Happy Little Houses

My sewing seems to be having to fit into tiny bits of time as of late, what with Thanksgiving prep and all, but I'm making every minute count, and having lots of fun doing it. 

I mentioned that I am using the Missouri Star tutorial as guidance for making these Cottage Star runners. If you watch it you'll see how enthusiastic Jenny Doan is about sewing these little houses - she was just gushing about how cute they are and how addictive as well. Well, she isn't wrong! Each new house is proving to be a delight to sew.

Soon I started adding little 6" stars to the mix; they will run down the centre of the rows of houses. They're cute as a button, too.

I was anxious to see what both blocks would look like together, and they didn't disappoint.

For the second runner I decided to mix things up a bit and chose a few different prints for the star points on a single star. They look just a little more rustic and add an unexpected element to the whole piece.

I didn't put a whole lot of thought into what colours to use for the points or where to place them - just about anything worked.

I just love the extra bit of interest it creates.

Pretty soon my design wall was looking like this. On the left, each star is made all in the same fabric, but I'm using a few different golds so they won't be identical. On the right, you can see the stars made with multiple fabrics.

I'm glad that I found the inspiration photo with this colour combination, even if it was created by AI, because I'm not sure that I would have included the blues, but they are such a nice touch. They look a little odd in this light but are really quite subtle. 

As I say, I'm having lots of happy time with these little houses, even if they seem to be taking me ages to build....M

Plenty of Fish in the Sea

On Monday I took a drive out to the lake to help Jane finish up a couple of flimsies for Quilts for Survivors. It was a beautiful fall day and turned out to also be a terrific excuse to enjoy the colours. She's had two flimsies in need of borders and was looking for some help in deciding what exactly that might entail so that they could get to the finish line.

The first one we are calling The Fish Quilt 😁. Creative, isn't it? I think that Plenty of Fish in the Sea would work, too. 

It's a tumbler quilt... 

but a little strategic colour placement and turning the tumblers vertically created a sea of goldfish, happily swimming along.

The background of teal and periwinkle sets those orange fish off beautifully and really evokes the colour of water.

She had a piece of fabric that's been in her stash for a couple of decades that she was keen to see if we could figure out how to make it work. It came from a shop in St. Jacobs years ago while visiting there with my sister Frances and it is as though it was made just exactly for this quilt.

The brush stroke dots really resemble fish scales and the palette is perfect. Having that occasional line or two of periwinkle sprinkled in was just the icing on the cake. All that remained was a piece approximately 6" x 24" - we made every inch count.

The second quilt didn't require as much math because after several attempts she landed on a large piece in her vintage fabrics stash, pretty blue roses on soft pink. A little more math and we were off to the races.

This flimsy is Alice in Wonderland inspired, from a charm pack, I believe. 

Lots of sweets, and tea cups...

and lovely teapots anchoring two of its corners.

This teapot is my favourite.

She is thrilled to have both of them finished now and we are delighted that they are completed in time to be able to add them to our coming QFS shipment. Thanks so much Jane!....M

Time to Shift Gears

I gave myself a good scare when I looked at the calendar the other day. The Holly Bazaar is on November 19, about 7 weeks away, and I have little or nothing started so it's time to do something about that. 

My first project is a runner with two rows of houses, one running along each long edge, and a strip of wonky stars down the centre.

This is the inspiration photo that I'm working from. I found it on Pinterest and am almost certain that is AI generated but I like the colours so I used it as my jumping off point. Missouri Star has a great Cottage Stars tutorial that I'm following. 

And this is my fabric pull. Not sure that the bright green in the middle of the pack will make the cut but I do like this combo.

These are the yellows that I will be using for the doors and the stars. I opted more for gold than brown or green in my stars, not quite as rustic.

So I went on a cutting spree until I had enough of a pile to start creating my little subdivision. Actually, I will cut enough for two runners as I'm pretty sure that The Official Cookie Tester will be interested in buying one 😉....M

I Spy Is Finished

A week or two ago we took I Spy off the frames at the church and it followed me home for a binding. This one had a few stops and starts while it was up on the frame so it took a little longer to quilt, but quilt it we did.

I sat on it for most of a week and then decided to get things into gear and see if I could get it bound in time to share at our next Wednesday of quilting. Nothing like a deadline to focus the mind!

There are so many colours in this quilt that just about anything would have worked; I landed on a teal/blue dot. It's for a boy so it seemed like a good choice and those dots are a little playful.

One of the joys of sewing down a binding is being able to re-visit the individual blocks, and this quilt has lots of fun ones.

It's backed with rainbows and clouds, so little Felix will be able to have his heads in the clouds as he nods off. He should be receiving his quilt any day now....M

More From Quilt Walk

I've got more inspiration for you from Mad About Patchwork's Quilt Walk that Jane and I enjoyed last weekend and I'll start with this beauty. It's Echinacea by Anna Maria Horner and it was one of Jane's faves. I have a tendency to make lighter coloured quilts but I would make an exception for this one; it is machine appliquéd. I believe that there is also a fabric line that echoes this floral design but with slightly different colouring.

