Curves Progress

Lately I feel like I am obsessed with curves!  Do you do this?  Get obsessed with a technique, or a ruler, or a thread etc and that's all you want to work on??  Well, this is me with curves right now :-D  And, I am A-OK with it!

I have loaded the Curve It Up Sampler by Sew Kind of Wonderful onto my frame and started quilting it.  I decided not to give into the temptation of an all-over quilting design across this sampler quilt and do an all custom job with a theme.

 

 Each block will be quilted with pebbles, echo quilting, free-hand tight hatching and ruler hatching - ok there's a plan :-D  The hardest part is deciding what to quilt to me sometimes.  Especially on a quilt that I really like and want to push myself on ;-)

Where it all stalled was the background fill for me.  My first impulse was to cross-hatch and then do a tight fill in every second square.  That sounded like a lot of work to me so I tried to think of something else - maybe a pebble fill?  Again a lot of work!

I put off the background for as long as I could until . . . . 

 

 Oops!  I am almost out of thread!!  Time to order more FilTech Glide White!  This is my go-to thread - I love the shine, the strength and the lack of link not to mention the amazing pre-wound bobbins they offer.  Disclosure - if you use the Glide link to sign up and purchase it is a referral link so that I can get a few "Stitch Points" for future orders :-D

In the mean-time can focus on the background and use 60 weight thread to contrast with the 40 weight thread.

 

I decided to go with my first impulse and do the cross-hatching ;-)  Doing the ruler work is time-consuming but I love it!  It's so rewarding.

 

I was right - the cross-hatch fill is a lot of work but wow!  I love it! I love the way it looks :-D  You probably can't tell but the thinner thread for the background fill looks really nice.  It melts into the fabric a bit more than the 40 weight Glide Thread.

 

After doing the cross-hatching for a while I found that using my Clover Hera marker to make a pleat in the fabric to mark the spacing was much easier for me and I don't have any blue lines to wash out later.

But, again, I hit a stalling point - I need my thread order to quilt the blocks!!  It should be here tomorrow so I won't have long to wait ;-)

I was so tempted to start a new project as I have a few new patterns burning a hole in my  project binder but I decided to be a good girl instead and pull out my incomplete Metro Rings project.  I have 12 blocks finished - which is what the pattern called for; but, I had decided to make the project bigger than a lap quilt early on.

 

So, the project came out and I put a few hours into cutting more white fabric and piecing the blocks together.  It feels good to work on this again - it's a WIP (work in progress) again instead of a UFO banished to my overflowing quilt closet!  I have so many tops in there to quilt so I need to stay focused and get some projects done, especially when I really like the project, instead of jumping onto the next one!   I think that I will work on this project for a while longer.

I find that if I keep a project out on my sewing table, pieces sorted and ready to go, with the machine set up with the appropriate thread etc I will sit down and put a few minutes in here and there.  I call this my "pockets of time" as in I use little bits of free time to do some work and these "pockets" really add up to get a lot of work done!  The key is to be set-up and ready to work so that if I have 15 minutes free I get 14 minutes of productive work done.  The set-up is the work - the sewing is the fun ;-)

So, are you a quilter who works on one project at a time or multiple projects like me??  How do you decide?  I would love to hear your comments!

Easy Binding Winder

This has been sooo very long in coming!

I have had my Easy Binding Winder since the company first did their Kickstarter campaign; but, well - I forgot that I hadn't published my review on it!!   I had it in my mind that I had published this but I hadn't.  So, here it is after so long!

In a nutshell, what this little machine does is keep your binding organized, neat, and easier to add to your quilt when it is time :-D  I love easy :-D

 

The cute little pink gizmo attaches to your ironing board and as you press your binding you wind it onto a spool in the machine.  I know that you can wind it around a ruler or cardboard etc but this truly is easier!  It's also affordably priced with package deals and shipping deals.

I am the type that likes to cut my borders and binding off the lengthwise grain; so, I usually cut my binding before the quilt top is finished and is quilted.  I do love having my binding cut and prepared well in advance of the final stage so this tool really helps me out.

