Scraps and Strings

Continue it instead of finish it

2012-01-27T07:51:00.002-06:00

I'm on my way to my annual quilt retreat

where I'll put together these stars

find a way for all these Bs to live together

maybe do a little handwork

and have loads of fun with my quilting friends!

so no finishes to show here, just lots of starts.

check out what's happening with other finishes at Finish it up Fridays.

And while I'm gone, head over to

over here to join in the string fun!

A bunch of us are going to make string quilts of various kinds

over the next months,

and posting about our progress along the way.

You can grab the button here:

See a pattern here?

2012-01-24T15:01:00.002-06:00

I have a thing for strings. When I sewed together Y's birthday quilt (bottom right) earlier this month, I realized I've made a few string quilts in my time. Y's quilt was influenced by the blue and green one right beside it, which was the first string quilt I made back in 2007, influenced by various string quilts I saw on the web. I sewed the strings on a paper foundation, which I don't recommend doing unless you like ripping off paper. I finally quilted it last summer and gave it to my nephew for his high school graduation.

A year later, my guild made our first group quilt using the same method, but on fabric foundations and without sashing.That one is the one at the left in the middle. I've made a few more collaborative string quilts, including the two in the centre of the top row. All the others are just mine. Quite the bunch, eh?

Any one else there have a thing for strings? How about a string thing along? Make this winter the season of strings and we'll post our results as we go along. Let me know in the comments if you want to string along some strings. More details to follow.

My word for the year

2012-01-23T14:00:00.002-06:00

Over at Modern8Create,

we're choosing a word to reflect 2012.

My word is not just about quiltmaking

and it's not about running,

but completing my MA thesis.

I want to FINISH it this year,

and then move on to another chapter in my life.

Now I have a visual reminder of my academic goal

hanging in my sewing space.

Start your engines, gentlemen!

When in doubt, follow the instructions

2012-01-22T22:06:00.001-06:00

My friend Kathy passed along an extra copy

of the instruction booklet for the Singer Featherweight

Which is good, because I needed a reminder

of the right way to thread it.

I'm taking this little beauty to my annual quilt retreat

next weekend.

I always get lots of comments about how old it is.

This one was born in 1956, so it's relatively young

in the Featherweight family.

Feathers for Friday

2012-01-20T10:10:00.000-06:00

Baby feathers

36 by 36 inches

machine pieced and quilted

I've got two finishes for this Friday, both with lots of freehand feathers.

This one features a round wreath of feathers in the white blocks,

and square wreath of feathers in the pieced blocks.

Ever since I bought my Juki a year ago, I've been practicing free motion quilting

and I've gotten the hang of free hand feathers.

(I still stink at basic stippling. go figure.)

Other than the circles I drew for the stem of the feathers

these are entirely freehand.

Here's a view of the back.

Since I was using up scraps from another baby quilt,

I pieced together the green and blue patches

to make the one yard of backing to fit the quilt.

I have to say I'm used to buying a metre (39 inches) of fabric

so a yard seems really short.

I used a blue and white dot print from American Jane for the binding.

I used a Hobbs polydown batt in it,

which gives the feathers lots of loft.

Scrappy coin quilt

32 by 34 inches

machine pieced and quilted

This little quilt uses up old scraps and new

and has machine quilted ribbons in a variegated thread in the middle

and freehand fans around the blue border.

I was planning on a dark binding

until I found enough cut, pieced, and pressed binding

in the blue border print, leftover from another quilt

so I used that up.

Here both quilts are lying in the snowy shadows of my front yard

in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada,

to show off the texture from the feathers.

Both these quilts will be donated to a good cause

as part of my guild's

Year of the Baby Quilt project.

I'm linking up with Amanda's Finish It Fridays

and Amy Lou.

Thanks for stopping by and if you're interested,

check out the rest of my blog here.

I swear I didn't go fabric shopping

2012-01-18T18:28:00.003-06:00

These are great prints and colours

but I found them at the grocery store

not the fabric shop.

Could somebody make some of that black and red and white design

into fabric, please?

Stringing up stars on the design wall

2012-01-16T07:55:00.000-06:00

A dig through the solids box and a bit of fun with my new 60 degree diamond ruler

resulted in four string stars

Here's a larger view, with black diamonds between the stars.

I've figured out how to do the Y seams

but I'm not sure how I get all these diamonds into a rectangle shape.

I'm linking up with design wall Mondays over at Patchwork Times.

Friday Finishes

2012-01-13T08:59:00.001-06:00

I've had a productive week with a few little finishes to show.

I began the year by digging in my abandoned UFO box

(yes, I have an active UFO box too!)

and found this 10 inch free-pieced sewing machine dating back several years.

I practiced my free motion quilting on it and bound it

and now it's ready to hang on a sewing room wall somewhere.

This little quilt has a fraternal twin sister that is still in the flimsy stage.

I finished hand appliquing my happy scrappy basket of flowers.

And I took this little string quilt from the abandoned UFO pile, added one more row of strings

(I'm not sure what it says about me that I could find the same fabrics in my scrap boxes,

since this is a really old UFO.)

and bordered it with leftovers from another recent project.

I machine quilted this one with wavy ribbons in the strings,

and freemotion feathers around the border.

All it needs is a binding and it can join the pile of baby quilts

my guild is making this year.

This one measures 32 by 35, so it would be perfect for a preemie boy.

I'm linking up with Amanda's Finish it up Friday post and Amy Lou's Sew and Tell.

and Sew Darn Crafty.

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-11T07:17:00.000-06:00

Pink Parisian Purse

2012-01-10T07:35:00.002-06:00

I used a metre of sale fabric

featuring the Eiffel Tower on a pink check

to make this set of bags for a Christmas gift.

The fabric's name is Aunt Grace Ties One On by Jude Rothermel.

The bag with the black handles is a spacious tote,

quilted, lined, and equipped with pockets.

Beside it is a small zippy bag.

The others are market bags which fold inside the big bag.

Old string quilt made new

2012-01-09T21:07:00.000-06:00

I dug through my UFO/WIP project box last week

and found this little string quilt.

I decided it would qualify for my guild's year of the baby quilt project

if it was a little bigger, so I found a blue print to audition for the borders.

Just a few more seams and it's ready to be quilted.

Check out the what's on other design walls at Judy's blog .

A top secret birthday quilt

2012-01-06T18:00:00.000-06:00

Inspired by Gwen Marston's Liberated String Quilts

I had a hand in putting together this group quilt

for a friend's 50th birthday.

(Actually I squared off every block, repaired fraying seams,

and put the whole thing together.)

This is a picture of the top on my bed.

It measures 87 by 102.

A bunch of us are off for the weekend with the birthday girl

to soak in the hot tub, eat chocolate, and maybe go skiing.

So I know the birthday girl won't be on the Internet checking out my blog.

Since she loves scraps, I'm giving her all of my

2.5 by 4.5 bricks I cut from my scraps

As well, the tin that seems appropriate for the day, since my friend

lives a two-hour drive from my house.

Happy Birthday Yvonne!

First finishes of 2012 and last finishes of 2011

2012-01-05T11:31:00.002-06:00

I've been playing in my sewing room and came up with these 12.5 inch blocks.

The black and white ones are for a guild member who is making quilts

for a family who experienced both a death and a fire over the holidays.

The blue/green/white ones I put together from leftovers from another baby quilt.

Here they are put together in a 9 patch formation to measure 36 inches square.

I'm going to quilt circles of feathers in the blank blocks like this.

I worked on donation blankets for a relief organization as well. I put together two tops from oldies and uglies to come up with two tops we tied over the New Year's weekend with my extended family.

My mother has two banquet-sized tables, so it was easy to layer them and tie them.

The log cabin blanket uses a cheater cloth.

And this is the last finish of 2011. My niece and sister helped me finish tieing it over the holidays.

I made the top from strips cut from my mother's unwanted fabrics,

and sewed them together in a modified jelly roll race.

More quilts of 2011

2011-12-31T09:52:00.003-06:00

Larger quilts of 2011 (or ones that took forever to make): clockwise from top left: letter banner for my church, 100 shades of green banner, t-shirt quilt, string quilt (single), scrappy throw, hand appliqued queen sized quilt which raised $5200, rose lap throw, t-shirt quilt. When I look at this batch, all these were less than straightforward projects, and some of them took several years to get finished (the roses and the string quilt.) I had problems making the t-shirt quilts, but I learned a lot from that experience.

