A Few of My Favourites!

The quilt show at Houston was amazing.  I would like to share with you a few of my favourite quilts.

If you would like to see more quilts from the show, click here to see the winners in each of the categories.

Back From Market

What wonderful fun we had in Houston at Quilt Market.  A bit of a rocky start leaving Kamlooops as Air Canada couldn't fly because of fog, and had cancelled our flight.  A little juggling and Noeline, Katja, Barb and I all booked a Westjet flight to Calgary at the last minute so that we could make our Air Canada flight to Houston.  Once we were in Houston, the fun never stopped.

Going through the 24 rows of booths is always a little overwhelming.  A few of my favourites below.

American Jane and Sweetwater.

The Blackbird booth, what a great pair of ladies!

Lynette Anderson, a delightful woman to talk to.

Tula Pink.  Love the quilt on the wall, quilted by Angela Walters of course.  I had to buy Tula's new butterfly pattern.  Watch for it!

After a hard day of pounding the cement, what better way to unwind than the Moda Party. Mark Dunn is a fabulous host.

Mark was dressed as a Captain, and his son's were dressed as sailors.  The theme of the party was "Make a Splash."  Mr. Dun came to every table and greeted his guests, made sure we were all having a great time and was happy to pose for pictures.  Considering he had about 1200 guests, this was no easy task.

The party had music from the South Pacific and some Hula lessons.  I "Triple Dog Dared" Katja to get up.  She did, but she hid way in the back when I tried to get pictures.

Next post will be pictures of some of the fabulous quilts at the quilt show.

Stash Busters Quilt Along Week 9

This weeks block is one that I have had my eye on for a while on various blogs.  I drafted it out on EQ and printed paper piecing patterns.  After looking at the patterns I decided there had to be an easier way to make the block.  I pulled out my Kaleido Ruler and this is the result.  Don't worry if you don't have the ruler, at the bottom of the page I have an alternate method.

From your background fabric cut two strips of fabric 3 1/2" by width of fabric.  From assorted scraps cut pieces 3 1/2" by at least 3 1/2".

Using your Kaleido Ruler, or instructions at the bottom, cut a wedge from eight different scraps.  From the background cut 24 wedges.  When using the ruler the line for a 6" square should be on one edge of the 3 1/2" strip.

This is the lay out for an eighth of your block.

Starting with the top of the wedge, sew a background to the feature fabric.  For correct placement the top of the two pieces should intersect right where your quarter inch seam starts.

Sew the second background piece on.

Line the third background piece up with the feature fabric piece.

This is how your wedge should look.  Make seven more from the assorted scraps.

Lay out all eight pieces.  Sew together into sets of two.  When pressing all the seam allowances have to be pressed the same direction.

Sew together into fours.  I have shown you the back so you can see the seam allowances.

Sew the final seam and press it open to reduce the bulk at the centre.

From a 4 1/2" strip of background cut four Easy Angle pieces and sew on the corners.  Square up the corners for your 12 1/2" block.

Now for how to cut your wedges without the Kaleido Ruler.  Go to my drop box link here. Download the PDF file and then print it with your printer set at 102 per cent.  This was my first time trying to make a PDF available on the web, and I messed up somehow.  To be the right size you have to print at 102, sorry.  If you don't know how to set the print preferences, print at the size it is then add about 1/16" to the top of the template.

Grab your Easy Angle Ruler.

Line it up on top of your printed template.  Mark the cutting line with a piece of tape.

Use the ruler as show to cut your wedge shapes from a 3 1/2" strip.  Of course if you don't want to go to all this trouble and you live close to me, just borrow my Kaleido ruler.

On two of the blocks I made the corners a feature fabric colour.  The choice is yours.  Have fun with this one.  If you have any questions please let me know.  I will be away for a few days but will answer as soon as I can.

Laundry Basket Seasonal Silhouettes

This past weekend I was away on retreat and manage to get a couple more of the Seasonal Silhouettes done.

The July block has to be my favourite so far.  The Cowboy boot and the Canadian Flag, perfect!

The March block is beautiful as well.  A watering can full of flowers, who wouldn't love it?  This makes six blocks done, six more to go.

I am on serious countdown to Fall Market in Houston.  Two more sleeps and I'm on the plane. Woohoo!

Stash Busters Quilt Along Week 8

In the last Moda Catalogue there was a gorgeous quilt made from this block.  One of the Quilt Along participants asked if it was hard to do.  Of course not!

To make the block you will need a background and two fabrics that contrast with each other.  From the background cut a 2 1/2" strip.  Cut the strip into four 2 1/2" squares, four 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" pieces and four Companion Angle pieces.  From the first feature fabric (shown dark in the picture) cut one 4 1/2" square, four 2 1/2" squares and eight 2 1/2" Easy Angle pieces.  From the second feature fabric cut four 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" pieces.

Lay out your pieces as shown above.  You will need four of each set.

Sew the units together.

Lay out the entire block and sew together.

Didn't I say it would be easy?  Happy stitching!

Playing With Thread

I have acquired quite  a few spools of Glide thread lately and have been having a lot of fun playing with it.  It is a polyester thread that adds a lot of sheen to the quilting.

I used a light grey on this quilt.  I love the results

Thanks to Sylvia for letting me play with her fabulous quilt!

A lot of you are keeping up with the Stash Busters Quilt Along.  I stopped by Barbara's to take a picture of her blocks to date.

Barbara is using 30's fabric and a white background.  Stunning!

Stash Busters Quilt Along Week 7

This weeks block is a Birds In The Air Block.  The block is sewn in quarters, two of which are the same, the other two the colours are reversed.

To make one quarter cut a 6 1/2" Easy Angle piece and a 3 1/2" Easy Angle piece, from your feature fabric.  From your background fabric cut three 3 1/2" Easy Angle pieces.

Sew together in the sequence shown.  Make one more quarter with the fabrics in the same place, then make the other two quarters with the fabrics reversed.  See below.

Each of the quarters should measure 6 1/2".  Now the fun begins, deciding how you want to sew them together.

I played around a little before I decided what I liked.   Each of my three blocks was sewn together in a different arrangement.

These blocks would also look great totally scrappy, dig into your scrap pile and see what you can come up with.  Happy sewing!