Batik Popsicle Sticks Quilt

This is Phyl’s Popsicle Sticks quilt and she used a Bali pop to make the top.  When she mentioned that this quilt is a gift for an elderly woman I suggested we used Dream Puff batting as it is light and fluffy but warm.  The panto we chose was Chantilly Lace and the thread was a purple King Tut for the top  and purple Bottom Line on the backing.

Phyl also asked me to dye the backing for her quilt so I finally got to use my new dyeing space.   It was so fun making a mess down in the crawlspace and not in my kitchen!

Town Square Quilt

 

This is Robin’s Town Square quilt and she made hers king size.   I used a new panto called Paper Chase by Willow Leaf Studios,  white So Fine thread and Dream Blend Batting.

 

I really like the fabric print she used in the outer border and the backing fabric is even prettier.

HST Comfort Quilt

 

This is a guild comfort quilt and thought it would be a good one to start with as I get back into the grove of quilting after my summer break.  Simple large free hand meander on a scrappy HST quilt.   I really like this layout of the hollow diamond, it’s very striking and will make a great man’s quilt.

 

Pumpkin Spice

 

My friend Karen of Laugh Yourself into Stitches has just published her first pattern called Pumpkin Spice.  I wanted to share this with my readers as it makes a very cute scrappy quilt and I know many of you love to make scrappy quilts! :)   You can visit Karen’s blog for more information here and while your there do check out the rest of her blog as it is full of wonderful quilting inspiration.  Congrats on your first pattern Karen, hope this is the first of many.

Quilt Ladder

 

This past weekend Tim made me a Quilt Ladder to display my quilts in the livingroom. I love it!  Got the idea from Lori a few months ago when her husband made her a quilt ladder, you can see hers here.  It will be fun to change the quilts on it giving it a different look every once in awhile and nice to get my favourite  quilts out of the closet and on display.

I have started quilting again for clients now that the summer is almost over and am just waiting for a clear day to take some pictures.  We have been getting a lot of thunderstorms the last few days but it is suppose to clear up today then I can then get back to sharing quilting pictures with you.

Australian Goodies

 

Desley from Addicted to Quilts in Australia and I started sending each other boxes of goodies a few years ago and since we have so much fun shopping for these exchanges and of coarse getting the parcel it has become a biannual event for us. You can see what I sent her this time on her blog post here.   This is what was in my parcel this time, lots of candy, fabric and thread!   She has me addicted to Mars Pods and now sends me Jumbo pack.  I have admit I at the first pack within the first couple of hours of getting the package!  She also has me hooked on Rasant thread for piecing, I can’t get this thread in Canada so she has sent me a good stock of it!

The fabric bundle is a collection designed by Leesa Chandler for Robert Kaufman fabrics and is an Australian inspired design that you can only get in Australia. I feel pretty special to have that in my hands and love the colors! :)

My shack is starting to fill with quilts and as usual I have over committed myself again so might start quilting some of these quilt soon. I only have two of my own flimsies left and since I do not have plans for them they can stay that way for awhile. 

Canadian Quilt Talk

Have you heard about the podcasts by Brandy Lynn called Canadian Quilt Talk?  I started following Brandy Lynn’s blog when I heard about her new podcast for quilters and have really been enjoying listening to her shows.  She has a new show every Thursday and last week she did an interview with Ricky Tims that was great.   You can find her blog here and her website here.   I subscribed to her podcasts on iTunes for free and can listen to them whenever I feel like it…usually when I’m sewing! :)

I am also excited to share that I won a pattern from Brandy Lynn yesterday when she did a random draw for her followers when she reach 10o followers.  The pattern is called Black Sheep Block Party and I can see making this pattern with some batiks and hand dyed fabrics. I have the tumbling blocks pattern on my “To do” list of quilts I want to make one day so this might be how I cross that one off my list.  Thanks for the pattern Brandy!

Congrats on the great show Brandy Lynn!   When I told her I lived in Flin Flon she knew the name of the science fiction character that our town is named after…Flintabbatey Flonatin…she lived in Manitoba for 39 years so it’s great to see a Manitoba girl living her dreams!