When a quilt pattern/kit was available through the shop they placed a pink star near the quilt label, a great idea. We looked for the pattern in the shop but came up empty handed however, it looks like there might be a kit in their online shop.

This Super Mario themed quilt was at a completely different scale - thousands of 1" blocks. I believe I counted 289 tiny squares in just one of the border blocks! I know I tend to seek out small pieces to work with but holy moly!

And while we were admiring the teenie tiny aspects of the show we came across this beautiful quilt, which I believe is a Jen Kingwell pattern.

Jane was enthralled by the size of those little Churn Dash blocks which I'm thinking were about 4".

There were a few pumpkin-themed quilts in one area but the corner that we both were drawn to housed the Christmas quilts, complete with a 10-foot sparkling pink metallic tree! Somehow it seemed to fit right in.

This fun little quilt was made from small panels with little creatures in each of the houses. Jane really took a liking to it as well but unfortunately the panel/pattern were not available.

These reindeer reminded me of a pillow that I made for Christmas a few years ago for my great niece. It's very sweet as a full quilt.

And, despite my square quilt aversion, I liked this one too - it would be a fun seasonal wall hanging.

We think that this might have been a Sue Spargo design but I don't think we ever confirmed that.

Wouldn't this one be absolutely darling for a little boy's room? Love both the colours and the pattern. The pattern is Grisly Grove but the maker calls it Beary Cozy.

And there was a large collection of minis, which I believe were all original designs; guests were encouraged to vote for their favourite. I didn't actually cast a ballot but this one made me smile. It's called On Grain.

With over 200 quilts on offer this is just a small sample of what we saw, but it gives you a good sense of the creativity we enjoyed under a beautiful treed canopy. 

This sign near the exit nicely captures the sentiment of quilting that I think we can all relate to....M

An Inspiring Quilt Walk

We just enjoyed a picture perfect autumn weekend - crisp temperatures, lots of sunshine, and blue, blue skies - the kind of weekend that's ideal for a stroll in the woods. So why not enjoy ogling lots of beautiful quilts hung from said trees at the same time?

On Saturday, Jane and I drove to Stittsville to check out Mad About Patchwork's Outdoor Quilt Show, and it did not disappoint. Set along a beautiful wooded .6 km loop trail that is adjacent to their shop, we got to admire over 200 quilts. Apparently this is the largest outdoor show of its kind in Canada.

Where to begin? There's lots of eye candy to share so this may well roll over into a few posts. We arrived at 10:15 am thinking that we'd be early but the lot was already full and cars were being parked across the road. A collection of quilts were hung in front of the shop which I believe had been made in classes offered by the shop, all very fun.

Ali, the bubbly shop's owner, greeted all of her guests at the trail entrance. Admission was free but they welcomed donations for Quilts for Survivors, Quilts of Valour, and Victoria's Quilts, a great idea.

This past summer the shop hosted its inaugural online Summer Sew-Along. For 7 weeks, 1,500 makers around the globe stitched hexies, admired each others work, debated basting styles and cheered each other on.

All of the participants were invited to send in a flower (it was amazing to see how much of the globe they covered!), all of which will be stitched together into a commemorative quilt.

So, how about I share a few quilts that caught our eye? Postcards From Sweden, the bright HST quilt on the right side of this pic, is a lovely pattern and one that really appeals to me - it did not disappoint in person. And that horizontal banner? There were several of them throughout the show, all different and all made by the shop, and they added even more interest.

As I was explaining to Jane just how much Roberta loves this Sparrows pattern and her hopes to make it one day, she leaned in to look at the tag with the quilt details. It was quilted by none other than Roberta! Turns out she had quilted several of the works on display.

It took me a minute to register what I was looking at with this one. It's Miss Penelope, made up in a much darker palette than mine but equally impactful. The maker did an excellent job of selecting her fabrics.

These bunnies really caught my eye. I think that it's an Elizabeth Hartman pattern and it's just adorable. Can you imagine sleeping under this as a child? How special.

I am not a paper piecer but it was difficult not to admire the work in this mermaid.  

The piecing was incredibly complex, to say nothing of the quilting. I can't imagine how long it took to make. Thinking that if it had been made at my hand Jack the Ripper would have been a busy guy.

The shop caters to more to a modern vibe so most of the quilts were very contemporary, but there were a few more traditional ones tucked in for good measure.

And being able to easily see both the front and back of each quilt meant discovering additional tidbits and details, like this strip of tiny bright squares running through that gorgeous green up the back of a quilt. I was so enthralled with this idea that I didn't think to check and see what was on the front!

That's it for now but I will have lots more to share in my next post. Inspiring, isn't it?....M