Snow Days and More

Well, actually, everything I am about to show you was completed long before the snow started to fly.  As summer turned to fall I began stitching Snow Days, the January block of the Sweet Nostalgia BOM.

 

The last time I showed you my Kansas Dug-Out, I was deciding on border and binding colour.  As you can see I went with a black border and coloured binding.  This little dug-out was hand pieced and quilted, in the ditch, with black thread.

My third Hocuspocusville block, Spooky Lou's.

And, a long time coming, but now finished my Amish Stripe quilt.  Machine pieced in 2008 and recently hand quilted with a variegated thread.

I also machine quilted my free-form quilt and decided not to square up the edges before binding.  Letting it  remain in its free-form state seemed like the thing to do.

Remember Jeanneke's Building Houses with Scraps from last year?  Well, here is my mini version.  I hand pieced a house or two each month and put it all together before the end of the year.  Once hand quilted the binding will be done in the same fabric as the corner squares.

And, what I spent most of my time working on, my Shades of Autumn POTC quilt top.  The blocks were hand pieced in 2009-2010, but I still had a long way to go added the sashing and borders.

The colour in this photo is more true to the fabric I used for the Shades of Autumn POTC background.  So, try and image this earthy yellow colour instead of the washed out white (damn the camera) in the quilt top photo above,  Much nicer, yes?

That was autumn and it's on to winter, more to tell you another day.

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen

Last Bloom of Summer

Bloom

A summer applique ready for quilting.

 

Building Houses

A house for August and September.

Autumn Aster

Popping up in the garden just in time for fall.

It seems fall has arrived  a week early and when I feel a chill in the air, comfort food comes to mind.  So, I made some Indian Pudding, served warm, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.   

Now, it's time to work on some fall projects and I have two things in mind, my Hocuspocusville stitchery blocks and finishing my Shades of Autumn, POTC quilt top.

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen



Building Houses 7

Despite the record breaking temperatures construction went as planned and three houses have been completed for the month of July.

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen

From the Month of May

Postage Stamp Quilt

So far, I have hand stitched together 256, 1-inch squares.

Cat Quilt BOS

The summer block is just as cute as the spring block.

Building Houses from Scraps

Two houses for June.

Simple Pleasures

Single Flower Basket

Kitty Kat

House on the Hill

Bees a 'buzz

Simple Pleasures by Anni Downs

Soon to be a wall hanging.

Now, that was a pretty productive month of May!

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen

Building Houses 4 and 5

One house for April and another for May.

And.....

24 Klosjes

Pieced in April

For a total of 272 of 500 completed

Something I have not worked on in a very long time.

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen

Building Houses 3

Spring arrived early this year with record high temperatures, very good news for home builders.  As you can see, my little neighbourhood increased by one house this month.

It's nice to be back outside again, though winter was pretty mild.  I started off the gardening season with a good workout by turning over the compost pile.  Garden clean-up is well underway and my bicycle is even getting a bit of a makeover.  A new noseless saddle, for ultimate comfort and a quick release wire basket.  The plan is to hang up the car keys, walk or use my bike in good weather and shed a few pounds along the way.

I have been on a bit of a roll with stitchery projects lately and have a Hocuspocusville block to show you, but it needs pressing first.  Also finished the Sashiko block I started February 2011, just need to decide what to do with it.   And, I am now working on Block 4 of the Polka-Dot Girls, well thoughts of a spring applique project dance in my head.

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen

Building Houses 2

February brings two more houses for my mini Building Houses.   It sure looks like the construction market is booming this year.  Have you seen all the beautiful houses?  If not, visit Jeanneke at Building Houses from Scraps.

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen

Building Houses

I just could not resist Building Houses from Scraps a fun project Jeanneke put together for 2012.  The plan is to try to make a house block every day, so at the end of the year you have a total of 366 (it's a leap year) house blocks.  The houses are tiny (7.5 cm x 7.5 cm) and meant to be hand pieced, which is perfect for me, but you can make them larger and piece by machine, if you like.  Rules are few, but one important one is not to show a completed quilt before the end of the year, as Jeanneke said, it is not a race and takes the fun out of it for other participants if you do.

Last year I decide to go smaller and not make large quilts anymore, just finish the ones I have on the go now and a few I have already purchased the fabric for.  So, I will be sticking to my rule and only building enough houses for a doll size quilt and it will be stretched out over the year.  As you can see, I'm going with Batiks to build my houses.

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen