Espresso Bean Quilt

Participating in Stories from the Sewing Room’s One Monthly Goal (OMG), I’m happy that my November goal to quilt and bind this cozy flannelette quilt  is complete.

 This quilt was from a kit called Espresso Bean, from The Quilt Patch pattern company, what an enjoyable quilt to work on, especially in the cool Autumn days.

Quilted with the Popcorn pantograph by Willow Leaf Designs.

I found a lovely grey plaid flannelette for the back.

My husband really likes this one, so I might just wrap it up and put it under the Christmas tree.  It would be nice to cuddle with while watching TV.  It sure was cozy to sit under while hand sewing the binding.

QUILT DETAILS

 Espresso Bean Quilt 2023

The finished quilts measures 76 inches by 76 inches

Finished:  November 2023

Flannelette quilt OMG

My One Monthly Goal for November is to quilt and bind this flannelette quilt.  I first saw this quilt in all browns at the Heritage Park quilt show (in Calgary), it was a kit and pattern by The Quilt Patch (a store that no longer exists).  I was delighted when they offered to make me a kit in the grey/blue colours.  

Of course this kit had been sitting on the shelf for a few years, and I recently decided to finish the top, and then found a suitable flannelette for the back.

Looking forward to finishing this warm cuddler for the winter months.

Participating in One Monthly Goal with Stories from the Sewing Room. Check by at the end of the month to see if I was able to complete my goal.

Politeness is to human nature what warmth is to wax. ~ Arthur Schopenhauer

Little Christmas Quilts

Very happy to have completed my One Monthly Goal for October, which was to quilt and bind these two little Christmas quilts. Check out Stories from the Sewing Room blog to see what others have completed this October.

Many of the fabrics came from a bag of Christmas fabric scraps that were given to me. The sashing and borders I found in my stash.  The block is one of my favourites called Mile a Minute, and if you like it you can check out my Mile a Minute tutorial which starts here.

I used flannel from my stash for the backs, to make them cozy for winter.

The pantograph is called Christmas Holly by Patricia Ritter, and they are quilted with a gold thread.

These little quilts along with many other quilty items will accompany me to a Christmas craft fair which I will be taking part in near the end of November. 

QUILT DETAILS

 Christmas Crib Quilts 2023

The finished quilts measures 46 inches by 39 inches

Started: 2021

Finished:  October 2023

Sleep in heavenly peace.

Quilting 101 Graduates

Congratulations to my recent graduates of quilting 101 at Out of Hand Quilting and Fabric in Calgary.

For Quilting 101 we spend an evening learning about the parts of a quilt and picking fabric, and then return for two full days of assembling our quilt. Generally we get our quilt between 90 and 95% finished in class. 

This particular class had some who were new to quilting, and some returning to quilting after a break and some who could quilt however they wanted to learn - or felt they may have missed - some quilting basics.  It was an exhausting couple of days of intensive learning and sewing, however I think we’ve got some new enthusiasts.

Here they are with their lovely quilts - 

Leslie

Callum and Kablusiak

Carolyn

Lori and Carol

Cristina

Missing from our photos is Helen, who was not able to attend the second day, however will attend a future Finishing School at Out of Hand to catch up. Thanks to all of you for taking my class.  I’m always amazed and inspired by the fabric choices and colour selection.

A master is a beginner who kept beginning. ~ By Mastin Kipp

Baby Christmas

I have two crib size Christmas quilts that I would like to complete as my October goal for Stories from the Sewing Room’s One Monthly Goal party.

A couple of years ago while shopping at the Ujamaa Grandma sale in Calgary, I picked up a bunch of fabric to add to my stash and was given a bag full of scraps, which included many Christmas prints.  Out of these prints I made enough mile a minute blocks to make these two little quilt tops.  If you are interested in the mile a minute block you can see my tutorial here.

Recently I acquired some lovely flannels which will make for cozy backs on these quilts.

It is my goal to quilt and bind these two by the end of October, so please check back to see how I’ve done.

The perfect antidote to dark, cold and creepy is light, warm and cozy. ~ Candice Olson

Pot holders complete

September goal completed, my One Monthly Goal (OMG) was to finish a bunch of pot-holders that were at various stages of being complete.

Each month I like to work in a colour to be part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and I try to get a set of pot-holders done, sometimes it works and others it doesn’t, however as with most of us, I get things started. That is why I enjoy taking part in the One Monthly Goal which now is being hosted by Stories from the Sewing Room.

A few more pictures by colour.

These pot-holders are from a pattern by Patchwork Pottery.

Thanks for dropping by, now to check my sewing/quilting room to see what I would like to finish for next month.

The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small, manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one. ~ Mark Twain

Phew, I’m back

Fall is close at hand and it’s time for some goals and finishing many well begun projects. I do have a goal for September and that is to finish all the leaf potholders, that are somewhere on the path to being complete, by the end of this month.  Here are pictures of the leaves to be finished.

