House Arrest

My pink Log Cabin blocks are finished and so is the quilt, in large part because we are almost trapped in our house. Smoke from the Quebec forest fires have made the skies very cloudy for the past several days, resulting in poor air quality so we've basically been holed up. If I can't get out and garden, why not sew?

I only needed to make two more pink blocks so they came together quickly. The colour placement is in reverse to the green blocks, still scrappy but with green at the centre and pink in on corner. Those slices of lime are fun, aren't they?

To assemble it I chained my columns of blocks together which was a big help in keeping everything where it should be.

But that didn't mean that I spun all the blocks correctly. The block on the far left in the middle row should have been turned 90 degrees; I was very happy to have done a quick check before sewing all the rows together.

This is what it looked like after the last seam was sewn - a wonderful tumble of green, pink and neutrals.

As always, with scrappy, the more variety, the better.

This polka dot is from a binding remnant. As luck would have it, this one was cut on the straight of grain so I just trimmed it down to the sizes that I needed and used it up. Love that. I also love that sweet little black pindot included in the neutrals.

So it's finished! What started out as a squirrel has become another finish to add to the Quilts for Survivors pile, and that's a good thing....M

A Little More Yet To Do

Since about mid April I have been playing with scrappy green Log Cabin blocks.

It started after I saw a couple of the Quilts for Survivors blocks that Jean from our church quilting group had made using four 8" blocks with the colours all positioned in the centre. On a whim, I made four blocks. Meh.

It didn't do anything for me, but I couldn't stop making blocks. And then I thought I might also make a pink quilt. I quickly gave my head a shake and determined to find a way for the two colours to play together.

The hunt continued for scraps. And, if I was to make 48 blocks in short order, there had to be a plan. Eventually I worked in batches of 5 or 6, which I could do in just over an hour once I got smart and pre cut all of my strips instead of cutting as I went.

With all of the blocks together now (and one to the good) it was time to test drive a layout. Not bad, but I had envisioned something a little more asymmetrical, something like Jane's work of art.

I simply took the column of blocks from the right side and moved it over to the left side and wa-la! A little tweaking to improve the mix of colours and it was good to go.

Except for that gaping hole in the middle. Two more pink squares are needed and then I can start putting it together....M

My Worst Nightmare

For as long as I can remember I have had this thing about moths, and not in a good way. They creep me out so I try and avoid them as much as possible; it's just safer for everyone concerned. Jane, on the other hand, loves them. So much so that they are the feature of the latest quilt that she's been working on.

She started cutting back in September and then was off to the races.

The soft tomato reds and sage greens work really well together with the mustard, green and cream colours in the moth print, and a little bit of grey/low volume prints keeps everything nicely subdued.

It's a log cabin of sorts. She started making the blocks without seeing the entire layout of the quilt so she didn't realize that if you placed four coloured corners together they would work to make a circle . She has laid them out randomly, concerned more with the placement of the different types/colours of moths rather than the corners. 

A few bug prints were added to keep the moths company, of course.

Oh, and how about a few ants?

She was getting ready to add the last strip of blocks to it when I last saw her so it will be ready to quilt now. Fastest hand sewer in the west!

So lovely.

Sorry Jane, beautiful as it is, I just don't think that I could sleep under this one but I will be keen to see how you get it quilted....M

Quilt Art

So many quilts catch our eye but there are some that are just meant to be hung and enjoyed for the works of art that they are. One such work is Jane's recently finished Untraditional Log Cabin.

Last summer she pulled out her collection of predominantly Kaffe fabrics and a fabulous collection of greys that she had picked up at Quilt Canada when it was in Ottawa a few years ago and started cutting strips. 

She set to work hand stitching gorgeous blocks, using orange for the centre 'hearth' block and staying within a single colour range for each.

Once she had built up a good inventory of blocks it was time to test a few layouts.

It was hard to look away.