Baby quilts of 2011. All but one of them are warming a new baby already.

All of my finished projects, big and small.

Thanks for visiting. Please come back next year!

Little quilts of the year

2011-12-30T09:37:00.000-06:00

Click photo to enlarge

One went to England, another hangs in my sewing room, one hangs in Victoria's sewing room, another brightens Beth's kitchen, one was purchased by an Alzheimer's researcher, and seven of them were given to Muslim scholars from Iran. Several of them still live at my house. All in all, it's been a great year for my little quilts.

Look who bought my AAQI quilt!

2011-12-21T08:16:00.002-06:00

Earlier this week, Ami Simms of the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative awarded $30,000 to

Dr. Sylvie Garneau-Tsodikova and her team at the Life Sciences Institute at the University of Michigan.

The researchers are developing a multi-functional drug for Alzheimer's disease.

Slightly Off-Kilter 8546

machine pieced and machine quilted

It looks like the researchers bought some of the Priority quilts as well,

including mine, Slightly Off Kilter, which sold for $70.

Ami writes that it is unusual for AAQI volunteers to meet the researchers they fund.

I'm thinking it is unusual for people like me who make and donate Priority quilts

to know who buys our quilts.

But check out the pictures over there.

It looks like Dr. Garneau-Tsodikova bought mine.

Cool!

Baby chick has a quilt

2011-12-20T09:54:00.000-06:00

The baby up the street isn't quite ready to hatch,

but the little chickie already has a quilt.

I finished one of the chicken and egg quilts on the weekend with simple wavy quilting lines

and backed it with yellow minkee

Some of my free motion quilting isn't fabulous

(Yes, I see the wrinkles above the green chicken)

but the chick's parents are thrilled.

Apparently the expectant mom is into chickens.

And they loved the quilt

and said they would use it as their stroller blanket.

So I'll get glimpses of the quilt warming my new little neighbour

as she or he is strolled down the street in the new year..

Already on the wall

2011-12-16T13:09:00.000-06:00

I handed off this t-shirt quilt to the rightful owner at 8 a.m. yesterday.
By supper time, she sent me a picture of it hanging on the wall
near her other running and cycling trophies and awards.
Wow!

I restrained myself ...

2011-12-14T16:28:00.001-06:00

from cutting a bit of this Dutch wax print for myself when my 18-year-old nephew,

newly home from a trip to Burkina Faso,

asked for some help in hemming this 60 inch piece of yardage

leftover from an outfit he had made.

Note: next time family member goes to Africa, ask for fabric.

He bought this entire piece of 12 yards for about $14.

I also restrained myself from not buying too much fabric

at the local discount store, which cuts half metres on Wednesdays.

The rest of the time we have to buy at least one metre.

I got four different Kona greens,

and some yardage for backing baby quilts, at left.

I didn't restrain myself at the guild meeting gift exchange

when I stole this bag of goodies

with a great bag, dishcloth and potholders

from another member.

For the record, all the gifts were great.

We decided to bring gifts from our sewing room

and several of us made gift bags from our Christmas prints.

I'm not restraining myself from admiring these two baby quilt tops

that I recently finished.

One will find a home up with a new baby up the street.

The word fabric at the left in the picture earlier

goes on the back of this quilt.

More Christmas trees

2011-12-12T10:32:00.001-06:00

I played with Kaffe prints for a little Christmas tree swap over at Modern 8 Create.

This one has liberated triangle trees, with lots of free motion paisleys.

It measures about by 15 inches.

I went with symmetry in this one, using alternating Kaffe and white equilateral triangles.
I like how these prints adapt to becoming Christmas trees,
since I'm not a big fan of traditional Christmas prints.

Each of the trees has a beaded garland, and a beaded trunk.

Oh, Christmas Tree!

2011-12-08T10:29:00.001-06:00

I received a fabulous little Christmas tree quilt

from Margaret over at the Modern 8 Create blog.

She pieced together tiny little bits

and added embellishments and fun zig zag quilting

It's now hanging in my front hall.

I've finished my own tree quilt

from non-Christmasy Kaffe prints

and a bit of beading

Here's a sneak peek before it goes in the mail.

Actually, I made two, and the another will be a gift for someone here.

I also built a house of words to send to Beth's house challenge.

I'm thinking this is a California Modern party house.

fun, fun, fun!

A bed of roses for a Singer Featherweight

2011-12-07T07:31:00.001-06:00

Sometimes an old machine like a Singer Featherweight needs a little TLC.

So I transformed my trio of roses I made for my tutorial on joining wonky roses

into a little pad for a Featherweight.

Since what's better to rest on than a bed of roses?

I used some of the rose fabric for the pocket

and free motioned roses on the roses.

This measures about 18 inches square,

features two pockets

one for accessories like seam rippers or extra bobbins

and the other for storing thread clippings.

I keep mine in the FW case, so I always have it

when I take the machine with me.

It absorbs vibrations on a folding table

and it brings just a little bit more style

to a classic machine.

And whenever I take my FW to retreats or

monthly quilting at a local gallery

someone always remarks about the age of the machine.

Giving and receiving

2011-12-05T09:05:00.001-06:00

My friend has a December birthday and she asked for candles as gifts

So I made her a little hanging (about 8 by 13)

from blue scraps, some Kona white,

and a variety of hand-dyed yellow bits.

One candle to celebrate every day of the week.

I pieced and quilted it entirely on my Singer Featherweight 222K

at an all-day sew-in.

I'd never quilted with the FW before, and I don't have a walking foot for it,

but it handled this just fine.

I kept going with some little seasonal wall hangings of Christmas trees,

Kaffe-style for a challenge over at the Modern 8 blog

I used my diamond ruler to cut the top triangles,

and cut the trees in the bottom one free hand.

Julie sent me this cheery postcard

in exchange for some word fabric.

Thanks so much!

Creativity is messy

2011-11-30T07:27:00.000-06:00

Judging from the number of bloggers who post about cleaning up their sewing room

and the amount of time I spend organizing my space,

I've concluded creativity is messy.

Which is why I'm showing you the nicely organized new shelves

put up by Mr. Scraps recently

but not the mess right below them.

and in baby sewing news,

here's a bapron made from a fun print

for a drooling, smiley little friend.

Take your time Tuesday

2011-11-29T10:00:00.001-06:00

I've made some progress on appliquing my happy basket.

Just a few flowers left to do on the top.

It's hanging on the design wall here with some free pieced roses.

Check out what others are doing over at So Happy.

A baby quilt with a chicken and egg problem

2011-11-28T16:28:00.001-06:00

I'm working on a fun chicken and egg baby quilt

to celebrate the birth of a new baby on my street

and as part of Year of the baby quilt in my guild.

So yesterday during the big football game

I appliqued these chickens in funky, non-chicken colours.

They still need some eyes and legs, but I was planning

to quilt those in with dark thread.

These birds will go in a quilt made from this Robert Kaufmann Mona Luna fabric

that's been sitting in my stash for a year or more.

I don't want to cut up the print too much,

so I'm inserting a band with the appliqued chickens

Here it is on top

And here it is on the bottom.

Which do you like better?

The good news is that I have enough fabric to make it both ways

if I applique a few more birds on another band.

I could also insert narrow strips of green on either side of the white

since nothing is sewn together.

What's a good size for a baby quilt?

Right now, this is sort of squarish rectangular

at 42 inches by 46 or so.

I've thought of cutting it a bit narrower to 36 or 38.

A tutorial on joining liberated roses with curved piecing

2011-11-25T07:27:00.001-06:00

A reader asked me how to frame liberated roses

without having lots of long straight edges, like below.

My suggestion is using your rotary cutter

and some curved machine piecing.

1. Cut 4 to 5 inch wide background strips in green

2. With your rotary cutter, cut your rose into a curved shape.

3. Lay your wide strip underneath one side of the rose and cut along the line of the rose.

4. Mark the starting point on the rose, pin and sew, using a shallow seam allowance.

5. Press seam, and then repeat for the opposite side.

6. Lay another background strip on the top and cut curve where necessary.

6. Sew and press. In this case, the last side only needs a straight strip sewn on it.

7. Sew, press, and square up to preferred size.

Here's two rose blocks.

