Category Archives: hand piecing

Spring Circles Update

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We got this shot of Spring Circles out on the roof garden on Monday.  Right now it’s 45″  square.  I’ve decided to finish it at 54 x 63, which means 3 more rows after the one on which I’m working.  Part of what I’ll do this weekend is print whatever I need in way of shapes for the remaining 3 rows.

Monday morning we woke up to a nice day but, shortly after awakening, I developed a horrible headache, sore throat and kept smelling something awful but couldn’t quite figure out what it was.  Lester also reacted rather dramatically to it.  His eyes were running, he was sneezing and seemed quite uncomfortable.  I finally heard noise at our door — turns out that they were touching up the exteriors of the suite doors on our floor with what has to be the most foul-smelling paint in the world.  The smell lingered all day.  We burned candles for a while, turned on the stove hood fan and then set out a big bowl of vinegar, all in an effort to combat the odour. What we learned?  Candles don’t do anywhere near as much good as a bowl of vinegar in helping to combat the odour.   What I can’t begin to understand is how the painters can work with that stuff day in and day out.

Before the painters started on our floor, Lester was on windowsill duty.  There were a lot of birds on the lawn and, at one point, his tail was swishing like mad.  For a minute, I thought he was going to start chattering at them.

Smudge wasn’t affected by the smell.  He was happily getting ready to snooze with a stuffed toy or two.  He will often move them around to just the right positions so that he can curl up with his head on a bear and/or a paw on another little soft toy.

Teddy Bear Quilts

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This is one of my favourite little quilts — a simple 9-patch quilt that I hand pieced and machine quilted a while ago.  Looking at it now makes me think that perhaps a simple 9-patch quilt is something to work on, bit by bit.  Putting together one of those blocks is perhaps something I’ll endeavour to do once a week until I have enough for a lap quilt for us.

That one was, however, made for a teddy bear.

As was this small LeMoyne Star quilt.  That was made using the 4.5″ LeMoyne Star collection from Inklingo, the first downloadable collection that was released a couple of years ago.

I got a start on the blocks for the next row of Spring Circles on Thursday night.  Hopefully it’s nice enough this weekend to get a photo of it outside to show next week.

Lester spent some time on the windowsill Thursday.

While Smudge was — well, being Smudge and relaxing on the couch.

Seven Sisters

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While I’m working on the quilt for my aunt, I thought I’d show a few pictures now and then of blocks and/or projects I’ve worked on.  I think I will eventually make a blue and white Seven Sisters quilt but initially I made two blocks — one in blue and white using 1″ diamonds and one in the orange and blue using .75″ diamonds. Sometimes I just make blocks with no real plan for a quilt, but rather to see, as in this case, differences in size or just to play with colour combinations.

Another row was added to the Spring Circles top last night and as soon as weather permits, we’ll get a shot of it out on the roof garden.  All the shapes for the next row have been selected and I’ll start on those blocks tonight.

Wednesday was another rather chilly day although the sun did finally make an appearance.  One way I know it’s chilly is that no one is out on the roof garden.  Not even the gardeners have made an appearance yet this week!

Smudge took advantage of another cool day to stretch out and relax, as there’s not much to see out on the roof garden these days.

Lester was doing his house lion imitation again.

Wednesday’s Flower

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While I’m working on my aunt’s quilt, I am going to try to restrict the amount I get distracted from it by other projects.   So One Flower Wednesdays will be, for me, truly One Flower Wednesdays!  This week I decided to make another of the large ones with the 1″ hexagons.  The back:

To see more flowers done by gardeners on One Flower Wednesday, go to Karen‘s post here where there’s a list of all the gardeners with links to their blogs.

This was taken a few days ago out on the roof garden:

Something must have told me I would end up making more than one of the Spring Circles quilts.  I have kept the fabrics I’ve used for it in a separate container, which I would not normally do.  It’s going to be quite simple to go through and cut the pieces for the beginning of the new Spring Circles quilt for us when I get the one for my aunt finished.

