Merry Christmas!

I almost missed it! Merry Christmas and other seasonal holidays to all of my lovely bloggy friends! I hope you have had lots of love & joy today.

Machine Quilting

I feel so lucky to be able to quilt for others. This quilt was sent by Julie in Ottawa and it was a blast to quilt! She did an amazing job hand embroidering the logos of several of bands the recipient has been in. Her hand work is just amazing. Truly, I felt lucky to be asked to work on it. I do all my work free hand so this was a very intense quilt. I used over 3000 meters of Aurifil 50 wt in 1158 for the 84*92" quilt.

Giving me more or less a free hand I had some fun with the borders, I started off with a design from one of the fabrics and played with it until it felt right in the border and outer half circles. They looked really neat on the front but apparently I forgot to take a close up. This is on the back. Julie had asked that I not trim it own so that's what the blank space is.

Julie had asked for pebbles in the centers of the blocks, and pebbles she got. Lots and lots and lots of them. I swear I was seeing them in my sleep! There were 15 centers to pebble!

For the bow ties I quilted a loose Greek Key design, not being too picky with the direction of the keys, and it turned out really well I think. Gave it that non-conformist look, which I think went really well with the theme of the quilt.

It's been sent off to be given for a Christmas present and I'm feeling so good that I got to help make someone's Christmas a but more quilty!

If you're interested in having me quilt a quilt for you send me an email or check out the Machine Quilting section

Magazine Projects!

I'm so excited to have a project in Generation Q Magazin! The current edition (Winter2012) has 1 of the 7, YES SEVEN, projects I did out of 1 charm pack!
The rest of the projects are available on the Generation Q site, for FREE! You can find them here.

This is my very first project in a magazine and I really couldn't be happier! It's been a goal/dream of mine and I can cross it off the list now!
Not that I wouldn't love to have more, but I can say I've been published in a quilt magazine!

Quilting at Market

So I mentioned in the review I did of Kelly & Andie's book, Modern Designs for Classic Quilts, that I had gone to Quilt Market.
I'm not going to do any posts about it per se,there are TONS of Market posts, Fat Quarter Shop did a crazy job of covering pretty much everything, and on every platform, the blog of course, but they even have Youtube videos!

What I want to show is the quilting I did for Sarah Watson of Art Gallery Fabrics! I quilted two quilts for her booth!

The applique quilt got different quilting in each square and I used Aurifil 28 wt in their variegated grey (3770) for the darker sections and 50 wt of the white (2021). Mixing the different weights gave a really neat texture to the quilt and let me make some sections stand out much better then others.

The peel quilt I quilted with the 50 wt white as well and quilted a heavy swirl all over. I left the peels unquilted so they would really pop and show off the fabrics, which of course is the point of quilts at Quilt Market.

It was an incredible honour for me to have quilts I'd quilted (her mom pieced them) hanging at Market, but even more awesome was the fact that Sarah ended up winning Best New Exhibitor!!


  I'm not saying my quilting had anything to do with that, it didn't, but it is still super cool. Sarah's booth won because she had such a fun design, and it was just really well done.

The fabrics are Luxe in Bloom and should be available any day now!

Blogathon Canada Winner!

The winner of the giveaway from Sew Sister's from Blogathon Canada is...KarieAnn!! Congratulations! Email me with your address!

Thank you for joining in and I hope you found lots of new Canadian quilt bloggers to check out!

Blogathon Canada - My turn!

Today is Ontario's day for Sew Sisters Blogathon Canada! I'm so excited to be one of the host bloggers and I have a whole list of bloggers for you to meet! First I want to tell you about a book review I did of my friends book "Modern Designs for Classic Quilts". You can read it here.

Back to Canadiana! All of the giveaway's are ioen until tonight so you have time to go back and meet all of the other province/territory bloggers! YAY for a virtual tour of Canada, WITH prizes! You can find the list with the posts that have prizes at the end of the post.

First I want you to go visit all of these lovely ladies that are based in Ontario (or the center of the universe as it is also known) and love quilting too!

Patti's Patchwork

Sew Joy

Quilter's Workshop

The Quilting Princess

Stitch Literate

Buttons Quilts

Les Quilts

Bungalow Bay Quilts

Quilt Matters

Quitty Prickly

Artystuff

Today in Kenogami

I get to giveaway an EPP (English Paper Piecing) starter kit from Sew Sisters! I'm totally addicted to hexies, you can see some of them here & here, and I want you to be too! One lucky winner will get this kit with thimble, charm pack of Little Black Dress by basicgrey for Moda, 1" hexie papers, some high quality needles and even a glue pen! 

To win is simple! Leave me a comment, including your blog address if you have one, and tell me one new technique you'd like to try! That's it! no hoops to jump through. I'd love if you followed me here on the blog, over on twitter, or facebook but I'm not going to make you.

The rest of the prize/list tour!

