Country Garden Quiltworks

Antique Wholecloth

2012-01-03T09:18:00.000-08:00

My friend Ineke brought me this antique quilt top to do for her sister Rita. She and another sister had trimmed it up and put the borders onto it

It was gifted to Rita, so little is know about it, but after examining it, I could see that it was very well hand-appliqued, with the tiniest of stitches. There were some also less-pretty stitches, indicating that another person had also contributed some time to the work.

If you think this is a machine satin-stitch, look again!

And from the back you could see part numbers, printed on the cloth, showing where the pieces were to go. Obviously, this was a kit quilt.

It was a great opportunity for me to practice some wholecloth designing and quilting, which was a challenge, yet quite an enjoyable experience.

I used a water-soluable blue marker to mark the quilting designs. I love the way the quilt quilted up, and how nice it looked on the frame, but because of the amount of blue marker used, it needed a washing, and then it became the antique it really was!

We used a bamboo batting .

Rock 'N Roses Quilt

2012-01-01T14:13:00.000-08:00

I made this quilt for my niece, supposedly for her graduation, which was last June, but she only took ownership of it a couple of days ago, while she watched me put the last stitches into it.

I used a Rock 'N Roses panel from Northcott Fabrics, and a few of the coordinating fabrics.

I made an error into an opportunity. I needed to insert the big black spaces in the center ends in order for the borders to fit properly, so I used that space for some freehand curls. I loved the way the Rainbow threads stood out against the black.

Christmas Past!

2011-12-30T18:41:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone in bloggerland! Again, it seems forever that I was here. Seems life gets busier and time flies by.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas! I said good-bye to the last of our houseguests this morning, and this is the first time I've been alone in ages! It was an exhausting December, but well worth it! I am thankful that I have family and friends to get together with.

Just wanted to share with you what projects I've been working on recently.

I had some time to work on ideas that have been smouldering in the back of my mind.

We'll start with the woven quilts. At our longarm meeting in November, we played with making a woven background from "Simply Stunning Woven Quilts" by Anna Faustino.

I started with 2 fat quarters of shaded fabrics

This is how it looked after the initial weaving.


I satin-stitched in between the lines, and played with Carol Taylors circle techniques.

I fused a photo of my son Brad onto another one of the weavings.

Tuli

Brad got this wallhanging for Christmas, while my son Jeff's girlfriends got this one of Tuli, her dog. I didn't quilt hers, as there were up to 6 layers of fusible, so I guess I can't call it a "quilt"!

For my son Jeff, I started this wallhanging last year, and finished it in time for his Christmas gift.

I can't wait to make some more me-time for quilting!

Spokane WA Quilt Show 2011

2011-10-20T21:20:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I attended the Spokane Quilt Show. I took as many photos as I could, and have posted 755, and still didn't get all the quilts!

Lots more quilts to go onto my "to-do" list!

Enjoy the slideshow on the right.

Still catching up

2011-10-06T08:20:00.000-07:00

I had a look at my list of quilts to blog about, and I am still so far behind!

I bumped into a few of the clients at our local quilt show, and I hope they don't think their quilts aren't worthy of the recognition!

So, I'll resume with Bev's first quilt. She is a natural-born quilter, I'd say, as she didn't use a pattern, she just made up the layout on her own, and I was very impressed!

She used a Laurel Burch fabric with all it vibrant primary colours, and we chose to use a bright variegated thread, with a whimsical stars and loops pantograph across the whole thing.

Bev has since donated the quilt to a charity quilting group to use as a fund-raiser. She has a very generous heart, common to well-seasoned quilters!

Nelson Quilt Show 2011

2011-10-05T23:05:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's been awhile since I posted last! I was busy enjoying the last of summer, and busy quilting in anticipation of our local quilt show.

I'm putting up another slideshow in the column at the right, so you can check out the quilts via my web album.

Maybe later I will have time to make some comments regarding the quilts.

Hope you enjoy the show!

My first quilt from a MAN

2011-08-29T13:14:00.000-07:00

I know there are many men out there who quilt, it's just that I don't know any personally! At least, until Ron came along.

He is an adventurous sort of fellow, and when his daughter suggested he make a quilt, he took her up on the challenge. It took him a couple of years, but since she was getting married this summer, he just had to have it finished!

What I can't believe though, is that the quilt consists of hundreds, if not thousands, of pieces, of all white and white-on-white fabrics! How grueling that must that have been! Even an accomplished quilter would find that difficult to do! It was a big one, too, 98"x113"!

Not only that, but he hand-embroidered the label on the back, too! (Sorry, I forgot to get a photo of it!)

Ron just wanted it simply quilted, with Polydown batting inside. Turned out very cozy-looking!

He did an amazing job!

Creston Quilt Show 2011

2011-08-22T20:47:00.000-07:00

Earlier this spring, I attended the Quilt Show in Creston BC. See the slideshow in the sidebar to the right. (Forgive me of any errors or omissions!)

My husband and I were in town for other reasons, but I convinced him to drop me off for an hour, so I was busy running through the show, snapping photos and chatting with a few people, while I carefully watched the time. I was quite impressed with the variety of the quilts on display, the guild certainly is a talented bunch!

I was impressed with the challenges that were evident. In one, each participant pulled a colour chip at random, and had to create a black and white quilt with some of their chosen colour inserted.

Another grouping showed a number of quilts made with the same iris pattern, and it was interesting how each person made the pattern up in their own way.

I think the shows theme was an Oriental one, so there was also an Oriental grouping, not sure if it was a challenge or not.

There were displays of quilts that were a result of workshops put on by Susan Purney-Mark, and Pippa Moore, both from Vancouver Island.

Eileen Gidman is a local artist who paints onto fabric, and there were a few items on display from a workshop that some quilters took with her.

There were several other art quilts that were also a result of classes some had taken.

All in all, I was very inspired and it was the highlight of my day! (Next to spending time with my hubby, of course!)

Oriental Carpet Bargello Quilt called Arabian Nights

2011-08-18T22:16:00.000-07:00

Mary just picked up the quilt she left for me to do. It was one of the most beautiful quilts I've ever had in my studio!

I think she called it Oriental Carpet, it was designed by a woman in Edmonton Alberta, who had a quilt shop at one time. Mary had purchased a kit and taken a workshop.