Tuesday was a very grey cool day here.  It was dark enough that we had to turn the lamps on almost as soon as we got up in the morning.  The cats found places to curl up and sleep.  Smudge with a teddy:

And Lester in the chair:

Alabama Beauty Blocks

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The first of the blocks that will now become the next row in the Spring Circles lap quilt for my aunt.

The second:

Third:

Fourth:

Fifth:

Obviously I’ve decided which will be the quilt for my aunt.  I have enough of the shabby chic fabrics that I can start over to make a large one for us.  I may need only one more row after this one to make a lap quilt of the appropriate size for my aunt.

As I was making two of the blocks on Monday night, I was thinking about how to quilt it.  I think I’ll get one of the silk batts for this which will keep it fairly light and make it easy to quilt.  Planning the label for it will be next.

I can’t remember a year when allergies have been anywhere near as bad as this year.  My eyes are streaming and I can’t stop sneezing.  There’s some construction going on in the complex so I would bet some construction dust mixed in with the pollens and the high winds have just turned into a soup of allergens.  Almost everyone we know is complaining of allergy problems.

Lester got in some windowsill time on Monday, although it was still pretty chilly and the heat is still on.

While Smudge was wide-eyed and alert after his nightly yogourt treat.

Choosing the Right Quilt

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My cousin responded to my question regarding my aunt’s favourite colours, saying that they are pinks, rose-coloured pinks rather than baby pinks, and greens.  Now I’m trying to decide what to do.  I did a rough calculation on the weekend and I think it will take approximately 7 or 8 weeks just to piece the Summer Picnic Dish top, which would only leave me 2 weeks to get it quilted and bound.  There is very little wiggle room in that timing.  Could the pansy floral be considered anything close to a pastel rose colour?

I’ve been thinking about it most of the weekend and, as I see it, I have 3 choices at this point although there’s a fourth idea that I will look at more later today.  The three choices?  The Summer Picnic Dish:

Second idea?  Adding a few more rows around this first quadrant of the Spring Circles and making that a lap quilt for my aunt.  Not all pinks and greens but I think the overall feel of it is along those lines:

The third choice is to add another 12 or 13 of the Pink Ice blocks and turn that into a lap quilt.  Not sure where the green would come in, although I suppose I could add two borders — one in a pretty green and then a pink.  These are very quick blocks to make, and I could easily have them done within a few weeks.

Or I could add a very thin mint green sashing around the blocks.

My fourth idea?  I’m playing with the idea of a Winding Ways top done in a  pink fabric that almost reads as a solid and a very pale small sprig green with tiny pink buds on a creamy white fabric.  I will get those fabrics out today and have a look at them to see if they work together or not.

It was a very cold and incredibly windy weekend.  There was damage done in areas of the city from the wind and we had wind chills of -3C.  It was warmer in March than it is now.

Lester spent a bit of time on the windowsill, but not much.  I think nice warm kitty beds were much more enticing this weekend.

Smudge was — well, being Smudge.

A Change in Plans

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Half the arcs for the next Summer Picnic Dish block have been done and the pieces are printed, cut out and ready to stitch for the rest of that block and for a few more.

The change in plans?  My aunt’s birthday is coming up in August, at which time she will be 90.  There will be a party for her and I’ve decided to make her a lap quilt.  She’s an amazing lady, sharp as can be and funny.  I have some absolutely marvelous memories of playing double solitaire with her in the summers at a cottage.  The two of us would end up in fits of laughter as we tried to be the first to go out and win those games.

Now the decision is whether to make the summer picnic dish into a lap quilt for her, which is Mr. Q.O.’s choice.  He thinks that something bright and cheerful is the best idea.

The other idea?  Doing something with Winding Ways blocks using fabrics like these:

I have to decide and get started on it this weekend as I want lots of time to make this the best lap quilt I possibly can.  She’s my only aunt and is someone who really does appreciate items made by hand.  I gave her a lace tablecloth which I had crocheted when I was in my early 20s.   She still talks about it.  The same with an afghan I knit for her when I was a teenager.  She’s a small lady, so it will not be a huge quilt.  I’m thinking something in the range of 48 by 54 inches or thereabouts.

