Orca Bay Mystery step 6

I am late in posting these photos but here is step 6. They are Ohio Star blocks. I got them done this week and yesterday I got started on step 7. I thought I would still show you and show you how I was playing around with the different blocks.  Step 7 already shows me I have it wrong but it was still fun to play with the arrangement. I plan to spend New Years Eve doing some sewing on step 7. Step 8 and I think the final step is to be release New Years Day. I hope to get some more sewing on Orca Bay on Sunday too. Maybe I can finish next week.

I got the quilting done on the Dog's Food quilt today. Binding next. I have to pick out what - maybe black. I will get photos when it is all done. The back shows the cool quilting I did.

Rainbow Scrap Saturday

I spotted This Quilt in November and wanted to make one kind of like it. I wanted to use the scrap of scraps to make my blocks. I started the brown one in the last week of Nov and did the pink and lime early in Dec. This past week I got the true red and green blocks done. Over at Soscrappy it is Scrap Saturday were we can post a link for our scrap projects we are working on. Today is the last one for 2011 but she will be working on the challenge again in 2012. I am ahead of the game for 2012 (not behind for 2011). Check it out and join in the fun.

My boxes with what I have left for Red and Green. These two piles are some of the larger piles of scraps I have. I will need to do more scrap busting to get these piles down. I know I have bags and boxes and piles of scraps that could be sorted, only making these boxes fuller. I need more sorting and more sewing the scraps.

I have this shoe box with a pile of scraps left from the 'Bad to the Bone" quilt. I want to make a small quilt using some of these prints, as many of the fabrics do not fit in a colour family as well as others do. I was considering lots of white added in. Some are the trimmings and have great little strips cut and ready to use.

I got my scrap tree really done in time to give at Christmas. It is on the base and glued in place. Sorry for the sun light in the photo but my wall area gets sun in the morning just before I wrapped it.  My sister in law looked happy to get it. I think my Mom may have been a little jealous. I may have to make her one for next year. It can be made with mostly scraps too.   I think I want one too.

I guess I have just commented to a few new scrap projects for the new year.
- Rainbow blocks (need a better name)
- Print scrap quilt
- Two fabric trees

I have been working on a UFO list and now I will have a list of new projects too.

2011 Recap Missed Quilts

I sit under this finished quilt as I write this blog post. I had sometime this summer and fall when I did not have a camera and fell behind on blogging. Tonight I thought I would show you what I did complete this past year. 

 I started this quilt in the fall of 2010 and put it aside till Sept 2011 when I quilted it. I had it ready for the Leduc guild quilt show in October. I quilted a little different this time, making sure to quilt the units in the rows.  

Fish Pond Quilt got quilted in Aug or Sept 2011 and also in time for the Oct quilt show. I was really happy to finish this one. I feel this quilt helped me get my sewing MoJo back on track. Sometime in 2009 and all throughout 2010 I had trouble finding the joy in quilting. I was in a funk. Have any of you had trouble sewing for the joy of it?  I still did the long arm quilting for my customers but did not hang out in my sewing room to work on my quilts. Why was I quilting? Why did it matter? This one was fun to finish yet it was still a challenge. I do not always do patterns. I like to make my own way.

The detail of Fish Pond Quilt. I spent a few(5) days quilting this one. I know one day was spend digging out and looking for patterns I could quilt with. I also used some 12 wt thread for some of the quilt patterns. Much of the work was free hand. It turned out great. After the guild quilt show, I left it in the living room to use. My son #2 now snuggles under it tonight.

Custom saddle pad for horse back riding. I used a few recycled wool blankets and some wool batting and a black cotton on top.  It was thick to quilt and I had some thread troubles but I was pleased. It has the straps to hook on to my saddle and girth and stay in place when I ride. The other side has my horses name on it. It was finished in Aug of 2011 and is well used already this year.

This is the dog quilt. I got the top done at retreat in Oct. It now is on the quilt machine and should be done very soon. It is the disappearing nine patch.  I am still laughing at a junk food quilt for the dog. All his favourite   foods.

One last small sewing project. A bag for our high line ropes when we tie the horses in the mountains. It is made with the leg of a old pair of jeans. It close and holds the rope from running every were. And it can be hung up. 

I am considering on making a list of my UFO. I have many, and many are very old. I know I will not finish them all this year nor will I every finish them all. Some UFO may never get done. I think we out grow some projects. Maybe an old class project or a pattern that you did not like once you started it. I also have some smaller quilts that I was playing 'What if' and has no plans to finish as the What if was not working but I have learned from some of them still. I will work on my list and maybe just limit it to quilts I want to finish sooner. 

