Tic Tac Kiss - Blogger's Quilt Festival

My Tic Tac Kiss quilt is finished. My sister asked me to make it for a friend as a baby shower gift. She attend the baby shower today and let me know that the quilt was very much appreciated and her friend said that it would be an heirloom. I have had this pattern by Canuck Quilter for a while and had not had a chance to make it for someone, so I was happy to get to make it. My daughter helped with fabric selection and I used some fabrics from her stash. I made the heart using Cluck Cluck Sew's tutorial. I had the quilter quilt hearts all over. This was a quick quilt to make, directions were easy to follow and I will definitely use the pattern again. The size is 38 X 47. It was nice to make a quilt that I did not need the backing to be pieced.

It is wonderful to be a part of Amy's Creative Side Blogger's Quilt Festival. There are so many beautiful quilts.

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Picnic

My entry for the Blogger's Quilt Festival is my Picnic quilt. It is a pattern from Scrap-Basket Sensations by Kim Brackett. It was made for my niece who graduated from High School and has gone off to University.

 

It was a fun quilt to make. When I asked my niece what her favourite colours are she told me Blue and Orange. I have never worked with that combination before, but as I started coming through my stash I realized that I had lots of those colours together. At some point I will make another quilt using the leftover pieces.

When I was at my LQS I found the perfect background and in the sale section too! I love the flowers with the orange and yellow centres. 

I gave the quilt to my niece in the summer and she was so happy; much more than I ever expected. Quilting gives me so much. It provides stress-release, a chance to add some beauty to this world and I way to show my love for the people who mean so much to me.

The quilt is 48 X 60 and I am entering it in the Small Quilt Category.

Blogger's Quilt Festival : ROYGBIV

My reading rainbow quilt is all finished. Years ago, while on vacation I bought quite a few fat quarters of Fossil Fern. I was never sure what to use the fabric for, until I found the Moda pattern Mind The Gap. To me the blocks look like books put on a bookshelf. I love, love this quilt. It is very much me, and going to remain mine. It brings me happiness to have it covering me and I am definitely going to enjoy reading under it. I love quilting so much but when I get frustrated I think I will use this quilt as inspiration to keep going.

 
 

 

 The backing is from Robert Kaufman. When I showed the quilt at my quilt meeting, the people sitting in the back thought I had pieced the back. Now on to the next one! 

 

 I am joining the Blogger's Quilt Festival put on by the amazing Amy in the ROYGBIV category. The quilt festival is always so inspiring. Please think about adding your quilt  to the festival.

My Three Loves

For the Blogger's Quilt Festival I am presenting My Three Loves quilt which I have just recently finished. I started it over four years ago. I would do a bit of it and then stop as I would realize I would not have enough red scraps and then buy some more. At my quilt retreat last year I brought it with me and got motivated to get it going again. It was quilted for me, and I love the feathers and hearts in the quilting design. It represents for me the love I have for my husband and children as well as my love for Family, Friends, and Faith. It has become one of my favourite quilts. I like for things to be neat and tidy and with this quilt I had to get over wanting to be perfect with every piece. It was the love that I have for the things that matter to me that carried me through.

 

Quilt size:  34 X 50
Pattern: Heart Throb by Lydia Quigley
Pieced by me, Quilted by Tammy Spencer
Category: Small Quilt




Linking up to TGIFF, Finish it Up Friday and Can I Get a Whoop Whoop!

Pinky Owl

For the Blogger's Quilt Festival I am entering My Pinky Owl quilt into the Scrappy Quilt category. All of the pinks for the quilt came for my stash. Pink is my favourite colour, but I must admit I still had more pinks than I thought. This is going to someone who had a big influence in my daughter's life. I had so much fun putting this together and seeing the Owl come to life.

Quilt size:  48 X 56

Pattern:     Hootenanny by Boo Davis

Pieced :     by me, Quilted by Tammy Spencer

Category:  Scrappy Quilts 

 

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Hot Dog

I posted this quilt last week, but here now in its entirety is its story. One of my closest friends was having a first grandchild at the end of September. I knew I wanted to make her a quilt for the grandson to be. I had asked her about colour schemes without letting her know why. I had decided on a quilt with blues, oranges greens and had a pattern picked out. Then at the end of June, I went to the library to pick up a quilting book I had on hold.

