Monday 19 March 2018

Quilt Qwasy Queens

Quilt Qwazy Queens 2018

Today the Quilt Quasy Queens blog hop continues celebrating International Quilting Day and it's my turn to share what I've been up to.  The idea of this blog hop is to talk about our UFO's and to finish one or some of them up.

At the end of February I hunted through my UFO's and found I had more than I thought. There's the grandmother's garden English paper pieced quilt which I started several years ago. I've recently been working on this one but as it is all hand stitched this will not be finished in the near future.


I have  another quilt that includes hexies which I started as my Rainbow Scrap challenge in 2015. I pulled this one out and thought seriously about finishing it but I want to add another row of blocks to make it bigger and  in hunting through my scraps I found I didn't have any large solid colour pieces for the backgrounds. I put this one to one side.


I also decided against this one as I just didn't want to work on it.


So that left my  Compass quilt.


I finished this quilt top last September and put it to one side ready to be made into a quilt sandwich. At the end of August I had a mastectomy and before I dealt with the quilting I needed my scar to heal and also to complete my radiotherapy. At the end of November I bought the backing fabric and the wadding I needed and in early December I spent a day basting the quilt. It took me all day because the chemotherapy had caused me to have neuropathy and handling the heavy quilt caused me pain in my hands. Therefore I needed to do a little at a time. 

Having decided to work on this quilt I got out my Brother machine which has a large aperture under the arm making quilting easier. I hadn't used this machine for a year as being bigger it is heavy to move. I practised using the machine to refresh my memory of the controls and was finally ready to begin when the weather turned colder and blew in with lots of snow. My hands started to hurt a lot and moving the quilt around was impossible so I reverted to hand stitching some hexie blocks.

The great thing with quilting is it's a hobby that doesn't need to be rushed so there is time to get my UFO's completed once my hands have settled down. 

Several years ago at Guides we made prem baby quilts like this one for the neonatal unit at a local hospital.



Recently a couple of the girls had used fabric that we had left over in the cupboard to make some more little quilt tops. So I added the fleece fabric to the back of them since I couldn't get on with quilting my compass quilt



If the girls want to make any more  we will have to get more supplies as we have exhausted all the fabric we had. I haven't made any baby quilts recently so haven't added any suitable fabric to my stash. This was a relaxing job and one that needed doing. I finished them on my Elna machine stitching the fleece to the wrong side and turning them. The opening was closed with hand stitching.

Just as my neuropathy was settling down again to be manageable and I thought I would get at least some quilting done we had the return of the cold snowy weather at the end of last week and my hands are once again very painful. Hopefully as we move into the warmer months I will be able to get my quilting done. I really want to be using my compass quilt on my bed later this year.

There's a give away for you to enter. Good luck everyone.


Here's the schedule for today and tomorrow;

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Have fun visiting and seeing what everyone has been working on. It's been great seeing the UFO's that have been finished and I wish I had been able to complete mine but at least I got the prem baby quilts finished and we can now give them to the hospital.

Lyndsey

36 comments:

  1. All amazing projects...I would have a difficult time choosing too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I absolutely love your hexie quilts! Thanks so much for sharing these!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you for sharing your projects with us. They are all beautiful.
    Ronelle

    ReplyDelete
  4. Such beautiful projects Lyndsey. Very hard to decide which I like best and usually that doesn't happen with me. Thank you for sharing your story and your beautiful projects, the cool thing is that you are working on them, and that makes them HIAFSUFOs... (Hopefully I am finished soon UFOs) :) I'm so happy you participated in QQQ 2018 with us this year... Hugs!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love your Compass Quilt. I'm sorry you haven't been able to do as much quilting due to your health problems. Praying that you recover completely and soon.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your compass quilt is amazing and hopefully you’ll be able to finish it someday soon. I wish you all the best as you work to get healthy.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love your Grandmother's Flower Garden and your little Premie quilt is adorable! Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Warmer weather and more enjoyable quilting.

