Show & Tell: More Moving & Rearranging

I confess: I skipped my final acrylic painting class this week. The instructor wasn't going to teach anything new and we were just going to finish up the paintings we had already started.  So I decided I'd rather finish at home - less hassle and mess than carting everything back and forth. Since my machine quilting class finished last week, that left me with no more evening classes at all, which freed my evenings to try and catch up at home. Not that I ever catch up. But I haven't done any crafting this past, which left me with a project of a different sort to share. 

Remember I am in the process of moving my office into my smallest bedroom? I finally managed to move all of these books up from the basement and arranged them on the shelves:

Then I moved the bookcase that they were on (another one like this one) upstairs. Right now, it's just sitting in the living room. The spare bedroom where it's going is also undergoing moving/rearranging. Since I had moved all of the furniture to one side of the room to shampoo rugs, I figured it was a good time to strip the wallpaper off the wall behind the bed and dresser, something I've been wanting to do since I bought this place in 2009 (only that one wall had wallpaper on it). Unfortunately, it left a residue on the wall, so I still have to sand/wash the wall to remove the residue, shampoo that side of the carpet, and move the furniture back before I can move the bookcase in. And I really need to get that done as I think one of my nephews will probably come for a visit next weekend and he'll be staying in that room. He's just moved to Alberta this past Monday and I haven't seen him yet. 

These two filing cabinets came up from the basement as well:

And yes, they are relatively full and relatively heavy. And awkward. But not as awkward as the bookshelves! And yes, I am moving these things all by myself since the cats won't help. 

And while I was moving things up, I was also moving things down:

This dresser and chest are currently empty. The two boxes are the contents of the chest: mostly fabric! And they weren't too heavy. I will use the dresser for my art and crocheting supplies. Plus any other craft and sewing supplies that I don't have a place for. You can see that I've already got my paintbrushes on top of the dresser. I still have to move the rest of my art supplies downstairs. They have been residing in my office while I was taking the acrylic painting course, but that made it kind of cramped as it is a small room. 

There are still lots of books that need to come up from the basement and in from the garage, plus some quilting/crafting/art books that need to go downstairs, but that will get done in time. Meanwhile, I really should change the oil in my snowblower before I need to use it. Tomorrow is my scheduled day off and I was planning on getting more done at home, but then I remembered that my serger is ready at the shop, so I will probably go in to get it. I hate to make a trip to the city for just one thing, so I'm considering hitting Delta Art Supplies as I have enrolled in Acrylic Painting: Basics & Beyond (w/ Michael Lynne) from Craftsy and I need a few more supplies. I retrieved my daughter's brushes from my ex-husbands house (she had taken art classes when she was in her teens), so I don't think I need any more of those.
I've only got a couple more weeks left on my inlinkz subscription so I figured I might as well use it while I've got it. So feel free to share your link to your current projects.

An InLinkz Link-up

Show & Tell: Lace Enchantment Afghan

I decided I should have another Show & Tell linky party as I haven't had one in quite some time. I haven't been very enthusiastic about them any more as the most links I ever got was 4. Not exactly a great response. More often I got none. But then I'm not a quilting or crocheting celebrity or a celebrity of any kind. And I am not so well off that I can afford to offer giveaways on a regular basis. Although I really like giveaways - both winning and giving. However, I really hate to part with fabric. Or thread. Or books. And I don't have "connections" that will sponsor the giveaways. Anyway, I decided I would try another linky party before my inlinkz subscription expires in November.
As I was considering this linky party, I wasn't sure what I was going to share. The Unbroken quilt is not finished yet. I haven't put the lining in my Tunisian crochet bag, so it's not finished either (though the crochet part is). And I was sitting there pondering this with an afghan that I had just finished sitting in my lap. Duh! Yes, I finally finished the Lace Enchantment afghan. Here it is:

Somehow this afghan ended up quite a bit wider than it was supposed to, so I decided it could be a bit shorter than it was supposed to as well. It was plenty big enough already. The instructions said to end after a row 6 of the pattern. I had just started a row 4, so finished 4, 5 & 6 and fastened off. I think this was rated as an intermediate pattern. It had a 6 row pattern repeat, so it was a little more challenging to do while watching a video, which is how I usually crochet. I had to make sure I knew which row I was on and double check what the pattern was for that row. As a result, it took me longer to complete than an easier pattern, such as the Firecracker Throw. (You can see my version of it in this post). I'm going to try to resist the temptation to start a new project and finish one of the other projects already in progress. It'll be easier to keep my house tidy and organized if I don't have random totebags of crocheting projects everywhere.
I haven't yet shared some of my latest finds at my LQS:

