Love those oldies in a nine patch exchange.

Gillian participated in a 
Nine Patch Exchange a few years ago thru Cock a  doodle Quilts,  a local quilt shop that unfortunately no longer exists. 

Somehow Gillian acquired far more blocks than  any other participant, I know this because I remember quilting another nine patch quilt for Gillian a few years ago.  I will dig up those pictures and blog about it at a later date.

This quilt was  simply quilted  with straight lines.  

Nine patch exchanges are organized amongst a group of quilters over a long period of time.  In the end the entire group should have and equal number of identical nine patch blocks.  Exchanges are a lot of fun and they get rid of last bits of your stash.
 I have been the organizer of a few exchanges, someday I will  blog about the process and the results of them. 

Primitive Logs for Quilt Canada

I was so thrilled to have one of my quilts "Primitive Log Cabin" be chosen as a workshop for Quilt Canada 2016 https://www.canadianquilter.com/events/quilt-canada-2016.php   that I decided I would make a more modern version of it.



A few weeks ago I mentioned that I would be blogging about my "modern"  primitive log cabin quilt.

I found a little time to start cutting and sewing for myself this past weekend. This mess in the picture to the left quickly turned into a few blocks. 









I decided to mix it up and not work in rounds of one fabric at a time like my original quilt. 

What I finished to date  is on the design wall,  not the greatest picture but you get the idea! 
I think I will try adding some different size and shapes of blocks into the mix. Stay posted there is more to cmd

It's beginning to feel like Christmas!

There is nothing like the Christmas rush to get you in the mood or put you in a panic like I am sure many of you are feeling.  

A few lucky people will get some beautiful quilted Christmas gifts this year. 

Gillian had me quilt this gorgeous tree skirt for a very lucky person in her life.  

Braided Borders

I am trying to catch up and  blog about the wonderful quilts that pass thru my studio and get in the habit of  sharing them immediately with you.  

Colleen, who is new to quilting took a simple pattern and brought it to a whole new level by adding this braided border.








This quilt is off to Florida with her next week.  I can picture it draped over the back of the sofa overlooking the water just as she described it to me. 


                                                                                    

Curved Piecing

As I was preparing more pictures to blog about I came across this little quilt made by Kathy.  

Kathy, a regular in my studio is not afraid to try new techniques and patterns.  

I have been seeing a lot of circular  blocks lately on Pinterest, maybe I also have one in my future.













Did you catch the hint of glitter in the closeups? We used Superior metallic thread to quilt to give it just a bit of extra sparkle.

Community Quilters

I have mentioned before that Quilters are the most generous folks when it comes to sharing their time and skills.  Every week a group of ladies from York Heritage Quilters Guild http://yhqg.org   gather at the San Wadlow Community Centre in Scarborough and piece quilt tops  that will eventually go to women's shelters or other worthy causes.  



In my opinion these women are some of the hero's of our guild, they generously give their time  and make the entire guild look great.  The guild was getting a backlog of quilt tops so  I invited a group of community quilters  to my studio to have a little fun and try something different. 

To the right is Judy working on the first quilt of the day.

In no time at all the ladies are taking the quilt off the frame, can you see the smiles of satisfaction on their faces?












Helgard and Judy are holding up the first of the day.  This functional quilt will make someone very happy in the near future!!

 

Sherry is now working away after we devised a clever way to increase our productivity. We loaded  two quilts side by side to save time, see photo below.

 I think that is two Disappearing Nine Patch  Quilts on the frame. That pattern is fast becoming a favourite for many quilters, very quick and uses up stash.

I worked those girls hard without a moments rest and by the end of the day we quilted 5 tops.  Everyone was ready for a good night sleep after that long and productive day. 

Many hands make light work! 

Thanks ladies, I had fun!

Baby Quilts

The days of "baby" blue and pink are long gone!

Leanne brought me a couple of beautiful baby quilts  a few weeks ago.  This first grey and yellow was  made for a friends new baby.  We chose to quilt  straight lines just following the pattern of the  quilt.

 The colour combination in this quilt is so fresh.   I had a hard time deciding which fabric was my favourite, overall I think it was just the combination of colours that appealed to me,


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I turned it so you could see the great fabric  that Leanne used for the back of this quilt.
She is donating this quilt to raise money for a "Movember " event.












Check out the pattern; simple half square triangles with the occasional strip of fabric between, it adds another dimension to the quilt.

Thinking about Quilts at the Creek

My friend Val https://crayonpatch.wordpress.com/made this gorgeous quilt to help promote  our guest teacher;  Kathy Doughty who is coming to  Quilts at the Creek https://quiltsatthecreek.wordpress.com next summer.  The quilt is from Kathy's  workshop on how to use colour, Val of course jumped the gun and made the quilt without Kathy's guidance  and entirely from her stash!!

I took one of the last few days of fall to lay the quilt out  on the hill in my back yard.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  

Val seems to have an immense stash to have the quilt be so co-ordinated. 

