And the quilt goes to....

I usually try and gift a quilt for one person/family per year at Christmas.  This year I presented this quilt to my pastor and his wife (Bruce & Lorraine).

I started it at Quilting in the Trees, my annual June retreat at Pearson College here in Victoria with the Victoria Quilters' Guild.  It was a mystery quilt created and led by Kelly English and Arlene MacKenzie.  We had great fun and the different looks with different fabric choices were amazing.  Some in the class chose to turn the centre block different ways which gave theirs an even different look yet!

My sunflower batik fabric called me loudly from Bib n Tucker Quilt Shop here in Victoria.  We were told to choose a focus fabric plus a dark (my brown), medium (my gold) and light (my off white) coordinating fabric.  All of it is batiks.  The back is the dark sunflower focus fabric.  I think I bought the whole bolt.  This is the result! 

I was going to send it to Arlene MacKenzie (On Point Quilting Studio) to long arm, but the more I looked it the more I figured it would be fun to do some custom quilting on my domestic Janome 6500.  And it just so happened that I had another quilt retreat with my satellite group in November at Honeymoon Bay Retreat Centre near Cowichan, up island, so this was the perfect time away to devote the attention and time needed for this project.  I love the result and Bruce and Lorraine love it too.

It gave me great joy to create this quilt for them.  I accompanied this one with a prayer that they would feel the Father's love for them every time they snuggled under it.   I hope they are enjoying it as much as I did during the creation of it.

Now...back to my 2 Bonnie Hunter mystery quilts.  I'm behind on the steps for the Roll Roll Cotton Boll and am anxious to see how all these lovely colours will fit together into the finished quilt top.  And I'm still quilting the Carolina Christmas, last year's mystery.

AND I have 4 days off so I will have some time to play.  Yippee!!

Mavis

Pillowcase Prezzies!

It's safe for me to post these photos because I don't think that any of the recipients follow my blog.  I may be surprised but I am so excited to have finished all of these in record time (aka BEFORE Christmas) that I just had to share them:

I used the "sausage roll" method of making these so they all have finished seams.  Here's a link:  http://www.wendacoburn.com/sausagerollpillowcasefun.pdf

They were a fun and quick present to make.

Now off to finish off a quilt for my pastor and his wife for delivery later this week.  Pictures to follow!

Have a great week leading up to Christmas!

Mavis

Roll, Roll, Rolling along...

I'm forging ahead and almost keeping up with Bonnie Hunter's newest online mystery quilt entitled "Roll Roll Cotton Boll" (www.quiltville.com).

I am currently on Step 3 which is 60 string blocks measuring 8 1/2" square.  I started with photocopy paper and grew weary of that within the first 10 minutes.  There has to be a better way, I said to myself!  Then I popped down to Bib n Tucker Quilting to pick up a book I had ordered and guess what I found?  Ricky Tims Stable Poly Stuff.  That's the real name; I kid you not. I never even knew it existed.  It's like a washaway stabilizer but it doesn't have any glue in it at all.  It dissolves with the first washing of the quilt.  And it was 20% off ~ bonus!!  So it came home with me and I've been happily playing with these string blocks (my first time) and quite enjoying the process now that I know I don't have to tear the paper off.

As I was sewing I was trying to watch the latest episode on The Quilt Show but the volume of my DH's TV made it hard to hear.  He's watching Ben Hur (tis the season you know!) and the sound of the chariots definitely drowned out the sound of Ami Sims sharing about her Alzheimer Quilt initiative.  I can always go back and watch it again.

In the meantime, here's a photo of tonight's efforts so far:

My beginning ones were pretty tame.  As I saw the other ones in the quiltville yahoo group album I decided that I needed to let loose and let the dark strips in too and the uglies and the ones with some colour.  Neutral is an objective term and apparently I'm quite 'reserved'.  I'm so excited to see how this quilt turns out.  I do love a good mystery!!

Now I'm trying to keep my eyeballs open long enough to sneak a peak at Friday's clue.  It's already Friday in North Carolina so I figure Bonnie's blog should be loading Clue 4 before I go to bed tonight.  West Coast time is 9:57 p.m. which is 12:57 a.m. in North Carolina, which is ..... Friday!

Back to do a couple more before I call it a night!

Until next time,
Mavis

Quilting as I go...

I have now finished  my Carolina (Canadiana) Christmas blocks and they are currently hanging on my design wall looking gorgeous!  I'm very excited to get this one finished.  Thank you to Bonnie Hunter from quiltville.com for this design/mystery.

I decided to try a 'quilt as you go' method because I am doing sashing on this quilt and it lends itself wonderfully to quilting each block and then merging them together...and it's going to be a king sized quilt and it will be much easier to quilt it one block at a time.

I'm using the "Twirly Tucks Variation 1" from my Quilting Designs disk (a Quiltmaker product).  I've enlarged the design to 16" and have pasted my 4 sheets of laser printer paper together to make one big design.

First I thought I would needlepunch the design and 'pounce' the quilt top, each block just before getting ready to sew it.  Great idea but the execution left something to be desired.  Some of the holes showed the chalk markings but it was not easy to follow the design.  I don't need any stumbling blocks in my way when it comes to machine quilting.

