Monday 30 June 2014

Modern Totems II - A Work in Progress

Happy Monday, all! I'm just finishing up the pattern for Modern Totems. Yes, it's almost finished! I've been learning GIMP to do the diagrams and it's finally starting to click. Ha ha. And when this one is done, I'm going back to finish up the diagrams for my Falling for Stripes pattern. 

Here is my test top of the pattern. Very bright, summery colours for this one. The fabric is a charm pack of Moda's Snap Pop and some Kona White yardage. This baby is now all basted and ready to be quilted. 


Stay cool, people!

Monday 23 June 2014

Thread Heaven (And Fabric too!)

Friday was a freaking GREAT mail day! I received not one, but two prizes I won recently. First up was this Aurifil set that I won from the Bloggers Quilt Festival with Amy's Creative Side. The Alison Glass collection -- be still my Aurifil-loving heart! I've been eyeing this exact collection (and the fabric line too!) Thank you so much, Aurifil and Amy!




Next up was the delicious bundle of fabric that I won from the Niagara Modern Quilt Guild Show last weekend at Quilt Canada. These fabrics came from The Workroom, Needlework, Stitch and Modern Bee. More great shops to explore when I get down to the Toronto-Niagara area again. Thanks NMQG and these wonderful shops!


I finally finished the Weathervane block. I did switch out the Orange Stitch fabric for a coral Painter's Canvas and I'm so glad I did. This is a great block, but I kept making silly mistakes so I spent a lot of time with my stitch ripper. I'm very happy with how it turned out though so it was all worth it! Hopefully Lisa will be pleased with it too!


Happy Monday, all!

Sunday 22 June 2014

Like A Flash

Best shower interruption question for a quilter: "Mommy, when you're done your shower, can we start a new quilt?" True story!

***

Who doesn't like a Flash Sale? Sew Sisters Quilt Shop is having an Inventory Reduction Sale today, June 22nd! This is an online event only (the store is closed). As this is an Inventory Reduction Sale, quantities are limited and fabrics cannot be backordered. Select alternate fabrics in case your choices sell out - things go really quickly during their sales!

Inventory Reduction Sale500

***

And finally making progress. :)


Have a great weekend!

Friday 20 June 2014

TGIFF! - Rainbow Creek Meets Niagara Falls

Happy, happy Friday, all! I'm excited to share my finished Rainbow Creek quilt with you! Woo hoo! Yes, another rainbow quilt. There can never be enough rainbow quilts, right? Right!

This was made using a jelly roll of Kona's New Bright Palette, a few more strips for the rainbow from my stash and some Kona Charcoal.


The quilting is straight-line like Mod 1600, but I added some wavy lines in some of the blue strips. Still love the fact that it looks quilted every 1/2" on the front, but when you flip it over, there are skipped lines. I don't know why, but little surprises like that make me smile. It's quilted with 50 wt. Aurifil 2630 on top (perfect match for Kona Charcoal!) and 2021 on the back. Yum!




The back uses the IKEA Numbers fabric paired with some good ole Cape Breton tartan. You'll be seeing a lot more of the Numbers fabric for my backings as I just snagged a bolt of it. Why a bolt? Well, it's been...wait for it...discontinued! Gasp! Thanks for the heads up, Katy.


Lessons learned:
  • Do not assume that all the strips coming out of a jelly roll are the same length. This strip quilt would have been easier to keep square if I'd cut all the strips to the same size before sewing them together. I ended up cutting a lot away from the edges because I just sewed them all the strips together without checking their lengths.
  • Taking photos on the Hornblower by the Falls is wet. Very wet. ;) My family is getting used to me bringing quilts along to get photos at interesting places. We'll see how long that acceptance lasts. LOL! Here are some of the outtakes:





Finished Size: 80" x 91"
Batting: Hobbs Heirloom

Linking up with the Lorna @ Sew Fresh Quilts who is hosting this week's TGIFF!

Thursday 19 June 2014

That's So Random

If you are in the Ottawa area this Saturday, The Country Quilter is having their annual Outdoor Quilt Show in Richmond this Saturday, June 21st from 9:30 a.m - 4:00 p.m. Admission is Free! Yes, that's right. Free! The Annual Outdoor Quilt show takes place in the garden at The Country Quilter and will feature the work of Beth Cameron, the Artist In Residence, and fibre artist Susan Curtis. Yay! Love their work! There will also be a used book sale and scissor and rotary blade sharpening (and other cutting tool sharpening) available. That part is probably not free though. ;)

Speaking of The Country Quilter, I will be teaching my Modern Totems class there on Saturday, July 26th, from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Come join us!

***

Craftsy's having a Flash Sale! Save up to 65% off with Craftsy's Supplies Flash Sale until Friday, June 20 at 11:59 p.m. MT. FYI, I am an affiliate.

Knitting Supplies at Craftsy.com
 
***

From http://www.chicagonow.com/quilting-sewing-creating/2014/03/more-quilt-e-cards/#image/6

For more random, check out Really Random Thursday with the lovely Cindy at Live a Colorful Life.

Really Random

Wednesday 18 June 2014

On A Mission

The kids finish school this week so this is my last window of concentrated child-free time for a while. Most people would take the opportunity to organize their house (we still have winter clothes in the drawers) or go get a haircut, but I'm going to use it to achieve one of my goals for this year.

This is my motto this week.

Eleanor Roosevelt
From: http://bowtiesandsunshine.tumblr.com/post/79653824587/kathleenekins-9-365-eleanor-roosevelt

It has to do with this:


Fun, eh?

Is there something you think you cannot do? Well, I'll share this motto with you then too, okay? ;) Now, let's get at it!

Monday 16 June 2014

What A Trip!