Where Did the Time Go?

Almost two weeks without blogging…that’s not like me!   Well we took a trip down to Winnipeg to visit friends and family so not much quilting going on here. I would like to thank everyone who left comments on my Grandma’s Star quilt, I enjoyed reading them all!   I did finish my Medallion quilt top before I left so want to get that one quilted before summer is over. Not sure which quilt will go on Millie next as I have a few quilts I want to finish. School starts in less than 3 weeks for the boys and that means I’ll be back to quilting for others soon.

I did a bit of fabric shopping while we were away and managed to come home with a good selection of batiks so I won’t be whining that I don’t have any fabric to play with for awhile.

 

Also picked up a few extra wide backing that I am always short on.

Grandma’s Star Finished

I spent the last couple of days quilting my Grandma’s Star quilt and happy report it is now done!   This quilt block was made using the Grandma’s Star quilting templates from Matilda’s Own.  Desley sent the templates in our last gift exchange and after some encouragement from her to give them a try I started to piece a block.   The Y seams were a challenge but once I finished the first block they soon became addicting and I ended up with 12 blocks .  Warning, this post has a lot of pictures!  :)

I was struggling with the quilting designs so wrote a post on the MQR forum asking from some design help. Received some wonderful suggestions but it was Donna’s drawing of how to quilt the blocks that got me headed in the right direction.  She suggested the pebbles in the triangles and in the center of the star, as well as the straight lines in the background of each block.  From there I decided to put rays in the setting triangles, SID all the blocks and added a Angela Walter’s Pebble/Swirl design in the outer border to add a softer element to the design and tie into the pebbles that are in the blocks.

  The quilt is made with all batik fabrics, Dream Blend batting and Invisifil white thread.  The backing is a Kona White and I love how the quilting shows up on the back!

I have to say that this is the first time I tried the pebble design between the two lines and it is much harder than it looks.   I usually just pebble as background fill so trying to keep them a consistent size and between the lines was a real challenge.   I’m glad I tried this first one on my own quilt or I would have been doing a lot of picking.  They improved as I worked on the quilt but I now have a greater appreciation for quilters that use this design often.

New Tote Bags!

I’m almost out of my navy Tamarack Shack tote bags that I give to my clients when they pick up their quilts. So I ordered some new ones and this time I’m trying Hunter Green.    I am now on my third color for these bags and just love them.   I purchase them from 4imprints and here is a link to the bag if you have a longarm business and would like to order some for your clients.  4imprint Tote bags.

Today was a really nice day and I thought I would redeem a coupon that my son gave me for my birthday. It was hand written and said it was worth one hour of kayaking or swimming with him.   Well since the water has cooled off considerably that past couple of weeks I opted for the kayak paddle.   We had a great time and I took him around an island he had not kayaked to before. I even showed him how to paddle with his feet out of the boat and he said that made it twice the fun!  He is such a fun happy kid to be around!  Thanks for the paddle Daniel!

Feathers on Fleece

 
Did up a quick feathered fleece for a friend last week and even though I have shown these many times on my blog they are one of my favourite things to quilt!    Simple yet so cuddly for a new baby or toddler and they make great gifts.

I purchased 4 yards of ‘pale banana’ fleece from Jo-Ann’s online shop.  First time ordering from that site as they have just started shipping to Canada this year. Very please with how fast the fabric arrived and love the quality of this fleece.  I use to buy my fleece at Fabricland, a Canadian chain fabric shop,  but their poor service at the shops and insulting marketing system has turned me off shopping there.   They mark up a fabric worth$10 retail to $20 then make you buy a membership to get 50% off.  That has bothered me for a long time now so I decided last year to no longer shop there and haven’t missed going there a bit.  Sorry for the mini rant but I’m just wondering if other Canadian quilters feel the same way about that shop or if it is just me?
Here is a link to a tutorial I made a few years ago on how to make a feathered fleece throw.  http://tamarackshack.blogspot.ca/2010/12/fleece-throw.html