A quiet week

No pictures to share, although I have been getting some things done. Finished knitting a pair of socks and almost done another. The Christmas Avalon quilt is all basted and ready to be quilted. Been working on some other things. Took pictures.

So, why no pictures of my progress? We have had many issues with our phone/Internet provider and after 7 phone calls everything has finally been cleared up, but I have no Internet at home til Friday. Using my iPad to do blog posts uses up a lot of our cellular stuff, so I am going to take a blogging break (and Internet break) until Friday. Hopefully I will have lots of pictures to share then.

Why I Quilt - Part 4

Here we are at the end of August and my last Why I Quilt post. How did that happen? You can find part 1 here, part 2 here and part 3 here. This past 3 posts I have shown pictures of special quilts that were a a part of my childhood and first planted the quilting seed in my brain. This week, the result. The main reason I quilt is because of my family and friends. It is really easy (sometimes) to buy a gift in a store, but to decide on the right pattern, fabric and then make a quilt... is a lot of work. Once I decide to make a quilt for a specific person, I really do think about them as I make it. Here are just a few of things I have made over the years. 

I made this Queen size quilt for my friend and her husband for their 10th anniversary 2 years ago.

My mother requested a quilt for each season to hang above her bed. This is Spring (and my favourite).

A small house warming gift for my brother and his family when they moved into their current home.

A pin quilt for my mom. 

Made this for my brother who has been to Afghanistan twice with the Canadian Military.

My sister and I made this for my parents 40th anniversary last year.

A 10th anniversary quilt for my husband's sister and her husband last year. She has also caught the quilting bug. I'll have to post some of her amazing quilts - if she'll let me.

A birthday present for a niece.

For my daughter.

For my son.

A Birth Announcement quilt for another niece.

I made this quilt earlier this year for my step-grandmother, letting her know I was thinking of her as her son battled a losing fight with cancer.

I also crochet and knit for family. I crocheted this afghan for my paternal grandmother. She knit all her grandchildren many sweaters while they were children and her great-granchildren were also given sweaters, hats and booties when they were born. This was my way of saying thank-you.

I crocheted blankets for every niece and nephew (9 in total) and for my own 2 children. Here is 1 of 7 nieces with her blanket.

And the best part about quilting for family? Is passing the love onto the next generation. Here is my daughter piecing a doll quilt for one of her cousins.

My son watching me piece a quilt for one of my nephews a few years ago.

Thank you to my family for letting me make you quilts. You are the reason why I quilt. I really do enjoy thinking about what to make them next - even if the list is longer than I could ever complete.  This is a picture of me with my parents, siblings and our kids, this summer.

Why I Quilt - Part 3

This is the 3rd part in the Why I Quilt series. Part 1 can be found here. Part 2 can be found here. 

This is the quilt that started it all. Some of my earliest memories are of waking up in the morning, crawling into my parents bed and under this quilt. I love it. There really are no words that describe how I feel about this quilt. It is a special part of my childhood and there is a feeling of comfort when I look at it. Even when I look at pictures of it on my computer screen.

My Great-Grandma Bacher, who made the quilt from last week (seen here), made this one as well. Some  fabrics are in both quilts. She made this to celebrate Canada's Centennial in 1967.

The wonderful fabric on the back. 

Hand quilted.

When I first started quilting, a bow-tie quilt was on my"Must make" list, just like this one. 8 years later, I still haven't. I think I finally have enough scraps to make one. From what I remember, a lot of these fabrics were leftover from clothes she had made. I feel so lucky to have her quilts to look at and be inspired by.

A Friday Night Sew-In Success!

I wanted to get this quilt done before yesterday, so I could work on other projects for Friday Night Sew-In. All I had left was some free-motion stippling in the top and bottom borders, and binding. I decided to finish it and was able to complete the quilt just before 9pm, last night.  I even washed and dried it, so now it is ready for a bed. I think it will go on my daughter's bed since the quilt I made her a couple years ago is in need of some repairs. 

I love this quilt. The bargello design is my own and I plan to write this quilt up as a free pattern. I hope to have it ready and posted by September's Friday Night Sew-In.

The back.

For the binding I used some leftover jelly roll strips, mixed with strips cut from leftover border fabric.  The binding was attached by machine.

Since I was able to finish the quilt early enough, I still got to work on another project. Of the 38 blocks I have cut and ready to be pieced, I got 16 done. They still need to be ironed, but I really like them.

Here are a few favourites from the ones I pieced last night.

