WIP Wednesday

You could just look at last week's post. 

I'd love to get back into the swing of quilting, but it just isn't happening.  I am buying bits of fabric here and there and intend to buy even more next week  But as for time for sewing?

It's just not happening.  The house is still so unorganized from the move, I'm spending my weeks back in the old city at the office hoping that eventually I'll get answers on a move to the office closer to home and I'm almost done my training for the half marathon - which is FINALLY this Sunday.  Then a week off for good behaviour.

Then?  I've got all of December (practically) off from work.  I am going to quilt quilt quilt.  I can't wait.

So, bear with me for another week and half and then I'll be active again!

Happy Thanksgiving & retreat photos

First off, Happy Thanksgiving for all the Americans in my life.

Also, I thought I'd post some pictures from my quilt retreat. Yes.  The one back in May. 

This is where I was set up.It looks like a big mess, but I'm sewing together a king sized quilt top.  I haven't decided yet if it'll become a duvet cover or a quilt.  I have the batting and some backing for it, but that's a LOT of quilting for someone to do. and my little machine won't handle that.

Here's the setup in the communit centre.  It was a great big space and everyone had so much room to work.  I can't wait to go again next year!  (already signed up and paid)

This was one of my favorite quilts.  She was laying it out on the last day and it looks so great.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to ask her for any information about the pattern because I'd love to make one like it.  Maybe I have to just suck it up and figure something out on my own.

I believe one of the quilt guilds in town made this quilt for the town's centenial celebration in 2009. 

I'm starting to love black and white quilts with a single colour.  So pretty.

We had quilts hung everywhere and such a great range of patterns and colour.

And such beautiful traditional quilts

And some stunning modern ones

And thankfully room for me to lay out the quilt I was working on.  I'm so happy with how this one turned out.  I think I'm going to have to go ahead and finish it up asap.

This was my first quilt retreat ever.  If you've never been to one, I suggest going.  This one was an entire weekend long.  We started Friday and quit Sunday around noon.  I got SO much done.  I finished up everything I had to work on and was helping Mom work on a purse she was making for my niece on Sunday morning.  I gained so much in the way of tips, encouragement, laughter and new quilting friends. 

WIP wednesday

Imagine that.  I'm here on a Wednesday AND I've got WIPs to post.  Shocking, right?

Wait, you probably can't see that for the cat, right?

First, we'll start out with what I found when we cleaned the garage to move.  I found these:

An old stack and slash from a class I took years ago.  I'm not sure I'm fond of the colours now, but I'll still finish it.  Funny story, I though the quilt top was long lost, so I used the backing I'd bought for it as well as the varigated thread I picked up for the quilting.  Oh well, more shopping for me, right?

A yellow brick road quilt.  I apologize for the quality of this picture.  Ideally it would've been taken in much better light and not on my living room carpet.  However, we were having ridiculous winds that day (ahhhh Chinooks) and outdoors was not a feasible option.  I'll be finishing this up as a baby quilt for a friend.

This is a lap quilt I made at the quilt retreat in the spring.  It was much quicker than I thought it would be - once I got it laid out.  It was random fat quarters from my stash and I bought yardage for the border and the background bits.

And finally, some Christmas stars.  I also finished this up at the quilt retreat in the spring. 

So as you can see, I have a lot of quilt sandwiches to make and quilting to complete.  Can you tell that's my not favorite part of the process?  But at least they're all smaller and therefore easier to work with on my home sewing machine.

Finally - my FINISHED postage stamp quilt

I started this as part of P.S. I Quilt's postage stamp quilt-along.  If you followed that link, you'll see that it started in January.  Granted, January 2011 so I'm finishing it within a year but still.

I had it quilted by a long arm quilter.  The pattern is made up of dragonflies and loops. She did a fantastic job!

An explanation and some geese

I started posting again in early October.  Then we moved.  I'm just now kind of getting settled.  I say settled because neither my husband nor I have our computers set up.  In fact, I took pictures of some of my quilts last week, but I was unable to upload the pictures because the cable for the camera was in this this pile:

Turns out, it wasn't exactly in That pile.  It was off to the left of the picture, under the paper?  There was another similar pile of cables.  Yup, we're organized like that.  There are all nicely wound up though, aren't they?

My computer is actually set up.  The problem?  The room it's set up in doesn't have any connection to the internet.  So I'm using my laptop which isn't a problem at all - I'm using it for work anyway.  I'm just a creature of habit and my habit is to blog from my desktop.  I wish I had a better explanation for that. 

