The Rainbow

White negative space makes me very happy, especially when the other fabrics are so vibrant.

This quilt is a class on Craftsy called Magical Blocks out of the box.  I started it in 2015 and finished just in time to give it away at Christmas.

The size is 62 x 84 - just barely large enough to cover the top of a queen sized mattress.

I backed it with cuddly purple flannel which it appears that I failed to document.  Sigh.  December is not a good month for remembering all the things.

I did a lot of walking feet to outline the blocks, but then went in with a darning food and made each block unique.  I did it all in white thread.  That was scary on such a dark back.

I'm linking up to Free Motion by the River

Palate Cleanser

This fall I had two back to back commissions that used lots of red and black.  

Before I dove into the second one, I decided to do a little baby quilt with bright colours just for a change of scenery.

The centre of each of these blocks is 4.5".  The strips around them are 2.5"to make an 8.5" unfinished block.  It was fun to dip into my "strings" or "strips" drawer to make the entire quilt.  Even the binding is made up of small scraps.

I'm linking up to Free Motion by the River

Thy Word a.k.a. Bee Happy

I'm losing a friend this week.  Okay.  That sounds really melodramatic.  She's moving to another town several hours away, but I won't see her every week and I won't get to sing with her, perhaps for a very long time so I'm feeling a little melodramatic.

I started this quilt in 2013.  I saw something similar somewhere and set out to recreate it.  I was very new to quilting and didn't understand that it was a simple 9-patch.  I laid all my 2½" blocks out on a bed and sewed strips together.  When I told my much more experienced quilting friend how I did it, she laughed herself silly and took pictures so she could show more people and tell them the story of the newb.

After the top was done, I put it away for years.  I just didn't have a clue how to quilt it. 

Enter the friend I mentioned at the beginning.  I was showing her my unfinished tops.  We stopped at this one and just looked and looked and looked at the wonderful little bits of fabric patterns.  We found thimbles and purses and as the title of the quilt suggests, bees.  I realised this is the good bye I needed to give her.

I quilted prayers into the black borders:

Numbers 6:24-26 (NIV)

The Lord bless you and keep you;

the Lord make his face shine on you

and be gracious to you;

the Lord turn his face toward you 

and give you peace.”’

Romans 15:13(NIV)

 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

I never intended to give this one away so I have to make myself another.  This time, I'll make 9-patches!

This is a finished for Q2 (click here) with Finish-A-Long

I'm linking up to One Monthly Goal, Thread Thursday and Crazy Mom Quilts

Ruth's Pinwheels

Several years ago I was gifted with blocks.  These pretty 3-D blocks.  I loved the bright cheerful colours.

I set them aside for a while.  I like mulling on projects.

This year when I set a goal of finishing 9 UFOs, I decided Ruth's should be one of them.

When a mutual friend of Ruth's and mine needed silent auction donations for a fundraiser, I thought this would be the perfect piece for her.

This is a finished for Q2 (click here) with Finish-A-Long

I'm linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts

I Love Scraps Mark III

This quilt happened because I had leftovers from a baby quilt I made late last year.  This layout has become somewhat of a favourite.  This is the third time that I've done a variation of it.  Since I normally consider making the same pattern twice boring, I would have to say that this one really works for me.  The first time I made it was HERE.  The second time was HERE.

I quilted this one with my walking foot as well - with three different colours of thread.  The binding is completely scrap using the same fabrics.  I still have a little bit more.  

It bunched up a bit - a little like an accordion.  I have to assume that this was my fill choice speaking.  I'm pretty sure I used a fluffy poly fill.  I should try it again with a more dense batting.

A friend told me that this kinda looked like a colouring book.  That's a much better name than I Love Scraps Mark III.

Note to self:  Research blocking

Welcome Baby

Date:  September - December 2015

Pattern:  Wonky Crosses

Reason:  A new baby in the family!

Fabrics:  Most of the fabrics were a gift from my sister.  I took one look at the bundle and said "You're really trying to push me out of my comfort zone, aren't you?"  Yikes.  Fabrics with more than ONE colour in them.  Eek.  Yes, I'm a monochromatic girl.

I added a couple dots from my stash.  I LOVE dots.

Thoughts:  I knew I'd make this pattern again.  The first time was here.  It's a fun and easy top because the blocks are improvisational and just need to be squared up when they are done.

Lessons Learned:  Find out of the recipients are going to be close by in the near future before shipping a package to another country.

Scrappy Lattice Garden

Date: 2011 - Feb 2014

Pattern:

Size:  86 x 86

Reason:  My Grandmother has given me hundreds of HSTs.  I'm always looking for good HST patterns.

Fabrics:  Half the HSTs are from my grandmother, the other half from my scraps.  The sashings are from fabric a friend gave me. 

