Charming Girls Club finishes for July & August.

I joined the Charming Girls Club and tried to get lots of stuff done this July and August. I made most of my goals. Some didn't get done, but what can I do. It was so busy with going to Northern Ontario, and spending the month of August at the cottage, and working........You girls know how it is. Here is the list I posted for things I wanted to get done.

1 - Spend more time with the kids having fun!!! I should be able to do this easily since we are going away next week on a holiday, then going to the cottage in August. Can't wait!!! I definitely got this done. We had so much fun visiting with our relatives in Northern Ontario. We had such a great time. Then we went fishing and roasted marshmallows, weiners over the campfire. Played so many card games and sang songs as my husband played guitars.

2 - Find a least 2 nights for just me and the hubby to go out on a date. My husband and I did get some time alone together in August. We went out for dinner and just relaxed and watched a movie. We had a few nights, no kids, no dogs at home. Those were really the best nights. Sometimes the best date is one where you can just relax and spend time together with no interuptions.

3 - Finish organizing my new sewing room. It is so disorganized right now. Well, it was organized.....LOL!!! But you know how long that lasted.

4 - Finish my Jack-in-the-Pulpit quilt. Yes, I got this one done. Whohoooo!!!! My girlfriend loved it.

5 - Finish my Between Charming Friends quilt and help my daughter finish her quilt too! Well, I got my quilt top done, but not quilted. My daughter was gone to camp all of August so she didn't get to work on hers. Hopefully soon!!

6 - Quilt my Picnic quilt. Nope! Didn't do this!! Oh well....maybe this month.

7 - Take a walk at least 3 days a week. I'm so out of shape. I've got to get off my butt. I did do my walks. But I need to do more. I have to keep working on this one.

8 - Spend less time on the computer and more time with the family or working on a project. Well, I did spend A LOT LESS time on the computer this summer. I was away at the cottage or working and only got to sneak in a few minutes here and there to check my emails, and do a short blog post in between my work shifts. I spend a lot of time with the family this summer. I didn't get to work on too many projects, but that's okay. Once school starts next week, I will have more time.

So all in all, I think I did pretty well.

Hugs

Ariane

Gifts of Grace Block 1 and July OPAM finish!

Hi everyone, I did a bit of stitching the last couple days. I got the first block from Val Laird's free BOM Gifts of Grace. These blocks are gorgeous. I've been wanting to start them for a while now, but just had too much on the go. I'm going to try really hard to get caught up on these, because I would like this little quilt to be a Christmas gift. I know someone who would just love a quilt like this. We will see how that goes. I hope you like it.

Well, I only got one finish for the July OPAM. But it was a big one. My queen size Jack-in-the-pulpit Quilt was a very big project for me this month. I put in about 50 hours of work just on this quilt in July. I was very tired and did take a break from sewing when I was done. But I'm very proud that I finished it in time and that my girlfriend and her new husband loved it. I showed it to many of my siblings before the wedding and now I have half a dozen request for queen size quilts. I told them that they would have to get in line. But one of these years they would probably end up with one. I have such a big family, with 10 brothers and sisters. I just can't get that many done, that fast. LOL!!!

One more night shift to go. Ughhhh! I was so tired last night. I really struggled to stay awake after 4 am. I don't usually have such a hard time. I slept longer today. Hopefully that helps!

Have a good night!

Hugs

Ariane

I'm finally back....

Hi everyone, I hope you have had a great week. I am back from my holiday back home. We all had a great time visiting with my family. The kids got to visit with their cousins. They really enjoyed that. We stayed with my parents. That was so great. They always have the best food too. It's like fine dining three times a day. There's nothing better than eating fresh vegetables from their vegetable gardens. The weather was just beautiful. We ate breakfast, lunch and supper on the deck quite a few times. It was so wonderful out. This was our view off the deck. 

We also attended my best friends wedding. It was such a beautiful wedding. She had violins playing at the church and everything. It was really amazing. They were so excited when they opened my wedding gift and saw that I made them a quilt. See how happy she looks. I'm so glad I was able to be there for her wedding.

I didn't bring any sewing with me on this trip. I put in so many hours of sewing to get the quilt done on time for the wedding that I needed a holiday from sewing. But now I'm excited to get sewing again, and finish some of my projects.

Well, that's all for today. I'm really tired tonight. Back to work tomorrow.....

Hugs

Ariane

My Jack-in-the-Pulpit quilt top is finally done!!!!

It is finally done. I sewed 12 hours yesterday and 5 hours already today to finally finish this top. I still have to baste it, quilt it and put the binding on. But first I have to remove all the paper off the back from paper piecing. The pattern suggested not to take the paper off until the top was done. The two shorter sides of flying geese were paper pieced. Even though I do love this technique because you get perfect flying geese, it is much more time consuming. Well, I'm not going keep you. I have more sewing to do.

