On the Air!

Just hear from Shaw Cable that my Tamarack Shack profile is on the air starting today. I still haven't seen it so if you do please put me out of my misery and tell me it's okay.

Tamarack Shack T.V. Profile

First of all if you saw this title on the North Star Quilt Guild blog you weren't imagining it, i accidently posted it on that blog first! 2 hours later i realized what i did but once you read about my day you'll understand why my brain is so scattered.
As the title indicates my little longarm business got some attention today. I have been keeping quiet on the fact that Brett from Shaw Cable in Flin Flon emailed me awhile ago asking if he could do a profile on my business. At first i was surprised and didn't realize Shaw did this and then of coarse thought i could never get up the nerve to do it. But once i told Lori she said I 'HAD TO DO THIS"! So i eventually agreed to do this, knowing that it would be great to show off my new machine and get free publicity at the sametime. Today was the day that we did the interview and i hope that Brett is a good editor too. Do you know what kind of face you make when you're concentrating on your quilting?? I"m not looking forward to seeing it but glad i did it and that it is over. So if you have Shaw Cable you may see the Tamarack Shack profile in the next few weeks. I'm glad I have satellite T.V.
What do you think.....should Lori and I start our own quilting show and give the fishing show some competition??

Leaf Table Runner

I bought this pattern at the Quilt Saskatchewan Show in May and found time on all these rainy days we have been getting this summer to piece and quilt it. I tried a new style of swirls and just love them. They would be great for a wind or water effect.

Doesn't it match my new kitchen table nicely!

My New Apprentice

I probably shouldn't show you this but what the heck. This is my friend Lori using my Millie! ( no it's not for rent). Lori is an AWESOME friend and i like to call her my 'creative coach'. She knows how to gently push me out of my very small comfort zone and encouraged me to reach my dream of owning a Millennium. As she held my hand through this whole process of buying the longarm and traveled with me to Winnipeg to buy it, i told her she could use it anytime....well anytime i wasn't!!! So this week she finally took me up on the offer and spent 14 hours quilting her bargello quilt. She did a fantastic job and got the hang of the machine quickly. There were only a few "... how do i stop this thing" moments and one broken needle. Hey, not bad considering that with my first quilt i blew fuses, had the belt drive slip and had a bearing seize in the motor. So in comparsion.....it went very well!


Lori and i also just found out that we did very well with our Kick Ass Challenge quilt (the Joy wallhanging 2 posts ago) at the Neepawa Lilyfest. It won first!! Then the store owner called to ask if he could enter it in the local Plumas Fair. There it won best quilted item and won most outstanding entry in the fair!!!! ***happy dance***

Spoke To Soon!

Remember in my last post i was so happy that i had not had a carpel tunnel attack in my wrists for 6 months....well just as i was finishing this quilt for a client at the end of June my right wrist decided it was time for one!!! I think i jinxed myself. I now know my limit is 52 quilts in 6 months and NOT one more.

I love the colors in this quilt above, and i think my feathers are getting nice and even.

I haven't done any quilting since i finished this quilt, i still want to work on my mystery quilt but the thread i need is on back order so this is probably a good thing for my wrists.

Summer Break

I only have a few more quilts to finish for clients before i take my summer break. Here is a picture of a client's quilt i just took off the frame. When i started this venture i'm really glad i decided to not take in quilts over the summer, i don't want to burn out. This will be my time to quilt my quilts and do some piecing on rainy days. I only have my Mystery quilt that is ready to go on the frame but I want to really play on that one. I have to finish collecting fabric for another quilt on my wish list...summer fabric shopping...and maybe i'll get that one quilted too.

I just realized i have quilted 52 quilts since January and NO carpel tunnel attacks!!! YAH!

Oh, here is some news for my local guild members. I have just purchased a bolt of WonderUnder. It is a very thin fusible web that i haven't been able to find in a long time. Hope it is as good as i remember! I will cut it up in metre rolls and sell it for $4.50/per roll. I'm sure you can get it cheaper elsewhere but that covers my cost of shipping and includes taxes. Give me a call or email if you would like some.

Yup....Another Contest!

The Kickass Quilting Shop in Plumas, MB is sponsering a contest that will be displayed at the Neepawa Lily Festival in July. So of coarse Lori sees these kits in there store when she was there this spring and buys one for us to do. The kit was 36 charm squares of christmas fabric and the rule was you had to have a piece of each square in the wall hanging. We pretty much stuck to Lori's first idea of a word being the center of the hanging and then i came up with the idea of miniature Magic Tiles for the border. Little did we know that it was take 4 afternoons to just piece the magic tiles! And if we (okay I) had read all of the instructions i wouldn't of developed the problem of 'why do i keep getting 2 of the same fabrics in one block...AAHHH!'

Once it was pieced i quilted it on my longarm and if you look at the Y in the close up picture you will see it is different than the final wall hanging...Lori made me pick out the bottom of the design in that block....it didn't balance with the rest of the quilting! So being the good friend that i am i picked it out and redid it. And yes it did look better after!