Sunday, November 18	Kick-off!	Michele	Quilting Gallery
Monday, November 19	BC	Felicity	Felicity Quilts
Monday, November 19	BC	Cathy	Blueberry Patch
Tuesday, November 20	NS	Jeanette	STAMP * STITCH * CREATE
Tuesday, November 20	NB	Holly	Through My Window
Wednesday, November 21	AB	Shena	Apple Pie Patchwork
Wednesday, November 21	SK	Patti	Retired to Quilt
Thursday, November 22	QC	Marika	Live, Laugh, Love... Sew
Thursday, November 22	MB	Heather	Church Avenue Quilts
Friday, November 23	YT	Vivian	Quilting Under the Midnight Sun
Friday, November 23	YT	Janet	Caribou Crossing Chronicles
Saturday, November 24	ON	Cathi	Quilt Obsession
Saturday, November 24	ON	Cara	Cara Quilts
Saturday, November 24	ON	Kaye	Miss Print

Book Review! Modern Designs for Classic Quilts

When I went to Quilt Market (I didn't tell you I was/went to QM. I did. It was crazy.) I was very happy to be able to meet up with Andie Johnson and her friend/writing partner Kelly Biscopink.
I knew Andie from....actually I don't know how I "met" Andie. Blog? Talkin Tuesdays? I really don't know now. Anyways, I was very much looking forward to it as Andie is such a sweet person online, and in person!

I was able to score a copy of Kelly (@stitchykelly) & Andie's(@AndieJohnsonSew') book "modern designs for classic quilts" (kp) that is available now!

The title is pretty self explanatory, Kelly & Andie are modern quilters who love classic quilts. They wrote an awesome book on it. You want more?? Well ok then.

What the two of them has done is bridge the gap between the modern & traditional quilter.

 I really was very impressed with the book, and I've read a lot of quilt books. This book is geared towards those who already sew and quilt, which I LOVED.
The techniques are not how to make a quilt sandwich, but rather how to sew in a zipper for the pillow project, or how to do some step up piecing.

The large dresden project. I LOVE this design. TOTALLY wakes up the tradition.

Another thing that really makes this one stand out is the fact that when Kelly and Andie had a different way of doing the same thing, they put BOTH in the book and each explained why they liked to do it the way they do.
This is really like sitting with some friends and learning it with them, instead of being lectured on ``how it must be done``. 

The last thing I love about this book and you will too, is that each big project has an accompanying smaller project. There isn`t a need to make a huge dresden plate quilt just to learn the technique. Make the smaller project to see if you actually like doing it. If you do, great! jump in to the larger project and really master the technique
If you don`t love it, you have a small gift to give and you never have to do it again.


Because in quilting it`s as much about learning what you don`t like or doesn`t work for you as it is what does.
And you never know, hexies may become your most favorite thing ever. Or not. No serious time, and money, is lost in finding out.

Glorious Autumn Block Party!

Have you been following all of the fabulous blocks, and deals, going on at Quilting Gallery's Glorious Autumn Block Party? If not you still have time to catch up! There are 45 blocks in total and today is my turn!
There is a flickr group to see how the blocks look in different fabrics and to get some ideas on what to do with them!

 I wanted to do something a little bit different, but not difficult either. Whenever I get asked to do these sorts of things it can be hard to decide on a block, go tried & true or come up with something totally new?
Well this time I did a little of both. I'd been wanting to make this block for awhile but it never got to the top of my pile to "to dos" so I figured this was the perfect opportunity!

 A simple basket block with applique hexie flowers! You can do the hexies any way you like. I'm addicted to EPP (English Paper Piecing) but as fusible they would be quick and easy, and if you leave a seam allowance unfused or unsewn you could clip around the edges and have a raggy fringe on your petals! I've used 1/2" hexies, with the 1 1/4" flower, but any size 1" or smaller will work. I used 3.5" quarter square triangles (QST) for my basket. I think an applique basket would be great. This is one of those times I had to make a decision or the block would never have gotten made!

You can download the PDF here.

Come back Saturday when I'm part of Blogathon Canada and will be having a giveaway!

AccuQuilt Black Friday deals!

AccuQuilt has started their savings early! You can check out the deals here.
Why go to a store when you can save while in your pjs?? lol
There are deals all week long, and we're told something super special on Cyber Monday!

Blogathon Canada is a go!

It's time! Sew Sisters Blogathon Canada is starting today! We're starting out on the West coast with BC bloggers, Felicity Quilts and Cathy at Blueberry Patch! Go check them out, they will have some links to other BC bloggers as well as giveaways!



For my day I've chosen a EPP (English Paper Piecing) starter kit giveaway!

The gals have been very generous for all of you! There is a thimble, charm pack, papers, glue pen, and needles! So make sure to come back on Saturday for the giveaway post and a whole list of fellow Ontario bloggers.

Sandy Quilts

 Spreading the news about how to send quilt and blankets, handmade or store bought, to those effected by Superstorm Sandy. You can get details and addresses on Moda's blog.

Michele from Quilting Gallery is also accepting blocks to be made into quilts to be sent.

