myrtBquilting

Stitching but not blogging…

2024/04/11
Oh how time flies! It seems I have time to stitch but not to blog. So let’s see what’s been happening since my last post ……..

Pre-Christmas
I machine embroidered some new Christmas cards. I was so excited because our local Staples had black card stock on hand so the metallic thread displayed beautifully on it. They’re so easy to do and I even re-purposed some paper bags to make enveloped for them. How environmentally friendly is that lol.

2023/11/06 – machine embroidered Christmas cards, metallic thread

Post Christmas
I started off the new year with a little machine embroidery play. We keep a toy box in our living room for the days we’re fortunate enough to have young guests visit. Once in awhile we update the contents and I found a delightful *Free* design collection on Kreative Kiwi to use to create a new object for it. This 6″ x 6″ polyester stuffed block is light as a feather and won’t hurt a thing if it’s tossed around and won’t get hurt if it’s sat upon.

2024/01/06: machine embroidered zoo animals on a 6″ x 6″ denim block stuffed with polyester stuffing.

Next up were some quilt tops…… one of our Guild members has fabulous scraps; she works in quality fabrics and beautiful colours so in a weak moment I told her I’d be happy to take a bag full of her scraps. Well…..she brought me a large, bottomless plastic grocery bags of scraps. As I was sorting and cutting the scraps to size I would pull out a handful, sort and cut them, pull out another handful, sort and cut them…..and again….and again…. and each time the bag would still be full! That was in January and it’s now April and I’ve made four quilt tops from that grocery bag of scraps and I still have some left! I have a baby quilt (mostly my scraps) and one of the tops sandwiched and quilted so far and am working on the other three. They will all go to the Guild’s Community Quilt program so it’s a very worthwhile endeavour. Here are the first two completed ones; more to come. They’re both pieced by me and free motion quilted by me on my Sweet Sixteen using mostly Glide thread. The scrappy puppies were inspired by a Facebook post by Debbie Buskirk in the group ScrappyGirlsClub. The edge to edge motif on the other quilt is inspired by StitchedBySusan.

At the same time, interspersed with these scrappy Community Quilts, I’ve been quilting some fabulous quilt tops that one of my talented sisters-in-law (yes I’m lucky to have more than one sister-in-law who quilts!) sent home with me on our last visit in Alberta. But they deserve their own post …… so keep watching….

I saw it on Pinterest…..

2023/12/07
How many of your projects begin with a trip down the dark hole that is Pinterest? That’s where I got the inspiration for my most recent quilt. Several years ago I saw this photo on Pinterest and above all, loved the design and texture of the quilting. There was no pattern but I did the math and created and quilted a test block and decided it had to go on my ‘must make’ list. Well, a few years and more than a few quilts got in the way but this year I finally made it and it’s on our bed!

I didn’t even know there was a name for this style of quilt pattern until one of our most knowledgeable Guild members enlightened me; it’s called tessellations. According to Christine Porter, who literally wrote the book on the subject (“Tessellation Quilts”), “a tessellated pattern is one that interlocks, creating identical positive and negative spaces that can go on indefinitely. It is of particular interest to the quilter because once pieced together the design often looks like a quilting impossibility and it takes time to work out how it was done.” Her book is available on Amazon, by the way.

2023/12/05-pieced by me and free motion quilted by me on my Sweet Sixteen. Size: 96″ x 96″.

But that’s not all I’ve been working on since gardening time transitioned to quilting time this fall. There are at least as many appealing embroidery designs as there are appealing quilt patterns so I have to make time for both. Recently a sweet little great-niece (to us) was born on hubby’s side of the family and I’d seen the cutest little stuffie project on the Sweet Pea Machine embroidery Facebook site just begging to be made; Patch the dog. All components are stitched in the hoop and then sewn together after. And as usual, I far underestimated the time it would take me to complete it! I was sewing it together into the wee hours the day before it was to be delivered lol. It’s soft & squishy & cuddly & I might have to make one for myself.

At our Guild’s Christmas party, we raffle off gift baskets every year with the proceeds going to local charities. Either individuals or groups can contribute a basket to the raffle and we’ve raised considerable sums from our efforts. Most baskets will have a theme and this year our Tuesday stitching group is making one with a gnome theme. So of course my contribution is the wine bag with a machine embroidered gnome. And yes, of course, there’s a bottle of wine to go with it lol. And then there’s the embroidered Christmas cards….I even found black card stock this year. The design is from OESD.

