These are MY COLOURS! And yes I sort of yelled/sang that. Oh, they speak to my soul. So does the fuchsia of the crabapple tree. Makes me want to make a quilt in pink and turquoise, mmm.
Showing posts with label appliqué. Show all posts
Showing posts with label appliqué. Show all posts
Thursday, May 19, 2022
La Mer
I have finished the second of my hopefully twelve UFOs for the year. I bought the pattern, 'Sea Glass' off Craftsy several years ago (details below), collected a few turquoise, aqua, sea-green, and lime fabrics for options, got started on it within a year or so of purchase, and then it sat for a few more years. I cannot tell you how satisfying it is to have it finished, and how much in love with it I am.
Monday, February 8, 2021
Varadero Vibe - Project Quilting 12.3
As per usual, I had a few ideas for the challenge. Also as per usual, I couldn't decide which one to follow. And finally, as per usual, I chased a squirrel (made another pixellated 9-patch block) while the backburner of my brain flipped and flopped from one idea to the other. Procrastination at its finest. Finally I went for the harder of the two ideas (often the way I roll), took a course, and made a sea glass quilt, though I prefer to think of it as beach glass.
The prompt for PQ 12.3 at Persimon Dreams was to make a vacation-themed quilt. I've had the pleasure of having had some pretty amazing vacations in my lifetime. In February in Canada, I don't think you'd find a person that wouldn't prefer to be outside of Canada and on a warm beach somewhere. Not quite two years ago, we were, and the beach was Varadero.
That is not photo-shopped or filtered, and was taken with an iPhone 7, no fancy camera or settings. If it is this stunning in that photo, you can imagine how surreal and stunning it was in person.
Saturday, April 7, 2018
Postcard Swap Blog Hop
Welcome to my stop on Patty's (Elm Street Quilts) Postcard Swap Blog Hop! There are 14 of us in the hop, so I hope you will make a little time this weekend to sit back with maybe an extra cup of coffee or tea and visit some of the fanTABulous postcards that were created.
The postcards were to be 4X6" and were to be mailed by March 17, no extras in them, keep it simple. What I didn't realize was that we weren't partnered up. I was given a name to make for, but she made for someone else, and my postcard came from a third person in the swap! Kind of like a Secret Santa exchange. We got one word as a jumping-off point. I gave 'water' as mine. It seems kind of odd, me being a Fire sign, Aries, but I have loved water, being in it, on it, by it, listening to it, gazing at it, my entire life, be it a river, a pond, a northern crystal lake, or the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, or the almost terrifying infinity of the Pacific or Atlantic. I know all those bodies of water well. Jen @hwksgirl who lives in Chicago, (just 4 hours' drive from me!) got my name. She made me this!
The postcards were to be 4X6" and were to be mailed by March 17, no extras in them, keep it simple. What I didn't realize was that we weren't partnered up. I was given a name to make for, but she made for someone else, and my postcard came from a third person in the swap! Kind of like a Secret Santa exchange. We got one word as a jumping-off point. I gave 'water' as mine. It seems kind of odd, me being a Fire sign, Aries, but I have loved water, being in it, on it, by it, listening to it, gazing at it, my entire life, be it a river, a pond, a northern crystal lake, or the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, or the almost terrifying infinity of the Pacific or Atlantic. I know all those bodies of water well. Jen @hwksgirl who lives in Chicago, (just 4 hours' drive from me!) got my name. She made me this!
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
Some Blocks and A Quiche
I've been doing a little pattern-testing for a couple of friends and here is another of Stitchin At Home Cindy's appliqué blocks for her Canada Quilt for her guild's BOM.
I used Lara's (Buzzin Bumble) Crafted Appliqué method and it works like a damn! (Sorry, but it really does, especially on fine details like those trees, gulp.) Sidenote: check out that link to Lara's blog where she is having a giveaway of her book, and also is offering a beautiful free pattern she designed for a Christmassy tabletopper.
This hasn't been stitched down yet, but there's no lifting going on. I thought the embossed flowers white fabric that has the palest of mauves mottled here and there on it would effectively replicate the blue-whites and mauve/pinky-whites of real snow as well as provide a contrast to the white of the ice. I'd like to say I planned that white 'blob' area to land there to evoke the glare of the sun on ice, but nope, a happy accident! This is an example of what Lara calls the need to back-coat some fabrics; see how the snow fabric became sort of opaque or see-through where it overlapped the mountain fabric? I was really pleased with how well the brown fabric did work for the mountain. I had chosen another grey/black denim-look fabric but then thought, hmm, I wonder if the white blotches here and there might evoke thoughts of snow... Yep! Goes to show to try fabrics you would think would not work when doing appliqué. This fabric has sketched-in-black flower shapes with bleached-out-looking areas and even has glitter on it!
I've also started a quilt along called 150 Canadian Women...150 blocks to be made which finish at 6". Hope I can do better than I have been doing with Tula Pink's City Sampler blocks (gulp). I need to do blocks 1-3 yet, but here are blocks 4-6:
I get overwhelmed with emotion when I read about the accomplishments of these women in the face of incredible chauvinism, racism, and a multitude of other obstacles. This is a BOM from The Next Step, a quilt shop in Calgary, Alberta. I first saw it on a blog belonging to another Sandra, Quilting at the Cro's Nest and was intrigued by the symbolism and educational component (shocker, I know).
Tip Time!
I've mentioned this method before, but when I showed Beth and David at our retreat at Julie's in October, they hadn't seen it, and thought it a cool method for cutting your HST squaring up time in half. So here it is again. Two at a time! Note that this method means you're going 'to the dark side' as Angela Walters does... one more day until her show, squeal! In other words it requires pressing your seams to one side, the darker of the two.
1. Lie two HSTs atop each other, nudging the seams together so they nest. Peel back the top HST if you want to check, but you will soon develop a feel for the nesting with your fingetips. You don't have to, but in order to not touch the nested pair, set them on a small rotary cutting mat which is on top of your larger one, or on a revolving rotary mat too if you have one.
2. Lay the 45-degree line along the seam, leaving a little wiggle room to eventually cut all the way around the HSTs. I'm going for 2.5" squares, but you can see I have my left and bottom marks at about 2 3/8". Cut the first two sides, as I have done if you are right-handed. It will be the opposite two if you are left-handed. Rotate the mat.
