Category Archives: miscellaneous

Possible Fabric Combinations

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After reading the comments on yesterday’s post, I pulled out 4 fabrics to pair with the fabric I showed yesterday.  While I like all of them with it, I think the purple/pink batik is the one I’m going to work with.   I may do a block using the purple/pink and then another using the white.

The baby quilt piecing is tantalizingly close to being finished.  Tomorrow I’m going to see if I have a large enough piece of flannel for the backing and, if I do, I’ll hopefully get it basted this weekend and ready to quilt.

It was a rather cool day on Thursday and by the time the sun went down, it was a rather chilly 55F.  Once the temperature gets below 60, I start thinking about the day we’ll have to turn the heat on.  Hopefully, that won’t be for a few weeks yet.

Both cats were showing signs of getting ready for the cooler weather.  Lester curled up in a kitty bed.

And Smudge was on the couch.

Finding the Right Fabric

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This fabric has been in my stash for ages.  I love the look of it, but never seem to come up with the right fabric with which to pair it.  I’d like to use it to make a two-colour quilt but am thinking it needs something other than a white or cream as the neutral.  Any thoughts?  I have one idea which I’ll try this weekend.

I am very close to finishing the piecing of the baby quilt.  Two more evenings of stitching and it should be done.   This is, without a doubt, the quickest I’ve ever put a quilt together.  It will be less than a month from starting it to finishing the piecing.

Wednesday our weather really changed — from quite warm and humid to heavy, heavy rain and then cooler temperatures.  I think our high today will be only in the low 70s, although they say we’ll have humidex readings back up in the 90s by Sunday.   I’m definitely not ready to see summer go.

Lester had some windowsill time on Wednesday.

And Smudge took over my desk chair to pose.

Revisiting China Plates

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Once the baby quilt is done, China Plates will be first in line for quilting.  It’s been languishing now for a few months, so it’s time to get this one finished and bound and ready to hang.  I made this with the 1.5″ 90-degree hexagon Inklingo collection printing the hexagons on a variety of Oriental prints, the centre squares on an Oriental shirting print and the connecting squares and triangles on a black fabric. I’m not quite sure how I want to quilt it yet, although I do have the thread picked out — a variegated YLI black/charcoal/cream thread.

There were a few questions about washing charms.  What does a salad spinner have to do with it?  Well, generally I just swish them in some warm soapy water, rinse them, hang them on a clothes horse for a few minutes and then iron them dry but sometimes spin them partially dry by throwing a handful in an old salad spinner and then complete the drying by ironing them.  I’m always amazed at just how much they do shrink — at least half an inch on one side so that the 5″ charms generally end up as 4.5″ x 5″ pieces rather than a 5″ square.

Four rows left to stitch on the baby quilt!  Aside from quilting China Plates and working on various other projects that are in varying stages, I’m daydreaming about starting a new quilt with stars.  While I am tempted to make something with bright batiks and a dark neutral, I’m also leaning towards doing something with the Japanese taupes that are in my stash and making a very muted star quilt with those.

On Tuesday, Lester was snoozing in the kitty bed — with a toy within paw’s reach.

While Smudge was on the couch.

Charm Squares and More

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While working on the baby quilt, I am thinking about doing something totally scrappy with batiks and hand-dyed fabrics.  So I dug out those squares and rectangles and started thinking about just what I might make with these.  Batiks seem very attractive after working with the ’30s prints for a while.   This also has me thinking that I will haul out the bin with batiks and hand dyed fabrics and perhaps cut charm squares from some, if not most, of them as well.

Then I figured that, while I was at it, I may as well take a look at the other charm squares I have washed and ready to use.  There are more that aren’t yet washed, but I’ll start washing those this week so that when the baby quilt is finished I have lots of choices in front of me.  🙂   There’s just something about charm squares that I find irresistible.

Picking up a light box last night has sent my wrist into fits again.  I don’t seem to be learning that I just cannot do what I used to be able to do easily.  So once again, I’m probably going to be rather slow in replying to and leaving comments.

Mr. Q.O. does cryptic crosswords — and had put his puzzle down in front of Raggedy Ann.  We couldn’t resist taking the picture.  It almost looks as though she’s working on the puzzle.

A friend (no blog) has adopted an adorable 4-month old black kitten named Jasper.  In this picture he’s lying on the quilt with one of her other cats, Kleenex.  Jasper is slowly winning over the elder cats in her household.  Jasper is a three-legged cat, who started out life as a feral and unfortunately lost a leg but, from all reports, it sounds like he has already learned to compensate and is lively and playful as can be.

