Retreats and Road Trips!!

I've been feverishly working at getting my "Buckeye Beauty" pieced together.  We are giving the Queen Suite in the B&B a makeover.  My Double Delight (mentioned in the previous post) is on the twin bed and I'm loving the country look of it in that room.  The Queen Bed is next.  The Buckeye Beauty finishes at 94 inches square and looks gorgeous in that room in its blue, tan and brown colour scheme.  My son said it reminded him of the beach, dark blue for the ocean, light blue for the sky, tan/brown  for the sand.  Now that you mention it, I think he's right!

My dear friend Shirley helped me sandwich and baste it yesterday.  Now it is folded and ready to be carted upstairs to my studio where I will lovingly add the stitches to make it a quilt.  After all, it isn't a quilt until it's quilted, right?

I really want to have it done by June 17th as we have guests checking into that suite on the 17th and it would make me so happy to have the makeover done by then.  Then of course a photo shoot will follow to update the website.

I don't have very many days to get the quilting done as I am joining the same friend Shirley at Pearson College in Metchosin for our annual Quilting in the Trees retreat.  Thursday until Sunday with creativity, classes and someone cooking for me.  If the weather cooperates and it's warm and dry it will be another perfect retreat. 

In July I am going a my first ever bus trip to Sisters, Oregon for the outdoor quilt show.  My dear friend Jan will be joining me on this adventure. 

I will be posting a picture of the finished Buckeye Beauty hopefully before I leave on the retreat.

Until then I'm praying for Godspeed in my studio as I finish this quilt.

Until next time,
Mavis

Ta da!! Double Delight is done and ready for the quilt show

What a great feeling!  I finished hand quilting my Double Delight (see previous posts), and I still have some flesh on my finger tips, albeit sore flesh.  I never was a thimble girl.

Well, I finished the binding last night and here are some photos of my Double Delight:

Here are some photos of the hand quilting (my first time!)  Happy Little Dance....

This shows the leaf vine quilting I did on the border.  I used a paper printout of the quilting and then cut a piece of bridal tulle large enough to cover the drawing.  I put the bridal tulle over the image and used a sharpie marker (permanent) to trace the quilting lines onto the tulle.  Then I rinsed out the tulle and dried it (to make sure there was no left over black sharpie marker which would harm my quilt).  From this point, you've got an image which you can lay over your quilt and use a chalk marker to trace it.  Because the tulle has little holes, the chalk goes through the tulle and onto the quilt top.  I thought this idea was pure genius.  I can't claim that genius.  I learned this trick at the Victoria Sewing Show.

I'm not sure you can see the tulip quilted into the setting triangle.  Once again I used the bridal tulle over the image to create my transfer medium for the design.  Worked great!




Here's a closeup of one of the quilt blocks showing the hand quilting.  Very simple quilting inside each square and an 'x' through the centre nine-patch.

Here is another closeup of the border (top left and bottom right corner)  I repeated the 'x' through the nine-patches and tulips in the small squares.

Also, try the 'Where's Waldo'? to see if you can find the nine-patch boo boo.  I chose to take the Amish approach that "only God is perfect" and leave the boo boo in the quilt.

I wonder if the quilt police at the Quilt Show will find it.   I'm not the least bit worried if they do.  I know it was planned...or at least allowed for when I discovered it myself.

Off to do my label now!  Til next time,  Mavis

U.F.O. update

One baby quilt finished and presented - wahoo.  Updated my UFO list on the right hand side of the blog page and noticed that I've mentioned my Buckeye Beauty which is on my design wall.  Wanna sneak peak?

This is another scrappy adventure.  Are we having fun yet?  Oh yes we are!  I threw everything in here, even if I thought the pattern was too bold.  I like the effect and have thrown off all control and welcomed every block in.  The quilt police have been dispatched elsewhere.  They do not live at my house any more.  Don't you just love being liberated??  Oh yeah....

Baby Quilt Buzz

I absolutely love my ministry at my church.  I am privileged to make baby quilts for our newborns (or older if we're really behind...) and to welcome them to our world and to the family of God.  Today was another one of those days.

This is a picture of the quilt I presented this morning...

These nine-patch blocks came from a Canadian Quiltswappers Block Swap. All I did was frame them alternately with dark brown and beige and then added a teddy-bear border.  There are sheepies on the back.  I think this qualifies as a scrap quilt and for sure a stash buster quilt.  I didn't purchase anything new for this quilt and love the scrappiness of it.

I better get back to my sewing machine.  We have a bumper crop of babies due this spring and many, many more quilts to produce.  Til next time...

and the battles rages on...

in my soul, that is.  I tried a friend's quilting machine (which is comprised of a Little Gracie II and a Janome 6600).  She can do a baby quilt in 1-2 hours.  I visited yesterday and even got to test drive on a charity quilt she is working on. It was great fun!  I came home wanting that or a long arm...again. Sigh.  But I had to see it.  Isn't that what it's like?  You don't want a new car until you go for that test drive...and then you're sunk unless you have the willpower of ..well I don't know what or who, but you get my point. 


