Snow Swoon

This weekend I thought I would try walking out a quilt block in the snow instead of my swirls.  But this involved a lot of planning and a few tools so I was glad my husband was up to the challenge of helping me.  I thought you might be interested in the process so we took pictures along the way.  First challenge, how do I walk out a perfect square!  Well it so happens Tim used a simple tool when he was an exploration geologist in the bush, it’s called a turning table so he made me one. Works great for walking an accurate 90 degree turn.

Once we walked out 24 metres on each side we added marker posts to each corner.

Next we marked every 3metre along each side and then using a 24m long rope to mark a 3m grid in the square. We had to saw it back and forth to dig into the snow as it had a crust on top from some freezing rain.

Now the plan!  I drew out a Swoon block and scaled it up to 24m from a 24inch block.

Time to walk it out and I you can see the scale of the block with me in it! I then stomped down a few of the areas and that was a really good workout!

Then I waited 3 days for the sun to shine so I could take a picture.  I had to re-walk it out this morning as it has snowed and filled in a lot of the outlines.

Now if only I could get an aerial view of it.

I have been quilting and have too large quilts to take pictures of today now that the sun is out so I’ll share those soon!

Retreat, Teaching and a Mini Tuffet!

Where did the week go?    Last Thursday I hopped in my car and drove 820 km to Gimli, Manitoba to teach Free Motion quilting.    My friend Wendy is now hosting this winter retreat, which is organized by the Lakeview Resort as her new quilt shop Fabriculous is located in this hotel.  Very convenient to sleep, eat, shop and sew under one roof!    I had a fantastic time meeting new quilters, long distant clients and a few of my blog readers.    My class had 17 students and I was relieved to be able to handle a class that size, the only down side was the classroom was a bit small so we will make sure that we have a bigger class space next time.   My friend Janie took some pictures so it was interesting to see what I looked like teaching, LOL!

The meals were just as good as the company, CHEERS!

Wendy taught a class on how to make these cute 4” Mini Tuffet Pin Cushion!   She spent a lot of time figuring out the pattern as it just didn’t scale down from the larger version.  Wendy has kits available in both of her shops.   Only $25 each and it comes with all the supplies needed and the pattern.  Only thing you need to add is the scraps of fabric and decorative button.

I also did a Longarm Demonstration as Wendy shop is an APQS dealership and they have a Millennium similar to mine in the shop.     I really enjoyed answering questions and demonstrating some free hand designs on the machine.  I was told there was limited longarm education in our province besides the shops rental program.   So maybe I should consider doing more longarm classes in the coming years. Its just my location is so remote and that it makes for a lot of travel but I’ll think about it!   Thanks for inviting me to teach in your shop Wendy, it was a fantastic weekend!

Batik Metro Hoops

This is Melanie’s Metro Hoops quilt and it is a pattern by Sew Kind of Wonderful.  I am a big fan of these patterns and have made this quilt myself, you can see mine here.   Melanie asked for custom quilting so I sketched out a few ideas that has a similar feel to what I did on mine and we went with this version.   Melanie made her quilt a queen size and used batiks fabrics.  I used two thread colours on top , white So Fine on the background and a medium brown So Fine on the batiks.  I kept the bobbin thread one colour, a white Bottom Line.    The batting is Quilters Dream Blend.

I stitched in the ditch around the rings and then added a 1/4” echo.  Then I added the double diamond curved design and filled in the spaces with free hand feathers.

I used quite a few longarm rulers on this one and they were the #15 QP Curved Template, the #8 QP Curved Template and the QP Edge 5” straight ruler.   I used my channel locks on my Millennium to do the vertical lines and I eyeballed the 1/2” distance.  Only had to pick out a few the were spaced too wide!

Well we did the get warm weather Environment Canada predicted, it was +2’c yesterday but that caused my nice clear ice to cloud over.

Melanie send a very pretty Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements wide backing.  It is extremely soft with a good weight to it and quilted up beautifully!

Didn’t think I could get this large of quilt to cooperate and layout nicely on the snow, but it did!  So here are more pictures!

Big City Friends

This is Sandra’s Big City Friends quilt and she made it for her little granddaughter.    The panels in this collection are very cute and it even included a border design that go on the top and bottom.  I quilted it with the Happy Times pantograph, used white So Fine thread and Quilters Dream Blend batting.

The backing is just as sweet as the front!

I am now working on a custom Metro Hoops quilt that I hope to finish before I have to leave for a teaching gig at Fabriculous in Gimli, MB.  I am teaching a Free Motion Class on domestic machines at their retreat on Saturday, January 21.   I hear there are a few spots left so if you are interested please contact their shop!  All the info about the class is on their Facebook page.     

Watercolor Wings

This is Marg’s Watercolor Wings quilt and the pattern is by Pine Tree Country Quilts.   When you look at the whole quilt it looks like butterfly wings.  I love the soft colors in this quilt, very pretty!  I used the Curlz pantograph to add a swirly texture and used a soft green So Fine thread.  The batting is Quilters Dream blend.

We woke up to –35’c this morning with a –41’c wind-chill so I took pity on my son and drove him to where the school bus picks him up.  I have to laugh at our forecast, I really doubt we will see those warm temperatures next week.  Yes it will warm up but not that much, talk about getting our hopes up!

Twisted Nine Patch

This is Marianne’s Twisted Nine Patch quilt and she asked for a piano key design in the outer border and a pantograph in the center.  I asked her if she had a pantograph design in mind and she said Plush, which I agreed would look great on this quilt.   I used grey So Fine thread on top and grey Bottom Line on the back.

She sent a black Cuddle wide backing and Hobbs batting to make a very cuddly quilt!  I love that Cuddle now comes in extra wide widths so you don’t get the bulk of a seam on the back.

I was out taking pictures on Sunday and Tim spotted 3 ptarmigan on the side of the road.  It’s not uncommon to see these birds here but hard to spot as they blend into the snow so well!  I think these were Willow Ptarmigans as when they flew away you could see their black tails.   I was hoping to get all three in one pictures but only managed to get these two. They can move pretty fast in the snow!

Colorband Quilt

This is Phyllis’s Colorband Quilt and she purchased it as a kit from Craftsy.  I noticed the kit is on sale right now and here is the link to the kit.  This is the first large quilt Phyllis has made and I enjoyed helping  her as she worked on it at our guild Retreat and UFO days. It was quite an ambitious project for a beginner and I’m so glad she never gave up on it even though she hit some bumps along the way.  Her positive attitude was so wonderful and each time I suggested she rip and try again she was in full agreement and could laugh at her mistakes.    Well Phyllis look at the beautiful quilt you made, you did an awesome job!

I quilted it with the Bora Bora pantograph,  used a variegated Lava thread and quilters Dream Blend batting.

Usually by now I have been out walking my swirls on the lake but this year I thought I would try something different.  Unfortunately giant snowflakes seen from this angle don’t have the same impact swirls do, glad I only walked out two.  I think I’ll go back to my swirls after the next snow fall!