Another Applique Block and the End of the Month

I finished another of Eleanor Burns' applique blocks.  This one is called 'President's Wreath'.  So now I have 6 done and still have 6 to go.

It's the end of February already!  I have nothing totally completed for this month.  Hopefully next month I will.  My sewing machine is still not working as it should.  I need to take it back and see if they can fix it for good this time.  If not, I guess I will have to buy a new machine.  I will wait until the Creative Festival in April when I can compare the major competitors.  What kind of machine do you have?  Do you like it?  Would you recommend it?  Please let me know.

I have been working on the Scrappy Trip Along quilt.  Never thought I would say this, but I think I am getting tired of these blocks.  Maybe I'll put a border on it, of all the left over 2 1/2in squares that I couldn't use in the blocks.

My Soggy White World

We had a storm last night and it's not over yet.  First it rained about 10mm, which then changed to snow.  About 10cm of snow fell, but it packed down and has created a wet, swampy mess.  The guy on the radio cautioned folks to take it easy when clearing their driveways and walks.  It is being called, "heart attack snow".  Needless to say, I won't be going out there to shovel anything.

I took this photo from my back door.  I had to stick my head outside a bit to get this shot.  Water was dripping off the glass roof and onto my head, so I only took this one shot.  The storm came from the west, but the wind was from the east.  I don't understand it either!  LOL  You can see how the wet snow stuck to the east side of everything - the trees, bushes, my fence etc.  A moment after I closed the door, a gigantic chunk of ice slid off the roof and landed in front of the door, right where I had been standing to take the picture.  If I was a cat, that certainly would have been one of my nine lives. So much for winter.  I have had enough.

And now for what I really want to show you today.  I have completed the baby quilt to the flimsy stage.  It is called, "Jungle Path" and is a free pattern that can be found here.  This was really fun to make and I think there will be a few more in my future.  Lots of babies are being born this year.

Evening Blooms

Another one of Eleanor Burns' Applique in a Day blocks done.  This is block 5.  It is called 'Evening Blooms'.  I already had the pieces prepped for this one, otherwise I would have changed the bell-shaped flowers to another fabric.  I think the pink is too light.  But this is what I had planned a long time ago when I first decided to make this quilt and so I left it.  I have one more block prepped and then I will chose some different fabrics.  Hope I can match what I have already done.

Family Day

We are celebrating Family Day here in Ontario today.  I believe it is President's Day south of us.  We had a yummy  family dinner yesterday with salad, roast chicken, stuffing, cranberry sauce, green beans, corn-on-the-cob, potatoes and strawberry shortcake for dessert.  It was my turn to cook dinner.  I was busy all day!

I finished another block for Eleanor Burns' Applique in a Day quilt.  This one was very simple and easy.  But I like it and I am happy that I am getting these UFO blocks done!

It is cold right now.  These blocks make me think of spring.  That should be here some time soon.  Right?  So why is it still -10C?  Happy day off for anyone celebrating it.

Happy Heart Day

This is an ongoing project.  I know it's something new for me, but I am only going to make 1 or 2 of these blocks per week.  They are hand appliqued.  The blocks are 6 inches square at the moment, but I think I will cut them down to 5 inch squares before I sew them together.  I thought I would show you my progress since it is Valentine's Day today.

I found the applique along on Francoise's blog.  At first I debated whether I should start yet another quilt along.  I had bought a package of dye-cut hearts in bright colours when our guild took a trip down to Keepsake Quilting many years ago.  I have no idea why I bought them.  It was at a time when bright fabrics were just becoming popular.  I guess I loved the fabrics and I needed a souvenir of our trip.

They have sat in my cupboard since that time.  I could never figure out what to make with them.  Then last month Sew Sisters sent me my Bargain Lover's Fat Quarter Club fabrics.  They were bright and perfect for backgrounds.

So I decided to make a few heart appliques.  I don't need 365 of them, so a few per week would be enough for me.  There are 80 hearts in the package and I have a few more bright fabrics that I can make a few more hearts with.  I figure if I make a total of 100 or so I will have enough for a small quilt.

