La Passacaglia

I have been contemplating making a "La Passacaglia" quilt for awhile now. I have been wanting to have a hand piecing option to work on, so this fits the bill.  I especially like the quilt made by Wendy at Wendy's quilts and more:

http://wendysquiltsandmore.blogspot.ca/p/la-passacaglia-millefiori-quilts.html

I was finally able to find La Passacaglia templates from a Canadian supplier so I didn't have to pay the exchange rate and import fees.  I got them from Cathy Shepard at Eagle's Wings Quilts:

http://eagleswingsquilts.ca/

I bought the templates that come apart so you can cut out fabric which includes the quarter inch seam allowance as well as cut out freezer paper templates without the seam allowance.  I also bought some applique needles from Eagle's Wings.  Since it's back to school supply season, I was able to get a ton of glue sticks at a really good price.

Here are some fabrics I want to use.  I will have to get some more purples, turquoises and greens for sure.

I haven't bought the book so will just be doing my own thing as I feel you can see from the pictures what shapes to put together.  I'm going to start by making 36 "star rings" (my wording) and then go from there. Here's my first "star ring" with the shapes cut out to audition the next ring as well:

I'm not happy with the points of my first star so may change up how I attach the background dark blue diamonds.  Instead of making templates for them and putting them together with the EPP method, I think I will just lay the dark blue diamond behind the other shapes and basically applique the top shapes to the background which I am thinking will also be way less time consuming. This method should also work for all the teeney tiney dark triangles as well since there are 50 of them for every star ring!!!! I am thinking it will also give it some depth.  We shall see....  My goal is to make at least one "star ring" shape a week. Wish me luck!

Storm at Sea - Gift Opening

My daughter was part of the bridal party for her girlfriend's wedding and was present when they opened the Storm at Sea Quilt so she was able to get the following picture.

Glad to see they both look happy with it!

Fat Quarter Shop 2017 Patchwork Quilt Along - Seventh Month

I'm a little late getting to these blocks again this month as I took my father to the cottage for a week. Also, since last month's blocks were late, it didn't seem like it was time to do the next blocks yet...

Here are my Propeller Blocks for this month.

And here are all the blocks I've made together so far.

So far I have been able to use fabric I already have which is great!

Sew Together Bag AND Bonnie Hunter's Summer 2017 Leader & Ender Challenge: Rail Fence

As usual, I have been working on things that are going to be gifted so can't blog about them until after they have been given away. (Edit added 2017-11-16) I just noticed I never mentioned that this bag was gifted to my daughter for her birthday!

I bought a Sew Together Bag pattern from Craftsy by Sew Demented
https://www.craftsy.com/sewing/patterns/sew-together-bag/136309
and here is a picture of the bag I made showing the three zippered inner pouches.

It really did go together quite easily and I will be making a few more, although I may alter the pattern a bit to make deeper pouches as I had a little difficulty stuffing some of the sewing kit items I wanted to give to my daughter into it. (The tomato pin cushion is small, but fat!

Here is a view with it all zipped up!

As you may have noticed in the background, you can see 4 Rail Fence blocks on the design wall. They are from Bonnie Hunter's Summer 2017 Leader and Ender Challenge.
http://quiltville.blogspot.ca/2017/07/summer-2017-leader-ender-challenge-rail.html
I have never made a leader & ender quilt before but thought it would be fun to give it a try.  I spent an afternoon cutting out over 300 1.5" x 6.5" coloured strips and have some black and neutral strips sets sewn and cut up. I made a few blocks to make sure I was putting them together properly and to see if I liked the look, which I do. This was also the first time I ever "spun" my seams on the four patches. It was easier than I thought and I don't think it will make the seams any more prone to unravelling. Finally a project I can blog about as I progress along!

Fat Quarter Shop 2017 Patchwork Quilt Along - Sixth Month

I'm a little late getting to these blocks this month due to other quilt deadlines, holidays and a pain in the neck which limited the amount of sewing I could do in a day.  I have been walking the dog every morning for at least 5 kms and really like the natural woods trail in the park.  You really have to watch your footing around roots and rocks etc., so I had my head down a lot watching my feet which bothered my neck which is my Achilles heel. Now I only take the natural path in one direction and try to make sure I have my head up more. I'm a little sad to have to walk more on the crusher dust trails as you don't hear the birds as much as in the woods trail and you meet more people and bicycles so I have to keep the dog on her leash more, but my neck is happier so I can sew more which is a good thing.

Here are the Round the Corner blocks for this month.

And here are a couple of blocks in each colour from each month so far arranged from darkest to lightest.

A few more dark/medium green fabrics and light red fabrics should balance things out nicely.

150th Anniversary Canada Day Pillow

What could be more Canadian than red plaid flannel?

Happy Canada Day!

Pattern from Balmoral Quilt Co. https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/499990380/balmoral-quilt-co-150th-anniversary