I’d like to move these from the unfinished pile to the complete and looking for new homes pile.  I’m also happy to be participating in Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal (OMG), helping me to be accountable and complete projects.

Let your life lightly dance on the edges of time like dew on the tip of a leaf. ~ Rabindranath Tagore

Finishing School

Are you stalled with a quilting project? Finishing School is a time to finish those projects that are waiting to be completed. Bring your quilt projects to work on in a supportive and social setting. Come and get tips on your projects that are anywhere on their way to being finished.

If you are in the Calgary area, come and join me this Friday evening (August 11th) for Finishing School, you can sign up through the Out of Hand 'Classes' page - https://outofhandquilting.com/finishing-school/

Dessert and tea will be provided. I look forward to seeing you there!

Bags for May

My One Monthly Goal (OMG) for May was to finish five bags which I had started over the last couple of months, and I’m happy to have achieved my goal.  I had to step on the gas earlier in the month as my sister was flying in to celebrate our dad’s 95th birthday and I knew she was interested in my bags, it was great motivation to get started.

A couple of light blue bags, which both have the same interior.

I really liked the fabric I found for the inside of the dark green bag.

And a couple of purple bags, a light one,

And a dark purple bag, which I forgot to take a picture of before my sister took it home, thankfully she send me pictures.  I might have to hire her as a photographer, she did such a nice job.

The pattern for these bags can be found at Agilejak’s blog by Anne Ibach, in her Frankenbag Tutorial.

Happy to participate in One Monthly Goal with Elm Street Quilts and Stories from the Sewing Room and complete a few more projects.

We will fail when we fail to try. ~ Rosa Parks

May One Monthly Goal

My goal for this month is to complete five bags which I have already begun, the tops are pieced and the quilting is done, here they are with the selected lining. I do need to prepare the handles.

I was able to find the purple lining in my stash, however the green and surprisingly the blue required a trip to the quilt store.  I am a lover of blue and my family was suspicious when I said I couldn’t find the right blue, or the right amount in my rather large blue fabric collection.

Is this too lofty of a goal?  I do hope I can get them done, the handles and the thickness of bag top, lining and handles takes patience, so not a race for sure.

Linking up with Elm Street Quilts and Stories from the Sewing Room, the hosts of One Monthly Goal.

Life is short, buy the fabric.

April One Monthly Goal finish

Happy Day, I was able to complete April’s One Monthly Goal (OMG) which was to sew my Squared Away blocks into a quilt top.  I am pleased with the brightness of it.

This quilt pattern is from a quilt along with the 2018 Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  In keeping with the scrappiness of this quilt I decided to sash and border it the same way that Angela from Soscrappy finished hers, using more little scraps of fabric for a postage stamp style border.

Happy to have this top done and to be participating in Elm Street Quilts OMG, check back in a couple of days to see what I have picked for my May goal.

When life throws you scraps, make a quilt.

One Monthly Goal April

My goal for April is to finish a quilt top.  The squared away quilt blocks were part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge at Soscrappy in 2018, and now it’s time to sew them together into a quilt top.  

I’ve done most of the cutting for the sashing and border and I’ve started adding some sashing pieces.  I like to participate in Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal, as I find having a goal helps to keep me on track and actually finishing projects, and not just continuously starting new ones.

Let’s see how this month goes and if I get another quilt closer to completion.

Starting is not most people’s problem, staying, continuing and finishing is.

~ Darren Hardy

Purple bookmarks

A new month and a new colour for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I checked the Soscrappy blog this morning to see what colour Angela chose for April and saw purple.  Amazingly I had begun to work on purple bookmarks in the last couple of weeks.

These mini log cabins are sewn with three quarter inch strips, which end up one quarter inch finished.

I had about half of my bookmarks finished when I ran out of purple ribbon. As it was, this week I had picked up more purple ribbon  and completed my bookmarks this morning, so I can  share my post in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

 Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple. ~ Regina Brett

Thank goodness for goals

Completing these two pink bags so that I could participate in Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal was my hope for March, and I am happy that I was able to accomplish it.

I added a silk-screened flower shape to the pale pink block, as originally it looked like a pink frame to nothing. 

Both bags have this large pink rose floral for the lining.

I’m finding these bags a nice little project to use up scraps and even complete in a relatively short amount of time you can find an easy to follow tutorial by Anne Iback at AgileJack.

In addition to the two pink bags, I finished a couple of others, a green bag (already blogged here) and then another bag made with leftover block and scraps from my Wanderer’s Wife quilt.

I love this Philip Jacobs Brocade Peony fabric that I found in my stash for the bag lining.

Happy to have achieved my goal and to have these bags completed, and now it’s time to think about a goal for April.

One part at a time, one day at a time, we can accomplish any goal we set for ourselves. ~ Karen Casey