It was a quick trip to Quilt Canada 2014 in St. Catharines, but it was so inspirational! One day, I'll stay for the whole thing and do some classes, but this year my mom, sister and I just took in some of the shows. I didn't expect to run into so many people that I knew from Ottawa. What a treat!

There is no photography of the quilts in the National Juried Show. :( *Edited: CQA put up a gallery of the National Juried Show quilts though!* Wow, the quilts were amazing! I picked up a catalogue so I could take the inspiration with me. Yes, that's my quilt in the catalogue! I got some lovely emails from people who saw it in the show too. You guys are awesome!


We saw the National Juried Show, the Invitational Show, the Fibre Arts Network Show and the Niagara Modern Quilt Guild Show. What a feast for the eyes! 

***The following photos and projects are not my own, but I've put in links to the original images and/or creators where possible. If for any reason you do not want your project featured here, please email me and I'll remove it.***

I was in awe of so many of the quilts, but here are a couple of my favourites from the other shows:

Jacob's Arrows by Heather Bennett-Chamberlain

Fifties Flare - Representational (Left) - Valerie Wilson, Abstract (Right) - Brandy Maslowski

No quilt show would be complete without a visit to the Merchant Mall, right? In addition to all the goodies available for purchase, there was plenty of quilt inspiration too:

Quilt Junction:


Innova Longarm Quilting Systems:


The Running Stitch:

That's my awesome sister! :)

JP's Quilt Studio - Stoney Creek, ON:


I couldn't help but stock up on a few goodies. He he. Wonder what these will be used for?


After the shows, my sis, mom and I met the guys and the kids at Niagara Falls. We couldn't pass up the kids' first visit to the Falls without taking a ride on the Hornblower.


Some funky high contrast setting on my camera

I was glad we saved the visit to the Niagara Falls for after the shows because this is Mother Nature's idea of what my hair should look like. LOL!


Hope you had a wonderful weekend too!

Thursday 12 June 2014

It's All Random

Quilt Canada started on Tuesday and goes until Saturday. I'm going on Saturday! Woo hoo! I still can't believe Happy Canada Day, Eh! is hanging in the National Juried Show. Eeek! Are you going?

***

While reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to my oldest, he turned to me in all seriousness and said, "Fleur's French accent is terrible." "Thanks, Patrick, you do realize that I'm making her accent?" It took a good five minutes before we stopped giggling.

***

With all three boys in school now, I finally got to be a 'parent volunteer' on a school trip this week. We took my oldest's class to Arbraska Lafleche, a local zipline park and caves. Very fun.

There were lots of frogs of all sizes.


The cave. There are bats, but we didn't see any. Yay!


Very cool trees with exposed roots.


Me and my monkey.


Some neat 'clip' art they had on display.



It's voting day here in Ontario. Get out the vote!

Random enough for ya? Want more? Check out Really Random Thursday with the lovely Cindy at Live a Colorful Life.

Really Random

Wednesday 11 June 2014

So Where Were We?

Well, the craziness has died down a little bit, thankfully. Winter schedules collided with end of school year special activities and the start of summer schedules. Fun, fun, fun!

I did get to teach another Modern Free Motion Quilting Sampler class for The Country Quilter last week. I really like teaching...adults...for a day...on one of my favourite topics. ;) The feedback has been really good too. Phew! It's such a charge to see the students leave the class more experienced, knowledgeable and enthusiastic about free motion quilting.

I started getting in a bit of quilting in again on Monday. Lisa for our Canadians Quilt Bee has selected a Weathervane block (Tutorial) for June and she provided the centre square. She had a list of colours along a bright summery theme. I got to this point, when a little voice told me to doublecheck the colours she had listed. No orange on the list. Oops. Glad I stopped here!



While I waited to see if she really didn't want orange (doesn't hurt to ask, right? ;) ), I cut up the fabrics needed to test my Modern Totems pattern. I'm liking it so far. :)


Also, the quilting has begun for Rainbow Creek. I'm listening to Cuckoo Calling by Robert Galbraith (a.k.a. J.K. Rowling) and its keeping me going. Straight-line quilting a big quilt = boring. Ooh, just had an idea to add in a little squiggle line here and there and I think it might work well. Off to find out what happened to Lula Landry...


What are you working on?

Tuesday 3 June 2014

A Little Retail and Block Therapy

I'm in the mood for some retail therapy! How about you?

Fabric Spot is having a Surprise Sale! Until Friday, June 6, Midnight EST, you can get 20% off the store (excludes clearance, sale, gift cards and pre cuts). Minimum cut is 1/2 yard. Remember that Charley Harper Twig fabric in Teal that I used for my needle books? Well, it's on sale at Fabric Spot! And Karen has it in flannel too! Just sayin'.

Also, if you are in the Ottawa area, Mad About Patchwork is opening today in her new location, 2477 Huntley Road in Stittsville, just south of Fallowfield Road. Check out the sneak peek for pictures and hours. Can't make it in person? Doesn't matter, 'cause Pam's offering free shipping on all orders in Canada from now until Friday, June 6th (coupon code: MOVED).

Sew what have I been up to? Not much sewing that's for sure. But I did get a few bee blocks done last week.

These fun Curved Improv Log Cabin blocks are for Carly at Citric Sugar (just love that blog name) for our Canadians Quilt Bee. She has a great tutorial on her blog. The block looks more intimidating than it is.


These are Simply Woven blocks for April in one of my OMQG bees. I love how clever this one is to make. Pattern is available for free at Moda Bake Shop. April's doing her quilt with Denyse Schmidt's Flee Market Fancy line. I can't wait to see all the blocks together -- it's going to look fabulous! I will definitely be doing this one again.



Hope you are having a great day!
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