Lori is already looking for our next contest....i wonder what she will find!

Sunflower Mystery Quilt

Here is another Mystery Quilt from our local guild. My client choose sunflower fabric for her focus and i love the orange she used, it just gives the quilt so much life. For guild member trying to figure out why it looks different than the other mystery quilts, my client used two background fabrics to give it a new effect. I quilted free-hand sunflowers and leaves all across the quilt.

Fireside Fabric

A client brought me this quilt and i was worried that if i quilted it using the longarm i would ruin it. The backing fabric is Fireside, a very soft fuzzy fabric, and the top is a mix if cotton, chenelle and fireside. My concern was the back of the fireside is very slippery and with no batting (that would make it too heavy) how would it react to quilting? I shared my concerns with my client and she assured me that whatever i do will be fine. She even had the store she purchased the quilt kit from call me to let me know that their samples were quilted on a longarm. So with this information i gained some confidence to start quilting it....my biggest fear is ruining someone's quilt!! I used a dark red thread and realized as i was quilting i couldn't see where i had just quilted....the thread just disappeared into the fireside fabric...even the white blocks! So i was quilting this one blind. I just did a row at a time so i knew where i had been and that seemed to help. Once i finished and took it off the frame i was happy to see that i didn't cross over any of my stitching, but i did come very close in a few spots!

Thimbleberry Deja Vu

This is the second one of these Thimbleberry quilt i've done on the longarm for a client. I have two more waiting there turn in the Shack. I have challenge myself to quilt them differently and try new patterns on each one. But there is a few areas that really call for a particular designs, like the green and beige checkers really look great with Continous Curves so they will all be done like that. And of coarse all the chimneys will be brick!

I'm wondering if my client noticed the special 'goodie' i quilted in it to personalize it...she is an excellent baker!!

Bali Apron

When I was at the Quilt Show in Saskatoon i found this cute apron pattern. I'm not much of a cook so it not for the kitchen but what i did need it for was when i'm working at the longarm machine. I'm ALWAYS covered in batting fluff when i'm quilting since i lean on the batting at the front of the machine. My black velour lounge suit that i love to quilt in is never black for long! ( I don't always quilt in my PJ's!). So here is my new solution and i love it! I have made a few and they might make great christmas gifts this year too.

I also have a new addition to my Shack, it is this cute boat bookshelf. It was too perfect to pass up at my neighbours garage sale and i was so happy it fit in my small space.

Summertime....still waiting!

This quilt really grew on me as I was quilting it. The colors are so soft, its a beautiful summer quilt. The client wanted the dragonfly panto on it and she gave me wool batting which I had never tried before. The wool batting really allows the quilting to pop and this 100"x100" quilt was so light after i took it off the frame.

I actually spent the day piecing an apron with a Bali Pop and a pattern i bought at the quilt show. Hope to have one finished tonight.

Taking the Leap!

Okay, i guess i could admit that i did get this quilt finished before i left for Saskatoon but i mean just finished, there was no time to post a picture.

It is getting more challenging to quilt all the stack and whack quilts differently but i think i rose to the challenge on this one. Lots of free hand feathers to fill in the background and setting triangles and free hand flowers in the border. These flowers are like snowflakes, no two are alike!

Quilt Saskatchewan was really good but a bit smaller than i was expecting. That's okay as i was able to spend my money at the Merchant Mall with no problem. I think the best part of the whole show was surprising a few members with the fact i was the new CQA MB Rep. I didn't realize i had kept it such a good secret. I also took a huge leap out of my comfort zone (while unaware a hovering group of guild members supervised) and i talked to the owner of Prairie Chicks about my longarm business. Self promotions is not my strong point. I have never had to do that since my work has always spoken for itself and i am also surrounded by the best cheerleading/promotions group EVER! But if i want to make a name for my business i know i should expand it beyond the borders of Flin Flon.

Quilt Saskatchewan Here I Come!

Tomorrow i'm off to Saskatoon for Quilt Saskatchewan. Yah...girls weekend!!! Shopping and a quilt show now that is true happiness. And incase you didn't know i thought i would share with you that as of July 1 i'll be the new CQA Manitoba Representative. Not sure how that happened but i guess i should start practicing my new role...."Hey Eileen, got that report ready for me, chop chop" :)

I can't have a post without a picture so here is the quilt that i'm working on right now for a client. I"m taken those Twirly Whirly feathers to the next level and i should have it done next week so more pictures then.

Scrappy Bear Paw

I really love the colors in my clients Scrappy Bear Paw quilt. I used the Maple Syrup pantograph across this one which gives the geometric piecing a softer element. I actually quilted this one in January and my client had not seen it until this week. She has just returned to Flin Flon from being down south all winter. I don't think she was expecting to see the snowfall when she returned, matter of fact i don't think any of us here would have believe we would be getting this much snow in MAY. Good thing i have my quilting to keep me sane.