Sunday, May 22, 2022
Spectacular Slow Stitching
Sunday, May 08, 2022
Helping Mom With a Finish
And Roberta found a beautiful leafy floral pattern to quilt it with which really suits the floral print and leafy green backing. In the pattern, there were roses appliqued overtop of the grid of blocks but we opted not to go there.
Betty was keen to help out as well, so she finished it off by doing the binding and giving it a good wash. So, it's officially out of the box and ready to go. Bernadette's oldest sister is visiting this weekend so Anne will be able to hand deliver it. This was a great team effort to not only finish up one of mom's projects, but to be able to share her quilting legacy with extended family on this Mother's Day. Mom would be thrilled; I know we three are....MTuesday, May 03, 2022
To Scream or Not To Scream...
Keen to get Halo closer to the finish line now that the baby quilts are done, I've been focused on finishing up all the necessary pie shapes needed so that I can move on to assembling the blocks. I was getting to the end of the line so I started cleaning up the fabrics and templates and decided to take a look at the pattern again.
Things were eventually rearranged to where they should be but what made me want scream was the fact that I had sewn so many unneeded 'T' centres for the blocks - 15 in all. So I resorted to my tried and true crisis management technique: turn out the lights and leave the room.
Sanity prevailed a day or two later and I returned to begin sewing the blocks - finally! I have to say that I'm just loving seeing them come together.SO scrappy!As for those 15 extra T sections, not sure what their fate is. Maybe some day they will become a runner or a baby quilt, but right now I'm not up for cutting more pie-shaped pieces to finish them off. Time will tell....M
Friday, April 22, 2022
Winter White
Without further ado, here's the story of her latest beauty.
"When I started this quilt a few years ago, little did I know that periwinkle – one of my favourites – would be the 2022 Pantone colour of the year. I just knew I wanted to make these tones pop in a predominantly white quilt.
When Steve and I were married in June of 1984, I made my 'going away' outfit from this lovely periwinkle floral chintz, which I purchased from Riopelle’s on Bank Street, Ottawa. As was the fashion, the top had puffy sleeves and a sailor collar, and the skirt was fully pleated.
Channeling Laura Ashley, I wore this outfit for several years and then stored it away as a memento. Once I realized that my waist was never going to be that size again, I took a ripper to it and salvaged the fabric. There was lots to work with.
At that time, I sewed most of my clothes – it was easier to sew a garment than to buy it off the rack, so I frequented the downtown Ottawa fabric stores often. When the Zeller’s on Sparks Street was closing down I snapped up the tiny floral print in pink, blue and yellow, along with the large pink on white grid that I’ve used for the backing. All quality cottons.The solid periwinkle was also repurposed from a silk-lined linen top that my sister Dori passed on to me.
The white-on-white prints – a mix of warm and cool – are from my sister Marie, and the delicate batiste is from my friend Nancy. The embroidered entre-deux trim is also from her, a leftover from when we used to do traditional French sewing together.The tiny checked binding in periwinkle and white came from a dress shirt that belonged to my brother-in-law Charlie, who has excellent taste in clothes and fabric!
As for the pattern, I had never made a medallion quilt before. I did have a pattern for the main block, but not for the quilt top. I just winged it – and am still amazed at how the math turned out. It’s also the only square quilt I’ve ever made.Pieced and quilted completely by hand, it’s another klepto quilt to add to my collection. I’ve christened it Winter White, a perfect pairing for my all white Mother-of-the-Bride quilt."
What a beautiful combination of warm memories and re-purposed fabrics!....M
Sunday, April 17, 2022
A Soft Quilt For Baby
It's a delicate look without much fuss or bother but still enough interest in the prints to keep the attention of its intended user.
Tuesday, April 12, 2022
A Breakthrough for Baby
Time for some klepto quilting! I'd mentioned my quandary to Roberta and she came up with a beautiful taupe pin dot to save the day. It's a little hard to see it in this pic but it's creamy and the perfect blend for the strawberries. Pinch me.
There's a little bit of everything in the Monkey Wrench blocks but they all seem to work with the berry print. A lovely blue...a dusty pink floral...and a taupe polka dot, just to name a few.There's also a few bordered Nine Patch blocks that will be tossed in. It's a nice mix.Of course, Jack (the Ripper) had to save me from myself on one of the last blocks that were pieced. Guess I was just taking things for granted at that point.Anyway, it's on to sashing and borders. I'm quite excited to see this go to the next step....M
Tuesday, April 05, 2022
One Down, One To Go
Friday, March 25, 2022
Quilt Art
She set to work hand stitching gorgeous blocks, using orange for the centre 'hearth' block and staying within a single colour range for each.
Once she had built up a good inventory of blocks it was time to test a few layouts.Early on Jane knew that she wanted this one to hang in her bedroom, but for a little while it found a home across the back of her sofa, which is the dark grey that you see, a terrific combination.
Recently we got together and figured out how to make a hanging sleeve and finally got it hung (I do believe that there may have been one or two squeals of delight as it was revealed 😉).I haven't checked lately but I suspect that it's a little tough getting much shut-eye with this beauty staring back at her from the end of her bed....M
Saturday, March 19, 2022
Roberta's On A Roll
In addition to the two Snowdays quilts that I shared with you last time, since the holidays she has been finishing projects like they are going out of style!
This hanging is Back To School from APQ. Designed by Sheryl Johnson and Linda Sawrey of Temecula Quilt Co., it's one that I've also had my eye on for a few years now. I just love it.That combination of scrappy, houses and baskets is just so hard to beat. I think that it would make a beautiful full-sized quilt as well. Her little victory on this one was eeking out just enough fabric for the binding that she found in her stash.She's also finished up this spectacular Ohio Star. The colours are so rich.And then there's this runner that now graces her entranceway (definitely as star theme going on, wouldn't you say?).
She is so busy quilting for others that I have absolutely no idea how she finds the time to do even half of this, but I love getting to see all of her creations. One thing is for certain, Miss Ivy is overwhelmed by all of the productivity and needs to nap every now and then to keep her energy up 😉. Happy International Quilting Day!....M