First a note that Mystery was not found at my LQS - LOL. If you've followed my blog at all, you know that as soon as I put any fabric on the floor, he has to be right there. I'm kind of surprised, but very happy, that he didn't try to get on the afghan. My cats are not declawed and yarn catches on claws very easily, so I try to keep them off the afghans as much as possible. They get pretty insulted that they're not allowed on my lap if I'm either covered with or working on one.
All of the items on top of the fabric came from a basket labelled $3 each. That's right - I got an ergonomic 60 mm rotary cutter for $3, plus two extra blades for it at $3 each. Unfortunately, it's not a common brand (Martelli) and apparently only uses its own brand of blades. However, I did find them on Amazon.ca, so I can replace them there when I need to. I prefer not to pay shipping at all, but I'd rather ship from within Canada if possible. I'm not about to run around or call around to every LQS I can find to see if they sell them. Even if I couldn't find the blades, at $3, I could just consider it disposable when I use up the blades I have. The other things I got from the $3 basket are a quilting pattern, a 3-1/2 inch square ruler and a cutting mat scraper. I already have one of these scrapers, but an extra one will come in handy, especially at that price.
As for the fabric in the picture (purchased at two separate times), I'm assuming they're bolt ends, end of the fabric line, etc. Full metres (that's 39.37 inches, for those of you not on the metric system) are 4 for $10, half metres are 4 for $5. There are 8 of each in this picture, all good quality quilting cotton. At that price, maybe I should buy some more and offer it in a giveaway!
Finally, a quilting work in progress:

As you can see, I haven't sewn the rows together yet. This is the Australian Tailor's Quilt found in this book:
I love this book because I love quilting, history and learning about different cultures. This book has all three. I was upset because my copy went missing for awhile (too many moves, still not everything unpacked, moving furniture and stuff from room to room...), but found it again when I was looking for something else. (Right now the quarter inch foot for one of my sewing machines is missing, but that's small enough to have gotten sucked up by a vacuum cleaner :-()  I almost bought another copy on Amazon before I found it. Now that I've found it, I'm hoping to get this quilt finished. The background information for this quilt is that during the Great Depression in Australia, thrifty quilters utilized tailor's suiting samples to make quilts. The directions in the book tell how much fabric to purchase, but I actually had some suiting samples to make mine from, so mine is pretty authentic! I have to decide what I'm going to do with borders, binding and backing. I've got lots of samples left, but most of them are dark, so won't provide much contrast. I have an old sheet that I'm considering for the backing. I bought it at a yard sale because it was the duplicate of one my mother had. Mom passed away in 1998, so I'm sentimental about that sheet. On the other hand, I do have a lot of samples left, so could also make a pieced backing with them. As for the batting, I'm thinking of going with a wool since the primary fibre in the samples is wool. At least I'm assuming so - the tailor's samples I lucked into didn't come with content labels, but most good quality men's suits are wool, aren't they? Hmm, maybe there were some content labels many moons ago. I think I recollect peeling some stickers off some of them. Yes, I did forget to mention that I started this quilt years ago. How many years? Not sure, but it was while I was still with my husband and we split in 2006. So, it's high time to get this quilt finished. Actually, this is not the only pre-divorce WIP that I have. As the marriage deteriorated, I felt less and less like pursuing my hobbies. Thank God those days are over and it's all water under the bridge now. Back to the Australian Tailor's Quilt, the instructions say to tie it with wool yarn. While that may be more authentic, I don't really like tied quilts. So I'm considering quilting it with Aurifil Lana. I have one spool in a beige, but don't really want that colour for this quilt. Lana comes in some awesome colours. Alex Veronelli generously provided me with colour cards for both Lana and Mako. The Lana comes in some beautiful tweedy-looking variegations that I think will work well. The problem is finding Lana. And, as mentioned, I prefer dealing with Canadian vendors because of the shipping (and patriotism, too). My LQS doesn't sell Aurifil at all. Johnson's Sewing Centre, my Aurifil dealer in Edmonton, only sells Mako 50. Then I remembered Tristan Italian Threads, a vendor in BC that is clearing out all of its Aurifil thread. Why, I have no idea. They're now selling other Italian threads that I have never heard of outside of this website, but the Aurifil is on at bargain basement prices. Very little selection left in Mako 50 (mostly reds and oranges), but still lots of choices in other weights. And Lana. So, if you're looking for some Aurifil, hurry on over to Tristan's website and stock up! They ship internationally as well. Another great Canadian vendor for Aurifil is ByTowne Threads: good selection and prices.
Now that I've yakked on long enough, it's your turn to share your links of what you've been up to.