I had was intrigued by the owl on the front cover as my daughter really loves owls. I was perusing the book, when I found the cutest dog baby quilt. My friend loves, loves dog and I knew this would be perfect for her. Luckily I had all of the fabric for it in my stash, including the background which I had bought as a backing in a quilt kit and didn't like. I was so excited that I started working on it right away.

I had it sent out to be quilted. When I went to pick it up, my daughter mentioned that the meandering looked like the shape of dog bones. When I looked closer I could see those bone shapes. I gave the quilt to my friend this week and she was very appreciative and told me how beautiful it is. To me that is the best part about quilting.

I am joining the Blogger's Quilt Festival. My quilt is in the baby quilt category! Amy does such an amazing job with the festival. I am always in awe of the quilts I see. 

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Tea Time

Quilt Measurements 11 1/4 " x 14 3/4"

Special Techniques : Paper piecing

Quilted by… me

Here is my submission for the Blogger's Quilt Festival. My mom had bought this as a kit for me years ago, and I put it on my UFO Challenge list to get done this year. The kit was originally pink and blue and I decided to swap out some of the fabrics. The pattern is called Time for Tea by MH Designs. I love paper piecing and this was really fun to do. This little quilt is going to reside with me, as I do love my tea time! I am always in awe of the impressive talent shown with the Blogger's Quilt Festival. Thank you to Amy for organizing.

Bloggers' Quilt Festival :: Spring 2012

 

I have lots of quilt tops right now, and smaller projects that I have been working on, so I looked back in my quilting vault and  I realized I have never really talked about this quilt. I made this quilt 2 years ago for my mother. At some point she had given me a quilting book either for Christmas or my birthday, and I decided to use one of those patterns for a quilt for her. I chose the Irish Chain, and started to make it. What I did not realize at the time, was that I had an inaccurate 1/4 inch foot and when I went to put the blocks together they did not match up properly. Frustrated I probably put the quilt away for about a year unsure what to do with it. Then one day, I was looking through my quilt patterns, I found a baby one that used 9 patches. I realized I could replace it with my 16 patches and enlarge the size to make a lap quilt. This was the first time I had completely enlarged a quilt pattern and it was fun figuring out the math. This quilt taught me that even mistakes can be turned into things of beauty. Now if I make something that does not turn out the way I think, I don't worry as much because it can always be used for something else. Check out all the amazing hundreds of bloggers for the Bloggers' Quilt Festival hosted by Amy. Thank you to Amy for such an amazing quilt show.

Blogger's Quilt Festival

For the festival, I am showing a quilt that I finished in June after having it quilted by my friend Tammy, but never displayed. It is called Fresh. I made it using five charm square packs of Fresh by Deb Strain. When I first got them, I wanted to make a charm square quilt but then thought perhaps it was too simple and wasted a lot of time thinking of other possibilities before deciding on what I was originally going to do. This quilt is important to me for a few reasons. It reminded me that KISS does work (Keep It Simple, Sewer) and that I should trust my gut. I have learned to believe in myself and create what make me happy. That happiness is a gift which I can give on to other people. I made a quilt for my nephew this year, which I really liked but I was unsure if my sister-in-law would. I was thrilled when she sent me pictures a few days ago of my nephew playing on the quilt. It means a lot to me.

The quilt is also one of the first that I did a pieced backing for. I really like it. The white fabric was going to be a border but I decided I liked the squares on their own. I like having it in one piece on the back. Thank you Amy for hosting this Quilt Festival. Check out what others have done!

Blogger's Quilt Festival Spring 2011

I am being fashionably late. With Blogger being down last week, I had hoped to get the binding done on a quilt to show you, but I am not quite there yet. Instead I have decided to show you a quilt I made a few years ago that represents the direction I want to move in.