The quilt reminded Mary of Turkish carpets. She had spent some time travelling in Turkey and had brought home some rugs as souvenirs.

If you look closely at the border fabric, there is a fantastic print that reminds her of the Whirling Dervishs' in Turkey, who perform a trance-like, spinning dance as a form of worship.

So, she chose a panto called "Plush" by Lorien Quilting, which also conveys spinning.

She used a beautiful Northcott Stonehenge flannel for the backing.

Mary was so pleased with her quilt, she even shed a few tears, which was a wonderful compliment to me.

Log Cabin Star

2011-08-12T11:00:00.000-07:00

Another lady named Audrey brought me this quilt top that she and her mother pieced together to be given as a wedding gift. They did a great job, considering they live hundred of miles apart!

We chose Drifting Leaves pantograph, and a nice variegated thread.

The ladies were thrilled with the way it turned out.

Storm At Sea

2011-08-09T22:37:00.000-07:00

Audrey is one of the most senior members in our guild. I think she and her husband recently celebrated their 65th Wedding Anniversary! She continues to amaze us with her fabulous quilts!

This Storm at Sea is a recent example of what she creates. I just love this pattern, so much movement and not a curve in place!

She made this one for her son. He is an outdoorsy guy who grew up here near the lake, and there is a scrap of fabric depicting a sailboat, somewhere among all those pieces.

So, for the body of the quilt I used Jodi Beamish's Waterworld pantograph.

In the outer border I put some mariner's compass' in the corners (not pictured unfortunately) .

From Anne Bright's book called "Simply Continuous Boys to Men" I got the North, South, East and West symbols and in between I placed a row of sailboats that I came up with myself!.

It's such a joy to work on a lovely quilt!

Dinosaurs, Trucks, Fishing, things little boys are made of

2011-08-01T14:09:00.000-07:00

A few months ago Donna brought me these 3 cute quilts, made for some special boys in her life, probably grandsons, but I can't say for sure.

The first is a cute truck
panel quilt. It had a nice pieced backing, so we just chose a simple meander overall.

The second is made with a Dinosaur Panel. The closest panto I had to match is a Gecko one, so that is what we went with.

The 3rd quilt was made with a fisherman panel, so realistic! Donna inserted a couple of photographs of her own little fisherman.

A variety of quilting was used, some meander with fishing lures (by Anne Bright) , and some basic freehand meandering, clouds, etc.

What a lucky bunch of kids!

Northcott Stonehenge Fabrics

2011-07-28T19:19:00.000-07:00

I recently completed a quilt for Denise. She found the pattern in a magazine comprised of many Stonehenge Fabrics. She searched high and low for just the right ones!

I decided to use some of my curvy rulers to create some movement. The fabrics really reminded me of mosaic tile floors, and the curves gave them a Turkish/Mid-East flavour.

Straight lines in the inner border created a "resting place" between the busy border and body of the quilt.

Because the quilt was square, the corners worked out perfectly!

Blast From the Past

2011-07-26T22:08:00.000-07:00

Going to jump back to April again, and show you a few quilts I did for Carol.

"Never Again!" was an amazing quilt made up of hundreds of tiny pieces. They originated from a Mary Ellen Hopkins workshop taught by Diane Jansson , originally called "Inlaid Tiles". She was meant to make a placemat, but Carol took it to the extreme and made a bed-size quilt instead, and she says Never Again to that! It turned out fabulous!

We chose the panto called Paisley Delight.

Carol also completed the Mystery Quilt project that Olga had also participated in, (see previous post called Olga's Flower Garden). So, they basically made the same kind of blocks, but they arranged them totally different and came up with two different-looking quilts!

I did a variety of quilting, butterflies in the plain squares, continuous curves, ruler work, freehand loops, etc. Kept me on my toes!

The 3rd quilt I did for Carol was a Christmas wreath.
She provided me with some Holly stencils for the corners, and I did a Holly vine in the border.

Native Rainbow

2011-07-20T21:32:00.000-07:00

This is the name of the Guild Raffle Quilt that I posted a couple of posts ago. The pattern comes from Lorraine Torrence Designs.

It is customary of our guild to make 2 quilt tops while working on the raffle quilt, and the second one is drawn between the ladies who have participated.

Sheila was the lucky recipient, she was just so excited to own the second quilt top, she called me the same day to book time for me to quilt it!

It couldn't have happened to a more deserving lady, as Sheila puts hours and days into her volunteer work, which includes gathering quilts for the Rotary-sponsored Cleft Palette Surgeries in developing countries. She has been at it for several years, and continues to encourage local guilds to help out.

Sheila wanted me to quilt it the same way I did the actual raffle quilt.

Olga's Flower Garden and Butterflies Flying

2011-07-15T10:19:00.000-07:00

Olga continues to make her fabulous scrappy quilts. She brought me 2 tops to quilt up for her this spring.

The first is a log cabin variation, which reminded her of her flower gardens. I used my favorite Novaya Zhizn Panto on it.

The second quilt was a mystery quilt, in which she put the blocks together in a totally different way than was intended. But looks amazing, doesn't it?

Tickle Panto from Beany Girl Quilts

Dr. Suess

2011-07-11T20:47:00.000-07:00

I just love the Dr Suess fabrics out there! I purchased some to make something for my nephew's son "some day", but for now, I am inspired by a quilt Shelley brought me earlier this spring.

She made it for one of her grandsons, I think, and she did a great job of it! How colourful! It will keep a child busy for a long time!

Shelley made this quilt reversible, the back is as special as the front, so I just did a simple meander in a bright variegated thread to finish it off.

2011 Guild Raffle Quilt

2011-06-30T08:22:00.000-07:00

I bumped into one of my faithful readers, Elena, yesterday, and she asked why I hadn't posted the Guild Raffle Quilt yet. So, thanks, Elena for reading my blog and helping me get this post up!

I don't remember the name of the pattern, but if someone is interested, leave a comment, and I will find that out for you.

It is comprised of a number of gorgeous batik fabrics. It has received many compliments, and the ladies are selling alot of tickets on it.

I used the panto called Novaya Zhizn

We chose the panto called Novaya Zhizn, by designer Benay Derr of Beany Girl Quilts. I am drawn to the name of the pattern, with my Russian heritage, I recognized the meaning to be "New Year" or "New Time" or "New Season", depending on the context of the conversation. Maybe to the author it means "New Leaf". That would be interesting to find out!