Show & Tell Guidelines

1. Link up any recent post that features your current creative project. And it can be a work in progress as well.
2. Please remember to link to your actual blog post, not your main blog page, so others don't have to search.
3. Somewhere in your blog post, you must link back to my blog or put the 'Show & Tell' button in your sidebar. 
4. Please don't just add your link and go. Check out a few of the other links and comment. The best idea is to check out the 3 or 4 links just previous to yours. That way every link will get visited. And maybe you'll pick up a few new followers along the way.
5. You don't have to follow me to post your link on my blog, but that would be much appreciated.
6. Have fun. This is a party after all.

Here's my button:

<a href=’http://catscrossing-laura.blogspot.ca/p/show-tell.html'> <img src=' http://i1331.photobucket.com/albums/w583/september59/CatrsquosCrossing_zps2b7e332e.png ' style='border:none;'> </a>

An InLinkz Link-up

Another Row Finished on the Bluenose II

I had to make a very tough personal decision, one that was very painful. But once made, I suddenly felt like sitting down and working on the pixel quilt. I'd been neglecting it for weeks, but somehow, once I had made that decision, I had the peace I needed to be able to focus on this challenging quilt. I only had 3 more blocks to complete in order to finish Row 4. One of those blocks was all cut out, but not assembled. So I assembled it and then completed the last two blocks and attached the row to the rest of the quilt. That was done yesterday. Here's the result:

The sails are nearly done now. Today I completed the first block for Row 5. Here it is:

At the top, you can see the bottom corner of one of the sails on the right and the sky gradually blending into the darker blues of the ocean on the bottom. I decided to do these more challenging blocks row by row, rather than big blocks of colour and cutting out the whole block before assembling. First of all, there aren't too many big blocks of colour in these blocks, and secondly, when there are so many different colours in one block, it's easier to keep track of them by just doing one row at a time. Thirteen more blocks to go. My next scheduled day off is July 7th, so I'm hoping to be able to book time on the long arm quilter then to get this quilt finished. I don't think I'll try to do more than one block in a day. By the time I finished this block, I was really ready to rap it up. I don't want to work so long on it that I get bored and frustrated and end up neglecting it for weeks again. 
In the middle of the day today (between periods of working on this quilt block), I went to the dentist. It's been over two years since I've been to the dentist. It's not that I have dentist phobia. It's more that I just kept forgetting to make the appointment. Or I'd remember in the dead of winter. My dentist is 60 km away (about 37 miles): not a distance I relish in a severe Alberta winter. So I finally made it there today, and hopefully I'll remember to make an appointment sooner next time. I spent over an hour with the hygienist. So much scale (or whatever you call it) had built up on my teeth that she had to do a lot of scraping. So now my jaw (from keeping my mouth open so long) and my gums are really, really tender. I didn't even feel like chewing any supper, so I made a smoothie. And shared it with my grandson, of course. 
So now it's your turn to share your link and show us what progress you've made.

Show & Tell Guidelines

1. Link up any recent post that features your current creative project. And it can be a work in progress as well.
2. Please remember to link to your actual blog post, not your main blog page, so others don't have to search.
3. Somewhere in your blog post, you must link back to my blog or put the 'Show & Tell' button in your sidebar. 
4. Please don't just add your link and go. Check out a few of the other links and comment. The best idea is to check out the 3 or 4 links just previous to yours. That way every link will get visited. And maybe you'll pick up a few new followers along the way.
5. You don't have to follow me to post your link on my blog, but that would be much appreciated.
6. Have fun. This is a party after all.

<a href=’http://catscrossing-laura.blogspot.ca/p/show-tell.html'> <img src=' http://i1331.photobucket.com/albums/w583/september59/CatrsquosCrossing_zps2b7e332e.png ' style='border:none;'> </a>