 

This month is my last month for my Bee group. I have been swapping, quilting along and "Bee"ing constantly for 2 and 1/2 years now, and I am ready for a break. I have also been volunteering on the executive of my guild for the past 3 years. Due to changes in my life I will not be able to volunteer on the executive for next year. That left me at a crossroads of what I wanted to do next with my time and quilting. Remembering this quilt, made me thing of how much joy I have making baby and children's quilts. This is a pattern I made on my own for a friend's granddaughter. It was a lot of fun to make, but worrisome as well, because I wanted it to be perfect for her.I have decided that I would like to my some quilt tops for children that can be donated to my guild. Right now I make blocks for them, but I would love to be able to contribute some tops. For me, it is a win win situation. I get to use my stash, try out lots of quilting blocks I have wanted to make, and maybe even learn to machine quilt better. Hopefully too, I will get to design some of my own quilts.One of the things I love most about quilting is how much joy it gives back to you and to me this quilt is a reminder of that.

Please check out the other quilts in the Bloggers' Quilt Festival. There are so many talented quilters. I know that I am going to have a lot of "quilt eye candy" for weeks to come. Thank you to Amy for putting this all together.

Happy Halloween/Blogger's Quilt Festival

The quilt I have chosen for the Blogger's Quilt Festival is my Halloween quilt which I just finished today. It is special to me for many reasons.  I made it with many other women all over the world in a Halloween Block Swap hosted by Jane's Fabrics. It is also the first swap quilt I have finished. I spent last summer making spider webs, and I got all of these incredible blocks back for my efforts.  To me, it shows the power of blogging, and the amount of sharing and friendship that quilters give to one another. As Halloween is not my favourite holiday, this is something I would have never done on my own. I love all of the different material and techniques used to create the blocks. My very talented friend Tammy did the quilting and I love the spider webs that she quilted into each of the 9 patches. This quilt is one that I will always treasure and I thank every one who shared their talents with me.

Blogger's Quilt Festival

Here is my quilt for the Blogger's Quilt Festival. I call it Summer's Day. I made it for a family member, who had a baby last year. I had gotten a charm pack of Summer Fun for my 9 patch quilt along, and I decided to use it for this. The mom, at one time had been a professional water skier, so Summer Fun seemed like a good choice. I looked for charm pack patterns because I only had the one charm pack.  I found the Pinwheel Baby Quilt and decided to make that, which I know this quilt does not look like. Some of the charm pack had white squares, and I did not think it would go well, against my busy white background. I did not want to buy more fabric, so I decided to change the design and added the sashing instead. I love the pop of white and red.

I did end up buying material for the back. I had gone away for a weekend with my husband and I find this cute fabric that I could not resist. It has sun, birds and watermelons on it, perfect for a Summer's Day. I had it quilted by my friend Tammy. I really enjoyed making this because I had made so many quilt with squares and rectangles and I had decided I really wanted to focus on some quilts with half square triangles. It is another quilt that I don't want to give away! Go check out the other amazing quilters at the Blogger's Quilt Festival.

Scrappy-Doo

I would not say I am a scrappy person. The amount of time, and cost has prohibited me from scrappy quilts. It is one of the reasons why I love jelly rolls etc. so much. This week I have been spending time thinking about a quilt for my nephew. He has asked for red and orange. Well, I started looking and the possibilites are endless. As always, there are too many ideas. I have been playing with my EQ6 too, which I get so little time to do. For him, I would like to make it scrappier. He was the one (okay he was a newborn) to get off my butt and start focusing on quilting, so I figure he can be the one to help me make scrappier quilts.

Thinking about scrappier quilts, made me think about I started in February. You are all amazing quilters, and I felt some peer pressure (okay rather envy) with all of the wonderful Valentine's quilts being made. I had gotten out a book from my guild, and was getting ready to return it for the February meeting. I flipped through it and found this fabulous pattern.

I started working on it because I do have a lot of reds and pinks but then came to a halt. This is the thing I don't like about scrappy quilts. You have to ensure that one scrap does not touch the same scrap. My kids do these puzzles on the computer where you have to paint a picture, or fill in some diagram but you can't have the same colours touch each other. It is always harder than it looks. I was not sure if I had enough red and pink, so I ended up buying some scrap bags of them so I could have more. It will come in handy with my nephew's quilt anyhow.

I have also been working on binding a quilt for Amy's Blogger's Quilt Festival. You must join. It is amazing to read all the stories and see how the quilts came about.

