What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

This week I wanted to use the rest of the surplus of money collected for the Spa Bag project to do something fun for the Safelight Domestic Violence Shelter. I set aside what will be needed for the October delivery of the last spa bags, and found I had just enough to do a special project for this week. In the past I have found some fun water bottles with great messages, but that was not the case this year. I really couldn’t find anything I considered appropriate. The last thing I want to do is give an abuse ...

From time to time, I have to decrease the amount of quilted and crafted items in the house or I would be covered up in them. So, time for a sample sale, to move some things into other hands. I have some cards left as well that were not appropriate for Safelight but still fun, so those are up for sale, too. This is a great time to pick up a gift for someone, or treat yourself. Particularly for my readers who do not quilt, you can have a handmade, unique item for your decor or to give to a ...

As I mentioned on Friday, I have not been sewing in the past month. Instead, I’ve been spending all my free time (which has been precious little) doing crafting projects. I needed to finish making the cards I wanted to do for the guild show. I didn’t do as many as I had planned, but this will just have to do. The cards will be displayed in a basket for customers to look through. I made several with this sentiment, I think it is cute for a quilter.

I was excited to receive a phone call recently from ...

This past week, I managed to eek out a bit of time for some creative fun, and stamped a few more cards for the boutique. I think I’ll stop at 30 to have for sale. The great thing is if they don’t sell, I’ll have them to use myself. I love this sentiment!

Two more with a different sentiment. I put this same saying on the inside of a few other cards.

Are you in the path of the total solar eclipse? See my posts from 2017 when we were able to see one. First, Preparing for ...

A quiet week here on the sewing front, but extra busy with grandchildren staying over for several days.

I have been working on these blocks. Lots of pieces. I had to cut nearly 600 blues and 600 whites. That’s not bad for me as I am not always that patient. I admire those of you who make the gorgeous quilts with thousands of pieces.

In the week prior to the grandies visit I had a lengthy card making session with friends. I managed to finish these and only have the cut some shapes and stamp sentiments to make them ...

      Well the "it" is blog posting. I read all my favs and comment, but I don't seem to have to mental fortitude to write my own. I have taken plenty of photos and get them on the computer, but stall at writing the post. I have a nice list of posts to do on my to do list, but I just stare at it. It is hard for me to write what I do and getting those photos off the camera, named and in the right folders takes longer than it should for me. Too bad I couldn't ...

It seems to be so far away, but I know from past experience that Christmas creeps up really quickly.

I am trying to get ahead, but I know it will still be a mad rush in the end.

I started with one of these decorations from a Bareroots pattern, Everything Nice Christmas Ornaments.

And then added a couple more.

They are a lovely collection. There are six in the set, so I have a few more to make.

The same design is on the front and back panel. The other two sides each have holly leaves.

Just to also explain ...

September has flown by. But Spring is here and we are enjoying some lovely sunny days.

This is what is happening to our orange tree.

We have only recently finished picking the last of the oranges but that wasn’t going to stop the blossom opening. The whole tree is buzzing with bees.

I have been concentrating on hand work. My machines are still not repaired. This is going to be a giraffe, about 8ins wide by 11ins.

I think it needs a closer look.

The stitching is done with a single variegated thread. It is a design by Hazel ...

Good morning. Let’s start off the day with a nice photo of the pear tree in bloom. I went out when the sun came out earlier in the week to get a better shot of the lovely white flowers with the mountain background. It is something to help your mood this morning as we all deal with the time change. Ugh, I hate this switching to daylight saving time.

I really like this one, and it may be an entry in next year’s state fair photography contest.

I’ve been clearing out a lot of my tablescaping stuff ...

It has been a slow start to this year’s Safelight Project, but we have begun to see some progress this week. I am delighted to report that we have exceeded our revised financial goal in order to deliver 50 spa bags and we will be able to do 60. Any additional funds received over the next couple of weeks will go to adding more bags to the total. It would be great to deliver 75 bags, but we’ll see what the mail brings over the next week.

Several boxes and letters arrived at once, containing checks, case sets ...

      Every year, I make Christmas and Valentines cards. It is always a stretch to get them done, but I have been able to do it so far. There probably will be a time I will not be able to make so many. I kick myself because there are always people I could add to the list, but I just cannot add any more and be timely.
     This year, I decided to make the fronts in one large piece that I could longarm and save wear and tear on me. I started with a large piece of washed cotton sheeting. I ...

I got my Thanksgiving cards done on time this year, whoopee! In a fit of stamping frenzy, I made a bunch one morning. Sometimes the inspiration is just there, and with the pretty new papers I got from Impression Obsession, and a score at a private sale, I had plenty. I got out some leafy prints, fall colors, stamps and inks.

I began with one of my favorite designs, a dark strip on the left with a large print offset to the side.

A strip of contrasting color paper is added to the bottom, with a seasonal sentiment.

It needed ...

This is another of my projects that was so close to a finish and was then put away due to distractions of my own making. I had made the large mandalas and had pieced them together, but knew I had to make smaller sections to fill the gaps.

It took me a while to play with the small pieces as I worked out which colour combo worked best. Once that was done I was able to complete the crochet and sew them together. I think it is about 40 inches square.

It has been made from 8 ply cotton from ...

With the warming weather, I think many of us get a bit of cabin fever, wanting to do some outdoor activities and spring projects. I thought it was time to hang a Spring Wreath. I made this one a few years ago, and it is still looking good.

Spring is a nice time to send some special cards, especially if you missed sending Easter ones like I did. These rabbits work on the inside as well as the front of a card. Punching a decorative window on the front gives you a dimensional card. See the entire post on how ...

      Nobody probably wants to see Christmas trees, but I started a couple of days before Christmas on making these improv ones that I had been saving the pattern for a long time. I used 5" squares as I had a lot of those colors in my 5" boxes. They finish at 3 1/2 x 5.
     I was going to make just a table runner, but then the addictive and calming nature of sewing them was perfect for holiday stress and I kept going. I bought some clearance Christmas fabric at Joann's and it is ready to load on ...

One week until Christmas day. And another year nearly behind us. Wow!

Lots of Christmas sewing has been happening, but I have also managed to finish my quilt top for Over The Hill by Wendy Williams. This was the last block.

When it was joined to the others in the row, there were a few overlapping pieces to be added, then the rows were all joined to complete the top.

I am very pleased with the end result. Lots of work but very enjoyable. The original pattern has a border but I am not sure if I want one. It ...

2020. Certainly a year that will not be forgotten in a hurry.

Here in Victoria, Australia we are having a lovely December. After our total lock down we have experienced 60 days without community transmission. That has been a wonderful achievement and well worth all those stay at home days.

With our new found freedom and a lot of sunny weather a lot of time has been spent outside. The garden is loving the attention. But the other side is that very little sewing has been done. There are a few bits to share. Even when I did have a ...

      Since I was 19 I have been making my own Christmas cards. I have used many different methods and somehow the list grows longer every year. I did silk screening for a while. When I retired, I dusted off my watercolors and renewed my love of working with them.

     What looks good in one or two, once you have to make over 100 of them, things get difficult. One year I made color copies of my watercolor for the cards. No one was happy. Every year I vow I won't do it again and I start to hear the ...