3. Now line the 2.5" marks on the ruler with the just-cut two sides, and the 45-degree line again along the seam. Trim both sides as before.
4. Lift off the top HST and voilà! (not viola, that'a a flower, or a musical instrument) you have two 2.5" HSTs.
The other day I had a hankering for quiche and decided to use a tried and true recipe that I've had and used for decades. It was a hit, and I am very glad I doubled the recipe and made two!
Below is the recipe in case you'd like to make one! Now I cheat and just buy a pie crust (sorry Mum!) as I can't be bothered to make that part from scratch. I omitted the bacon, making mine with cauliflower and broccoli. We had a Caesar salad on the side.
Linking up with
Freemotion by the River
and woo hoo! Beth still has Main Crush Monday open at Cooking Up Quilts
Quilting Jet Girl for Tips and Tutorials Tuesday
 |
| Isn't it a fabulous design? And how about the Moda Grunge as a fabulous ice fabric?? Who knew... |
This hasn't been stitched down yet, but there's no lifting going on. I thought the embossed flowers white fabric that has the palest of mauves mottled here and there on it would effectively replicate the blue-whites and mauve/pinky-whites of real snow as well as provide a contrast to the white of the ice. I'd like to say I planned that white 'blob' area to land there to evoke the glare of the sun on ice, but nope, a happy accident! This is an example of what Lara calls the need to back-coat some fabrics; see how the snow fabric became sort of opaque or see-through where it overlapped the mountain fabric? I was really pleased with how well the brown fabric did work for the mountain. I had chosen another grey/black denim-look fabric but then thought, hmm, I wonder if the white blotches here and there might evoke thoughts of snow... Yep! Goes to show to try fabrics you would think would not work when doing appliqué. This fabric has sketched-in-black flower shapes with bleached-out-looking areas and even has glitter on it!
I've also started a quilt along called 150 Canadian Women...150 blocks to be made which finish at 6". Hope I can do better than I have been doing with Tula Pink's City Sampler blocks (gulp). I need to do blocks 1-3 yet, but here are blocks 4-6:
 |
| From left to right: Major Margaret C. MacDonald, (first woman to attain the rank of Major in the Britsh Empire), Nellie McClung, (one of the Famous Five, one of Canada's greatest women's rights activists) and Alice Wilson (Geologist who was not granted a car to do her field work, but a bicycle, because women 'shouldn't drive' -- she went out and bought her own Model T!) |
Tip Time!
I've mentioned this method before, but when I showed Beth and David at our retreat at Julie's in October, they hadn't seen it, and thought it a cool method for cutting your HST squaring up time in half. So here it is again. Two at a time! Note that this method means you're going 'to the dark side' as Angela Walters does... one more day until her show, squeal! In other words it requires pressing your seams to one side, the darker of the two.
2. Lay the 45-degree line along the seam, leaving a little wiggle room to eventually cut all the way around the HSTs. I'm going for 2.5" squares, but you can see I have my left and bottom marks at about 2 3/8". Cut the first two sides, as I have done if you are right-handed. It will be the opposite two if you are left-handed. Rotate the mat.
4. Lift off the top HST and voilà! (not viola, that'a a flower, or a musical instrument) you have two 2.5" HSTs.
The other day I had a hankering for quiche and decided to use a tried and true recipe that I've had and used for decades. It was a hit, and I am very glad I doubled the recipe and made two!
 |
| Yum! Enjoying another year's use out of my Snowman placemats. ⛄ |
Below is the recipe in case you'd like to make one! Now I cheat and just buy a pie crust (sorry Mum!) as I can't be bothered to make that part from scratch. I omitted the bacon, making mine with cauliflower and broccoli. We had a Caesar salad on the side.
Linking up with
Freemotion by the River
and woo hoo! Beth still has Main Crush Monday open at Cooking Up Quilts
Quilting Jet Girl for Tips and Tutorials Tuesday
Quiche Lorraine
May be frozen. Line 36 muffin cups with pie pastry or a 9x9“ pie plate.
May be frozen. Line 36 muffin cups with pie pastry or a 9x9“ pie plate.
6 slices cooked
(crisp) bacon
2 oz natural Swiss
or cheddar cheese
2 eggs
1 c whipping cream
or Half & Half
½ tsp salt
pinch of pepper
pinch of nutmeg
1 tsp sugar
Heat oven to 400°.
Shred cheese. Combine eggs,
cream, salt, sugar, nutmeg and pepper.
Beat to blend well. Sprinkle
bottom of pie plate with chunks of bacon and then cheese. Pour filling over. Sprinkle with nutmeg. Bake 30-40 min at 400° or until egg mixture has solidified.
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Walter 2
Always a favourite fish to eat when we were in our camping/fishing days as a family, a favourite to catch (they fight hard!) and a favourite to look at, marvel over...those EYES, this fish ranks #1 in my MacGyver's mind. This was another goal on my Q3 FAL list.
So of course I had to make him one. We have Walter #1, who measures just over 25" long, weighed between 8-9 pounds, and whom we got mounted many years ago. He lived in Jackson Lake in northern central Alberta when my husband caught him. He is a big fish for an Alberta lake.
I made this mainly using Henry Glass fabrics from the Desire to Inspire Challenge I did in June.
This was another idea I'd had to do using the fabrics, make a hotpad/potholder but I ran out of time. The backing which you see above is one of the squares in the panel I received.
I used a double layer of Warm 'n Natural batting because I didn't have any Insul-Bright left. The water fabric is an old one out of my stash that I do not know whose it is; only a "Y" and the colour circles are left on the selvage. That fabulous black I used for binding (of which I had a 3" strip left, that's all) is a Michael Miller.
I cannot for the life of me recall where I used this fabric, something that is not like me; I can usually place every piece!
Walter 2 is not exactly true to colour, but pretty darn close. That dark green Henry Glass fabric for his main body is really perfect for walleye skin/scales. Love the random placement of a gold star near his tail. Speaking of his tail, MacGyver it was who told me I had to make that white 'chunk' on the lower fin. I didn't know they had that! The gold Henry Glass fabric worked well for his fins. For the fish shape/outline, I used a line drawing I got off a free online colouring book.
You know me with my quilts in trees pics so just had to do one, trying to get the lake in the far background. It blends into the sky though. I see our clematis is trying to climb up the Nootka Cypress! Better get it back on track on its trellis.
This potholder that could actually double as a mini, was all done with Lara's Crafted Appliqué method. Love it for no fraying crisp edges. For those that like to zoom in on photos, you may notice a teensy bit of fraying on one of the brown reeds I freehand cut. Guess I missed getting the fabric treated right up to the edge, doh!
For quilting I just followed random lines in the water fabric and outlined all the fish parts as well as stitched in some gills detail. Most of it was stitched with Exquisite thread in green with the white and grey stitched in Madeira Polyneon in silver. Both of these threads have a lovely glint to them when the light catches them.
Speaking of getting back on track, the quarterly Finish Alongs really do help me, cough, try to stay focussed. I have Dayna's quilt to blog about yet this week for another from that list!
Quilt Stats:
Pattern: Original Design
Size: 10.25" square
Fabric: scraps and stash
Batting: Warm 'n Natural 100% cotton
Quilted: on my Bernina 180 Artista
Threads: appliquéd with Exquisite 100% polyester in olive green, and Madeira Polyneon in silver.
Linking up with
Connie at Free Motion by the River
Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts
Leanne at She Can Quilt for the Q3FAL
Nicky at Mrs. Sew & Sow for Scraptastic Tuesday
I made this mainly using Henry Glass fabrics from the Desire to Inspire Challenge I did in June.
I used a double layer of Warm 'n Natural batting because I didn't have any Insul-Bright left. The water fabric is an old one out of my stash that I do not know whose it is; only a "Y" and the colour circles are left on the selvage. That fabulous black I used for binding (of which I had a 3" strip left, that's all) is a Michael Miller.
Walter 2 is not exactly true to colour, but pretty darn close. That dark green Henry Glass fabric for his main body is really perfect for walleye skin/scales. Love the random placement of a gold star near his tail. Speaking of his tail, MacGyver it was who told me I had to make that white 'chunk' on the lower fin. I didn't know they had that! The gold Henry Glass fabric worked well for his fins. For the fish shape/outline, I used a line drawing I got off a free online colouring book.
You know me with my quilts in trees pics so just had to do one, trying to get the lake in the far background. It blends into the sky though. I see our clematis is trying to climb up the Nootka Cypress! Better get it back on track on its trellis.
This potholder that could actually double as a mini, was all done with Lara's Crafted Appliqué method. Love it for no fraying crisp edges. For those that like to zoom in on photos, you may notice a teensy bit of fraying on one of the brown reeds I freehand cut. Guess I missed getting the fabric treated right up to the edge, doh!
Speaking of getting back on track, the quarterly Finish Alongs really do help me, cough, try to stay focussed. I have Dayna's quilt to blog about yet this week for another from that list!
Quilt Stats:
Pattern: Original Design
Size: 10.25" square
Fabric: scraps and stash
Batting: Warm 'n Natural 100% cotton
Quilted: on my Bernina 180 Artista
Threads: appliquéd with Exquisite 100% polyester in olive green, and Madeira Polyneon in silver.
Linking up with
Connie at Free Motion by the River
Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts
Leanne at She Can Quilt for the Q3FAL
Nicky at Mrs. Sew & Sow for Scraptastic Tuesday
Thursday, August 18, 2016
Lasagne
Which we had last night for supper, and will again tonight in the form of leftovers. Vegetarian (not as good as the one Liz made for us in May) and a meat one for MacGyver to keep up his strength for all the macgyvering that he's been doing these past few weeks. This post is a bit like that lasagne: a variety of ingredients that end up creating goodness.
Kingsville 3rd annual Folk Fest: a variety of 'ingredients' as in bands and genres of music, all-over wonderful goodness. I spent the entire weekend either volunteering at or attending the folk fest. IMHO it was not as good as far as bands go as the two previous years, but still worthwhile attending. I love live music. Period. Buffy Ste-Marie was the headliner, and I wish she'd brought her band, and I wish she'd played 'Power in the Blood' from her latest album. She's not everyone's cup of tea, not exactly mine, but at 75 years old, she impressed the hell out of me with her physique, her memory (all those lyrics to all the songs she played!), and her musical abilities (plays guitar, the mouth bow, the keyboards and sings).
I am so proud to be a Canadian: the multi-cultural aspect of our country evident at this festival, from Canadian-born to Canadian immigrant music. Hearing musicians belt their hearts out, openly of Mexican heritage, or Iranian, Irish, even Tanzanian, gay, young or old, brown, white or black-skinned, and be genuinely appreciated and applauded for their songs made me know deep in my heart there IS tolerance for all peoples, as there should be.
Just WHAT is this tree please? It looks so tropical; in fact I am sure I've seen these in Florida. Rose flowers adorn the fernish fronds. I zoomed in to try to show the flowers better.
A tree of a different kind being built:
I'm pattern testing an appliqué block for Cindy of Stitchin at Home, a block that has tried my patience I'll admit...but I persevered. Those of you on Instagram have seen Cindy's blocks coming together, a block of the month she is doing for her guild.
I'll admit to not being totally pleased with the final result (it is destined to be sewn into sashing which is why I have got the beach and tree in 3/8" from the sides). Port Dover Lighthouse, on Lake Erie, is close to Cindy's home. She lives about 2 hours north and east of me, half way to Toronto. Yes, Lake Erie is that big...actually twice that big. If you drove 100kph (60mph), it would take you about 4 hours to drive (it's just shy of 400 km, 241 miles, in length) from my end by the Detroit River, to the eastern end, at Buffalo up by Lara of Buzzin' Bumble. Thus, this block brings we three 'ingredients' together: Cindy's design, my efforts, and Lara's Crafted Appliqué technique. The fabric I used for the water is a Nancy Crow I've had forever (found a couple more Nancy Crow gems in my stash thanks to pattern-testing this past couple of weeks) and the sky is a Maywood Studio.
Back to Bella, one of my three fur-kid ingredients in creating a balanced happy life, you've probably heard that it's that time of the summer! Pets on Quilts is happening right now at Lilypad Quilting! This has to be one of, if not my favourite linky party of the year. Six more days to enter, and there are already 26 entries! Bella will for sure be one, so come back tomorrow and read all about her contributions to my quilting life. Okay, okay, she's nudging me, as she is wont to do when I spend too much time with a phone in my hand or wiggling my fingers to make clickety-clack sounds on the laptop, make that her contributions to my life. Period.