Happy New Year 

Blocks for Star Struck

I got all the blocks done for my Star struck lime green quilt. It was a pattern I found on Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville web site. It is boxing day and Design wall Monday over at Patchwork Times. I think I am going to use the Blue fabric for a 4 inch boarder. I was thinking of using the extra little triangle in pin wheels and do all the extra piecing for the boarder and make it in lime green but now I like the calming of the blue. What do you think?

I hope to make a post about my orca bay mystery quilt soon. I have my white star blocks done but I still have not got one black block done. Maybe on on Tuesday.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone. This is Lex our sweet Dog. He is wearing his Christmas collar and sitting nice and pretty for my photo. Funny thing from early in the week. Every one but me and the dog were in bed and the dog got sniffing the presents under the tree. One small box for son #2 from son #1 got badly attacked. The dog went nuts for it. Ripping paper and removing the tag and ribbon. I had to take it away. Then in the morning I found he had also chewed a few box corners. What a beast.

Here he is with his holee roller. He just loves to chase these down.

Snow Garden Quilt

 This is another customers quilt I quilted this past November. It is a Christmas gift for her mother in France. I thought it looked a little like a snowflake or a winter flower. I gave it the name Snow Garden Quilt, not my customer. I am not sure if this is a pattern or not. The flower points are curved with a cathedral window curve that is stitched back. 

 

Today is the shortest day of the year, and so very dark every morning and afternoon. Our weather has been not to bad for winter so far but it is still winter. We are expecting just above freezing on the 24th and 25th.  Thinking of flowers and gardens are a must. I moved my orchids around yesterday. Making sure I have all the blooming ones upstairs to enjoy. The photos below is from Maui this past March. Looking at it fills me with the feeling of warm sunshine and happy memories. 

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Maureen's Snowmen

 I have been very busy long arm quilting for my customers this past while. This is one of the more Christmas like quilts I have done. Maureen made this flannel snowmen quilt and asked me to quilt it for her. It is a Christmas present. We used many spirals all over the quilt except were the faces were. I love to do spirals all over by free hand. 

This is most of the quilt. I have been taking the overall photos with the quilt draped over the frame of the machine. It is not always the best photo but it gives you an idea for the whole quilt. If I really need a good all over photo I have to go to my mom's house. She has a large design wall in the basement were we take our photos for quilt shows and have better lights too.

I hope you all enjoy Tuesday Quilt Bee. Thank You also for all the great comments this past while. The comments keep me going. I love to share my work with you but if I do not get comments I start to wonder why am I doing this. So the comments keep me going. Thank You. Also welcome new followers. I have had a few new followers added this past month.

Design Wall Monday

 I made this on the week end. It is not done yet but almost. I have to paint the dowel and the base that my dad has helped me with. I have the parts on a dowel to show you what it looks like. It is a gift for a another sister in law. She already has a pot cover like I showed last week. I am going to add my post to Judy's Design Wall Monday. Check it out Here.

 I was inspired by a tin decoration I saw at Canadian Tire but knew I could make one in fabric. First I drew out a pattern and made plastic templates. I drew the first shape on to phone book pages like Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville would do. I did flip and sew on to the paper. I did two pieces that are mirror images of each others. 

 I used fusible stiff stuff. I forget the name of it. The tag on the roll I have is long gone. I layered each piece of patchwork with a new backing and quilted each piece. Six tree pieces and two star pieces. Once quilted I cut out the correct size and shape. All of the patch work that I did was from my scraps of red and green. I had them out because I was going to do a red block and green block for the Rainbow scrap quilt. That quilt has been inspired by Soscrappy and the ScrapHappy Saturday Here. She also has a give way to celebrate 1000 posts.

I then stitched a zig zag around the outside edges in gold thread. Then I stitched the two halves together leaving a hole at the top on the two bottom units. The star also had a hole at the bottom and was stitched to the top of the tree. The dowel will then hold each piece in place. I am going to go paint my dowel and base today and when dry I can do the final step. I am hoping I can use a glue gun to get each unit to sit on the dowel were I want them too.

Orca Bay Mystery #5 and Cookies

 It is Monday and Bonnie Hunter has the Linky thing up for our progress on her Orca Bay Mystery. I did not get all of step 5 done yet but maybe just short of half of 350. I like this photo of the colour units added in than just black and white. I love working on Black and white but we have done 3 out of 5 steps in black and white.