An InLinkz Link-up

Florence Nightingale Quilt - National Nursing Week 2014

May 12-18 was National Nursing Week here in Canada. Last year, I got tired of nothing being planned in our facility to honour it, and did most of the planning for it myself. While I offered the opportunity to the rest of the staff to do it for this year, I didn't get any takers. So I did all of the planning and coordinating again this year. Being enthusiastic about both my profession and quilting, I googled to see if there was a quilt designed in honour of Florence Nightingale. Eventually I bought a quilt kit and resolved to finish it for display during this year's Nursing Week. I was able to finish the quilt top and prepare it for longarm quilting on May 12, the first day of Nursing Week and my scheduled day off and had booked the time on "Lucey" at Sparrow Studioz. 
This was my first time on Lucey and I wasn't too impressed. While she's still an APQS machine, she wasn't quite up to the standards of Freddie and Millie that I had used previously. But they were both booked by other quilters. First off, Lucey does not have any hydraulics to raise and lower her frame. Since I'm taller than a lot of ladies, I had to do a little stooping to use her. Secondly, I had some issues with the tension and the stitch regulator. And the bobbin thread. Frustrating. Around noon, I suddenly felt hot, sweaty, weak and dizzy. I thought it was low blood sugar, but wasn't sure why it was so severe. I'm not diabetic, but can get a little dizzy and cranky when I haven't eaten for awhile, but the severity of this reaction I only experience when I've had to fast for bloodwork. I had eaten a good breakfast and had felt fine when I started out in the morning, so this puzzled me. There were some Tim Horton's muffins in the studio, so I decided to eat one to boost my blood sugar. I hadn't planned on eating anything until I was done the quilt, but hadn't anticipated this issue. However, the thought of eating actually nauseated me, which was also puzzling since I'm normally very hungry if it's a low blood sugar problem. Hmm, weak, dizzy, sweaty. Okay nurse, you're either going to pass out or throw up. Fun! But I'd booked my time on Lucey, the quilt was already on the frame and started and what was I going to do? I tried forcing myself to work, but kept having to quit and sit down. Finally, I remembered an old trick and wet some paper towels with cold water and put them on the back of my neck. That way I was actually able to finally finish "Florence." Between how sick I felt and my issues with Lucey, it's certainly not the best quilting I ever turned out and I made mistakes that I don't think I would have were it not for how I was feeling. At one point, the laser pointer slipped and when I followed it on my pantograph, I was suddenly quilting one row down. Grrr! That was Lucey's fault, though my fault for following her when I noticed she had jumped. I never did get all of that stitching ripped out and when I looked at it later, I couldn't tell where to even begin. I decided that it was safer to leave it all in, lest I rip out the wrong stitches and end up with the whole row unravelling. At another point, I actually stitched over the same row twice. It wasn't until I was nearly finished the row that I noticed what I was doing. That one did yield to the stitch ripper, though I did rip out the wrong stitches in a couple of places and had to mend the stitching line on my domestic machine at home. 
Once done on the longarm, I headed home and called in sick for the following day. As it turned out, I ended up being sick for the whole week. I'm still not totally up to par, but ready to head back to work tomorrow. So Nursing Week at my work site had to be postponed until I got back. 
Anyway, here's Florence:

I'm not sure how I managed to cut off most of her border in this picture. Maybe because I was sick? Or maybe because I was raising the camera above my head to get the full quilt in and didn't quite manage it.
This quilt worked well with a lot of chain stitching.

 It did get a little tiresome, but not nearly as much as the pixel quilt.

Flying Geese Units with Side Squares

Yesterday and today, I went to the health unit to set up my displays for Nursing Week.

Florence makes a nice setting for this display, doesn't she? Hey, this is the first time I've ever "shown" a quilt!. On the table you'll see various nursing-related items, including some grad photos of some of our nurses.

This is the bulletin board display, including more grad photos, a current group photo of most of us nurses working at the health unit, a write up on the history of the nurse's cap and the write up on Florence Nightingale that came with my quilt kit. I'll be adding more as the week progresses.

This is the bulletin board in the waiting room. I set it up so that people can write thank you notes to the nurses on it. I got this up before I got sick, so you can see that some people have already added their comments. 

When I arrived in my department, I found this lovely floral arrangement. It's from our local medical clinic for Nursing Week. I'll have to make a point to send them a thank you card. And speaking of which, I forgot to pick some thank you cards up today. We had some very generous donations of prizes towards our nursing week celebrations and I want to make sure they get acknowledged appropriately. 
And check out what else I've got that's exciting:

The Darlene Zimmerman large spool collection of Aurifil thread! I won it on Google+ and it arrived from Italy a couple of weeks ago. 

Aren't those luscious colours? My grandson is quite thrilled with this thread and asks me to open the box when he's with me in the sewing room. Not yet 2 years old, and he's already an Aurifil man! LOL!
Well, this has already been a long post and I need to go hang a window shade. So I'll just jump to the link for Show & Tell and you can share what you've been doing.

