Thursday, September 17, 2009

And the work begins....

Progress- Waa Hoo! I have made some slow and steady work towards completing this quilt- On Sunday, I was able to get this Wonky Rail Ties all quilted. I am very pleased with the results- even though it is a large king sized quilt, I managed to quilt it all in one fell swoop. It is a great feeling to have it quilted and was wonderful to get in the groove and have it quilt up so quickly. Don't you love it, when you get on a real roll and everything works up perfectly. I used about 15 bobbins of thread to meander it. I hope to trim it this weekend and get some binding made up for it.

Life in September revolves around the routines of school and getting back into the rhythm of being a working person.

At school, we had our annual corn roast for our families yesterday and it was nice to meet some of the families I had not met before and get re-acquainted with others. The corn was sweet Taber corn and delicious to eat.

It was nice to meet with some quilting friends and begin our class on Monday night.
Some of the others were making two new patterns, "Endless Stars" and a scrap quilt that can be found in the recent "Fast Quilts" magazine.
However, I have decided to work on a quilt called "The Hollow Cubes". This quilt will keep me busy for many months. I started this quilt about 5 years ago. I have many many triangles cut, and the quilt resembles a large group of flags- they now need to get joined together to form half hexagons. It is a Challenging pattern and I have had a great deal of difficulty getting my head around the design. It is the primary reason that it has remained a UFO.
In general, I have few projects that remain UFO's. Over a year, I may have as many as half a dozen quilts on the go, but I like to finish all of them up before beginning more projects. I have been stymied by this pattern so far.. Hope springs eternal so maybe this time I will finally figure it out. The fabrics are beautiful batiks - I would really like to see it completed.

My mailbox continues to have some pleasant surprises for me. I received a wonderful package from Heather Mulder Peterson It is a 4 Moda Charm Packs and a whole series of patterns of Heather's designs that use charm packs. They are scrumptious looking and it will be hard to choose which of Heather's designs to make first.

Thank you so much Heather for the wonderful gift- it is a real treasure trove that I will enjoy exploring and creating with your lovely materials.

My friend Rosa send me gifties from her surprise giveaway. She sent me some lovely " I SPY" squares and a coffee card from a Canadian company called Tim Horton's. Tim's is famous across Canada. Rosa you are a real gem- Thanks so much for your lovely thoughtful gestures.

The gumtree designers are a fantastic group of Australian women who are having some giveaways. Do check them out - They are all wonderfully creative and do such beautiful work...

Caroline of the Contented Quilter is having two giveaways. I hope that you will use the link and check out her lovely blog.

Gypsy Lulu is a new blog to me but she also is having a nice giveaway for you to check out -- especially if you love jewellery(which I do) I love baubles of all descriptions and probably would make a good magpie bird(though I am not mean like they can be, to other animals.)

And if you are interested in making something with Jellyrolls,well, you may want to check out Sarah at the Missouri table blog who is having a jelly roll giveaway this week- I have never used a jelly roll but I am sure one can make something beautiful with them.

Many of you enjoyed the antics of "GOTO" the Squirrel. He continues to entertain one and all at the observatory on the weekends. Our weather has been unseasonably warm so he is going to have more time to collect those nuts to "squirrel away" his bare necessities for winter. LOL

Time to cut out paper doll shapes for a school project for my students where they show me "How many people live in their house".. My students and I are getting to know one another by singing and dancing and reading our favorite stories. Each day is full of interesting things - I love looking at the world through my kindergarten children's eyes-hopeful, honest and often humorous... Today one of them was looking for a shortcut across our room- not sure he found one, but he went looking anyway..There is always something to make us laugh...

Happy fall to one and all...

Regards,

Anna

19 comments:

Rosa Robichaud said...

Grab yourself a "Timmie's", my friend, this weekend and think of me!!! *grin*

Glad the card arrived there...

Fourth and final gifty is still "in the works".

This was fun for me, too! *grin*

Rosa

Orcsmom said...

I love this time of the year. I love to hear the children playing on the playground, crisp,cool morning air, and warm afternoons. Oh, how I wished it would always be this way! I seem to be doing more embroidery than quiltng, but hopefully that will be changing soon. My son annouced that he is hoping to be moved out by November 1st, so we shall see. You and Bruce take care. Hugs!

Pam

Kim D. said...

Your quilt is lovely and I love the colors. Congratulations on winning the give-aways. It's always nice to win something.

Anonymous said...

Ahhh, anna, thanks for the link to my Giveaway! I am a quilter too..so, i'll be stopping back here often! love your banner quilt and doggie!
gypsy

Thimbleanna said...

I love the colors in your quilt. And how lucky your are to get a package from Heather!!!

Scrappy quilter said...

I really like your quilt. I hope you have a wonderful school year. Hugs.

Quirky said...

mmmm... Taber corn and Timmy's...

Anonymous said...

Love the quilt! I can't imagine, being a hand quilter, having the ability to finish a quilt in one sitting. Well perhaps with a lot of coffee if it were small. LOL But my stitches would look crazy! I love the blue, just beautiful!

QuiltSue said...

Lovely quilt, thanks for showing us the finished one.

Gari in AL said...

I love you quilt: the colors are the same as the one I just finished. And I looked at Hollow Cubes, what a quilt that will be. I can't imagine working on that. Good luck.

Purple Pam said...

Isn't it wonderful when you get in the "groove"? You are an awesome quilter. I do not know how you do it? How you get such a big quilt under your needle with such great results. I applaud you.

Yes, aren't Kindergarteners real? They come up with the most interesting topics!

Unknown said...

I am new to your blog and have just read the first few posts so far but what fun! Your quilts are beautiful - I have just bought my first "how-to" book and want to start my first one soon :)

Micki said...

Congrats on the quilt...it is just lovely!
Micki

Mrs. Goodneedle said...

I love your wonky rails quilt.

Congrats on your winnings~ how nice.

Glad to see that you found some side-bar button assistance!

Meggie said...

Such a busy season for you! You do seem to make the most of every moment though!

Shirley--Knot-y Embroidery Lady said...

Your wonky rails quilt is very nice to look at. I can see you have done an excellent job. You amaze me with quilting a king size quilt on your sewing machine. Absolutely amazing.

I love to hear your thoughts on your kindergarten students and the things that they do. These truly are the magical years, and you get to see it every day.

Hugs

laura west kong said...

Congrats on the quilting ... it's a beautiful quilt! I love the colors.

Wanda said...

Your progress really is great. I love the way it is laid out. I love hearing about your students too. You are creating memories for a life time. Awesome. Humbling.

Aunt Spicy said...

Do you have links for the quilt squares you guys are making? I would love to see them!