Hugs

Ariane

I got some sewing done...

Hi everyone! I hope you are all well. I have been doing some sewing, even though I have not posted in quite a few days. I don't have pictures of all my projects, but do have the picture of the center of my Jack-the-piper quilt. I'm still working on the flying geese border. But I got quite a bit of it done last night. This has definitely been a more challenging block. The center of the block was paper pieced. That part went together quite easily. But the outer triangles were a challenge. At first I was making the seams too big, even with my 1/4 inch foot. I wasn't getting the 10 1/2 inch block I needed. I was always short. Then, I tried to make the seams scant. But then it was too big and I was cutting off the corners when the sashing went on. Ahhhh!!!! Well, I did my best. Mr. Seam Ripper got a lot of use. Oh Well!!!! I like the way it's looking. I'm pretty sure my girlfriend will like it.

Hugs

Ariane

More Jack-the-pulpit blocks completed

Hi everyone, I hope you all had a good day. Today I worked on the quilt I'm making for my girlfriend who is getting married in July. I'm kind of falling behind on this project. So, I've decided to put it ahead of the other projects and get these blocks done. I have to make 20 of the Jack-the-pulpit blocks for the center of the quilt. They will all have sashing between them. Then I have to make a flying geese border. The Jack-the-pulpit block takes quite a bit of time to make. Almost 1 hour per block. I'm usually able to find a method to spead up the process for my quilts. But this one is slow and steady. I think it's because it is partly paper pieced. Today I finished 5 blocks. So now I have 10 blocks done. Only 10 more to go. I really love the way they look. I will keep working on these this week. I hope to be able to have the center of the top done by the end of the weekend. Then I'll be able to make the flying geese blocks. I hope you all have a good night.

Hugs

Ariane

A bit of catching up....

I hope you are all well. I have survived my first two 12.75 hour night shifts. I got up this afternoon around 3:00 pm, and it was absolutely gorgeous out. I took one of my hand quilting projects and sat out on the front porch to work on it. I'm still tired, but in good spirits.

I did to some sewing on the weekend, but didn't seem to find the time to blog about it. I made 3 more blocks for my Red and Cream quilt. I love these blocks. I have 5 done, 15 more to go.

I also made a block for a friend who is putting a quilt together. I used the block 7 of Rachel's of P.S. i quilt tutorial of pinwheel blocks. I really love this block too.

I participated in Potholder Pass 2 Swap. One of the girls, Krista from Poppyprints didn't receive any potholders so I offered to be an Angel and make some for her. She received them today and loved them. I am so glad. I actually cut in to my beloved Amy Butler fabric for this project. But I was sure she would like it, so I didn't mind.

Also, my sister Michele has been crafting up a storm. She makes the most unique crafts. I tell yah! She is so creative. Go check out her new blog. She already has like 5 posts up.

So, that is a bit of what I have been working on. I have more, but I thought I would keep it for tomorrow. Have a good night.

Hugs

Ariane

Jack the Pulpit block# 2

I hope everyone had a good day. I worked again today. It was a quieter day for me. Which was nice. I did sew my second block for my Jack the Pulpit quilt. I hope you like it. It is fun to work with all the reds in my stash.

Ariane :o)

Just a few blocks...

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good day. I worked today. I was really tired when I got home, but my hubby had the table all set and dinner ready to be served when I walked through the door. Isn't he the sweetest. I was so relieved. And it all tasted great. I did take a nap after supper. But I decided that I wanted to do a bit of sewing.

So, I decided to start working on a quilt that I need to make for my best friend from High School. She is getting married this summer and I am giving her a quilt. It took me a long time to decide what pattern to use. I went through so many magazines and books. But I finally settled on one of my favorites. It is called "Jack the Pulpit" from the McCalls Quilting magazine: Celebrate your Stash Spring 2009. This is one of my favorite issues. There are three other patterns I want to make from that issue. Anyways, I love the colors in this quilt and I think my girlfriend will love it too. It is going to be a red and white/cream quilt. It will have many different fabrics from my stash in it. I thought I would stick to what I love the most for this one. I love scrappy quilts and red is my favorite color. So everytime she sees this quilt it will remind her of me. We don't see each other very often because she lives back home in Northern Ontario. But we are still best of friends. I am going to try really hard to get this top done in a timely manner. I don't want to be too pressured at the end. So I am going to try to make a block every night. If I miss a night, then I will make two the next. We will see how that goes.

I also sharing two blocks I made for my two guild swaps. One is for the county block swap and the other for the brights block. I hope you like them. Well, I must go to bed. I have to work in the morning.

Hugs

Ariane