The fabrics I’m thinking about for the winding ways idea in the picture above remind me, to a degree, of a chintz couch she has but they are more subdued than the floral and green in the pickle dish blocks.  Any thoughts on this are more than welcome.

We did a little shopping on Thursday, which included a stop at Staples.  Mr. Q.O. bought one of the Bamboo tablets for my computer.  Getting used to it as a mouse took no time at all.  I haven’t even scratched the surface of its capabilities which include, I think, the ability to add written captions to photos.   I’m looking forward to playing with it this weekend.

Watching Smudge the last couple of days has been an absolute joy.  I still can’t get over how lucky we were.  This was taken shortly after he had his nightly yogourt treat on Wednesday night.

Lester was incredibly lively Wednesday night.  One of the medications for his heart condition is only given every 3 days and on the days he gets that one, he acts like a kitten.  Wednesday night was one of those nights.  It’s wonderful to see him like that.

One Flower Wednesday … Again

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One tiny flower got done on Wednesday for the border of the small quilt, made with .50″ hexagons.  But only one. Hopefully next week I can actually make more than 1 or 2 of these little flowers.  The list of gardeners making flowers on Wednesdays is growing.  Karen’s post here has a list with links to all the gardeners.

On Wednesday, Mr. Q.O. went to a documentary film festival.  The screening to which he went was at a theatre that is part of the University of Toronto, which is within walking distance.  On his walk, he saw these little flowers.

Along with doing the one small hexagon flower, I finished the second Summer Picnic Dish.  As I have learned from doing Spring Circles that joining the blocks as I go makes a big difference for me, I  added the half centre edge piece to join the two blocks on point.  My plan is to use the green fabric that’s in the blocks for the binding.

I finally got caught up on replying to comments and hope to start reading and commenting on blogs over the next couple of days.  I should have been working on Wednesday, but I think the tension of the past few days really caught up with me as I just could not concentrate!  I finally gave up on working for the day and played with fabric, patted Smudge a lot and tried to relax.  Thank you to all who commented on yesterday’s post — it helped rather a lot!

It was a sunny, windy day at first on Wednesday and then it clouded over and we had our first thunderstorm of the season.  Not much of a thunderstorm, but a thunderstorm.  Earlier in the day, while it was still sunny, we got this shot of Lester.  It really shows his whiskers.

Smudge was relaxing on the chair.

Setting the Summer Picnic Dish

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Putting these blocks on point gives them a different look.  As I was making the second block, I decided that I’m going to use the on point setting for these.  I’ll use half centres along the outer edges of the top so that I have a straight edge.  The second block isn’t quite finished and will actually be the third block.  Placing the corner pieces is something I’ll need to be careful about for the second block so that I don’t have 2 green or 2 floral corner pieces joined.

On Friday we had some errands to run within walking distance.  Walking along one of the streets, we came across this crab apple tree.

There are many street planters in the area.

A close-up of some of the flowers in that planter:

Things are still a bit hectic for us but everything should be settled down after today.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it’s so and that I can get back to reading and leaving comments on blogs as well as replying to comments.

Lester seems to be contemplating something.

Smudge curled up with a teddy bear.

Flowers for the Garden

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The pretty little box was loaded with all that’s necessary to make some flowers for the garden and three flowers were made on Wednesday.

This will be a small quilt — perhaps a little doll’s or teddy bear’s quilt.   I think there will be about 10 flowers, or perhaps even less, in total for this one.  These are 1″ hexagons and they seem enormous in comparison to the .50″ ones I was working with last week.

The backs:

To see flowers made by other hexagon gardeners on One Flower Wednesday, go to Karen’s blog and on her sidebar you will see the names of the gardeners with links to their blogs.

I’ve been looking through the Japanese hexagon book again and, among other quilts that catch my eye, this one really interests me because of the quilting design used in the flowers.  It’s very pretty and very effective.  I think if you click on the picture to enlarge it, you’ll be able to see it.

One of the trees on the roof garden, and I have no idea what type of tree it is, has these little pink buds on it.  I don’t remember ever noticing it flowering before so have no idea what these will turn into.

Lester once again showing why we think of him as the house lion.

While Smudge was having an after-dinner nap.