Monday, October 22, 2018

October updates

October is almost finished and so far I've written very few posts. I did some quilting, lots of planning and listened to many audio books. I'm also totally overwhelmed by the number of comments on my September posts and I hope to answer them....one day, or not. So please know that I really appreciate getting comments, but at one point, I may give up on answering the older ones. Sorry 😔

One Monthly Goal (OMG) accomplished!

My October OMG was to finish a quilt top for a t-shirt and dress quilt for Sonya's daughter. I had very little hope that it would get done, so I am very, very pleased to say that the quilt top is finished and the quilt is about half quilted.

Here are a few of the quilted blocks so far. I'm not sharing the rest of the quilt top yet since I'd like to keep it a surprise 😊 Since I'm planning to make this quilt my November OMG, you'll be able to see it at the end of November, if not earlier.

This first block is a variation of Peas in a pod, designed by Maddie Kertay. You can see my own doodling of it in my FMQ journal. The design is found in 180 Doodle Quilting Designs, page 99. The book is compiled by Karen M. Burns.

Peas in a pod
Variation of Peas in a pod
FMQ design

























You may recognize this next FMQ design from Angela Walter's Free Motion Challenge Quilt Along that I did last spring. This is the Feather Meander and a lot of swirly variations.
Feather Meander and swirly variations

Finally, I quilted around the dolphins and then FMQ a whole bunch of bubbles.
Bubbles around the dolphins
There is a lot more to quilt, especially since I also want to FMQ inside the sashing, which I will keep simple.

Fabric acquisition for a future project

For the October's Throwback Thursday, I posted a Beatles quilt that I made using a walking foot. In the post, I said that although made for my daughter's room that the quilt had never hung there since I had taken too long to finish it and her room decor had moved on.

Well my daughter, who is now studying art history for a semester in Venice (doesn't that sound absolutely amazing?!) commented that she still wanted a Paddington Bear quilt and would love it even if her room changed. (The link to that post is in Related links below.)

Since I know that she loves Paddington Bear and that she's my number one fan, the day after she posted her comment, I went on the internet in search of fabric. I found these on Etsy and I'm sharing the links below since I had excellent service from both shops.

Lovely Paddington Bear fabric


At this time, I'm thinking of making a large Paddington Bear applique in the quilt centre and then using this and other fabric blocks around it for a scrappy look. This will probably be a winter 2019 project.

More hexies

The 100 hexies in 100 days event on Instagram is now in its eleventh week. Here are the hexies and the pictures for weeks 9 to 11. Since I haven't done as much quilting as I would like, I thought that I would try to put a little more effort in my pictures of these hexies.

Week 9 - Floral

Since the floral theme was all about colour (for me), I thought that I would use the Our House quilt to showcase the hexies I made. Here they are!

Floral hexies at Our House

A close-up of the floral hexies with "the two cats in the yard".
More floral hexies in the yard
Week 10 - Favourite Colours

It's pretty difficult to make me choose ONE favourite colour. Instead, I gathered up some of my favourite colours and made a display with my muse and my Kimono silk thread collection.

What a lot of colours - how can I choose just one?
The quilt under the hexies is a wheel chair quilt that I made for my grandmother. It's the perfect backdrop for wonderful colours.
More lovely colours and incredible silk thread!!!
Week 11 - I Spy

This week's selection is objects that are used in an I Spy quilt. It took me a while to find fabric that I mostly hadn't use on previous hexies. Thank goodness I've purchased a few fabrics recently :-)

I Spy hexies on fireman fabric

My absolute favourite is that priceless pink squirrel!

Paddington Bear makes his first appearance.
Art with Fabric, Fall 2018 Coming Soon!

The Art with Fabric blog hop, hosted by Alida, will be held between Monday, November 5 to Friday, November 9, 2018.  My post will be featured on Wednesday, November 7th.


The theme of the blog hop is our favourite colour. I am doing my art piece on the colour white - which is not my favourite, although technically white includes all colours, so technically it could be my favourite :-)

My piece is based on a BBC documentary series called A History of Art in Three Colours. While the first two films were interesting, it's the third one that caught my attention. My piece will feature white and its role in the evolution of art history, particularly in contemporary art.