Unlike most hurricane damage this occurred in an area with real winters, and a full blown nor-easter (or as Canadians call it, snow) is predicted for this week. Many are without heat, and many have lost their homes and even more everything in them.

 I will be donating all quilts made with the fabrics and battings sent for the Batt series. Any London, ON sewists who would like to help can email me. I have an immense amount of fabric and instead of doing them a few at a time over the next few months I'd like to get them all done as soon as possible.

 Further I will be donating my quilting skills to those willing to provide the tops/batting/backing for quilts to be donated. If you are local I will even pick them up from you and drop off for binding.

If you can't donate a quilt consider giving to the Red Cross or local food banks. While parts of Canada were damaged by the storm the worst hit was in New York & New Jersey, and many districts are sending any and all extra provisions to them.

Blogathon Canada!

 

I'm very excited to have been asked to participate in a blog hop featuring all Canadian bloggers!
In the crazy big blogosphere we often forget about nationality and most of the time that is a good thing but every once in awhile it's awesome to celebrate our own country!
 I'm a very proud Canadian so am very honoured to asked to participate.
 Sew Sister's, a shop in Toronto came up with this fun idea to have host bloggers (like me) and take a virtual tour of Canada via Canadian bloggers.

Here's how it works:
Each day host bloggers will introduce themselves and their work on their blogs. They will include links to more blogs from their province so you can visit those blogs as well. The two host bloggers will also host a giveaway of some of their favorite goodies from Sew Sister's quilt store and you will have a chance to enter two giveaways each day for five days and three giveaways on the last day!

The schedule is

Monday, November 19 BC Felicity Felicity Quilts Monday, November 19 BC Cathy Blueberry Patch Tuesday, November 20 NS Jeanette STAMP * STITCH * CREATE Tuesday, November 20 NB Holly Through My Window Wednesday, November 21 AB Shena Apple Pie Patchwork Wednesday, November 21 SK Patti Retired to Quilt Thursday, November 22 QC Marika Live, Laugh, Love... Sew Thursday, November 22 MB Heather Church Avenue Quilts Friday, November 23 YT Vivian Quilting Under the Midnight Sun Friday, November 23 YT Janet Caribou Crossing Chronicles Saturday, November 24 ON Cathi Quilt Obsession Saturday, November 24 ON Cara Cara Quilts << me!! Saturday, November 24 ON Kaye Miss Print
Make sure to join us! And a big thank you to Sew Sisters for coming up with this great idea!

Machine binding

I prefer the look of hand binding but sometimes time requires binding by machine. I've always had problems with it but after using the Clover wonder clips it's easy peasy! I use Pat Sloan's method of sewing onto the back first and then folding over and using the sew line from the back to guide the front binding.

With the clips you can sew right up to them, and then it pushes the clip and I just snatch it off. I've tried pins, and other clips but nothing has worked as well as these wonder clips, and they don't distort the fabric so it look good everytime!
They come in packages of 10 and 50. I got the 10 and will definitely be getting the larger pack. These will replace straight pins in a lot of things, save time and blood! lol

Remember to join in today with Talkin Tuesdays!

Diamond Hexie Quilt

I'm going teach a class at Cornerstone Quilts on epp using this as my example! Just need to knife edge bind it and it will go hang up in the shop to get some people interested!
When I know the exact details on the class I will let you all know. I'm also going to be teaching Twilight, and how to make my quilted wraps, which are back in my etsy shop!

I hand sewed the hexies together using Aurifil 50 wt thread, it worked beautifully. I also hand quilted all but the white areas. I used a combination of Aurifil 50 wt, 40 wt, and Lana wool 12 wt,  and each one worked wonderfully. I had very little twisting and knotting, almost not breakage and I didn't even have to use thread wax!
The white areas I machine quilted with the Aurifil 50wt on my frame.

I'm really happy I was able to hand quilt most of this one, but I can definitely say I will never be a hand quilter. I really do enjoy machine quilting, especially on the frame, much more. Hand sewing I can enjoy but the hand quilting itself wasn't relaxing for me.

My Turn!! Bar Hop Quilt Along!

   I'm always so excited to be asked to be part of Quilt Alongs! Today's my day in the Bar Hop put together by the fabulous Scott over at Blue Nickel Studios.


My block is fairly simple but when I was putting it together I was thinking of friends around a table, and the way a good night at the bar spreads out and included lots of tables around you until the whole pub is friends and laughing.

You can get the pdf file here.I also included some ideas for a layout using four of the blocks.

There is still lots of time to get caught up in the quilt along!
October 1 Amy Ellis
October 2 Lynn Harris   
October 3   Heather Jones    
October 4   Jacquie Kunkel    
October 5 Ashley Jones
October 6  Emily Cier 
October 7 Scott Hansen
October 8 Jan Peoples
October 9 April Rosenthal
October 10 Amy Lobsiger
October 11  Cara Quilts <<< moi
October 12   Konda Luckau
October 13  Alethea Ballard
October 14 Charlie Scott