 

After the binding is pressed it is wound onto the spool and easily removed from the machine.

 

The binding is completely organized and in a small, manageable package to save for later.  If you want you can purchase additional spool pins so you can store multiple bindings.  This is great b/c I tend to do a lot of binding with the same Kona solids like black or white so this allows me to keep adding more binding onto existing binding.

 

Or, you can pop the pin out of the binding and put it in a zip-lock for later (like I do).  Either way - your binding is neat, tidy and ready to go!  Applying the binding to the quilt when it is wrapped like this is sooo much easier!  When I wrap the binding around a ruler it seems to come unraveled when I am applying it but wrapped like the Easy Binding Winder does it stays together and manageable.

 

Because I was part of the Kickstarter campaign  my Binding Winder came signed and numbered with a cute little heart - ahh!  So cute!

So - my honest opinion???  I love this little machine!  It clamps easily to your ironing board and keeps your binding neat and tidy and tangle free.  What's not to like??  At the price-point it is it would make a great gift (for yourself) or others and it would be a great addition to have in your shop.  It is a simple machine that is well made, sturdy, and a great addition to my sewing room!

Anything that can keep my quilting process neater and easier is a keeper for me!

Pool Noodles!

My sewing room got a little addition yesterday!!

Pool Noodles!  

I first saw a great tip to store your quilts using pool noodles on the Sew Kind of Wonderful Blog quite a while ago but I had to wait for spring for pool noodles to pop into stores ;-)  

 

I got a few different colours to start in the hopes that I could sort my quilts that I use for teaching - IE blue quilts are for machine quilting (labelled 1, 2 3, etc etc), trunk shows are red etc.  And then, also, quilts for sale, and quilts to store.  I also had the idea that when I have cut a custom dowel to hang it it could be inserted into the middle of the noodle for storage.  This method would allow me to sort, store, find and transport my quilts soooooo much easier and with a lot less time involved! 

Well the other day this article popped up in my Facebook news-feed! 

Pool Noodles Are a Big Help in the Sewing Room 

What a great article with additional uses for pool noodles!  It was too good not to share!!

Now I am off to organize my new noodles :-)

 

Good Sunday afternoon!!

It's been raining on an off for days now - bleh - so getting some inside stuff done seems like a good idea.  That and that fact that the bugs are HORRIBLE!!!

I have been participating in the Sew Kind of Wonderful Urbanologie quilt along - we complete one type of block each week.  I love that timeline of this!  Making just one chapter of the pattern each week is doable and it keeps me on-track to complete the quilt top this summer.  It seems like a win to me!

 

Here is my progress so far (I have it pinned to my Snack Time quilt on my quilting room wall) and I am really happy with it!  The pattern instructions are great and the supplementary instructions provided in YouTube videos etc are so helpful! It's also great to watch others' progress on Instagram.  I really need to do something like this myself ;-)

How do you like my lone green bird??  I made him after my parrot - Virgil!

On a side note - I have a desire to make a circle skirt sundress.  Something late 40's - ish . . . something I could wear a crinoline under.   Or not!  I have one in black and white that I really like; but, since I am really not a garment sewer I have been wondering how difficult this might be.  Maybe it's easier to purchase one?

Another Finish! Urban Chained

I am so excited!

I actually have another finish!!  This is Urban Chained by Sew Kind of Wonderful.  This pattern really appealed to me in it's simplicity and clean lines.  I also really liked the size - 46" x 74" - a perfect lap size.

I started this quilt a while back and just loved making the top!  It was really enjoyable and stress-free to complete and the instructions were great!  What held me back from finishing it??   Well, this is going to sound silly - but - I couldn't find a backing that I liked and I really didn't want to buy MORE fabric when my stash is completely overflowing and seems to grow overnight - sigh.