2023/11/23 – Patch the Dog in-the-hoop design by Sweet Pea Machine Embroidery Designs. Size: 6″ x 10″

I’ve also been catching up on the backlog of Community Quilts that were sitting here waiting for me to return from our three month cross Canada trip. I got those quilted too (I did not piece them, only quilted)! I had the most fun with the first one I did called Intertwined; I graffiti quilted it. The other three I used an all over design inspired by Stitched by Susan, a free motion long arm quilter whose YouTube videos I enjoy watching. It’s both quick and easy to do and now the quilts are all ready to go out to those in need in our community.

2023/12/03-pieced by one of our Guild members and free motion quilted by me on my Sweet Sixteen.

Playtime…

2023/10/22

Finally, after a long break that included travelling across Canada for three months in our motor home and following that up with a trip to Alberta I’m finally getting back in the groove.

I’m working on a baby quilt on our Guild’s stitching Tuesdays but it’s not photo ready yet. However, after stumbling upon Debbie Buskirk’s photo in Facebook’s ScrappyGirlsClub group of a scrappy quilt she made, I knew exactly what to do with the trims from the flying geese blocks in the baby quilt. And it will be yet another baby quilt! Win, win I say. It requires no pattern, is just composed of HSTs and squares and you can make any size block/quilt by adjusting the size of your squares and HSTs. AND it uses up scraps! Could it get any easier? The Scrappy Pup blocks you see here are 6.5″ square (unfinished) so are composed of 2.5″ HSTs and squares (unfinished).

And in addition I’ve been doing a little machine embroidery. This ITH (In-The-Hoop) design is from 10embroidery.nl but the website shop appears to be closed. I believe she has a FaceBook presence. This poopie bag holder is so darn cute! I’ve made a few as gifts and if I start now I might have a few to sell in the Guild’s Boutique in 2025’s Quilt Show lol. The larger one is 4″ square and the smaller is 3″ square.

Happy stitching!

Two things….

2023/05/05
What with all the post Quilt Show things with which to deal and yard & garden projects starting to take over, I’ve had very little time for quilting. Both of these items were started before our Guild’s Quilt Show and one was finished in time for the show.
That was the Queen’s postage stamp wall hanging. It’s a small one, only 18″ x 22″, the size of a fat quarter. There’s a reason for that. At the beginning of each of our Guild’s seasons a challenge is issued; we members can choose to participate or not. Last fall the challenge theme was related to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee; for $5 we were provided with a fat quarter that had to be used in some way in our project.
I received permission from Royal Mail, Stamps & Collectibles to reproduce an image of the Queen in my quilt project. I simply free motion quilted the image on my HQ Sweet Sixteen and enhanced it with a few fake jewels. I did a practice sandwich first primarily to decide the focus point of the outward rays.

In the weeks leading up to our Guild’s Quilt Show our local Mall let us use an unoccupied store space for a display of quilts that were not on display at our Show. During that time we members held a three day sewing bee there; the one day I spend stitching I learned how to chain piece a log cabin block. How did I not know that technique before?? With Guild supplied fabric, batting & backing I stitched up this 39″ x 55″ quilt, suitable for a child I think, and destined for our Community Quilts.
I ruler quilted it on my HQ Sweet Sixteen, picking a design that was quick & easy & finished quickly.

2023 Celebration of Quilts Challenge project 18″ x 22″

A 3 Yard Quilt

2023/02/25

A couple of our Guild members curated some of the fabric that had been gifted to the Guild and bundled much of it into packages of three one yard cuts each of coordinating fabrics, perfect for making quilts using one of Fabric Cafe’s free 3 Yard Quilt patterns. This quilt is made using the EZ Patch 3 Yard Quilt Pattern offered free a few years ago.
It was quick & easy to put together and took only about two hours to quilt; it couldn’t get any simpler than that! We’ll keep it for our Community Quilt display at the Quilt Show in March and the Guild display at our local Mall prior to the Quilt Show then it will be off to fill a local need.
Pieced and quilted by me.

2023/02/25 – Community Quilt 43.25″ x 57.5″

Finally….a year later…..

..it’s finished!

2023/02/14

I began this wall quilt in a freezer paper applique class taught by one of our Guild members in a weekend workshop in February 2022. I’d had the pattern for years and pulled all the fabrics from my stash where they were just waiting for this project.

Between now and then life got in the way; gardening time arrives early here on the west coast, then I broke a bone in my foot which kept me in a non weight bearing cast for about eight weeks….well, you understand. Our Guild has an upcoming quilt show in about a month so that was incentive to finally finish it. I am so pleased with it. Unfortunately you can’t see it in the photo but the quilting in the white background blocks is done with Sulky Holoshimmer ( a sliver metallic nylon/poly thread) and a silver metallic thread in the black background blocks. The outer border also has silver metallic accents. It’s quite effective in the right lighting.

