On Ringo Lake Clue #4 And Christmas Fun!

Last Saturday was the monthly quilt group MeetUp and I worked on Ringo Lake clue #3. Below are most of the number I need for my smaller quilt version, no idea when the rest will be done but I will probably take them and Clue #5 [due out tomorrow] to Boston to complete.

They are not yet trimmed either, this week before Christmas is just too busy. This is our week for the Boy and we have been busy with concerts, shopping, baking, gingerbread house making etc! Thank goodness no homework this week I think that might have been a struggle!

The concert was a great success and Elf #1 performed his role very well, never missed a cue and spoke more clearly than anyone else. He knew all the music, "we have six songs" he said. We were very proud of him and he was so excited to have us all there to watch. He said "the whole family is here!"

Some more serious cookie making this week and you can see it takes great focus and determination to get all those cookies painted with frosting! We found the silicon basting brush the perfect tool.

This afternoon was VIP day when the grandparents and other extended family helpers are invited to assist in the very sweet, sticky process of the gingerbread house construction. Matthew's house is a be-jewelled masterpiece.

And finally, we had a family dinner last Sunday and I had a nice cuddle with great grand-daughter Paisley, such a sweet cuddly armful, she is a snuggler! Don't you love the animal print leggings?!

On Ringo Lake Clue #3, Just in Time!

Yesterday between Bible Study and our quarterly town hall at church, I got clue three sewn up.

Then we dropped in at Fatsos for salad and wings and after we arrived home I managed to get all my little blocks trimmed and pressed. I used the corner flip/snowball method, simply sewing squares on the diagonal on either end of the rectangles 

I am making a smaller version of Ringo Lake, halving Bonnie's numbers so it did not take me all day. I had prepped the fabric earlier in the week while I had a two day window waiting for King Tut thread to finish the quilt below. I had a feeling there would not be enough on the cone and sure enough ran out about halfway through. Fortunately Sewthankful is just next door in Mew Mexico and they have great prices and fast First Class shipping so the cone arrived today.

 I love the Circle Lord templates for quilts without a theme, this one with circles is gender and subject neutral! This is a large baby/child's quilt, 54"X74".
To top it off, a newer picture of great granddaughter Paisley, such a little doll, I am looking forward to seeing her Sunday at a family gathering!

She looks so much like her Dad with her Mom's dimpled chin!~

It's Advent!

The waiting time for the arrival of the Savior was celebrated in Christian churches around the globe yesterday. It was traditionally a time of self examination in preparation for Baptism in the early Church. The color purple or blue is meant to signify Royalty and also repentance in some churches.
The tradition of the Advent wreath began in Germany in the Lutheran church and has been adopted internationally. Our family first encountered it when we lived in Germany in the 70's and have continued it ever since.  The wreath is designed to encourage family devotions during the season to help us to keep in mind the "reason for the season" with all the distractions of commercial marketing,  gifting and other celebrations. Our family always lit the wreath at the evening meal as we read a portion of Scripture appropriate to the time, and the boys took turns lighting the candles of course!

 Our church celebrated the first Sunday in Advent with a special wreath making event in the afternoon. Four of the candles mark each of the four Sundays in Advent, the fifth in the center for the Christ Child is lit on Christmas Eve/Day. The first two Sundays the blue/purple candles are lit, on the third Sunday, Gaudete Sunday, the pink is lit. Gaudete in Latin means "rejoice"as in Phillippians chapter four we are encouraged to rejoice in the coming of the Savior.

 We began our event with a short service in the Sanctuary

then moved to the patio and Fellowship Hall for the actual wreath making. I was too busy with this project to take more pics, but everyone had a good time visiting and putting our wreaths together, even the less crafty members who received help from others!

I gathered up supplies for an additional wreath to make with Matthew this week since he was not able to attend yesterday. He was very insistent that we not begin to decorate until he could be here to help!

Wishing you all a Holy and joyous Advent as we await His coming.

On Ringo Lake Clue #2

Yesterday I managed to fill the day, pork pot roast in the slow cooker, a few loaves of banana bread 

and the rest of the day devoted to the BH Mystery Clue #2!

My plan is for a smaller version of the quilt so so I am reducing the number of pieces, I have no idea how large this will be but maybe lap-twin size? Bonnie suggests beginning with half the number for a smaller quilt. A couple of reasons for the decision, there is no current plan for gifting another bedsize quilt - I usually go with the chosen colors of the recipient. Therefore in this case a lap-size or child's quilt may be more giftable. Also, taking into consideration that this is one of the busiest times of the year I am choosing to spend less time on this quilt and reduce my stress!
Usually I am not a quilter who buys kits, I like to use stash and save $$ cutting my own pieces with rare exceptions, however this past year has seen a change. Perhaps it's a sign of advancing age and taking the easier way out?
At last year's retreat two of the other quilters were sewing on the stunning Crystal Blue quilt, and if you have seen the  design you may understand that it is a major, time consuming, challenging project. A local quiltshop near the retreat house had the kit on sale so........I bought it!

In the past year plus I have completed the center plus another section.

However, I have seriously bogged down on it and find my enthusiasm waning, well in truth waned! What do you do when you choose to abandon a project? This kit cost me nearly $250 so it's not a decision I have made lightly but sometimes we just need to cut our losses and move on!

I think I will put it on FB for $100 and see if some other quilter has the energy and enthusiasm for it.

Then I saw this eye catching quilt on Ricky Timms website and he had it on sale and free shipping-and yes, I bought it!

 Isn't it smashing?

Do you like Kaffe Fassett?

It took me a few years for his designs to grow on me possibly because of the first time I encountered them in a kit quilt I did on the longarm.  The blocks were all different and I was custom quilting them but no matter what thread I used I could not see where I had quilted. When it came to the final of several borders I gave up and used a pantograph! To my amusement it is still one of Leslie's favorite of all her quilts and I quite like it now! So when I was wandering around 35th Ave Sew 'N Vac I happened upon the kit above and fell in love with the fabrics at half price! All seventeen yards! While I have no intentions of making this entire quilt I may make a small wall hanging and put the rest in stash.

 Then, a few weeks ago wandering around the same store waiting to pick up my BOM I came across this kit, another seventeen yards on sale so cheap I had to buy it! When ever do we encounter quilt shop quality fabrics less than half price? Sigh, and no I obviously have not yet learned my lesson LOL, do not wander aimlessly around a quilt shop!
These fabrics will go into stash, the quilt pattern does not call my name!

Warning: Quilt shops are dangerous places for quilters!

Final QOV for 2017!

Yep that's right the last for this year, I can mail them off to be bound and labeled, my job is done!

This one went a lot faster, possibly because some of the blocks were the same so I already had an idea  of how I would quilt them.

Simplifying quilting in the blank blocks speeded up the process, the loopy longarm feather wreaths are super fast, though every so often I would forget and slip in a couple of backtrack feathers-but you have to search to pick them out!

I do enjoy ruler work so more of that which also goes faster when you are not re-inventing the wheel.

Love the plain muslin backing that shows up the cool quilting design and makes an attractive reversible look. The border is a little different treatment, more masculine than feathers and again very fast. I repeated the design in a miniature version in some of the blocks.
DH noticed a booboo, a small area I missed, can you spot it? I will fill it in before mailing.