Round Robin time again

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas.

It is time to start another Round Robin. (ok, so I haven't officially finished the first one...but isn't that a characteristic of a true quilter...having lots of UFO's??)
So this time the participants are my aunt crazyquiltlady, my cousin Amy (I hear through the grapevine, Amy will be starting her own blog soon....can't wait to see it), my mom and myself.
This time instead of doing a Round Robin in the traditional way where you add borders to a centre square, we are going to do rows. Each of us will start with 2 rows of 6 12 inch blocks (12 inch finished) and then pass it on to the next person who will add two more rows. I think for my quilt I'm going to do the nine patch. It is a pretty simple pattern and one that I can do pretty quickly. That way I will be able to help my mom (who is not a quilter...but will be by the time this round robin is finished...lol)

Grandma's recipe found

My Grandma McIntyre passed away a few years ago but even sadder was the fact that she was taken from us much earlier than that, she had Alzheimer's. My Grandma was the best cook and baker in the world. ( I know all people think that of their Grandmas and I am no different :-) ) I have countless wonderful memories of going north to visit my Grandma and Grandpa. Sometimes it was with my mom and dad, sometimes it was just with my mom, and sometimes it was just me. But each and every time I went north I could count on Grandma and Grandpa's house being full of wonderful goodies to eat. I am allergic to chocolate, nuts and peanuts, so it was no easy feat for my Grandma to have 3 or 4 wonderful homemade treats ready for me when I walked in the door. But she never let me down. I remember when my Grandma started to really show the signs of early Alzheimer's. My mom, dad and I went north to visit because my Grandma was in the hospital. My mom took me aside and gently explained to me that Grandma was in the hospital and there would not baked goodies waiting for all us when we got there. I was in my late teens early 20's and somewhat naive. I didn't understand what Alzheimer's was nor did I have any clue that my Grandma was not indestructible. I thought she could do everything and anything. Sadly my Grandma's health deteriorated and eventually she didn't know us anymore...and lost were the memories and knowledge that she had. Somewhere along the years many of Grandma's recipes were lost and my favourite recipe was lost with them.

I have searched for years thru recipe books, on-line, with friends to see if anyone had ever heard of my favourite treat that my grandma made for me. I never found it, and I had given up hope of ever finding it...I figured it was probably something my Grandma made up or had altered from it's original state so I could eat it (without nuts, chocolate or peanuts). I had resigned myself to the fact I would never again have a wonderful cherry ball.

This weekend I was at my mom and dad's looking thru a cookbook of dessert squares that my mom was using to do her Christmas baking. As I was thumbing thru the pages I came across a recipe called Snow Log. As I started to read the ingredients I felt my heart start to race and lump form in my throat. Could it be?? Could I have finally found the recipe. I jumped up and ran over to my mom yelling I found it....I found Grandma's recipe. So my mom and I whipped it up and while the recipe is for a rolled cookie and my grandma made little balls of goodness....I am ecstatic to report it is the same recipe. I took a bite of the cookie and I swear to God I was transported back in time to a kitchen filled with love in a little green house in Haileybury.

I miss my Grandma and Grandpa (both have passed away), I loved them very much. But this Christmas season if for just a second I had them both back in my life happy and healthy sitting in their kitchen in the little green house in Haileybury while I poked my head in the fridge to grab a little bite of heaven.

SNOW LOG

4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 1/4 cups vanilla wafer crumbs
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped maraschino cherries, well drained
vanilla wafer crumbs for coating.

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Beat in icing sugar. Mix in first amount of wafer crumbs salt and cherries. You may have to add more icing sugar. You can safely add as much as you can work in. shape into a log 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter. Roll in wafer crumbs to coat. Store in waxed paper in a plastic bag. Keep in refrigerator. Cut in thin slices. Serve.

Sewing again.

I have finally gotten myself out of my sewing funk and did some sewing this weekend. I made some fabric cubes, they are going to be Christmas presents for some of my friends and family. (luckily or unluckily however you want to look at it) The people that these cubes are going to, don't read my blog. (Imagine that...what nerve..LOL)








Some turned out better than others. I must admit I almost had a nervous breakdown trying to get the cardboard in place...and for some reason the cardboard measurements I used were much too big. So if my fabric pieces were 6 inches than I cut my cardboard 5 inches. That measurement worked much better for me. I am probably not as exact a sewer as Crazy Mom Quilts. Who am I kidding I will never sew as beautifully as Crazy Mom. I used her tutorial

I am glad to be sewing again and hope to get the rest of my cubes made this week.

Oh ya, this is blog about quilting isn't it?!

