Sweet Bird

On the RSC2016, the colour of the month is brown, with an accent of pink. I have been busy making chocolate strings blocks, catching up on a few LQS endeavours (Gypsy Wife - started Feb 20) .

I have FINALLY made my first few Figure 8's with Chocolate and re-purposed embroidery pieces.
Other things are out of the way for now, and my cutting is done...just a matter of getting them sewn together. 

But I wanted to check in at the linky party for other just desserts of the chocolate nature, click here.


Love and hugs
Kathy

The Quilter's Bucket List

I am sure that we all have one. There are different types of bucket list...for Travelers, Foodies, Knitters...you know where I am going with this. Quilters at least have those quilts on their bucket list that you just have to have made at least one. Please feel free to edit this list to your own liking. But mine goes something like this: a hand pieced hand quilted Grandmother's Flower Garden (1), a Dresden Plate (hand pieced and hand quilted) (3), a Dear Jane (0), a Baltimore Album (0) or a New York Beauty (started).

I have taken the plunge. I have had Karen Stone's iconic paper pieced pattern book on my shelf for years...the book was printed in 1995 (you do the math).

So in addition to following along with Angela's RSC16, and using up the colour blue for the month of January, making string blocks and the requisite Twinkle stars, I have also started MY New York Beauty. My rationale is to following along using the 'colour' of the month and just keep adding to the blocks. Which, are coming together surprisingly 'easy' (for fear of jinxing the process).

I love those sharp pointed spires! The sewing of the arcs and folding the fabric back is a magical moment.

Thou shall not forsake other works-in-progress though. My Quilty 365 Temperature Chart has taken a surprising leap into the aqua blues this week with some unseasonably high temperatures - for Alberta. There we have it. January is done.

In keeping with all things Chocolate and Hearts and Love and Kisses, I have finally finished my Star Gazey Heartz quilt. These were pieces and parts of hearts, some whole hearts that I bought at a guild garage sale quite a few years ago. I 'edited' the stack, made a few more...and just like that I have a new (to me) Valentines quilt to display in our front office.

I used a 'vintage' brown and pink paisley for the sleeve and binding.

A good friend of mine has given me a small jar of buttons from her MIL that has moved into extended care and I have used those in a small crazy quilt piece that I have started. The background are 4 chocolate string blocks and I shall continue to embellish until I am satisfied that I have done enough.

Linking up to SoScrappy to view other quilters savouring the chocolate.

Love and hugs
Kathy

Twinkle Stars complete

Over at SoScrappy the colour of the month January is Blue (with an accent of purple) and a suggested pattern for the Column Along 2016 is this lovely Twinkle Star. And I LOVE it. And all 9 are now made (apologies I should have hung that a little straighter).

I have made a Fabric Blue Board and  Light Blue Scrap box to create a 'pretty' side to this scrappy-string-saving venture. Not sure yet if it will also house the Indigo, Blue Greens, Aquas...or if they shall all receive their own bin. Only time will tell. But I do look forward to getting the primary Colours done first, secondary and tertiary colours all in good time. A note to self, use a cotton batting and not a polyester one working with a hot glue gun!

I know I am invested in my Quilty 365 by Turning 65/Daily Hi-Temp quilt, that when the morning weather man says we are going to have a high of -10C today, and I automatically translate that to mean red-violet circle day. We have a few purple days too, -11 to -20. I know that we will also get a few blue days, -21 to -30. Recommendations for a colour for the days that will have a daily hi of colder than -31?

Or I can get specific with the backgrounds and select this particular one to mark this -5 Monday January 18 (a teal day).  Recognizing that this city's major newspaper, Edmonton Journal, laid off some very good people.


I have continued to create more blue string block (on the right), and I am adding to the already de-papered 2015 stack (on the left). I have been researching (aka - time spent on pinterest) different quilts made with string blocks. Options are endless!

