Quilting and other Things

 I keep getting sidetracked at the beginning of the month and forgetting to create a goal to link up with Patty's One Monthly Goal   Over the summer I didn't do much quilting but spent some time working on cleaning up my Lightroom Library and cataloging photos and learning more about photoshop.  The last couple of months, I've puttered at my version of the guilds BOM for Canada's Sesquicentennial in 2017, finished the top for my Cherrywood challenge and started some online classes with a class pass from Thimbles and Things    One of the classes was walking through a slightly different way to approaching paper piecing a Violet Craft pattern (elephant, wolf, leopard, unicorn etc).  I really don't like paper piecing but keep seeing patterns I like that require paper piecing.  So I took the class and learned a new technique.  The instructor had us download the free butterfly pattern to start with and I also downloaded the Field Mouse and that was the pattern I worked on

Yvonne  has a mid year review link up this month.  My wrist healed well and I've been back quilting since the end of February / early March although it was limited at first.   Quilting: 1.  Clean and organize quilt room (and office since they are in the same area). Despite staying at home for the last several months, its still not as organized as I would like.  Parts are tidied and parts are still a mess.  Some things need to be taken up to the recycling station now that its open and that will help the cleanup.  I did move part of the office to another area of the house which will free up a bit of room and may result in a bigger reorganization. 2.  I'm going to continue with the Motivation Monday ideas.  I'm still working on the list I created for 2017.  The goal at the time was to move things forward.  I think that will still be the goal for some things as they are quite large.  The list still includes Canada BOM from Guild 2015/16 Stainglass Manger - finish quilting and b

Oops!  Forgot to post the completed list for June.   I did get Milkweed 3 done in time for show n tell at our Guild meeting at the beginning of the month.  It is now hanging in the entrance way  The quilting was inspired by a fern in a bunch of flowers I had bought for myself.  I took it downstairs and had it sitting near the sewing machine while I quilted.  This wallhanging has a facing rather than binding. The other goal for June was to finish my Cherrywood challenge quilt for the Diana Challenge.  I was making good progress when Cherrywood announced an extension to Dec 31 due to the COVID 19 pandemic.  I finished the step I was working on, washed the piece to get the washout marker out and ironed it.  Its now ready for the pieces to be appliqued on but I've paused to consider if I want to make any changes since I have extra time.  I'll get going on the centre as that won't change.  Maybe by the time that's done, I'll have decided what to do with the four corners.

My first quilting goal is to get my Cherry wood challenge quilt made and submit the picture.  I have a design I think I should be able to complete easily in the month.  I've made a couple of samples of one part out of other material to ensure I know how to do it with the actual material so I think I'm ready to begin.   The second goal is to quilt my Milkweed 3 quilt and get a start on the final winter milkweed quilt.  I have photos selected to base the winter quilt on, I just need to decide how I'm blending them.  I finished the top yesterday and sandwiched it so its ready to quilt this week.  We are having a virtual guild meeting on Thursday so it would be nice to have it quilted by then.  Its about 20 X 30 so not a big wall hanging.   I'm thrilled with the amount of progress over the last few days with this piece.  I'm also loving how its come together.  It was so nice to be chatting with the ladies at Elaine's virtual retreat as I stitched.  I think this one

May was a good month quilt wise.  I had three things that I wanted to accomplish.  The first was my mini quilt swap project, the second was my Milkweed 3 piece and the last was a design for my Cherrywood Challenge. In January I signed up for the Canadian Quilters Association Mini Quilt swap.  I chose to swap by mail as I hadn't planned to attended the conference.  The conference has subsequently been cancelled due to the current COVID-19 pandemic and all the swaps are being done by mail.  The mailing date is June 1st.  My partner and I decided to exchange table runners rather than wall hangings.  The maximum size of wall hanging was 24" square.  I had a list of colours and shapes my partner likes and in an email conversation learned some of the designers she likes.  The starting point was dragon flies.  When I think of dragonflies I think of waterlilies so I needed a pond.  I decided my pond should have a field of flowers and my table runner was born.  It was completed May 24t

I need to get the table runner done for the CQA exchange this month.  It needs to be ready to mail June 1st so its crunch time.  I did spend some time on Thursday and have a two alternate designs.  They are similar so I can choose how to place elements as I proceed.  Designs and finished pieces aren't often the same.  Yesterday I pulled a selection of fabrics.  I'm not sure how many of these will end  up in the runner but it gives me a good starting point. I'll have to double check the selection.  I thought I had a variety of values but this looks like they are all darks or lights.  It may be just they way they are stacked but perhaps I need to look for some additional values. I'd also like to get Milkweed 3 finished and start the design of milkweed 4 which will be a winter scene.  I think it will be smallish but I'm not certain. First up is to make the butterfly and caterpillar and then select the background If time permits I need to get a start on the Cherrywood c