Tuesday, September 04, 2018

Quilters Meet & Greet

After years of selling her quilt designs online, Benita from Victoriana Quilt Designs started a blog and is enjoying discovering the blogland quilting community. She is so excited that for the month of September she has set up a Quilters Meet & Greet and has invited several others to share a little info about our quilting adventures, so here goes.












Sea Glass

I don’t remember a time when quilts were not a part of my life. It is a bond that I happily share with my mother, many of my ancestors, and a circle of family and friends.

As a young girl, I remember crawling under the quilt frame that was set up in the kitchen as mom, aunts and friends stitched and chatted above me. Lying on the floor and looking up, it was like being in a fantastic tent with the ‘ceiling’ pattern changing as stitches were lovingly added to the hum of their chit-chat and laughter.

In my teens and twenties I made quilts for friends, honing my machine skills, including a king-sized wedding gift for my brother and his new bride. That thing was HUGE!

Goose Tracks
I came to my love of hand piecing thanks to Sigrid, a good friend of my sister Betty. A beautiful stitcher, she had a wonderful colour sense and was a huge Jinny Beyer fan.

She made me see how relaxing it is to just sit and sew without a machine. She also revealed that the richness of the final product often lies in a myriad of prints, generating lots of interest (and the opportunity to buy lots of different fabrics!). Goose Tracks is the first quilt that I made after her sudden passing and it is still a sentimental favourite.

Minnie




So, I slip between hand stitching and machine stitching, depending on my mood and the pattern; some call out to be hand stitched more than others.

My latest hand stitching infatuation seems to be hexies. I have been working on Minnie for a few years now; it is based on an old Welsh pattern and is made of 5/8" hexies. Stitching it feels like knitting to me.

Anna Levens







Last year I gave EPP a try when I started to work on Anna Levins. I have to say that I much prefer just sewing the hexies without the papers but I couldn’t figure out how else to get a clean frame around those beautiful floral centres. But that’s part of the learning, isn’t it? 










6.25" Thorn of Crown blocks from trimmings


And I love scraps, seemingly the smaller the better. I have a tough time throwing even the tiniest pieces away and they often end up becoming the impetus for new projects.













My sewing room


Most times my sewing room is one small step from total disaster, but it’s how I work. My fabrics are sorted by colour - and in a few cases by theme (Christmas) - so it’s easy to see things without having to dig into bins. Once my ‘favourite niece’ asked if I thought I had hoarder tendencies - can you believe it??? 😉











Sweets for the sweet
The Official Cookie Tester is always on hand to sample baked goods when I need a break from stitching and, to be honest, I think he quite enjoys his responsibility.








Candied Hexagons in the hoop
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Roberta at Cocoa and Quilts, my longarm quilter. Having grown up in a family of hand quilters it took me a while to come around to the notion of having some of my quilts machine quilted, but I am such a poky quilter (I always have a quilt in the hoop but it tends to stay there for a good year or two) that if my pieces are ever to be slept under I had to adapt. Roberta’s work is so precise and perfect, and our visits just make my day. Her little dog Ivy is pretty sweet too.






Betty's Fruit Salad
My blog has opened up a world of inspiration that I had never imagined - it amazes me that I can check in on quilters around the world. And I also look forward to sharing the beautiful work of my circle of creative family and friends. Seeing this wonderful craft live on is good for my soul.










Pumpkin Patch at Midnight


Bonita has created a great contest for the Meet & Greet that will run all month long. Every blog you visit gives you another entry for the Great Grand Prize (only 1 entry per blog) so be certain to visit the other guest bloggers.

Thanks so much for stopping by....M


My other favourite 'stash'









p.s. It may come as no surprise that my favourite tea is made by Stash 😉.

46 comments:

  1. Amazing quilts! So neat that you grew up making quilts and have continued that tradition!

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  2. Always fun to meet and read about other quilters and their endeavors! I'm a huge tea drinker myself -- and hexies, too!! :)

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  3. Nice to meet you Marie! Quilting certainly has been a big part of your life - keep it going!

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  4. Beautiful quilts and I know what you mean about hand work! I decided that I have waaaay too many projects to hand work all of them so its off to the machine more often than not. I do still have my hand work to carry to sit and stitch meetings so that is my "life-long" project. Thanks for sharing.

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  5. I just tried stitching hexies recently and it's very addictive. My only problem with it is that I enjoy basting them but not so much stitching them together into a project. As a result, I have boxes of basted hexies. I also have stacks of quilt tops waiting to be quilted, as my favorite part is piecing. I enjoy hand quilting but only on smaller projects as it takes so long to finish a larger quilt. Hand quilting always looks so far superior though. I offered to make my sister and her husband a quilt, and then found out that they have a California king, so I am not looking forward to that. Did you quilt the king size yourself?

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  6. Great share, Marie!
    My favourite pictures were your fabric storage and Bettys Fruit Salad - love them both!
    Thanks for being part of the Quilters Meet & Greet. <3

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  7. Your quilts are stunning, Marie! And, I love the stories you share! I’m really struggling with fabric storage ... I think your cubbies are the answer. I can only hope to have such a wonderful collection!

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  8. Thanks for telling me a little about your quilting journey. I looked and I looked but I couldn't find the link to register for the prize on your website. Is it there, and I just can't find it? ljbisme at msn dot com

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  9. Love the cubbie idea for your colors! I’ll have to try that. Couldn’t find your link for the giveaway though?