An InLinkz Link-up

Show & Tell: My Latest Block

It's been nearly a month since I last blogged. I've been busy, but I'm not sure what I've really accomplished. It hasn't been quilting, though I have gotten a little of that done. 
It seems likely that I will not be moving to Ontario in the near future. My daughter got a casual job at a seniors' home and they will pay half of her tuition for her Health Care Aide course and deduct the payments for the other half out of her pay cheque over the next two years. So she's kind of obligated to stay around for that long. Plus the job hunt for me in Ontario was not going well. I sent quite a number of resumes and had one screening interview and that was it. Besides, nursing wages are significantly less in Ontario and, as long as I'm supporting my daughter and grandson, I can't afford to take a big cut in my pay. I had pretty much made up my mind to stay in Alberta, when I got a voice mail today from one of the places to which I had sent a resume. The position I had applied for was filled, but the woman that left the message wanted to know if I was interested in a management position. Alright, that just gives me more to think about. I would still like to move to Ontario, but have no desire to be that far from Damian and Sophia. I will call back tomorrow and see what they have to offer. If it's tempting, I will discuss it with my daughter and pray about it, too, of course. That goes without saying. 
Meanwhile, National Nursing Week is coming up fast, May 12-18 here in Canada. And I was hoping to have my Florence Nightingale quilt done for the display I'll set up at work. Lest you get confused, this is not the Florence Nightingale block from the Dear Jane quilt. No, this is a quilt designed by Common Threads Quilting utilizing the Women of Courage fabric line from Windham Fabrics. And it's much more complex than the Dear Jane Florence Nightingale block. Here's the main block used in this quilt, measuring 9 inches finished size:

It's the only block I've finished so far, but I've done all of the fabric cutting. I've also made up all of the half-square triangle units, 160 of them, measuring just slightly over one inch square.

 And I've got one red side triangle on all 80 of these Flying Geese units.

I've just started putting the other side triangles on. That's as much as I've accomplished. 
Though it's a bit of a "finicky" block, it's nowhere near as tedious as the pixel quilt I've been working on. I need to make 20 of the above block and the rest is filled in with solid pieces of fabric. You can see the quilt top design in the Common Threads link above. I decided to take a "detour" from the pixel quilt to work on this one. My next scheduled day off, so my next opportunity to rent time on the long arm quilting machine, is May 12, which is the first day of Nursing Week. So if I choose (and am able to finish it) to display this quilt, I will need to both quilt and bind it in the same day, so that I can display it the following day when I'm back at work.
And on the subject of Nursing Week, Company's Coming, the cookbook company, made a very generous donation of cookbooks as prizes for our celebrations. So I would just like to recognize them here and acknowledge their contribution. Thank you, Company's Coming. You rock! And you have great cookbooks as well!
So what will I do for Nursing Week next year? I was pondering this and decided to do a series of quilts in honour of various nurses. I found a pattern for Clara Barton's Cross of Love, also made from Windham fabrics, but I might have to substitute fabric, as I don't know if I'll be able to find what I need in the Clara Barton line. There's also a Clara Barton quilt kit you can buy from Connecting Threads. Edith Cavell, Jeanne Mance, Mary Breckenridge and more could be inspiration for new quilt designs. Am I going to take up quilt designing? Maybe. But that can wait for another time. Right now it's time for bed.

<a href=’http://catscrossing-laura.blogspot.ca/p/show-tell.html'> <img src=' http://i1331.photobucket.com/albums/w583/september59/CatrsquosCrossing_zps2b7e332e.png ' style='border:none;'> </a>

Guidelines for Show & Tell 

1. Link up any recent post that features your current creative project. And it can be a work in progress as well. 
2. Please remember to link to your actual blog post, not your main blog page, so others don't have to search. 
3. Somewhere in your blog post, you must link back to my blog or put the 'Show & Tell' button in your sidebar. 
4.  Please don't just add your link and go. Check out a few of the other links and comment. The best idea is to check out the 3 or 4 links just previous to yours. That way every link will get visited. And maybe you'll pick up a few new followers along the way. 
5. You don't have to follow me to post your link on my blog, but that would be much appreciated. 
6. Have fun. This is a party after all.

