Saturday, June 30, 2012

Thank You Table Runner



Date:  December 2008

Pattern:  This was adapted from Australian Country Threads Pg 42 - 1st Edition Collector's Edition.

Reason:  A thank you gift for being care group leaders for five years.  They were dairy farmers so I knew a cow theme was in order.

Lessons Learned:  Stuff cut on the bias is stretchy.  My Aunt taught me some triangle logic.

Thoughts:  A class in triangles would be a good thing.  Learning how to keep a decent deadline:  Also a good thing.  This took almost two years to complete.

Friday, June 29, 2012

Weekender Diamond for Jaurez


Date:  October 2008

Size:  Twin-ish

Inspiration:  An orphanage in a garbage dump in Jaurez, Mexico.

Special Fabrics:  A friend donated 4" squares - fabric samples from the Weekender clothing line.  Another friend gave me the back and the fill.

Lessons Learned:  Stretchy fabric is evil.  Patience is necessary.

When my friend gave me a small bag of scraps, it didn't occur to me that it would make four tops!  This is the first of those.

Here's a "now I can laugh" moment.  After I finished wrestling with all four tops, a friend told me it would have been easier using a ball tip needle  *face palm*

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Mum's


For my mother.  Paper pieced.  In my first year of quilting, I don't think it occurred to me to square up.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

In Progress: Tipsy Topsy


When I saw this post by Leah Day I knew it was the perfect opportunity to use some more of the blocks that my grandmother has given me in a creative way.

The timing was also great because I have just started using a new kind of batting and I wanted to test quilt a smaller design before I finish a commission using it.  The last thing I want is a surprise on a piece with a deadline!

I really want to have this finished by the end of the week so I can start quilting my commission.

Friday, June 22, 2012

Life is Precious


Date: 2008

Reason:  Applique Class

Fabrics:  The leaves and stem piece were provided by the class teacher, a friend from LBCQ.


Lessons:  Needle turn applique, piped borders

Thoughts:  This is one of my first attempts at machine quilting - I only had a walking foot back then.  I wanted to continue the stems and leaves into the quilting.

This is actually a bit of an emotional wall hanging.  The leaves that my friend provided were leftovers from a quilt that she made while sitting in the hospital at her husband's side.  Using the same pieces that my friend did during a very hard time in her life reminds me that life is precious.  I just can't take it for granted.

My friend's quilt (called Lifelines) and her story is in the book Little Bits of Comfort.


Thursday, June 21, 2012

Jane's


Quilting for a quilter is always intimidating.  These are paper pieced

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Lilac Fields


Date:  2008

Reason:  A friend gave me corduroy blocks that were already cut and pinned into a pattern.  I like treats!

Fabrics:  The backing is a pink sheet that another friend gave to me.

Lessons:  Corduroy frays a. lot.  After I put it together I washed it and SO MANY seams frayed.  I took the opportunity to use a pretty variegated thread and some fancy stitches and sewed over all the seams.

Thoughts:  A very good drag around the house, picnic on the kitchen floor type of quilt!

Friday, June 15, 2012

Pink Baby


Date:  June 2012

Size:  30 x 30

Reason:  I took some pretty pinks from the blocks my grandma gave me because I knew they would make a cute baby quilt.

Fabrics:  Scraps from my stash, my grandma's blocks and a baby blanket of my daughter's.

Lessons:  My machine quilting is getting better!  Although I'm not doing Leah Day's tutorials per se, most of my quilting information comes from her blog:  http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.com.  She has oodles of videos.  My opinion of machine quilting went from "pshh, not happening" when I saw her first video to "I could try it once" to "wheeeeee" after my first quilt.

On the half square triangle centre, I did a loopy style of stippling to hopefully emulate the flight of the butterflies that are appliqued in the centre.

Thoughts:  I still need to learn what I am doing wrong or how to fix my wavy edges.  Is it a quilting issue?  Am I a bad measurer?  Do I need to square my quilts better?  Probably it's all of the above.

I used a baby blanket we no longer needed.  I kept the 'satin' binding from the blanket to use on the quilt.