And since a bunch looks better, here's a third.

8. I decided to join the blocks into a small bouquet, so I repeated the steps.

I laid the lighter green block underneath the darker block

and cut a gentle curve where the two overlapped.

9. Here they are sewn and pressed.

10. then lay the third rose on top of the joined blocks and cut around it.

11. pin, sew, and press

12. Lay another strip of background fabric underneath, and cut along the curve of the rose

and extend the curve to the edge, as below.

Here it is sewn together.

13. repeat for remaining gap. mark and pin where necessary.

14. Sew, press, and square up. I know my greens contrast with each other

and I'd suggest using background colours in the same value.

Any questions? email me at strings[at]mts[dot] net or leave a comment below.

Year of the baby quilt, part 2

2011-11-23T16:35:00.001-06:00

My guild is marking the impending birth of a baby girl among us

by making baby quilts for donation.

One of our guild members is having her second baby,

and since the rest of us are out of the baby-making business,

we decided to make some quilts.

Above is the stack of nine quilts and blankets guild members brought to the last meeting.

A string quilt in flannel novelites, made from leftover pj fabric.

A panel quilted to fleece. We have three of these panels among us,

and we're giving them new life as quilts after a previous existence as a curtain.

I have one, and I have the fleece for the backing,

but so far, the back and the top have yet to meet.

A preemie blanket made from sample squares

(one of those sew and stack and cut blocks)

Another blanket made from flannel novelties.

A split nine-patch, lovely in its scrappiness.

And a baby quilt not destined for this particular donation pile,

but to the maker's niece.

We're all winners with this quilt!

2011-11-21T15:40:00.001-06:00

It started innocently enough with one 10-inch block

hand appliqued, using hand dyed fabrics

and inspiration from the blog of quilt historian Barbara Brackman.

And it ended with my mom, my collaborator on this project

pulling the winning ticket at a school event

And me, puzzling out the handwriting

to proclaim the winner of this quilt

Midnight Blooms, 95 by 95

hand appliqued and machine quilted

Only one person won the quilt,

but I feel like a winner too.

This quilt, which developed from an idea sparked on blogland

raised $5,200 for my sons' school

and raised awareness about quilts and quiltmaking

in their school's community

and brought me and my mother satisfaction

in being able to to use our gifts and our interests

to raise some serious cash.

Thanks to all of you who supported me in this project,

both with your advice and comments

and in buying tickets,

even if they did cost $10 each.

letters, jelly roll races, and a bunch more

2011-11-18T15:54:00.001-06:00

Last weekend at the quilt retreat, I worked on several projects,

including this scrappy Dresden.

Instead of appliquing each one to a background square and joining the squares,

I basted the background and backing to a fusible batting,

and then machine appliqued the plates.

It's a bit further along than in this photo, but you get the idea.

I also finished the letters for this word quilt made from word fabric.

It's a Latin phrase by St. Anselm which means

faith seeking understanding.

Because the last word is so long, I was trying to fill up the empty space in the first row.

Initially, I made a low contrast cross to fill the space,

and then I changed my mind and altered the cross to become an "f"

It's still low contrast, but now it has the sense of an illuminated manuscript

from medieval times, so I bought an embroidery hoop and some gold floss

and I'm going to embellish the letter and the background.

Stay tuned for how that turns out.

Initially, I thought a piano key border using the dark word fabrics would work

but it just looks too cute and bubblegummy for me, so I'm looking for other options.

Some of the other quilters had raced their jelly rolls already, and the quilter at the left

put her top together on the weekend.

I like the scrappy look, but I'm thinking one doesn't need a jelly roll to make a quilt like this.

More eye candy: lots of batiks (I think 40) went into this lovely.

A show and tell piece with loads of hand stitching in the embroidery, applique, and quilting.

Another lovely -- a four-patch, nine-patch variation.

Another jelly roll quilt, with flowers and insects made with Go Baby! dies

This is a baby quilt, but not made by Go. All the flowers are hand appliqued to a muslin,

then outlined in perle cotton in a big stitch.\

The border is wavy, but the binding isn't finished, so it's hard to see here.

This one is very fun in person.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-16T11:28:00.000-06:00

I'm the scrappy go-to girl!

2011-11-14T14:40:00.000-06:00

It pays to be good with scraps. This weekend at a quilt retreat, one of the participants had a last minute idea to make a prayer shawl for the retreat organizer, who recently got some bad news health wise. We had one evening and a box of tiny batik scraps to do it, and a few bigger bits of yardage.

I made the wonky stars, set others to piecing the little bits together without a pattern (this was a new experience for some) and by 9 p.m.Friday we had this 34 by 72 inch prayer shawl. It took 12 quilters, an hour of knotting, a quick trip home for one person to get the flannel backing, and the combined efforts of a bunch of us to handsew the binding and the label, but we were finished completely by noon Saturday. The person it was intended for walked in two hours before we were done, but we carried on in front of her and she claims she didn't notice what we were doing. The photos above show the shawl in progress, a full length view, and the new owner wearing it.

Over and over, some of the other retreat folks told me this was the first time they had made something without a pattern and that they had learned they could just sew pieces together as they fit and puzzle it out.
One quilter carefully made a paper pieced block to fit into the shawl, and then went back to her sewing machine and quickly whipped up a wonky log cabin. The nice part of the whole experience is that a bunch of quilters learned they could do this without a pattern. A true lightbulb moment. And yes, the shawl was appreciated with tears and a smile, and even napped under.

Barbie, buttons, and me

2011-11-10T09:32:00.001-06:00

For the second time in two weeks.

I've had to clear our my sewing space for home repairs.

This time, I had to clean out the closet so

the repair guy can get into the attic.

(The good news is that I found the case for my Elna, pictured at the left.)

I'm off to a retreat tomorrow, so my Juki is resting in the dining room

until I can pack it up.

For those of you with the same machine, what kind of case do you use to carry this beast?

I found these doll-sized notions (from 1969) in my sewing closet.

Teeny buttons, belt buckles, and zippers,

perfect for clothes for Barbie and all her friends.

Anyone else remember sewing with these?

Spicing it up

2011-11-07T16:20:00.001-06:00

I like making quilts partially because I like playing with colour.

Certain colours speak to me, and others I just ignore.

I find myself playing in the same colour palette again and again.

This little quilt (9 by 11) in spice colours is out of my colour comfort zone.

It's from a pattern by Susan and machine quilted in freehand fans.

I choose these for a challenge over at the Modern8Create blog

and you can read about my process here.

With this one, I went with more organic red bars,

incorporated two shades of grey

inserts here and there

and organic quilting lines.

Here I pieced all the leftovers into a neutral palette

and inserted curved red bars

and quilted more curves into it.

All three together.

I plan to donate them to Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative.

A dozen roses for BQF

2011-11-03T08:12:00.001-05:00

A Dozen Roses for Maria, 33 by 40 inches

machine pieced and quilted

I'm a late entry into the fall Bloggers Quilt Festival

but I've been seeing all the other wonderful quilts out there

and I wanted to share this one.

I made these roses inspired by Andrea when we took an online class/challenge

with Tonya Ricucci in 2008

Andrea was making a bed of roses quilt for her sister's wedding

from free-pieced roses

and I decided to use up some passed along scraps to try some roses myself.

I made a bunch of roses and then didn't know how to join them.

Fast forward to January, 2011 when I had an inspiration

and joined the roses using a curved piecing technique.

I had intended to give this lap-sized blanket to an elderly friend who loves flowers

but she died from cancer the weekend I finished it.

So for now, I'm keeping it, to remind myself of my good friend Maria.

Thanks for visiting and take a look at all the other great quilts linked up at Amy's blog.

Be still

2011-11-01T14:18:00.001-05:00

I've posted before about this banner of free-pieced letters that I made for my church.

It's made of batiks and hand quilted in a vine pattern.

Last Sunday it was officially blessed as part of a dedication for the new prayer room.

