Cool Stitches

As much as it's been lovely to have the sweltering heat of the summer behind us it seems as though we have missed the lovely days of September and jumped ahead to the cooler days of October already. We've had our share of rainy days, too. And the football season has started again. It all spells the perfect weather to get back to the hoop.

Earlier this year I had such high hopes that with the pandemic lock down I would just fly through to the finish line with the hand quilting on Candied Hexagons but this quilt is proving to be a lifer. I do bits and pieces and then say goodbye to it for a good stretch of time.

Oh well, I'm back at it and have knocked a few more hexies off the list. My trusty painter's tape keeps me on the straight and narrow; I love not having to remove the quilting marks.

I'm really looking forward to quilting this hexagon; I think it's one of my favourites. It's good to be back...M

Laying the Foundation

Jane is never far from starting a new quilt and her latest doesn't disappoint. She has worked through her collection of neutrals that she bought at Quilt Canada when it was in Ottawa last year and her Kaffe fabrics and has a solid foundation for a new Log Cabin quilt in the works. It. Is. Spectacular.

I mean really, with this gorgeous collection of prints how could it not be?

She didn't start that long ago but you wouldn't know it from the pile of blocks that I saw. 

In the back of her mind she thought that there might be close to 60 blocks made but I did a quick count and came up with 74. Now I believe that there are over 80.

Like the majority of her quilts she pieces them by hand, and for this one she works on three at a time.

Initially she had all of her 1.5" strips tossed into a bag and would dig through to find the ones that she needed, but that quickly became a frustrating mess. So she sorted them by colour and pinned each group with a large safety pin, both coloured...

and neutral. So much easier to work with the bundles.

She's played with lots of different layouts and is leaning to diagonal stripes. The final decision has yet to be made.

Either way, she's having a grand time playing with all of this gorgeous colour. Wouldn't you?....M

Baby Steps

For a variety of reasons, it's been a tough summer to get any traction with my quilts, but on the weekend I decided that it was time to stop staring at a couple of flimsies and prep the backings. There was an extra incentive for the first one because it is for my niece who is expecting her first child towards the end of September. Time to get the lead out!

Appropriately enough, this one is called Hugs 'n Kisses. I think that I bought a small bundle of fabrics called Posh on eBay (when I did that kind of thing) and just made it up because I liked the fabric. When it was finished it was large enough for a good sized baby quilt - 45" x 55" - so I tucked it away until I needed it.

It will be backed with these sweet little pink cherries and I think that I might look to see if there is any pink gingham to be had for a bias gingham binding. It was pressed and the backing assembled in good time so I looked to make a second backing and get two quilts off to Roberta to quilt. 

Snippets has also been languishing for a while, but not nearly as long as Hugs 'n Kisses. I had been saving a backing piece just for it but when the tape measure came out I realized that I was going to be short. Ugh.

For whatever reason, I'm having a tough time figuring out what I want for a backing; I think it's because of the yellow border. It's an Art Gallery fabric and I just love it, but somehow that mint green in the centre of the flowers is just outside my colour range. 

This blue would have been terrific.

I don't want a pieced back and I also didn't want to hold up Hugs 'n Kisses anymore, so off it went to be quilted and I am back to pondering my Snippets options. I could make the borders narrower as I I'm short only about a half meter, but I love that border and don't want to lose any of it. A quick online browse didn't turn up anything earth shattering either so maybe it's time for a trip to Stedmans - I usually have great luck there. Oh well, at least one got to the quilter. Little victories....M

Quilts of Comfort

April was the saddest of months in the province of Nova Scotia. Families who lost loved ones and first responders attempted to deal with the trauma of the horrific mass shooting that had visited their communities. Designer Andrea Tsang Jackson of Halifax spearheaded the effort of the Maritime Modern Quilt Guild to collect and distribute quilts to those affected; my sister Dori and her friend Alison joined quilters from across the nation in support of the effort.

In these times of COVID-19, getting out to shop was not an option so her quilt is made entirely from her stash.

It includes fabrics from three generations of quilters - Grandma, mom, and friends - as well as remnants from the wedding quilt that mom made for Dori and Rob. 

A remnant from Grandma’s apron and the blueberry print shown above  from a departed friend (very Nova Scotia) makes it all the more special. 

Apparently it was all hands on deck, with Rob helping out with the cutting and Benny providing art direction. 

The dining room was converted to a sewing room. 

The pattern is Kaleidoscope and Dori made 10" squares. 

By and large, it is machine quilted but she realized once they were out east that she had missed a couple of blocks so she hand quilted them!

They were asked to add a label with Quilts for Nova Scotia, the maker's name and the date. Her sewing machine stitches type, which was great; at times she feels that it is a bit rudimentary, but it did the trick here.

And this is Alison's quilt. It's a pattern that she has made several variations of over the years; Dori likes to call it Ali Patch.

Don't you just love the sashing? It's a sea of tiny, swirling fish, so they have both incorporated east coast icons into their labours of love…

Dori and Rob vacation in Nova Scotia and were fortunate enough to be able to deliver the quilts to the guild in person.

A scrappy heart was worked into the backing of Dori's quilt.

Here they are together in the Maritime mist...

I found it so incredibly touching that in the midst of their sorrow RCMP officers were the ones to deliver quilts to the families, particularly since they lost one of their own as well....M