Getting back to work

October is a blurr and here we are in the month before Christmas. In the past four weeks, I taught a workshop, went to a retreat, took a workshop, finished the tops of two I Spy quilts (which are currently at the machine quilter's) and flew across the country to visit our son and his wife in Saskatchewan. In addition to that, life happened and all of the usual things had to be done as well, including dinner guests and evenings out. All this having been said, I am getting back on track and finished two projects in the past few days. Attending a workshop and being a participant was great fun and although I had to leave early due to another engagement, I very much enjoyed the whole experience. The bag I completed is from fabric I bought at a lovely quilt store called Periwinkle Quilting in Saskatoon. It will henceforth be my Sask Bag. I found the fabric to be expensive in that lovely shop, perhaps because of the difference in sales tax between our two provinces. Same thing in Alberta. Nonetheless it is a great store and now I have a tangible memento from the trip.

Our Guild's Christmas challenge this year was to use a Nutcracker fabric in some project with the fabric clearly visible. I love making Christmas pillows as they are a great gift and are fun to make. This little pillow is just the right size to place on a chair and not be in the way. It's about fourteen inches square and has a zipper in the back in case it falls victim to an errant mug of egg nog during the holidays.

My biggest project currently in the mix is catching up with all of the other Guild members in making the first steps in our Mystery Quilt. Mine is done in Christmas fabric simply because it's easy to match the fabrics ... everything goes with Christmas!!! This particular quilt has dozens and dozens and then more dozens of half-square triangles and were it not for Ta-Da's, I never would have undertaken the project. I can do eighty-four HST's in MINUTES and after that, it's just cutting. Thanks to the person who devised those little gems. I was initially sold on Thangles, and I do use them for six or eight or ten HST's, but when it comes to hundreds, I prefer the Ta-Da's. There's nothing to tear off and they provide additional stability along that bias seam. I am using my stash for this quilt and had to buy only one fabric, which is a real bonus and it' good to see that the level of my stash is going down.

For some unknown reason, I have not been able to get a quilt on my frame this fall. That is the next project and perhaps it will happen sooner rather than later...at least I hope so!!