Thanks to Jude for providing some of the images.

The quilt commitee makes some decisions

And here I am quilting

Clothesline baskets

2011-06-25T22:38:00.000-07:00

The other weekend, our local longarm group got together. It was a time to discuss our issues , show-and-tell some of our projects, eat a wonderful potluck lunch, and have fun learning something new.

Debra, who hosted the gathering, showed us how to make fabric-wrapped, clothesline baskets! It was easy and fun, my kind of activity! I was hooked!

Show and Tell

TJ starting her bowl

Hard at work

Here's my bowl started!

A rare photo of me!

My completed bowl, using up the whole skein of clothesline

Abigail tries it out for size while my back is turned

I actually used leftover fabric strips, mostly from backings that I tore to square up.

Thanks for the fun day, Debra! I'll definitely be making a few more!

Hawaiin Quilt

2011-06-23T12:30:00.000-07:00

Denise brought me this wonderful Hawaiin Quilt to work on. I don't know how many years it had taken her, but she recently completed and sashed it with fabric fresh from Hawaii. It was alot of fun to work on!

My favorite block, these pineapples look like turtles!

Border treatment from the back

More Commissioned Quilts

2011-06-15T22:11:00.000-07:00

Previously I have shared a couple of quilts that I made for this lovely couple, who have chosen to honour their loved ones with special quilts, with blocks contributed by family and friends.

Well, this same client has kept me busy earlier this year. I stitched together 3 more quilts for them. One was for another daughter who was expecting a baby, one was for a friend who also was having a baby, and one was for a mother who turned 80.

These are photos of the mother's birthday quilt. The backing included a hand-painted fabric panel by Eileen Gidman of Creston, BC. It went perfectly with the blossoms on the fabric.

hand-painted fabric panel by Eileen Gidman

Mom was a beautiful young woman!

Beautiful embroidery

These are photos of the daughter's baby quilt.

Cushion made from extra blocks


Another beautiful embroidery

And this is the friend's baby quilt:

this embroidery was entirely made up of french knots!

Again, it was so much fun to watch these quilt blocks come together and be a part of their expression of love.

Vienna Waltz

2011-06-11T10:11:00.000-07:00

Lorraine made this darling little quilt with scraps of cotton as well as some shiny, silky fabrics. She called it Vienna Waltz, as the fancy fabrics reminded her of ladies ballgowns and how they swirled on the dance floor.

I quilted spirals across the main body of the quilt to enhance the dancing, swishing and twirling of the ballgowns. In the border I quilted musical notes.

I remember struggling with using metallic threads, but I eventually got it! Always learning something!

Chinese Lanterns II

2011-06-06T08:41:00.000-07:00

Catherine made a second Chinese Lantern quilt for a second sister-in-law.

She used the identical pattern, and she asked me to quilt it the same as the first one. I had looked up a photo of the first quilt, and was confused that it wasn't working out the same, until I realized that she had reversed the direction of the lantern tops and bottoms!

Hobbs Polydown gives great defininition

No problem! They looked great either way!

This is how the first quilt looked

Calendar quilts

2011-05-31T21:54:00.000-07:00

For the New Year, a friend and I planned to make a calendar quilt for each month of the year, but only got as far as March. Even so, March is not quilted yet!

For the hearts, we tried out Texture Magic

Hello, anybody out there?

2011-05-28T22:55:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it's been 4+ months since I last posted! Bad, bad , bad!

The sad part is that I haven't been keeping much in touch with all you fellow-bloggers out there, either, and I've really missed being a part of your lives.

Things got abit quiet in the New Year, and I didn't want to post about my "works in progress", 'cause there wasn't very much to say, and then because I wasn't in the habit of posting anymore, I just didn't! So, I have lots of catching up to do.

I'll start with the latest quilts I just made.

You may recall a couple of years ago I started to make a split 9-patch for a niece for her graduation. Well.....I only just finished it! She has recently graduated again, with a college diploma, and her younger brother was graduating from high school, so I just had to finish Kayla's quilt!


I dyed the backing 2 colours, blue to green

I used the panto called Novaya Zhizn

And for Brett I also made a split 9-patch with some bowling fabric as the focus as he is on the local Special Olympics bowling team.

Panto used is Simple Loops and Stars

Now if I could just make one more grad quilt for another Niece, I will be guilt-free!

Do-It-Myself Day

2011-01-19T21:30:00.000-08:00

I needed another folding table to use in my studio, so rather than heading out to the local CT store, I decided I would build my own, as I knew we had the components for it hanging out in the barn.

I used a damaged door for the tabletop, choosing the good side for the top, but because it was hollow-core, I needed to glue some plywood supports to the underside where the legs are attached, as the door just has a thin skin on it, and wouldn't support the screws. My husband helped by cutting out the plywood pieces, but I did the rest myself. Of course, it took me awhile, as I had to re-drill a few of the holes due to wrong placement, but that's okay, I am satisfied that I did it mostly by myself! It is a nice new sturdy work surface, but because it is hollow-core, there'll be no dancing on this table!

Christmas Spiral Runners

2011-01-16T18:54:00.000-08:00

I finally found the photos I was looking for earlier!

Back in early December, I had spent a day or two whipping up some of these spiral table centerpieces for gifts. They were a follow-up of some I made last winter, on a previous blog post. I didn't get around to quilting these babies till Christmas Eve, which is often the case, because I didn't have any "plan B" gifts ready! (Note to self: try harder to get gifts made earlier next year!)

I quilted them all together as shown in the photo, with the same panto, called Holly Berries from Lorien Quilting. I finished them with a narrow binding, alittle tricky around the 45-degree corners, but not too bad.

I really like the highly-contrasted ones better, they were really effective. Although the pink/green ones had "matching" fabrics, they weren't as exciting, maybe because the green had a print on it. Of course, having them side-by-side didn't help!

Quillow Project Done!

2011-01-14T09:13:00.000-08:00

As I struggle to find images that I'm sure are somewhere on my computer, I guess one of my New Year's resolutions should be to GET ORGANIZED!
Since Christmas, I've been trying to work on a few of my own projects and finish up some others.
One that I recently completed is a quillow I made for a friend who is undergoing cancer therapy.