I have taken some pictures with my phone that I'll share with you.  On the labour day weekend, I had a mini quilt retreat with my Mom.

I made geese.

A lot of geese.  And this is only a small portion of what I'll need for the entire quilt.  I think I need 12 strips?  43 geese per strip...



This project all started with a ridiculous piece of fabric from my grandmother's stash.  Mom inherited it and we looked at it and couldn't even figure out what the pattern was supposed to be. 

That fabric at the bottom of the picture?  That's what started it all.  Is that pineapples?  Airplanes?  Trees?  WHAT???

Regardless, it started a search in an effort to save it.  All of the fabric for this quilt is from my stash and Mom's stash, with the majority of it (I believe) coming from Grandma's stash.  It's going to be a twin size when it's done and it will use almost all of the ugly ugly fabric.  woo hoo.

So. Friday is my day off.  What should I do on my day off?  Work on the geese?  Move the computers to their ultimate destination and get them all set up?  Go thrift store shopping for fabric or stuff for the house?  Finally hit the quilt store in town?

Up tomorrow?  Some quilts I finally found in the move, and I finally finished my postage stamp quilt.  Yay me.  There WILL be pictures (finally!)

Stop tasting the rainbow already!

As you've probably seen by my past quilt projects, I'm a bit colourful.  I mean, take this for example:

That's what I usually do.  Which is why since I first saw In Color Order's monochrome project it got me thinking.

And thinking.

And thinking some more.  At some point it even morphed into my own idea.  I was all, "hey, that'd be a great challenge!"  This, my friends, is what happens when I skim stuff at work.  It blends into the background noise in my head only to pop out later as MY IDEA.

Then, surfing google reader again at a later date, I see the button and the blog and think - oh  right.  Not my idea.  But a fantastic idea nonetheless.  And certainly a challenge I need to undertake.

Because a house can only handle so much of this

Which looks much better in small doses:

I think the chair also highlights my problem quite well.  As well as the multicoloured cat...

So.  Project Monochrome.

For inspiration, I started at design seeds.  Particularly since I can't sew anything right now.  Which reminds me, I need to call my mother and ask her to bring me my quilting stuff.  Enough is enough. And it's not that she's stolen it or hijacked it or anything.  She's simply storing it while my husband and I make the move from Edmonton where we currently live to Calgary.  It was just easier to not have that additional "clutter" in the house while trying to sell it.

So, back to design seeds.  Do you know how hard it is to settle on a monochrome palette?  I like these for now, but must definitely spend more time with Design Seeds

And I know, that last one isn't exactly monochrome.  Baby steps, people.  BABY STEPS.

Ahhhh Christmas

It's that time of year again and I'm getting itchy to create stuff.  Unfortunately my sewing machine is in Saskatchewan and my fabric is all in boxes.  That said, I'm not opposed to a little Christmas shopping.

And Lily's Quilts is helping out with that.

Go, check it out and register for her giveaway!

What is a Domestic Moose?

Today over at Sweet as Cinnamon, she wants to know about your (and my) blog names and you could win a moda charm pack for answering.  (Also, HI!  I'm back after a really busy summer and will soon have pictures and an update from the quilt retreat way back in May.  Once I find my camera - we're moving and everything is kind of in boxes.)

Anyway, back to the current blog post - what is my blog name and why. 

A few years ago, I signed up for a wedding website.  My usual online names were taken so I had to find something new.  I tried again and again for something that wouldn't force me to remember a series of numbers - because I just won't.  Finally, I stopped and stared at my wall - which conveniently had a calendar on it.

The picture was a moose.  Wading.  Voila - wadingmoose was born.  I got to be known by that in a couple of online locations and made some pretty good friendships.  When I started my quilt blog, I wanted to keep the moose and just replaced Wading with Domestic because that's what the blog would be about - my domestic side.

Strangely enough, it's still a name that was available.  I can't imagine why!

Packed for quilt retreat

Packed for quilt retreat, a photo by wading moose on Flickr.

Off for the weekend to a quilt retreat. Here's my IKEA box packed up with three projects, a fat quarter for the giveaway and just a bit of thread.

I do realize that three projects is a bit ambitious. To be honest, I've got three and I haven't a clue what I want to work on so there ya go.

I wanted to pack my scrap basket as well, but I've convinced myself not to.

Here's what I'll be working on.

