Late again...

I always seem to have good intentions...  and then LIFE happens!  Too many things happening, not enough time to deal with it all!
I did manage to keep up with my Quilty 365 project - I've finished 9 months!  That works out to 274 days (if my math is correct!) - so, I can make a commitment and keep it - sometimes better than others!  Making commitments isn't my problem, it's keeping them going!
I'm busy working away on a few quilty projects - don't have anything I can share just yet, but it's happening behind the scenes.  SO, I only have my Dancing Plus blocks to show right now.   Here are September's blocks:

So far, I haven't had to repeat a fabric - don't know if that's a good or a bad thing!, and I still have lots of stash to choose from.  The best quilty news in September was that I won a FQ bundle of fabric, so lots of new pretty pieces to choose from!  

I'm busy working on testing a pattern for a friend, and have a baby item or two on my knitting needles (all things that I need to blog about - SOON!), but that will have to wait for another day.  

I also finished the top that I blogged about in mid-September, but for some reason, I don't have a picture of it, so I'll have to work on that too.  

Stay tuned!

 Linking up to Quilting is More Fun Than Housework's  Oh Scrap post.

Scrappy Saturday Sewing

It's been a while since I could just sew for the afternoon - apart from trying to keep up with my Quilty 365 project, but today I finally decided to "just do it" as the slogan says!
I've had a HUGE pile of 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" blocks cut since last year - one of the guest bloggers for last year's 'Hands2Help' challenge said that she cuts her scraps into rectangles based on those dimensions and then sews them into blocks.  I started using her method of using up my scraps - it makes for a great Leader / Ender project - and eventually, you get a pile of blocks!  Today was the day I finally made time to put them together.
I made great progress on this top - it still needs another 2 rows to be a "proper" quilt, but I'm pleased with what I've accomplished today!
*And now it's Monday - I put my post on hold to get a picture, but it didn't happen until today - it still needs those 2 rows - they'll get added sometime soon, I hope (before month's end if I have any say in the matter!)
This is what it looks like now:

I see a few rows where I have matching blocks touching each other (of course I didn't notice that when I sewed the rows together...), but I may just leave them.  That's the charm of a scrappy quilt, isn't it?  Thanks for stopping in!

Linking up to She Can Quilt and Quilting is More Fun Than Housework.

August Quilty 365 report

It's that time of the month again - time to share my Quilty 365 progress!  I'm a few days late - I had 29 of my blocks done, and had to scramble to find enough time to finish the last two blocks - but they're finally done!
I knew that August was going to be crazy, but I had NO idea how crazy life could get - until it actually happened.  I've been helping to care for my dad in supportive housing; then, late last week, he moved into long-term care.  He had a really rough start, and I wasn't sure that he'd actually still be around by the end of this week, but he's starting to settle in, and I've finally had a sort of quiet day.
I was able to work in my sewing room for almost 2 hours today!  I finished my August blocks, and here they are:

I also finished 10 or 12 blocks for Kat's August block drive for Covered In Love.  I was a little hesitant to commit to participating, because there was the danger of our postal employees going on strike, but that, thankfully, has been averted, so the blocks are somewhere in the postal system.  The day after I sent them, I realized that I'd forgotten to take a picture of my blocks...!  BUT, I loved the block that Kat chose (a disappearing 9-patch with black and white fabrics, surrounding a central block in either lime green, Caribbean blue, or sunny yellow) - and I've decided to take the fabrics that I had left-over, and I'm making my own D9P blocks!  The only difference is that each block will have a different Kona solid at the center of the block - and I have quite the assortment of colours!  I worked on a few of those blocks today, and hope to have time on Monday to cut and re-assemble some of those blocks.  I'm excited to see how the different colours will look together!

And finally, I needed a card today to accompany a prayer shawl that one of our craft group volunteers made for a member of our church.  The prayer shawl will be going to a man fighting cancer, so I needed a masculine-looking card to go with the prayer shawl - and this is the finished card:

  It's a little hard to see, but there's a "patchy" diamond design embossed onto the top of the light card-stock.  I love the image of the tree - strong and immovable - as I hope  his faith is!  

I'm going to link up my blocks to the QuiltyFolk website - there are already a number of blocks posted!  And, as always, thanks for stopping in!

Scrappy sewing!

For once this year, I have a very good excuse for not getting much sewing done - it's the Olympics...  Yes, I'm totally addicted to watching the different sports - things that I'd never watch throughout the year, but for some reason, I'm hooked on them now!  Well, maybe part of the reason for that is that the TV happens to be in the only air-conditioned room in my house - and WOW! have we needed the A/C this summer!  I'm not complaining - I've been waiting for summer since those cold days back in January and February; now that it's here, well...  Also, my garden has been producing like a house on fire!  Which means lots of picking, canning and freezing.  I'm SO thankful though!
But, back to the sewing...  I've been doing a lot of cutting - parts for on-going projects, parts for new projects - because I can cut fabric and watch the Olympics at the same time.  I need to cut pieces for my Quilty 365/366 blocks, and, while I have the fabrics out, I may as well cut block parts for a new project.  Katy over at KatyQuilts designed this block, and shared the pattern.  I fell in love with it immediately, and I've started cutting fabric for it every time I cut fabrics for my daily blocks.  I've got quite the stack of fabrics ready to sew.
As well, Kat posted her August block  for her Covered In Love charity block drive.  She wants black and white fabrics to make Disappearing 9-Patch blocks, using either lime green, bright yellow or Caribbean blue for the center square.  I have LOTS of black and white fabrics, so this is an easy one for me!  I grabbed the box of B/W fabrics, found some lime fabrics, as well as a suitable blue and started cutting.  I had to go shopping for a yellow fabric (what a hardship, right?), and quickly assembled these blocks:

  They're ready to be sliced up and re-assembled into D9P blocks.  I actually have about 8 more blocks ready to cut up.  

