Lone Star with Feathers

I talked with the lady that made this quilt and told her I would post photos today. So here it is. I hope she is happy with the quilting. It is a gift and I think she will not want to give it up when she sees it in person.

I have used mostly lime green thread, so much fun. Some of the blue background quilting has a dark blue thread.

She wanted some feathers in the background areas and the boarders.

I just loved working on this quilt. The fabrics were so nice, love batiks. The back of the quilt is a Lime flannel so it has a warm feeling to it. Thank you for sending me your quilt.

I added this to Linky Party Tuesday.

Today my stitch group is getting together to sew. I am taking my hexagons to work on. We normally do not take our machines but try to work on hand stitching.

Design Wall Monday Sept 10, 12

I had one of the busiest weekends. I sewed with good friends on Saturday then I had a dog agility trial on Sunday. My parents helped out with my kids. The dog and I did great at our trial with two passes and we get to move up a level in one of the agility games. 

Now my wall and to see other walls Patchwork Times. I have taken up Bonnie Hunter's Leader's and Ender's challenge this year, the 3 1/2" spools. I did some more blues and started doing some Orange from the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I was far too busy to make a scrap post on Saturday so I am showing them off today. 

I added this to the Scrap Saturday as the blocks are apart of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2012 at Soscrappy's Saturday post.

I also got the first three hexagon flowers done. We still just see were they take me. 

Today is a little cooler and I expect we will get frost this week, maybe Tuesday night. I keep picking more garden. I picked 16 cucumbers this weekend. They are taking over. I do not have enough room in the fridge so they sit on my counter.

I have also picked half my basil. I am chopping it and packing it on olive oil and freezing it for later use. I should be able to have pesto pasta this winter.

September Speaker

Talking with my hands

I was the speaker for the Black Gold Quilt Patch this last Wednesday night in Leduc. We have our meetings on the 1st Wednesday of the month but do not meet over July and Aug. This meeting is like the beginning of the fall sitting. I had told the program committee I was willing to speak on scrap storage and scrap quilts some months ago. I have been so good to work on using my scraps this year I was ready to talk about it.

Here is a quilt top I got done a few months back. It is not quilted yet. My Mom, Betty is on the right. She is a CQA judge and my best quilting buddy. We are going to sew together on Saturday with the Guild. Maybe I can make some progress on some of my quilt tops. I have so many quilts I could work on.

Here I am showing the pizza box of 1 1/2" strips of my mother's. It is very tidy and has some colour sorting. She has a pizza box for a few different sizes of scraps. I have been sorting my scraps by colour because of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I need to make a few Pumpkin blocks this month. Thank you Janet for talking my photos.

I have to go pack my quilt bags to tomorrow's sewing.

Star Struck Finished

I got it finished, and it was under one year. I started this quilt last November and had the top together by New Years Eve. Then it sat for 6 1/2 months waiting to be quilted. I needed time to think about the quilting I wanted to do on it. I am very happy with it.

In honour of Spruce Meadows Master's this week, I thought I would get a photo of my quilt on an old jump set high. In case you do not know Spruce Meadows is in Calgary and hosts some of the world's best Show Jumping. I was a competitor at the Spruce Meadows for 8 years, many many years ago. My name then was Cathy Manuel and my horses were Going Easy and then Esplanade. I miss going but have not returned to be a spectator, as I miss competing so much. Maybe next summer I will plan to attend the dog Agility trial that is held on their ground. I know many things will have changed.

The close up of the quilting. You can find the pattern for this quilt at Quiltville, Bonnie Hunter's web site. She has many free patterns to pick from.

The back in Lime green.

Here is the quilt on the fence leading to the horses. They are the little dark dots way in the back.

On the rock next to the old wagon wheel.

Another fence leading to the riding ring we recently built in the yard.

On the old hay rack blowing in the wind. Now to clean the grass and cob webs off my quilt.

I have added this post to Friday Fav at Nap Time Crafter's and The Magic Onion's Friday Natural's Table and Find a Friend Friday at Sew Many Ways .

I have a Quilt Till You Wilt Day on Saturday at the New Serpta Ag Centre, hosted by the Leduc Guild. I have to pack my UFO's up and see if I can make some process on them.

WIP Wednesday

I have jumped on the bandwagon and started the Block of the week with Barbara Branckmen at Grandmother's Choice. The blocks are based on the suffragists, so the name Grandmother's Choice is so fitting. I am not following any of their colour choices but making up my own. The first block I have made is the 8" block which is given on the Monday's Post. 

I then challenged myself to see if I could do the math and make a 4" block. Oops I lost my points on the red squares. I may have not calculated the little background triangles correctly. While then I looked into Block Base, a software that goes with Barbara's book Encyclopaedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns. I have now added the software to my birthday wish list. My birthday is later this month. I love her book and with block base I would have some patterns and sizes to with the book. 