Also I will let you know that (shh! don't tell) tomorrow you can grab some lasagne Craftsy style: many of their 'ingredients' to equal a pretty sweet sale. Come back for deets on that and Bella tomorrow!
Two other heads-up, that you will see create a lovely 2-layer lasagne :-)
First up is Bernie at Needle and Foot. She wrote a great article on something I had never heard of: Flipboard. Even the intrepid Internet traveller, MacGyver, had not. This reminds me of Pinterest, but it is a place to make personalized 'magazines' of articles on any topic that interests you, not just photos you like. Sounds cool, right? But Bernie takes it one step further by showing you how you can 'publish' your own articles into your own magazines, and make those magazines public. This way, others on Flipboard who also like yoga or quilting for example, may find an 'article' (aka post) you wrote on a subject that also interests them. This can help to bring traffic in the form of new readers to your blog! More deets on this by clicking the link. I've created a few magazines and added two posts to my Yin Yoga magazine, spending a grand total of maybe 30 minutes all told from downloading the app to setting it up to creating and finally adding two posts. That's not bad.
Second is my friend Karen of Tu-Na Quilts. She wanted to start a blog over a year ago, and would visit mine and comment from time to time. Some personal events brought us closer together, and I was able to finally encourage her to just DO IT! She wrote her first post here, and she has just finished a terrific, informational, humorous series on her Minnesota shop hop adventure. It is well worth a read, and hey, I just realized I could flip those articles into a Quilt Shops magazine I could set up! Ha, didn't plan this, but there's my over-arching (cannot kill the English teacher in me) lasagne theme again: two 'ingredients' (Bernie's post on Flipboard and Karen's shop hop posts) creating goodness, as in a great idea for a personalized magazine.
Here's my infant-stage Flipboard link (need to add the social media button for this--going to see Tish about making these look prettier on my sidebar).
And remember to tell me the name of that tree if you know it!
Linking up with
Sew Fresh Quilts
 |
| Incredible sunset behind the silhouetted massive trees |
I am so proud to be a Canadian: the multi-cultural aspect of our country evident at this festival, from Canadian-born to Canadian immigrant music. Hearing musicians belt their hearts out, openly of Mexican heritage, or Iranian, Irish, even Tanzanian, gay, young or old, brown, white or black-skinned, and be genuinely appreciated and applauded for their songs made me know deep in my heart there IS tolerance for all peoples, as there should be.
 |
| Another sky, this one to the east, setting sun behind me, coming home from teaching yoga in Windsor. Can you spot the moon rising, partially hidden by thready clouds? |
 |
| Spotted this incredible flowering tree (look how tall she is!) in Windsor |
 |
| Isn't it just gorgeous? Here you can see pea pods...is it a Locust or Honey Locust (we have lots of those here) of some sort? |
 |
| Bella getting right in there again, had to be summarily dumped onto the floor and off the block more than once! She felt it would make a great cat cushion (obvi, Sandra, she says, eyes rolling) |
 |
| Port Dover Lighthouse built around 1850 |
Back to Bella, one of my three fur-kid ingredients in creating a balanced happy life, you've probably heard that it's that time of the summer! Pets on Quilts is happening right now at Lilypad Quilting! This has to be one of, if not my favourite linky party of the year. Six more days to enter, and there are already 26 entries! Bella will for sure be one, so come back tomorrow and read all about her contributions to my quilting life. Okay, okay, she's nudging me, as she is wont to do when I spend too much time with a phone in my hand or wiggling my fingers to make clickety-clack sounds on the laptop, make that her contributions to my life. Period.
 |
| Lots of terrific prizes to be won, did I mention that?! |
Two other heads-up, that you will see create a lovely 2-layer lasagne :-)
First up is Bernie at Needle and Foot. She wrote a great article on something I had never heard of: Flipboard. Even the intrepid Internet traveller, MacGyver, had not. This reminds me of Pinterest, but it is a place to make personalized 'magazines' of articles on any topic that interests you, not just photos you like. Sounds cool, right? But Bernie takes it one step further by showing you how you can 'publish' your own articles into your own magazines, and make those magazines public. This way, others on Flipboard who also like yoga or quilting for example, may find an 'article' (aka post) you wrote on a subject that also interests them. This can help to bring traffic in the form of new readers to your blog! More deets on this by clicking the link. I've created a few magazines and added two posts to my Yin Yoga magazine, spending a grand total of maybe 30 minutes all told from downloading the app to setting it up to creating and finally adding two posts. That's not bad.
Second is my friend Karen of Tu-Na Quilts. She wanted to start a blog over a year ago, and would visit mine and comment from time to time. Some personal events brought us closer together, and I was able to finally encourage her to just DO IT! She wrote her first post here, and she has just finished a terrific, informational, humorous series on her Minnesota shop hop adventure. It is well worth a read, and hey, I just realized I could flip those articles into a Quilt Shops magazine I could set up! Ha, didn't plan this, but there's my over-arching (cannot kill the English teacher in me) lasagne theme again: two 'ingredients' (Bernie's post on Flipboard and Karen's shop hop posts) creating goodness, as in a great idea for a personalized magazine.
Here's my infant-stage Flipboard link (need to add the social media button for this--going to see Tish about making these look prettier on my sidebar).
And remember to tell me the name of that tree if you know it!
Linking up with
Sew Fresh Quilts
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Crafted Ahhh-pliqué - My Turn and a Giveaway
Welcome everyone to my stop on this lovely blog hop for my dear friend Lara's first published book. I have a feeling there will be a few more forthcoming from this incredible designer who is not only talented, but flipping ingenious to boot! She blogs at Buzzin Bumble and is a busy bee for sure when it comes to quilting and creating.
We bonded two summers ago, first over a profound love of dogs, and cemented it with Pets On Quilts when she featured her daughter Kaitie's pibble mix. (Hey! That Pets on Quilts link shows you the new button for this year's show! Such fun!) I have done a couple of projects using Lara's exciting new method of appliqué, with another two in the works. Here is my second project:
Yes, when I went to take the photo of the finished pillow, there was Miss Bella, stationed at the ready for the photo shoot. I don't make this stuff up! I didn't stage that shot, other than plonk the cushion down on the bench in the front entry.
