I finished the challenge quilt, now named Still Life, for some fabric out. It’s always a relief to get those quilts finished on time.

I won’t get the next challenge until the 26^th, which leaves time to do something else. With lots going on between now and then, a handful of small projects makes the most sense.

I pulled fabric to make pillowcases. A lot of bedding made its way into the rag bin this year, and we need replacements.

My sister’s quilt needs a label.

I would also like to frame Words of Joy Tree ...

I have had most of the week to piddle and sew, you’d think I would have been more productive. I have projects in progress, but the stand and stare time has been massive, LOL! Plus, an entire day and a half was spent wrestling with my new embroidery machine. After playing with it for a day, I was ready (or so I thought) to do a label for Quadrille. Ah, but the thread had other ideas.

Thanks to my friend, Mary, I had learned the day before how to back up the needle so I could take out areas ...

It was another glorious day! I went out for a long walk in the afternoon with no hat, and by the time I got home, my jacket was open, my scarf was dangling, and my mitts were in m pocket! I LOVE days like that. But it was cold when I took the girls out in the morning, and my legs were a bit red when I got back!

We had our UFO Clubs in the morning, which is always a hoot. Who did or didn't get their homework done? If they don't, $10 will be donated to ...

It has been a busy week! An elegant evening early in the week meant getting dressed up, so nice to do for a change! I have five sparkly, beaded or sequined jackets, and I had a hard time deciding which one to wear. It has been so long! I settled on the midnight blue, sparkly jacket and camisole with black pants for a dressy look but not over the top. This was such an upscale party, with a catered buffet of amazing, sumptuous food. The first part of the buffet had cheeses, olives, fruit and raw vegetables.

Fabulous smoked salmon ...

What a month!  You would think I was trying to make up for the last two months, or something.  

I got all my blue Pinwheel, Sawtooth Star, and "brick" blocks made for the RSC-2022 scrap challenge. 

Then, I focused on the quilts I had started for my daughter-in-law's friend's twin grand babies.  I wanted them to be similar but not identical, so I made Pinwheel blocks for one and Broken Dishes blocks for the other.  

Huh.  The Broken Dishes blocks made a secondary pattern that looks like - guess what?  Pinwheels!  

 Did you know that every quilt that is donated by Covered in Love gets a label?

As I work on assembling quilts from the blocks donated to Covered In Love, I also attach a label to the backing fabric.  I thought I would share the process that I use that works great for printed labels.

I am assuming that Kat orders her labels from a digital fabric place like Spoonflower.

You can also find some Etsy stores that will customize some labels like these that I ordered years ago.

You can easily needle turn the labels to the back but ...

I have to laugh as I was reading someone else's blog post this morning, and they talked about how their dog, Jade, didn't like things moved around and was out of sorts! That's just like me! I don't mind the furniture being moved, but I find it incredibly hard to focus when there are work people in my house. No idea why -- I don't mind them coming and going, but it's just darn distracting. I think it's because I have to keep the girls entertained or out of the way, and that's ...

Even without my favourite sewing machine, I was able to sew and quilt with the walking foot, my son's Mallard Duck mini. When I showed it to him, he said that he would find a spot for this one and the other two that I've made for him.

Finishing the Mallard Duck

As you saw in my Making a Mallard Duck Mini post, the foundation paper piecing went well. I always manage to make at least one piece that doesn't have enough selvage but I'm really good at problem solving

I stayed up late one night to finish the binding (hand-sewn) and put on the label. Regretted that later but it feels so good to have this one finished. 

The recipient wanted a black quilt. I couldn't do it. Too depressing? Maybe. I used a mottled black for most of the top and backing and stuck in a panel that I just love. If she hates the quilt, I will have no trouble keeping this one. The panel invites you into the scene. I lopped off the sides and put the pieces into flying geese that look like triangular ...

 Here's a question to ponder this morning. When you need to fix something - who are you going to call? 

Should you call the appliance repair people? Should you call a handyman? Or should you Google it? 

As you know, I got an F11 error on my dishwasher a while back. And no, I didn't have time to deal with it and was perfectly happy (not really) to handwash everything. I had Googled the error message and knew that there was a blockage in the draining system. The one video I watched was bizarre, and the guy was showing ...

What can I say? I LOVE Zoom, and I LOVE teaching on Zoom. Why? Because I can take pictures as I work, and then I can assemble the pictures into a VERY detailed slide presentation. I could never do that in a class unless I took a slide projector with me. Well, I guess we don't call it a slide projector any longer, but you know what I mean. 

I even took videos and embedded them into the presentation. Oh yes -- I'm having a fabulous time as I marry technology with sewing. 

And the best news? I was ...

Good Morning Quilters!  This last week I made nine quilt labels.  I don’t know if you have trouble getting this last step completed, but I do.  However, the method I use gives me the best results without a lot of worries.  So I thought I’d share how I make labels.  1) Cut pieces of freezer paper to 8.5” by 11” and iron them onto the fabric you want to use for a label (shiny side to fabric).  I

"Brother Bear" is quilted, off the rails and trimmed for finishing. My normal order of doing things, once quilting is completed, is to print out a label and make the hanging sleeve and binding; then I place the hanging sleeve and label into position and attach them at the same time that I stitch the binding on. This was the last sheet of Printed Treasures that I have on hand. I realized a few

"Brother Bear" is quilted, off the rails and trimmed for finishing. My normal order of doing things, once quilting is completed, is to print out a label and make the hanging sleeve and binding; then I place the hanging sleeve and label into position and attach them at the same time that I stitch the binding on. This was the last sheet of Printed Treasures that I have on hand. I realized a few

How many of you are doing Cassandra's Circle Free BOM?  I am and my first block is done.  36" square unfinished (read more below).  My stash of indigo Shweshwe fabric will be used in the process.  It was time to use this gorgeous fabric in a project.   This fabric was purchased years ago from https://meerkatshweshwe.com/ and if I need more, I will be giving Celeste a call.

The fabric is a wee bit heavier than normal but absolutely gorgeous to work with for applique.  Especially in those curves.  The fabric doesn't fray as usual and I ...

Do you label your quilts?
My first quilts did not get labels. After I made a few I added labels, but I wasn’t consistent in how I did that. I know I embroidered my name on the back of one quilt. I remember muslin squares on the backs of others.
Then I realized I could program words into my sewing machine and it would stitch them out. There are several labels using that method, some with decorative stitch borders.
Later I discovered applique and started adding applique labels that matched the theme of the quilt. I remember a pine ...