Hugs and Kisses Quilt

This is Sheri’s Hugs and Kisses quilt and she used the Hello Luscious fabric collection by Basic Grey.   She asked if I could quilt it similar to the one I made this spring, you can see that one here.  I changed the design slightly and I’m much happier with Sheri’s, good thing I practiced on mine first!   I evenly spaced the diagonally lines on Sheri’s quilt and added more petals on the flower motif which filled in the diamond shape nicer.

The snow has been falling and falling,  it looks like it’s January here!    I had taken this picture of a bench in my yard on Nov 4 and then today….the snow is now up to the seat!    I also cleared of a patch of ice on the lake today and there might be hope for the ice yet.  It is rough but I hope by getting snow off it will have a chance to thicken up now that it is exposed to the cold air.   It still only about 5” thick and you should have heard it cracking as I was shovelling it!  :)

Flurry Quilt

 
This is another one of Lynn’s quilts and she used a free online pattern called Flurry which you can find here.    I used a panto also called Flurry by Threadsongs and the fabric collection Lynn used is Holly Jolly by Moda.  I quilted this same quilt pattern last year for another client who used a different fabric collection and you can see it here.   This is a great pattern as you could use any xmas collection with it and I love the candy cane backing fabric she used!

Alternate Routes #3

This is Lynn’s Alternate Routes quilt and she chose one of the layouts in our pattern.  She liked this layout as it had a Aztec feel and that is what her two batiks fabrics reminded her of.  I quilted it with the Dazzle panto and used Dream Blend batting.   It is nice to see that this pattern is still selling well on our Etsy and Craftsy sites, you can find the pattern here.

With all the snow that has fallen in the last week on top of a thin 4 inch layer of ice, throw in one warm day and we have a big slushy mess in our bay.  Holes in the ice were forming, you can see one in the second photos to the right, so the water was just percolating up onto the ice.  I took the quilt pictures on Sunday and the ice pictures Monday, amazing what a difference a day can make!    Don’t think I’m going to get my pretty ice rink this year but I’m not giving up hope yet.

Blogathon Giveaway Winner

I know some of you are anxiously awaiting the results of this giveaway so I won’t keep you hanging.  I used the True Random Number Generator and the winner is…..

Number #64 is twodraftmom who said  “Yes, I'd walk on that ice!”     I have send you an email so I can get your mailing address!

Thanks again to Sew Sister for organizing this event. I have discovered so many wonderful blogs that I have added to my Bloglovin reader and I hope you have too.

Cats with Collars

This is another one of Jackie’s quilt that she made for her grandkids.    She made cats blocks with 3D collar and ties, or bow ties.    Her fabrics are bold and bright making this a very fun kids quilt.  I stippled the background, SID around the cats and CC’d the sashing squares but the biggest challenge with this quilt was all the thread changes.  I think there were about 15 in all.
*edit Dec 7 - I just found out the name of this pattern, it's Ties and Tails designed by Judydidit.  That should help with a google search if your looking for it.

     

I’ll be announcing winner of the Blogathon giveaway soon!

Lone Star Quilt

This is Evelyn’s Lone Star quilt that she made at a class at our local quilt shop about 18 years ago!  I love quilting UFO’s this old as it is so satisfying to finished a project for a client and have them finally able to use it!  She asked for light custom so I did CC’s in the diamond shapes and free flowing feathers in the background.

I dyed the backing for her and it turned out pretty close to the blue on the top but my recipe for the sample I was trying to recreate was a bit vague as I wrote “ a pinch of yellow”….glad I write better notes now! :)

I took these pictures on Monday as it started to snow and it snowed and snowed!  By Tuesday night was had about 25 cm of snow!  I’m a bit worried about the condition of the ice this year as it had only just froze over and with all this snow on thin ice it will make it slushy.  Yesterday I went down to re-shovel this little ice path near the shore and it had 2 inches of slush on it under the snow!  Hope that as just from the water seeping in from the shoreline.   The last two morning we have had –30’ temperatures so maybe that will help keep the slush away!