It is just a simple rail fence which I've inserted Scripture verses from a panel from Block Party Studios, called "the Comfort of Psalms". (I have some for sale if anyone is interested). There are some plain center strips that could be places where his friends and family can also sign or write a word of encouragement as well.

Well, it feels good to get that project done, and now to focus on the others!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-02T23:47:00.000-08:00

Hello there! Sorry it's been so long since I've "written"! Hope you all had a wonderful holiday and are feeling refreshed and ready for another busy, joy-filled year!

December is a crazy month for me and I am now feeling rested up enough after Christmas to share some words and photos.

Karen brought me this wonderful Border Creek Mystery quilt top she had recently completed after participating in the mystery at a local quilt shop. I think it is absolutely gorgeous and made with such happy colours! She doubled her number of fabrics by reversing most of them, and it sure was effective!

I wanted to accentuate the star formations with continuous curves in the star points, and I snuck a few leaf shapes in some of the in-between-star-points. The appliques had some in-the-ditch stitching s well as some inside the applique itself, to ensure it stayed on through many washings. In the "blank" background, I framed the medallions with some double lines, rather than using a background fill. This was a moderately quilted piece.

Split Nine-Patch

2010-12-08T21:15:00.000-08:00

Denise brought me another top to quilt up for her.

I was surprised when she told me it was a split nine-patch! This is definitely not the usual way I have seen it laid out, but it works!

She used a lovely paisley as her main fabric, so I chose a paisley pantograph pattern to quilt it with.

Forget-Me-Nots and Dragonflies

2010-12-03T09:27:00.000-08:00

Bernice sent me these two quilt tops to finish up for her. She gets Hobbs Polydown batting and likes things lightly quilted.

The first one is a sweet forget-me-knot design, that I just free-handed some flowers inside her own. Lots of fun!

The second one was made up of many different dragonfly fabrics. I started out meandering loops and dragonflies in the big, open blocks, then using the fabric for inspiration, did the border with dragonflies and ferns, and then I accentuated the pinwheels. I might have gotten carried away and over-quilted it abit for her taste, but I'm sure she will be pleased as the polydown is such a soft, fluid batting for a fluffy polyester!

Melinda's Heart Bargello Quilt

2010-11-24T21:09:00.000-08:00

Molly brought me this gorgeous Bargello Quilt top she made.

The Pattern is called "Melindas Heart" by Heidi K. Farmer.

To decide what to quilt on it, I took a photo of the quilt top, then printed it out on a few regular sheets of paper, and started to doodle some ideas. The amazing 3-D nature of the quilt design popped out right away, and I was able to distinguish where I wanted the feathers to go, etc. I also used a water-soluable blue marking pen to draw out all the feathers and lines I wanted right onto the quilt top, so I wouldn't have to spend time thinking about it while it was on my quilting frame. So most of the work was done before it even got on the frame!

I am pretty happy with the way it turned out.

Kids Will Be Kids

2010-11-20T17:36:00.000-08:00

This is the second quilt top Roberta brought to me, done in the same pattern. It is Called "Kids Will Be Kids", the boys version, whereas the first one she brought was the girls version, probably about a year ago.

The pattern is by Helen Weinman, from "The Quilter" Magazine Nov '08. Roberta ordered the fabric kit from whoever offered it for sale in the magazine.

It was a lovely collection of coordinating flannels with little cars, trucks, boats, planes and "beep-beep" text. So cute!

I just happened to aquire a new pantograph called "Automotion" by Lisa Thiessen, which had cars and trucks all over it, so it suited the quilt perfectly!

Batik Beauty

2010-11-14T12:14:00.000-08:00

Donna brought me this gorgeous batik quilt top she made.

Lovely "organic" colours and prints, and a perfect Northcott Stonehenge wide backing to tie it all together.

I used a nice variegated thread with a leafy pantograph, and Hobbs Polydown batting.

Castlegar Quilt Show

2010-11-08T09:31:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago, a local guild put on their bi-annual Quilt Show.

It happened to fall on the same weekend as our Guild Retreat, so I took in the Quilt Show in during it's final hour!

I was inspired and amazed at the talent shown by the ladies in Castlegar!

And I'm also proud to know that I started my own quilting journey there with them, some 20 or so years ago!

Most of the quilts were quilted by a longarm buddy, Debra, at Flamingo Quiltworx. Awesome work, Debra!

this Quilt won Best of Show, as well as the CQA ribbon I believe. By Verna C

Guild Raffle Quilt, designed by one of their own members!

By TJ, a very talented artist, lots of thread painting

Another work by TJ

Commemorating the Vancouver 2010 Olympics

Debra's Blooming 9-Patch

Here are a few of my favorites, but please visit the slideshow in the right-hand sidebar, for many more!

Christmas Tree Skirt

2010-11-05T21:34:00.000-07:00

Ineke brought me a Christmas tree skirt she wanted quilted.
She still calls herself a beginner quilter, and wasn't feeling
ready to tackle it on her own machine, so I got a chance to play with it.

Continuous curves, e's and l's, and Holly leaves in 2 borders

Left the center unquilted in preparation for it to be cut out


Star in the corner, echoing the star in the center

Chinese Lantern

2010-11-05T20:57:00.000-07:00

Catherine brought me a Chinese Lantern quilt for me quilt up. She had a wonderful assortment of Asian-inspired fabrics, probably bought as fat quarters, and was a great way to incorporate them all into one quilt.

This is the 3rd quilt of this type I've had to do, so I wanted to quilt something differently than the others.

Catherine requested something very simple and light, and Hobbs PolyDown batting. She was happy with the result.

Funny thing is, this "simple" quilting job takes twice as long as an all-over pantograph, with all it's starts and stops and advancing and reversing the quilt, and burying the threads, which takes up so much time. I have to charge more for it than for an allover design, which always seems so hard to do !

Lemon Creek Retreat

2010-11-02T20:00:00.000-07:00

Recently, our guild held their annual quilt retreat at a rustic lodge in the country.

It was my first time attending and now I know why it's on most people's to-do list! We didn't have to cook or clean, the food was great and the accomodations cozy! And the company was awesome!

The table I worked at with these ladies

Dinner being served!