12+2=Q from Oh Fransson!

A Christmas Hunter's Star

I need to move some of the gold around a bit, there will be a 2" red border and a 4" green border added to this.  Just need to sew up the blocks and add the borders.

And finally Two of a Kind

Everything is cut out.  This is going to be the bulk of my sewing for the weekend, I'm sure.

All of that is folded up into a box from IKEA in that first picture.  Each project has it's own bag and the pattern or the magazine is underneath.  I feel so organized which means I'm going to forget SOMETHING important.

First stop tomorrow is a quilt shop to pick up a chocolate solid to finish off the Oh Fransson pattern.  Then off I go.

I'm going to a quilt retreat!

Why yes, I am excited.  It's my first retreat with my Mom's quilt guild and it's in a week and a half.  First off, I'm going to have to travel, so Mom has suggested that I pack light - in other words - leave the cutting board and rulers at home.  Okaaaaaaaaaaaaay.  But what if I need them?  To, I don't know, straighten a block?  Trim something?  Slit my wrists after spending an entire weekend with Mom?  (Kidding. I would never)

She assures me that I can use hers if I need to, but suggested that I have everything cut before I get there.  That?  Makes sense.  It makes perfect sense.  So this week (and this weekend) I'm in prep mode.  Last night I pressed a bunch of fat quarters that'll get cut (maybe even tonight) in preparation for a quilt I've been eyeing since 2008 (if the date on the front of the magazine can be trusted)

I need to cut out borders for my hunter's star quilt.

I read the instructions for this owl applique quilt and decided that I clearly need an engineering degree to follow her bizarre instructions so I set it aside for a weekend not filled with other people.  When I read them, all I can think is, "Ok, but why?"  Which sucks because I love the pattern.  It's just so cute.

And I realized I need to get looking at supplies I'll need.  For example:  Thread.  I. Need.  Thread.  Even if I wasn't sneaking off for a weekend of sewing, I need thread.  I'm completely out of thread.  No wonder I haven't been sewing at all lately.

I need batting for a 60" x 80" quilt.

I need to be realistic about what I really can finish in a weekend away.  Because part of me wants to pack up everything quilty that I own.  You know.   Just in case I don't want to sew on borders.   Or sew up that batik quilt that's been calling me for 3 years.

Maybe I'll pack some books in case I don't want to sew.

I am still quilting

Not a lot of progress, but I'm building a pile of christmas hunter star blocks.

Slowly.  the pile in the back are together and pressed, I just need to get this last pile in the front made up.  Soon.

Postage Stamp Quilt along - top DONE!

So, it's been awhile since I updated.  I just haven't been quilting or taking pictures like I should be.  I finally got Mr. Moose to hold up the postage stamp quilt from the quilt along so I could get a good picture.

I'm pretty happy with this AND it's got a home.  My Mother in Law (MIL) seemed very interested when I described it to her.  Unless I decide to keep it myself because it looks awfully great on my red furniture.

I'm not sure why the photo is blurred, but there you have it.

I did have to trim up the blocks when I was done thanks to uneven strips.  Here's a shot of the trimmings.

I just love how bright and colourful this quilt ended up being.

Random post of randomness

Well, it's been a week since I posted last.  I have finished up my postage stamp quilt top.  It looks rainbow-riffic, but you'll have to take my word on it.  Taking pictures of it last weekend took a backseat to some other stuff.

The big thing that happened last weekend was a friend's 40th birthday.  It's kind of a strange friendship that I'll try to explain.  Mr. Moose and I play World of Warcraft.  For what it's worth, this here is my character

Ok.  so there you have my dirty secret.  I'm a quilting, gaming geek.  It does have something to do with the rest of this post, I swear.  (Also, I'm not that angry)

In Warcraft, you can play in guilds.  Basically a guild is a group of other people playing the game.  The guild we're in, everyone is in because of personal connections to someone else in the guild which means most of the people actually live in our city, or not far away.

The birthday party we attended was for one of our guild members.  I'll call him Thirsty.  Mr. Moose and I had not met Thirsty (or any of the rest of the guild) before this.  Hello - most awkward blind date I've ever been on.

It was so much fun.  It was at a bowling alley in the city and we met four people we've only talked to online (almost daily) for the last two years.  I was hugged by all of them.  Of course I started the night off sober.  Normally I'm not a touchy feely person.  I like my personal space thank you very much.  When Dex approached me and gave me a hug, my thought process was something like this: "What the?  A hug? Noooooooooo!"  But of course I hugged him in return.  Ditto Nacht.