An InLinkz Link-up

Show & Tell: Jumping Ahead to Borders for the Pixel Quilt

I have to apologize for not getting Show & Tell posted yesterday. My ex-husband is home and I've been "hostessing" for the past couple of days. He's a truck driver and when he's home, he generally spends most of his time at my place visiting our daughter and grandson, who live with me. As I've mentioned before I have an amicable relationship with him, so I'm fine with that. Except that I feel obligated to do the hostess thing, cooking and entertaining, and therefore don't get much quilting or blogging done. To me, it would be rude to disappear to the basement and quilt while he was here. So that's my excuse. 
I honestly may have to take a hiatus from quilting and blogging anyway. I am hoping to move back to Ontario, my home province. I have been thinking about it for nearly a year. Last fall when I visited Ontario, I didn't want to come back to Alberta at the end of my vacation. And the desire hasn't left me. I told my church family that, like the song "I left my heart in San Francisco," I left my heart in Ontario. I am in the process of reinstating my registration as a nurse in Ontario and have applied for numerous jobs already. If and when I finally get a job there, I want to be able to put my house on the market immediately. That means I've got lots of cleaning, de-cluttering, organizing, painting, etc. to get done so that my house is in saleable condition. In addition, I'm having to use quilting time to job hunt. Plus I've still got my income tax return to complete and file. That requires going through a lot of paperwork because I claim part of my vehicle expenses since I use my truck for work. I've got to round up all of my gas, maintenance and car wash receipts for that. I really need to discipline myself to keep those things better organized. You know how everyone loses things in a divorce. Well, I seem to have lost my personal organization skills. I used to be so super organized about that stuff and now... <sigh>
So, I've really got too much to do. I wanted to get the pixel quilt done and mailed, but I'm not sure if I should drag it out any longer. 
I did manage to get one more block for the pixel part done this past week, but that's all. I've lost my enthusiasm for this project.  I'd like to at least get row 4 done before I pack it away. Since I'd finished the four corner blocks for the border, I decided to work on the border. I got the left side done, but it's too long to show in one picture without having the distance to shoot the picture from. So here's the top part:

 And here's the bottom part:

Even with these two pictures, it doesn't show the whole border. In addition to the top and bottom row with the corner blocks, there are 7 rows in between. 
I love both of these fabrics that I'm using in the border: tropical fish and seashells. Those are 9 inch squares, so I'll have an 18 inch border on each side of the pixel part. My sister only has a double bed, so I didn't want the 18 inches on the top and bottom or that would have made the quilt too wide for her bed. So, I opted for a 12 inch border. In order to be a little more consistent with the sides, I decided to continue with the 9 inch blocks, adding 3x9 inch blocks on the outer edge, but I haven't done those sections yet. It looks kind of funky to me right now. I'm not sure if I like the corner blocks in with the other fabric. I guess we'll see what the overall effect is when the quilt top is done. I don't intend to change my plan now...

<a href=’http://catscrossing-laura.blogspot.ca/p/show-tell.html'> <img src=' http://i1331.photobucket.com/albums/w583
/september59/CatrsquosCrossing_zps2b7e332e.png ' style='border:none;'> </a>

Show & Tell Guidelines 
1. Link up any recent post that features your current creative project. And it can be a work in progress as well. 
2. Please remember to link to your actual blog post, not your main blog page, so others don't have to search. 3. Somewhere in your blog post, you must link back to my blog or put the 'Show & Tell' button in your sidebar. 
 4. Please don't just add your link and go. Check out a few of the other links and comment. The best idea is to check out the 3 or 4 links just previous to yours. That way every link will get visited. And maybe you'll pick up a few new followers along the way. 
5. You don't have to follow me to post your link on my blog, but that would be much appreciated. 
6. Have fun. This is a party after all.

An InLinkz Link-up

Show & Tell: Lucky Clover Block

I'm of Irish descent on my father's side and as such, I have an affinity for all things Irish. (Well, almost all things - as an abstainer, I have no affinity for their hard-drinking ways). So when I found McCall's Ireland Quilt Block of the Month, I knew it had to be in my future. After my rather unpleasant experience with the Lighthouse Tower block, I decided to take a total break from the Bluenose II Pixel quilt and do one of the blocks from the Irish quilt. 