Chris is checking on what I'm doing

My machine sewing project was working to finish these oak leaves I've had on the go for a couple of years. They pattern comes from Quiltmaker Sept-Oct '02. Several women from the guild had made these. It was a good take-along hand project, gluing down the edges of the leaves to freezer paper, but I decided I was going to machine applique them onto their bases. Then, I had to cut them in half and re-sew the blocks together. I'm still in the midst of removing the freezer paper, and I can either make one single-sized quilt, or two lap-sized ones, but I'm leaning towards the lap-sized ones.

Me at the final show-and-tell

Here is what I have up on my design wall so far.

I'll update you on my progress later!

Also, there is a Lemon Creek Retreat album in the right sidebar, if you'd like to see others projects.

Quilting Workshops with Pippa Moore

2010-10-30T13:29:00.000-07:00

We recently had Pippa Moore ( http://www.pippamoore.ca/ ) visit the area, and she stayed to give a workshop on her African Sunshine quilt, a version of the New York Beauty block.

Here, Sharon sits with her fabrics

Pippa combines all our blocks and shows us how they can be arranged.

We are surprised to see how all our different colour combos looked great together!

Pippa brought some fabrics and kits and buttons from her "little quiltshop on wheels". It's called "Kitambaa Designs" and can be found on the internet as http://www.pippamoore.ca/kitambaa-designs.htm .

Pippa stayed and gave a talk and slideshow at our guild meeting, after a yummy potluck dinner!

She showed us some of the quilts she made from the African fabrics she imports and sells.

She has an on-going project with a group of African women, teaching them how to sew, quilt and sell their products to the tourist market.

Pippa was a source of inspiration and we all had a great time!

Wholecloth Quilt

2010-10-26T20:21:00.000-07:00

Effie (in her 70's, I'd guess) entrusted me with a quilt top her mother had embroidered so many years ago, and it was time for it to be made into a quilt.

It was an honour to be a part of the history-making!

It was one of my first wholecloth quilts, so it was scarey but exciting, fun, yet alot of work. I burnt out a switch on my machine while stitching it!

I used Hobbs Poly-down for the batting, giving it a nice loft.

The embroidery was lovely!

Collective Baby Quilt

2010-10-24T22:31:00.000-07:00

Sandi organized another baby quilt, for her second grand-baby.

She sent out fabric squares to several friends and relatives and they appliqued and embellished them however they liked and sent them back.

I had the priviledge of assembling them into a quilt.

Here are a few close-ups of the blocks, and one in particular was fantastically embroidered with an underwater scene! A real work of art!

Irish Chain

2010-10-11T23:38:00.000-07:00

Denise gave me another quilt top to finish for her. This time it was a scrappy Triple Irish Chain. I just love the way the squares are all different colours, but yet it all works together to make a wonderful design!

I just stitched straight through the chains, with a shamrock in the center of the plain blocks. For the shamrock, I used a heart template for the leaves.

Reverse Hearts in the border

Turning Twenty #3

2010-09-22T20:38:00.000-07:00

I think this is the 3rd Turning Twenty quilt I have quilted for someone.

Pat wanted to use up some of her older floral prints, and this was a great way to do it.

She chose Wandering Daisies thread path, with a nice variegated thread and Hobbs Poly-down batting.

Inspires me to do the same with some of my older florals!

Easy Stained Glass

2010-09-17T21:55:00.000-07:00

This is what I've been playing with this week. I've always wanted to make some easy stained glass wallhangings. I used the Pattern from Patchworks Studio for the first two small ones.

The one on the left if actually finished, no fancy quilting here, just stitch in the ditch. The other two will have to wait until I have more time to finish them!

I used a panel from Michael Miller, called "Park Landscape". I just love it. First I used just a small chunk of it, then I decided to get as much of it in a window frame as possible. Using the book Simple Stained Glass Quilts also by Patchwork Studios, I created a frame just the right size.

The misty autumn fabric is a McKenna Ryan "At Home in the Woods" from Hoffman.

Wedding Quilt

2010-09-10T10:31:00.000-07:00

Cheryl brought me this lovely quilt top she made for a wedding gift. She just wanted me to stitch in the ditch, which was a great choice, keeping it very simple and not-too-feminine. For her second-only quilt, Cheryl did a great job of keeping things square!

The wedding couple picked out the colours, I believe the plum colour represented the bridesmaids dresses, the black for the men's tuxedos and the white of course, for the bride's dress.

I loved the way she used a photo of the couple in the center of the quilt. There were two lovely, machine-embroidered filler pieces on either side of it, as well.

Surrounding the photo were blocks of many well-wishes provided by the wedding guests.

What an amazing memento of a very special day!

ABC Quilt

2010-09-07T21:58:00.000-07:00

Joy brought me this darling quilt top she made for her granddaughter Madison, who is now 5 years old. She wanted to get it quilted up before Madison outgrew it!

It was alot of fun to do and gave me a chance to try out a few different background fillers.

Rock-N-Roses Quilt

2010-08-26T20:47:00.000-07:00

Velda brought me this quilt she made for her niece. I just fell in love with the fabric!

The inside panel is from a Lyndhurst Studio, (Northcott) line, called Rock-N-Roses. The fabrics Velda chose to accompany the panel were amazing, and suited the quilt perfectly!

I started by stitching in the ditch between all the blocks.

In the panel portion, I loosely free-handed around the shapes and
added some swirlies and loops with variegated thread.

In the surrounding blocks we chose to do some basic quilting, according the the block style.

In the border, I stitched some musical notes and loops, although it doesn't show up in any of the photos.

It was a fun quilt to work on, and has sent me on a mission to find some more fabric!

Rain Barrel Drip System

2010-08-04T22:02:00.000-07:00

Since the word "Garden" shows up in the title of my blog, I feel that I can stray alittle from the Quilting theme.

While staying at the family cottage during the summer, my husband and I often go for walks along the forestry backroads. I'm always looking into the ditches and finding disgarded items from people who couldn't be bothered to take them to the dump, and I've come home with a few treasures that aren't just pop and beer cans!

This one trip I found an old oak barrel, and nearby, a broken pressure-treated post, possibly fallen off someones vehicle, or thrown out, but hey, finder's keepers is my motto!

I went back with the Jeep and and hauled out my treasures and took it back to the cottage where I did the water test, and filled the barrel up to see how much it leaked. It did pretty well! Just with leaking alone, the water could last a week.

So, the next week or so I gathered up some supplies and proceeded to turn it into a drip system for our tiny garden at the cottage.