Linking up with SoScrappy to see a sea of endless blues.
Love and hugs
Kathy

Twinkle Stars #1

My first January-is-blue Twinkle Star for the RSC16 Column quilt is complete. For my backgrounds I have a 'quantity' of charity shop embroidered table runners and pillow cases and towels etc. All done in wonderful jewel tone colours. This background piece may have too large of leaves, but once the whole quilt is assembled, I believe all will be forgiven and the quilt will be magnificent. Eight more sets have been cut and ready to sew up leader-ender style today.

I too have succumbed to the siren song of the Quilty 365. (See that post here.) These circles are a personal record of your life or community. I have chosen to make this my signature Turning 65 This Year quilt. So whatever the weather might be, wherever I might be, I will record it in a fabric choice made from this thermometer, with some revision to the bottom end as the winter temperatures here in Western Alberta Canada deserve their own categories and dedicated colours.

I also took a calendar and marked it up with the 30 day forecast (in tiny print) and then with a sharpie have marked the actual HI for that day. I doubled checked the past week's temperature starting with January 1st, which was +1.4 C!! But I suspect that the rest of the month (and February) will be a lot of Sultana or some darker purples.

 

I am linking up at SoScrappy, so head over here to see what is new in blue for 2016.
Love and hugs
Kathy

Wither the Weather

There have been some excellent examples and inspiration of the Quilty 365. I love them all. It is a very personal quilt for some, an exhibition of their moods and feelings on any given day. A depiction of what is happening around them or around the world. Mine will also be personal, and a record of my Edmonton Alberta home climate.

I have liberated a graph shared with me and found on FB by my oldest daughter. Her challenge to me! Well, I do not have enough of these yarns to make this afghan, but I do have fabric!! In all these Colours. So this idea and this thermostat ...

I think I will do the blank spaces to start a full month,  for instance to show that January 1 was a Friday. It was below 0 degrees but above -5C on New Year's Day, so I started of with a dark blue/green circle. Suffice it to say that I will be working in the purple range for the next foreseeable future (-6C and colder).

Love and hugs
Kathy

Dashing through my Stash

And because there  is nothing quite like working under some real pressure, the quilt I had intended to give Hanna for Christmas was snapped up by my LQS for a store sample. And look where it has ended up...on the front cover of their newsletter and will be the inspiration for their in-store QA2016. (with kind permission of Angela of course). I'm a cover girl, well my RSC15 is.

So because the RSC15 is otherwise engaged I was busy piecing this Sew Kind of Wonderful Metro Rings to give to Hanna. It had to be flimsy-ready to take to my LAQ ...and just like that she had it finished and ready for gift giving. Bless her little 9 year old's heart she recognized it immediately as the quilt that was on 'the wall' that she had admired a few weeks earlier.

Love and hugs to you all - Merry Christmas and a very Creative New Year
Kathy

Allietare Part 3 - Done!

Such a sense of accomplishment to get the Bonnie Hunter MQ Allietare clues caught up todate.

That and getting ready for Christmas with bindings to get sewn onto quilted presents for my grandchildren. I have a zillion miles of binding left to go!! All quilts have been quilted by Kim Caskey Custom Quilting in Edmonton (and photo credits as marked).

Grand Illusion, the very generous 2014 Mystery Quilt from Bonnie Hunter, itinerant and prolific quilter, from Quiltville (& from her mountain retreat aka Quiltvilla). The backing on this is a chevron blue white and grey minky and my granddaughter is going to love it.

Tumalo Trail, a brilliant way to use those 2" squares. Another fabulous pattern from Bonnie Hunter's book Scraps & Shirttails II, Continuing the Art of Quilting Green. Bonnie used 1.5" in her's, but I have had a stack of 2" to use up...Quilting Green.

My Little Irish Dream, a Disappearing 9 Patch using up some of the delightful shamrock phat quarters (even the thread colour is named "Limerick") that I have bought over the past 3 visits to Ireland with Celtic Quilt Tours. We always have a fabulous time and you should come with us. They have also added quilt tours to Scotland and France to the list. So much quilting fun around the world and so little time!

Enough blogging for one night, I have binding to sew on!!!
I am connecting to Quiltville, click over here to see the progress and fun going on in the name of Allietare.
my love and hugs to all
Kathy