I've been working very hard at being content, I really have, but for the last 24 hours all I can think about it how to get my own long-arm.  I really thought I was settled about this.  We simply don't have the cash right now, so practically speaking, it's not going to happen.  But then why this sudden onslaught of lust after what I cannot have?  I repent...I will be content.  And if I really need to try it out, my friend has offered to let me take a quilt to her place and test it on her machine.  That's good enough for me!

One hopeful option for my quest (or non-quest depending on my state of mind at the time) - I am married to a mechanical/woodworking genius.  My dear husband is pondering building me the quilting frame.  With my Janome 6500 I would have the equivalent, basically, of my friend.  Wouldn't that be nice...but for now I will wait.

And there ends today's rantings.  Time to go play some more on my handquilting project.

Mavis

Handquilting vs Long Arm Quilting vs Machine Quilting on Domestic Machine

My Double Delight quilt top is finished (started January 2009 at Quiltville.com but had a few stalls along the way).  About 3/4 of the way through piecing it, I realized that I wanted to hand quilt it.  The process of arriving at that decision was a long one.

Long had I wondered, pondered, decided, then undecided, and pondered some more about whether or not to buy a long arm.  I find that machine quilting is difficult on a domestic machine.  I must not be alone here as how many quilters do I know that get stalled at the quilt top stage?  In my mind I justify the expense of a long arm setup by adding up what it would cost to have my quilts long arm quilted by someone else.  10 or so quilts and it's paid for right?  I don't think I would ever have the nerve to quilt someone else's work and it causes me anxiety to even think about that option.  So, I just need to justify the cost by my own savings. And I feel adequately confident that I can justify the expenditure as a long term investment if I simply crunch enough numbers.  After all, if I have quilting retreats at our B&B then I could offer the long arm as an added bonus.  Think of the possibilities!!

But then I go to a guild meeting and see the amazing work of other quilters all done by domestic machines and feel challenged to 'make do' with my domestic machine.  I can think of many quilters that have produced absolute works of art (and award winning quilts) on their domestic machines:  Ricky Tims, Barbara Shapel (www.barbarashapel.com), Ana Buzzalino (of Calgary, AB), Martha Cole  (www.marthacole.ca), and I'm sure there are many, many more.

With the economy still unsure, I know many of my quilting friends, as well as myself, have gone 'no buy' for fabric. I'm on year 2 of 'no buy' but I did fall off the wagon on a few occasions.  I went on a year long magazine 'fast' too.  I've worked hard at sewing from my stash and delving into scrap quilts (Double Delight was my first).  Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville is very inspiring in this department and it is a totally different challenge than buying specific fabric for a specific pattern.  You'll know if you have control issues when  you attempt your first scrap quilt and squirm at the colour combinations that randomly fall together.  It's such freedom when break past that barrier!!

Friends, our hobby has grown into big business but it hasn't always been that way.  I personally think it's time to look backwards a decade or two or ten to gain some inspiration from our ancestors.


Here is part of my story:  In March, 2009 our family had a medical diagnosis which meant that I may be spending consistent time every month hooked up to an IV and so would my son. This would mean monthly trips to a different city to the hospital.   Through this difficult time of coming to terms with our family's genetic disease, this was also the turning point for me in the long-arm debate. My decision was now made, for the time being anyway.  I decided that I needed to focus on portable hand work. But I needed to learn some skills.  So last year I learned needle-turn applique.  I was at Quilting in the Trees Annual Retreat at Pearson College in June 2009 and began a wall hanging with one of Nancy Chong's patterns.  It's still classifed as a UFO but I am making great progress and have one portable project to take with me wherever I wish. These are not instant gratification projects.  These are the ones that you add a few stitches here, a few stitches there and one day you have a finished project.

Then I took a quick lesson from a friend on hand-quilting. After that I bought Alex Anderson's book and decided there was nothing left to stop me.  The needles cost a mere $2.12 and I was given a quilting hoop.  Equipment - check! So, I am happy to announce that I have  joined the ranks of the hand quilters.  I am enjoying the process although could still do with a good thimble as the fingers are a wee bit tender.  I love the look of the hand quilting and this quilt really lends itself to hand quilting, which is why I chose this quilt as my first hand quilted project.  And here it is...my Double Delight!

I guess all of this is to say that I wanted to share with you my journey through this debate.  I'm very happy and content with my domestic machine (Janome 6500) and will do my best to produce quilts that I will be proud of and that will be cherished by  my family and friends who receive them.  I will take what I've learned from Ricky Tims (about level working space for machine quilting) to do machine quilting, will keep working at my hand quilting skill and will enjoy the learning process and forgive myself for my first stitches.    Here's a closeup of the quilting:

If one day an opportunity should arise for me to have a long arm then I will revisit that option.  But for now, I'm glad to be slowing down and enjoying the therapeutic approach to my hobby.

Disappearing Nine Patch

This is a very simple construction technique and very quick to assemble.  This is one I made my niece Becky for Christmas 2009: