Quilting and other Things

Thursday evening I finished adding borders to another of the $10 quilts -- Spring from 2004.  Now Nana`s Farm needs borders and then everything is up to quilting except the few that are actually quilted.  Nothing like a reunion at the end of November to get me moving on the todo's. I finally brought the applique pins downstairs so I should get going on Love Entwined again.  The crown is cut out I just need to pin it in place so I can start stitching. Yesterday Karen & I went over to Waterloo to see the Waterloo Quilt Guild Show.  It was an excellent show.  A very talented group of quilters.  The big disappointment is no sharing photos without permission of the member and the guild so those photos will stay on my computer. Afterwards we drove to Crosshill to the Waterloo Cornmaze where we spent a couple of hours trying to find our way through the maze. We made a start and didn`t seem to be getting anywhere so Karen took my camera and went bac...

I finished appliqueing the borders while I was on holidays for All Things Christmas. I didn't get the top together in time for guild this month cause I had a nap that afternoon instead. Seemed more important at the time. The top is now done and the binding is made. There are a number of buttons and bows and other embellishments to add once its quilted. This years $10 quilt is Bringing Home the Tree. I spent yesterday cutting out the rest of the shapes and they are now finger pressed in place. I've used the iron on the house, the barn, the bridge and the horse/waggon but not on the top itself so its still easy to lift things up and move them around. Next is thread painting and stitching things down. That will take a little while. I did get the freezer paper templates traced for the next part of Love Entwined but haven't picked fabrics yet. Also found new fabrics for Road to Llano and have re-made the parts that need re-making. I'm almost ready to start...

For Love Entwined this week, I've been working on the tiny circles. I used the sandpaper and circle template to prepare the circles for needle turning. I traced them one size larger than I wanted so when turning under the line, they'd end up the correct size. At first I thought those circles were going to be hard but in the end they were quick to stitch down. Yesterday I got the background prepared and the centre stitched on. Now I'm debating about the colours for the crown that surrounds the centre and its flowers.   The centre and inner borders were added to the Christmas quilt. I'll putter away at the applique for the outer border. One thing I learned about with this BOM was even if you are not going to stitch right away, you should probably check the material supplied when you get home. A couple of pieces were cut incorrectly -- one wasn't a huge problem but another was cut at the finished size instead of with seam allowance.

In July Karen & I got a membership at the zoo.  Among other things over the course of the summer it allows us to go in at 8 am to see the Pandas.  The zoo itself doesn't open until 9.  Last Saturday I was awake early so decided to head over to the zoo to see the Pandas.  I was there a few minutes before 8 and there was a family of 4 waiting to go in but other than that the place was empty. I didn't spend a lot of time reading the information panels in the exhibit building before the pandas but the family must have lingered there because I was able to spend about 5 minutes alone with the female panda watching her enjoy her bamboo and listen to the train go past.  This is Er Shu.  When the other family came out, I went around to where Da Mao, the male panda lives and had about 5 minutes alone admiring him. I think the black disk holds some treats for him.  The sign mentioned apples.  Some things they have to work to find.  La...

I've been working All things Christmas and the blocks are now complete as well the embroidery.  There are buttons, ribbons and beads to add once the top is quilted.   I can now piece the top together and start working on the borders.  The second border has some more appliqué in it. I also have finally made a decision about the background for Love Entwined.  It will be a light green.  The compass is now stitched to a square and I'm ready to start making tiny circles to go around it,  I've found my circle template and the size of the finished circle .  also found my sandpaper board so I have some to gripe the fabric as I trace the fabric.  Part 3 was released this week and I'm still puttering on part 1.  Now that the background is decided I can get things prepared and it should move along. I've spent the last two evenings tracing onto steam a seam, the rest of the pieces for Bringing Home the Tree, this years $10 quilt. ...

They forecast-ed rain for yesterday afternoon so after going to the farmer's market for my Saturday Peameal Bacon Bun followed by picking up Corn-on-the-cob, peaches, cherries, mushrooms, tomatoes, cucumbers and bing cherries, I came down and played with some quilts. Had a wonderful time but some of this weekends work may evolve into What Was I Thinking. First up was to get a compass prepared for hand-stitching for Love Entwined .  Part 1 and 2 of this BOM are published.  I'm part way through Part 1 and need to decide what background to use.  I turned under the edges of the compass and its centre and laid them out on 4 different colours -- black, white, pale green and pale pink.  Black White Pale Green Pale Pink I don't have enough of any of them for the background requirements but I liked these ideas. Need to decide soon so I can complete step one which involves many very tiny circles on a ring that surrounds the compass.  This is de...

From Alliston, we headed over to East Gwillumbury and Sharon Temple . I loved the setting.  It was hard to focus on the quilts sometimes.  I kept wanting to move them out of the way.  Lots of lovely quilts though and I enjoyed the show. Some more fun quilts. The ballarina quilt was made for the lady's grand-daughter who is only two. Grandma is hopeful that the quilt will inspire some dreams. I've seen one other version of the Hart's Content quilt and it was just as fun. The buildings all have fabric specific to what the shop sells. Really fun to examine. Cecile Lavas - Alanna's Quilt Cecile Lavas - Alanna's Quilt Detail Amy Hart - Hart's Content - My Kinda Place I like this take on a one block wonder. The design was a necessity brought on by lack of fabric but what a wonderful solution to the problem. Helen Badgerow - Peacock Beauties Helen Badgerow - Peacock Beauties Detail 1 Helen Badgerow - Peacock Beauties Detail 2 ...