In my corner of QBL my fur kids make frequent appearances, I sometimes muse about various subjects not necessarily quilt-related, sewing doesn't always get done as quickly as I think it should, and I try to find a way to add a smile to your day, sometimes unintentionally, lol.
This is Lara's book; I know you've most likely seen it around QBL these past couple of weeks. It is available here on Amazon (no affiliation). HAPPY DANCE, it has sold out, but it will be available May 20 in the US, not sure about when in Canada. For a short while it was #1--I GRINNED when I saw the screenshot in this post of the #1 banner across her book. I know her!!! With the innovative method she's devised, the amount of care and attention to detail she's put into explaining the method and the amazing creativity she exhibits in the projects within the book, it is no wonder that it has sold out.
And, (insert shy red face), I am "in" the book! Somewhere after that fated Pets On Quilts 'meeting', she emailed me telling me she was writing a book, and asked if she could quote me in the introduction to her book! Pshaw! Really? Moi? And she did! So I am in print, hanging by a tube-turner-grabber-nabber, ha, to Lara's beautiful appliqué projects. I had written something about changing my feeling about 'aaack-pliqué' to 'ahhh-pliqué' in one of my blog posts about Fleurs. I can tell you right here, right now, she certainly has done that.
I showed you my first experiment with this method here when I made two potholders. I've been using them ever since, love them! I wanted to show you what happened when I washed them and then dried them in my dryer:
If you check that original post, you won't notice much, if any, difference! Maybe a slight puckering of the binding, and if you had feel-o-vision (kinda like smell-o-vision), you would notice the soft hand of these now.
Up close and personal:
It really is 'the bomb' isn't it?
I had hoped to make a tree, inspired by Lara's The Walking Tree quilt in her book. There were two more common bonds: a love of books, especially fantasy, and a love of nature. I have long had a deep reverence for trees, so this project really appealed to me. My tree quilt will be forthcoming, I promise, and it excites me to no end what I am creating! That is what I really like and appreciate about this book: it has 7 appliqué projects in it, that you can either make exactly as shown, or use them as jumping off points to inspire your own creativity, as I have done with my tree quilt. Moreover, she gives extremely detailed explanations as to how to get the best results for her technique, all in a friendly tone with humour sprinkled amongst her wise advice and tips.
This cushion is actually a wallhanging, a pattern I bought some time ago because the saying just killed me, as it is so true. I thought it would be the perfect second project to try Lara's method, as it had more pieces, and a little layering of pieces so I could see how that worked out. Uh, fantastic?! I stitched around the appliqués with just a straight stitch, no zigzag or blanket stitch required; in fact, you can get away without stitching around them at all!
I backstitched by hand the words, and Bella's, er the cat's mouth. Rocco's, aka the dog's mouth was done on the machine as were the tufts in the cat's ears and the whiskers. I like to think of this as representing my blue-nose pibble, Rocco, and my diva, Bella.
I had fun with the quilting.
I managed to shoo her away to get some light on the background to show what I did:
There are four pawprints, and a dog biscuit above the word "have", echoes around the animal appliqués, and then just wiggly lines in the lower half.
I used a variety of threads.
I like to bind my cushions, and thought black would frame it perfectly. This is RJR Handspray, a 5-yard cut from Craftsy bought at a recent sale. It's got fabulous depth. Thank you to Judy for putting me onto this stuff.
I had the perfect backing, a lovely gift from a blog reader who goes by Jake. She does wonderful work for and with animals, and sews all kinds of stuff for fundraisers, as well as quilts for animals going through major surgery, like for cancer, at a vet specialist near her. Along with bandanas for my three fur kids (you can read the post here), she sent me several other goodies, including this fanTAStic fabric, which I used for the backing of the cushion.
Wanna see it close up?
It's cats and dogs doing yoga!!!! It came by way of my good friend Preeti, to Jake, and now a piece to me. Full circle. Love that.
There is a cushion pattern in Lara's book, along with a few other 3D projects that made my mouth drop open in astonishment when I first saw them. My favourite is the little cottage that is a sewing machine cover for one of her Golden Girls, her vintage sewing machines: aka Dorothy, Rose, and Blanche! Yup, we each have a pretty good sense of humour, Lara's being the wittier.
I made my own pillow form to go inside the cushion.
I made a label using the same appliqué technique to adhere it to the backing. I didn't topstitch it but outlined it with the gel pen so it would pop a bit.
There has been some ahhh-mazing projects shown on this blog hop for Lara's book. The schedule is here. Be sure to check it out.
I'm so glad I got this project from pattern in a drawer, to finished little pillow on my bench, and I am so honoured to have been asked to be part of Lara's hop.
Giveaways! TWO!
Lara has generously provided a copy of her book for readers of my blog. AND!! She is this type of generous spirit: if you have already bought your copy of the book, have no fear; enter still! She will refund your money if you are chosen. I don't know, but that just makes my heart swell when I encounter such a giving nature in a person.
Duh, I decided on my walk just now, 4 hours after this post went live, (alone, sniff, as Rocco is on the DL for another 7 weeks), to have a second giveaway.
Brady: Nana, how come you always say that?
Me: Say what?
Brady: You always say 'duh!' ...
Me: I do? Oh, I guess I do! Well, because I often do stupid things.
Brady: intake of breath - You're not supposed to say that!
Me: Say what?
Brady: (whispers) that 's-t-u-' word.
Me: I'm sorry. You're right. Okay, because I always do silly things!
I'm going to give away the pattern for a second prize! It is open to anyone, anywhere; I will happily mail it to you.
One last look at the cushion:
Quilt Stats:
Pattern: Dogs vs Cats by Bloomin Minds
Size: 13.75 X 16.25" after quilting
Fabric: From stash
Batting: Warm 'n Natural
Quilted: on my Bernina
Threads: pieced with Gütermann; appliquéd with Sew Art International Invisible thread in Smoke; quilted with Isacord 4421 teal and ??15 grey, Aurifil2123, Sulky Blendables 733 4011 30 wt and Essential in magenta
To enter the giveaway, leave me a comment telling me the most generous thing someone has done for you. Followers of my blog can get a second entry; just tell me how you follow! I'll draw 2 winners this Sunday, May 22. Please put your email in if you are a no-reply blogger, or follow the link below the comments to fix this, so that I can find you; otherwise I will draw another person. I also won't be responding to comments on this post, but I will sure enjoy reading them!
The giveaway has now ended.
I'm linking up with creative Connie at Free Motion by the River and the lovely Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts.
We bonded two summers ago, first over a profound love of dogs, and cemented it with Pets On Quilts when she featured her daughter Kaitie's pibble mix. (Hey! That Pets on Quilts link shows you the new button for this year's show! Such fun!) I have done a couple of projects using Lara's exciting new method of appliqué, with another two in the works. Here is my second project:
Yes, when I went to take the photo of the finished pillow, there was Miss Bella, stationed at the ready for the photo shoot. I don't make this stuff up! I didn't stage that shot, other than plonk the cushion down on the bench in the front entry.
In my corner of QBL my fur kids make frequent appearances, I sometimes muse about various subjects not necessarily quilt-related, sewing doesn't always get done as quickly as I think it should, and I try to find a way to add a smile to your day, sometimes unintentionally, lol.
This is Lara's book; I know you've most likely seen it around QBL these past couple of weeks. It is available here on Amazon (no affiliation). HAPPY DANCE, it has sold out, but it will be available May 20 in the US, not sure about when in Canada. For a short while it was #1--I GRINNED when I saw the screenshot in this post of the #1 banner across her book. I know her!!! With the innovative method she's devised, the amount of care and attention to detail she's put into explaining the method and the amazing creativity she exhibits in the projects within the book, it is no wonder that it has sold out.
And, (insert shy red face), I am "in" the book! Somewhere after that fated Pets On Quilts 'meeting', she emailed me telling me she was writing a book, and asked if she could quote me in the introduction to her book! Pshaw! Really? Moi? And she did! So I am in print, hanging by a tube-turner-grabber-nabber, ha, to Lara's beautiful appliqué projects. I had written something about changing my feeling about 'aaack-pliqué' to 'ahhh-pliqué' in one of my blog posts about Fleurs. I can tell you right here, right now, she certainly has done that.
I showed you my first experiment with this method here when I made two potholders. I've been using them ever since, love them! I wanted to show you what happened when I washed them and then dried them in my dryer:
If you check that original post, you won't notice much, if any, difference! Maybe a slight puckering of the binding, and if you had feel-o-vision (kinda like smell-o-vision), you would notice the soft hand of these now.
Up close and personal:
 |
| Look Ma! No frayed edges!! |
I had hoped to make a tree, inspired by Lara's The Walking Tree quilt in her book. There were two more common bonds: a love of books, especially fantasy, and a love of nature. I have long had a deep reverence for trees, so this project really appealed to me. My tree quilt will be forthcoming, I promise, and it excites me to no end what I am creating! That is what I really like and appreciate about this book: it has 7 appliqué projects in it, that you can either make exactly as shown, or use them as jumping off points to inspire your own creativity, as I have done with my tree quilt. Moreover, she gives extremely detailed explanations as to how to get the best results for her technique, all in a friendly tone with humour sprinkled amongst her wise advice and tips.
This cushion is actually a wallhanging, a pattern I bought some time ago because the saying just killed me, as it is so true. I thought it would be the perfect second project to try Lara's method, as it had more pieces, and a little layering of pieces so I could see how that worked out. Uh, fantastic?! I stitched around the appliqués with just a straight stitch, no zigzag or blanket stitch required; in fact, you can get away without stitching around them at all!
I backstitched by hand the words, and Bella's, er the cat's mouth. Rocco's, aka the dog's mouth was done on the machine as were the tufts in the cat's ears and the whiskers. I like to think of this as representing my blue-nose pibble, Rocco, and my diva, Bella.
I had fun with the quilting.
 |
| Immediately after the bench photo, I took this one, and she was bound and determined to photobomb it as well! |
I used a variety of threads.
I like to bind my cushions, and thought black would frame it perfectly. This is RJR Handspray, a 5-yard cut from Craftsy bought at a recent sale. It's got fabulous depth. Thank you to Judy for putting me onto this stuff.
I had the perfect backing, a lovely gift from a blog reader who goes by Jake. She does wonderful work for and with animals, and sews all kinds of stuff for fundraisers, as well as quilts for animals going through major surgery, like for cancer, at a vet specialist near her. Along with bandanas for my three fur kids (you can read the post here), she sent me several other goodies, including this fanTAStic fabric, which I used for the backing of the cushion.
Wanna see it close up?
There is a cushion pattern in Lara's book, along with a few other 3D projects that made my mouth drop open in astonishment when I first saw them. My favourite is the little cottage that is a sewing machine cover for one of her Golden Girls, her vintage sewing machines: aka Dorothy, Rose, and Blanche! Yup, we each have a pretty good sense of humour, Lara's being the wittier.
I made my own pillow form to go inside the cushion.
I made a label using the same appliqué technique to adhere it to the backing. I didn't topstitch it but outlined it with the gel pen so it would pop a bit.
 |
| Used the Pentel Gel Roller for Fabric that Preeti gave me to write and then to outline the pawprint |
There has been some ahhh-mazing projects shown on this blog hop for Lara's book. The schedule is here. Be sure to check it out.
I'm so glad I got this project from pattern in a drawer, to finished little pillow on my bench, and I am so honoured to have been asked to be part of Lara's hop.
Giveaways! TWO!
Lara has generously provided a copy of her book for readers of my blog. AND!! She is this type of generous spirit: if you have already bought your copy of the book, have no fear; enter still! She will refund your money if you are chosen. I don't know, but that just makes my heart swell when I encounter such a giving nature in a person.
Duh, I decided on my walk just now, 4 hours after this post went live, (alone, sniff, as Rocco is on the DL for another 7 weeks), to have a second giveaway.
Brady: Nana, how come you always say that?
Me: Say what?
Brady: You always say 'duh!' ...
Me: I do? Oh, I guess I do! Well, because I often do stupid things.
Brady: intake of breath - You're not supposed to say that!
Me: Say what?
Brady: (whispers) that 's-t-u-' word.
Me: I'm sorry. You're right. Okay, because I always do silly things!
I'm going to give away the pattern for a second prize! It is open to anyone, anywhere; I will happily mail it to you.
