myrtBquilting

…and more community quilts….

2022/02/13

I love it when I get such a beautiful top from one of our Guild members to quilt! I love both the colours and the design……so I played. Lots of ruler work on this one; some in the sashing and in the outer border I used the HQ 6″ Swag Templates as well as straight line ruler work. Wavy FMQ that framed circles in the French braid section completed the job.

Then I moved on to the next two tops; both are on the small side so it didn’t take long to complete them. The winter themed panel got FMQ’d; I thought it needed more than an all over design. The lovely scrappy sampler got the swirl that adds such beautiful texture. All done community quilts for awhile!

Spa hair towels!

2022/01/24

Are you looking for a quick to make gift for someone? These hair towels are ideal. Combined with some bath salts, lotion, maybe a candle? and a few other delights that say In Home Spa event and you’ve got a great gift. Of course once you’ve given a few of these towels away you might just find they’re liked so much you’ve got a job keeping the recipients supplied!

If that’s the case, then you don’t really need new towels for the job; just have them supply some old bath towels for a second life. A family member sent me home last June with several of her old towels with which to do just that. I turned five bath towels into nine hair towels and a couple of bar mop/shop cloths. The small leftover scraps went out to my hubby’s woodworking shop lol.

It’s been years since I made the patterns I’m using so I don’t know what the source was then, but click here for a link to the site of a sewist who makes the long ones just like mine. The only difference between the long and the short one is that on the short model the elastic is sewn into the very tip (it’s visible in one of the photos) and a button is sewn to the top about 3″-4″ from the front; after you’ve wrapped the towel around your head, slip the elastic over the button. The short towel is about 21″-22″ long. The long ones are great for long hair but for my short hair I don’t need all that much towel!

And don’t forget the fun part of cutting up towelling; your house is filled with towel lint afterwards, necessitating a serious session with the vacuum cleaner.

Won’t the recipient of these towels be surprised when she reads this & finds out she’s going to sew the buttons on….bwa..ha…ha…..ha…….

Happy stitching!

Community quilts again..

2022/01/20

This past week I devoted to quilting a couple of community quilts for our Guild. I did not piece either of the quilts shown here; other talented members of our Guild did that. These are two of the four I took when we had our workshop last November, and one of the reasons I took these for me to quilt is that they came with binding. By the time I’m finished quilting (and sometimes piecing) a quilt, I’m ready to be done with it, but there’s always the hunt for appropriate binding fabric (in the case of community quilts) and cutting, joining and pressing the strips. I’m so happy when one of our wonderful members has done that job for me!

What is my favourite binding method you ask? It’s Donna Jordan’s Quick Method. I make a couple of modifications; I usually cut my binding at 2.25″ wide instead of 2.5″ and I use my walking foot with the SID (Stitch in the Ditch) sole plate. Easy peasy; works every time.

All the free motion and ruler quilting is hand guided by me on my Sweet Sixteen. I used primarily Wonderfil invisifil on the basket quilt as top thread and the beautiful Glide thread everywhere else. I used either Superior Bottom Line or magna glide in the bobbin depending on the colour I needed.

Happy stitching!

Introducing…..

2022/01/06

…the stuffie family of Mom & Pop Penguin & the kids. I wonder if it’s our current weather that inspired me to purchase this design or the fact that it was on sale? Or after giving one of our youngest friends one for Christmas I just thought that making more stuffies would be fun? And if you’re interested in machine embroidery, as of today this design, Playful Penguin, is still on sale at Urban Threads. Pop is the tallest at about 7.5″ and the shortest one is about 3.5″.
They’re made of black sparkle fleece, white quilter’s cotton, stuffed with polyester stuffing and embroidered on my Husqvarna Designer Diamond with Sulky thread.

2022/01/06 – The Penguin family: Mom, Pop & the kids. Embroidery design purchased from Urban Threads. Tallest penguin is about 7.5″ and shortest is about 3.5″.

The Cool Cat

2022/01/02
A new year brings more quilting time! We headed into a cold and snowy spell shortly after Christmas so other than going out to shovel, I stayed inside to quilt.
After spotting this pattern two or three years ago, it’s been on my ‘I’d like to do it’ list because it’s just so darn cute! The Christmas projects are all done, so now is the time. I’d hoped for a 2021 finish but it was not to be.
So I present the Cool Cat, from the FREE Hipster Cat pattern by Shwin&Shwin. It’s a toddler’s quilt so it’s small enough to whip up in fairly short time: 40.5″ x 48″. I’ve never done applique this size before tho!
Seeing all that white space practically made me drool over the FMQ possibilities, but then I looked at the pattern creator’s straight line quilting and thought that was very effective for this quilt. I modified it slightly.
The lines are all spaced 1″ apart. I first drew in the vertical straight lines with my Mark-B-Gone™ pencil (spritz with water & marks are gone) 2″ apart and then stitched the wavy lines between. This is the first quilt in a long time that I’ve quilted on my domestic machine! I may have to make another just so I can FMQ all the white space lol. If you’re not quite ready for free motion quilting, this is a great design that enhances any quilt and most newer domestics have a built-in wavy or S stitch. Try it!
All fabrics are from my stash. The backing is a soft & cozy flannel and the batting is an 80/20. It was quilted on my Husqvarna Designer Diamond using Superior So Fine thread on top and Superior Bottom Line in the bobbin.