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  10. I enjoyed reading all about your quilting, you have made some beautiful quilts!

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  11. Love your blog. You have so much going on. Love the variety.

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  12. How fun to meet someone who is the total opposite of me when it comes to quilting!! Nine months after I pieced my first quilt, I bought a longarm!! I intensely dislike hand work and have even worked out how to sew down a binding using my machine!! Good thing the quilting world has room for all of us!! Your quilts are beautiful, even though the thought of all that hand work sends shivers down my spine!!

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  13. I guess I'm a hoarder, too, along with most of my quilting friends. I think this is a requirement of being a quilter. LOL I love the fabrics in your Sea Glass...so soft and inviting. Thanks for sharing!

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  14. It's been a pleasure to meet you and see your beautiful quilts.

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  15. What a delight to hear your story with photos of some of your remarkable work.

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  16. Marie, I thoroughly enjoyed your post and believe we are kindred spirits. I love using fabric to the very last inch! Your stash photo reminds me of the Scrap Station in my own studio. Thank you to Benita for introducing us!

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  17. It is such a pleasure to meet you! My favorite quilt is the pumpkins at midnight. Such beautiful and rich colors! Thank you for sharing!

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  18. Nice to meet you, and I know what you mean about scraps, LOL!! It was the primary reason for creating my Scrap Dance quilts.

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  19. Beautiful quilts!

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  20. Ha! I'll have to remember "Stash". I hadn't made that connection but that would be fun in a fabric gift basket or something! Thanks for sharing your talents!

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  21. So nice to meet you and your quilts, Marie! I admire and envy hand-quilting.

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  22. :) Stash tea; now that's perfect! Love your quilts. I love hand work and I've worked on 3 EPP ones. Lately, I'm doing a BOM Patchwork of the Crosses in 30s fabrics and feedsacks. I've never actually hand stitched regular blocks - I admire anyone who does. Beautiful hand quilting stitches.

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  23. Nice to meet you Marie! Beautiful quilts, and great post, thanks for sharing ;)

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  24. I have not done hand quilting except for a little applique and trying a few hexies--looks like you are a master at it!
    barbkaup(at)(yahoo)(dot)(com)

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  25. Wonderful story! I love your Sea Glass quilt as blue is a favorite color of mine. Your other quilts are just as lovely. Thank you for letting me visit.

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  26. LOL, I like the tea! And your quilting is gorgeous ;) The stash shelves are cool Too!

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  27. Hi Marie: was wonderful reading your story and reflecting on your journey/my journey and how our threads have entwined. Beautiful, keep going, you inspire me. Lindianna xo

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  28. Its so very mice to meet you. I love love love your quilts. especially the paper pieced ones.

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  29. Lovely quilts! Thanks for sharing your story

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  30. I'm totally smitten by your Sea Glass quilt! Stopping by from the Meet & Greet!

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  31. I also find it difficult to throw any scraps away but I really need to use some instead of them just sitting in a drawer. Thank you for sharing

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  32. Beautiful quilts you have created. I am also a fellow "can't throw a scrap away" person. LOL!! That does get us into trouble some days doesn't it. I really think our sewing rooms are supposed to look like a disaster area. For whatever reason, we keep trying to explain it away but I'm going with a new mindset...creatively cluttered! I do appreciate your hand pieced quilts. They are truly a labor of love!

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  33. Love your quilts. I am an addicted hexie quilt lover too. would love to join your blog.I have emailed you.

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  34. Sea Glass is exactly what I want - beautiful.

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  35. What fun to read about your quilting life!! Love your blog already..found you thru this Hop :) signing up to follow too.. Thank you for Welcoming us all into your Quilty World!! (Looove your Hexie's..I have just started to become addicted to making them too..giggle..)

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  36. How lucky you are to have grown up around quilts. Your work is beautiful.

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  37. It is so nice to have had a legacy of quilters to follow! Hand quilting and hand piecing is relaxing but for me it just take too long! I would never get all the ideas out of my head. 😉 I still dapple in hand work but mostly knitting now.

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  38. A scrappy quilter and a tea lover! I think we are two peas in a pod. I would love to learn more of your love for quilts and quilting with your mom. I have the Quilters Through The Generations series on Melva Loves Scraps and would love to feature you and your family in a story. davemelvanolan(at)aol(dot)com
    I hope to hear from you :)

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  39. 5/8th inch hexies? Oh my! Enjoyed my visit here with you - thank you.

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  40. The colors in this post are so pretty. The soft blues in sea glass are perfect for today -- wishing that was what those at the shore in North Caroline and South Carolina were seeing.

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  41. Your quilts are truly beautiful, a girl after my own heart scrappy and EPP! May your meditative sewing keep you sane for many years to come ;)

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  42. Great quilts, I love the sea glass. Thanks for sharing.

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  43. If I had to hand quilt all my quilts, no one would ever get a gift. Free motion quilting is my friend. Your Pumpkin Patch at Midnight is intriguing. Thanks for participating.

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  44. I enjoyed my read of your post Marie - and loved seeing snippets of your quilts. I agree with you oabout how much blogging has enriched my quilting world. :-)

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  45. Nice to meet you and enjoyed seeing your beautiful quilts!

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Thanks so much for stopping in - I look forward to reading your comments.