Thursday 20 October 2016

Chillingsworth. Back to his roots.

Right now I am under a duvet, under a quilt, with a cat, a dog, a tablet and a laptop. The days of the long nights have settled in with Fall. The lands in the Maritimes are awash with color during the day. (if you have never been to Nova Scotia in October...come!) But, it is now dark two hours after coming home from work, dark the next morning when I leave again. Sigh. But there is always you, my dear readers, here at my slightly-less-neglected quilty diary.

And there is the sewing:) It's getting a bit frantic with plans for some major Christmas prezzie sewing (more on that later...think zippers), filling Flag Pillow orders for others Christmas Prezzies and some other equally important "makey" things. And I am loving every friggin minute of it!

So, why did I stop everything and do something completely frivolous last week? Because I could. This is all supposed to be for fun people.

I finished Mr. Chillingsworth. I was on a mission to finish him for the MMQG meeting. Challenge accepted! I free motioned his whole skeletal panel (don't lose faith in me, but that was the biggest piece I have ever FMQd! slow learner.). I did a special X stitch from a setting on my Janome in the black border, and then I caved, threw on my walking foot and random wavy lined around the HSTs.
 
I really treated this project like a bit of practice. It's a fun, theme quilt that I was ok with making mistakes on. It's just hanging around in my hallway after all, looking spooky. One thing I learned is that a lot of dense FMQ (even if is a hot mess in places) crinkles up so MUCH in the washer/dryer that you cannot even see the hot mess! What sweet quilty goodness is that!

I learned that even though you want to finally use up that spool of thread that just never-seems-to-end, you should color match your thread to your backing fabric when you are learning to FMW. Wow, way to highlight the hot mess!


It also happened that once I showed off Mr. Finished at MMQG, my friend @Purple Boots & Pigtails and I headed to the Annapolis Valley for some much needed Fall fresh air...and fabric shopping therapy! On the way we found a small old graveyard where Mr. felt quite at home. So we stopped for a photo shoot.
We might have even stopped (after cheese buns at the Bakery) again on the way back, safety pins in hand from our LQS to take more pics!
I think the setting and the gorgeous leaves were the perfect backdrop. And I hope the gentleman in cute house across from the churchyard doesn't think we were being disrespectful. We were conscious or your caring eye ;) Oh the life of a picture-a-hol-ic-quilter can get you into trouble sometimes.
Funny story. I literally sat for hours, as a passenger, in a vehicle in the most glorious setting with a camera in my lap and did not take any other pictures. Weird. I guess I was focused on the scenery and company. I consider that a successful day!

So that was so worth stopping everything! Now, back to my regular frantic program. Here I Come!

Have you stopped everything this year and finished that Halloween project that has been sitting in your closet or your Pinterest board? Tell me all about it, and if you have recently finished, why not link up with TGIFF! I am :)

11 comments:

  1. No Halloweenie projects from this sewing space this year! But, oh, my, yours looks great! What a tremendous photo shoot! I'd be hard pressed to pick a favorite! Well done! XO

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  2. Mister. Mister.
    Made the day even more fun!:)

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  3. Awesome photo shoot! Mr. C. looks right at home.

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  4. I work 12 hour shifts and the thing I detest about it is driving to work in the dark and home again in the dark.
    What a fantastic photo shoot. Mister looks right at home and I can see you enjoyed it as well.

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  5. The quilt is so fun but the topper was definitely the grave yard - very cool. The weather looks so lovely for fall

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  6. Such a cute quilt! Your FMQ looks great, too. Yay for the wonders of crinkling in the dryer! I need to keep that in mind for the project I'm quilting right now.

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  7. Mr. C. sure does look at home!!! Thanks for sharing the pictures. Nova Scotia in the fall is amazing. Your fm quilting looks great to me.

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  8. Enjoyed the post, admire the quilt, LOVE the photos!Wow!

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  9. I wholeheartedly believe the dryer erases many quilty sins. Lol. Those lovely crinkles are the best, aren't they? :)

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  10. What a great stage for Mr. Chillingsworth! Honestly, he would scare the hell out of me every time I passed by him in the hall. Glad you are brave!

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  11. Great photo shoot. Glad I was able to see him in person. Don't know that I'd be able to keep him hanging on the wall -- it would be creepy at night.

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