It hung from the pulpit during most of the service

(yes, the last word is hidden here.)

And then it was hung in the new prayer room, which is the door at the right of the photo above.

The room was painted and decorated around the green/blues and taupes in the banner.

The (ugly) green carpet figures prominently in these photos.

We all know it has to go, but it hasn't happened yet.

Anyway, it's nice to see a project that was so long in the making finally hanging in its new home.

Giveaway and gifts

2011-10-31T13:23:00.000-05:00

I've been playing with little projects in my sewing room lately, preparing for the upcoming gift-giving season.

Four zippy bags, two with selvages, two with Canada fabric.

Two tea cozies, made from the selvage bin,

although I used big wide selvages on the one at the left,

and didn't show the white selvage strip.

Reverse sides.

and the insides, finished to be reversible.

Thanks for all the entries into my follower giveaway for a Canada zippy bag.

The winner is Upstate Lisa, who had the 17th and final comment.

Sometimes the last are indeed first!

(And I can't get that that random.org number generator to appear on my blog,

so you'll just have to take my word for it.)

Flower arranging

2011-10-26T06:30:00.000-05:00

I brought my pieced scrap flower bits to my guild meeting on Monday and asked for some help.

So Karen P, a former florist, started playing with these blooms.

With some advice and rearranging from other guild members,

we eventually came up with this floral arrangement.

I like how they arranged the leaves

and I especially like how together we came up with something

I couldn't have done by myself.

Here's the basket of flowers with my other scrappy blooms and applique blocks.

This is an asymetrical layout, with some blank spots that will eventually

grow vines and flowers.

Here's a symetrical, centre medallion layout.

I'm not liking this one as much.

And the fuzzy picture doesn't help. Sorry!

And happy anniversary to my DH.

20 years of fun together!

Year of the baby quilt

2011-10-25T09:52:00.000-05:00

In January, or February, one my guild members is having a baby.

Since the rest of us are out of the baby-making business,

we decided to celebrate this new life among us
by each making a baby quilt to donate to a good cause.

We saw some of those baby quilts in progress last night at our guild meeting.

Heather with her baby-sized rail fence quilt, which will have a cowboy print backing.

And the doll quilt she made from the scraps of the rail fence quilt.

Anne F. with her baby sampler,which just needs the binding handstitched.

Karen G. brought this vintage 10-blade Dresden plate made by her grandmother or great aunt, I forget exactly who made it.

She wanted to quilt it until we pointed out it is a finished summer spread or tablecloth.

This isn't a baby quilt, but Cheryl's paper piecing work in progress.

Here is what's left of the yardage after fussy cutting triangles.

Bonnie was finishing up the binding on this single-sized lovely.

And a bunch of paisley fabrics for Cheryl, who loves paisleys,

so we all gave her some for her birthday.

I have a clear view

2011-10-24T10:10:00.002-05:00

Think my sewing space looks really neat? And don't my windows look....transparent?

Like there's nothing there?

That's because the windows are gone.

I'm getting new windows in my sewing room

and my dining room

and my bathroom today

and all my sewing stuff is in the upstairs hall.

And I'm trying to work, but with six windows taken out

and the news ones not yet installed,

it's just a bit chilly in here.

And if you haven't entered, there's still time to enter my giveaway.

Zip to a giveaway

2011-10-22T07:30:00.000-05:00

I made these little zip pouches out of a flag and text print last week for my mother.

She took them on her trip to China to give them away.

I also made a market bag from the same fabric.

Here's a journal cover I put together recently from some graphic prints

and a panel with women wearing different fruits and vegetables.

This didn't go to China, but to my quilty friend Cheryl, who celebrated a big birthday last week.

If you're still with me, I'll give away a zippy bag similar to the ones above

to any one of my followers.

If you've been with me for awhile,

just leave me a comment,

and if you've been lurking, join up and tell me you did.

I'll pick a winner on Friday, Oct. 28.

String flowers, design walls, and thrift shop finds

2011-10-21T14:53:00.002-05:00

I've been playing with more string flowers,

as well as cutting up some ovals in hand dyed fabrics from a previous project

to make bouquets.

These are not appliqued yet, and I've put the leaves and flowers close together

because I'll lose a bit when I hand applique them.

Too busy, right?

What about if the flowers are arranged in a vase?

I like this better. I need to add the stems, and maybe some embellishment on the vase.

After I made this flower, the colours ran into the green. oops.

Here's a flower from Kaffe fabrics and leaves fussy cut from a Kaffe print.

I'll lose some of the background when I turn under the edges.

I've been accused of having quilter's ADHD. It certainly looks like it on my design wall,

since I have three projects going

(and there's more hiding in my WIP and UFO drawer.) AAAACCK!

So instead of sewing, I distracted myself with some purchases from the local thrift shop.

This apron from unbleached muslin is hand embroidered and hemmed,

but needs ties and a neck strap.

Here's close-up of the embroidery.

This is a hemmed square of cotton fabric, 20 by 20 inches.

It has Christian symbols on it (fish, grapes, bread, crown, lamb)

but with a definite 1960s vibe.

I don't have a plan for it, but I liked the colours.

Here's more goodies: a linen tea towel with the clans of Scotland, with some lovely pinks and golds,

Quilter's Edge iron on 1/4 inch tape, and a small pressing ham.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-19T08:16:00.000-05:00

Blooming on my wall

2011-10-14T09:59:00.001-05:00

I've finished hand appliquing these two scrappy flower blocks,

measuring 17 by 20,

the perfect size to make a bag to replace this

made by my mother nearly 30 years ago.

I think those folded stars are back in vogue again.

Here's the other side, showcasing her hand quilting.

Or...

I could put them together with my other hand appliqued blocks

and leftover bits

for a bigger quilt.

Those two blocks in the middle with the white and brown still have freezer paper attached.

I have lots of parts left from my modern posies quilt.

This could be fun!

Blooming again

2011-10-10T18:36:00.002-05:00

Thanks for all your comments on my scrappy flowers and buds.

I made a few bigger leaves today

and auditioned backgrounds,

finally settling on this black Lipinski print

These blocks are big -- about 17 by 20 inches

Here's the full blown flower on the right, and three buds on the left.

I've started to hand applique the leaves on the left block.

This may be the first of a series of blocks, or maybe not.

Scrappy blooms

2011-10-08T08:52:00.000-05:00

As the weather turns here in Winnipeg

(we went from a high of 31 degrees Celsius on Wednesday to cool, windy, and rainy yesterday)

I've been growing some flowers in my sewing room

Here are some buds, started in the centre with tiny scrap triangles

and built on each side with narrow strips of 1 to 1 1/2 inches wide

Here is the full-blown blossom, started in the middle with a small half square triangle,

and built half log cabin block style

some scrappy leaves.

the two at the left were each cut in half and a stem inserted

The buds and the flower.

I've been playing with these on a b/w background.

Stay tuned.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian readers.

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-05T07:54:00.001-05:00

Side 1

Side 2

of totebags made by friends to haul all their quilting stuff around.

Some little finishes

2011-10-04T07:55:00.003-05:00

Three finishes this week for Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative

Slightly Off Kilter, 9 by 12 inches

machine pieced and quilted

Modern Amish Bars 2

9 by 12 inches

Machine pieced and quilted

Modern Amish Bars

9 by 11 inches

Machine pieced and quilted

and here they are all hanging out together.

Now I just have to register and mail them.

Me and Judy Morningstar

2011-10-03T17:13:00.003-05:00

Today Mr. Scraps came home with a quilt made by Manitoba quiltmaker/fabric artist Judy Morningstar.

He won this in a fundraising draw at his office. (I donated a tea cozy to the effort myself).

It's 20 by 21 inches, made with appliques and lots of exquisite machine stitching

and signed by the artist.

She doesn't have a blog or webpage that I can find, although you can google her work.

I've seen several exhibits of her work, and I know this one is part of a series she did with ethnic fabrics.

This one has a mola in the centre, and she's picked up the colours and shapes in the rest of the quilt.

Here's the back, another fun ethnic fabric.

Mr. Scraps spent $5 in tickets to win this beauty, along with another prize,

which included treats from Turkey, including a box of turkish delight

and a lovely paisley scarf in golds and rust.

