Friday Show and Tell

This quilt is a "Rob Peter to Pay Paul", or a variation of Drunkard's Path. Maybe some one knows the exact name.

It was made by my Grandmother, Gracia Bergeron (1893-1976), with the help of my Aunts. It was made in the 1940's, in rural Quebec.

Picture from1928. Notice the fabric on my grandmother's and my aunt's dresses.

It is made out of sugar/flours bags and remnants of blue shirting fabric. Although from a distance there doesn't appear to be many shades of blue there are quit a few. Some of the blue fabric is also pieced within the blocks.

It is machine pieced and hand quilted.

More Contests

Kimberly over at Quilting with Kimberly has had a quilt stolen, please take a look, maybe some one will recognize it so she can get it back. She has just had a beautiful book come out and is giving one away tomorrow.
Suzanne is having a sale and a give away on her site Suzanne Earley , she has had 1000+ blog posts. The draw date is January 31st.
Polly over at Aunt Polly's Porch is having a give away for her 1st Blogaversary. She is giving away a beautiful lap sized quilt kit. Draw date January 26th.



I have finished the heel flap on my sample socks and have started the heel cap.


I took this picture today to send to my aunt, so I thought I should post it here too. The top of the armoire is where my Friday show and tell quilts are kept.

3rd January Finish

I finished my hardanger heart ornament today. I hung it in the window for Valentines.



I hemmed pants for my MIL, does that count as a finish for January? ;o) There always seems to be mending or hemming.

Worked a bit on a piece of tatting I have on the go. I usually keep it in the car (for when I am a passenger, not the driver!), but it is too cold not to wear mittens now, so I brought it in to work on.



I also worked on my sample socks, half way through the heel flap now. I just want to say that I should never have recommended the "2-at-a-Time Socks" book. I only recently found out about all the mistakes in the book (I am told it amounts to 7 printed pages!), and I have been trying to make the corrections in the book. It is taking forever. I can't believe that one book can have so many mistakes. My socks are coming along nicely though, I still like knitting them this way. I am currently writing a pattern (hopefully without mistakes) for a class.



The fabric I ordered (from here) for the Pinwheel Sampler Quilt Along arrived today! I can't wait to get started. It is so beautiful - Alliance by Moda.


It is 1800 reproduction fabric. Seems to be a new trend for me.

Have fun in your day. Thank-you for stopping by!

Hardanger Today

Not having a focus for this week is a wonderful focus. I have been looking at all the WIP's I have and trying a bit of this and that. Today I finished the stitching on a piece of hardanger that I started last summer while on vacation.


It is part of a kit I bought on sale from a wonderful needle work store in Fargo, ND, called Nordic Needle. Any vacation to the States from our house always seems to have a stop in Fargo! I'll finish it up and use is as a Valentine decoration.

Today was another beautiful, frosty day


I hope it is beautiful where you are!

No Real Focus

My focus this week, is to have no real focus and work on a variety of things. Today I am working on a Romanian Point lace project.



This is part of a larger piece that I have been working on since last year. I have already made 7 of these flowers (as well as some other filler pieces) and I still have 17 more flowers to make. I think I will be making this for quite some time!

There are a few more contests out there. Kansas Trouble Quilters is having a giveaway of about 400 Moda HST's and a beautiful pattern. Kimberly of Quilting with Kimberly is giving away a copy of her new book. Wendy of INKY THREADS is also giving away copies of her book. Good Luck everyone!

I have joined the Pinwheel Sampler Quilt Along over at P.S. I Quilt . I am really looking forward to it. It should be lots of fun.

Another Finish

I am so pleased to say that I have finished sewing together the blocks of my "Spanish Steps".



I just have the borders to add. I have put it away for a couple of weeks so that I can concentrate on other projects. Two weeks of working on one thing is enough for me.

Today I also finished a pincushion. I have been wanting a small, heavy pincushion for a while, and this is what I came up with.

A flower pincushion. I used the plastic center from pearl cotton, covered it and filled it with BBs. I also put a little rubber pad at the bottom to stop it from sliding. It works really well. It fits on my sewing machine and doesn't move when I stick a pin in it.

Sock Book Corrections

I am still working on sewing the rows of my "Spanish Steps" quilt together. I hope to finish sewing them tomorrow.

I have also finished knitting the legs of my sample socks (there would be a picture here, but my oldest child has been adding updates on my computer and it no longer recognizes my camera!). I just wanted to let people know that the "2-at-a-Time-Socks" book by Melissa Morgan-Oakes is full of mistakes. The corrections are listed here .


I have noticed that many people have wonderfully cute and cuddly "fur babies", this is our family's. A black bear hamster named Tim. Not quite the same as the wonderful cats and dogs out there. Oh well! I just couldn't post something without a picture.

Show and Tell Friday

Fridays are a busy day for me. It is the only day of the week that I am away from home all day. Not much sewing time. I have a collection of a few quilts that have been made by various women in my family, so I thought I would make Fridays a show and tell day.

