Finally! Motivation!

• It's taken a long time, but I think I finally have the motivation that I've been lacking for a while! Good news -- my niece is well on her way and out of the hospital. She's still off work, but little by little she's getting better! I've made another pillowcase in her favorite colors to make her recovery a bit brighter!
• My mom was released from the hospital and they have delayed her heart surgery -- BUT, she LOVED her pillow case. I think she was surprised and pleased all the same. Something "little" to take her mind off the surgery. She will be going back in in a couple of weeks, but at least I'll have a couple more completed by then! She's started the Sashiko kit that I bought in Victoria.....and I think she likes it! I wanted to get her something to take her mind off the surgery. She used to crochet these beautiful wallhangings out of the cotton thread depicting scenes such as deer in the forest. Talented lady of course! Maybe that's where I got the creative bug? Or it could be the woodworking from my dad?

I loved carving the "Tree Spirit's" but didn't love it as much as I do my quilting and sewing.

Who knows, maybe one day I'll pick it up again?

• The big project the last couple of days has been finally finishing a long-overdue quilt. This is one of the most challenging one's that I took on. It's based on "Lady Liberty Goes to Hawaii" by Karen Stone. When my oldest saw this in the late 90's she wanted it for her own. The only thing is, all those squares took FOREVER! Forever because I was not as confident with my sewing skills as I am now. Then she announced she wanted it for a queen-size bed. When I finally dug out some of the squares that were completed, I was convinced it would take another 15 years to get it to queen-size, so I improvised and made it my own. The fabrics are many, and there are plenty in there that have a special meaning to her as well as to me. If you've been following the story, you know the rest! So, it will head off to Karen, my long-arm quilter in Airdrie! She's the owner of "Queen B Quilting Designs". Yes, I say "my" because I wouldn't think of taking it anywhere else. I am hoping that she'll have fun dreaming up what to do with it.
• I always avoided mitred borders -- but I tackled it this time. I don't know what the issue was really because it was pretty straight forward! They turned out great -- that is after I had a cup of coffee first!

My sewing space sure shows how small the room is. I'm thankful that I have a "room" and at least there is enough space to line up the sewing table, cutting table and ironing board together. It sure helped on putting the border on the longer sides. The top measures 70" x 100". I had to work in those tree's. When I tried to make the sides wider and place the tree's sideways, anyone that saw them commented that they didn't get why the quilt had "arrows" on it! I solved that in a hurry, but it narrowed the quilt and elongated it. Good thing the Quilt Police don't visit my place!

The top will look fantastic once Karen is done with it. I'll upload a photo once it's all done with the binding and all! Now ignore the bed and the headboard in the photo -- it's not going to be there for it's final destination! The quilt itself turned out a lot lighter than I thought it would. The blocks without borders made it all look quite dark and ominous -- I am loving how the light grey lightened up the whole top!

Of course I had to sew up some wild pillowcases to go along! The main fabric on the pillowcases is the fabric that will be on the back of this quilt! Love my design wall! Makes everything "pop"! The photo is a bit bigger hoping that you can see the barely there strip of  accent fabric --the black and white will be used for the border on the quilt.



I have learned something once again! Cotton thread! Who knew it was so fuzzy? My sewing machine now needs a good cleaning after getting this top together. No worries, I DID clean it through the process, but now it needs one of those "take apart" cleanings before I start my next project!

Happy Quilting all! Thanks for visiting!

Margo