This is the Lucky Clover block, On my monitor, the background fabric looks rather yellowish, but it is a light green. I have to admit it's a fairly easy block that works up quite quickly, but there's also a fair amount of fabric wastage. I'll see if I can work any of it into the remaining blocks. If not, maybe some crazy quilt potholders?
Anyway, I felt like I accomplished something and it turned out well. Otherwise, one of the most creative things I did this past week was give my grandson his first haircut. And I saved most of the hair so that my daughter can preserve it in her mementos. 
I'm writing this on Saturday night as on Sunday I'm planning on being at an APQS roadshow. I'll let you know how that goes if I make it. Tonight I am feeling really congested, sinus headache, tickle in my throat. Sophia and Damian are supposed to go as well, but Damian's still fighting something like I've got, so don't know if Sophia will want to take him out or not. He at least was not feverish today and ate reasonably well.
And in honour of my Irish heritage:

This song really stirs my Irish soul. Very sad to learn of the death of George Donaldson, one of the singers in Celtic Thunder (the bald one). 
It's your turn to show and tell about your week's creative endeavours.
Here's my button:

<a href=’http://catscrossing-laura.blogspot.ca/p/show-tell.html'> <img src=' http://i1331.photobucket.com/albums/w583/september59/CatrsquosCrossing_zps2b7e332e.png ' style='border:none;'> </a>

Guidelines for Show & Tell

1. Link up any recent post that features your current creative project. And it can be a work in progress as well.
2. Please remember to link to your actual blog post, not your main blog page, so others don't have to search.
3. Somewhere in your blog post, you must link back to my blog or put the 'Show & Tell' button in your sidebar. 
4. Please don't just add your link and go. Check out a few of the other links and comment. The best idea is to check out the 3 or 4 links just previous to yours. That way every link will get visited. And maybe you'll pick up a few new followers along the way.
5. You don't have to follow me to post your link on my blog, but that would be much appreciated.
6. Have fun. This is a party after all.

An InLinkz Link-up

Show & Tell: Ocean Waves

Ugh! I hate the time change. And the older I get, it seems the longer it takes me to adjust to it. It doesn't help that Damian's been fussy and not sleeping well lately. I don't have a shade on the window in his room, but have added that to my "to do" list. We hung a blanket in his window and that seems to have helped him settle down at night, now that it's lighter later. As for the cough/cold/sinus thing that's keeping him awake at nights, Sophia and I are wondering about a possible allergy: dairy milk or cats. Well, the dairy milk thing will be much easier to solve than the cat issue because I'm not getting rid of the cats. It might help if I brushed them, but since Damian and Sophia moved in, I put the cat brushes somewhere and I cannot recall where. 
So between the time change and Damian's restlessness, I've been very tired. Too tired to feel like contending with the one inch squares in the pixel quilt. My Kona nautical fabric arrived, so I made one of the blocks I intend to use for the corners on the Bluenose II pixel quilt. For the border, I selected two ocean-related fabrics, but wanted something different for the corners. I decided to do four traditional type quilting blocks with a nautical theme and use Kona solid in the colour "nautical" as the background. For the piecing, I chose 4 different prints from my stash that bring out some of the colours from the border fabrics. Since the pixel part of this quilt top is primarily monochromatic in various shades of blue, I wanted to add some more colour. 
Today's block is Ocean Waves. You can find different variations of this block both online and in books. You can complete it using half-square triangles, templates or paper piecing. I opted to use paper piecing, as found here: http://www.quilterscache.com/O/OceanWavesBlock.html In printing out the templates, even when I clicked on Actual Size, I found the templates still slightly small. Since I have a tendency to end up with my blocks smaller than intended, I definitely did not want to start out with the templates too small. Fortunately, my printer is a multi-function centre and I copied them at 104%. Just that 4% made the difference. 
Once I had them the correct size and all cut out, I arranged them in the right order. 

Once I had them laid out, I colour-coded the sections with markers so that I could keep track of which fabric went where while sewing. I used the strip piecing method as taught in Craftsy's Quick Strip Paper Piecing Class.

I also used a dry iron and freezer paper on the ironing board. This protects from ink smudges from the copy paper. Once I'd removed all of the paper, I pressed again using spray starch. This will help retain the shape, since many cuts are on the bias.

Ocean Waves: all sections finished

With the sections all finished, I then sewed them together in three pieces.

Finally, all three pieces were joined to make the completed block. 

Traditionally, this block is done in blues and white, but I have plenty of blues in the pixel section of this quilt top. And, as I said, I wanted to add some more colour. 
By the way, I've been using 60 weight in my bobbin and it's not stitching tight enough. It caused some problems when I was pulling the paper off. Anyone else experience anything similar?
Damian's been pretty clingy to his mother and me since he's not feeling well, so I'm not sure how much more I'll get done...
How has your week gone? What have you gotten done? Share your link here.