So much inspiration, so little time!

Featured Quilt Blogger & One Year Anniversary

Hi Everyone! I am so honoured to be have been nominated to be featured as a quilt blogger on Park City Girl. I have admired Amy and her dedication as a quilter and a mom for a long time.

Tomorrow is also my 1 year anniversary as a blogger. What a year it has been! I have been in 12 swaps,  (one twice) and it was my friend Jane who helped me with my first baby steps in quilt swapping. I have completed lots of quilts, participated in quilt alongs and am now focused on my PHD. I am in a quilting bee with some of the most amazingly talented group of women I have ever met. Julie has impressed me with her neverending talent, Angela has given so much of her time to make the most exquisite charity quilts I have ever seen, and Rachel who gives so much with her tutorials, and quilt alongs while being pregnant with her 4th child. Darlene is so amazingly supportive and so incredible with embroidery, Nanette who has such a great sense for fabric and friendship, Barb who is a great quilter, and takes so much time to comment on other people's blogs and of course Amanda Jean whose tutorial I used for my Zig Zag quilt. 

I need to give a shout out too, to my Canadian gals. Myra who has helped me with my PHD and is always so generous about sharing others' work, Andrea who is a Kona Solids Queen and has just been featured in Moda Bake Shop, Lee who has been so supportive of me, and loves tulips as much as I do, Tammy who quilts my quilts and is the most talented long arm quilter I know, and Ariane, an amazing talented friend, far beyond my skills who actually lives in my town. To my supportive friend without a blog, who reads it and always reacts with amazement when I show her my work, thank you.  Lastly, of course my dh, children and parents who give me time to do something I love, sometime that is in my blood. I hope my hard work has kept them warm. I know I will not have mentioned everyone but I am so thankful for everyone who has helped me in my journey. I am know I have improved in leaps and bounds this year as a quilter, now I need to improve upon my picture taking skills! Aren't you glad I didn't win an Oscar! ;-)

Now, since it is my 1 year anniversary, I am having a giveaway. I want to know what inspires you in your craft or if you are a quilter, and machine quilt what tip can you give me to help me? I want to focus more on machine quilting this year. You need to answer one of these question to be eligible for the giveaway. It will be open until Wednesday, March 17 at 9:00 pm EST. The winner will be chosen randomly and will be annouced Thursday.

It is an 8 fq collection  of Morningstar by Linda Hogag. My picture as always, doesn't do it justice. The reds are a beautiful cherry colour.

Looking forward to Year 2,

Bloggers Quilt Festival

Amy is hosting a Bloggers Quilt Festival. You talk about your favourite quilt on your blog and post the link back on her blog. Please join in. It is wonderful to see what is everyone is doing and there are great prizes to be won!


Rather than talk about my favourite quilt which is so hard to choose, and which I usually say is my first baby quilt made for my nephew, I am going to talk about the quilt that has my favourite sentiment. I took my 1st quilting course 17 years ago. It was a hand applique course. I enjoyed it but put aside quilting for a few years while I finished my schooling. I then took a beginner's quilting course through a evening interest program at a high school. I did not have a sewing machine at the time and I found out that I was not very good at hand piecing. A few years after that my dh bought me a sewing machine and I made quite a few baby quilts and some lap quilts. Then I had my children born 18 months apart. I was having a hard time deciding whether to continue quilting, knowing the time constraints I would have with two young children. When my youngest was 9 months hold I decided to take a beginner's course again, this time with a sewing machine. I thought the course would be useful to pick up tips since I had learned a lot on my own. I also wanted to make a decision about whether I would keep quilting. This quilt is the result.

NEVER ENDING

I learned a lot from my course. It was there that I realized that my passion for quilting and my husband and children was "never ending". Both would be filled with tears, laughter, joy and frustration but I could not live without either one.


The compromise I made for time is that for now I get my quilts quilted by other people. Since then, I have moved back to my hometown, gotten a quilting room and a new sewing machine. I have made many lap and baby quilts. I am now working on a king size quilt. Two years ago, I joined my LQG, entered this quilt into my guild's quilt show and now belong to the executive as the newsletter editor. My latest foray has been creating this blog and learning from so many of you.