Head over to Heidi's blog to see what everyone else did last night! 

On Saturdays in August, I have been doing posts about why I quilt. The first post can be seen here, the second here. I'll post this week's quilt tomorrow, so you are welcome to come back and visit and see another beautiful quilt made by my great-grandmother. My sister has also been joining in the fun of looking at quilts from our past. Go visit her, too.

Socks and fabric

Isn't it lovely? Finished knitting it yesterday. Still need to make its mate. These are a gift but I will definitely be making myself a pair in the future.

Close-up of the lattice pattern.

Even timed the toe right. They feel great, too.

Started this sock last night while watching tv. Got a bit more done after I took the picture this morning and am roughly 1 1/2 inches from the heel. These are also a gift.

I did do some quilting this week. The main part of the quilt is quilted. I just did stitch-in-the-ditch. Still need to do some free-motion in the borders, bind and then it is done. Not sure if I will get it done before tomorrow night, but I got enough done that I can work on a different project for Friday Night Sew-In tomorrow without feeling guilty. Have you signed up yet?

Also played with some other fabrics this week. This is just a sneak peek.

Just to let you know...

Go visit Alissa and donate to this wonderful charity. Today is the last day to donate AND have the chance to win some great prices (i.e., fabric and quilt books). 

And on a lighter note, sign-ups are now open for Friday Night Sew-In this Friday. Go visit Heidi and add your name to the list.

Why I Quilt - Part 2

Here is the second quilt in my "Why I Quilt" series. My first post can be found, here. This quilt was made by my Great-Grandma Bacher. All of the great-grandkids have a quilt by her. She was not able to finish mine before her death and so my mother had the quilt group at our church finish it for me. I slept under it every night from roughly the age of 10 until I go married. Unfortunately, this quilt shows how much I used it, so I didn't risk taking it outside.

I love this quilt. I love the scrappiness of it and that I found fabrics in this quilt in some of her other quilts.  The pale yellow has become one of my favourite colours just because of this quilt. If memory serves me right, the centre was complete and borders set aside before she died. 

Here you can see some of the damage. Some fabrics were really thin and have ripped wherever they were in the quilt.

Here you can see 2 more fabrics that have almost completely disappeared. Aren't the rest of the fabrics just amazing? Not all the fabrics are 100% cotton so this quilt has a lot of texture. I used to love looking at this quilt and finding new favourite fabrics and tracing the quilting lines.

Hand quilted. Love it.

Some of the damage on the edge. 

This quilt is now folded and on a shelf. I hate not using it, as it is so light it would make a great summer quilt, but I'm afraid to lose anymore fabrics. I'll have to remember to get it out every once in awhile and just enjoy looking at it.

My sister has joined in the fun of looking at the quilts in our lives. She posted on Wednesday her quilt made by our aunt. She also has a Grandma Bacher quilt but it might be at my parents house. She is planning to do posts on Wednesday, so be sure to check it out. It's great to see some of the quilts we grew up with, which started the quilting seed in our brains. It's interesting to look at the quilts made by the women in our family (my aunt who made the quilt last week, was on my father's side of the family, while Grandma Bacher is on my mother's side), and see that making quilts is a part of who we are and something we were destined to do.

Finally...

.... my bargello quilt is basted and ready to be quilted. Aiming to get it done for next Friday so I can work on something new for...

... Friday Night Sew-In next Friday. Fingers crossed.

A couple finishes and some works in progress

Finished this mug rug for a member of my parent's church. She is leaving and my mom requested something small she could take with her to her new place at the Senior's home. 

My husband gave me an early birthday present - an iPad. Within hours of Marvin (since that is his name) joined our family, I made him this little pouch. I looked at a few tutorials online but ended up just doing my own thing once he arrived and could use him to measure the fabric. I made a prototype first and then this one.

My first zipper. I also looked at tutorials online for this but just followed the directions that came with the zipper. Works good.

Love the 2 fabrics I used. Glad I saved them for something special.

Yesterday I played with fabric on the living room floor. 

After I cleaned up my piles I got 2 of 40 blocks complete. I really like them so far.

August UFO - UFO #7 - Avalon from Material Obsession. Cut the fabrics last week and pieced it last night. I had originally picked different fabrics but switched to Christmas ones when I was trying to decide who would receive this quilt. So, this will end up being a gift or maybe I'll keep it.

I didn't finished June's UFO (#8) or July's (#2) so I hope this will be an easy finish and then I can get a little work done on them.