Saturday, June 29, 2019

DrEAMi #29

Welcome to the June edition of Drop Everything And Make it! where we celebrate all things squirrel. As in chasing those shiny bauble-type projects that grab our attention and demand to be made, and right now. Wendy of Pieceful Thoughts sent me this in early May:
Awww. I mean who could resist cuddling one of those sweeties, eh? Let's see what squirrels of the quilty kind were shared last month, and then share any you may have chased in June in this month's linky party!

Friday, June 28, 2019

Opal Silk Placemats OMG

This is my OMG for June, and I'm happy to say it is done, and has been for a bit. Both of these are now residing in Brianne's house, so she has a set of four. The post with the first two is here.
She put in a request before Christmas, and I delivered, but just two to be sure I had her approval. I got that approval with the first two, so the next two went onto the list of need-to-makes...

Thursday, June 27, 2019

I Like/Love #29

Here is my list of likes/loves for the month of June. Each week, or each month for me, a group of us post about things that we like, and link up at LeeAnna's blog, Not Afraid of Color.


1. I love that Bella is not spending so much time in the basement, avoiding Rufus. He is spending a lot of time on the deck, and when he's in the house, he's blocked off so he cannot chase her (or do worse, is my fear). After one scary incident where he was extremely strongly corrected by my husband, he seems to have realized she is off limits, but we still don't trust him as he has a high prey drive. Still, Bella has stared him down, barricade between them, and just once to my near heart attack, she'd somehow got in the same space as him, and I found them mere feet apart staring at each other, motionless. She's actually enjoyed a couple of afternoon naps on our bed again.

Sunday, June 23, 2019

Beothuk Star Prizes

Wow! Eighteen beautiful versions of my design. I am truly honoured that each one of you made this quilt, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Shanawdithit would be so pleased, I am sure of it.

There are eleven sponsors, and a few are offering prizes to more than one winner, so there are a total of fourteen prizes to be had. Each participant will also get the pattern in PDF form. It will soon be for sale in my Etsy shop, but the instructions will remain as for all QALs, here on the blog under the "Quilt Alongs and TBT" tab. All right, drum roll please!
Or windblown Beothuk Star aka Sherbet Stars quilt...

Friday, June 21, 2019

Pastel Froth

Well look at me: it's not the last day of the month, or the first day of a new one, and my challenge is done! It was actually done a couple days ago, but A. rain all day yesterday, and B. sore finger from hand-stitching the facing meant I took breaks. This was an interesting challenge again this year: I made myself try this Texture Magic I've had for a few years with all the fabric to make the original project, but have kept putting it off. It also made me sit down and just do it: a faced binding. Yeah, I've quilted for over 20 years but have never finished a quilt in this way.
You know the saying about the biggest or hardest part of trying something new is the first step? I know that for a fact! Yet every time I do 'just do it' whether it's going for something scary in yoga like drop backs or going off on a travel adventure, or trying something new in my quilting/sewing life, I am always the richer for it, and the rush I get from facing the fears and conquering them is wonderful. Why don't you come on in and see what I made, or if you've been watching the progress on Instagram, then see how it all turned out?

Monday, June 17, 2019

Ladder Links in Modern by the Yard Issue #11

I am pretty pumped to announce another publication: my quilt Ladder Links is in the latest issue (out today) of Modern by the Yard. This is the ezine that Benartex puts out quarterly, and you can find it on their blog, Sew in Love With Fabric.

Each time I get a copy of my professionally photographed quilt, I always get such a thrill! This one gave me a good one, with its eggplant cushion, and fluffy rug accessories!

Saturday, June 15, 2019

Beothuk Star QAL Final Parade of Finishes

Wow! I am so very excited to see the parade today and all week long of the Beothuk Star QAL quilt finishes. The main page for the QAL is here in case this is your first time visiting. The instructions will remain on the blog forever. I will be putting out a PDF of the pattern to purchase through my Etsy shop. Everyone who has finished a top or quilt will get a copy free.

Designing a quilt is a rush in and of itself, putting together the pattern is work and fun, and publishing the pattern is a little worrying: will people will like it, and/or even make it? When it is well-received, and then made by others, that rush become euphoric, truly. It's akin to seeing your child win an award, in school or in life. These are our quilt babies. I have loved seeing this baby evolve.

                    

Friday, June 14, 2019

Sherbet Stars

I just love this new little quilt, my second rendition of my Beothuk Star pattern and my quilt for my third annual QAL. It is one of the items on my Q2FAL List so I am so happy to have another finish to check off. I also have just loved seeing Beothuk (Bay-uh-tuck) Star quilts pop up all over Instagram. There is a hashtag: #beothukstarqal if you would like to check it out!

This little quilt that finishes at 42" square is a perfect baby quilt, a wallhanging, or even a good-sized table topper. I curated this kit for the QAL, and you can still snag one for yourself if you'd like, at my main sponsor, Needle & Foot Fine Fabrics. I hope you will pop back here tomorrow when the linky party opens, so you can check out all the other versions of my design.

Wednesday, June 12, 2019

Rainbow Scrap Challenge Progress and Beothuk Star Quilting Ideas

This little owl block, measuring 4.5" finished, is just so adorable I can hardly stand it! It was one of the Tiny Tuesday blocks in March when the colour was green. You can find Sally's tutorial at The Objects of Design, when she was a guest blogger for Angela at so scrappy. I have all my March ones done now, and have started in on February, which was yellow.

Friday, June 7, 2019

OMG for June

Popping in under the wire with an OMG. But first, if you are looking for TBT, Throwback Thursday for those quilts we made before we started blogging, this month it's being hosted by Andrée at Quilting & Learning - What a Combo!

So for OMG this month I hope to get two more placemats made to match the two I made at Christmas as per my daughter Brianne's request.

I was able to dig up the correct Kona colours, thanks to mentioning them in my post about the first two I made. Yay for details!

I used Pool, Ash and Coal. The two grey embossed fabrics I used on the backs.

Thursday, June 6, 2019

I Like/Love #28 for May

I missed my usual end of the month gratitude post, so here we go a week late. You can find other grateful people who link up weekly or less often, at LeeAnna's blog, Not Afraid of Color.

1. I love Spring blossoms. I've been taking photos of the flowering bushes and trees over the past few weeks. They provide so much colour inspiration. Many of these are now done, but others are taking their place!
Our flowering crabapple was glorious this year, thanks to the tons of rain and pruning it got last Fall. It's taller than our garage! This was taken May 25.

Saturday, June 1, 2019

Luminous Layers

Well, I missed the deadline by hours, missed the sunshine we had this morning, but I am still very happy to have a finish to share. A deadline I did not miss is the Q2FAL, as this is one of the quilts on my list. This is the May challenge for Island Batik, who supplied all the gorgeous fabrics; 'Twilight Chic" is the line I used. This month is also focusing on Hobbs Batting, who supplied several packages of batting for us.
You may have read the finished flimsy post, which is here, but I will tell you again that this is a quilt I designed during the 30 Quilt Designs Challenge that I hosted again this year, (three years running now!). I will also tell you, though most of my readers know by now, that I love star quilts. I started to design this from the outside, working my way in towards the centre.
Black is always hard to get the light on the right angle to show the quilting, but despite the lack of sun this afternoon, and literally a half hour before severe thunderstorms hit, I managed to get a few shots that show the quilting. This one also shows the colours very well!