Some finishes...

I had a great week which included some finishes.  Among these were:

The Curly Birds of Bend

All quilted, labeled, bound, and done!  I started this in July of 2012 while in Sisters, Oregon.  The fabric captivated me in Bend, Oregon and that night in the hotel room, I started cutting and piecing this very easy quilt.  The pattern is called "Shenandoah" and is great for focus fabric that you can't bear to cut up.

And this one has gone to the longarm quilter, Teresa Ranson, to be finished as it's a king-sized quilt for my bed.  This was a Bonnie Hunter mystery a few years ago which was entitled "Carolina Christmas".  Well, Miss Bonnie lives in North Carolina and I live in Canada, so mine is called "Canadiana Christmas".  This quilt should be home in plenty of time to adorn my bed for the Christmas season.

I'll have another finish this week.  I'm just finishing off the binding and then I'll shoot some pictures to upload.

Until next time,

Mavis

Design Decisions

As I mentioned in my previous post, I've now started two of the Disappearing Fat Quarters mystery quilts, the second one so that I could help my friend with the instructions she missed.

I took both quilt tops to class today and here's what I've decided:

This one is done.  It will be a Christmas table topper and I love it just the way it is.

So I will just be quilting it as is and binding it and it will be done.   I really love this colourway.

This one is not done and I've been struggling with what to do next:

I only got some dark green borders on it after this point and then I packed it in and decided that before I cut fabric and waste it, that I would do some designs in EQ7 first.

I narrowed it down to these two:

Option #1

Option #2

I've decided I like the second option more as it highlights the flying geese and doesn't fight with that border.  I also like the way it looks like ribbon and adds some nice curve illusions to the quilt.

I'm going to sleep on it and see if I still feel the same way tomorrow.

Until next time,

Mavis

Doubles...

I liked the Disappearing Fat Quarter SO much that I was envisioning this one in this colourway and started making a second.  My justification:  my friend couldn't take the class on Saturday even though she was enrolled, so I needed to help her get through the homework.

Here's where I got:

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This is just the centre medallion.  It still needs the strata strips and the geese but I like it!  It will be the winter version.

Mavis

Disappearing Fat Quarters, the Sequel

Yesterday I posted about my mystery quilt Saturday workshop.  I finished all the flying geese and the four cornerstone blocks.  They were very quick!  I think it took longer to iron the geese than it did to create them.

And here is where I got to last night which is all my homework now done.

I love it!  And funny, I've got two of my former quilt designs swimming around in my head.  I think it's a familiarity thing,.  It these two:

The top one is my own design called Corn & Beans in Provence.  The second one is another Kelly & Arlene mystery and I think it was called "Dash to the Finish".

Well, it's Monday morning and the coffee is almost consumed so I better sign off and get ready for work.

Mavis

What I'm working on...

Good rainy morning!

We're having our first rainfall in a lot of days.  The west coast is nicknamed the 'wet coast' for a good reason.  It rains lots here.  But not this summer/autumn.  It's been very dry and I know of at least one well in our area outside Victoria that has dried up.  Not a drop of water to be found.  So, needless to say, the rain is welcome.

As I write this, I can hear the constant tapping of the raindrops on our metal roof and it's comforting.  I don't have to be outside thankfully so bring on the rain!  Our gardens and lawns need it so badly, as does our reservoir.  It's one of those days where you just want to hunker down, put on a cozy fire, make a pot of tea and enjoy an indoor activity.

And here's what I'm working on today:

I received back yesterday "The Blessing" king sized quilt for our B&B King Suite.  It is now officially a quilt after the loving stitches added by Arlene MacKenzie of On Point Quilting Studio have sandwiched it together.   It's a LARGE quilt (understatement much!) and Arlene did a beautiful job on her long arm machine.  I'm now busy sewing on the polka dot binding.  I'm so happy with this quilt and I hope the guests who get to sleep under it will be blessed.  I named it The Blessing because this year our B&B business has been blessed and I wanted to name it something that would count as a spiritual monument to help us remember a year of blessing.

Here's a picture of "The Blessing".

and a closeup of Arlene's quilting on the back:

Yesterday I also attended a mystery quilt workshop through our guild.  It was called "Disappearing Fat Quarters" and our workshop teachers were the same Arlene MacKenzie who quilted "The Blessing", and her sidekick/co-creator of the quilt pattern, Kelly English.  They have done lots of mystery quilts and other classes at our annual retreat held at Pearson College and I've been in at least 3 of their classes, so I knew it would be a fun day.

The hardest part is choosing colours when you don't know what the pattern is.  You can usually glean a few hints from the description.  They used terms like 'modern' but that didn't give me enough to go on to feel comfortable.  But never fear, our fearless leaders are always available to answer anxious questions about whether fabric choices are suitable.  And Arlene gave me some necessary feedback about adding more variety, so I did just that.  And I'm pleased..very pleased.  Here's where I got to yesterday:

 The centre medallion is 4 blocks (before the triangle setting blocks) and they are a Double Disappearing Nine Patch. Here's a tutorial from a blog that I found that illustrates the method well:  tutorial for Double Disappearing Nine Patch.

