Eyes

This is one of those crucial parts, one need to do one's craft. One need them, especially if one want to thread a needle.  It is not a tool, but one's "eyes"!  At first I thought it must be jet lag or just generally being tired. 

However, when I tried to thread the needle on Monday past again, the eye of the needle was just not in view.  After numerous attempts, it was time to accept, my eyes was acting up.  I promptly made an appointment, got my eyes tested and got new glasses.  Amazing how fast it all happened, now I can see again, which is great.

Bargello Quilt.

This year I have finished my nephew's wedding quilt, it is on it's way to the happy couple. 

An old lady once told me, the way we start the new year, is pretty much how the rest of the year will happen.  Old Wife Tales?  Well I was busy gardening on the first day of that year, the whole year I did a lot of gardening. ( The garden did look fantastic!)

It made me wonder?   Over the years however, I have noticed a trend, so now I give it a bit more thought.  Started the year off, by attending a wedding, would you not know it, the next wedding invite arrived promptly in my inbox....

Beanie Hats.

My next start and finish turned out to be another beanie hat. The colour is one the same as I made for a gift at Christmas time, so one of the family saw that bright turquoise one and requested another one in that colour.

The Hertfordshire Quilt.

The Hertfordshire Quilt, got its first round.  Online it emerged that there is a discussion on a error in the pattern.  Last year when I discovered this, I wrote to Carolyn Konig, she wrote back! (Thank you, Carolyn).

The Hertfordshire design in my book printed by Quiltmania needs an alteration on page 178 with two templates.  Imperial templates A2 &A3 need to be both reversed i.e. A2 needs to be A3 template and A3 needs to be A2 template.

The same apply to with both A2 & A3 the metric templates. 
The notes read correctly as does the diagram on page 168. 


My center for this quilt, will not be affected by this part of the pattern, as the fabric for it decided the center for me.  It is a fussy cut floral.  These fabrics was at Quilt Canada 2017, when I saw them, I knew where I wanted to use them.

Making sure everything fits.

Cut the center square the finished size.  This required adding on a border, to create the center.

English paper pieced the triangles, then added the squares and pink borders by machine.

PS: Two of us decided to make this quilt, around the same time last year.  Check out the other here

The wedding quilt, is also coming from Carolyn Konig's book: Creating Heirlooms, One Stitch at a Time. Now it also missed some pattern pieces, which one can get from Quiltmania here.

Now who said lightning does not struck twice?  Two patterns in one book, this book has some amazing patterns in it, which will be keeping me busy for years to come. All of the patterns are complex, so for a gremlin or two, to find their way in there, was no surprise.

The stream is frozen over.  This is what we saw on our walk this week.

January is a busy month for our extended family, with very many Birthdays and Wedding Anniversaries.  Celebrating happy occasions, treasuring every moment, creating new memories.

Happy Birthday!

A New Year.

2018.

It is the start of the new year, with cold and crisp weather.  This is also the start of many finishes this year.  We tend to start a whole lot of projects and then they take time.  Some get finished and others drag on, we either lose the excitement of working on the latter ones or time is just not available.  So this year, the commitment will be to see how many can be finished.

First up will be a wedding quilt for my nephew and his new wife.  It just needs to be quilted and the binding and label sewn on.

Next it will be 365 from 2016, have a number of blocks to make still.

The Splendid Sampler blocks from 2016 will be sewn into a quilt top.

A few tops are basted and needs quilting, so they made the list of to do's.

Towards the end of last year, The Hertfordshire Quilt was started, so it will get some work every week.

Also on the list will be all the other WIP's in my sewing room.  They will get the love and attention, when life allow time for them.  Everyday twenty minutes will be used to work on one of the above mentioned projects.

Let the journey begin....

The Celebrations in Life...

This week past was the celebration of a wedding and some sad news. We always expect our parents to live forever, then one get the phone call to say, they will not be with us for much longer.  When one is far away, it is even more difficult, especially when one is separated by an ocean and a continent in-between.  The only comfort is knowing,  my siblings are close by and can be there to care, to hug and to love.  Modern technology helps the rest of us who are so far away.

 With the weather all getting colder by the day, the time has come to make some gifts.

 These old fashioned doctors bags, aka Retreat Bags, for the ladies.  Inside is something they are all passionate about.

 Science...

 This is for the Bride, a Maroccan inspired nightie for the honeymoon.

This fabric was not easy on the scissors, it kept on running away. 

 It is soft and super silky...

Brrr... it is cold outside.

We woke up to very cold temperatures this morning, with the windchill factored in -25C.  Yesterday it was snow, so old man winter has arrived with a blast of frigid weather. Time to hibernate and stay warm and toasty inside...

Time to escape into the world of colour and textiles.

This is the fabric which will be used for this project,  it was at Quilt Canada this summer. 

Fussy cutting one of the fabrics?

Which led me to the next step, it has a black fabric in the bundle. Playing with the fabric and some from my stash. 

A baby quilt, which has been on the backburner for a while, it needed to be finished.

Playing with curved edges and pipping.  This is something I have never attempted on a quilt.

 The finished quilt, will need to practice the curved edges a lot more.

Welcome to the world little one, it has been given to a new baby girl.

Christmas is twenty days away.

Amazing how one want to get everything ready and done.  That give us time to relax and not worry about anything.  Good intentions to get it prepared and life always make us jump a couple of extra hoops, just for fun.

 

 Slippery blue fabric, which is keeping me on my toes.

 This fabric was suppose to be white, it arrived and it was not. 

 

More beanie hats, as you can see I made many more than what I needed to.

The yarn made me do it.

A future project...

Tick, Tock....the clock is ticking, Christmas is coming.

 Originally it was going to be a quiet one, then life happened and plans changed.

Gifts are all finished.  Now it is time to make a dress, for a very special occasion.  Over the years we collect fabrics, not knowing when we will use them, then all of a sudden that time has arrived.  So hours spent cutting out all the pieces of fabric, then transferring all the notches.  Reading the pattern and following the instructions.  Fingers crossed, all work out well.

 A quick trip on the weekend, to pick up some special bits and pieces. Extra bits, which followed us home.

 Anne of Green Gables, the green fabric is actually a lot brighter, than what the photo shows.

Tools for applique.

Happy Thanksgiving to Madeline and her amazing family.