Mimi and I wish all of you a Happy Valentine's Day

Today is Wednesday...

...so I have some flowers to show you.

I have also been making hexies with some of my scraps.  I have no idea where this is going, but it is fun to use up some of my small left overs.  Anything around 2 inches square works.

First Three Applique Blocks

These blocks are from a UFO, a very old UFO.  I started it at least 8 years ago.  Because I joined an applique group a while ago I decided to finish this quilt before I start anything new.  It is from Eleanor Burns' Applique in a Day.

This block is called "Distlefink".

"Fruit Bowl"

"Cherry Wreath"

My darling Mimi is feeling much better.  She is helping me with my quilts and playing with her toys.  She also  chases her 'brother' all over the house.  He really needs the exercise, the little chubby wubby.  Mimi is toothless now and is still getting doses of prednisone for her auto-immune condition.  But she is eating on her own and often raids the hard kibble food dish.  She really likes it and is very good at scarfing down the little hard pieces without teeth.  

Wednesday's Flowers

I finished the top left side of my hexie basket quilt and am now working on the top right side.

Also finished the first month of Terry's quilt along.  Only one of these panels has to be made each month.  So it is easy to keep up.   You can find the quilt on her side bar.  It's called Wiggly Whimsy by Rebecca Silbaugh.  Thanks Terry.

UFO is Now a WIP

I joined an online applique group a few weeks ago.  I saw some gorgeous blocks on there and I wanted to make some.  But I had trouble finding the ones I liked.  I had to order everything online and most patterns were either out of print or too expensive for me right now.

So I thought about some blocks I had started a long time ago - maybe 7 or 8 years.  They were neatly stored in plastic bags, including the backings and most of the prepared applique pieces.  But no patterns.  It took me a while to figure out where I had gotten these from in the first place.  It turns out they are from Eleanor Burn's 'Applique in a Day' book.  I think I might have borrowed it from our guild's library, but it is no longer there.  So I looked around to buy one online and ran into the same issues as the other applique patterns.  They were either out of stock or no longer available.

On Saturday I had to go over to Sew Sisters to get some background fabric for the baby quilt.  I asked Judy if she had Eleanor's pattern.  She said she could order it for me.  But after checking her computer, so could not find it and presumed that it was out of print.  She looked some more, on other sites, and then suddenly left the computer and ran into the back room of the store.  She came out with Eleanor's book and handed it to me.  She had forgotten that she had it.  She told me to borrow it for as long as I needed to, even 2 or 3 years if need be.  I had her write her name in the book so that I would remember who had lent it to me.  I was so excited!  What a great quilt shop.  They certainly have my business for life now..  

Here are some of the blocks.

The centre one was totally finished and the fruit bowl just needs some grapes.  The cherry one is what I have been working on over the past couple of evenings.  This is so cool!  I now have the pattern I have something to appliue.  I can finish this quilt now.  I really liked it when I started it so long ago

It's Ground Hog Day

Will he see his shadow?  Apparently not.  Wiarton Willy has officially declared an early spring.

I can't believe that it is February already.  I wanted to finish the Super Heroes quilt last month, but I ran out of sashing.  So this morning I made some more.

I also did a block as a prototype for a baby quilt I want to make.  The baby is due any day now.  The happy Mom and Dad are good friends with my DS.  The quilt is called, 'Jungle Path'.  It is by Moda Bake Shop.  The pattern can be found here, and it's free.  I think I will do mine using wild animal prints.  I have lots of those.  Just need to buy some white fabric today.  I will do that when I take my sewing machine in to be fixed.  Yes!!! I am finally going to get it fixed.  I have been too long without it.

And on a non-quilting note, the following is not fit for human consumption.  I am rendering fat to make into suet balls and bars.  It's pretty disgusting, but the birds love it. And even if we have an early spring, they still need some yummy suet in their diet before it gets here.  Because we all know, you just can't depend on a gigantic rodent for your weather forecasts!