Math is amazing and when Arlene and Kelly told us that they could get 4 setting triangles out of one fat quarter, I confess that I thought they were math heretics!  But I'm now a believer!  A FQ is 18x22 in most cases.  What we did was cut a 17 inch square from one fat quarter, then added a 2 1/2" strip on all four sides then cut into 4 smaller triangles (like an X).  And they fit perfectly!  Wow!!

We also learned about 3-D flying geese which is a COOL method and so quick!  Here's a link to a you tube video of Ricky Tims demonstrating the method.  3 D Flying Geese Video.  The time is in the cutting but after that the geese units are done in a flash.  So I'm now at the point where I have to make 48 of those to fly around the quilt and then 4 of a block called the 10 Minute Book as the cornerstones.  Here's another video demonstrating those blocks:  10 Minute Blocks.  The last half of the workshop is next Saturday so I'm really hoping to get a lot accomplished this week since my DH is out of town visiting his best buddy and not back until next Sunday evening.  We will be considering border options next week but until then, I have HOMEWORK to do!

After all that creative stimulation yesterday I had busy brain last night while trying to go to sleep.  All I could see was all my UFOs stacking up in their little bins under my quilt frame.  I knew that I had today started another NEW project on top of all the UFOs.   Oh my...so I took the first step...I updated my list to include UFOs (unfinished objects), PIGS (projects in grocery sacks) and WIP (work in progress).  The UFOs and WIP are really the same thing.  Work in Progress sounds way better than UFO, don't you agree?  PIGS include all the new projects I've got in my head and in some cases, fabric pulled and kitted up with patterns ready to go.  I just need to finish a few of the UFOs to be able to give myself permission to start 'another' new project.  I told myself no new projects this year until all my UFOs were done.  Right!!  Like that was going to happen.  Anyway, I am going to finish some things this week and I'll report more and upload some more pictures, but for now, I hear The Blessing call me from the other room, begging to be finished, so I'm off to bind that quilt and listen to the rain.

Blessings on your Sunday,

Mavis

Studio Tour - Victoria Quilters' Guild Sept 22/12

Yesterday, my quilt guild held a tour of six studios of members in our guild.  The ticket prices were $10.00 and the funds are going into a special fund to bring in guest speakers from further afar.  I thought it was a great idea and promptly bought my ticket.  After our B&B guests had checked out and the laundry and dishes had been started, it was time for me to sneak away for a few hours for some inspiration.  And I was inspired!

It's always great to see the other girls' stashes, storage, workspaces, projects and this tour did not disappoint.  We have some quality quilters/teachers in our community.  Let me introduce you to some of them who were highlighted in yesterday's tour:

I started in Fairfield, just off Dallas Road where our very own Laine Canivet  has her studio.  Laine does abstract and pictorial fabric art and handmade journals and has taught in the past at our Quilting in the Trees annual retreat.

This is a photo in her basement workshop where does all the messy creative stuff with fabric dying, painting and booking binding.

I apologize for the fuzzy picture.  Blackberry camera and light coming in from her window made it not the best photo but you get the idea.

Here is one of Laine's photo transfers on canvas that is then quilted:

Upstairs is her sewing room.  I loved her storage system for her stash, tucked away in a cove in the wire baskets.  It works great!   I really admire Laine's 'read and play' approach and her talent for design.  She told us about some of her sources of inspiration, Cloth, Paper Scissors Magazine and Quilting Arts Magazine, and that after reading she'll just go and play and experiment.   I read those too, but haven't actually been brave enough to play and experiment.  Laine inspired me to take a chance next time I get one (workshop probably) and I think I will.  It's good to stretch our creative muscles and I'm going to!


My next stop was Sharon White's place.  She's another storage queen. 

I love how she painted plain banker boxes with the same paint as her walls and then adorned her shelves with these beauties.  Sharon is obviously an organized quilter.  She had a small but orderly and efficient space.
 

 Don't you love these little bins used for her thread?

My hubby has used them in his shop, but it has never occurred to me to use them in my sewing studio.  She also had fashioned a layout surface on top of an old bed with wooden rails all around it, and a great design wall in her living room which doubles as a rod for hanging quilts when she doesn't need the design wall.  Brilliant use of space!


Next was Lenny DeGroot's studio.  Oh my!!  Lenny has taught free motion quilting among other things for the guild and her work is exquisite!  Here's a photo of her 'Flowers" quilt that she did as 'quilt as you go'.  Isn't it gorgeous!?  It took two strong men to hang this quilt in her livingroom and what a breathtaking view as you enter this room.

This is her sewing room which is bright and tidy.  Don't you love the quilting blocks in her window valance? 