Second, I thought I would trace it onto 'tulle' and then transfer it with a quilt pencil onto the top of the quilt.  With such a big design (16" square) the tulle moved too much and the image was distorted as a result.

Third try ~ I pulled out some thicker tissue/pattern design paper and traced the design onto the tissue paper and then pinned it onto the quilt square and then quilted through the tissue.

It worked the best of the three different methods but I really hate tearing the paper away after the fact (one of the reasons I don't paper piece too much!).

If it was a sunny day I would probably tape the design to the window and then tape the quilt block on top and trace the design right onto the quilt top.  But alas, it's a dark Sunday evening and I won't have any daytime quilt time until next weekend.

Here are two of the blocks, now quilted:

On this one I used my walking foot.  Lots of moving the block around but the quilt design worked quite well.

Here's the free-motion version:

I think I did better on the walking foot except for the little humps which it stalls on (intersections).

Here's a closeup of the poinsetta block done free motion:

Not my best work but maybe they'll improve as I get a few more blocks done.

Off to feed the troops, fold some laundry and then get back to the sewing machine.

Until next time,
Mavis

Carolina Christmas (Canadiana Christmas is my version)

I'm done my first step of the Roll Roll Cotton Boll mystery quilt but on a 'roll' so decided I would continue piecing my Canadiana Christmas quilt.  I'm still short some blocks and will have to cut more but here's the first row done!  The only thing missing is the sashing in between the blocks.  I'm trying to make it a King sized quilt and am seriously thinking about doing a 'quilt as you go' approach to getting it quilted.  I don't think I could manage a king-sized quilt on my Janome 6500 but I am quite certain I could handle these 16" finished blocks.  I will still ponder that and see how I feel when my wool batting (Hobb's Heirloom Wool Batting) arrives from Fabric Depot.

In the meantime I think I will surf the Net and see if there are some tutorials out there.  I know there are many methods of QAYG (quilt as you go).  I just don't want my quilt to be obviously QAYG.  I've got some time to make up my mind as I've still got many blocks to assemble.

Here's a photo of the first row:

I'm LOVING this quilt!  It was going to go in our Queen Suite in our B&B, but I've decided we need a warmer winter quilt for our bed and this Canadiana Christmas will do the trick, especially with warm wool batting.

I can hardly wait to get this one finished.

Warm quilty wishes!!

Mavis

Friday Night Sew-in - perfect timing for Roll Roll Cotton Boll new Quiltville mystery

I've been waiting for the first clue of Bonnie Hunter's newest mystery quilt..."Roll Roll Cotton Boll".  I was able to print out the first clue before the clock struck 12:00 last night ~ one of the benefits of living on the West coast!!

I changed my colours after spending last weekend away at a quilting retreat and spotting this colour combo in a magazine.Up to that time I was struggling with shopping from my stash.  Chioices were teal, purple, gold, cream which I loved but couldn't choose a constant so I kept switching it up.  Not satisfied with any of them.   I've now chosen light pink, greens, blacks and tone on tone white/light cream with a double pink/raspberry as my "constant" (Bonnie's lingo for one colour that ties the scrappy colours together nicely).

The first step is 3 2" strips; two pink with one green in the middle.  Then cut into 2" sub-strips.  Here is the result:  172 units done!

Until next time!
Mavis

Homemade Christmas

Every Christmas Eve, my family gathers with my sister's family, usually at our house.  We usually do a themed Christmas Eve dinner.  We save turkey and all the fixins for Christmas Day.

One of our first themed dinners was "My Big Fat Greek Christmas Eve".  The colours, blue and white, of course, the food ~ as authentic Greek as we could muster ~ my DH does a fabulous barbequed lamb roast; couple that with Greek lemon potatoes (one of my sister's specialties), my homemade baklava, spanakopita, etc. and you guessed it, we rolled ourselves away from the table after lots of great food and conversation and more often than not, some of DH's prize-winning wine.  These are memorable family times.

I usually give one family member a quilt for Christmas each year.  Last year my niece got a black and white and hot pink disappearing Nine-Patch which was very warmly received and to this day cherished (gives me a warm fuzzy feeling knowing my homemade gift blessed my kin).  I don't have any quilts for family members this year but I have issued a challenge to my rellies ~ 'we're going to have a homemade Christmas'. So far, my knitting daughter is on board (she had already starting knitting Christmas presents for her cousins); my wine-maker husband is on board; my musician son is on board, and me and my sewing machine are warming up to get down to business.

I love the idea of taking time (away from the mall) to think about using our giftings and talents to create something to give to someone else.  They don't have to be elaborate, professional productions.  I'm working on knitting socks for my DH and DS.  They are excited to receive them.  I love the feeling that I'm going to give them something I myself have made.  It's a great feeling.  The less time shopping the better as far as I'm concerned.

And as for the meal this year....Christmas in Tuscany.  I envision warm candlelight and my favourite people around my table enjoying our favourite Italian foods and in those quiet moments between bites and conversation, pondering the love that went in to our gifts to one another.  I imagine the expressions on their faces when they unwrap my gift from the heart.

I'm still formulating my gift ideas.  Tomorrow is November 1st which always seems to signal me to get busy cutting and sewing because those days on the calendar are closer than they appear.

Now I'm off to my stash to go shopping and see what I can find for these gifts.

Is it too soon to say Merry Christmas??

Until next time,
Mavis