One last look at the cushion:
Pattern: Dogs vs Cats by Bloomin Minds
Size: 13.75 X 16.25" after quilting
Fabric: From stash
Batting: Warm 'n Natural
Quilted: on my Bernina
Threads: pieced with Gütermann; appliquéd with Sew Art International Invisible thread in Smoke; quilted with Isacord 4421 teal and ??15 grey, Aurifil2123, Sulky Blendables 733 4011 30 wt and Essential in magenta
The giveaway has now ended.
I'm linking up with creative Connie at Free Motion by the River and the lovely Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts.
Thursday, March 3, 2016
Throwback Thursday: Frostbite
I saw this little lap quilt or wallhanging in a quilt shop in a mall
in Lethbridge, Alberta, in 2003 or 2004. Too cute! Too unique! Sold! I
bought the pattern, and the fabrics right there and then to create my
own, which I finished in September 2004. I have mainly used it as a perched-on-the-top-of-the-couch quilt.
And
thus began a love affair with wool appliqué, and wool felting. I made a
couple of table centre mats out of wool, and then designed one of my
own. I kitted and taught the class for the one I designed at a
Professional Development Day for teachers back when sessions on personal
wellness were on offer. When I left teaching, only sessions pertinent
to subject area and education-related were allowed (insert grouchy
face).
Back to frost bitten snowman faces. It's been folded up in the closet for more than a year, so excuse the wrinkles. Most of my Christmas quilts are here in Florida, so since we stayed home in Kingsville for Christmas this year, it didn't get used. Insert sad face.
I
hand-appliquéd all the snowman heads with a blanket stitch using #8
coton perlé in black. I used real bandaids and machine-blanket-stitched
them on! The noses are appliquéd with a running stitch. This was my
first experience with brushed cottons. I FMQ-ed the snowflakes on the
snowman heads.
All
the quilting is done with Sulky Holoshimmer thread on my Bernina. For
the line of snowflakes under the appliquéd letters, I think I drew the
line down the centre, and marked the centre of the snowflakes with a
vertical line, and then just went for it.
This
is before Leah Day and Angela Walters and all the online fabulous
resources. I did have Kathy Sandbach's book for inspiration, however. I
didn't have a clue how to do swirls, but I wanted swirls of wind look
in the borders and bigger fancier snowflakes so hopefully you can kind
of see them in the photo above. I drew the horizontal, vertical, and
diagonal lines of the snowflakes, then FMQ-ed them and the little swoops
around each one. I did a jigsaw-style meander in the block
backgrounds.
The back. I sewed pieces together for down the side edge as the one piece of brushed cotton wasn't quite wide enough, and sewed the label into that strip as part of the backing. I also put a sleeve on it as I do hang it sometimes.
Hmm, didn't have a lot to say on the label really did I?!
It's really snuggly and soft.
Afterthought to the photo below: I realized the morning after writing this post, so the day it published, that right around the finishing of this quilt, in September, 2004, my life was not exactly taking a right angle turn per se, but was getting to the right angle turn with a bit of a sharp curve... What I mean is that Dayna, age 16, went to Houston TX in August 2004 with her good friend for 2.5 weeks (that's a story for another time) and during that trip got taken to Anna Maria Island, FL, for a few days. That sparked our first family "fancy" vacation (actually flying somewhere, not camping) to stay in that very same condo on Anna Maria Island at Christmas that year. Here I am, 11 and a bit years after that fateful life-changing vacation, photographing the quilt, that now lives in Florida... Love it when the fibers tell stories.
I think it's kind of funny that I'm photographing it on green grass today, so I had to take a shade shot by one of our palm trees:
That's a new bed that MacGyver spent a good chunk of his day digging and planting. He put a couple of new things in there and in an extension of the front bed he did last week. He says digging in this soil is a dream: it's pretty much pure sand. He moved the jasmine and bromeliads from the front to this side bed.
Interesting that I'm currently working on a wool appliqué project! This is being blanket-stitched appliquéd too, with coton perlé #8 in ivory. It is inspired by a quilt I saw hanging at a Creative Stitches Show I went to not long after the snowman quilt was either done or in the works. I sketched it from my head (no smart phone quick snaps then) when I got home. I have been on the hunt for a couple of years to find the right shade of white/ivory wool to felt. I finally found some in Guildcrafters in Detroit last summer.
It
takes a good 45-50 minutes to drive to yoga in Sarasota, so I can get
one petal stitched on the way up and another on the way back home.
Don't worry: I'm not stitching and driving! LOL
I had to wait until things calmed down a bit around here to take these photos. I was dog-sitting while Brandy's human, John, was at a Spring Training ball game with MacGyver. Not a lot of sewing got done, needless to say, but we did all soak up some rays while I read my book and had my tea!
We girls (well Rocco may as well be a girl, he can be such a little princess) had a good afternoon together!
Linking up with Jen at A Quarter Inch From the Edge. Lots of blasts from the past with great stories, so be sure to pop over there.
 |
| The pine cones are ones I've found on my walks with Rocco around the 'hood. They come like that with the white tips! They're on huge pine trees, trees with 14" long needles! I think they are Slash Pines, and native to this area, abundant before the Europeans came and messed with things...why do white men always need to mess with things... nvm I'll just stick with my white snowmen for now. |
Back to frost bitten snowman faces. It's been folded up in the closet for more than a year, so excuse the wrinkles. Most of my Christmas quilts are here in Florida, so since we stayed home in Kingsville for Christmas this year, it didn't get used. Insert sad face.
 |
| Isn't it just the cutest? Get it? Frost bite? |
 |
| I wish the sparkle and shimmer of the thread showed up better |
 |
| Under the Ott-Lite, trying to show the stitching in the border |
The back. I sewed pieces together for down the side edge as the one piece of brushed cotton wasn't quite wide enough, and sewed the label into that strip as part of the backing. I also put a sleeve on it as I do hang it sometimes.
 |
| Close-up of label |
Afterthought to the photo below: I realized the morning after writing this post, so the day it published, that right around the finishing of this quilt, in September, 2004, my life was not exactly taking a right angle turn per se, but was getting to the right angle turn with a bit of a sharp curve... What I mean is that Dayna, age 16, went to Houston TX in August 2004 with her good friend for 2.5 weeks (that's a story for another time) and during that trip got taken to Anna Maria Island, FL, for a few days. That sparked our first family "fancy" vacation (actually flying somewhere, not camping) to stay in that very same condo on Anna Maria Island at Christmas that year. Here I am, 11 and a bit years after that fateful life-changing vacation, photographing the quilt, that now lives in Florida... Love it when the fibers tell stories.