My first show and tell is the oldest quilt I own.



It is in pretty rough shape. It is an applique quilt made by my great grandmother, Julienne Doucet (1853-1930), from rural Quebec.

Around 1900

Family history says that it was made in the early 1870's. It is the only quilt that I have from my mother's family that is not made from scraps or flour sacks. Before my great grandmother was married she worked in a factory somewhere in New England, and we think this quilt was made then. I am told that it is in traditional French Canadian colours. The quilt is 68"x84", it has not been cut down. The quilt only has borders on two sides because, I am told, beds were against the wall, no need to waste a border.


The quilting stitches seem to be the only thing holding this quilt together, a lot of the sewing stitches seem to have vanished. My aunt remembers that her grandfather (who died in 1939) always had this quilt on his bed.
Maybe someone has some more information about it that they can share with me.

Sewing Rows

All the blocks have been sewn into rows and I am sewing the rows together. It is coming along beautifully. An easy quilt to make.



I love the shadow effect. A few people have asked about the pattern. It is from Judy Martin's book "Scraps".



There are two other shadow quilts in the book.




Here is a link to viewer photos on Judy Martin's website, you can also check out her sewing room in the "Meet Judy" section. Amazing!


We are having unusually warm temperatures here, and the birds were going crazy in the feeder, must be all the seeds coming out of the melting snow. I hope it is beautiful were you are.

Blocks Finished

Today was a wonderful home day. I finished sewing all the blocks for the "Spanish Steps" quilt and even started sewing the blocks together. Here it is on my "design floor".



Wendy over at Inky Threads asked people to show her their stash/quilting areas. I have my sewing machine in the kitchen, where most people might have a kitchen table! I am supposed to have my sewing area in the basement, but it is a catch-all room, of toys, exercise equipment, drums etc. I much prefer to sew upstairs in the light and with everyone.


Since my sewing room is in the main part of the house, I have to keep it limited and neat. The sewing table is my grandmother's old sewing machine cabinet. I keep a few fabrics in the bins beside it, mostly up-coming projects and things for inspiration. I keep my cutting mat under the couch and cut on the island in the kitchen. I also have room to set up the ironing board when I need it. I lay out quilts on the "design floor" in the family room. I have been much more productive since I moved upstairs, this works out well, and my family is used to working around it. I still have a few bins and sewing things in the basement.



Looks a bit messier now, I am organized to sew the blocks together, should be done soon.

Contests

There are a few contests out in blogland, that are worth while entering. I am sure there are many more!
Bobbie Ashley is giving away 24 skeins of amazing hand-dyed silk and velvet ribbons. The drawing is February 1st.
Bobbi is having a giveaway for her 99th post. Congratulations! A charm pack, a pattern and some beautiful things she has made.
Sue over at Alderwood Quilts is having a giveaway for 100 followers. A wonderful pattern and 6 batik fat quarters. Her contest ends February 1st also.
Good Luck to everyone!



My sample socks are coming along nicely, just plain knitting now. I also did some sewing on my quilt blocks.

More Sewing

Today was a busy Monday of cleaning, laundry, ironing, baking etc. I did make time for sewing a bit on the "Spanish Steps" blocks.

Today was a beautiful day, fog this morning, and hoar-frost on everything. We are having unusually warm temperatures (-5 Celsius tonight), usually around this time of the year it is -30.

Even the bunny seemed to have frost on his whiskers.

I had a nice surprise in the mail today. FABRIC!

I started a new fabric club this year (from this store ). It is 1800's reproduction fabric. Last year I belonged to a different fabric club for a while, the fabrics were beautiful, but they only went with the fabrics they came with, and nothing in my stash (or month to month). It was a bit limiting, so I thought I would try out a theme club. The project ideas are flying around in my head.

Finished This Weeks Focus

I am so glad that at the beginning of the week I said that I wanted to finish cutting out the fabric for my "Spanish Steps" quilt. It really motivated me to get it done! I have cut out all the blocks, and hopefully enough squares for the border. I just have some beige borders to cut but I want to wait until the blocks are put together.

The pieces for the blocks are all piled together and waiting on my sewing table, ready to be sewn. This week I will focus on sewing them together.
Did anyone else decide to focus on one thing for the week? How did it go?

Quilting Time!

I am so pleased that I had some time to work on my "Spanish Steps" quilt. I have cut all the beige/background fabric out. I also finished sewing the 40 alternate blocks needed. Just 19 more main blocks to make. I even bought the wool batting for it. It is coming along nicely and lots of fun.


May Britt had a great idea to focus on one thing for the upcoming week. It has really motivated me to work on the quilt, since I said I would at the beginning of the week.

I think the OPAM 2010 will also be a great motivator. I am so thrilled to be a part of it. A big thank-you to Peg and Kris for running it.

Too Busy!

Today was such a busy day, no time for sewing. I should have a bit of time at the end of the day to work on my sample sock. I have started knitting the leg portion.
I did make pasta for supper - unexpected company and had to make something!