I thought that I had grouped all of my flannels in a certain storage area in my quilting studio; but, I guess I didn't because I found just enough flannel to back this quilt :-)

 

I purchased this flannel several years ago with the intention of making some PJ pants and never got around to it :-D  Now I am so glad I procrastinated!   How often can you say that??

 

The colours fit well with the colours on the front and it fits the bill being a nice soft flannel.  Win - win for me!!  Wahoo!

 

I took a nod from the pattern itself for my quilting.  I used 40 wt FilTech Glide thread in Cotton Candy to do this all over wave pattern.  This colour could easily go over a LOT of quilts and I think it will become a staple in my thread supply.  I love the movement the thread adds to this quilt and the juxtaposition to the vertical rows of piecing.

All in all - I am really happy with this quilt and I can't say that all the time :-)  What do you all think??

Snack Time is Finally Finished!

Hi all!

It's a beautiful day in May so I thought that I would jump outside and snap a couple shots of my latest finish - "Snack Time"  by Jay Bird Quilts.  I have had this quilt sitting in my quilting closet FOREVER completely finished and with the binding machine sewn on.  All that I had to do was hand turn it to the back - sigh.  It's not a favorite thing of mine to do so it sat for a while until I decided to finish it.  I need to get started on the binding right away now!!  Note to sell ;-)

 

I really love this quilt.  I love the Kona solids and the bright tones.  It's a fun quilt and I look forward to having it up on my wall!  It will match the nicer weather. 

Although I used the pattern for this quilt I completely die-cut this quilt using only a few dies.  I did an entire blog post on how I translated this pattern to die-cutting.  It really is easy to do if you stop to read the pattern before starting and take stock of what dies you have first - I promise!

 

I used a 40 weight FilTech Glide thread in white on the top and back and used one of my Loricles grooved boards to quilt the baptist fans.  I was thinking about really custom quilting it but something about it just seemed too much :-/

It's odd that I finished the baby quilt made of left-overs before I finished this one!!

Finishes!

I finally got to get outside to snap a few shots today!!  We have been experiencing a LOT of rain, flooding and snow these past few weeks and the weather has not been co-operating for me to snap a few shots of these quilts outside.

I have been able to complete a few quilts recently and haven't posted them so I am going to try my hardest to get this blog updated!!

I am in LOVE with the patterns by Sew Kind of Wonderful and their rulers!  I have purchased several patterns and have a few tops in my quilt closet ready to go - now to get to the quilting!  Actually I just took another one off the frame on Saturday that just needs the binding!  Yey!

This is Metro Twist!

 

I fell in LOVE with this pattern some time ago and have been waiting for inspiration to strike.  Well, I found this fabric line in the 50% off bin and knew just what I wanted to do with it!  I pulled out my Quick Curve Ruler (QCR) and got to work.  I completely cut out the top and started piecing in one evening.  Before I knew it the top was pieced!  I loaded it onto my frame and got quilting it using my rulers and taking inspiration from photos from Sew Kind of Wonderful. 

This is a heavily quilted quilt but it is still so soft!

 

I used Glide threads in Pearl and Lagoon to quilt the entire quilt and I am in LOVE!  I was even able to pull a blue flannel from my stash that perfectly matched the blues in the top.

Done and bound!

 

Next up was this little baby quilt using left-over blocks from the Snack Time quilt that I still haven't finished turning the binding on!  I liked these blocks but they just didn't "go" with the hotter colours of the rest of the quilt :-(  Luckily I had just enough to put together for this little guy.  Again I used a Glide Thread in white for the all over design.

More finishes to come soon!!!  

Removing a Quilt from the Frame

Hi all!!

Do you ever just struggle to get inspired and motivated when it comes to a quilt??

I sure do and I was seriously experiencing a lack of motivation when it came to this quilt, of mine, on the frame. This is Dessert Nine-Patch that I started in 2010!!!  :-o

Please don't get me wrong - I really love this quilt!  But, it's still winter here, and, well, the dark colours just were not inspiring me at all!!  It has been sitting on my frame for so long now and I quilted a little bit here and there, but, I just couldn't bring myself to really work on quilting it.  So, today I finally took it off the frame and loaded something much more fresh and bright.