I think it's kind of funny that I'm photographing it on green grass today, so I had to take a shade shot by one of our palm trees:
 |
| The quilt measures 44.5 X 50.5" |
That's a new bed that MacGyver spent a good chunk of his day digging and planting. He put a couple of new things in there and in an extension of the front bed he did last week. He says digging in this soil is a dream: it's pretty much pure sand. He moved the jasmine and bromeliads from the front to this side bed.
Interesting that I'm currently working on a wool appliqué project! This is being blanket-stitched appliquéd too, with coton perlé #8 in ivory. It is inspired by a quilt I saw hanging at a Creative Stitches Show I went to not long after the snowman quilt was either done or in the works. I sketched it from my head (no smart phone quick snaps then) when I got home. I have been on the hunt for a couple of years to find the right shade of white/ivory wool to felt. I finally found some in Guildcrafters in Detroit last summer.
 | |
| Note the Crinum lily behind the quilt. It blooms all year and is HUGE and smells DIVINE! I call it a Jurassic Park lily, ha. Such interesting and different southern flora compared to northern... |
I had to wait until things calmed down a bit around here to take these photos. I was dog-sitting while Brandy's human, John, was at a Spring Training ball game with MacGyver. Not a lot of sewing got done, needless to say, but we did all soak up some rays while I read my book and had my tea!
 |
| Panting pibbles, cooling their tummies on the tile |
Linking up with Jen at A Quarter Inch From the Edge. Lots of blasts from the past with great stories, so be sure to pop over there.
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Two Blocks for Two Kids
Although I don't know Yvonne, I have run into her work several times over the past several months of linking up at various linky parties. When I heard from Judy at Quilt Paradigm that she was asking for blocks for two kids whose father passed away very suddenly, I thought, well this sounds like a worthy cause. I went to her blog, and hey! found that she does Thankful Thursdays! I wrote my first one here, thinking I had something unique and original...well, great minds think alike is what my mum always says, and she is absolutely right. I truly believe in the idea that all beings, animals too, are linked, connected, that we can tap into a mega stream of consciousness if we only find the right frame of mind. Anyhow, I'm not sure when Yvonne started doing Thankful Thursdays, but I will have to link up my next post. I don't do them weekly anymore; all right, let's be honest, last week's was the first in several months! But talk about synchronicity (another thing my mum says a lot), it was right around the time I wrote my last Thankful Thursday post that I went to Yvonne's at Quilting Jetgirl.
Yvonne's April 2 Thankful Thursday shows some of the blocks she has received, and provides links to her original posts where she explains about the project and about Mike's death, her friend, who was the kids' dad, the pilot of the Virgin Galactic mission. This post is worth the read about a challenge quilt she created that expresses grief, yet hope in working through the aftermath of the tragedy.
The first block I made is for the girl. Her blocks need to be in portrait orientation, 7X10" finished, and could be ocean or dance-themed. My first thought was, no surprise, the ocean. I went to Google and eventually with much surfing (and digressing), found this page. I also did a second Google search for "lighthouse quilt blocks" and combined and rearranged a couple I saw there. Got out my newsprint paper, and drew this:
Yvonne's April 2 Thankful Thursday shows some of the blocks she has received, and provides links to her original posts where she explains about the project and about Mike's death, her friend, who was the kids' dad, the pilot of the Virgin Galactic mission. This post is worth the read about a challenge quilt she created that expresses grief, yet hope in working through the aftermath of the tragedy.
The first block I made is for the girl. Her blocks need to be in portrait orientation, 7X10" finished, and could be ocean or dance-themed. My first thought was, no surprise, the ocean. I went to Google and eventually with much surfing (and digressing), found this page. I also did a second Google search for "lighthouse quilt blocks" and combined and rearranged a couple I saw there. Got out my newsprint paper, and drew this:
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
The "f" word
Yep. That oughtta get some attention!
Been known to utter it on occasion. Occasion of appliqué that will never end...
Fleurs!!
The name of my round robin.
Here's the next round done!
"Excuse me?" you're thinking, "I thought you weren't a fan of appliqué?" Well... this idea germinated. The directions for this round were "add some words or phrases to your quilt". Oh, it had already had plenty of those flung at it! Didn't think the ladies in the guild would appreciate me appliquéing the f-word you were thinking of when you read my title. Sitting in the back seat of our car last Sunday, Dayna riding shotgun so she and her dad could yak, I let my mind free-associate for a name for the quilt. Voilà.
Apologies for the poor lighting, but again, it's darker than the inside of a cow outside. I plan to quilt "fleurs" on the other 3 sides in the same lettering, and then quilt the snot out of the surrounding so it pops.
In case it's not apparent, the centre block, my orphan block, is hand appliquéd, stitches so tiny that I doubt I could replicate them today with my deteriorating close-up vision. The four corners of appliqué is by machine, but edges turned under a scant 1/4". I did the "fleurs" letters raw-edge appliqué using a blanket stitch on my Bernina. So three different methods of appliqué on one quilt!
Next round is to add pieced curves. I might just get this baby done yet.
I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday!
Been known to utter it on occasion. Occasion of appliqué that will never end...
Fleurs!!
The name of my round robin.
Here's the next round done!
"Excuse me?" you're thinking, "I thought you weren't a fan of appliqué?" Well... this idea germinated. The directions for this round were "add some words or phrases to your quilt". Oh, it had already had plenty of those flung at it! Didn't think the ladies in the guild would appreciate me appliquéing the f-word you were thinking of when you read my title. Sitting in the back seat of our car last Sunday, Dayna riding shotgun so she and her dad could yak, I let my mind free-associate for a name for the quilt. Voilà.
Apologies for the poor lighting, but again, it's darker than the inside of a cow outside. I plan to quilt "fleurs" on the other 3 sides in the same lettering, and then quilt the snot out of the surrounding so it pops.
In case it's not apparent, the centre block, my orphan block, is hand appliquéd, stitches so tiny that I doubt I could replicate them today with my deteriorating close-up vision. The four corners of appliqué is by machine, but edges turned under a scant 1/4". I did the "fleurs" letters raw-edge appliqué using a blanket stitch on my Bernina. So three different methods of appliqué on one quilt!
Next round is to add pieced curves. I might just get this baby done yet.
I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday!
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