
I stitched these together by hand using an English paper piecing technique.
 Still not decided if I like doing this or not.
These blocks are 12 inches. There will be 25 of them set on point.

Morrell

Yes. I did work on 2 more Morrell blocks. And I completed them.

All 105 pieces of the 3 Flying Geese units.
 I still have several more blocks that I had prepped ready to foundation piece
a couple of years ago. There will be 60 ten inch blocks and
a 20 inch center block.
Someday.

90 Day One Big Thing

I completed one course for my Doctorate in Christian Counseling
and submitted it. 

I continued working on another only to discover that,
where I thought I was close to the end, there were still no less than 12 more books to read
and
an entire 12 week study to work my way through.
 Sigh.
Oh well. It will be a good foundation for my dissertation.
Good thing I bought all the books when I first started it 2 years ago.
This course is about bringing healing to broken women.

And all this because I stopped playing computer games.
 Imagine that. 

Blessings,
Chris

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Shipshewana Quilt Retreat April 2018

We left my place at 6 in the morning on Tues and arrived a bit before 3 in the afternoon. Since it was too early to check in we went shopping.

I took along 3 Antique Wedding Sampler kits in case I had extra time and wanted to do some hand work. I cut out all the little bits from extra heavy freezer paper and will do these by English Paper Piecing.

The retreat did not start until noon Wed so we went shopping. I bought a few fat quarters.

Wed night and Thurs  morning I sewed sashing strips and corner stones for Dear Daughter. I completed 2 blocks. I had stitched on the alternate block on the left last week when I was getting the oil changed in my car. I always get the oil changed before a road trip. Decided to leave the snow tires on. Good thing. We went shopping.

Thurs we went to see the musical Half Stitched. It is based on the book by Wanda Brunstetter set in Shipshewana with a quilting theme. We got
front row seats because we could. Then we went shopping.

There are so many of the most beautiful wide backs available these days. I only bought 5. Some of them are 115 inches wide. All these in anticipation of completing a few really big quilts.

Fri I worked on some yellow Bright Jane blocks.

Did I mention we went shopping? I bought a few Di Ford-Hall fat quarters and yardage.

Sat I worked on 2 Morrell blocks. I have to replace that one white piece on the end. And we went shopping.

Sunday I did some machine applique on the Huguenot Friendship Quilt using red silk thread. When the thread broke twice, I stopped.

The original Dear Daughter Quilt came out to play so I got to look really, really close at the blocks and sentimental inscriptions. It took my breath away with its simple beauty. I think I will change the green I started to use and find something softer.







I cannot understand why I did not get more sewing done in the 5 whole days we were there.

There was a severe winter (in mid April) storm in Ontario, but we left for home Mon morning and after 8 hours on the road, we arrived at the Farm where I got my car stuck in the snow.

Until next time,
Blessings,
Chris

April 2018 Goals

I belong to several (18) facebook groups. Most of them are quilting groups.

 One of them is for the 1718 Coverlet that was made in 1718 a mere 300 years ago. There is a bit of a stir going on in the UK commemorating this amazing needlework which is the oldest known quilt in existence in the UK. I started mine on a whim 3 years ago after visiting my sister in England just as the pattern book was released. There have been numerous posting on the facebook group of completed and wannabes. I did not add this to my 12 ufos in 2018 but I think I might just do that.
Actually, I was looking for a blog post that had "gold" in it for Val's Tuesday Archives and this popped up.
 I have no intentions of trying to complete the thing this year or next, but I did pull the box out and revisited some of the completed blocks. I count 16. It appears that I took time to organize fabrics and cut out some freezer paper templates for the first 3 rows.

The RSC colour for April is yellow and gold. So, I decided it was time for Bright Jane to come out to play since winter is over. These are the yellow blocks I did not make last year. No idea how many I will make this year. Just in case, I pre-washed some more background and cut lots more strips and squares so I am ready.

 In the meantime, I am packing my bags to go to the Shipshewana Retreat  next week. I have been looking forward to this all winter when I get to play with my quilting friends for a whole week. Well, almost. We leave here early Tues morning and return the following Monday. It is a 7 hour drive each way. I am driving. I will buy chocolate to munch on. I have only 3 project boxes packed and ready to go. There will be 2 others with me and my stuff in my car so I am planning to go light.

1. I will be doing some more foundation piecing for my Morrell. I had all the fabric strips cut and the foundation papers cut and ready to go a few months ago. So I only had to put them in a project box. I have new insights to Broderie Perse applique, both by hand and machine. Some of these blocks will have flowers and birds stitched down with a narrow blanket stitch by machine. 

2. My Bernina is in for servicing before I start the machine applique on the Huguenot Friendship Quilt. I hope it gets back in time.

 I bought this on impulse (no surprise) when I saw an ad pop up on facebook. (I really need to stay away from there.)

This is a pre-fused kit and I have all 36 blocks arranged and pressed onto background squares. I am considering using a simple straight stitch with silk thread to match. I will test it out on some scraps first.

3. I have many strips cut to make up all the sashing and cornerstones for Dear Daughter. This is the newest block of the month from sentimentalstitches. 

This will be my hand stitching project for this month. The April blocks have been released and I have them all prepped and ready to hand applique. None of those in the picture are stitched down yet. 

My one-monthly-goal for April will be to make all the sashing and corner stone units for Dear Daughter AND complete the hand applique on the first 8 blocks. This should be doable since I have quite a few prepped already and will be Slow Sunday Stitching for a few minutes before all the grand children come for a sleepover at the FARM. There is no school on Monday and there will be no me time for the rest of the week.

Blessings,
Chris