 

I bought the Sew Kind of Wonderful Quick Curve Mini Ruler recently and it came with this great table runner pattern to get to know the ruler - so I made this out of some left-over fabrics.   I am in LOVE with their patterns and rulers - not to mention the fabulous machine quilting they accomplish!  They are truly a talented company!

Needless to say I am much more enthusiastic about quilting this runner!  The colours are just so fresh!  I love it!

If you are wondering about the Quick Curve Rulers and patterns I will be at The Quilting Quarters in Almonte demonstrating these amazing rulers on Saturday March 18th!   I will have some new projects ready to show and one that I am just starting - like I said - I love these rulers and the patterns!! 

Update! And a Baby Give-Away

Hello all!

I hope that everyone is well and enjoying this mid-winter thaw where we are!  I figured that today was the perfect day to blog about what I have been up to.

As most of you know I really enjoy making baby quilts and baby things - I love the fabrics and the colours - they are fun and cheerful; and, so rewarding in their utility.

I was fortunate enough to teach a round of Mommy and Me fitness classes where the babies were in carriers and the Moms danced and worked out with their babies.  Some of the Mom's started coming with "Suck Pads" on the straps of their carriers so that when the babies chewed, drools and sucked on the carrier straps the straps didn't get moldy and just plain yucky!  Well I decided to dig into my, very sizable, baby stash and make some of these Suck Pads to offer for sale to my Moms - they loved them!!

I backed them in a nice flannel with cotton batting in the middle, used ribbons to attach toys etc and used KAM snaps instead of Velcro to do them up.  I love KAM snaps!  

The Moms loved them so much that they started asking me to make Pacifier / toy straps.  Again I used KAM snaps and KAM plastic clips.

Then I got the idea to make beautiful bibs.  Well let's just say I took on the challenge of making a bib that was both functional and beautiful and well made.  It had to have a side neck snap for ease of putting on the bib and a secure KAM snap instead of Velcro, which the kiddies can just rip apart.  I back mine in a lovely fleece for absorbancy and ease of wiping messy faces.  I did a LOT of experimenting and finally came up with a great bib pattern.

 

What do you think????  I did a lot of testing with these items and am now ready to sell them!  I did one small show a couple weeks ago and the response and feed-back has been great for all three offerings :-D I will set up and Etsy store soon and hopefully make some parent happy with these!!

Wahoo!!  I have also decided to sell some baby quilts!!  I have some on hand and some that are all cut out and ready to sew - quilting is 90% preparation and 10% sewing sometimes LOL!

I would love any feedback that you guys have AND

I even have a couple of discarded prototypes that I would love to give-away!  These would be most suitable for a baby up to 4 months - but some babies are small and some are bigger as we all know!  LOL!  Leave a comment here with what you like about my new offerings and if you have a little baby boy or girl in your life who could use a new bib!! 

Cheers!

Quilt Dog!

How could I resist!?

Our dog, River, is such a gentle dog who loves nothing better than  to be with us, leaning on us and cuddling.  She wants to be included in everything - including my quilts!

When I lay fabric out on the floor she lays on it.  And if a quilt is on the floor she goes to sleep on it LOL!

This Christmas I have been sick with Bronchitis and I have spent quite a bit of time in front of the small gas fireplace in my sewing room to rest.  River loves to snuggle right beside me.  Well, a few Christmases ago I made the rag quilt that is on the floor and I made a small companion one from various leftovers.  River has decide that she absolutely loves the little leftover blanket ever since I draped it over her on Christmas eve - she snuggled under that blanket for over two hours before she got up!!

 

And there I sit, in front of the little fireplace with my quilt and River with hers. Dogs this size supposedly don't like being under blankets right??  Anyways, the quilt is now hers - how could I resist!!??

First in a Series!

Hi all!

