Pictou Lodge Retreat September 2017

The Mayflower's Quilters' Guild has a three day quilt retreat at Pictou Lodge every second year.  I believe this year was the 30th year, although it was only the 3rd time I have attended.  I decided I wanted to work on a Double Hour Glass Quilt based on a tutorial by Cluck Cluck Sew.  She used 2.25" strips she cut herself, but I used 2.5" strips from a Jelly Roll as well as background strips I cut myself.  I was able to get nine triangles from each strip set so was able to make two "matching" blocks and one block with four different sections.

Here is the tutorial:  http://cluckclucksew.com/2009/09/tutorial-double-hourglass-blocks-easy.html

The Jelly Roll I used was Bright Sun by Sherri & Chelsi by moda. This is my first time using a Jelly Roll.

I tried using up almost every block I had sewn and came up with the following layout:

I didn't really like it so tried rearranging the yellow center blocks but still wasn't satisfied:

Several other people gave me some advice and I was convinced by one person  to try it with the blocks on point and by another to not try and use every block and I came up with this much improved layout:

I was able to get it fully pieced into a top including the triangular background edge pieces before the retreat was over.  It is now in the to be quilted pile and I also have twenty-six leftover Double Hourglass blocks I did not use which are available for another project.  Funny how one project breeds another one!

September Boathouse Sewing on a Singer Treadle at My Friend Marilyn's Cape Breton Family Home

In September my friend Marilyn, who I have previously posted about Skype sewing with, invited me to her Cape Breton family home to sew in her recently re-acquired boathouse.  The boathouse had been built by her Grand Uncle but was sold out of the family.  This summer Marilyn got it back from people who had been using it as a craft shop.  Marilyn did not have electricity hooked up to the boathouse yet, so we decided we would have a few days of treadle sewing.  Here is my Singer Treadle Sewing machine and the tail portion of some fish blocks I was working on:

Here is a picture of both our machines near a back window for light.  We could hear the ocean which was right behind the boathouse.  Marilyn's husband also rigged up some lights on a battery so we could sew longer.  My treadle is younger and the machine will fold down in and the leaf closes over it.  Marilyn's treadle is nearly one hundred years older if memory serves my correctly and her machine does not fold down, but has a wooden cover which you can see on the floor to the right of her machine:

I was working on a School of Fishes Quilt which I designed myself and which I thought was quite appropriate (smile):

Marilyn was working on a charity comfort quilt but in all the excitement I didn't take a picture of it.

Here is a picture of the outside of the boathouse and you can see that the ocean is right behind it.  Actually the strip of land has ocean on both sides of it, so if I were to turn around 180 degrees, you would see ocean there too.  The double screen doors and the deck were installed by the people who were using it as a craft shop:

I managed to get all of the tail sections of the fish blocks sewn together as well as cutting out the large fish triangles.  The bubble blocks are also completely pieced.  I laid the pieces out on my design wall once I got home so they are ready to continue being put together on the treadle machine:

I have decided I will piece this whole quilt on the treadle machine.  I have recently purchased a new belt for the treadle and had it serviced so it is as good as new.  The stitch length lever was seized up and is now operating so I can choose a smaller stitch length when putting the remainder of the quilt together.  My father bought this treadle for $5 from someone in Ottawa who was getting rid of it and who was using it only as a plant stand!!!  It has some water damage on the veneer of the top but that doesn't stop it from being used as intended as a sewing machine.  Who knows, maybe I will even decide to try quilting this quilt on the treadle!  We shall see...

It would not do to go without mentioning that one night for supper we had a delicious deer and rabbit stew made by Marilyn's husband and I made beans and biscuits for another supper.  We went out for lobster dinner another night - although Marilyn had steak because she can have lobster anytime!

Summer (August) Cottage Sewing

This post is long overdue but I preferred to spend my summer away from the blog, plus we don't even have cell phone service, let alone internet or cable television at the cottage.  I believe this is the way it should be so you can totally disconnect and relax.  My father had our cottage built when I was around two so I don't remember summers before the cottage.  As soon as school ended my mother and us kids headed to the cottage until school started again.  Dad joined us on weekends and for his vacation.  I think of the cottage more as home than anywhere we lived as with him being in the military we moved a lot.  On nice sunny days you could find me sewing on the deck my husband added last year.  Here's my view out over the lake:

I was working on an Irish Chain Quilt that I started last summer at the cottage and will continue with next summer as well:

Quite a few years ago, my FIL gave me his mother's Singer sewing machine.  At the time, I did not know it was a coveted Singer Featherweight.  I recently had it serviced and it sews great!  Thank you!

