Making Progress

I have been on holidays for the last two weeks and am doing my best to work through some of the basket quilts.  Of course I have to fit in a couple of new quilts as well, just to keep me motivated.

Number three from the basket is this Magic Tiles quilt.  Some of the fabric in the quilt is year 2000 fabric.  I'm fairly sure I used the fabric when it was new, so this means I pieced this top over twelve years ago.  It was due to be finished.

I felt my swirl feather needed a little work, so I practiced it on this quilt.

Number four from the basket isn't so old.  I made this top last October on retreat.  I wanted to try a little ruler work on this one.  I learned a lot, mainly that I need to mark the lines, as my left hand isn't strong enough to hold the ruler as steady as it needs to be.  This is why I practice on my own quilts.

Even though it isn't perfect, I'm sure someone will love it.

The other quilts on the pile are the Sunday Morning quilt and the Noteworthy quilt, both of which I have already shown you.  The quilt on the bottom of the pile is another Coma quilt that I will show when the fabric comes into the local store.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Noteworthy meets "Simply Fat Quarters"

I could hardly wait to play with the new Noteworthy fabric by Sweetwater.

I finished up the quilt and rushed outside to get a picture before it starts snowing later today.  I love the softness of the fabrics and the writing on the background fabric is delightful.  The writing is a list of to do things, some of which are on my to do list.  Too much fun!

The pattern is the Poppy pattern from "Simply Fat Quarters."  The book has a lot of wonderful ideas that work with fat quarters or larger scraps that you might have laying around just waiting to be used.

The quilting in the book outlined the block.  I didn't want to put that much quilting over the background fabric.  I made petals in the block and then kept the quilting simple in the background and border.  Mine is certainly not a poppy, and ideas as to what kind of flower it looks like?

I scooped this picture to show what the blocks look like done in a little darker fabric and with borders as planned in the book.  A wonderful little pattern to play with!

Avril's Quilt

This special quilt was pieced by my niece Avril.

And now, for the rest of the story.  Quite some time ago I won a jelly roll through a blog giveaway.  I can't for the life of me remember whose.  Anyways, the generosity of a quilter brought the fabric my way.  I loved it, stroked it and felt so lucky to have it.  Then one day my niece came to visit.  It is wonderful to have someone in the family who shares my passion.  She was admiring the bright colours of the fabric, so I gave it to her.  She love it, stroked it and then came up with a plan.  She made this quilt to give to one of her girlfriends for her birthday.  So much love and giving was involved in making this quilt I just had to quilt hearts on it.

Have a wonderful day!

Time to Challenge Myself

I'm not one to make new year's resolutions, however........It's time to be serious about my stack of unfinished quilt tops.

Or should I say basket of unfinished tops.  A friend asked my how many I had, I was amazed when I counted them up and I had 32 in the basket.  Time to be serious about finishing a few of them.

I dug out one of the smaller quilts so I would get some immediate gratification.  This cute little baby quilt will go to a friend to bind and keep.  One finish down.

Next up was my Sunday Morning quilt.  I fell in love with this quilt when I quilted Carla's version of it.  I couldn't wait to piece my own.  I had finished the top and then some other project just had to be done, and there this one sat.  Now it is quilted and as soon as I have the binding done, I will be using it as my couch quilt.

I played with the overall leaf design on this one.  I tried it on one quilt previously and thought it needed a little work, so here it is again.  I used a soft variegated Superior Thread on the top, and used up several different odds and ends of bobbins for the bottom.  This is definitely a scrappy quilt!

I have promised myself that I will have this basket cut in half by the end of the year.  As I get towards the bottom of the basket, the fabrics date some of the tops to prior to 2000.  Yikes, I need to get buys!

Have a great day everyone!  Keep stitching.

Playing with Comma

Comma by Zen Chic is an amazing line of fabric to be released by Moda this spring.  I have a fat eighth bundle that I have been playing with.  The first quilt I have finished is one of the quilts shown in the Moda catalogue.  I didn't have the actual pattern, so I did my best to make it up as I went.

The colours in the fabric line are very vibrant and show well next to the Moda solid.  This was a fun quilt to make up!  Watch for more Comma coming soon.  If you are careful how you cut, a fat eighth package goes a long way.

A Special Miniature made by Sonja

My wonderful friend Sonja made me this mini quilt as a Christmas gift.

The quilt is 7 1/2" x 10".  The hexagons are 1/4".  Do you see the fussy cut block.  Simply amazing.  Thanks so much Sonja.

A few years back I made a larger version that I called Birds in Grandmother's Garden.  I used 1" hexagons in mine.  Sonja asked for the pattern as she wanted to make it one day.  Little did I know that she would downsize it.  Here is a pic of the original quilt.

I love them both!  Have a great day everyone.

New Classes for the New Year

I hope everyone had a fabulous 2012 and is looking forward to an even better 2013.

The highlights of my 2012 were Leslie's beautiful wedding to Matt and the birth of another grand baby, Hallie.  Both on the same day of course.  Doug and I travelled to Winnipeg so he could show me his home province.  Both my sons continue to impress me with the way they live their lives and my beautiful stepdaughter delights me the antics of her children.  Both of my parents are healthy and happy.  I have great friends who support me in whatever I am doing.  And of course I have you, all my wonderful blog friends.  All the best to all of you in 2013.

Now for some quilting.  I showed a few pictures earlier of my Cuzco quilt in progress.  Here is the finished quilt.

The Greek Key Log Cabin block is a bit of a twist on the traditional log cabin.  For a close up of the quilting click here.

This quilt I have called Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend.  Making a diamond quilt has been on my to do list for quite some time so I decided to get on with it.  I dug through my batik scraps and came up with this.

I am offering both quilts as classes at Katja's.  Click here to check out the latest newsletter with all the class listings as well as coupons to go shopping.  Have a great day everyone!