I hope that you are all enjoying the Holiday Season!  Me?  Somehow I ended up with Bronchitis and haven't been able to do much :-(  Oh well - what isn't done, isn't done I suppose!

I have been able to get a few things done around the house though and I have only left the house once in the last week!

One thing I have done is play with my new Accuquilt Studio Bear dies!!  So much fun!  This is a set of dies that I have never seen posted about before (I mightn't have seen the posts though!) so I was excited to get them and started to play.  There are three sizes of bear dies.  I got the Jumbo and the Small but I might just have to order the Large as well! I have ordered a few more dies that I will post about once they are in my hands ;-)

 

 

I had this idea to make a series of wildlife pillows for the cottage and home.  Well yesterday I cut out the first one; and, I am in LOVE with the way that it turned out!  It feels so wonderful - so warm, so outdoors.  It's also perfect for the winter season at home!

This one is made from 100% wool fabric and appliqued with a blanket stitch.  I have some ideas to improve the pillows:  make them less expensive to make and more tactile.  I am pleased with this first one though!!

What do you think?  Any thoughts??

Christmas Scraps

Hi all!  I hope that you are enjoying the days leading up to Christmas :-)

I needed to get to work on my Christmas fabric postcards so I pulled out my bin of Christmas scraps and this is what I found.

 

Left-over border pieces, a million 2" squares, tumblers, a left-over block and a lot of half square triangles.  WOW!  That's a lot of stuff! I looked through and found several 16-patch leaders and enders blocks and decided to make a simple postcard this year - just piecing.

 

I layered the piecing onto Timtex and loaded it onto my frame to machine quilt.  It didn't work too badly; but, it definitely isn't my favorite stuff to quilt on the frame!  I used a 40 weight Glide thread in Sand colour - a go to thread for me!

Now I need to cut them apart and put on the backing fabric and edge them - oh and then I will address them all.  I hope to get them done and mailed before Christmas - sigh.

Every year I make the same promise to myself - I will start these cards earlier next year!!!

A Finish for My Mom!

Hey all!!

I hope that you are staying warm in this extremely cold weather!!!  If you're having it LOL!

My Mom has been up visiting for the last week - yey!  Anyways,  I was going through my quilt closet getting out some UFO's to work on; and, she found this quilt top that I was given by my local quilt shop.  It was made using one of those fabrics that has a bunch of strips that you can cut apart to make your own Jelly Rolls.  Well, the Northcott rep had just done a trunk show and showed how to make a lone star quilt without piecing more than the rows using this fabric.  Well, this one wasn't very successful (it was extremely wavy and the points weren't sharp etc) and they were going to throw it out so I said that I would take it to cut up.  That was a few years ago. . .  I never did get around to cutting it up!

Needless to say - my Mom fell in love with it and asked me to quilt it!

 

I loaded it on the frame and ditched the star and put feathers in the black.  I had the quilting done in an evening and then started on the binding.  I got the waviness out of the quilt and it lays pretty straight now - yey.  The ditching in between the star pieces makes it look like it WAS actually pieced and it makes the quilt much flatter.

 

I have to say, now that the quilt is finished, I am surprised that I like it!  I really didn't like it to start with LOL!

Another quilt out of storage and on it's way to a new home tomorrow!  That makes; 2 charity lap quilts, 3 preemie quilts and a wall hanging finished and out of the house this week alone :-D  Now, if I can keep up this I should be able to get through my quilt closet!

Charity Quilts

 Hi all!

It is snowy and cold here today!  If you are experiencing snow where you are I hope that you are warm and safe :-)

I received a couple quilt tops from our local chapter of Victoria's Quilts to machine quilt.  I like to give back so this was a pleasure for me.  I loaded them together and machine quilted them using my Loricles grooved boards.  It's like doing a panto-graph only much easier.

 

 I used the Swirls board and a variegated YLI cotton thread called Egyptian Sands in 40wt.  I love this thread!  I have used almost an entire cone of this now since it seems to go across just about everything beautifully!

 

Here's a close-up of the design.  This pattern seems to work with just about everything as an edge to edge design.

