Update from my sewing room

What is it about September that makes me feel creatively rejuvenated?  Is it the same for you?

September turns my thoughts towards hand quilting in the evenings now that the summer heat is gone and being covered in a quilt is a welcome thing!  It makes me aware that our "Granny Squares" November quilt retreat is just around the corner.  It also gives me excitement that another Quiltville mystery quilt is just a few months away.

Weekends are precious to me because I'm still working Monday to Friday full time.  I squeeze in quilting on evenings when I have the energy and most definitely on weekends unless those plans are preempted.  Yesterday was a day of feeling very accomplished.  After a great church service, and lunch out with my hubby and some friends, I came home with a goal to finish some test blocks for an upcoming quilt pattern.

Here's a sneak preview of two blocks that will be going into this quilt:

 

Besides getting these two test blocks done I also got some hourglass units all pressed and ready to assemble into blocks.  I joined in Bonnie Hunter's 'leaders and enders' 2017 challenge.  I used Kaffe Fassett Collective fabrics together with a lovely pale butter yellow for the neutral. 

 I was stuck on a layout.  I loved Bonnie's quilt design shown below...

but it won't work for my fabric choices.  Stay tuned though!  I had a breakthrough and now have an idea. I'm now excited to get these hourglass units counted and stitched together to make something that I think will be quite lovely and will have a bit of a modern feel.

I also finished some binding ready for a quilt expected to return from my long arm quilter in about a week.  I thought I'd show you my little trick of winding my bindings.  You know those 6 1/2" rulers?  They make a great hard surface for wrapping the bindings.  Maybe everyone does this?  But I love how they are now very manageable and ready for when my quilt returns.

All folded, pressed and ready to add to my expected quilted quilt.

Besides these little cleanup projects, I also managed to cut down some squares from the fabric remaining from my grandson's quilt pictured below to make him another one using the same colours.

I will be using this pattern:

As you can probably figure out, I have a few things that will be coming with me in November for our retreat.

I'm also teaching on Denman Island on October 21st for the Creative Conspiracy retreat so this week I'll be busy preparing these fabrics for my third Amish Block Party which is my own design.

It was a very fruitful time in the sewing room this weekend! 

Until next time,
Mavis