Thought for today

2011-10-02T09:18:00.000-05:00

The beginning of a Latin quote by Anselm of Canterbury: fides quaerens intellectum which translates to:
faith seeking understanding. Now that I see the picture, I notice that the S on fides is upside down. oops.

Slightly off kilter

2011-09-29T07:30:00.000-05:00

This quilt has been in process for months, but now it's finally quilted

It just needs a binding

and then it can go to AAQI.

I'm naming it slightly off kilter, for the asymetrical look.

here's another quilt that's slightly off kilter.

I made it from a bunch of dark and light blocks, but it just isn't right.

So I'm re-jigging it by taking off the borders, and a bit more

for the baby quilt challenge my guild is having this year.

stay tuned on how it turns out.

wanna (hic) drink?

2011-09-28T12:44:00.000-05:00

Thirsty for a Jamaica Rumlet? Satan's Whisker?

How about something a bit more natural, like a Mint Julep, or Milk Punch?

Or something exotic, like a Singapore Sling?

Need the recipe for a Tom & Jerry?

Or a remedy for when you've had a wee bit too much?

Stop by, and I'll let you read my tablecloth.

I purchased this vintage Irish linen cocktail tablecloth

for $1.50 (that's a buck and a half) at a thrift shop.

That's less than the price of a drink, right?

Re-use, re-purpose?

2011-09-23T09:29:00.000-05:00

A quilt came home to me the other day.

I made it as a window covering/valance

for an office at my church, back in 2005.

It's handquilted and has a hanging sleeve on the back

to hang horizontally.

After six years in a south-facing window, the colours have faded slightly, but not terribly.

Here's a strip of the blue against it.

When I rummaged through my parts draw, I found leftover bits and pieces.

Now I'm wondering what to do with this quilted valance.

Use it as a table runner?

Give it away with a matching tea cozy made from the leftovers

(even it it is a bit faded?)

BTW: the block is Jericho wall, but I modified it with curved strip piecing in the yellow triangles.

Show and tell and more

2011-09-22T09:19:00.002-05:00

My guild met at my house the other night, and we had a lovely show and tell.

First up is Karen with her flying geese quilt, which has been in progress for three retreats.

it has lovely colours and a few surprises.

She hand quilted it, and I hope you can see the details of the stitches here.

Here's Audrey with a tshirt quilt she made for her DIL's sister, from her stash of athletic shirts.

Two interesting facts about this quilt: Audrey did not interface the tshirt squares

(I did on my tshirt quilts, and it's a tedious job)

and the sashing fabric glows in the dark.

Audrey only realized that when she turned out the lights in her sewing room one evening

and the quilt glowed back at her.

Anne K made a fun baby quilt from wild and bright scraps.

I like how she offset the blocks with filler strips here and there.

And in other news, I'm getting more and more blocks from my 15 minutes play bee.

Yesterday I was different -- the envelope from one member arrived safely,

but totally empty. No blocks, no note, just a couple of threads on the adhesive on the envelope flap.

Disappointing for both the sender and the recipient.

Bags, blocks and more blocks

2011-09-19T12:45:00.001-05:00

I had a little sewing frenzy here last week, and finished a set of bags from

Guatemalan fabric for a fundraiser. The one at the left is a tote with 8 pockets (2 inside)

with a matching market bag.

Here they are again, modeled by my DS1. All of them sold.

Here he is again, with a shoulder/messenger style bag, made from a handwoven table runner.

With the flap opened. This was intended for the same fundraiser.

I also whipped up some Basics BOM for Victoria and her quilt drive.

I find it's too pricey to mail a whole quilt, but I can manage a few blocks.

These are the colourwash strips I'm getting from the 15 minutes play bee.

September is my month to get the blocks. These are about half of them.

This week I received one last B in the mail for my Big Bee Birthday quilt, this one from Nancy Near Philadelphia. T'hanks so much.

And one more shot of tea cozies and hot pads. I made one set from the calendar towel, and the other from the Kaffe strips I cut for another set of blocks. If you look closely at the colour wash quilt, you'll see some in there. I've been hoarding those Kaffe prints, but once I have scraps, I play and play and play with them. Really, I should just cut up my yardage into little bits instead of storing it in my cupboard.

And if that isn't enough, I should show you a picture of my newly organized sewing space, but I've already messed it up. I did move three bags of scraps and strings out it to pass on to my quilt group tonight, as well as a pile of mile-a-minute blocks.

What inspires me this week

2011-09-13T13:44:00.000-05:00

Victoria over at Bumble Beans is asking bloggers about what inspires them this week.

My recent inspiration is this linen calendar tea towel from 1974, which I purchased from a thrift shop for $1.

I like the blocks of colour, the saturated colours, and the funky fruits and vegetables.

Usually, I just stockpile my linen finds for some as yet unknown future project,

but I decided to cut this one up into a tea cozy to give to a friend.

I machine quilted around the calendar blocks and free motioned around the fruits and vegetables.

Then I bound it in Harley orange (left over from my mother's HOG quilt) and it's ready to go.

Thanks for inspiring me to be inspired, Victoria!

Going crazy on a crazy quilt

2011-09-12T15:32:00.001-05:00

This quilt came as a package deal with my husband 20 years ago, but as far as we know,

it's not a family heirloom, but purchased in a thrift shop.

I like the herringbone embroidery, the use of wools patches, and the red ties.

But the quilt was lumpy and unusable, and had a few rips in the front and back.

So I took advantage of a nice day and kept ripping away the back to find very clumped up cotton filling.

(I'm thinking this isn't re-usable, but I'm willing to listen to other opinions on this.).

The top is pieced by machine onto a large piece of muslin, and then embroidered.

Here's the top minus the clumpy filling and the polycotton backing.

I cut the backing away so the ties wouldn't come out.

\You can see a hole in the purple fabric in the middle, but for the most part, it's in good shape.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this -- I may use it as fabric for floor pillows or a shoulder bag or two, or maybe I'll turn it back into a bed covering.

Midnight Blooms could flower on your bed!

2011-09-09T12:26:00.002-05:00

Midnight Blooms, 95 by 95

hand dyed and commercial cotton fabric

hand appliqued, machine quilted

This quilt has been in process here for a long while.

Some of you have admired it and others are interested in buying a ticket for it.

This is unabashedly a fundraiser for the school my sons attend.

If you are interested in a 1 in 500 chance to win this quilt,

you can find the details here

(fyi: telephone area code is 204)

The cost per ticket is $10 in Canadian funds.

Unfortunately, the school can't take credit card orders over the phone,

but they will take a cheque mailed to them.

If you would like me to buy you a ticket instead of dealing with the school,

please leave a comment with an email address

and I'll send you my mailing address. When I receive your cheque, I'll buy you a ticket and mail it back.

back

Blocks in progress

To find out more about this quilt, click here for earlier posts.

Thanks again for your interest.

Catching up

2011-09-06T10:07:00.000-05:00

I've been absent from here, mostly because I was absent from my sewing room.

I've been collecting Kaffe prints for a while, mostly hoarding them,

but last week I cut a 2 inch strip off of all them (I have 23 different prints or colourways)

to make these blocks

They're for a group quilt being made in blogland, but I'm thinking it's a surprise, so I'll leave out the identifying details. These are three separate blocks, each measuring 8 inches high and 10 3/4" long.

I'm part of the Modern 8 Create blog, and a month ago we each got some charms

with the challenge to add only one or two solids.

I put together this nine-patch of circles with some of them, but now I'm stuck.

I'm thinking at 22 inches, it's too big for a couch pillow,

and it's also too high for the sewing machine cover I was considering.

Here are the rest of the charms in a four-patch.

This one is slightly smaller at about 18 inches.

Where should I go from here?

And a little shopping: I bought these batting samples, all about the size of a fat quarter, in a sampler pack at Fabricland for $5. I thought I'd test out some of the different Warm and Natural varieties without having to buy a whole big width of batting.

Another thing: I'm having difficulty commenting on blogs lately, more than usual.

This is the message I'm getting when I try to comment:

Your current account does not have access to view this page.

Click here to logout and change accounts.

Anyone else with that problem? Of course if you do, you can't tell me about it, but if you have a solution, email me at the address on my sidebar.

