Sorry it's been sooo long!

Sorry it's been soooo long since I last posted. Life has just been happening lately and I really haven't had the time to do much. First of all it is spring so the need to clean up the yard can really take over for a while. Not that i mind getting outside :)

My Mother came up for a week to visit so I spent a lot of time with her which was great. She was down in Florida for several months so it was great to see her again.

I also machine quilted a quilt for a friend and that took a lot of hours. Good thing I like machine quilting. I have also been working on hand quilting my guild challenge quilt that I can't post a photo of yet until June in case anyone from my guild sees it :)

I news about me :) My Mother brought up my new rug hooking gripper frame from Bee Creek Ltd. Isn't it great! I love how sturdy it is and how nice the metal looks. I like industrial looking things and this one looks nice. I must say that it is far easier to hook on a frame like this rather than a Q-Snap.

I also got the lap base for the frame to make it more portable if I want to travel with it. I figured that I might as well get everything that I wanted all at once LOL!


I have been working on the rug hooking kit that I got at a local thrift store just so that I have something to get working on right away. I ripped out the work that had been done, so that I could replace it with my own work :), and have been working on it in the evenings. It's a very primitive rug but I think that it will look nice hanging over a door.

I'm not really sure how to hang these half round rugs like this though. Anyone have any ideas?

Just Ducky Postcards

Hi all;
I thought that I would share this picture of these fabric postcards before i send them away today. These are my two "Just Ducky" fabric post cards for the Fabric Postcards Yahoo list that I belong to. There were only three of us participating in this one so I send two off and get two back. I hope that everyone likes them.

I love making fabric postcards. There is something so amazing about a textile piece of art that goes through the mail. People always ask me if they get through the mail okay and I have to say yes! The postal workers love seeing them when I bring them in to be hand canceled and I have to think that they get even more special attention by the delivery people. My Christmas cards that I sent out got to all over Canada and the USA without any problems. You can see them here and here. And, I have to say that this was the first time that I have received and Thank You note for a Christmas card that I sent out. Now to think about what to send this year.

I thought that I would also share the results of my dying experiment yesterday. These wools turned out a little more purple than I wanted but I still think that they look great. I think that they may be darker because I started with gray and brown wools. I have ordered a couple of dying books to help me along; but, right now I am working in the dark a bit :) I want to take a course in dying wool this summer; but, it is hard to wait when you want to get started.

I'll dye more wools late maybe. I think that greens and blues may be next :)

Adventures in Dying

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. I've been working on quilting my guild challenge quilt and quilting a quilt for a friend. I'll have to see if she will allow me to post a photo f it when I am finished.
I thought that I would try and over-dye some to the reclaimed wool that I have been purchasing. So I weighed out a pound of wool and put it into my dye pot with some dye. I used the Fiber Reactive Procion Dyes from Dharma Trading. I know that a lot of wool dyers like Cushings dyes but these were what I had on hand from dying fabric. Dying cotton and dying wool are two different procedures. When you dye wool it needs to be heated up on the stove for quite some time and then left to cool. I got the wool dying instructions from the Dharma Trading site since I was using their dyes.

I think that I may have added a bit too much dye. I wanted very vibrant colours, so I added a lot of dye; but, these came out a bit darker than I wanted. I added a touch of blue to the mix so that is probably why.

They are all lovely shades of purple :) I wanted it to be burgundy but this is fine for my first attempt :) I have some more wool in the dye pot right now. This time I added half the amount of red, left out the blue, and, added just a touch of orange to the mix. So far it is more of a cherry red in the pot.

Isn't it amazing how a bunch of brown and grey plaids and tweeds can look so different when they are over-dyed? I just love the transformation and I love that these were all reclaimed wools that now look just like wool that you buy in stores. I'll post a picture of my second batch later hopefully.

UFO #14 finished and a new purchase!