I would love to take a class with Lenny for this quilt which she currently has for sale:

Next was Bette Anderson's studio, also in Saanich.  Bette's studio is above what I think is a garage and she calls it her "Girl Cave".

There is a small deck off her studio and I could imagine having a nice cup of coffee out there while looking through patterns or quilting books/magazines.  Bette's space is very organized and her storage system is to die for!  Look at these storage bins that her hubby built for her!  She said he bent and molded the plastic which stands just over a foot high.  And every one has holes so that the fabric can breathe (at least that's my assumption).  They are each on a pull out drawer and all colour coordinated and behind closed doors when not being used.

I love her ironing board too.  It's a standard ironing board with marine wood added and wrapped in special material to withstand the heat.  Maybe if I show the photo to my hubby he could make me one too.  :o)

This is a beautiful studio and it was hard not to be envious of her space.  In a word ~ gorgeous!

And then I headed up the Saanich Peninsula to Daphne Greig's studio.   Daphne also owns www.patchworkstudio.com and travels internationally teaching. 

This quilt greeted us on her front door:

Daphne had quilts, patterns and even fabric kits and videos for sale.  I managed to resist but thoroughly enjoyed talking with her and seeing her quilts and class samples.   Here are a few that were on her wall.  Some were for sale and some were 'priceless'.

I've never taken one of her workshops but will hopefully get the chance soon.  Daphne is teaching in Kona, Hawaii in February 8-17, 2013 at www.comequiltwithme.com.  Oh, I wish!!  Wouldn't that be fun?

Before I lieft I noticed that she had her stash cupboard open for us to see.  This one is more like mine (but tidier than mine at the moment) with plastic containers organized by size or colour family:

And my last stop was Arlene MacKenzie's studio.  Arlene was the only longarm quilter on the tour and we got to see her in action working on a baby quilt.   I forgot to take a picture at her place unfortunately so you can visit her website (link above) and see some photos there.

Arlene has now done over 1,000 quilts and her work is stunning.  In fact, she has one of my quilts waiting in line and I was wondering if it might be on the frame when I arrived.  It wasn't as it's still waiting its turn.  I wasn't expecting it until the beginning of October  but I thought it might be fun to see my quilt on the frame but it was still sleeping soundly in its bag.  Hey it's all good.  She was waiting for some new parts for her Gammill and now it's as smooth as butter and she'll be back working on big quilts soon, including mine.  Yippee!  I can hardly wait.

So, it was a great day and I learned about some of our guild members, saw some beautiful sewing/creative spaces and quilts and came home with an unction to clean up my sewing space and revisit my storage solution and stretch my creative muscles into the art quilts arena.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing these photos and that you will visit their respective websites/blogs.

Until next time,

Mavis

Hand Sewing with Bonnie

I have many, many quilting projects on the go.  Amongst them are 2 hand quilting projects.

Bonnie Hunter from www.quiltville.blogspot.com has issued a challenge for September, which by the way is National Sewing Month in the USA.  I'm calling it International Sewing Month so Canada can be included.  :o)   The challenge is to hand sew 1 hour per day (where possible) to push stagnating projects forward.  I confess that I was a bit reluctant to commit a whole hour every day to hand quilting.  I work Mon to Fri, 9-5 plus run a B&B so time is precious and I hesitate to structure my sewing time like that.  But here's the thing...I really want to get my hand quilting projects done...especially this one.  So I'm committing to do my best to do some quilting on it every day until it's done.

Here's the story behind this quilt:

My quilting friend Janet passed away a few years ago.  Her husband held a garage sale to pass on her fabric and quilt items.  This partially completed soft peaches and cream Irish Chain quilt was among the items for sale.  Janet got it to the blocks stage.   I'm quite sure she planned for some applique or something in the plain blocks to make the quilt pop more.   I remember she did a similar one with some embroidery which won Best in Show at the first Westshore Quilters' Guild.  She was more than thrilled and I was rejoicing with her that day when I saw the ribbons.

Anyway, this was one of the treasures from that garage sale day.  I wanted to keep this one for myself because it will always remind me of Janet. 

I've chosen to hand quilt this "Peaches and Cream" quilt in green thread to make it pop a bit.

I've got one block quilted and fourteen  to go!

I've used a green Frixion pen to mark the feather wreath and this one is next!

Once all the hand quilting is done, I'll be back to quilting the rest by machine in green thread diagonally through the 16 patches.  At least I think I will.  Who knows?  Maybe I'll be inspired to hand quilt the whole thing.  It is very therapeutic and Lord knows I can use some therapy!

It's almost a queen sized quilt so I wonder if I can get all that hand quilting done in September.  What about you?  Are you up for a challenge?  I would LOVE to get this quilt done.  Perhaps since we've had such a busy summer at our B&B it will be a great excuse for me to slow down, put my feet up and lovingly sew some stitches into Janet's quilt.

Here's a picture of the full quilt.  Thanks Bonnie for the kick in the rear.  I can do this! 

Hey, anybody seen my thimble??

Mavis