2022/01/01 Cool Cat quilt from Hipster Cat pattern 40.5" x 48" — 2022/01/01 Cool Cat quilt from Hipster Cat pattern 40.5″ x 48″

Another community quilt

2021/12/19
The members of our Guild make excellent use of scraps. A perfect example is this one; a scrappy nine patch that was a pleasure to quilt. Again, I just quilted this one, did not piece it – the last one before Christmas!
Hand guided quilting with my HQ Sweet Sixteen, Glide thread on top and filtec bobbin thread in the bobbin, Angela Walter’s swirl hook again for the quilting design!

I’ve begun to add links to the tips, tricks and tutorials that I’ve found very helpful on my quilting/machine embroidery journey. You can reach them from the home page, or click here. The list will grow!

now I can post this one!

I finished this about the end of October but it didn’t get gifted until yesterday so now I can finally post it.

Coming through Fort MacLeod, AB in September we stopped at a marvellous quilt shop: https://www.facebook.com/LittleRedQuiltShack/. As soon as we walked in the door I spotted this quilt made up and on display. I’d been looking for something for a special family member who had this year completed her Master’s degree while holding down a job and caring for her family and making two moves! Luckily the shop had one final kit left so I quickly took it.

All the fabrics in the quilt top are from the Moda botanica collection. The backing is a beautiful soft flannel. I used Hobbs washable wool for the batting. The pattern is Bundle of 10 by Amelie Scott Designs. It’s a super easy pattern and is very fat quarter friendly. I can see using it again for scrappy quilts. After laundering, it measures approximately 60.25″ x 73.5″. I loved working with these colourful and lively fabrics and the quilt was so soft & cuddly after laundering I hated to part with it!

The hand guided quilting was done by me on my Handi Quilter Sweet Sixteen using – yes again because I love it – Angela Walters’ swirl hook design. Top thread used was Glide with Superior’s Bottom Line in the bobbin. Another fun project!

20211102-1 Bundle of 10 approx. 60.25″ X 73.5″

finally…another Community Quilt

After our Guild’s Community Quilt workshop a few weekends ago I have a small stack of sandwiched quilts that need quilting sitting in my closet. I slotted one into my schedule, partly because it’s made of good quality flannel so it’s a pleasure to handle and partly because it’s size makes it easy to quilt in a short period of time. I did not piece this one but I think I recognize the pattern as one from one of the Thee Yard Quilts books. Those patterns are perfect for whipping up something quickly that also looks good. This one measures 42″ x 60.5″ after laundering.
The quilting is hand guided by me on my HQ Sweet Sixteen sit down long arm. The motif used is Angela Walters hook swirl, my all time favourite for creating beautiful texture and getting a fast finish! I used Glide thread.
I love the crinkly look and texture of a quilt after it’s laundered (photo 3).

I love the crinkly look after laundering

just having fun…

2021/12/08
I finished two projects for which I had deadlines (mostly self-imposed) so I took a little play time yesterday to machine embroider a cute little badge for a friend with a sense of humour. She wore it to work today to amuse her colleagues.
The patch was purchased from Urban Threads and stitched on my Husqvarna Designer Diamond. I turned it into a badge by adding a badge pin to the back. Click here for a good tutorial by Urban Threads for making ITH (In The Hoop) patches.

2021/12/08 An In The Hoop patch from Urban Threads

Poinsettia #3!

This is the last poinsettia wall hanging I’m going to quilt this year! They have been so much fun to do but I have to move on to something else lol. This last one is for one my sisters-in-law and I’m sure I was doing a happy dance today when the nice people at Canada Post took it out of my hands and started it on its way to her.
Each one has been slightly different in the quilting; I’ve added a little more detail and a little more bling in each one. The trouble is each one is a little nicer than than the one before and now I’m sending away the one I like best!
One problem with the photography is that the sparkle from the metallic and holograph threads simply does not show well in the photos, so you’ll just have to imagine it!
This, as the others, measures about 42″ x 42″ finished. The custom quilting is all hand guided by me on my HQ Sweet Sixteen sit down long arm. I used a variety of Sulky metallic and holograph thread, Sulky rayon thread and Wonderfil invisifil thread. I used two layers of batting: one of 80/20 and one of Hobbs washable wool; that’s what give this wall quilt its texture. The panel is a Hoffman Dream Big Holiday panel.

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