2022/05/06 As all quilters know, scraps breed uncontrollably and have to be dealt with periodically. Many of my scraps are 2.5″ wide leftovers from binding or of a size that can be cut to 2.5″ in width, the same as a jelly roll. Inspired by a beautiful new pattern by Donna Jordan of Jordan Fabrics, Scrap Strips Diamond Trip, found in the free patterns section of their website, I pulled out what I had of the right dimension, cut a few more and went to work. Her instructions and measurements are always perfect and this is one quilt that stitches together quickly. And when it came to quilting it, the dimensions were perfect for using Handi Quilter’swave B template (I bought mine on amazon.ca). I love the optical illusion this quilting design creates!
Custom quilted by me on my HQ sweet sixteen using Glide thread (khaki) and my HQ wave B template. The wavy quilting is inspired Anita Shackleford’s Modern Curves pantograph. The quilt dimensions are 47″ x 63″.
So why is my scrap bin just as full as ever? Could it be because a quilty friend was happy to contribute some of her oh so perfect scraps so I could make another one of these? Sigh……
20220505-TQG Community Quilt.
47″ x 63″2022/05/05-TQG Community Quilt. Wave ruler work.
47″ x 63″2022/05/05-TQG Community Quilt. Wave ruler work.
47″ x 63″
It’s Spring around here; the daffodils are blooming, the primula and crocuses are blooming, the peach and nectarine trees are blooming….and on and on…. I love living on the West Coast!
And all that blooming is why I talked myself into doing another Sweet Pea Embroidery Sew Along. The discounted design for March is the Tulip Fields Hanger and I found it irresistible. And as usual, life & other quilting projects interfere & I was down to the wire on submitting it to the Facebook group today. And wow! what an amazing collection of beautiful submissions from all over the world! I don’t think I’ll win anything with mine but it’s fun being included in such a talented group.
And did I mention I placed third (one of three) in last month’s Sew Along with my table topper (which is a wall hanging at the moment)? I was so surprised! The prize is one free design. How will I decide which one when there are so many beautiful ones from which to select!
2022/03/27 – Tulip Fields machine embroidery design by Sweet Pea Embroidery Designs 12.5″ x 24″
Oh what fun I’ve been having…….I find machine embroidery designs on sale and what am I to do? Yes, well, you can guess I’ll bet.
Before Christmas I was looking for something to make for a 10 month old adorable cherub and found this delightful ITH (In The Hoop) bib pattern so quickly stitched it up. His mom tells me it got used! So after Christmas I stitched up another one just to have on hand for another Christmas when I need a baby gift again. I back them with rip stop nylon so however wet the front of the bib becomes, baby’s clothes underneath stay dry.
The design is the Rudolph Christmas Bib from Sweet Pea Embroidery Designs. Their designs are well digitized and stitch out beautifully. In addition, detailed well written instructions are included with every project. Even I hardly ever make a mistake lol.
Last year my daughter, who enjoys pottery, gifted me two lovely little vases she’d made. During the summer I had no problem keeping them full of blooms, but they’ve been empty so far this winter. I decided machine embroidery could come to the rescue so off I went searching for the perfect flowers. I found a beautiful Floral Lace Bouquet at OESD. So far I’ve only stitched two of the flowers but there will be more to come! Again, another site marketing well digitized designs and excellent instructions.
And then if that wasn’t enough machine embroidery I moved on to the Sweet Pea Sew Along project for February. I think I’ve mentioned before that Sweet Pea Machine Embroidery has a monthly sew along group on Facebook. At the beginning of each month they produce a new design for the sew along and discount the price 30% for that month. You post your finished project by the month end and it’s judged and the lucky winners (and there are many) may win free or discounted designs. I’ve entered a couple of times, won nothing yet, but keep trying. Considering they have entries from all over the world, it might be a long wait! February’s project is the Half Square Flare Quilt and my little quilt is a table topper that measures about 31.5″ x 31.5″…….or maybe it will be a wall hanging; who knows!
2022/02/24 – Table centre piece
– machine embroidered/quilted
– 31.5″ x 31.5″
– pattern is Half Square Flare by Sweet Pea Machine Embroidery2022/02/23 – Table centre piece
– machine embroidered/quilted
– 31.5″ x 31.5″
– pattern is Half Square Flare by Sweet Pea Machine Embroidery2022/02/23 – Table centre piece
– machine embroidered/quilted
– 31.5″ x 31.5″
– pattern is Half Square Flare by Sweet Pea Machine Embroidery
So tonight I’m off to one of our Guild’s demos on hand embroidery to see if I can learn something new. I’ll take along my little fabric pieces, needle and scissors but I’m not going to get hooked on any other hobby……really…….
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!
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…….
2022/01/20 Community quilt 46″ x 59″2022/01/20 Community quilt 46″ x 59″2022/01/20 Community quilt 46 x 59″2022/01/20 Community quilt 54″ x 60″2022/01/20 Community quilt 54″ x 60″
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.
…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″.
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-Goneâ„¢ 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″2022/01/01 Cool Cat quilt from Hipster Cat pattern. Lines drawn for straight line quilting with Mark-B-Goneâ„¢ pencil. 40.5″ x 48″
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!
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″
20211102-2 Bundle of 10 approx. 60.25″ X 73.5″
20211102-3 Bundle of 10 approx. 60.25″ X 73.5″20211102-4 Bundle of 10 approx. 60.25″ X 73.5″
myrtBquilting 