See how much smaller the four inch block is. Really too small.
I have linked this post up with Freshly Pieced Wip-Wednesday

Here are the fabrics I have picked out to use. I see she has a part on yardage that I need to go check out. I need more green if I am going to use it. I like the shade I have picked out but the one is a small piece and the other fabric is bad quality and I do not want to use it. I hope I can find something else to go with it.

Tuesday was back to school for my boys. I have gotten photos of them on their first day of school for years. This year they are being turkeys.

I am ready for my talk tonight in Leduc at the guild meeting. Got quilts packed, my hand out done and a few boxes of blocks and scraps to show what I do with my scrapes.

Pin Wheels Dance

I have the house to myself again, school started back today. I am back to a normal work week and thought I would show you a customers quilt today.  I have another one of these to do but in very different colours. They are two friends. I love how it has come out. I have started the second one but it is a much darker quilt and will not show off the quilting the same way.

The quilting really shows up well on the soft colours.

I have done a free motion pattern I call spirals and flames on the outer area and outer pin-wheels. I thought they went well together.

If you live near Leduc Alberta, I am the speaker at the Leduc Quilt Guild meeting tomorrow. I will be speaking on scraps storage and and scrap quilts. The meeting starts at 7:15pm but you should show up a little earlier to sign in and find a seat. Hope to see some of your there. Email me if you need more information.

I must go finish my hand out now!

Design Wall Monday Sept 3,12

I did some work on a few more improve blocks. The two on the bottom were done last month but I did not like the edges. I got making two more and framed them all with the opposite  fabric and when back and did the same to the first two. They are 13 to 14 inches. Not sure what I will make. I am playing around. I will more than likely make more. Maybe purple next. I have so many beautiful hand dyed purple fabrics and blue and purple go together so well.

Go and see the other Design Wall's over at Patchwork Times and at Sew Happy Geek it is Manic Monday.

Slow Sunday

It is a Slow Sunday over at Kathy's Quilts. She has a hand quilted finish today and hosts the linky party were you can see the other hand work under way. Kathy is another Canadian quilt blogger.

I started preparing my orange hexagons for flowers. I think I will use brown for the centres. Pumpkin or Orange is the new colour for the month of Sept in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2012.

Lex got a new bed. My dad was cleaning out some stuff and found this close to new bed from his old dog. Shilo (a Golden Retriever) died of cancer a few years back and I think dad still misses her. Lex is in doggy heaven. He has not had a soft bed because he would chew holes in them. So far no chewing, yet.

Scrap Saturday

I have added to my Poverty Piecing and got it machine quilted. I am planning a journal cover. While buying school supplies this week I also bought myself a new journal. It is very plain and needs jazzing up. I hope to finish this soon.


Today is a Scrappy Saturday over at Soscrappy. I have been working on more Turquoise/teal/aqua to finish up the month of Aug. I am out the door early for the day and did not know what the Sept colour would be in till minutes ago. It is Orange.

Bonnie Hunter set out a new leaders and ends challenge block on her Quiltville web site. I tried the spools out. They are 3" finished, so very very cute. A good size to use for my rainbow blocks.

While I was having too much fun with the little spool blocks and kitted up some more in the blues. I stopped to count them and had 13, not good. I made a few more. I just could not leave them at unlucky 13. 17 total.

I found out today about a Newfo. It is a new project that I have started this month. I thought I would go link up with the Newfo linky party over at Cat Patches. The spools are only a start but this is very much a new project.

I have more kitted up and in my basket next to my machine, waiting for leaders and enders. Later today when I am home I can cut up some orange and go add them into the basket. Another note I have very little 1 1/2" strips left in Blue. I made a real dent in the scraps.

A few more Hexagon flowers. I got 14 done, just could not leave it at 13 again.

The hay is in.

Here is my Super Dog Lex. Lex and I are off to a fair parade and Agility Demo in Lakedale, AB today. Then we have a family dinner.

September Goals

 I need to get back to my UFO list and set a few goals. I feel in the summer I work on little jobs not making any big commitments. I want to get back to working on Adam`s quilt (Adam above). I keep thinking him and I will work on it but I think he wants me to just do it.  I think I will take Adam`s Quilt to the Leduc Quilt till you Wilt day next week. We will see how much I can get done.

I have Orca Bay (in the background of top photo) in a box and may take it to a retreat in Oct. So not a Sept goal.

The bottom five row of my spider web quilt are still in the box. I think if I write here that I plan to work on it then I will. Make me feel guilty just a little and maybe I will work on it.

I need 10 more string blocks for my RRCB quilt. I could take then on a sew day or work on a few for a few evenings in a week then they would be done.

I will keep working on the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2012. I have many different blocks for many different rainbow quilts on the go. I have been very good to work on a few blocks each month.

I would like to quilt one of my quilt tops but I am undecided which one. I have a plaid log cabin, squares on white and shadows, Bad to the bone, and the mystery I did with the Leduc guild in May. All of these have backing ready to go. I may find I have to wait till the Oct Thanks Giving weekend to do my quilting.

I am also hoping to get some more fabric dyed before winter sets in.