Periodically, I love to look through the America’s Glorious Quilts book (although the weight of it is an issue for me) and had it out last night.  I put it on the footstool in front of Smudge who, at one point, appeared to be interested and almost had a paw on the book.  We didn’t get that photo but we did get this one.

Lester stretched out on the pink couch.

A New Cutting Mat

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I really like the light-coloured cutting mats and, as my older green one was starting to get rather worn and we were near the art store, I got this new 12 x 18 mat on the weekend.  I’ve learned to shop for cutting mats at the art shop for a few reasons.  They’re a lot less expensive (this one cost $7), they’re actually somewhat thicker and  they don’t have the unpleasant chemical odour that the green ones I’ve bought in the quilt shops always seem to have.  The last time we were at a quilt shop, we both noticed a really overwhelming smell at one section of the store and once we looked around realized that it was coming from the cutting mats that were right behind that section of the shop.

The baby quilt top is almost at the halfway point now.  I’m amazed at just how quickly it’s coming together and am now hoping to have it finished before the month ends.  I have an idea for another baby quilt but want to make it in something other than ’30s prints. I’m playing with the idea of doing something with shirting and reproduction prints but am a bit concerned it may be too somber for a baby quilt.

On Saturday we drove up a roadway that is lined by trees on both sides and it really looks like some of the trees are starting to show signs of fall colours.  Not a lot, but some.  It seems there are signs we may have an early fall.  I talked to a friend who had been up to cottage country and she said that there are definite signs of an early fall up there.

We were cat sitting Winnie on the weekend.  We got this photo of her.

At one point on the weekend, Smudge was curled up in a cat bed with a group of kitty toys.

While Lester was relaxing on the couch.

Fabric Combinations

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Now that I’ve got those two pieces of gold fabric out on my sewing table, I couldn’t resist choosing some other fabrics to see how well they went together.  I’m not sure just what yet, but I think this grouping or at least part of it will find its way into a design.

Then I had to try those same fabrics with the other gold fabric.  Now that I have some combinations to play with, I can let my mind wander a bit and see if I come up with the perfect design to use these in.

The second row of the baby quilt is now joined to the first.  It’s going together easily, so I feel pretty confident I can have the little quilt that will be 40 x 48 inches finished by no later than mid-September.  I’d love to use the silk batting in the baby quilt but, as that will undoubtedly be a quilt that gets a lot of washing, I guess I’d better stick with a cotton batt.  I got spoiled with the silk batt as it makes fabric wrestling aka machine quilting so much easier.   We have nothing in particular planned for this weekend, so I’m hoping to get a lot accomplished on the baby quilt.  I’d love to get it to the point of being half put together by the end of the weekend, but that may be too optimistic.

Lester makes it easy to take good pictures — he will stay still and look right at the camera.

Smudge has always posed for the camera.

Golden Fabric

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There are two fabrics that have been in my stash for ages.  The first one I have an idea for that will work with 2 or 3 red/coral tone fabrics to match those colours in the flowers.  

This second one I bring out and look at periodically and try to decide what pattern and what other fabrics will showcase it.

Row one of the baby quilt is stitched together.  There are 11 rows in total.  My guesstimate is that it will take 3 evenings to add each set of two rows.  So if the estimate is right and I really dedicate my stitching time to just the baby quilt, I should have the top finished within two and a half or three weeks.  It took ages on Wednesday to lay the blocks and the sashing elements out and move them around a bit to get a nice balance.  No design wall meant using the mattress cover, which actually works rather well and there’s an added benefit — I can shut the door and work on the layout without four-footed helpers.

On Monday when we were right downtown, Mr. Q.O. took a photo of the skyline.  And this one of the CN Tower.

And while we were at it, this shot of the gargoyles on the Rogers Centre, also known as the Dome, where the Toronto Jays play baseball.

And the Air Canada Centre where both hockey and basketball are played.  The orange cones in the photo?  In Toronto, we have two seasons — winter and road construction season.  As it’s not winter, there’s all sorts of construction and road repairs going on and wherever that’s happening the cones appear.

This is the first time we’ve been able to get a photo of the two kitties sitting together like this. I love the look on their faces.

Another One-Flower Wednesday

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The missing container of hexagons was finally found.   The photo only shows about half the hexagons that are actually contained in there, all .50″ hexagons.  So after what seems like weeks, I was able to make one little flower to add to my garden for One Flower Wednesday.