Quilt of Belonging

2011-08-21T10:58:00.001-05:00

Today is the last day of the Quilt of Belonging exhibit in my hometown.

If it ever comes your way, be sure to see it. It is overwhelming in its details and its size.

The use of colour is amazing. It starts with red, goes throught the whole spectrum to red again, and another time to end in red, mimicking the Canadian flag.

This is a uniquely Canadian project, representing aboriginal people and from all over the world, demonstrating how multi-cultural Canada is.

Here's the American block, with a log cabin centre and sampler-style embroidery around it.

I like the reverse applique here.

The tassles at the bottom show the movement of colour.

Here's another shot of the bottom.

A wider shot. It is impossible to get the whole thing -- all 263 hexagons--in one shot.

An explanation of the project. If you're a Canadian, it might be coming to a gallery near you.

some lovely shopping finds

2011-08-20T16:17:00.001-05:00

I scored big at a thrift shop today. I stumbled on half-price day there

and what I got was a bargain at any price.

First up is this set of linen placemats with one napkin (the other three were nowhere to be found, even thought the tag said a set of eight). I may use them as is, or add them to the linen pile for a future quilt.

It's hard to see in this picture what the real score of the day was -- 9 3/4 yards of 34 inch wide unbleached muslin at right, originally price at $10, but mine for a mere $5.

That's backing for a couple of single quilts, or yardage for dyeing.

I also found a little embroidered linen piece for a few pennies, as well as some bags of notions, which included two metres of hand crocheted ecru lace, also for only a dime or two.

This was another great find -- a pair of two-tone wooden bag handles in lovely shape, at only $1,

and a piece of a striped silk blend that would make a perfect bag on those handles, for only 20 cents.

I also bought a wide wooden frame, a DVD of Dances with Wolves which my sons haven't seen, and a paperback, all for a grand total of $10.

On Wednesday my friend Val and I declared a quilt vacation day and spent a fun five hours at three sewing and fabric shops. We each bought this tin containing scissors, seam ripper and tape for $7. The scissors aren't great, but perfect to leave on the sewing table so the kiddies pick up those scissors when they come hunting for one. (Yes, mine know better, but it does happen.) Really, we bought the set for the tin, perfect for a rotary cutter, scissors, and some pencils when going to a quilting day. I'm not quite Riveter Rosy, but I do have some good upper body strength, not from sewing. I lift weights. Really.

I've already appreciated the brilliance of this silicon pressing sheet, which I used this week when fusing interfacing on shirts for my second quilt commission. And the machine quilting book looks good too.

Here's my fabric haul from that day -- all $4/metre in the sale bin at the fabric warehouse here.

The blue is backing and sashing for the shirt quilt, the white on white (it has roses on it) now lives with my mom where it will take a trip through the dye bath, and the green is meant for sashing for

the blocks I'm expecting from a virtual quilt bee at 15 minutes play this month.

We also split a piece of outdoor upholstery fabric. I'm gong to make another pillow for my deck bench to match the ones already there.

How to replace a block in a finished quilt in 90 minutes or less

2011-08-16T10:12:00.002-05:00

Last week I asked for suggestions on how to replace the bottom left block of this quilt. I got many suggestions, but the one I went with was provided by my mother, who is an experienced quiltmaker and has faced this dilemma before.

First we got out the seam rippers and took out the quilting stitches in the block and about 1 inch all around

this is my mother working in her quilting studio, unpicking stitches from the back

Then we unpicked the stitches holding in the block where it was joined by the sashing

Meanwhile, I fused the lightweight interfacing to the new t-shirt quilt block, and cut it to 13 inches square, 1/2 inch bigger than the old block

Then I marked the seam lines with a white pencil

Meanwhile, the old block is nearly out.

Here it is completely out, with the batting visible underneath. The seam allowances of the sashing are still turned under. We removed any stray threads.

Here my mother is holding up the block we removed, which belongs in another quilt. We were able to take it out without any incident, so it can be used full size. Note the lovely quilts in the background at left.

Then we took the new block and slid it in under the seam allowances, matching up the turned under sashing with the white seam lines

And then pinned it in place, placing pins every two inches to take up any ease

Next, I handstitched invisibly with a matching thread, pulling slightly with each stitch

Here it is the quilt. All it needs is quilting in the ditch and a few quilting lines to complete it.

So, if you ever find yourself with a finished quilt which has a block rotated the wrong way, or like me, the wrong block, I recommend this method. Total time from start to finish (except for the machine quilting) was 90 minutes.

He-elp!!!!

2011-08-12T15:46:00.001-05:00

The top is done

the back is pieced

it's quilted

and bound

and.totally done....but .....

....and it's a BIG BUT.....

....this block needs to come out.

I have two t-shirt quilt commissions, and I mixed up the shirts. That black one in the corner belongs in the other quilt, and now it has to come out.

Yep, it's completely finished. I was ready to give it to the owner when I found out.

the question is: what's the best way to fix it?

I have another shirt for that spot. I don't want to unpick the whole quilt, so here's one idea so far:

taking out the quilting stitches in the black block, and cutting through the top layer with scissors 1/2 inch away from the sashing, and then appliquing the other block to the quilt, so it covers the black. I would handstitch it invisibly to the borders, and then re-stitch the quilting lines. And then I would put the cut-out black block in the right quilt.

I've already learned from this mistake, and next time (if there is one) I will insist every t-shirt be clearly labelled. I did give the owner a picture of the completed top before I quilted it, but she didn't see the mistake until after it was too late.

(and yes, next time, I will put in a clause in the agreement

that no changes can be made after visual approval.)

The good news is the owner loves the quilt, except for that one block.

Today, that's not quite enough good news....but maybe with your help, it will work out.

Thanks!

Quilt camp was a great success!

2011-08-06T22:21:00.000-05:00

Quilt camp is officially over, and I'm proclaiming the five days an official success.

Heather finished this large tote from a friend's collection of decades-old calicos

and beavered away at a messenger bag from wool suiting and other reclaimed textiles. It turns out this one is for me. That was a nice surprise!

I finished a couple of challenge projects, like these inset circles from a package of charms

and these bow ties.

I've also made good progress on quilting the t-shirt quilt, and I've made a set of placemats that just need binding.

Some of you were wondering if quilt camp was just me -- In total, I had eight friencds drop by, to sew and quilt various projects. It was fun to puzzle out sewing problems with friends, admire each other's work, and spend the whole day focused on fabrics and stitching. I'm definitely going to run quilt camp again....soon!

Little Red Riding Hood and some finishes

2011-08-04T23:37:00.000-05:00

Day four of quilt camp brought some significant finishes

After more than two days of struggling with velvet and taffeta, Kathy completed this cape for her daughter, who will wear it at her wedding in October

a close up of the closure

I quilted and bound this little baby quilt, made from printed blocks given to me

I also finished quilting and binding this scrappy baby quilt. Sorry for the bad lighting here. I stitched in the ditch of the sashing and then free-motioned a flower in each block.

Here's the back: a large gingham check. If you click on the above picture, you can see the flowers.

Only one day left at quilt camp and then I put my sewing machines and fabrics back upstairs into my sewing corner.. It's been a great week!

dyeing and quilt camp

2011-08-04T08:34:00.000-05:00

Quilt camp is in full swing, and we've had some fun show and tell already. Here's Karen with her hand dyed tank that she made after our dyeing workshop 10 days ago.

These are Kathy's fat quarters from the dyeing workshop. Kathy has spent two solid days making a floor-length red velvet cape for her daughter's wedding ensemble and hasn't played much with her quilt projects.

Karen's hand dyeing efforts

Kathy's and mine together for comparison

The back of my t-shirt quilt, in a checked theme

The front, with a pair of feet, since this quilt is all about running.

Karen with her dyed to match underwear, which she threw in the dye bath because she never wears the white ones anyway

A UFO one step further to completion--this was from my guild's challenge two years ago.

Val squeezed into a corner of my living room. We're packing them in here at quilt camp, but there's still room for more.

The end of the first day of camp

2011-08-01T23:34:00.000-05:00

Yes, the ironing board is set up in the kitchen.
I spent the day fusing t-shirts and I got the blocks together. Tomorrow I put on the borders.

