Sunday, September 23, 2007

Another Sweatshirt Jacket

Hi all!

I put the finishing stitches in the binding on this jacket this morning! I am happy to finally have finished this jacket. I made it for a friend (who owns the local quilt shop) and it was started in the spring if you can believe it. I cut apart the sweatshirt and did almost all of the piecing then I put it away until this week :) I really didn't do too much sewing at all this summer and this was one of the projects that got put away. It's very embarrassing that I put it away for so long especially when it is for someone else. Oh well!

Here's the back of the jacket. Just a very simple piecing pattern. I cut 4 1/2" strips and joined them together. Then I made them all into a tube and sub-cut it into 4 1/2" tubes. I rotated the tubes until I found where I wanted the pieces and then cut them apart. Very simple but with such amazing fabric you really don't need anything fussy.

If you want to see my explanation on how I do sweatshirt jacket you can check it out in my older blog post Part 1 and Part 2.

If you have any questions at all please feel free to post them and I will do my best to answer them.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

An Older baby Quilt

Hi all!

I thought that I would share this photo of an older baby quilt with you all. I made this about 2 years ago for two very dear friends of ours. The baby's father and my husband go bird watching together so I thought that a backyard birds quilt would be great for them. From top left and down we have a chickadee, a cardinal, a gold finch, a blue bird and a nuthatch. They are all completely out of proportion but hey! They still really like it! The embroideries all com from Ann the Gran website and are free designs. i really liked how they all stitched out and the little boy who recieved the quilt still absolutely loves it. When I was trying to take this picture he was trying to pick the quilt up off the floor to take it back. I think that that is one of the most rewarding reactions that you can get from a child about their quilt! When I took the quilts back last summer to repair them the three children, to whom they were given, were all a little bit disturbed that their quilts were being taken away (even for just a little while!). I know that that might sound a little odd but it means that the quilts are loved and appreciated. And, to me, that is what quilt making is all about :)

Sunday, September 16, 2007

More preserving :)

Hi all!
Again it is not quilting but here is what I did today :) I put up two full bushels of Roma tomatoes! We bought the tomatoes at the Parkdale Market in Ottawa yesterday and last night I chopped one 10 pound bag of onions and and about 6 pounds of chili peppers and red peppers. Wow was that a lot of work but it made a massive difference when it came to doing all the tomatoes this morning. I started preserving this morning at about 8:30 am and i finished at about 4:00 pm. Whew! You can see a picture of the three tomatoes sauces here. On the far end is tomato sauce with onions and red peppers and chilies. Big pot closest to us is tomatoes with onions and red peppers and the small pot is just crushed tomatoes.
Finally at about 4:00 pm or so today I had all the jars water processed and labeled! Not too bad huh? I can't believe that I was able to do this many tomatoes all in the same day! My secret is the Lee Valley European Tomato Press! It is the most amazing thing and if you like to preserve tomatoes you should definitely get one. This is not an ad I'm just saying that this is something that you can not live without once you've tried it :) 8 years ago I tried to process one full bushel of tomatoes the old fashioned way and it took me three days! (Maybe I'm slow) With the Lee Valley press we did two full bushels today! All you do it take off the stem end of the tomatoes and quarter them; put them into a pot and scald them until they release their jouice and their skins start to come away from the flesh; then put them though the press. I put them through the press three times to get the most out of the pulp. The press removes all the skins and the seeds! How cool is that!! Sorry but I just love this press a lot and it has eliminated a million hours from my preserving hours!

BTW I use this for jams in exactly the same way :)

Sorry about another no quilting post but this took up a lot of my time and I wanted to share my day with you all :)

Sunday, September 09, 2007

Another Baby Quilt

Hi all!

Thank you all for your responses on if it is me or my age. I really enjoyed reading all your comments and found your perspectives very interesting. I really appreciate it!


I finished and delivered another baby quilt to a new-born little baby girl yesterday. What a cutie! The Mother is also a quilter so she really appreciated the quilt. I think that just because the Mom is a quilter doesn't mean that she shouldn't get baby quilts as well LOL! This is a pattern from Ursula Reikes' book "Quilts for Baby: Easy as ABC". I love her baby quilt books! She has I think 3 or 4 out and I would highly recommend them. The patterns are a good size and simple enough to whip up in no time at all. I have done this pattern several times and really like it since it showcases a nice children's print so well. This is one of the few baby quilts that I have had the opportunity to do for a little girl. I had to actually go and purchase the pink ducky fabric because I just didn't have really any baby girl fabrics! Shucks, I had to go fabric shopping LOL! It seems that most of our friends have had boys. Hmm . . . .so much for women being 52% of the population! :) Just watch now my friends will all start having little girls now :) Well, another excuse to shop for some more fabric :) Like I need an excuse :)

Saturday, September 01, 2007

Is it me or is it my age??

I have to say this is a question that comes to my mind very often when I go into a new quilt shop. When I was on vacation last week I went into a quilt shop that I've never been in before. There was only one other customer at the time and they were having a great conversation then she left within a minute of me coming in. I said hello to the owner and smiled the owner just smiled at me and said "Let me know if you need anything" and proceeded to go and sit down in the back and start to sew. I looked around the shop for about 10 more minutes and took some bolts off the shelf looked at the fat quarters. I was the only person in the shop and she didn't even look at me again. I was going to purchase some fat quarters but then I thought "No way! Why should I after that service!"

At another time I was in a quilt store and I asked a question about a pattern for a Lone Star type of a quilt. The worker looked at me and handed me a pattern for an easy nine-patch quilt and said "Maybe you'd be better with this pattern." I couldn't believe it!

Now don't get me wrong I've had great service all over the place; but, I have to wonder if it is my age that's the problem. I am in my mid-thirties and I have been quilting since my late twenties. I ask this question because I have seen women of an older generation getting excellent service from the same quilt store employees. I've even been in one store several times and I keep getting the same service (I've stopped going there now). Do people assume that because I am younger that I can't be a serious quilter or that they'd be wasting their time with me? You'd think that store owners would want to foster the younger quilters not discourage them. I guess I just don't understand this one. I would love to know your view-points on this one :)

2022 Christmas T-Shirt Quilt Gift

As promised - here is the T-Shirt Quilt Christmas Gift from 2022! I did share this on my Facebook page but not on my blog, (whoops sorry!) s...