I always like doing charity work; but, I have to confess - I am SO happy that these two quilts are done and out of the closet!!!  Now onto hand turning the binding on the quilt for my Mom and I get to load something for me onto the frame!!  Yey!  I was going to load a different quilt but - my thread hasn't come in the mail yet :'-(   Oh well - there are more quilts in the closet and I wanted to piece the backings for the next two quilts to go on the frame anyways!

Urban Abacus

Hi all!

I cannot believe that it is finally finished!!  

Urban Abacus (by Sew Kind of Wonderful) is finally finished!  The quilting is all pebbles and ribbon twists - you can see a closeup picture in the previous post.  The quilting took many many hours LOL!

I am in love with their rulers and with their patterns!  If you can believe it I have two more of their tops pieced and ready to quilt!  Which leads me to my next thing - my UFO closet!  I have GOT to get some quilts out of there!!

I have so many tops ready to quilt but I find myself getting overwhelmed; and, so I go and run away LOL!   So, starting now - I am going to slowly clear that closet.  I bought some thread (hopefully coming tomorrow) for two more of the quilts; and, then I need to get down to business.  2017 is going to be the year of finishes for me.  Finishes and using up as much as I can.  I have made some serious in-roads into the stash - which makes me happy - but now I need to finish things.

My Mom is visiting now and she found a quilt top (that was given to me to save it from the trash) and she asked if she could pay me to quilt it.  Of course not Mom!  I told her she could just have it.  So, I quilted it today and will get the binding onto it for her.  I will post a picture of that tomorrow ;-)

Shopping - Or Not!

Hey all!

So, did any of you score any Black Friday quilty deals???  I was going to, but, then I had second, third and fourth thoughts!

I had my shopping cart filled out, and, ready to click check out; and, then, I turned around and looked at my very ample stash.  Those overflowing bins of fabric that I have been trying to deplete for a few years - sigh.

Next, I went into the next room where my quilt closet is.  You know, that area where you hang all your finished quilt tops that are ready to be quilted??  I do all my own quilting so I have hangers and hangers of quilt tops.  I also have stacks of wide-backs and a whole roll of batting all ready for these quilts.  Some of them I have even already prepared the binding for.  Some of these quilt tops have been hanging there for years.  Double sigh!!

I came back out into my quilt studio and saw a quilt that has been on my machine quilting frame for a VERY LONG time!!!!  Triple sigh!!!

 

So, I emptied my shopping cart - delete, delete, delete.  I walked over to my machine quilting frame and got to work.

 

I worked steadily through the last few rows of my Sew Kind of Wonderful, Urban Abacus, quilt and finished the quilting last night!!!  Wahoo!!!  I quilted this quilt in two colours of Fil Tech Glide thread.  The motifs are Ribbon Twist and Pebbling.  (I NEED to lay off the Pebbling for a while now LOL!)  The quilt is squared up, the hanging sleeve is attached, and, the binding is prepared.

I have to say, even though I wanted the fabric in my shopping cart, I didn't need any of it.  All it would have done is add to something that causes me stress!  I know that not everyone is like that but I am :-(  When I get stressed - I avoid.  And avoiding stresses me out.  So, I have decided to get going on what I have :-)  And frankly, I really like what I have to do!

The only thing that I will allow myself to purchase is any thread that I need and maybe backing fabrics ;-)  Sound fair??

Next up - two charity quilts that I can load together and probably finish today with a loose, easy  all over pattern.

Wahoo for renewed determination and purpose!!

Scrappy Hourglass - Leaders and Enders

Hi all!

I hope that everyone is enjoying this amazing fall weather we have been having!  I decided to spend a little time at the cottage to take a break from my fitness classes.  I brought up a bunch of sewing and I found this Leaders and Enders project from back in 2013!!!   I had put it aside and tucked it under some scraps; but, I had a lot of it already finished.  Well, I brought it up to the cottage and layed it out on the floor.  Imagine my surprise when I realized that I had almost enough of it done for a quilt center!  I found the original post I made to get the lay-out and I sewed it together in an evening!