<a href=’http://catscrossing-laura.blogspot.ca/p/show-tell.html'> <img src=' http://i1331.photobucket.com/albums/w583/september59/CatrsquosCrossing_zps2b7e332e.png ' style='border:none;'> </a>

Guidelines for Show & Tell 

1. Link up any recent post that features your current creative project. And it can be a work in progress as well. 
2. Please remember to link to your actual blog post, not your main blog page, so others don't have to search. 
3. Somewhere in your blog post, you must link back to my blog or put the 'Show & Tell' button in your sidebar. 
4.  Please don't just add your link and go. Check out a few of the other links and comment. The best idea is to check out the 3 or 4 links just previous to yours. That way every link will get visited. And maybe you'll pick up a few new followers along the way. 
5. You don't have to follow me to post your link on my blog, but that would be much appreciated. 
6. Have fun. This is a party after all.

An InLinkz Link-up

Work in Progress: The Bluenose II Pixel Quilt - Part 7

First, let me say that I am writing this on Saturday night as I plan on going into Edmonton on Sunday. Fabricland is having a sale and I need to get the batting for the pixel quilt. Not that I'm anywhere near ready for the batting yet. Oh no, as a matter of fact, I made scarcely any progress on the quilt at all. I barely finished one block, and a simple block it was at that, with large areas of the same colour. 

One important thing I did accomplish, however, was to draw a 1-1/2 inch grid on one of my design sheets. 

I should have done this right from the start because I believe it will make it ever so much easier to keep track of all the little squares and where they go in the block, like this:

I drew enough grid for two blocks, as I'm sometimes working on two at a time - even more challenging to keep track of!
So, if you ever plan on doing a pixel quilt, I highly recommend that you create a grid to work on. I predict that I am really going to need this for rows 5 & 6, the water part of the picture. No large areas of the same colour there...
Did you accomplish much this week or did you have a lazier week like me? Share your link and let us know.

Guidelines for Show & Tell

1. Link up any recent post that features your current creative project. And it can be a work in progress as well.
2. Please remember to link to your actual blog post, not your main blog page, so others don't have to search.
3. Somewhere in your blog post, you must link back to my blog or put the 'Show & Tell' button in your sidebar. 
4. Please don't just add your link and go. Check out a few of the other links and comment. The best idea is to check out the 3 or 4 links just previous to yours. That way every link will get visited. And maybe you'll pick up a few new followers along the way.
5. You don't have to follow me to post your link on my blog, but that would be much appreciated.
6. Have fun. This is a party after all.

Here's my button:

<a href=’http://catscrossing-laura.blogspot.ca/p/show-tell.html'> <img src=' http://i1331.photobucket.com/albums/w583/september59/CatrsquosCrossing_zps2b7e332e.png ' style='border:none;'> </a>

An InLinkz Link-up

Work in Progress: The Bluenose II Pixel Quilt - Part 6

Ready to sail away? Maybe to some island in the South Pacific? Make sure to bring along a treadle sewing machine as there's not likely to be reliable electricity, plus a large supply of fabric, thread and batting. Sounds pretty appealing, doesn't it? Especially in view of the winter we've been having. And even though it's already March, it's still -24C as I'm writing this. So the idea of migrating to the tropics is very tempting... As long as I can still quilt. And here's the schooner we can sail on:

Well, no, it's not quite finished, but you can definitely see those sails now. And by the time it's done, we might not need to sail away because it should be spring...
Here's what is probably the most complicated strip in the quilt:

Eight different colours in a 10 inch strip! That's about the centre of row 3. It doesn't look so complicated from a distance, as seen in the first picture. Here it is up closer:

Halfway there (3 rows of 6 done).
What have you been up to? Share your link.

Guidelines for Show & Tell

1. Link up any recent post that features your current creative project. And it can be a work in progress as well.
2. Please remember to link to your actual blog post, not your main blog page, so others don't have to search.
3. Somewhere in your blog post, you must link back to my blog or put the 'Show & Tell' button in your sidebar. 
4. Please don't just add your link and go. Check out a few of the other links and comment. The best idea is to check out the 3 or 4 links just previous to yours. That way every link will get visited. And maybe you'll pick up a few new followers along the way.
5. You don't have to follow me to post your link on my blog, but that would be much appreciated.
6. Have fun. This is a party after all.

Here's my button:

<a href=’http://catscrossing-laura.blogspot.ca/p/show-tell.html'> <img src=' http://i1331.photobucket.com/albums/w583/september59/CatrsquosCrossing_zps2b7e332e.png ' style='border:none;'> </a>

An InLinkz Link-up