Here we are making cut out Christmas cookies. These are a family favorite, I have been making them since I was 13 or so. They are a recipe that my great grandmother used, I remember visiting her and getting a animal cookie with coloured sprinkles on it.

I make up the batter the night before and refrigerate. Then we dig out the large bucket of cookie cutters and roll out the dough. The boys are getting big enough that they cut many cookies and are a big help to decorate. We add sprinkles and sugar all before the cookies are baked.

 Both boys at work on cookies. I got a photo of the oldest. He hinds and stays far way from the camera. 

A tray of cookies finished and cooling. They always brighten up the cookie plate.

Disappearing Nine Patch

  This is food fabric for a Dog quilt. Yes My sweet dog needs his own quilt. He had surgery this week and is doing well but hates the cone.  I wanted a quick quilt so I have gone with Disappearing Nine Patch. It is also the same fabric I used for my casserole covers from yesterday. If you want a quick quilt this is it. Follow along if you have not made this block before.

First I sewed the nine patch blocks together. I think I used 6" squares. I know some have used 5 inch square. Just keep them all the same size. Note my black fabric in the middle.

Once sewn. Press seams and cut right down the middle. Both up and down and left and right. See the black fabric from the middle is cut into four smaller square units.

Now the fun part. Give the new units a twist. Turn them. There are a couple of different ways to lay them out now. Play around and see what you like the best. See were you like the little square ( Black Bones in my quilt). Then sew them back together again. You now have a new block.

We are spoiling the dog big time.  He hates the cone he has to wear and does not do well in his kennel for the night. Wines the whole time, so the first night my husband slept with him on the floor. And I plan to tonight. This way he wears the cone and can not lick but will sleep without the noise.

Christmas Gifts 2011

 I can celebrate. I got all my customers quilts done for Christmas, just this past hour. Now I can work on my gifts.

This is a dutch oven and quilted cover to take to a pot luck party. I made this one for a dog trial prize draw early this month. I have one more to finish for a family gift. I am laughing, I got my sister in law's name this year and wanted to give her this, bought the pot early, on sale. Well then she sent her list out and guess what was top of her list. A dutch oven, so I did well.

I used some disappearing nine patch blocks using some food fabric. Did you notice the bones? My way of getting dog related fabric in.  I will show you how I did the disappearing nine patch on Friday. I am still working on what I need to say so I get it correct.

Tuesday Quilting Christmas Quilt

 This is one of my customer's quilts that I did earlier this year. It is her Christmas applique quilt. It has turned out so nice. I did not have a camera this summer and did not get the photos at my house, like I would normally do. She entered the quilt in the Black Gold Quilt Patch Show (October  Leduc Quilt Show) were I as able to get the photos. I got a new camera for my birthday. The old camera was lost at the Edmonton and Distinct Guild Quilt Show in June. It just never came home with me. Not sure what happened to the camera.

Tuesday as when my Quilting Bee would meet. This fall I am in a Dog Agility class on Tuesdays and many of our members are traveling for the winter. We are not meeting much these days but I still feel Tue is quilt day. So I try to make a post instead. Maybe Shawna will stop by and check up on us.

Orca Bay Step 4 and Design Wall Monday

 Step 4 of the Orca Bay Mystery came out on Friday.  I have worked hard on this step for a few days over the weekend. I am not using the suggested Red but Pink instead.  I have a red pop up once in a while as Pink is really just a shade of red. The pile on the left has all the paper removed and the smaller pile to the right still needs the paper removed. I did do all the blocks with Bonnie's paper foundation method. To check out more of what other bloggers are doing check out Bonnie's Linky thing. There are a few people using different colours. Some of my local quilt friends are working hard on this mystery too (Kathy, Kathryn, Elizabeth, Betty, Arley). It will be fun to see how many finish and can keep up. My mom plans to do this but has only started step one and then went traveling. She has step two printed and sealed in an envelope. She will have to do the same for step 3 and 4 when she gets home. My ante Arley is working on her's. I think it is because she did the last two mysteries and they turned out so well that it has encouraged me to do this one. 

It is also Design Wall Monday over at Patchwork Times .  I am working on doing some scrap blocks for a rainbow quilt.  It was over at Soscrappy that I saw This Quilt. I have to make one like it. On Saturdays she hosts 2011 Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I only started in Nov 2011 (not Jan) but I love the quilt she has made.  The month of Dec is Red and Green. These are mine Pink and Lime Green, not very Christmas like. I have some Reds set aside to do a good red block yet this month. And I can sort out the darker green ones for later this month too. If you have noticed I am not doing the inside on my blocks the same, each is different. The middle part of my blocks are 6" and anything goes. Then I put a 1" white around then a 2" strip pieced, to finish my block at 12".