I have been a very bad blogger. I have not really had anything to blog about lately...especially in the way of quilting. I do have my round robin quilt sandwhich done and pinned together. But that is as far as I got. It is sitting on my dining room table like a table cloth. I won't get any quilting done this weekend either as I'm off to Port Dover for the weekend to visit family. Maybe next weekend I'll have some time to finish off my round robin quilt.
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!

Please take a moment and Remember.

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, Canadians are asked to pause and remember the thousands of men and women who sacrificed their lives fighting for freedom and democracy during the First World War, the Second World War, the Korean War, the Afghanistan conflict and during peacekeeping missions.

During the First World War (1914-1918), more than 600,000 Canadian soldiers volunteered to go overseas. As of November 2007, only one was still alive — John Babcock, 107, who was born on an Ontario farm and now lives in the United States.

The troops fought in a series of costly and bloody battles and by the end of the war, more than 66,000 Canadian soldiers had been killed and 172,000 wounded.

The 29th Battalion, part of the Second Canadian Division, advances into No Man's Land through German barbed wire and heavy fire in the right-centre of the Canadian advance on April 9, 1917. (Courtesy Veterans Affairs Canada)
They died fighting at Vimy Ridge, Hill 70, Bourlon Wood, Mons, Passchendaele and Ypres. In Ypres, Canadian soldiers were exposed to German gas attacks, yet continued to fight, showing amazing tenacity and courage in the face of danger.

During the Second World War, (1939-45) more than one million men and women from Canada and Newfoundland served in combat in the army, air force and navy. More than 47,000 men and women did not come home from that battle.

Canadians lost their lives fighting in Dieppe, Normandy, the North Atlantic, defending Hong Kong, during the liberation of Italy, and in many other important air, sea and land campaigns.

In Korea, 516 Canadian soldiers died during the 1950-53 conflict, in which 26,791 Canadians served. The battles of Hill 355 and Hill 187, among others, saw Canadians fighting in swamps and rice fields, through torrential rain and snow, in the air and at sea.

As of March 2007, there were 13,943 living veterans of the Korean War. Their average age is 76.

In 2004, Canada also remembered the 60th anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy, where Canadian troops suffered 18,444 casualties, including 5,021 killed. Of all the divisions that formed part of the 21 Army Group, none suffered more casualties than the 3rd and 2nd Canadian.

It was a huge sacrifice – and a huge factor in turning the tide of the war against Hitler's Germany.

The first Remembrance Day, held in 1919 throughout the Commonwealth, was called Armistice Day. The day commemorated the end of the First World War on Monday, Nov. 11, 1918, at 11 a.m. — the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/11/07/f-remembrance-day.html

Lest We Forget

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Corky's Quilt is Done.

Hmmmm....I seem to be falling down on my blogging duties. I have managed to finish S's quilt. I finished doing the stipple quilting and binding last weekend and I finally put on the label tonight. So I am happy to say it is done. I hope S likes it. She is coming over tomorrow to pick it up.



Finished Quilt



Label. Oh, and you can see my stippling as well in this picture...lol.

Weekend Part II

I think I have recovered from my exciting weekend.

Time to post about the Creativ Festival.

We all met up at the Oshawa Go Train station to begin our adventure. I went into the station to buy the tickets only to read a sign that said 8:41 Go Train to Union Station cancelled. GULP. What do you mean it is cancelled...this can't be. How will we get there?? A very nice lady infront of me in the ticket line explained they were going to bus us into Union Station. Phew!! OK, the panic started to subside and my breathing went back to normal..lol. So we all boarded a bus and away we went. We got downtown Toronto only 6 minutes later than if we had been on the train. So after a pit stop at Union Station we treked over to the Metro Convention Centre.

The show was great....and I bought way too much material.




Fun was had by all and 5 very tired people made the trek home to Oshawa. I know my Aunt enjoyed it because on the way home she wanted to know when the Spring show was. So I think we have another person addicted to going to the show. The Spring show is better than the fall one and it is in Mississauga. One good thing about that is that we have to drive to it, so that means you can go out to the car and drop off heavy bags full of fabric. :-)

What a weekend!

This weekend my aunt and cousin came down for a visit and to go to the Creativ Festival. What a whirl wind weekend. I sure hope they had fun, I know I sure did.

Saturday afternoon my mom called to say my aunt and cousin had arrived, so I went over to my mom and dad's house.

After all the hello's and hugs had been exchanged. My aunt asked "Do you want to see your finished round robin quilt top?" YES!!! I do!! So into the kitchen we went.

There was my quilt top on the kitchen table covering a rather large object.

My quilt top is wonderful...I love it.


Aunt Doe


So after looking at my quilt I take it off the table.



And lo and behold what do I see but....






a NEW SEWING MACHINE.



This is my Christmas present ( I got it early...lol) I am so excited. I haven't really had a chance to play with it yet.