 

After sewing these rows together I realized that I need one more row on the top to complete the pattern; but, I am extremely happy with how it turned out :-D  I love the optical illusion created with the secondary star design.

I love the use of scraps and I love how much of the green and blue fabrics it used up.  I think that I might use one, or both, in the borders too.  I haven't decided yet.  Once the borders are on it will make a nice Queen sized quilt - perfect for the cottage! 

I have a new Leaders and Enders project in my mind now - I just have to figure out the last of the logistics ;-)

Any scrappy quilts planned in your future??

Downton Abbey Quilt

Hi all!

I completely forgot that I didn't post the finished Downton Abbey quilt!  Whoops!

Sorry for the badly lit photo but this is right after we took it off the hand quilting frame.  This is Ebony Love's pattern and I am in LOVE with how this turned out.  The directions are wonderful and it went together like a dream!  I completely die cut this whole quilt so the piecing was so fast and accurate!

I made the quilt a little bigger by adding a border.  I used the fabric that was designated for the binding for the outer border so I subbed in a black Kona solid for a first border and binding.

I knew that I just HAD to use the castle fabric for the back; but, because I made the quilt a bit bigger I didn't quite have enough so I pieced some of the left-overs into a centre panel.    Using up scraps and using the castle fabric - win, win!

I used a silk batting in the quilt so it hand quilted like an absolute dream!

A Fishy Baby Quilt

Hi all!

A while back I found out that a good friend of mine was expecting!  Once you hit a certain age the amount of baby quilts you get to make really decreases and I LOVE making baby quilts!

Well anyways, we both love green and blue and fish so when I saw the blue colourful fish flannel fabric I jumped on it!  Yep - I bought the backing before the top fabric.  A few weeks later I was in a quilt store and I found the fabrics for the top.  I went home and priced the top - just a nice simple one-patch, four-patch job.  The top was completely cut using my 4.5" strip die and the 2.5" strip die.  Easy peasy! 

The day after I finished the top we got word that my friend had her baby and she had a little boy!  Wahoo!  Better get this quilted!

I popped the quilt on the frame and used an edge to edge clamshell pattern - I thought that it would give the illusion of fish scales :-D

The quilt came off the frame and I had enough backing fabric left over for a matching pillow case either for Momma of for the baby for later!

The project is all done and ready to be popped in the mail to go to British Columbia to it's new home. Oh how I love to make baby quilts!  They are so bright and cheerful and fun!

Maybe it's time to make some more preemie quilts?

And yes the blue quilt is back on the frame and not coming off until it is finished!  

Pillow Progress

Hi all!

I am so happy to show you the amount of progress I have made on the pillow covers!  Yep!  They are all bound and the binding has been hand turned to the back.  My fingers have holes in them from doing this work but I am so happy with the smooth effect!

I did a lot of this work while we were at the cottage over Christmas.  Well, sort of LOL!

The tumbler blocks were mainly cut while I demoed the Accuquilt Go! over the years.  When you demo a lot you end up cutting a LOT of blocks that, maybe, you don't have a really clear purpose for. So - 4 years after these were cut I got the idea to make pillow covers.  What a great joy to use them!!

We also got snowed in over Christmas for a day.  Getting snowed in at a cottage (where you have extremely limited sewing supplies means that you have to improvise.

So, I dug into the little bits of fabric I had hanging around.

I happened to have a few odd scraps of a Kate Spain line and made up these two additional pillow covers.  They are just random; but, again, it sure was nice to use up these random left-overs.  Luckily I was able to get the last of a bolt end, in this line, out of the 50% off bin to use for the backings and bindings.

So, now these are in a bin of things to be taken to the cottage ready to find their new homes!

With the price of fabric climbing here in Canada I think you're going to see me doing a lot more with my stash and scraps - I mean why not?  It sure feels good to use it up and get it out of the bins!

Are you working on anything special today?