    ReplyDelete
  9. The prem baby quilts are a great idea

    ReplyDelete
  10. Those hexies look so nice. I hope you can find more time to get the UFOs finished up with the warmer weather arriving.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I am glad you are healing and winter is rough but you have the right attitude and Spring is right around the corner. I love the little pink preemie blanket.

    ReplyDelete
  12. So many beautiful projects. I hope you find time to finish them.

    ReplyDelete
  13. what wonderful projects. hope your hands get better soon
    quilting dash lady at Comcast dot net

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thanks for sharing your projects. They are lovely and give you something to look forward to. Making the preemie blankets is a lovely thing to do.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Love all of your projects! Love your pup!!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. If that is all the UFO's you have, you are doing great. Thanks for joining the Bloo Hop!

    ReplyDelete
  17. We're all getting there...so many projects, thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  18. One day at a time! That is my motto. If I don't get it done today, there is tomorrow. It is not the end of the world.

    ReplyDelete
  19. So many great projects. I love doing EPP quilts as well and have a quilt in the process. Hope you will be feeling better soon.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I am glad you are doing better after your surgery. Love that compass quilt. I always wanted to make one, thanks for sharing. :D

    ReplyDelete
  21. I wish you the best of luck in making progress when you are feeling up to it. All your projects are just lovely!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Sorry to hear about your neuropathy troubles, I am sending virtual hugs your way. I was lucky that someone warned me before I started chemo, and I insisted on wearing ice gloves during every treatment. I just have a little numbness in some fingers but it doesn't impact my sewing much. But I do have neuropathy in both my feet, it's quite painful, and I couldn't imagine sewing at all if my hands hurt like that. You are very brave for hanging in there, stay strong. Depending on the drug you received the neuropathy could still go away, very often the side effects are reversible. I am keeping my fingers crossed for you.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Good for you for sending preemie quilts to the hospital. They mean so much to the families.

    Beatrice has such good advice about neuropathy that I can't add anything but sympathy; my neuropathy is worst in my feet also and some days all I can do is breathe through it. Life is a funny old dog, isn't it?

    ReplyDelete
  24. All of your quilts are amazing! I have never tried a hexie because I know I would not have the patience. And you're right, quilting is a hobby. If it's not fun, why bother? So sorry to hear about your hand issues. Hope you feel better soon.

    ReplyDelete
  25. All great! I've just scratched the surface on EPP - it's a commitment to be sure! basaran.family@rogers.com

    ReplyDelete
  26. Your quilts are wonderful! Hope your healing continues to get better! Good luck in your endeavors, Susan

    ReplyDelete
  27. So many choices! I hope that your pain resolves soon so you can get back to quilting whatever you like. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Great projects, thanks for the giveaway!

    ReplyDelete
  29. The fleece backed neonatal blankies make for a lovey finish, You have been sew industrious throughout your health issues, I applaud your efforts. May it warm soon and may your hands feel better. You are right that quilting is a journey to be enjoyed and not rushed. Best wishes ... Pat

    ReplyDelete
  30. Sorry you are having pain in your hands. Our eyes and hands are very precious to those of us who quilt or do handwork of any kind. Your hexie quilts are going to be great. Nancy A: rangerer@sbcglobal.net

    ReplyDelete
  31. I too have the hand issues, so many breaks are needed! I'm really liking your compass quilt!

    ReplyDelete
  32. I too have the hand issues, so many breaks are needed! I'm really liking your compass quilt!

    ReplyDelete
  33. You have wonderful projects to work on. I love your hexies.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Lovely projects. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Here's to better health in your future...you've got so many fabulous quilts to finish.

    ReplyDelete
  36. You have such an array of lovely work and you are so right, that it is your own schedule to finish things up. I have to say again that your Compass quilt is my favourite if I had to choose.

    ReplyDelete