I had a lot of fun quilting it,  I got to practice a bit of Angela Walter's swirls in the  background and straight lines in the coloured diamonds.

My favourite  fabric in the neutral background had a bunch of pencils.  The text in one of the pencils  caught my eye, it was a theme I was raised on "Make do and Mend"    How cute, something we do not practice enough of in this day and age.  

Lots of Oldies

A few weeks ago Elisabeth brought me a very scrappy star quilt, totally hand pieced.  I believe this was her travelling hand project for a number of years.  If you have time check out some of those vintage fabrics, little calicos, etc., etc.  I think I may have a few of them in my stash.

 Elisabeth wanted to quilt the borders by hand, so I quilted the stars   with a  continuos curve from point to point, very simple but effective, check the close up.  She used a plain backing fabric so this looks like a whole cloth quilt from the back. I will see if she can send me a picture to share, as I have not trained myself to take the pics before the quilt leaves my studio.

Gorgeous Applique

I wanted to share this beautiful appliqué quilt with you. I received it late in summer. It was made by a relatively new quilter and the workmanship was impeccable. Colleen made this quilt for a special friend as a thank you gift.

Quilters are amongst the most generous people I know, always spreading the "love".

She sent me this picture before her appointment so I would have a little time to think about what I wanted to do.  I just love the fabrics, I hope you can see the detail in the pictures.

I always use  nonpermanent markers on a quilters preview plastic to sketch out a few ideas.
This is a very simple way to decide together how a quilt will be quilted. I  make very few changes after this point.

 To the left is a closeup detail as the quilt is hanging over the bar in my studio.

Below is a picture that Colleen shared with me. The quilt is draped over her piano waiting for the binding to be hand stitched.

Quilt Canada 2016

Primitive Log Cabin

A lot has happened since I started this blog, in fact I knew I needed a presence on the web when this was in the works.  I have some exciting news to share and it is time to blog about it.  Last spring I applied to teach a workshop at Quilt Canada 2016 http://www.canadianquilter.com
and I am thrilled to say that one of my quilts was chosen.

Primitive Log Cabin is made on a flannel foundation, the flannel  becomes the batting.  The quilt top is washed in extremely hot water and sometimes; if the quilter chooses, it can be over dyed to give it an instant aged look.

This quilt is made in stripes and plaids but it is not over dyed.

I have great plans to make a modern low volume version of Primitive Log Cabin as a sample for the class. I have been collecting fabrics over the summer and in the next
few weeks I will be starting to work on it.
It looks like my fabric group will need a little editing. I hope to squeeze in a few more selections from my stash.

Custom Quilting

One of the reasons I have taken so long to blog is because I knew I was going to be laid up for a few weeks after a foot surgery. I have been rushing to keep up to date with all the quilting knowing that I would have a few weeks to catch you up with the happenings in my studio.




The problem is I almost forgot how to post, a quick refresher with Val this afternoon and I am back in business.

This quilt coming off my machine was made by Daryl Aitken of Fabric Spark, http://fabricspark.com.  It is the "Denyse Schmidt Big Charming Quilt Kit" available in her online shop.  She had it hanging in her booth this past weekend at the Creative Festival in Toronto.  We decided to do some very simple straight line quilting on it.  I would have loved to see it hanging, but I was resting with my feet up!!

Make it Modern

I am in charge of "Display and Competition" at York Heritage Quilt Guild  in Toronto  http://yhqg.org. As part of my portfolio  I have to develop  challenges for  guild members.  The great thing about being in charge of things is you get to choose the topics that are relevant to you.

I chose the theme "Make it Modern"; the idea being that you must take your old fabric stash and give it a modern look.  This appealed  to me for several reasons, I have a lot of old stash that I cannot bear to give away and I am in a dilemma because I am really starting to love  modern quilts.
I am proud to say I won a "Viewers Choice for my quilt and this is a  photo of it hanging  at Quilts at the Creek this past July. https://quiltsatthecreek.wordpress.com

This quilt is made entirely of old stash even the white background. It is the background and the quilting that gives the old fabric a new modern look.

I named this quilt "Everything Old is New Again"

Check back as I am starting  a series of  these  quilts and I will give you a sneak peak next week.

Timidly Embracing Technology

Timidly Embracing Technology

Welcome to my first blog post !!

After much prodding from family and friends I am finally going online with my quilting adventures.  I have enjoyed  following blogs for the last few years and appreciate seeing the growth of other quilters.  I will be posting about the happenings in my studio with a few tutorials to help you prepare your quilts for long arm quilting.  

I would never have been able to do this without the help of my friends  Deb and Valerie, who have been after me for ages to show my skills as a talented long arm quilter.  

I will have to organize and  retrain myself to  remember to take more pictures  before the quilt goes to its forever home.  Who knows... maybe you can teach an old quilter "New Tricks"!