WIPs Beyond Wednesday

Yesterday I had lunch with M, one of my SAQA colleagues who lives fairly close by.  We had a lovely lunch, followed by a visit to Gracie D's Antiques, so M could see where some of my minis were displayed, awaiting new homes with happy purchasers.

Just as we came out of Gracie's, the first few snow-flakes began to fall.  By the time she dropped me at the Post Office -- so I could mail some Christmas gifts -- the snow was intensifying, and within minutes of my reaching home (on foot), it was really coming down...and so it continued late into the evening.

A perfect opportunity to stay in the sewdio.

What follows is a sample of what I've worked on this week:

1.  I put together the last block of the last of three full "Block-of-the-Month" quilts I found in a drawer late in 2012.  I've done one set per year since...and now each can be set/sashed, sandwiched and quilted.

"Zen" BOM - December
"Aunt Nancy's Favourite"

2.  I finished the first crib-throw quilt top for refugees that are expected to arrive in the next few weeks. Here it is, spread out on my kitchen floor:

Pattern: "Chunky Churn Dash" from Bonnie Hunter
All fabrics from stash - approx 42" W x 62" L

3. I finished and mailed these mittens and neck-warmer to my nephew in B.C. (he doesn't read this blog):

Now I'm making a similar set for my son (he doesn't read this blog either.  :-)  )

My nephew has a fiance...I mailed her gift along with his.

4. And last night I finished the second Chunky Churn Dash crib/throw:

The reason you can see only part of it here is because it's hanging on my design wall, and the bottom is obscured in part by my sewing table!  It finished at about 42" W x 60" L.

I still have a stack of fabric that's suitable (no florals, no animals, no discernible "images" on it) so I dug out my copy of Successful Scrap Quilts from Simple Rectangles by Judy Turner and Margaret Wolfe and will turn to that for the next one.

Friday I hope to get to Homespun Seasons in Stettler -- my LQS of choice -- for batting...and the quilting can begin.

However...it may just have to wait a bit.  I'm still knitting gifts, and have yet to assemble the 2015 edition of the Annual Christmas Boxer Shorts...

Meanwhile, let's join the group for WIP Wednesday at The Needle and Thread Network, and see what's happening over there, eh?

'Bye for now!

All I Want to Do

I know; I know...I have Christmas Knitting still on the needles.  And the Annual Christmas Boxer Shorts are cut out, but not (yet) assembled.

But when I'm in my sewdio, all I want to do is work on this:

Initial lay-out for a "Chunky Churn-dash"
(Free) Pattern: Bonnie K. Hunter

The photo above shows only the first few blocks (my design wall is small).  I've now finished another 4 'Hourglass' blocks -- for a total of 20 -- and have a stack of CCD blocks -- plus 3 more under construction.  I've been checking out quilt sizes...figuring that if I am to make a throw-sized quilt (or two), for each one I need at least 80 blocks (10 rows of 8 blocks that are 6" finished, plus narrow borders to finish at 51" W x 64" L).

"To what end?", I hear you asking, Gentle Readers.  Well...this end: a refugee family from Syria.

The Canadian government is bringing in 10,000 people before year end, and another 15,000 or so in the early part of next year.  Some are coming to Red Deer -- and my "home church", St. Cyprian's Anglican, Lacombe, is working with St. Andrew's United Church*, Lacombe and the Roman Catholic Family Services in Red Deer -- to bring at least one family into Lacombe proper.

And...well, I live a fair distance from Lacombe and even farther from Red Deer.  I'm on a fairly fixed income.  But...I have connections (The Shop) and a stash of fabric...some of which is actually suitable (no images of animals, flora or fauna or people) for quilts...

So. I am making a top (or two) and will trust God to provide batting...and time to quilt and bind them.  And I am stitching together granny squares donated to The Shop -- and from The Shop to me -- for image-less blankets of comfort. (Note: I don't crochet...well.  My Granny Squares never line up. These were done by more talented folk than I!)

It takes the edge off the Cultural Consumerism of the "Holidays"...and keeps me creating, while I think up art pieces in my mind for the year ahead.

"And what of EB?" you might ask...well...December is "assessment month".  My task now is not to create a new piece but to finish those that need to be finished (I have a facing to do and maybe a sleeve or two)...and to do a thorough assessment of what I have learned (from all angles).  And so it will go.

"Would you recommend it?" Those of you who are art quilters lacking confidence in your ability to design?  Those of you who want to learn more about design because you can't manage to get a BFA?  Go for it.  Get yourself on Elizabeth Barton's mailing list NOW for 2016...using this e-mail address...

And so...I am linking up with WIP Wednesday on The Needle and Thread Network...and wishing you blessings for the week ahead.  Skip the shopping. Quilt, embroider or knit instead. You'll feel ever so much better!


*For those outside Canada who might be curious, the United Church of Canada is made up of members who, in generations past, came together from Presbyterian and Methodist worship traditions.