Since we don't have power at the cottage, I got a chance to use some old hand tools!

First I drilled a hole with a hole saw bit just big enough to put the tap threads through.

Then I used a bigger hole saw bit to make a bigger circle on the inside of the barrel, because the threads on the tap weren't long enough, or the barrel was too thick, so I had to make room for my coupler thingy to screw onto the tap.

I actually drilled for two taps, one at the bottom to feed the drip system, the other near the top just in case I re-route the downspout into the barrel, "rain-barrel" style, and then this second tap would be the overflow.

Also, I must mention that I gooped a bunch of silicone sealer on the inside as well.

Next, I put together the poly fittings. Don't forget to put the clamp on the pipe before you attach it to the fitting! Ask me how I know!

Oh, and I forgot to mention the pressure-treated post, I sawed it by hand to the required length, and set them under the barrel so there's some air circulation under it.

This photos shows the barrel is wet, not because it is leaking, but because I showered it with the hose.

Here's the lower tap.

Here's a little dripper doing it's thing.

And here's the little garden, there's a cherry tomato plant, a few peppers, some basil and chives, and some volunteer plant in the foreground. I had hoped it was a cucumber, but Father-in-Law suggested it might be a cantaloupe. It will be fun to see what it turns out to be!

I want to let everyone know that I DID IT ALL BY MYSELF!

But to be honest, I had a hard time putting in those little drippers, so my husband did assist with those. But that's all he did!

Summer Fun with Grandmother's Flower Garden

2010-07-27T18:59:00.000-07:00

Well, like many of the other bloggers out there, I'm having a hard time finding time to write, with the wonderful summer weather we are having.
For the past month or so, my routine has been:
Wednesday and Thursday- go to work, Thursday night guild meeting if I have time
Friday- pick any veggies or berries off the garden, water flowers, pack for the weekend at the lake.
Saturday, Sunday, Monday- enjoy the weekend at the cottage.
Tuesday- come home and do laundry, pick stuff off the garden, water flowers, do any housework.
Then start all over again with going to work for 2 days.

I haven't been quilting much at all for customers, although there are a couple of them I should think of starting soon!

I have started another quilt project of my own, a Grandmother's Flower Garden. It has been a great take-along project and I'm enjoying it so much.

This is the fabric that inspired me.

I found the hexagons patterns on a website with free graph paper. www.PrintablePaper.net is a really cool site, I will be using it alot!

Then I printed some sheets of hexagons onto 8"x11" sticky label paper.

After I cut out the hexagons, I peeled and stuck them to my fabric, 6 petals and one center of a different colour.

Then I cut around them about 3/8".

Next I basted down the corners, taking an extra little stitch in the corner itself and then a traveling stitch to get to the next corner. Note: I did NOT go through the sticky label paper to the other side.

Then, I proceeded to stitch each petal to the flower center. I don't know if it was necessary, but I always placed a straight grain against a bias edge, just to give it extra stability. It doesn't work out for the sections in between the petals.

Once all the petals were secured to the center, then I stitched in between the petals one at a time.

Here is how the flowers look in relation to the focus fabric.

I may make some flowers out of the floral fabric as well, and see how that looks.

I also plan to make some white daisies.

I will use the multi-green fabric and join the flowers in the variety of greens, resembling leaves.

I don't know how big this quilt will be, all I know is that I still have alot more flowers to make! I hope summer lasts a long time!

Hope you're all having a good one!

50th Wedding Anniversary Quilts

2010-07-13T13:24:00.000-07:00

Valerie brought me two quilt tops she made for her parents.

They recently celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary and she wanted to give them something special to mark the occasion.

The Father's one has more blue in it while Mom's is more brown. They both had cozy flannel backings which Valerie machine-embroidered labels on. A great idea!

Valerie said the patterns were a type of "Storms at Sea".

On mom's quilt she chose "Oriental Clouds" pantograph.

And on Dad's she chose "Waterworld".

Her parents are sure lucky!

Hearts Galore!

2010-07-06T21:44:00.000-07:00

Here is another great quilt from Rebecca.

She works as a nurse and often works the evening shift, so has some time to do some hand applique.

Look at all those hearts!

I like them since they aren't your typical symmetrical ones.

Rebecca wanted some swirls and i added them to the hearts themselves as well, to secure the applique.

We were both pleased with how it turned out!

Quilts, Quilts, Quilts!

2010-06-21T21:02:00.000-07:00

Over the course of a few months, Brenda had given me 5 quilt tops she'd made for each of her sisters.

Their Mother had passed away last fall, and Brenda wanted to make each of them a quilt containing some bits of their mother's clothing.

I can just imagine the joy her sisters will feel when they get their quilts this month!

Brenda gave me the freedom to choose the threads and pattern for each quilt, and she was happy with each one. What a relief!

As you can see, I chose an appropriate pantograph for each one.

Tote Bags

2010-06-16T20:51:00.000-07:00

Some time ago, my Tuesday night gals and I made some tote bags. I got the pattern from Marcus Fabrics website, it is called the Love and Hope Designer tote. It was alittle tricky to put together, and I think I may modify it abit for future use, but I really like the design and size of it.

It was the perfect project for the remaining fabrics from one of the latest quilt tops I made.

This is one of the totes Diane made up from gorgeous Laurel Burch fabrics, makes me want to go out and buy some right now!

Mona had a favorite tote pattern she wanted to use instead, and she made this lovely bag for a Korean girl who is staying in her home for awhile. May adores Mona's cat, so Mona appliqued a kitty silhouette on either side of the bag, adding a few embellishments and some paw prints for quilting.

Magic Tiles Grad Quilt

2010-06-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

It is that time of year, when some people celebrate a school or college Graduation with the gift of a quilt, and this proud Mom is no exception!

Patti did a wonderful job choosing fabrics and colours for this special quilt for her son. Each fabric is different from one another yet still has a luminous quality, so it really looks like stained glass!

It is a Magic Tiles pattern, and has reminded me that I must make one for myself!

Patti chose an all-over design called Oriental Clouds (and many of the prints happened to be oriental). She had me stitch the name of her son and his degree, as well as her name and date.

Beginner Class

2010-06-02T22:12:00.000-07:00

I am teaching a beginner class. I have a hard time saying "teaching", because I have never considered myself a teacher, but I guess I am sharing what I know, so I suppose it does make me a teacher of some sort. Regardless, I am learning how to teach while they are learning to quilt!

