Praise the Lord!

Yes, I'm happy to say, the Mission Possible Sale was a success. This is the third time we've held it  (we only do it every other year) and the best so far. We have a very dedicated group of ladies who work very hard to organize it and with help from lots of others in our congregation it went well. It's so great to know that my quilting not only gives me great pleasure, but can be used to help others who don't have the resources to help themselves.
Here are some photos of my corner of the sale room. I was very pleased to be able to sell all but one of my larger quilts and all but one of the baby quilts plus quite a few of the smaller items, as well.

After taking a VERY short break from quilting I'm now working on a "Butterfly" quilt for our little grand-daughter Grace who has turned three and needs a quilt for her "big girl bed." Pictures of that next time.

There and Here

It's been nearly six months since my last post, and you may be wondering if I'm still around. The answer is, happily, Yes, and I'm still quilting. The summer passed quickly, as we spent a lot of it in Newfoundland and then were fortunate enough to have a trip to Ireland at the end of August, which included a stop-over for a week in London, England. Difficult as it may be to believe, I didn't do any quilting during that time, but have been making up for it ever since.
In two weeks time, we will be having our bi-annual Mission Possible Sale at the Salvation Army and I've been very busy finishing some quilts and making other items for sale.  After finishing a double-size Ohio Star quilt on my basic home machine, I turned to smaller items for a change. Here are some of the items I've stock-piled for the sale. The tree ornaments were lots of fun as they make up fairly quickly and gave me a rest from the sewing machine. The next blog will be after the sale and I should have more pictures and I hope to be able to tell you that it was a great success!

 

Ohio Star Quilt 

 



 

Table Runners and Coasters
 

 

Christmas Tree Ornaments

Christmas Aprons

 

More Quilts, What Else?

"And thick and fast they came at last
And more and more and more."
(from The Walrus and the Carpenter by
Lewis Carroll )

Well not quite, if you're thinking about quilts, but in spite of (or maybe because of) the delay in blogging, I have been finishing up some quilts. Here they are.
    
The first two are made from two identical panels I bought intending to use them for quilts for our two little grandsons. By the time I got around to using them, the boys had outgrown the designs and so they will go to some other children. I did use  different coloured fabric in the inside border, so if they go to twins, they can easily tell which quilt is theirs.



Twin Quilt One

Twin Quilt Two

The next quilt was the result of my buying a jelly roll in a variety of blues. I had no definite plan in mind, but was thinking it might work for something simple like a strip quilt. It didn't and the quilt went through a few designs and quite a bit of "reverse sewing" before I finally decided on a pattern I could live with. It is about 52 inches square. I call it Sky and Sea.

The final quilt is made from fabric given to me by my quilter friend Linda. It took a couple of years before I got around to using it, but I finally made it up into a crib-sized quilt and called it Linda's Stars

 



 

Mug Mats

     Mug Mats have me hooked. These little quilts are easy to make and can be addictive, as I've learned. I started with the idea of making a couple or three and had so much fun choosing fabrics and deciding how to use them that I ended up with 17 so far and while I'm taking a break from them at the moment, I expect I'll go back to them before long.
"What is she going to do with them all?" you may be wondering. Of course, they make ideal little gifts for any occasion and for anybody who likes a cup of tea or coffee and a snack during the day. Which is a lot of the people I know. They're just the right size to hold a mug and a cookie or muffin. .
     However, I have another purpose in mind. In November of this year, the Ladies Ministries group at our church will be holding another "Mission Possible" Arts, Crafts and Bake sale in aid of  work in developing countries. This is the third such sale and as the other two have been very successful we have decided to "have another go".  So I'm hoping these little mug mats will be a "hot" item at the sale.
     Mug Mats can be made in a variety of shapes and sizes. As a novice mug mat maker I decided to make mine all the same size ( 8" x 10" finished).  Like all quilters, I had lots of left over small pieces of fabric and batting which were perfect for the mats. You can also use left-over odd blocks or try out a new quilt block pattern to make your mats. Or if you like, you can just buy some of mine! Contact me for details at www.mom

     Here are photos of some of my favourites.

Black, White and Red

       After the painstaking designing and intricate sewing of my Newfoundland quilt. I was ready for something much simpler. This black, white and red "square-in-a-square" quilt was the answer. The blocks, as you can see are simple and the sewing was straightforward. In fact this would be an ideal pattern for a beginner quilter or someone who just wants to make a quilt in a hurry. The blocks (five across and seven down)  are 9 inches square when finished and the red centres are 3 inches. I used strips 9" x 3" (finished) for the borders and the four corner blocks are made of four 3" (finished)squares.  I didn't have a pattern but  just figured out my own measurements. The finished quilt is 60" x 80". This design and colours would probably appeal to a man in your family. It did to mine.