Done!!

Here is the blue fabric back in the tub......Now to sew for a little while before Victoria & Andrew get here for the Grey Cup party that Dave told them we were having all by ourselves. They felt sorry for us and decided they should bring Freddy to play with Bailey.

Thought I better include a picture of the Fred & Bailey......

My Blue Fabric

Doesn't this look like fun!!!!!

No Surprise; I have no willpower

Bonnie Hunter on Quiltville is doing a new mystery. I told myself I was not going to do this one but concentrate on finishing things. Started sorting and cutting up more scraps to clean things up after retreat and craft sale and realized how many 2 1/2" strips I have.

Guess what?? the new mystery uses mostly scrappy 2 1/2" strips so here I go again. Step one half done and then I need more blues so into the blue bin and as I cut a few strips I realize the fabric in the blue bin has not been washed. I have been trying to wash everything(one bin at a time) as I have discovered my allergies act up when I use new unwashed materials.

So I'm sure Sunday has unlimited time---- while cutting and sewing for mystery quilt I am washing a load of blue fabric; how insane is that?

Now , after quite a lot of rain the sun has come out and I probably should be outside but I have a large pile of blue fabric (I can't even guess how many meters) that needs to be refolded and put away and then back to some sewing.

Craft Sale done

Well it only took a few days to recover but the All Sooke Arts & Crafts Sale last weekend went well. It was Fri, Sat & Sun and well attended despite rainy weather. I would like to thank my daughter Victoria and my sister Ruth for keeping me company at various times during the sale.

The hot pads with funny sayings and the cell phone bags were the hot sellers as expected although I did sell 1 set of placemats and two lap quilts as well as a few smaller items. Overall it was a success and I have some ideas for next year. As it is all local I think people want to be sure you are indeed local so I will probably go to a few of the Farmers Markets next summer and see how that goes. I may also go to the Art in the Park sale which is in August-I went to see what it was like this year and seemed to be quite busy although it greatly depends on the weather.

For now I am happy to get back to finishing some of my own projects and will wait until the new year to start anything that is specifically for sale.

Finished!!! - Items for sale are done

Last night felt very productive, most of these items didn't need much but they are finished and ready to take to the craft sale tomorrow. Wish me luck (I hope someone will buy something). Above I have added the pictures of the cell phone bags; earring hangers; hot pads & newest place mat set. I have one more place mat set almost completed - may finish this afternoon. I have to go help set up tables tonight and set up my table tomorrow morning. The sale runs Fri 12-8; Sat & Sun 10-5 and it seems to have been very well advertised. Vicky has made some herbal teas and some photo cards which I will also have for sale for her. Better get back to work :)

Mystery Quilt - Christmas

Here is a picture of the last mystery I've done. Mine is on the left and Linda's is on the right. I finished putting it together at the retreat - Linda's was just needing the rest of binding sewn down. This is another pattern designed by Bonnie Hunter; it was offered in 3 parts in the Quiltmaker magazine. I'm not sure if I am putting borders on - I need to try it on my table as it may become a Christmas tablecloth just the way it is. If you have any border suggestions please let me know.

Craft Sale items

Here are some pictures of things I am trying to complete for the craft sale that is coming up this weekend:

sm boys quilt with matching pillowcase - *This is done*

Hot pads with sayings - I have 9 of these completed; thats all I will do for now. Set of 4 placemats - 1 set is done the other set is a maybe as I have lots of placemats which hopefully will sell.

Hopefully someone out there wants quilted gift items for Christmas - I will let you know how it goes.

Retreat pictures

I am attaching some pictures from the retreat:

The first is the mystery quilt we made.

The next 2 pictures are of the Strip Twist quilt which can be downloaded for FREE at Quiltville.com. This site is run by Bonnie Hunter who provides a lot of great scrap quilts and ways to cut and store scraps so that they are easy to use.

Linda and I also made a quick and easy disappearing nine patch which started when we found a 'deal' :) on 7" blue batik squares this summer. We traded 7" yellow squares and this is the result. It may get a border but I haven't decided yet.

packing for craft sale

I spent this morning sorting finished quilted items and making sure everything was priced etc. It is amazing how much you can accumulate. I was wondering how I was going to get everything I wanted to make finished but I am not going to stress out as I now know I have 3 large tubs of items already finished. Everything from here on that I finish is icing on the cake.

On that note I completed the binding on a batik table topper and a stack n whack teddy bear tablerunner tonite so feeling quite proud of myself.

I needed that as I am having major problems with my desktop computer, I opened something I shouldn't have and now have some kind of virus that I'm having trouble getting rid of. I have to talk to my computer expert son tomorrow as to what the next step is. May have to start over from scratch but I hope not.

back to quilting

Got busy this evening and quilted a small boy's quilt. Should fit a tot size bed or just be a nice size for a cuddle quilt. Its a cute old fashioned train print reminiscent of Dick and Jane, I just added a border around a large centre as it was too cute to cut up. I will post picture tomorrow(when I find camera) of quilt and matching pillowcase. Now back to binding on previously quilted table topper.

Back in BC

As always time flies when you are having fun (or just busy :) ) I am back in BC ; we left an hour after I arrived home from another successful quilting retreat. As soon as I get a chance I will post some pictures of the retreat and what I got accomplished.

Stopped to visit my Mom on the way here and she is doing great, seems to keep as busy as she wants to be with a great group of friends.

Looking forward to seeing my daughter in the next few days as well as Dave's sister and husband who are out here for a few weeks.

Now to concentrate on getting a number of projects finished as I have a table for a 3 day craft sale here in Sooke Nov 21-23. Never a lack of things to do and no reason to get bored.