The pattern is Winter Pines by Kay Capps Cross. I double batted it with Hobbs 80/20 as the bottom layer and Hobbs washable wool as the top layer. I pieced it on my domestic Bernina and quilted it with my Sweet Sixteen sit down long arm. It was a fun pattern and I’m now a fan of freezer paper applique.

2023/02/14 – Whispering Pines 38.5″ x 46″

Inspiration!

2022/12/17

I thought I had my quilting projects planned for most of this winter, but then during a deep dive in Pinterest, or maybe it was in one of the quilting Facebook groups to which I belong, I saw a quilt I just HAD to make right away.

A little explanation first…..Our neighbours and good friends have two dogs, one of which is a neurotic border collie, truly delightful and oh so very intelligent, but neurotic nevertheless. I truly think she views most of us as sheep that need to be herded but WE JUST DON’T COOPERATE and so she gets very frustrated. I know she gets frustrated with me because she tells me so, loudly, through the fence at times lol.

She’s a very lucky dog to have the patient people (or should I say sheeple?) that she has.
So…..when I saw the quilt I know our neighbours needed it and immediately purchased and downloaded the digital version of the pattern. I started stitching and just finished the quilting last night. I gifted it today so now I can post it.

The pattern is ‘All about Ewe’ by Judit Hajdu in Issue 31 of Simply Moderne. I pieced and then quilted it on my Sweet Sixteen. It’s size is 53.5″ x 68.5″ and it’s name is ‘Gracie’s flock’. It’s backed with flannel so it’s very cuddly! And now it’s Gracie approved!

A big thank you to Kathleen for some of the photos.

Quilting season again

2022/12/17

We had a late and beautiful fall, so that delayed the beginning of quilting season for me, but now I’m into it again full steam ahead!
With the contribution of some beautiful scraps from Kathy O, one of my quilting friends, and some of my own scraps I made another of Donna Jordan’s Diamond Trip quilts. This one goes to Timberlane Quilters’ Guild as another Community Quilt. I machine quilted it on my Sweet Sixteen.

Every year our Guild, at our Christmas party, raffles off gift baskets that the members create and then bid on and the money raised is given to various charities that support people in need at Christmas. Our Tuesday Guild stitching group always contributes a basket; this year our theme was ‘wine, chocolate and cheese’. My contribution to our basket was a wine carrier; the pattern is a free one from All People Quilt. This year we raised $1000!

2022/11/07 Another Diamond Trip Quilt for Community Quilts.

Need a new brooch?

2022/06/30
I’ve been doing a little machine embroidery lately; these little brooches are so cute and easy to make. I’ve only done a few colours so far, the most popular being pink and blue.
They’re great as a novelty gift to the new grandparent who is just dying to talk about the newest grandbaby. Pin one to your lapel, your bag or whatever object you’re sure will be seen by anyone in your gathering and be sure to have the baby photos ready to display!
I’m contemplating making some for our Guild’s Boutique in the 2023 quilt show. I wonder if they’d be a good seller?

2022/06/29 – new grandbaby badges, approx. 1.5″ (40mm) x 3″ (80mm) in size. It is backed with a standard 1″ brooch pin with a safety rolling catch.

Week six of the broken fifth metatarsal saga is drawing to a close and I’m still wearing a cast…sigh. One more week and this one should come off. I’ve had this boot cast for about two weeks now and it’s a treat to be able to remove it to shower! But I’m still on non-weight bearing orders…..

2022/06/30 – week six; still in a cast. Sigh….

another Diamond Trip

2022/05/17

I’ve combined one of my favourite patterns with one of my favourite all over quilting designs for this quilt: Donna Jordan’s Scrap Strips Diamond Trip and a free motion/ruler quilted design inspired by Anita Shackleford’s Modern Curves pantograph. This will be gifted to a friend who made a miraculous recovery from a major health issue.

I’ve had a jelly roll of Cantik Batiks Gemstones PEI/Tropical Island strips waiting for the right project and this is it. I supplemented it with some of my own batiks and the black contrast fabric. The batting is Hobbs washable wool and the backing is a beautiful warm cuddly flannel. I used Superior’s So Fine #503 thread for the top and filtec in the bobbin. It’s free motion custom quilted by me on my HQ Sweet Sixteen using HQ’s wave B ruler. Dimensions are: 46.5″ x 60″.

This will be the last quilting I do for awhile! I broke a bone in my foot a couple of days ago and now have to hobble around on crutches while it heals – two to four weeks with no weight on the foot at all and a six to eight week recover period in total. It’s my pedal foot: gas pedal, sewing machine pedal and bike pedal. NOT what I need when it’s gardening and yard work time! Lucky for me my DH takes good care of me.

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