Hi all;
I finished my UFO #14 last night :) I am really excited to have 14 out of my 33 UFOs finished and it is only the end of March. This is a Celtic table runner that I started in a course from Quilt University. It is a great way to do Celtic designs that is much easier than the usual way. I finished the hand quilting on it and got the binding on it last night. I love the way that the inserts look. They really add a great design element to it but since the runner is all batik fabric it was hard to hand quilt through since batik has a higher thread count. I really wanted to hand quilt this runner though, since it is all hand appliqued, so it was worth it. Now onto the next UFO.
This is my new purchase :) Yey! I finally got a rug hooking strip cutter. Yes I know that I can cut the strips with my rotary cutter but this is sooooo much easier. I got a great deal on this new Rigby cutter from a local quilt shop. I am building up a pretty large stash of recycled wools so it is a good idea to have something to cut them so that I can actually use them properly.

Speaking of rug hooking I got two GREAT DVDs by Gene Shepherd on learning to rug hook. If you are interested and can't find a class in your area this is a great resource. I took a class a couple of years ago and I learned so much from these DVDs. I also like that you can watch over and over again in case you forget something.
This is another rug hooking thrift store find if you can believe it :) This came in a kit with yarn and a small, and very flimsy looking, cutter. I got it for all of $1.00. I decided not to use the yarn, and since I have my new cutter, I cut some strips of a purple wool that I have and I am going to try it out with my own wool strips. It is just a small little pattern and I had to add leaders onto the sides so that it would fit into my Q-Snap; but, I think that it will be a nice little project to work on while I wait to get my new frame.

In the corner you can see where I was trying out some of my black and white plaid strips. They make a really cool effect I think.

Springtime Fabric Post Cards

It's finally spring!! I don't know why I am so excited about spring coming this year but I am :) We had a very mild winter overall and not much snow but I am still glad that spring is finally here.

These are some fabric post cards that I just finished and mailed out this morning. It is part of a swap on the fabric cards yahoo list. There are 5 of us in this swap so I will get 4 nice springtime cards back. I hope that everyone likes these cards that I made. I did a machine embroidery on them that reminds me of spring.

The next swap that I am a part of is "Just Ducky: get your ducks in a row for the spring showers ahead" I think that I am going to to do a duck splashing around in the spring puddles. There are only three of us in this swap so I only have to make 2 cards. I wanted to find some fabric with rubber ducks on it but I couldn't find any. Oh well :)

UFO #13 - the pumpkin quilt is Finished!

Hi all;
I finished my UFo #13!! This is the quilt that I pieced with my youngest son age 6. He picked all the fabric himself. As a matter of fact every time we would go into a quilt store and he would see a fabric with orange on it or pumpkins he would want a piece of it. LOL! A fabric addict already :)

I did the cutting on the quilt of course and we sewed this together with Gavin sitting on my lap. I had the 1/4" foot on with the guide and the finger guard for extra protection. It was really fun to do.

I decided to machine quilt the quilt myself since I thought that it would be just too hard to navigate the bulk of the quilt and the bulk of a 6 year old LOL!

When I asked Gavin how he wanted his quilt quilted he said that he wanted pumpkins in each block. So, I thought about it for a bit then I decided how I could do them continuous and without marking and this is what I came up with. I started on one side and made the body of the pumpkin then went back up and did the detail of the stem and the vines at the top. He is very happy with it :)
I was a little perplexed with how to do the pumpkin borders; but, Friday night I had a dream of how to make the pumpkins looked like like they were stacked on top of each other in the vertical borders and side by side in the horizontal. The trick was that I still wanted them to be continuous. I don't know if you can really see it but it is pretty neat looking.

I stayed up last night to finish sewing the binding on so that I could lay it over his bed while he was sleeping. This morning he got up and pulled it off his bed, along with all his pumpkin toys, and came downstairs. He has been playing with his quilt, and his pumpkin toys, for 2 hours so far with no signs of stopping :) This is the best thank you that I think that I have ever received from anyone. It just goes to show you how special a quilt can be to a little child and how much they love such a simple gift of a warm and cozy quilt. I think that this quilt will be loved way past being worn out.

GRS asked if my son got the pumpkin hooked rug as well since they seem to go together and the answer is yes! I hung it in his room on a wrought iron hanger. He has always thought that it was for him since the day that I brought the kit home so hey!

Joyce said that she couldn't really see the quilting so I uploaded a different picture. Hopefully you will be able to see the border quilting a bit better in this one :)

More rug hooking

Hi all;
I thought that I would share this photo of my first rug hooking project. I took a class at my local quilt shop and bought this kit from the teacher. I found it so addictive to work on this. I finished this one a couple of years ago.

I think that I picked this particular project because my youngest son likes pumpkins so much; but, I also love the tiles around the border. I also really like the way that the pumpkin could be shaded and given a light source.

I finished this little rug that I was working on it before. this is another kit from the same instructor Loretta Moore. I just love the red in the cardinal and the way that he was holding the leaf in his mouth. I just finished putting the binding on the back this morning. Now I just have to find a place to hang it. It is now Spring technically so perhaps a winter wall hanging isn't very appropriate but I really think that it should be hung for a little bit before I change it to something else. What do you guys think??

I will be getting my new frame from Bee Creek Ltd. in April so I will be able to start my larger rug hooking kit then. I can't wait!

UFO #12 almost finished

Hi all;
I thought that I'd better post this picture now since one of these quilts is being sent in the mail today. This is UFO #12 just shy of being finished. I purchased this pattern of the Three Sisters mountains in Canmore Alberta when we were there this summer. I made one for us to keep and one to send out to our friends who let us stay in their house. It is just beautiful there and none of us wanted to leave. The quilts are quite small but they have a big impact. Anyways, I had these quilts pretty much all ready to go I just had to do the final cutting and fusing; and, then well, they got put away for several months! LOL! Really, the problem was that I needed some new sharper scissors before I could do anymore cutting. So, I got some new scissors and I finished the two quilts in just a couple of days. Now to get the binding turned to the back on the second quilt and they will both be completely finished! Yay!

March Break Activities

Hi all!
This week was March Break here in Ontario. So I decided that this would be a good week to start the quilts that I had planned to quilt with my two sons. I counted these as two of my UFO's since the quilts have been cut out forever.

This is a picture of the quilt top that my youngest son (6) and I just finished. He was too short to be able to use the foot pedal even with a box under it so I had him on my lap while I used the foot pedal. I, of course, did all the cutting (and some fabric guiding). He picked out all the fabrics himself over the past year or so. He is a pumpkin nut! You can see my previous post about his love of pumpkins here. Any time that we would go into a quilt shop he would find the orange fabric, or pumpkin fabric, and want some. So we gradually collected more than enough for a quilt.

This is actually Gavin's second quilt. His first quilt was a preemie quilt that he made when he was four and he insisted on donated it :) You can see his quilt here.

My older son (8) is making a rail fence quilt of three colours. I'll post a picture of that too when he gets the top finished or even just the blocks done. He is able to use the 1/4" foot with the guide quite successfully. He really impressed me with his nice 1/4" seam! I think that we may just have another quilter in the family.

The thing that I find great about this experience is how they both said how much work it was to make a quilt :) They also thought that it has been really fun too; but, I think that they have a better appreciation for what I do. I also think that it is important to pass on our love of textiles and quilting.

I've been rug hooking again :)

Hi all;
Well I haven't been doing quite as much quilting as usual :) I've been rug hooking again. I really love doing this stuff. I love the whole process of it. This was a kit that I had purchased quite some time ago and am now finally getting around to. I didn't list this as a UFO because I hadn't started it yet. I wonder what you would call a kit that you have had for a while but not started. UFK maybe (unfinished kit)? Anyways, this is just a small project that I may turn into a pillow of I may leave it as a small table topper.


Our local opportunity shop was having a half price sale so I went in and cleaned them out of 100% wool jackets. I think that the men's jackets are the best that I've seen so far but I am a newbie at finding wool.

I ordered a rug hooking gripper frame from Bee Creek Ltd which should be here in April. I can't do anything larger than about 14" in my Q-Snap frame so any larger project really does require a better set up. I love rug hooking enough so I thought that a frame would be a good investment. Next I just need to find a reasonably priced cutter.

Speaking of thrift store finds, This is a complete rug hooking kit that I found at my local opportunity shop for only $5.00!! Regular price on it is $65.00 USD! Someone had already started it and I guess they decided that they didn't like it. It's for a half-circle house and flowers and it contains all of the wool strips needed. It also had a hook in it too. It was a different hook from what I have so I was happy with that find as well. Actually, as another second hand find, I got another hook for $0.25. Considering that the hooks cost at least $8.00 new I'm pretty happy to find them :)

Sorry this wasn't a quilting post but at least it is textile related :) Do any of you rug hook as well?

UFO Finish #11

Here it is UFO #11!!

This small wall hanging is made from a left-over block from my sampler that I am hand quilting right now. The sampler is also on my UFO list but maybe it should be a WIP. Anyways, the half-square triangles around the outside are leftovers from the saw-tooth border on the sampler and the borders are also left-overs. I thought that this little quilt would look great on a side table or on the wall once my sampler is on the bed.


Here is my WIP sampler quilt. I have been working on this quilt for years now. i bought the fabric about 4 years ago and started the blocks. I had all 20 blocks finished about 3 years ago but I couldn't decide what to put for sashing. I purchased about 3 different potential fabrics and didn't like any of them once I saw them with the blocks. I finally decided on the red Moda fabric and went with it. Luckily I had enough to use for the sashing. The only thing was I had a bunch of the red half-square triangles already made and ready for the saw tooth border. Well since that just wouldn't look very good next to the red sashing they got put into the little wall hanging that I just finished.
Here is another quilt that was made out of the same fabric line. As you can see I waaaaaay over-bought this fabric line LOL! The orange border print was a potential sashing fabric that I decided I really didn't like. I made all the flying geese out of scraps from my sampler using the Eleanor Burns method for flying geese. I just love her method!

You might remember this quilt since it was the subject of my very first blog post :) I was laying out the quilt at that time, here's the top finished, and here it is finished :) We hand quilted the quilt in the bee that I belong to called The Silver Thimbles. I love the way that the corners turned out using more 2" squares. I love using 2" squares! They can really add to a quilt and use up scraps.

Happy March everyone!

Hi all! Sorry I haven't posted in a little bit :) I have been working on a few projects as always but i can't show them here :( Sorry! One of the projects that I am working on is my challenge quilt for our quilt guild. I know that a few people from my guild read my blog so I'm not going to post a picture of that quilt for a while.

I have also been working on another embroidery quilt with a friend of mine. It is another Jenny Haskins embroidery that looks like a big bunch of red roses. It's turing out really nicely :) It's fun to work ojn a project with someone but yet be doing your own project at the same time. Linda asked if the designs were hand or machine embroidery and they are machine embroidery. I have VERY limited skills with hand embroidery and a wonderful machine that will do it for me :)

I have also been hand quilting another UFO! It is just a small little wallhanging but it was completely pieced over a year ago and then just left to sit there LOL! Well I have 10 out of 33 UFO's finished for the year. When I finish this one I will be 1/3 of the way through my UFO's!

UFO Finish #10 - Preemie Quilts

Ta da!
Here they are! 20 little preemie quilts all ready for some little babies. I had ten tops all finished and the battings cut, and, even some backings cut, last year, and that's as far as I got for a very long time. When I made up my UFO list I decided to add 10 more to the goal for a total of 20 preemie quilts. I finished quilting the last three today so that gives me 20 finished preemie quilts. I like to make at least 20 every year. You can see my last years quilts here.

Our local NICU like for the quilts to be 24" x 24" so that they fit in the incubators nicely; but, check with what your local hospital will want first, if, you are interested in making some. These go to my quilt guild tonight for submission; but, I am going to see if I can deliver them to the hospital with my youngest son since he just loves going to deliver the little quilts.

This is such a worthwhile thing to do! I can't say enough about how much these little quilts mean to the parents of babies who have to stay in the hospital for a while after they are born. My youngest son was in the NICU for only 5 days but those little quilts were beautiful pieces of colour in an otherwise sterile enviornment. If you have some kid's print scraps and are looking for a good home for them; make some preemie quilts for your local hospital with a birthing ward or for your local children's hospital.

Anyways, if I get one more UFO finished I will be 1/3 of the way through my UFO's!! I am actually wokring on hand-quilting a little wall hanging. thetop has been finished for about a year and basted too LOL!

UFO Finish #9 for 2007!

Hi all!

Well here are the long promised pictures of my latest sweatshirt jacket. And, this makes UFO finish #9 for 2007 so far! I have 33 listed UFO's so I am pretty excited by my progress :) Of course all of the big projects are still to come LOL!

This jacket is made from scraps from this quilt here. I had so many extra strip sets left over and it seemed like a shame not to do something with them but they weren't enough to make a quilt or something with.

Here's the back. I was able to put the peices together in such a way that it made a sort of "trip around the world" effect. I was worried that it would look like I have a bulls-eye right on my back but I don't really think so. What do you guys think? I guess I'll know if someone throws a dart at my back or smacks me right in the middle of my back. If that happens I'll know that it looks like a bulls-eye for sure and then maybe I'll decide to change it LOL! :)

I just did this personality type blog thing that I saw on another blog and I was really surprised because it actually really speaks to my character. I don't know if that is goo, or, not; but, it really does LOL!

I'm a Mandarin!

You're an intellectual, and you've worked hard to get where you are now. You're a strong believer in education, and you think many of the world's problems could be solved if people were more informed and more rational. You have no tolerance for sloppy or lazy thinking. It frustrates you when people who are ignorant or dishonest rise to positions of power. You believe that people can make a difference in the world, and you're determined to try.

Talent: 54%
Lifer: 33%
Mandarin: 56%

Take the Talent, Lifer, or Mandarin quiz.

Summer Tote Finished

Hi all!
It's been a bit since I last posted. I've been busy lately. On Friday I taught the second of two classes on my free-form sweatshirt jackets. You can see the sweatshirt jacket method here. Everyone really enjoyed the class and the jackets really look wonderful. I just have to finish hand sewing down my binding and I will be finished mine too :)

This cute little tote bag is the Summer Tote pattern by Lazy Girl Designs. Isn't it cute? I did it out of the new Cho Cho fabrics by Maywood that just came to my LQS. I have received so many comments on it so far that it is very gratifying :) I know this wasn't a UFO but hey I just had to make it. It is such a nice size and it fits under my arm really well. I just love Joan Hawley's patterns. They are very clear and easy to follow and they always turn out really well. I have made a few of her bags and I have always been very pleased. If you haven't made any of her bags yet you should really consider it :)

I am still working on my UFO's. I just need to make one more preemie quilt and I will have all 20 finished and another UFO will be off my list. I'll post a picture of them all when I get them all finished.

Also, please feel free to post comments! I always love hearing from everyone and I find it very inspiring to read what you all think.

UFO #8 Finished!

Hi all!!
Thank you all for your great comments and congratulations about my ribbon at the competition. I really appreciate it. Thanks!

This is a picture of the completed bargello bag and this makes UFO finish #8 for this year so far. I wasn't sure if it would work out but I really think that my failed attempt at a bargello makes a really nice bag. I am also happy to say that this is another project completely out of my stash (even the lining) so that makes me really happy too. Thanks for the encouragement to actually try this project I am happy to get this UFO out of the closet and made into something useful. My winter jacket is green so it won't really match but I think that it will make a nice summer bag.

Prize Basket and UFO Finish #7

Here is a close-up picture of the ribbon and the $300.00 prize basket that I won from the Ontario quilt competition where I came in Reserve Grand Champion. The rosette is very beautiful and very big :) The blue bag is a sewing machine carry bag that nicely fits my Pfaff sewing machine. Pfaff is the sponsor for this event and provided the gift basket. The sewing baset includes a lot of goodies like scissors, a grabbit, a lot of thread, marking tools, a rotary cutter, two books, fusible web, a seam ripper and lots of other things that sewers find useful. I was thrilled just to get the ribbon so the gift basket is a really big surprise.
And here is another silly UFO! This makes my UFO finish of #7 for the year so far. This one was truly silly since I had this bag completely cut out and I just hadn't finished it yet. I just LOVE the fabric! It is so geometric and funky looking. I bought a skirt at a yard sale that was made out of this fabric since I loved the fabric, but, when I got it home and tried it on, it looked absolutely horrible on me! Well, I didn't want to waste the fabric, so, I cut up the skirt and made a pretty hip bag. I seem to be making a bunch of things out of yard sale finds lately LOL!


This is another UFO that made it on to my list. About 5 or 6 years ago I decided to learn how to make bargello quilts without any instructions or help LOL! Well, this not-very-bargelloy-bargello UFO was the result. My next one was much better I should mention :) I think that I am going to use this bargello peice and the co-ordinating black and gold print to make another of these bags. The front will be half bargello and half black. fabric and I think that it might just look pretty neat. If it doesn't work out no big deal since I really don't like the UFO anyways! What do you guys think? Will it look okay?

I Got reserve Grand Champion!!!

I can't believe it! My quilt went to the Ontario Agricultural Society provincial competition and I got Reserve Grand Champion! Or, basically I came in second place :) You can see a picture of the quilt at the Carp fair here. If you want you can see a picture of the 2006 winning quilt here. I am so very thrilled that I hardly know what to think about it. I hardly know what else to write about all this either LOL! My camera is away at the competition with the quilt so I don't have any pictures yet but I'll post some later.

Here is the picture that I promised to post. The ribbon is huge!! I also won a $300.00 gift basket from Pfaff! It is filled with lots of goodies. I'll take a picture of that later too :)

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

I hope that you are all having a wonderful day celebrating happiness and love for your family and friends. I sent the boys off to school this morning in cream coloured pants and red sweatshirts (the school wanted everyone to wear red, white and pink if possible) loaded down with their valentines to give to their friends. I think that they are going to have a great day today (despite this huge amount of whte fluffy snow that we are getting).

I have good news on my tablerunner! It is completely finished and actually already sent away in the mail! The small wallhanging is still not finished but it is nearly there. So they won't become UFO's after all. Thank you all for your great words and encouragement! It really helped me to get it finished. I just love hearing from everyone in the comments section. Thanks!
Here is what I was working on yesterday. One of my UFO's was to complete 25 preemie quilts. You can see the ones that I did last year here. I had 10 tops finished so I figured what's another 15?? :) These preemie quilts are all ready to go with the batting, backing and top layered. i will then sew around all sides leaving a small opening. Trim away the excess and turn it right sides out and they are ready to whip stitch the opening closed and quilt. I just love making the little quilts. Anyways, here is 15 ready to go. I have some great safari type fabric that I will be able to get a bunch more out of and I have enough left-overs from another UFO to make 2 more quilts out of homespun fabrics. When I get them all finished I will post a picture of them.

I am also still working on my UFO sweatshirt jacket. Don't worry I will post a photo of it soon too. I am teaching a class in it so I can't just rush ahead and finish it and get too far ahead of the class. Sometimes it is hard not to just jump ahead but the preemie quilts are keeping me busy and they are a UFO so what more could I want.

I did this funny blog thing that I saw on Quilting Kim's Blog and I thought that it was pretty cute. We are both blue blogs aparently. I think that this captures my blog pretty well especially since I already picked blue to be the colour of my blog LOL!

Your Blog Should Be Blue

Your blog is a peaceful, calming force in the blogosphere. You tend to avoid conflict - you're more likely to share than rant. From your social causes to cute pet photos, your life is a (mostly) open book.

What Color Should Your Blog or Journal Be?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Ahh!! I started 2 new projects!

Oh I was doing so well too!!! But I gave in and I started two new projects. Well, the good news is that they were both out of my stash and out of my scrap heap.

This is some left-over scrap fabric from a store sample quilt I made for my local quilt shop about 4 years ago. These were the left-over bits from this project. It's a small little quilt made from 2" squares and it fits nicely on my kitchen table. It's not my usual colour scheme but I think that it makes a nice little table-topper. Now I just need to quilt it. I am not going to make this WIP into a UFO so I will finish right away.

I taught a class on this tablerunner a couple of weeks ago out of 4 FQ from my stash. When I teach this class I always end up making a runner too. I just need to quilt this one too and I am going to send it off to my Mother for a gift. She lives down in Florida during the winter to escape the cold and I thought that she would need a nice hand-made tablerunner for her house down there.

I have also been working on my latest sweatshirt jacket too which is also a scrap jacket. I will post a picture when I get a little bit further along. I am teaching a two part class on sweatshirt jackets so I can't jump ahead too far since the second class isn't for a couple of weeks.