We played around with this 'peaks' idea but eventually landed on an asymmetrical design, diagonal strips emanating from near the bottom left of the quilt - it just showed off the colours to their max.

She looked at a few more options before deciding on her fourth choice - diagonal rows of blocks offset slightly from one corner. Now she knew how many of each colour she needed still to make.

Roberta quilted it with Abundant Feathers. Oh my! 

It is such a lovely contrast to the grid of the blocks and softens it up so beautifully.

She chose to bind it with an orange print that nicely echoes the orange squares at the centre of each block.

Early on Jane knew that she wanted this one to hang in her bedroom, but for a little while it found a home across the back of her sofa, which is the dark grey that you see, a terrific combination.

Recently we got together and figured out how to make a hanging sleeve and finally got it hung (I do believe that there may have been one or two squeals of delight as it was revealed 😉).

I haven't checked lately but I suspect that it's a little tough getting much shut-eye with this beauty staring back at her from the end of her bed....M

Sandy's Island Vacation

This time of year Sandy usually finds herself relaxing in a sunny climate, scuba diving, kicking back and stitching by the beach. Not so much in these times of pandemic. But that didn't stop her from heading to the island - the kitchen island that is - to baste two quilts so that she can get them into the hoop. 

Don't you just love her Log Cabin? With all of that saturated colour it is the perfect antidote to the chills of winter, particularly with that bright and sunny orange backing. And the piano key border just ties everything in so nicely. LUV.

This is the second of the two and the first that will go into the hoop - Blueberry Pie. Isn't it yummy? So different from the Log Cabin but a real stunner.

So now when she come in from her walk each day she pours a hot chocolate with coconut whipped cream, turns on her favourite Netflix shows and she's got hours of entertainment at her fingertips. I'm looking forward to seeing how she quilts it.

The talk of blueberries triggered a little baking. For the past month or so I've been craving a lemon loaf but was just too lazy to pull everything out and make it. Not sure why I delayed but once I got at it I made two; they came together very quickly.

Delish! The sour cream gives them a nice consistency and keeps it lovely and moist; perfect with my tea....M

Laying the Foundation

Jane is never far from starting a new quilt and her latest doesn't disappoint. She has worked through her collection of neutrals that she bought at Quilt Canada when it was in Ottawa last year and her Kaffe fabrics and has a solid foundation for a new Log Cabin quilt in the works. It. Is. Spectacular.

I mean really, with this gorgeous collection of prints how could it not be?

She didn't start that long ago but you wouldn't know it from the pile of blocks that I saw. 

In the back of her mind she thought that there might be close to 60 blocks made but I did a quick count and came up with 74. Now I believe that there are over 80.

Like the majority of her quilts she pieces them by hand, and for this one she works on three at a time.

Initially she had all of her 1.5" strips tossed into a bag and would dig through to find the ones that she needed, but that quickly became a frustrating mess. So she sorted them by colour and pinned each group with a large safety pin, both coloured...

and neutral. So much easier to work with the bundles.

She's played with lots of different layouts and is leaning to diagonal stripes. The final decision has yet to be made.

Either way, she's having a grand time playing with all of this gorgeous colour. Wouldn't you?....M

Colours of the Harvest

With the dying days of October the Holly Bazaar comes closer into view so it's been a full court press to get myself organized to finish up a few items for the craft table and something for the Silent Auction. Happily, these placemats are now quilted and bound and ready to go. I love the colours and hope that someone else will too.

Nothing overly fancy in the quilting department, just evenly placed diagonal lines of stitching with a blue/green variegated thread. Its what I used when I made a set of Christmas placemats using a similar pattern and I quite liked it.

They are bound and backed with the same deep orange print - its a deep colour and yet soft at the same time.

I had strips galore to work with so I made two pairs of pot holders to match. The gals will be able to decide if they want to sell them all together as a set or as three separate items. If they like the thought of them as a complete set maybe they will go into the Silent Auction - they can decide what works best. More bazaar projects to come!....M