Fat Quarter Shop 2017 Patchwork Quilt Along - Tenth Month

In my previous post (Two Bags and an Apron) I mentioned I made a bag in order to be able to use the leftover fabric and here is where I used it.  I am determined to make this entire quilt with fabrics I already own.

Here are my County Roads blocks for October:

And here are all my blocks so far:

Only two months to go!

Two Bags and an Apron

I haven’t been blogging regularly over the summer (and into the fall...) but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been sewing.....  I had a stripe print fabric and a coordinating green fabric saved for awhile to make a bag. I recently wanted to use the left over green fabric in another project so in order to find out what was left over. I had to make the bag. Here it is:

I used a pattern called "A simple Six-Pocket Bag" from Better Homes and Gardens http://www.bhg.com/crafts/sewing/accessories/six-pocket-bag/ 

The bag turned out smaller than I expected. It is actually smaller than my purse! I guess I should have read the instructions better as the dimensions were included. It is 8" deep, 10" wide and 4" thick.  I added a zippered inner pocket which wasn’t included in the pattern:

Since the bag turned out so small, but I really liked how it was constructed, I up-sized the pattern and made it again. I used a piece of fabric 21.5 " x 21" for the outer pocket piece and a piece of fabric 21.5" x 33" for the inner bag.  My second bag turned out 14" deep, 16" wide and 5" thick and I am very happy with the results:

And I also added an inner zippered pocket to this bag too:

My daughter’s fiancé has a bike repair business and I could not resist buying some bike fabric when I came across it. I decided to make him an apron for his birthday with lots of pockets for tools and small parts to protect his clothes from the dirt and grease from the bikes he repairs. He tried it on as soon as he opened it so I think he appreciated it. I didn’t have a pattern but I have an apron my MIL made me years ago and I just laid it out on the fabric and cut around it. I really like the design as the way the ties feed through the armpit casings allows you to adjust it to fit anyone. I made the ties extra long so they can be wrapped around and tied in front it desired.  I divided the outer bike print fabric pockets into four equal pockets and the inner blue pockets into two pockets:

I have been glue basting my bindings on the back of my quilts for awhile now, but have now found more uses for glue basting on the above projects. I glue basted the zippers in the pockets of the bags and it worked really well. The fabric did not creep at all and cause wrinkles. I also glue basted the batting when I constructed the bags and glue basted the fussy cut fabric handles of the first bag in place. I didn’t glue baste the web handles as I didn’t think they would stick. On the apron, I glue basted the hem in place at the neck and the bottom before top stitching as well as the pockets so they didn’t shift and also the bias casings on the armpits were glue basted  before top stitching and turned out absolutely flat.  I love glue basting!

I am linking to Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.ca/2017/10/mostly-moody-quilt-top.html

T + T Wedding Quilt with 2 Cushions

I started making this quilt with fabric selection on 4 April but could not blog about it because it was for the wedding of my nephew and his fiance which took place on 30 September. They have a king size bed which is too big of a quilt for me to make so I made them a throw size with two matching cushions following  their wish for it to be a Zen quilt made of whites and grays.  Here were my original fabric choices:

The final fabrics were edited down to the following 14 with the darkest and the bluest fabrics being removed:

My interpretation of a Zen quilt was for it to be calming and simple without a busy pattern so I chose half-square triangles.  Here is one-quarter of the quilt sewn in rows:

My original intention was to join the quarters together with the dark sides of the triangles all on the bottom right but when I was playing around, I decided I really liked it best with each quarter rotated 90 degrees with all the dark triangles pointing to the outer corners and the lighter triangles pointing to the center.  Here is a picture of it completed and hanging on the line:

I quilted it with white thread on my frame with my domestic sewing machine:

The pantograph I used was called Ginkgo by Jessica Schick by Digi-Tech which I thought went well with the Zen theme.  You can see the texture of the quilting on this background shot:

You can also see the two triangular pieces of fabric attached to the upper corners which serve as the quilt label and can also be used as pockets for a rod if the quilt were to be hung up.  I bound it using half width of fabric pieces of four of the mid-tone fabrics so the binding would blend in and add to the Zen factor.

I realize I forgot to take pictures of the two cushions.   If I receive a picture of the quilt and cushions in their new home, I will be sure to post it.

Fat Quarter Shop 2017 Patchwork Quilt Along - Ninth Month

I actually did get these blocks for September done within September but then was away for a four day weekend to attend a family wedding so did not have time to blog until now...

Here are my Grandmother's Choice blocks for September:

And here are all my blocks so far:

I see I still have more variety from light to dark in the greens than the reds. I need a light red for next month.