Packing up for quilt camp

2011-07-30T12:12:00.001-05:00

The laundry is drying and the camper is getting packed up

Ready for a week's adventure

No telling what might erupt

or what beauty we'll see this week.

But although my family is hitting the road

I'm staying right here, operating the machinery

small....

and big....

At Scraps and Strings first ever quilt camp.

Starting Monday, while my guys are gone camping for real,

I'm cranking up the A/C

and setting up machines on my whole main floor

I'll be putting together blocks

Playing with new fabrics....

and putting together some birthday B's

or patching together bits and pieces.

It's a fabric fantasia all week....

and we're not sweeping up the threads until Friday night.

Although I enjoy camping out in our old VW

(a 1985 Westfalia camper in nice condition, but no A/C for those Westy fans out there)

....I'm really looking forward to the adventures of quilt camp.

Stay tuned!

more hand dyed goodness

2011-07-28T09:28:00.001-05:00

These are the fabrics my friend Cheryl dyed. The top row went through the dye bath first, and she put through another set after 24 hours, looking for softer colours. She has a value-based quilt in mind for these.

Mid-summer dyeing

2011-07-27T20:01:00.002-05:00

My guild had a dyeing workshop last weekend, and I decided to overdye instead of making a set of gradiated fat quarters.

I threw in some vintage linen tablecloths and table runners, with mixed results. I like how the linen takes the dye, but sometimes the embroidery took the dye, and other times not. This is probably $3 worth of linen here from thrift shops, so I figured I didn't have much to lose. I'll keep the bigger indigo one intact, but I'll probably cut up the rest of the pieces.

I also overdyed some printed fabrics and some white on white, mostly from my recent shopping trip. The striped white on white is more interesting now, and the orange dotted one on the left is also a white on white print. Doubleclick to see the details.

Here's the blues and purples. I like the white on white triangle print at the right.

Lovely colours on a summer evening.

a little summer sewing

2011-07-19T17:49:00.000-05:00

it's stinkin' hot here, but I have managed a little something in the sewing room for a challenge to replicate artwork in solids over at 15 minutes play

This one is inspired by Paul Klee's painting called Heroic Roses.

and this one is inspired by Henri Matisse and his cutout art.

Putting it in context

2011-07-17T06:00:00.001-05:00

I've shown you close-ups of my 100 shades of green banner, but here is a wide shot of the church where it now hangs, fyi.

Does it look like I'm wearing a tablecloth?

2011-07-16T14:24:00.000-05:00

Vintage yard sale linen tablecloth + online directions on how to make a four-gore skirt

+ a few hours of cutting, sewing, and pressing

= summer skirt.

It's cool, it's lined with lightweight cotton (my test skirt) and it's comfortable.

But does it look like I'm wearing a tablecloth?

Mid-century textile art

2011-07-14T06:00:00.003-05:00

Recently I saw this hanging on an office wall in a local synagogue when I was interviewing someone for a story. So I went about mixing business with my interest in textiles and asked to take a photo to share with you.

Daniel in the Lion's Den

by Kopel Gurwin, 1923-1990

I like the simple border of leaves and circles.

Here's what I found out about the artist:

Kopel Gurwin (1923 - 1990)

Prominent Israeli artist, was born and educated in Vilna, Poland. Survived the Holocaust and imprisonment in concentration camps and later immigrated to Israel. Studied art at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem. Felt tapestries were his creative medium of expression. He derived inspiration from the rich source of the bible, illustrating the many themes in warm and vivid colours incorporating the Hebrew script as an integral ornamental element.

Whether or not you like the subject matter, the colours are great and the shapes are so 1960s, right down to the stylized Hebrew letters. I like how the artist uses analagous colours in the lions (reds, oranges, even purple) and blues and grees in the central figure. The shapes are all made from felt -- it didn't feel like wool felt, but I didn't want to be too bold, and all the shapes are stitched on with a blanket stitch.

Here's a close up of the stitching and all the colours in the central figure.

Seeing this piece, which is about 60 by 60 inches, really made my day. there's so much to look at here. Google Kopel Gurwin to find a few more tapestries and some listings on eBay.

a retail vacation

2011-07-13T16:07:00.000-05:00

The rest stops are barricaded, the state parks are closed, but the quilt shops of Minnesota are open!

Last week I engaged in a bit of retail therapy while vacationing south of the border.

Here's my Gruber's purchases (they're in St. Cloud). I got four Marcia Gurse fq as well as some Kaffe goodness. Yum!

And some text fabric in this hand dyed look, packaged with some primary coloured penguin fabric.

And some fun prints -- typewriter and a piano keyboard.

These are my purchases from Jo-Ann's -- a DS print at left, and some kitchen prints.

Here's all the goodies sunning themselves on my front steps. The bottom fabrics are white on white dots which I'm planning to overdye. And yes, the steps are worn and probably not clean, but I pre-wash.

July finish #3

2011-07-08T18:38:00.002-05:00

This one is took only six months from start to finish. I had it to flimsy stage by the end of January, but stalled on the handquilting.

A banner for the prayer room in my church. It is is similiar to the one I made two years ago for the nursing home where my sister is a chaplain.

I like them both, but now it is time to move on to another style.

July finish #2

2011-07-06T18:33:00.002-05:00

My rose bush is in bloom, and so are the roses on this lap blanket. These free-pieced roses are several years old, but I finally put them together with curved piecing and machine quilted them in spirals.

I used a fuchsia for the binding to break up the green and bring some colour to the edge.

Here it is again with some greenery around it. It measures 34 by 40.

July finish #1

2011-07-04T18:29:00.001-05:00

I'm going to show off a bunch of finishes this week, some of them a long time in coming. First up is a banner for my church called 100 Shades of Green. It will hang in my church all summer, than travel around to other congregations in my denomination.

Here it is in the natural setting of my deck.

It's a long road to a finish

2011-07-02T18:27:00.000-05:00

Today I finished the binding on my oldest flimsy, which I think pre-dates my blogging days. It was relatively quick to machine quilt, but the binding process took a bit longer. It measure 62 by 82, is machine quilted and is a gift for my nephew, who graduated from high school last week. He lives two provinces over from me, so this is going uncle-express when my BIL heads that way next week. (The mail strike just ended here, so I couldn't get it to him before graduation.)

The first issue was finding fabric to work with the strings and the backing, since I used up all the bits and pieces already in the quilt. I found enough of a navy/neutral print that frames it nicely.

The back is an extra wide Michael Miller print that has a teenage guy feel to it.

I machine stitched the binding to the back, and then brought it to the front and sewed a hemming stitch in the a neutral thread that matches both the quilt and the binding.

I even got fancy with the label and stitched my nephew's name and mine in free-motion letters.

The binding took two hours -- and two weeks. It took me two weeks to get to rearranging my sewing space so I could set up my Elna permanently. (My Juki only does straight stitch.)

See that dowel in the 2 by 4 at the left? It's holding up the extension table on the Elna, since this very secondhand sewing table was missing the supporting bar. Mr. Strings put the support together this afternoon. Thanks so much. It works great.

And since I cleaned up today, I'll show you a picture of the area around my Elna. Lots of great stuff on the wall, including a few quilts from swaps. My Juki and cutting table are off to the left along the adjacent wall. Not quite as neat over there.

The fabric of our lives

2011-06-25T16:08:00.004-05:00

Today, a couple of vintage tablecloths came home with me, but not before they told me a story, and maybe a life lesson or two.

I collect linen tea towels and tablecloths, so I'm always on the lookout for those at thrift shops and yard sales. Today I happened upon a yard sale for an elderly woman moving out of her home, so I thought I might get lucky.

I bought this cross-stitched cotton tablecloth, probably made from a sugar or flour sack, for 50 cents. Whether the currency is Canadian, or US, that's pretty cheap. It has significant yellow stains on it, and so I'm soaking it with homemade laundry soap again and will hang it out to dry.

While I was attempting to pay the friendly, younger woman running the sale, the elderly owner came up to me and told me the tablecloth was not for sale at the 50 cents on the sticker. And indeed, the previous price tags on it said $10 and $8.