By the end of the night when Yerok and Thirsty wanted hugs?  My thought process was this:  "Woo hoo! Hugs!"

So, you may have guessed that much happened between the first two hugs and the last.  Several hours and a lot of vodka, in fact. 

Which is why there are no pictures of my postage stamp quilt top.  I don't get painful hangovers.  Mainly because I make sure I drink plenty of water before I go to bed.  It took me until 4am to feel like I'd had enough water to compensate for the dehydrating alcohol.  I got up about 4 hours later at 8 am.  I spent a very fuzzy and lazy day.  VERY fuzzy and lazy.  Taking pictures of a bright and colourful quilt just wasn't even on my radar, which I regret now since I love it so much.

It didn't stop me from stopping Mr. Moose on his way to bed at 2am on Sunday morning to hold up the quilt I'd sewn up Saturday morning to make him look at it.  It's got his approval, if that helps.

A fantastic tip from another blogger

As you may know, I'm "working on" a flying geese quilt.  In all honesty, I was, until I realized how many small squares I would have to draw diagonal lines on and then sew.  Line after line after line.  It became daunting so I kinda stepped away and started working on other things.  Until now.

A Little Bit Biased had a FANTASTIC tip she posted today.  Go, check it out.  You'll thank me.  Or her.  You should probably thank her.

Tuesday Tricks

Myself?  I'm considering setting up a shrine in her honor.  Should I ever get a sewing room that is.

Postage Stamp Quilt Along goodness

Oh yes, I've made progress on this.  So much, that I have a name for it.  Yes, yes I do.  Here Comes the Rain.  Why?  Well, we'll start with it's giant rainbowness

Yup.  Rainbowness.

I wish I had a better picture of the binding fabric, but it's a raindrop print batik.

You see it right?  Pretty raindrops to go with a pretty rainbow.

The only issue I have is with the acid green backing.  Note to self, do not pick fabric when I'm in a hurry.  No matter how much I think they'll go with the rest of the fabric.  I do like it, it just might be a bit much in the end.  I suppose we'll see.  Worst case, I break it up with a pieced back, fold it up and pretend the back doesn't exist while admiring the rainbow goodness of the front, right?

Right.

Moving on, then.  More progress pictures.

And finally, cat tested, husband approved?

Well, husband approved remains to be seen.  I think he thinks it's a bit too much. 

Prairie Traditions

Prairie Traditions
Originally uploaded by wading moose

Posted for Quilt Story's fabric Tuesday.

Finally have pictures of my finished nine-patch which I've named Prairie Traditions thanks to the fabric contributions from my mother, grandmother, Mom's neighbor and Mom's neighbor's sister. And myself - I contributed a few of the nine-patches, all of the borders, binding and backing.

The whole thing started because a portion of my mother's stash looked like this:

That is just her scraps, fat quarters and a box of the fabric from my grandmother.  She has much more in the basement.  Every time I go home, it seems a tradition for her to haul out fabric, WIPs, magazines, patterns and all that good stuff.  I'm pretty sure she was trying desperately to get me back into quilting and it eventually worked.

She never seems to make much progress using up this fabric, so I took it upon myself to start cutting and pieceing nine-patches for a pattern out of one of her magazines.  This process took 9-10 years, I'm quite ashamed to say.  I will say that I've come by my fabric obsession quite honestly.

The back is flannel from my stash that I'd bought for another quilt top that has mysteriously gone missing through several moves.  It wasn't wide enough for a queen sized quilt, so I added a pieced strip down the middle.

The pieced strip is a chunk of leftover border that I suspect was meant to be used as the binding along with pieces of fat quarters I used in the quilt top.

I quilted it in the ditch as well as diagonally through the nine-patch blocks and the borders were quilted in the ditch with an additional line running down the middle of each border.

The binding is a yellow Debbie Mum print I had in my stash from a baby quilt I did years ago.

I really enjoyed piecing this quilt and now that my grandmother is gone, I love seeing the fabrics in there that I picked out of stash she'd given to my Mom.  The quilt also includes bits of table toppers my Mom has made for me over the years.  I get kind of sentimental about the fact that this quilt is now spread on my bed.  It seems appropriate that Mr.  Moose and I go to sleep every night under years of tradition passed down from generation to generation in my family as well as so many other families over the years.