I traded this to a co-worker for some NuCerity.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Ali's



Ali will ever be a purple girl.  I did two like this for her Christmas 2006.  This is paper pieced.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Blue



My beloved grandmother enjoys creating more blocks than she needs for a project.  She then gives many of them to me for me to play with.  I made this wall hanging from the first such care package to go in my sewing / spare bedroom.  It matches the blue Storm at Sea she gave me for my birthday several years ago.

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Dolly Blanket


Date:  January 2007

Size:  12 x 18

Inspiration:  My daughter's "bee bees" needed a quilt.

Special Fabrics:  I used a sleeper that was falling apart.

Thoughts:  I did it in a screaming hurry and wasn't really worried about perfection.

Friday, June 8, 2012

Dominic in the Dell


Date:  May 2012

Reason:  I have collected a lot of eye spy fabrics.  I wanted to put a little boy's quilt together.  I was also secretly hoping it would tickle the fancy of my friend who has a little boy.

Fabric:  I've been collecting fabrics from so many sources for so long.  Many of them have been precut to 4" squares for ease of use later on.

Lessons:   This is only the second piece that I've machine quilted using a darning foot.  I need to remember to keep the needle in the down position when shifting the quilt and to hold the quilt firmly in place when starting again to make sure it doesn't move.  There are a lot of little jaggedy lines that I'm sure will go away with practice!

Thoughts:  I love machine quilting!!  Must do more!!

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Jen's



One Christmas, everyone got potholders.  It was when I first started quilting.  I wanted to practice making individual blocks.  It seemed like a good fit to make them all into potholders.  These are Jen's.  I enjoyed using DMC floss to quilt them.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Junior's Quilt



Date:  July 2006

Reason:  The birth of my first born and the love of the ragged edge look.

Fabrics:  Fabric from a local warehouse.  They were prepackaged in lights and darks for $15/8!

Lessons Learned:  Be very careful when cutting the ragged edge.  It is quite easy to snip through the seams!

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Apple Box #6

Last fall I was given three large apples boxes full of heavy cottons.  I immediately started cutting:  6½" squares, 4½" squares and 2½ x 6½" rectangles.  This gave me the most out of the pieces of fabric without much waste.  I am trying to make each quilt at least 60 x 80

There are 6 quilts in the works (so far) from those boxes, well 5 now that the one I designated #6 has been tied and will be send to the MCC thrift shop for sale.

My quilt group Little Bits of Comfort ( www.lbcq.blogspot.com ) tied this quilt at a bee last weekend.


Monday, June 4, 2012

Lessons in Blue


Alternate Title:  Privately I called this quilt "Evil Quilt of Doom".  I was pregnant at the time.  Tears came often.


Pattern:  I drew this pattern four times before I was happy with it.


Date:  Top finished 2006


Size:  64 x 80


Inspiration:  Precut fabrics were donated to LBCQ.  I finally had a sewing machine of my own so I volunteered to take them home and play.


Special Fabrics:  Some of the fabrics were starched, some were super stretchy.  My favourite was a green fabric with bugs and the yellow fabric with frogs.


Lessons Learned:  When sewing 2 pieces together, the bottom piece will stay the same, but the top piece can stretch out a little.

To match seams, put a needle through the 2 seams.

When designing a quilt, attempt to put together pieceable squares that can then be fitted together. ( I was working with pre-cut squares that I was doing my best not to further cut down.  This resulted in a lot of T-seams.  For a beginner quilter, it was very trying.)


Thoughts:  A member of LBCQ machine quilted this and it was sold at an MCC auction for approx $70.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Thank You


Date:  2007

No Pattern

24 x 18

Reason:  I wanted to say thank you to someone for the help they provided to my husband.

Best Buys:  I got the burgundy from our local MCC thrift store.  It was a large piece for only $3.

Friday, June 1, 2012

Taylor's Funky Doodles


Pattern:  Down Under Quilts Issue 76 2004

Size:  55 Square


Date:  2007


Inspiration / Reason:  The birth of my first niece


Special Fabrics:  Bought fabric at a local warehouse.


Lessons Learned:  Watch the weave of fabric!  The flannels I was getting such a deal on had a very loose weave!

Even if the instructions say not to prewash, do it anyway!  The black fabric faded my yellow out to grey so after the whole quilt was done, new yellow was stitched over top.