Happy sewing this week. I planning to get more long arm quilt done, then some baking tonight.

Christmas Baking Started

 I just finished mixing up my Blond Fruit cake for Christmas. It is in the oven for the next four hours. I got the receipt from my aunt Myrna a few years back and have been making it since. I wish I could get better Pecans fresh from Texas. My dad traveled for work to Huston almost monthly when he was working and in Nov he would bring back Pecans for Christmas baking. These three little cakes have over $14.00 in pecans and I can bet they are last years crop. Not as good as what Dad would bring home. I would make Pralines if I could get fresher pecans.

I can now head to my sewing room and work on a customers quilt. Last night I started step 4 of Orca Bay Mystery. It will take sometime to get step 4 done.

Karen McTavish Whole Cloth Class

This is Karen McTavish and Me, Cathy, yesterday in class. Karen got me giggling in the photo. I did have a good time. Karen was an excellent teacher. One of Karen's quilts is behind us.

 Me working a way at my whole cloth design. Matt Sparrow took the photo for me. He wanted to see more cleavage. Can you guess we had a lot fun in the class. Matt and Bradie had a great breakfast and lunch out for us.

I started my whole cloth with a piece of Kona cotton that was 44" by 62". I knew that, not starting square was going to create some troubles for me but I wanted to work though it. I love a diamond in a square layout but it looked like that was going to be hard to do. I did a princess feather boarder and a diamond in the middle with a stencil pattern. Then I have an area above and below the diamond to fill in. I found another feather to use. It worked out well.

 Karen teaching us about background fillers. Some need to be marked and others can be left to do free hand. Below here we are holding up our works of art. Overall a very good class. I did take a class from Pepper Cory years ago and maybe I could have done one on my own. I will do one on my own now.

Orca Bay Mystery Step 3

 So last Friday Bonnie Hunter released the step 3 of the Orca Bay mystery. I was very busy on the Friday and the rest of the weekend with a Christmas Party and a Dog Agility Trial. I finally have had sometime to sew in the evenings for myself. I have all 350 little (2"unfinished size) triangle sewn and a few more (maybe 100) to trim up. I should be good to go and sew on step 4 on Friday night.

I will see if I can still do the linky thing on Bonnie's Blog. It is Here if you want to see more about step three. If you think you may want to do this quilt you should be printing the pages as she releases them. I think it is May she will be taking the quilt steps off her blog as it will be printed in her new book. Or you can wait for the new book sometime later in the year.

Friday in the day I am in a class with Karen McTavish the machine quilting goddess. She is in Edmonton this week. Tonight is the trunk show at the Sherwood Park Quilt Guild. This week she is teaching a large arrangement of quilting classes. Friday is Whole Cloth Design which I am taking. I have my fabric washed and dried but not ironed and squared up yet. I also have to go to the quilt store and get a handful of those pen wash out pens. I do wish I had more money to take more of her classes but with Christmas coming I am only in one. I will let you know how it goes.

Tin Box Exchange - Leduc Guild

 Tonight is the Black Gold Quilt Patch Meeting and Christmas Party. Last month we started a tin box exchange and I joined in. This is the block I did for the box this month. My box #3 had a orange fall themed fabric and I was to use a piece of the fabric in my block. The block can not be bigger than 8 1/2" in size so that it still fits in the 9" box. I did a star and also got these little bonus pinwheels too. I am going to include them in the box. I hope the other ladies got their boxes done and bring them to exchange tonight. Each box has a theme and a piece of fabric. Also is a little book to write down any note or were you got the pattern from. At the end of six months when each box should be done with six blocks, we draw names. If you added a block to the box you get a chance to win the box of blocks. Everyone will go home with one box. We are then challenged to make a small wall quilt with our blocks.

The internet repair man was to our house today so let us hope this is the end of all the troubles. So far OK. I was busy at a Dogs At Large agility trail all weekend. We got one passing in the Started Standard class and two other classes we were less then a sec from a pass. We had time faults. My dog visited the jump crew a few times. He is too friendly. Over all he was very good at the trial and we both enjoyed ourselves. I did not take any photos but I did have someone take video of all our rounds. Maybe I will get them loaded on to my you tube challenge someday and show you the link in case there are other dog friendlies out there. I think I want to do some editing and I need to learn that first.

Best get to that Christmas Party now.