Blitzen

Blitzen by Basicgrey for Moda is a delightful new line of fabric.  When it came into the local shop I just could not resist buying some of it.  Here is what I did with it.

Even though this is a christmas line of fabric, I wanted to make a quilt for all year round.  I will be offering this as a class at Katja's this fall.

This is the hexagon for week 31.  I am busy making myself kits for the rest of the 52 hexagons so I have some work to do on an upcoming road trip.  WooHoo, ROADTRIP!

Have a great day!

Farmer's Wife Blocks 61 & 62

Northern Lights and Old Windmill are out enjoying the sunshine.

Right here in Kamloops!

At the first annual Kamloops Marathon and Half Marathon.  And why were we here at 6 am on a Sunday morning?

It was my daughter Leslie and her friend Heidi running in the half marathon.  Their first time!

They finished the race together in a time of 2:18.  A very respectable time.

And they will still smiling at the end.

Week 30, Already!

Where does the time go?  Here is week 30's Hexagon.

I just couldn't resist these cute little mittens!  Even though we are in the throws of a warm spell, winter will be here again before we know it.  LOL.  Keep those mittens handy.

I was going to share a picture of my Blitzen quilt with you, but I just realized I left my camera at the quilt shop.  Now how does that happen?  I guess Carla's wonderful peanut butter cookies had me on such a sugar high, I couldn't think of much else.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Spring Bouquet by Laundry Basket Quilts

I've been a little busy lately working on a Spring Bouquet sample.  The quilt is designed by Laundry Basket Quilts for Moda.  The beauty of this pattern is that you can buy Silhouettes which are laser cut appliqué pieces, that already have steam a seam 2 fused onto the back. First up, a picture of a completed block.

The quilt is entirely made of batiks so the colours are vibrant!

To make the block I started with the pattern, a 17" background square (pattern called for 16 1/2" but I like to cut it down to size after the appliqué is done,) a light box and the pre packaged silhouettes.

I pinned the pattern together and then pinned the background square to the pattern.  With the light box the placement is a snap.  The papers peel off the silhouettes easily leaving a slightly sticky backing.  Sticky enough to hold everything in place yet enough give that if you have to lift a piece to place another under it, you can.  Once everything is where I want it, I unpin everything, slide the block off the light box onto my ironing board, and set everything in place with an iron.

Next comes the machine appliqué.  Lucky for me my machine has a setting for needle down and pressure foot up whenever I stop, making sewing everything down so much easier.

The quilt consists of nine blocks and four appliquéd borders.  It will be available shortly at Katja's as well as most other local quilting stores.  A great Moda project.  Stay tuned for more pics shortly.

Farmer's Wife Blocks 109, 110 & 111

Yes, I am jumping to the back of the book.  To complete all 111 blocks by the end of the year, I need to present three at a time for seven weeks.  I was going to do this at the end of the year, but someone asked that I do it a little earlier, as Christmas is so busy.  So I thought I would mix it up a bit.  Three this  week, maybe two next, you just never know!

The names of these blocks are Windows, Wood Lily and Wrench.

Once again my blocks went to work with me.  This is the cute little Ford Transit that I drive around in to complete my mail route.  It is parked at a CMB site on Quail Dr.  in Batchelor North, Kamlooops.  It is a fairly new part of town.  I took this picture a bit ago when my truck was clean.  LOL.

Playing with "Free-Motion Quilting"

In my last post I mentioned that I had bought the book "Free-Motion Quilting with Angela Walters."  I could hardly wait to try some of the patterns in the book.  So.......

Sharon and I discussed using two patterns from the book on her quilt.  Luckily when I phoned to see what she wanted me to do, we each had a copy of the book.  We flipped back and forth through the book, until we settled on this.  I love it!

This is Hexagon 29 of the Hex-a-thon.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Farmer's Wife Blocks 59 & 60

Night & Day and Noon & Light are out enjoying the beautiful sunshine!

If you are a local you may have been here this weekend.  Or at least if you are a baseball fan, that is.

My blocks and I were at the local Norbroc Baseball Stadium for the Kamloops International Baseball Tournament.  KIBT for short.  It was the 40th anniversary of the Tournament.  There are usually teams from San Diego, Seattle, Red Deer, Kamloops, Kelowna and various other Portland or Washington State areas.  

My first year volunteering at the tournament came about by chance.  I was wondering around the Park and stopped in to watch a ball game.  The person running the game clock had to leave and asked if anyone knew how to run the clock.  I had spent many hours at the park with my son and as most parents do, knew how.  My volunteering at KIBT started that day, 15 years ago.  A dear friend of mine, Fran, saw me running the clock and stated that if I was going to volunteer, I needed to work with her.  Since then you can usually find me working at least a shift at the front gate.  Great friends, great times and great baseball!

JoAnn sent me a picture of her blocks to share, and she is wondering where the pictures are of everyone else's.  Hmmmm.