So, here are a few photos of our progress.

Attending are 2 young girls in their early 20's, and it is so refreshing to have them on board! I get a kick out of how organized they both are, here is a shot of Heather with her piles or fabrics all organized into the blocks they will be sewn into!

And here's a shot of Julie trimming after sewing on a strip.

They are so enthusiastic and alot of fun!

Judy here is squaring off a block. She is making a photo quilt for her grand-daughter, with an absolutely wonderful assortment of teal fabrics you ever did see!

For first-time quilters, they are doing a wonderful job!

Here they are after Day 1.

And here the quilt tops are ready to be quilted.

I'm so proud of them!

Turkey Tracks 2

2010-05-27T22:36:00.000-07:00

Denise made another turkey tracks quilt for her nephew.
The fabrics were just gorgeous!

I chose (with Flamingo Debra's help) to do Continuous curves in the turkey tracks themselves, as well as the pieced inner border, and some freehand swirlies around them.

The outer border was stitched clamshell style, as you can see from the back, as it doesn't show up from the front very well.

And I think the inner border design is referred to as "eggs and darts"?

I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out, and more importantly, Denise is thrilled!

Pillowcase fun

2010-05-20T07:32:00.000-07:00

My Tuesday night ladies group (we really need to find a good name for them) came over recently and we made some pillowcases. They are really quick and easy to whip up and make great gifts! You can make some to match a quilt, or use them like a gift bag and wrap a present in it, and customize it to suit each individual person! You can also make them to store your quilts in, and find them easily if you made them with the same fabrics. And it's a great way to use up fabric in your stash!

These two are mine, they are shorter than a standard size, as I didn't quite have enough of the main fabrics, but they will get used anyways! There's kitties on one, and popscicles on the other.

Mona made two pillowcases to match a flannel quilt she made for a Korean young man who is staying at her house. A great Canadian souvenir for him!

Diane made this cute pillowcase for her nephew.

Marie modified the size of the pillowcase to fit some cushions for her couch. Very classy!

It was a fun project!

Carol's block-of-the-Month

2010-05-16T21:51:00.000-07:00

Carol also made a BOM quilt, putting a ton of work into it.

I did a similar style of quilting as on Olga's,
putting a medallion into each block,
but I did more stitch-in-the-ditch because
of the outer pink border, and then continued it through the inside sashing.

Here is a good view of the medallion design, sorry it's sideways, but I'm too lazy to go back and fix it!

The border design.

Leaves in the sashing.

Another sideways photo, sorry!

Olga's Block of the Month

2010-05-11T15:05:00.000-07:00

Olga brought me another quilt of hers, this time a BOM Sampler quilt. She made a few extra blocks to make this one huge quilt!

Olga often chooses a fluffy poly batting for her quilts, and I believe we used hobbs Polydown. It gives great stitch definition!

Olga chose a medallion to put into each block, which had a leafy them, so I carried that into the sashing, and the border.

Orphan Blocks and a First Quilt

2010-05-08T23:07:00.000-07:00

Olga is a returning customer who loves to make multi-coloured scrappy quilts with lots of little pieces.

This quilt she calls her "orphan blocks" quilt, because the blocks were given up for adoption by a lady who'd made up the intricate blocks and then lost interest, so Olga acquired them and put the rest of the quilt top together. It really is in keeping with her own style! Anyways, the quilt turned out beautifully, and she chose a butterfly pantograph for me to stitch across it, in a variegated thread. I'm pleased with the way it turned out!

Olga's 27 (or so) year-old grand-daughter Sarah made this "first quilt" on which I also used the same stitch pattern. It also turned out great! No surprise, though, as Sarah had a pro to teach her!

Star Log Cabins

2010-05-05T21:18:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of working on a couple of star log cabin quilts. I believe the pattern came from one of Judy Martin's books, but I can't be sure.

We chose a Stars and Loops pantograph to stitch across Marion's Quilt.

On Carol's, we chose a medallion-type design for each of the blocks and then a complimentary border.

They both turned out very well, and it really helps when the quilt tops are perfectly square to begin with!

Hollie's Quilt

2010-04-28T21:08:00.000-07:00

Hollie brought me this quilt top to make up for her.
She doesn't use a pattern but creates as she goes,
and I think she did a swell job, incorporating circles
into the blocks! She also tea-dyed some of the fabrics to bring them to the right shade of beige.

I admire her courage!

For quilting, I just circled around the circles, meandered in between, put some bubbles in the inner border ( to match the bubbles in her binding fabric), and then double piano-keyed the outer border.

She was thrilled.

Stamping it up!

2010-04-23T23:55:00.000-07:00

My first "event" in my new studio was held last Sunday, with a group of fellow stand-up machine quilters (otherwise known as Longarmers).

We try to get together every few months to share what we've been up to, to discuss our machine quilting issues, and mostly be inspired by one another! And that we were!

We also try to fit in a fun activity at our meetings, and this time it was stamping on fabric. Along with the commercial stamps we had, we also tried making our own "linoleum block" stamps, carved out from an eraser-like material. That was a new experience for most of us! We experimented with stamping ink and silkscreen ink (with the use of a brayer), fabric paints and acrylic craft paints with brushes. It is a great to try new things to create with!

Here are a few of the things I tried.

This is the snowflake stamp I carved out of the linoleum block.

These are stamps I made out of thin craft foam sheets (sticky one side), which were then applied to thicker pieces of foam (I had cut up a foam play mat which I had used as a fatigue mat). The sticky foam part did not work that well, as the paper backing didn't come off very easily, but once I find out what kind of glue to use, these make a great inexpensive stamp!

Another stamp made out of the craft foam.

And here I practiced the letter "G" from a purchased stamp.

All in all, it was a great day!

Moved in, finally!

2010-04-21T11:57:00.000-07:00

Well, over the past week, I have been moving into my new studio space! I am exhausted! Here are a few progress photos.

This is a photo of my husband welding a frame to support my new cutting surface. He's been working hard to help me out! He's also welded up a set of castors to bolts that I can put on my quilting machine, so I can roll it out of the way when I need to.