One last quick project was for a wedding shower at church.  Our church life coordinator is getting married next month, and we showered her with love and gifts earlier this evening.  Her fiancee has honey bees, and they enjoy "creating" honey and honey-based products, which they sell at our town's Farmer's Market.  She also sews, and I was sure she'd enjoy these "bee" inspired coasters - all of the fabrics either have bees in the print, or have bee-striped influences.  The coasters will be put to good use, I'm sure!

I'm linking up with Quilting is more fun than Housework's Oh Scrap! post, and she can quilt's Scraptastic Tuesday post.

My July finishes

July is behind us now, thankfully!  It ended up being much busier than I had anticipated, and that impacted what I could finish.  It's almost embarrassing to show the few blocks that I got done, but at least I got a few things accomplished....
Kat asked for patriotic red / white / blue 'star' blocks for July's Covered In Love quilt block drive.  I pulled red / white / blue fabrics and found a pattern for a great star block designed by Judy Martin.  I cut enough fabric to make a few blocks (quilt rule #11 - cut enough fabric to try out one block - if you like it, cut out more, but if you don't like it / have trouble making it, you've only committed to one block).  How many blocks did I make? None...  I found another star pattern in an older quilt magazine, and I liked the story behind it, so I cut enough fabric to make 5 blocks (remember quilt rule #11?)  How many blocks did I make?  Parts for 5 blocks, but none of them got finished, because I found another even better star block!  Cut enough to make 7 blocks (remember quilt rule #11?)  I did persevere with these blocks though, and managed to finish all seven of them - at least a week later than I should have....  But they're done! and in the mail!  (And Kat has posted the pattern for the Aug. block drive - so guess what I did last night?  Yep, cut enough fabric to make at least 10 blocks...  But I've done this block before, and I love making it!  (I already have 4 blocks partially sewn).
AND, I worked diligently on my Quilty 366 blocks - I did keep up with this challenge - even though I managed to sew one block half right side up, and the other half wrong side up.  I even pressed it, and didn't notice....
So, pictures of all of these blocks - first the star blocks:

And the Quilty 365 (366?) blocks - some of my patriotic fabrics showed up here, including a very Canadian maple leaf print.  

See the red block on the far right side?  It's covered in hearts, and is my July 1st block - I love living in Canada! and am so thankful for the blessings and freedoms we have here.

I'm going to link up with Quilty Folk and Quilting is More Fun Than Housework's "Oh Scrap" posts.

Thanks for stopping by!

What I'm working on this month...

I really haven't had a lot of sewing time this month - I've been working some nights, and that messes up my internal clock.  When I finally have the urge to sew, it's often supper time, and then it's too dark in my sewing space.  So...  not much getting done!  Well, there are pickles being made, and veggies and berries being picked and processed, but you didn't come here to read about that!
I have managed to keep up with my Quilty 366 blocks (I'll share them all at the end of the month).  The only other project that I've worked on is Quilts for Pulse .  There's been such a huge outpouring of support, and the organizers of this project will be able to make quilts for each survivor, for the families of each victim who perished, and quilts for the first responders.  I've already mailed off a pile of blocks, and then a few days later, found a few more sewn up, plus a couple of smaller blocks that needed to be joined together.  Those blocks are all done now too, and ready to go out in the mail tomorrow.
The first photo is the original heart blocks that I made, and the 2nd one is the stack that will be going out tomorrow:

We were expecting to have a postal strike in Canada, so I wasn't sure that I could participate, but the strike is on hold for now.  That's really great news, because I can make a few blocks for Kat's Covered In Love block drive.  She has asked for star blocks in red, white and blue fabrics - I've chosen my fabrics, and my star patterns, so, as soon as I get up tomorrow morning, I can get to sewing them!

I'm linking up to She Can Quilt for Scraptastic Tuesday, and Quilting is More Fun Than Housework's Oh Scrap posts.  Thanks for reading!

June wrap-up

Wow - June flew by!  (Is that a sign that I'm getting old?  Every month lately seems to be gone before I know it!)
So, I've already shared most of my June projects / finishes, except for my Quilty 365 blocks - and here they are!  I've now made 182 blocks.

I have very specific reasons for choosing some of the fabrics; others were just handy...  The top right corner fabric from Fig Tree's Mirabelle line marked my birthday; another fabric celebrated the birth of a friend's baby boy.

Unfortunately, the last block marked a very sad day - the fabric reminded me of a fire.  On June 30th, one of my local quilt shops (Cornerstone Quilts) went up in flames, with approx. 12 other businesses in a strip plaza fire.  The cause is still unknown.  Thankfully, no one was injured.

I'm linking up with Quilty Folk to share my Quilty 365 blocks.