The back:

This time I tried a different stitching sequence than my normal and found that it’s much faster.  Linda Franz posted this video on stitching hexagons on her blog last week and after watching it, I figured I’d try that stitching sequence.  It definitely makes a difference.

The pieced blocks for the baby quilt are finished.  As soon as I finish some work today, I’m going to lay them all out with the sashing elements and get started putting the top together.  It’s pretty clear now I won’t finish it by the end of August, but I’m still going to try for by the middle of September.

Was something going on with Blogger blogs on Tuesday?  I was able to leave comments on a few blogs early in the day but then had difficulties later in the day leaving comments.

The following two photos are of Queen’s Park — a park near our provincial legislature which is also called Queen’s Park.  It’s a beautiful park with lots and lots of lovely trees and just a short walk from here.

A view north towards Queen’s Park, the legislature building, from University Avenue:

Another view, as one goes further north on University Avenue:

I noticed that some of the leaves on the trees on the roof garden are turning yellow and falling already.  It’s still quite warm, but the light is definitely changing.

Smudge is getting into cooler weather mode, I think, wanting lots of lap time.

A rather soft focus shot of Lester:

Blues on Monday

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I exchange fabric gifts with a friend whose husband makes regular trips to Toronto on business.  This time when we went to his hotel to drop off the bag to be taken back home to my friend, this is the bag the concierge gave me.  With the pink bow, we had to take the picture of the bag with the tiny white bear who also has a pink/red bow!

Look at these gorgeous blue fabrics that were in that bag!!  Something tells me there’s another blue and white or blue and cream quilt in my future — and not too far off!  I have a lot of ideas that are swirling around in my mind already!

The red and white, blue and white, green and white, pink and white, yellow and white, purple and white blocks for the baby quilt are done and there are only a few of the peach and white blocks left.  I didn’t get as much stitching done Monday night as I had anticipated, but will definitely finish them off tonight.  Then the fun will begin — laying them out and figuring out which colours/fabrics of the other element surrounds each block.  That’s the part of making this baby quilt that I’m most looking forward to.  Once I get the placement all figured out, then it will be lots and lots of lovely continuous stitching that should go quite quickly.

On the way to the hotel Monday afternoon, more photos were taken.  We travelled down University Avenue, a wide street in the downtown core that has beautiful tress and flowers in the boulevard separating the northbound and southbound lanes.

Back at home later Monday, Smudge was busy with the Cappy toy again.

While Lester was on the windowsill.

Shopping on Friday

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On Friday we went to Staples, one of our favourite stores it seems, and then to the pet store.  While Mr. Q.O. drove, I was taking pictures.  The above one is of the streets we travel along to get to Staples, just after we turned on to it.  It’s pretty even in the dead of winter because of the tree limbs.

A little further along the street.  This is one of my favourite streets in the downtown area.  The houses are all rather fascinatingly quirky.  It must be rather wonderful to live there with nothing but trees to see out one’s front windows.

We’re almost there now.

Even the parking lot at Staples is surrounded by trees.

Then we were off to the pet store.  On the way, we went along the street on which the emergency vet clinic is found.  More trees and planters out in front of buildings.

And for those buildings where there’s no room to put out a planter?  They find room somewhere on the building.

On Sunday we had thunderstorms and rain.  This was taken from our living room window as the rain was absolutely pelting down.

My plans for the weekend as far as quilt-related things went pretty well.  I didn’t quite finish piecing the blocks for the baby quilt, but only have 9 or 10 left to go.  If there’s a good baseball or soccer game on tonight, I’ll likely be able to finish those up then.  But the big accomplishment for me was that I did manage to sit down and start learning EQ.  I m so impressed with the capabilities — and that’s after barely scratching the surface.  Once I started working my way through the lessons in the manual, I was pleasantly surprised to realize it is much more intuitive than I initially thought.

I have a Mac and really dislike having to put PC-related software on it.  However, at Christmas, Mr. Q.O. found a great used PC laptop so on Saturday morning I loaded EQ on it and started.  About four hours later and I was already feeling like I could manage to design a quilt.  I’m not finished working my way through the lessons but will spend a little time each day this week on it so that I don’t lose what I’ve learned so far.

I have EQ6 and, as I hadn’t used it, I didn’t take advantage of the pre-release upgrade price for EQ7.  So for those of you out there who do have EQ7, I’d be very interested in hearing what you think are the benefits of EQ7 over EQ6.  Are there more blocks in the block library, more capabilities?  What struck you first when you started using it as being a great-to-have feature?

Smudge was quite alert on Saturday evening as he lounged about on the couch.

While Lester was catching up on some sleep.