Saturday night my cousin gave me some lessons on how to use it, and what all the presser foots are for. (Thank you A!!) I tried to do a little bit of free motion stippling on a test quilt sandwich. It was fantastic. Now, I don't think for a second that I'm instantly a brilliant quilter but boy oh boy it is so much easier on my new machine. I found I was struggling with my old machine when I stippled but on the new one it is much much easier. I still love my old machine and will still use it...but the new one is like Mercedes.

Now I have no excuses not to finish Corky's quilt my red/white/black quilt and many other projects I want to do.

Sunday we went to the creativ festival. I'll post about that in a couple of days. Lets just say I single handedly spurred on the Canadian economy with all my fabric purchases.

I am pretty sure that I can now make a quilt for every single person I have ever known. And you want to know the really sad thing....I was thinking tonight coming home from work on the GO Train that I need to go and buy some Muslin to make my lable and to make more quilt test sandwiches.

Is there a 12 step program for people who can't stop buying fabric?? LOL.

Thank you Aunt Doe and A I had the best weekend I have had in a long time. I sure hope you are able to come down in the spring for spring show. (it is even better than the fall one)Hmmmm....I wonder if I'll need to buy more fabric by then.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving
Originally uploaded by twinsline7

Love this picture.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

I hope you have many reasons to be thankful. I know I do!!

Quilting Newbie

Finally done!!

I have finished my final border for the round robin I'm participating in...woo hoo.

Here is a close up picture of the corner.





And a full picture.




Not bad for a newbie...lol.

I hope my aunt will like it. My aunt and cousin are coming down next weekend for the semi annual Creativ Festival

I go to the festival every year (twice a year actually) with 32point5. This will be the first time my aunt and cousin have come down for the show. I'm so excited for them to come with us. I'm sure my aunt will absolutley love the show and hopefully make it an annual trip.

I have my list of "wants" already for the festival. One thing I want to stock up on is Christmas fabric and some Amy Butler fabric.

8 days until the show...woo hoo.

I also got more done on Corky's quilt today. I sewed the backing fabric together and sandwiched the quilt together and basted it with basting pins. Then I trimmed it all up. After I finish my blog post I'm going to go and see if I can find some clip art pictures of dog bones (I'm sure I could free hand one...but might as well look for some clip-art) and a fire hydrant or a dog house...I thouht those might be cute pictures to use as a quilting outline on some of the squares or on the borders.

To my Canadian readers I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving on Monday. I will be celebrating Thanksgiving on Sunday with my mom and dad and my dad's brother and his wife. My aunt and uncle just got home from a three week trip to China, so I'm looking forward to hearing about their trip.

Final Round Robin Border

I decided to take a brake from Corky's quilt and work on the last border I have to do for the round robin.



These are the corner blocks that I completed today. I have to say I am so proud of myself. I just think they are wonderful. These are as close to perfect that I am ever going to be able to do. My squares match up perfectly. (perfect for me)

I am all excited now to finish this border off. The quilt top I'm working on right now is my aunts and I want to do a really good job on hers. (I wanted to do a good job on everyone's but my aunt's is special...she is the person that got me hooked on quilting.) For years she told me that I would be able to quilt, and then one day I decided to try it and you know what?? She was right. Practice really does make perfect...the more you quilt the better you get. I wonder if that is true about free-motion quilting...lol. Because, let me tell you, I am brutal at that...lol.

Ta Dah!!!

Here is a picture of the quilt top that I'm working on for SM




Hmm....I guess I should have ironed it before I took the picture...lol.
I'm in the home stretch now. There is not much left to do...sandwich the quilt, quilt it and bind it. HMMMMMMMMMMMMM...ok, so maybe there is a bit more work left to do on it...but the end is in site. My hope is to finish it this weekend because I really have to start working on the border I have to do for the round robin. I have all the fabric cut out for that....so it should go pretty fast.

Does anyone out there have a favourite marking pencil or tool. I've used those pens that disappear on there own after a few minutes (more like a few seconds...I mark the quilt and then run like a crazy woman back to the sewing machine and hope to god the marking is still there so I can sew the line I need), I've tried the soapstone(?) marking tool, didn't care for that at all....it didn't even show on the fabric, I've tried the chalk pencils as well(you know the ones that the chalk kind of comes out on a little wheel), that didn't work very well either. Now, please don't all gasp at once...but on occasion I have been forced to use a real pen just so I could see the mark and sew properly. (now, I used it on very dark fabric) I know I have committed a terrible sin, but until someone can invent a darn fabric marking tool that doesn't disappear instantly or worse stays permanently, then my quilting friends, I may once again be forced to use the dreaded BIC pen.

I want...

Today I spent a very enjoyable afternoon with one of my buddies 32point5
I helped (cough..cough)her make some wonderful BLANK. ( I better not say what she made as I'm sure there will be a blog about it in the next couple days and I don't want to steal her thunder.) But I was lucky enough to leave with a bottle of IT...hurray for me.