"My neighbour made that for me," she said. "I was going to give it to my minister." And then she grabbed it out of my hands. The younger woman reminded her that the stains made it cheaper, but the older woman insisted she could remove the discolouration with soda and vinegar.

I asked for the price of the other tablecloth I was still holding, a pretty pink linen one. The younger woman told me $2.

"All the tablecloths are $2-50," the owner interrupted,, still cradling the embroidered one. I told her that was fine, and handed over my money. Then she smiled at me, and handed me back the embroidered one.

I was surprised, but I assured her that I wanted it BECAUSE it was hand embroidered and that I was planning to remove the stains and give it new life.

I'm not sure if the stains will come out, and I might try tea dyeing it, or hanging it in the sun for a few more days. But no matter what happens, I'll remember the woman who once owned it, who cherished it even though it was stained, because it was made for her by her neighbour and it carried lots of memories from times past.

This tablecloth was part of the fabric of her life -- and for 50 cents and the time to listen to her-- now it is also part of the fabric of mine.

I'm chipping away at the UFO pile

2011-06-20T20:36:00.000-05:00

or the PhD (project half done) pile with these four quilts, which are quilted and squared, but not yet bound.

Some of these projects are three or four years old and they've used up a lot of scraps.

The bottom quilt is a string one I started waaay back, and finally machine quilted with my Juki, the top one at left has been waiting for a finish for three years, the roses have been a work in progress for too long, and the blue batik word quilt is a banner I started in January and finally finished handquilting last week. Now on to the binding!

100 shades of green

2011-06-14T07:58:00.001-05:00

Banner for my church made from upcycled curtain and fabric scraps. Measures 41 by 60 inches. Total cost: $0.

pretty quilted flowers

2011-06-11T17:22:00.000-05:00

My blanket of roses lap quilt was included in a Flickr gallery of floral quilts. Head over here to see the variety of free-pieced roses and flowers. My garden is slowly bursting into bloom with a late spring here, so I'm going to leave you with a weekend garden of quilts.

Gifts, gifts, and little Amish quilts

2011-06-08T17:56:00.000-05:00

A week or so ago I saw Susan's little miniature Amish bars quilt and pattern and I decided to make one. Well, maybe a few more than one. Here's nine that I've finished. Most measure around 9 by 11 inches, some less, depending on how accurate I was with the seam allowances and pressing.

I invited my guild members to make some, since we were asked to provide some small quilty gifts for international visitors to our city. The bottom row has two made by fellow guild members and one made by me -- Amish modern bars.

These little quiltlets are a good for practicing skills like quilting and binding. I had some fun with the machine quilting.

Lots of vines and leaves here, inspired by the bright spring colours in this green and orange quilt.

Feathered wreathes and borders. I'm getting the hang of free-hand feathers.

Some bubbles and feathers here.

Straight line stitching with the walking foot for this modern version.

My birthday gift books came last week, with some more ideas on machine quilting Amish design.

And a few shopping bags made from upholstery fabric for a friend's birthday

If you see it as an engineering problem...

2011-06-02T08:58:00.002-05:00

...then Mom's sewing machine is a lot more interesting.

When I set up my Juki on the dining room table the other day, my 15-year-old engineer had to take a look. I've had the machine for six months and couldn't get the hang of the automatic needle-threader, but he studied the manual and figured it out. He wasn't interested in the machine as a way to sew, but he thought it was fun to understand it.

A banner day

2011-05-30T15:56:00.000-05:00

Brenda's Big B Birthday Bee, used as decorations for the big day. Thanks to all of you who participated -- I've received 47 Bs, and I think one or two more are still coming.

I'm a city quilter

2011-05-27T09:09:00.001-05:00

My traveling companion pointed out something interesting that I take for granted: quilters find each other.

Beginnings of AAQI quilt with tiny triangles

While we were walking in Manhattan last weekend, we spied several women with bags from City Quilter, so of course, I talked to them.

AAQI quilt with bigger borders, now measuring 9 by 10 inches

The next day, while I was at City Quilter, lots of people talked to me, including Victoria from Bumble Beans, who I only knew through blogging.

"made" fabric from a bag of scraps sent by Victoria

Later that day, in the Tick Tock Diner near Macy's, I was admiring my purchases from City Quilter when a couple of other women stopped by just to talk about fabric and quiltmaking.

another block, both made for the 15 minutes play Bee

My friend was surprised that quiltmaking and fabric stores had brought total strangers together. I guess I'm used to it, so I hadn't noticed until she pointed it out.

If you live in or near Winnipeg, check out the quilt show and sale at Mennonite Central Committee, 134 Plaza drive, from 1 - 8 p.m. today and 10 to 3 p.m. Saturday. I'm at the silent auction table this afternoon, so say hello. I'm always happy to make strangers who quilt into friends who quilt!

NYC friends and fabric

2011-05-25T16:54:00.000-05:00

I'm just back home after a fun weekend in New York City, where I met Victoria from Bumble Beans and 15 minute play. We hung out together at City Quilter and then had a little private show and tell at her home.

Victoria is at left with my traveling and non-quilting friend Gaynette. I have to say that although Victoria's quilts look great on her blog, they look fabulous in real.

Here's my goodies from City Quilter. The three text prints at the right are going into my B birthday quilt.

I also bought a Kaffe-like scarf from a street vendor and a yard of embroidered braid from a shop in the Garment District. I could have spent my whole weekend in that neighbourhood, but my friend managed to tear me away for a Broadway show, some sightseeing, and a stroll in Central Park.

Midnight Blooms

2011-05-20T17:23:00.000-05:00

Midnight Blooms

95 by 95

original design, inspired by a 1930s ditsy flower kit seen on eBay.

hand appliqued, machine quilted

quilting cottons and hand dyed fabrics

made by me and my mother, 2011

made as a joint project to raise funds for my sons' school.

Bloggers Quilt Festival, 2011

Thanks for visiting during the festival. To see the rest of my blog, click here.

coming soon to a mailbox near you

2011-05-18T17:22:00.000-05:00

I'm having fun in NYC this weekend, as part of the celebrations for my upcoming big birthday. But while I'm out there, take a look at what's flying through the mail to some of you in blogland.

First up, a 9.5 inch COW (cranky old woman) block for Nancy.

Then some goodies for Julie's white coat project -- these are the cuffs for the bottom of the sleeves.

Two mini quilts made from leftover blocks from Midnight Blooms

a 16 by 20 quilt made by my cousin, which I machine quilted for her (my first custom quilting project.)

A set of placemats cut from my mom's stash, on which I practise feathers. She's going to get them back for the binding process.

A half dozen fat quarters for me, since there was some gift malfunction on Mother's Day, so I bought my own gift.

And a rearranged and cleaned up sewing room, waiting for more quilty fun when I get home.

It's not Salt Lake City,,,,

2011-05-17T11:30:00.001-05:00

International Quilt Market isn't in my budget, but I could manage $4 for a local quilt show earlier this month: The Barnswallows Quilt Show in Morden, Manitoba, CANADA.

A miniature quilt for the guild challenge, made by my mother. It measures 12 by 12.

Here's the whole wall of minis. A tiny collection of Sunbonnet Sues won the viewers's choice.

Bet you won't see a Harley quilt with its owner proudly beside at quilt market. My mother also made this one, from the owner's collection of Harley t-shirts. He made the stand for it from plumbing pipes and farm diskers. I think I may steal the idea for the stand.

I'm drawn to the scrappy quilts, so here's a collection, many of them by the same quiltmaker.

The vintage display corner, with old machines and notions, and a dresden plate autograph quilt.

And yes, Words Fail Me. I finished it a week after last year's show, so it qualified for this year. It was the only word quilt in the whole place and one of the few that is hand quilted. The stand is too small, so it's not hanging very straight.

My guild quilt was also in the show. The white glove lady removed the tags so I could get a good picture. Bet they don't do that at quilt market!

Swaps, shows, and sob story

2011-05-11T08:55:00.000-05:00

I've got lots of pictures of a recent quilt show and some little projects that I've been working on, but they're safely filed in my camera. My sob story? Another computer issue due to malware, and right now I can't upload photos and edit them. But I can show you this 12 by 12 crazy quilt made by Mary that I received in the Something from Nothing Swap over at 15 minutes play.