I’ve have really enjoyed reading all the comments on my Blogathon post about your reaction to walking on lake ice. It seems to be a 50/50 split on whether I could get you out there or not.    I was surprised to hear a few of you have fallen through so completely understand your aversion to going out on the ice again.   We do ice fish but more in Feb and March when the ice is really thick and the temperatures are warmer.  He is a few pictures of use out on the ice drilling holes for fishing, notice the depth of the hockey stick my husband is using to test the thickness of the ice!  If the ice was any thicker the auger would not have made it all the way through.

  We make a hockey rink every year for the boys and put up lights as it is dark by 5pm in the winter.  I love being out on the ice at night, the wind is usually calm and all you hear is the the sound of the boys skating and the ice cracking amongst all the silence.

I have been busy quilting this week so have lots of pictures to share soon!

Blogathon Canada – Welcome to Friendly Manitoba!

Here we go, Day 4 of Blogathon Canada and I have the pleasure of introducing you to a group of  talented Manitoba quilt bloggers and have a fabric Giveaway too!!   But first I’ll begin by introducing myself to all the new visitors arriving at my blog for the first time.
Welcome to Tamarack Shack!   My name is Kathy and I live on shores of Schist Lake which is about 20 km east of Flin Flon.  It’s a beautiful remote area in the northern boreal forest in the Canadian Shield.  When I’m not quilting my favourite summer activity is kayaking along the rock shores of our lake and in winter walking snow covered bush trails in our neighbourhood.   It’s a good thing I grew up in Winnipeg or this frigid lifestyle would have been a really shocker when we moved here 18 years ago!  But I love living in the north and the cottage lifestyle, it’s a wonderful place to raise a family.

I’ve been quilting for 18 years and longarm quilting for almost 5 years now.  I started blogging when I opened my longarm business in 2009 and through my blog I have meet some amazing and inspirational quilters from around the world.    I love making all types of quilts, whether traditional or modern and love the challenge of trying something new.   I have recently started a new pattern designing venture with my friend Lori and we just published our third pattern this week on our Etsy and Craftsy shops. We call our pattern company Highway 10 Designs.

Here are our three patterns.

Here are some of the more traditional quilts that I have made over the last few years.

And here are the Modern quilts I have made.  You can find the blog posts to most these quilts on my sidebar under My Quilts.

I also love to dye fabric and since I have an abundance of snow around from 6 months of the year I enjoy Snow Dyeing!  I have a tutorial on my sidebar if your curious about the process.  I have two methods I like to use, one is pouring liquid dye on the snow over the fabric and the other is mixing the dry dye powder in the snow and then putting that on the fabric.  The dry method created these pieces below, they are my favourite!

In the winter I have a lot of fun taking picture of my clients quilt out on the lake ice as I like to keep a patch clear of snow and by mid winter it becomes crystal clear. 

You can see the cracks go down through the ice which can get as thick as 4 feet by.  It becomes almost a winter obsession of mine keeping that ice patch clear but all the shovelling and sweeping is good exercise. :)

Now it is time to introduce you to the other Manitoba quilt bloggers. I hope you enjoy visiting their sites and have time to leave comments so they know you were there!

• Thread Head
• Night Owl Quilting and Dye Works
• Church Avenue Quilts
• Will Cook for Shoes
• Tammy Craft Emporium
• Scraps and Strings
• Obsessive Crafting Disorder
• Marj Moore's Blog
• Quilter Sandy
• CW Quilts

Don’t forget to check out Flo’s blog Butterfly Quilting as she is hosting the Saskatchewan bloggers today.

Now to the Giveaway!  If your a regular reader of my blog you won’t be surprised by my fabric choice.   It’s a ten fat quarter bundle of Tonga Celebrate Batiks by Timeless Treasures! 

To enter the Giveaway just leave a comment on this post and if you want you could telling me if you would love to experience standing on clear ice in the middle of a frozen lake or if there was no way I could even bribe you with fabric to walk out there!  :)

International entries welcomed and I’ve turned on the Anonymous option for commenting so anyone can enter, just please leave you email address so I can contact you if you win.   I’ll make the draw November 24.
I would like to thank Sew Sisters Quilt Shop for creating this great event and for donating the giveaway prize.  Don’t forget to pop over to Sew Sister blog to enter their giveaway which is sponsored by Aurifil today!
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you come back to visit as I’m always sharing pictures of my clients quilts as well as my own projects.