What I learned
  • I tend to practice a lot of FMQ designs on scrap pieces of paper or photocopy paper. When I get one that works well on paper and ink, I'll usually try it on the sewing machine. Generally I know that if I can draw it, then I can quilt it. I then either re-copy these in my FMQ journal or just cut and paste them in the journal. If I didn't keep track of the designs I use or can do, I would never remember what FMQ designs to us! 
  • The 100 hexies in 100 days event on Instagram has influenced my fabric purchases! I now look for some fabrics that have interesting characters. This is not normally the type of fabric I buy, but they can be very handy to have when making art quilts.
  • I've been working very hard on my Art with Fabric Blog Hop piece. It's a fairly complex piece that has been both fun and challenging to make. I'll have a lot more to say on November 7th, so I hope you'll join me.

Related links
Linking parties

20 comments:

  1. I know what you mean by getting behind in answering comments. I, too enjoy hearing from my readers but time is limited to respond to them all. I am way far behind, too. Last summer, I had over 450 comments in one week! I think I replied to about 50 of them and then had to go forward and answer the ones coming in and leave the others behind. If I can't answer them all, I pick the ones that have questions or want information and reply to them.

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    1. Thanks. That's good advice. I would also like to host linking parties but I know that I couldn't keep up with seeing what everyone links up with. Maybe once I retire :-)

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  2. All of these projects look like they are so much fun.

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    1. Hi Lisa, these are indeed fun, colourful projects (except for the white - but it's still fun :-) )

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  3. Lots of great projects! Isn't it fun to quilt bubbles? I enjoy doing them so much. They look fantastic with the dolphins. :) Thanks for linking to MCM!

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    1. Thanks Beth, yes bubbles are fun to quilt, especially when they are big - and not tiny pebbles :-)

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  4. thanks so much for sharing all of your fun projects and for linking up!

    brooke@sillymamaquilts.com

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  5. Hi Andree! I love love the dolphins and their bubbles. I have been really trying to expand my FMQ skills. I am quilting a quilt of many different plus signs, so I am doing a different pattern in each sign. ~smile~ Roseanne

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    1. Hi Roseanne, aren't those quilts with similar blocks great for practicing your FMQ? It's so much fun to see what you can do with them. I'm looking forward to finishing this one up.

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  6. Bubbles for the dolphins - perfect!

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    1. Hi Susan - I love it when it works out. At first I only quilted around the dolphins, but when I finished going around a couple of the circles, I just couldn't stop!

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  7. Plein de beaux projets ! J'adore les fleurs en héxagones, trop mignon ;-)
    About responding to comments: I prefer to visit the blog of the visitor, leave a comment, reather than answering by email. Except if there is a question, then I reply by email. And very often, when I "reply" by visiting blogs, there is a new post and I will keep updated this way!

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    1. Merci Frédérique. I often visit the blog of the person who comments, and then I comment on their blog, and then they comment on mine...and I realize that I've just perpetuated the cycle :-) But it is great to hear from fellow quilters who understand our obsessions!

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  8. The quilting looks wonderful. Thanks for linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal and congrats on your finish!

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    1. Thanks Patty. I really hope to finally finish this one for the November OMG.

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  9. I spy paddington bear! Paddington is awesome, I'm glad you've committed to making this quilt. Your hexies are coming along nicely!

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    1. Thanks Dione....I spy a whole bunch of work on a Paddington quilt soon :-)

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  10. Crumbs Andrée, You're busy! You have so many colourful projects on the go at the same time.

    I love the peas in a pod design - makes me want to get down to some serious quilting again. Also I am very envious of your daughter. Not only is she away in Venice, but also you are planning a quilt while she is away!


    Thank you for linking up with Free Motion Mavericks. Your dolphins are this week's featured project.


    PS Spain was fab.


    Love, Muv

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    1. Hi Muv, I think that I may have been too busy - might be time to rest :-) I'm glad that Spain was fab - it's my turn - I'm heading to Venice and Florence very soon:-)
      Thanks for featuring my dolphins!

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Hi! I would love to hear from you and I will try to answer you. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a message. :-)