During our visit today I noticed myself starting many sentences with...I want or I should. That got me to thinking that I need to take charge of putting steps in place to get what I want. The first step is to list what I want. So here is my list.

Things I want to make

Sewing and quilting projects.

1. Plastic bag holder for under the counter
2. Nesting baskets that I saw on crazy mom quilts.
3. Scarfs (free pattern can be found on Amy Butlers website
4. Black Redwork pillow.
5. Redwork Quilt
6. Orange Quilt
7. Brown and Blue Quilt
8. Black and White Quilt

My UFO list (it isn't too long..thank goodness)

1. Border for the Round Robin
2. Corky's quilt for my friend SM

Ok, now that I have posted my wants, I have no excuse not to get at it. It is all about time management.

Tomorrow I should......

Hmmm...maybe this won't be as easy I thought. LOL.

Have a great week eveyone.

2nd try

I have taken everyones advice and re-arranged the quilt squares. I hate to admit it but you were correct...way too much red in the middle and the blue was all clumped up. I was trying to do a red design in the middle but it just didn't work.




This is my second attempt. I think it looks better. Let me know your thoughts, I appreciate your input.

This weekend is all about quilting. I want to get this quilt top pieced together with the border on as well. I also want to start the border for the round robin. So much quilting to do...so little time...lol.

Project # 2

Project #2 has begun. A friend of mine asked me to make a quilt for her out of all her late dog's bandana's (Corky died a couple of weeks ago) Corky had tons of bandana's, he got one everytime he got groomed and my friend S. kept them all. Last weekend S. dropped them off for me to take a look at.

The bandana's are triangles (of different sizes) of different fabrics. After much deliberation and discussions with S. and my mom (who helps me with my quilting) I decided to do another scrappy quilt, like I made for my coworker.





I took all the bandana's and cut a 6 1/2 inch square out of the bandana's. The bandana's that were too small I took and sewed together and then cut a 6 1/2 inch square out of the sewn together bandana's.

I had to add about 13 squares of my own (that I had left over from a previous project).

I laid out all the squares on the floor and organized them. I'm not sure if I like the way I have set them up..so I am going to just leave them on the floor for a day or two and see if the quilt design grows on me.



Two projects at once...yikes....the pressure....LOL

Next Round of Round Robin

I met up with 32point5 and T this morning at Tims to exchange our round robin quilt tops.

This is the next quilt top I am going to work on.



Close up of the border that T completed.



So once again I have no idea what to do next. The border I have to do is 6 inches. As you have probably guessed when I am having a quilting dilemma, I travel over to my trusted crazy quilt store owner. She never lets me down.

This is the fabric she has chosen for me to use.



And after another quilt lesson, I left the quilt store with the fabric and diagram of what I need to do next. I'm not sure what it is called but I'm going to make a 9 patch for the four corners and then the sides will be 3 strips of the fabric. I think I can do this...it doesn't seem that hard. Time will tell though.

So this is project number one...it needs to be completed by October 11th, that is when T, 32point5 and I meet again.

But I also have a 2nd project that I have to start working on. I'll leave you in suspense about what the project is....hopefully I'll be able to post some of those pictures tomorrow. I'll have to wait and see how much I get done tomorrow.

Nothing to do with Quilting...but so funny I couldn't resist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3ijYVyhnn0&fmt=18

What happened to...........

The link doesn't work anymore. I keep trying it everyday...hoping...praying that it will magically work again...but sadly it does not work. I loved that site I found so many wonderful quilting blogs.

If anyone knows what happened please let me know.

Round Robin Border

I am a quilting mad woman these last few days. Finished the quilt for my friend at work and finished the border for the Round Robin I am participating in.

I must admit I was a little perplexed with the quilt top I had to add a border to. So I took the quilt top to my favourite quilt lady's store and begged for help. Shirley was wonderful...she whipped open the quilt top took one look at it and said "no wonder you don't know what to do with it." Yikes!! I knew I was in trouble then and there. She decided that I needed to put a plain border on it to calm it down and the designed she picked for this quilting newbie was Flying Geese. (GULP) But I don't know how to do Flying Geese I sobbed. Well, that was all Shirley needed to hear...she quickly got some scrap material, rushed over to a sewing machine and promptly gave me a lesson on how to do a Flying Geese border.

Shirley's example

My test patch.

I decided I did a pretty good job so I forged ahead.




The material is a navy blue moira ( I hope I've spelt that correctly). The goose is done with the wrong side of the material and the sky is done with the correct side of the material.

Close up of border.

Finished border.

Now that I've gotten all caught up on my projects, I'll have to start a new one. HMMM....what to do next?

You'll have to stay tuned to see. LOL.