Not Your Mother’s Rail Fence – Pattern Number 3!

Lori and I are excited to share our third quilt pattern with you today!  Highway 10 Designs presents “Not Your Mother’s Rail Fence” quilt which is a twist on the traditional Rail Fence pattern.   It is now in our Etsy and Craftsy shops and we hope to have the paper version within the month to add to our Etsy shop.

We both made this quilt so have two color ways to show you.  Lori’s is the purple version that we decided to use for the pattern cover is it was bolder and more photogenic than mine!   It also stood out beautifully in the snowy backdrop!   She made it using batik fabrics ranging from light to dark purple with a splash of gold thrown in.  You can visit Lori’s blog here to see more pictures of her quilt and it’s story!

Now here is my quilt which I did in peach, green and off white, it has a very different feel from Lori’s quilt.   I made it this summer as a gift for my Grandmother who just moved into a new seniors residence after she turned 90.   It looks so good with her teak bedroom suite and she called me three times to thank me for it!   :)

I used batik fabrics that blended into each other except for the off white to show off the step design.  Used Quilter’s Dream Blend batting and quilted free hand feathers across the quilt.  I used a sold cream backing to show off the quilting, love the texture the feathers made on this quilt!

This pattern comes with instructions for Lap, Twin, Full and Queen sizes.  We included some tips on how to properly add borders to your quilt top as longarm quilters love it when a quilt top has it borders pieced on correctly!   :)

Lori stated it very well in the end of her post how thankful we are for everyone’s support in our new venture.   Not only am I enjoying the design aspect of this new business but the fact that it keeps Lori and I in touch so often.  It makes it feel like she never moved away and that is the part I am most thankful for, good friendships can survive any distance.

Blogathon Starts Today!

Today is the first day of the Blogathon Canada so I though I would repost the schedule so you can check out all the great Canadian blogs this week and get in on all the great giveaways!    Don’t forget to stop by Sew Sisters blog as they are having a  giveaway as well that you don’t want to miss. Thursday is when I share the list for the Manitoba bloggers and introduce my giveaway so don’t forget to stop by for that!

Here’s the Schedule

Monday, November 18 – BC – Holly of  Holly's Red Bike

Monday, November 18 – BC – Heather of Winding Bobbins

Tuesday, November 19 – Maritimes – Adrienne of Chezzetcook Modern Quilts

Tuesday, November 19 -  Maritimes – Marjorie of Marjorie's Busy Corner

Wednesday, November 20 – AB – Katherine of Sew Me Something Good

Wednesday, November 20 – AB – Andrea of Urban Quilt Works

Thursday, November 21 – SK – Flo of Butterfly Quilting

Thursday, November 21 – MB – Kathy of Tamarack Shack   

Friday, November 22 – QC – Izzy of Dizzy Quilts

Friday, November 22 – Territories – Danielle of A Geeky Crafty Life

Saturday, November 23 – ON – Jackie of Jackie's Art Quilts

Saturday, November 23 – ON – Krista of Krista Quilts

Kitchen Reno Finally Done!

I am so excited to say that our kitchen reno is now completely finished!  Remember my last post on the kitchen here, the ceiling still needed to be repaired from the skylight removal, new lights needed to be installed and I had not decided on the backsplash tiles yet.   Well here is the finally kitchen, we just finished grouting the backsplash tiles today!  Feels so good to be done this job!

I turned on the lighting we installed above and below the upper cabinets so show you the glow they create. I love turning those on a night for a soft light.  The ceiling never got textured to match the rest of the ceiling as the only guy in town that can do this job lost his drivers license so he couldn’t come out here to do the job!  So Tim just plastered it over flat and I can live with that, you can only notice it in certain light like in this picture below.

Love my new backsplash tiles. I decided to go with 2 x 4 mini subway tile and it really finished off the room.  Now I need to find a few bright coloured accessories to add a pop of color which I feel like it.

I also am happy to share that our second pattern Pedal to the Metal is now in a paper version and came be purchased at our Etsy Shop here.