This is the finished cutting table. We put it on an old drafting table base that we acquired several years ago, and finally it has come in handy! It also has a swingarm little side table that was meant to support a computer monitor, but I find it a handy place to store my cutting tools, scissors and pins.

This is an old wardrobe my husbands grandfather or great-grandfather built. I plan to store my client quilts in it. I painted it white inside to make it look fresh and clean.

This is a new sewing area. My brother had given me a couple of cabinets that used to house his videos and support his t.v. With a few minor alterations and a new top, it makes an awesome sewing desk! And inside is a turntable shelf that will hold my threads.

It makes me feel good when I finally use something that I've saved for years!

And last but not least, my quilting machine was set up with the help of our sons who visited last week.

Take 5

2010-04-10T22:44:00.000-07:00

My Quilting group and I recently worked on a Take 5 quilt pattern, one of those quick-cut and easy-sew patterns.
It gave me an opportunity to use up some fabrics in my stash, pink and blues with gardening themes. I actually made the twin size quilt, but then divided the blocks to make one crib-sized quilt and one square wallhanging/tablecloth.
I'll eventually just stitch an all-over design across them.

My latest quilt top

2010-04-08T22:10:00.000-07:00

I recently put this quilt top together for an upcoming beginner class I want to teach.

(Okay, so I broke my own rule, not to post a quilt that I haven't quilted yet, but I'm only planning to do an all-over on it, so it's not a big deal).

The initial pattern is called the "Balance of Nature Quilt" by Jessica Levitt, from the Windham Fabrics website. I had just under a yard of focus fabric to utilize, so I had to make some adjustments to make it fit.

This one will be fairly easy for a beginner to accomplish, while learning how to use a rotary cutter and ruler!

Most fabrics are by designer Joel Dewberry (Westminster Fibers), and I picked up a few fillers from Debra at Flamingo Quiltworx (see favorite blogs). These are not the usual colours I tend to go towards, but it will look good in my new studio.

Froggy Quilt and Rail Fence

2010-04-06T08:30:00.000-07:00

Lovette brought me these two tops to quilt up for her.

The simple rail fence is sweet with "Feathered Garden" pantograph stitched across it.

The Froggy Quilt is for her grandson, with the fabric choices just perfect. I just love the applique!

I echoed around the frogs, stitched some pond water around them, and finished the quilt border with a row of lilies, lily pads and bulrushes. I should have picked a better section to photograph, this one isn't as nice as some others!

Faux Tiles Finished!

2010-03-30T10:00:00.000-07:00

I just spent the last 5 days working on painting my basement floor. Well, it was 5 days about 7 days ago.

On the first day, I cleaned it with muriatic acid.

Second day, hubby helped me tape a grid pattern on the floor, the original cement is to be the "grout". It "only" took 7 rolls of masking tape!

Then, I rolled the base coat on, twice.

That took me into the 3rd day, when I "sponged" 3 darker colours onto the base coat. I used a sheepskin-covered tool, rather than a sponge. Removed the tape.

Fourth day, we taped the outer border, and I painted the first coat, then this morning, (fifth day) I painted a second coat and removed the remaining masking tape.

Voila! I make it sound so easy, but my body is aching, as though I've been weeding the garden for the past week! Shows how out of shape I am!

My new studio floor is (almost) ready to receive the bits of thread and fabric that will eventually litter it! It's still going to be awhile, as I would like the floor to cure. I will post another photo once I am officially moved in!

Border Creek Mystery

2010-03-28T13:40:00.000-07:00

Nadia participated in the Border Creek Mystery program at one
of our local quilt shops.

I just love the sashing and the lattice in the border. Looks so effective! It pays off to choose more challenging piecing!
This is one mystery quilt that I'm sure no one is disappointed about!

Nadia chose a panto called "Rosie", to go along with
the little flowers in the fabrics.

She also purchased a batik backing from me that worked well with her quilt top.

Baby Quilt with Chenille

2010-03-23T14:02:00.000-07:00

Liz brought me this darling little crib-sized quilt she had made
up for her daughter.

The fabrics are from the Midwest Modern line by Amy Butler. She purchased them from a shop called Quilt Essentials in Abbotsford, B.C. The chenille border is so soft and cuddly,too! I can just imagine some little darling child dragging this blankie around with the chenille up against their face, and thumb in their mouth!

The backing fabric was another co-ordinating print! Gorgeous!

Liz chose a meander stitch over the top. Quick and easy!

Aunt Molly Strikes again!

2010-03-21T08:37:00.000-07:00

Dear old Aunt Molly has given me another 3 quilts to do for her.

I've just finished the first one.

In a previous post, I explained how she was 90 years old and
still quilting strong, her specialty being scrap quilts.

Well, here is another fine example of her work.

She always uses a fluffy poly batting, so the less quilting the better. Quilting "simple" is sometimes more work and takes longer than an all-over design, at least in this case, as I had a fair amount of threads to bury, with each circle made.

But I always enjoy working on her quilts, recognizing some fabrics I gave her and wondering where she got the others!

I tried something alittle different in the borders, having
been inspired by Donna, a fellow longarmer, and I love
the way it turned out, and it was very easy to accomplish.

I'll be doing more of this in the future for sure!

Snowflake Quilt

2010-03-18T22:26:00.000-07:00

As a Christmas tradition in our guild, Caroline chooses a block pattern which each participating guild member makes up, and we draw for the blocks at our annual Christmas dinner.

This past December, Irene was the lucky winner of the blocks, so she put them together and asked me to quilt it for her.

The blocks took on a snowflake theme, as most of the blue fabrics used had snowflakes on them. You wouldn't believe the wide assortment! It was amazing! As I love snowflakes, I thought I'd seen them all, but I wasn't even close!

Here is a photo of one of the two identical blocks I contributed with which I had hoped would increase my chances of winning!

We chose a snowflake panto called "flurry" to quilt across it, with a softly variegated YLI thread. It turned out pretty nice, and Irene was very pleased.

Here is a photo of the back.

Bird Quilt

2010-03-12T22:41:00.000-08:00

Here is a quilt I recently completed for Elena.

A friend had given her some bird blocks and she put them together to make this lovely quilt. Warm and homey with those rich browns! She is going to make some matching cushions with the leftovers.

Elena understands the importance of squaring up the quilt each step of the way, and it was evident as I did the quilting!

She chose "Feathered Garden" for the stitching pattern, very appropriate!