Lessons Learned:  Hand stitching through batik is painful.  Just FYI

Thoughts:  My sister's MIL wanted practice tops to break in her new long arm.  I wish I had had more tops available for her when she asked :)

This quilt is on my bed.  It makes me so happy.  Who knew I love scrappy quilts so much . . .

Teddy Bear-topia

This quilt was designed by my seven year old daughter.  She just assumes that whatever she dreams up I can do (insert super hero costume here).  The very first bit of piecing was a Curved Seam.  I've had very poor success with curved seams so to keep my sanity with this one, I cut the curve from the blue, ironed it under a ¼ inch and used a decorative stitch to sew it to the green.  Then I trimmed away extra green from the seam allowance under the blue.  It worked for me, but I doubt that's how they teach it :)

We used a graphics program to draw the bear then print it, cut it out and piece it back together.  The paper pieces served as our templates.

Note to self:  My background brown was not a whole lot larger than the lighter brown going on top of it - sometimes my satin stitches on the top and bottom layers overlapped.  Either design the background bigger or the foreground smaller. 

I didn't use a iron-on bond product for the larger pieces when I attached them to the background, but I did use interfacing - for the most part that went really well.  The smaller things such as eyes were glued on before they were stitched.

I used interfacing

Another note to self:  Cut background to size AFTER the applique has been sewn on.

Also - tractors are never green in my family's world.  Just sayin'

My daughter also picked all the fabrics and all the thread.  The red inner border was the last thing she picked.  I think it's fantastic.

The Small One also had me do trapunto.  She doesn't even know what that is, but the bear and the clouds have extra layers of fill - the belly has an extra layer again.  I used YouTube videos to teach me the ins and outs.

The whole reason for this quilt was the tie - here it is - the last piece of the puzzle.  Her cousin is due in September.  I hope s/he enjoys the teddy bear.

Date:  May / June 2014

Size:  36 x 40ish

Fabrics / Best Buys:  All these fabrics were from my stash.  The four patches were made from a Hoffman Bali Snap that I was given for Christmas.

12/12

Date:  October 2013

Reason:  Part of my goal to make 12 quilts for missions this year.

Thoughts:  I made my goal two months early!  Whoo hoo!  I'm so excited!

I couldn't have done this without a lot of help and donations:

Fabric:  Grandma and Linda - they started this with 4 boxes of fabric.  Lori, Ben (denim), Jane (and MB people - fleece), Melody (fleece), Kath, Mum (flannel)

Thread:  Melody and Shelly? Sherri?  (A friend of Ed & Marie's)

Fill:  Kath

Encouragement:  EVERYONE!!

I also received flannel and fabric from MCC.  The quilts I made with them went back to MCC.

11/12

Date:  October 2013

Reason:  Part of my goal to make 12 quilts for missions this year.

Thoughts:  All the fabric Mum bought me in Mexico is down to scraps :)

10/12

Date:  October 2013

Reason:  Part of my goal to make 12 quilts for missions this year.

Thoughts:  I loved this technique and the unexpected patterns on the back the thread made.

Most of the denim was from my friend Ben.  The flannel was from Jane and Melody.

This quilt will likely go to Streets Alive.

9/12

Date:  September 2013

Reason:  Part of my mission to make 12 mission quilts in 2013.

Thoughts:  The top was made from apple box fabrics.  The back is fabric that Mum bought me in Mexico.  If they go back to Mexico next year, I'd like them to bring it down there to give away.

I used this quilt to practice free motion patterns and methods.

Mine

I was trying to make a joke, but the joke turned out to be on me.  I took fabrics I thought were ugly and put them into a potholder.  How beautiful is this???

Here's another potholder with the same pattern, different fabrics.  Doesn't look early as nice, does it?!

Fabric selection is everything.

The Colour Garden

I have this thing about scraps.  I can't toss 'em.  Until they are less than 1½" square, they are stashed by colour into a fabulous 6-drawer plastic organizer I found at Canadian Tire.

The problem with this system is the drawers get full.  A couple years ago I started sewing those scraps together by colour and cutting them in to 6½ squares because that's the ruler I had available at the time.

I also used blocks that I had made out of curiosity and practice.

This quilt was a UFO for a long time until I decided how to sew them together.  Then the call came in June - what can you do for us by September?  This was one of three.  I wish I took a better picture of the finished product.

The quilt was unveiled in a hospital room in Edmonton.  Everyone was pleased. *whew*

I should start a new scrap quilt.  I feel that this one was a success!

Lessons Learned:  I need to make note of the thickness of this fill.  It was too thick - although it made for a cozy quilt, it was difficult to put through the sewing machine.

Phil's

I love the chaos of these paper pieced potholders for Phil.