Metro Hoops

 

I think I shocked a few of my readers by admitting I didn’t have any UFOs in my last post.   I find that when I start a quilting project I just can’t stop and want to see it through to the end.  The quilting is my favourite part so why would I stop!   Well after going to our guilds UFO day yesterday you’ll be happy to know that I now have one UFO.    I starting cutting out and sewing Metro Hoops, a Sew Kind of Wonderful pattern that I have been wanted to make since Jenny released it.  My friend Desley is going to start this one soon too so this is the nudge to get her going on hers!  :)

I got all my fabric cut out, did all the strip piecing and cut out the curves.  It was a very enjoyable process and easy to do even when you are socializing.  I made one complete block to see how my fabric choices looked and I’m please with the result. I used a jelly roll called Sunnyside by Moda,  a solid white and yellow for the background and solid light blue for the diamonds.   I’m loving all the open space in this pattern and see it as a huge quilting opportunity.

Today it is snowing again so looks like a good day to get all the blocks sewn up!

I was pretty excited yesterday to see I reach 700 followers!   The funny thing is this is my 707th post so I almost have as many followers as I have done posts!

Island Sunrise #9

 
This is Yvonne’s Island Sunrise quilt done in batik fall colors. This is the ninth one I have quilted since our guild held a Judy Niemeyer workshop for this pattern back in September 2012.  I quilted free hand swirls in the outer border and in the background of the curved blocks.  I SID around all the circles and spikes and used medium brown So Fine thread.   We are enjoying a break in the cold weather with a high of –7’c today…  feels like we are having a heat wave!  

Tomorrow our guild is having a UFO day and since I do not have any UFO’s I’ll have to start a project so I have a UFO by the end of the day!  This is what I’ll be playing with, the fabric collection is called Sunnyside and I’ll share what pattern I’m making once I have a few blocks made.

Alternate Routes #4

 

This is Yvonne’s Alternate Routes quilt and she used one of the layouts in our pattern that has not been shown before on my blog.  She used batik fabrics in autumn colors and added borders to the pattern to make it larger.  The panto is Mimosa and the batting is Dream Blend.  It is so fun to see this pattern done in the different optional layouts and I have not seen a repeated layout made yet!

Lori and I created a Flickr page to share all the quilts made with our Alternate Routes pattern, you can see them all here.

Winter’s Lane

Looks like we are bringing the cold weather into the New Year!  I can’t escape it, I tried but it didn’t work.   We spent a week down in Winnipeg visiting family over the holiday and it was so cold it got down to –50’ with wind-chill one night!  The joke one day was we were colder than Mars as one day we only reached a high of –30’c and it got to –29’c on Mars that day.   So I’m now home, the boys are back to school today and I’m getting back into my quilting routine. 

This is Rae’s Perfect Ten quilt and she used a Moda fabric collection called Winter’s Lane.  She added the solid red for the frames and a small brown inner border.  The panto is called Chantilly Lace and it has Dream Blend Batting. 

The backing is an off white ‘Minkie’ type fabric from Joann’s called Ultra Cuddle and I had suggested Rae try this as I had bought some for our guild since it was on sale.  I have to say this is the first time I’ve had trouble quilting this type of fabric.  It was very stretchy and uneven and I would not recommend it to anyone now!!  So know I understand why others have trouble and I will now make sure I try a new fabric before recommending it to my friends.  It looks and feels really nice it’s just a pain to quilt!

Since it has been really cold this winter I thought I would treat myself to a goose down coat this Christmas and I am loving it.  Now I’ll be able to stay outside longer than a few minutes when I’m taking quilting pictures.  I was only outside a minute and you can see my hair was starting to frost over from my breath.

  Okay this is more of how I usually look out in the cold!

* warning – exposure to cold temperature from prolonged periods of time can make you feeling a bit goofy*

Looking Back at 2013

For my last blog post of 2013 I like to look back at my personal quilting projects for the year.    As someone who spends a lot of time finished other people quilts I think it is important to find time for my own projects as well.   Keeping that balance and taking a few breaks though out the year really helps me keep focused and keep the joy in quilting.  I was able to finished two UFO’s this month and have somehow acquired a few more fabric bundles to replace the ones I used up, so much for trying to decrease the pile of pre-cuts!

Here are my quilts for 2013.

April – Mod Pop quilt made from batik fabrics.  This one is mine!

April – Isosceles Triangle #1 baby quilt using Reunion fabric collection.

April – Isosceles Triangles #2 baby quilt.

April – Hugs and Kisses quilt I made for my nieces 14th birthday.

June – Alternate Routes quilt -  The first pattern Lori and I designed and published under our new Highway 10 Designs name.  We used the pattern as Mystery project for our guilds.

June – Serenade Quilt that I donated to the flood victims in Alberta.

July – Curve It Up QAL that I donated to the disaster at Lac-Megantic, Quebec.

July – Batik Tote Bags

August – Grandma’s Star – Mixed modern quilting with a traditional block.

September – Medallion QAL using the Quick Curved Ruler

October – Pedal to the Metal – Second Highway 10 Designs pattern.

November – Not Your Mother’s Rail Fence – Third Highway 10 Designs pattern and I gave this quilt to my Grandmother.

December – Yellow Brick Road in Northern Solitudes fabric.

December – Mirror Mirror in batik fabrics.

I hope you had a productive year in your sewing rooms and that you were able to make a few projects for yourself in 2013!

Happy New Year and all the best in 2014!

Merry Christmas

I didn’t make any Christmas projects this year but I did win a cute fabric bundle at our guilds xmas party last week.  I really like how the fabric was folded into a tree and thought this would be a great idea to share on my blog.  The fabric collection is called Christmas Classics by Maywood Studios.    Looks like I’ll be making a Christmas table runner for next year.

The first step in making the trees is to fold the fat quarters in half and then in half again.

If you have a 60’ ruler that will help with the first fold.  You see there is an extra bit of fabric hanging below, just fold and tuck that under the first fold.

Keep folding the triangle across the strip until you get to the end and tuck the extra end piece inside the folds to hold the triangle together.

To make the trunk fold the fat quarter in thirds…

… and then in half.

Fold one end in about 3” and then roll from the other end.

  Now you can tuck all the fat quarters together and add the trunk and you have a fabric xmas tree.  :)

We are having a nice quiet Christmas this year and I’m happy to report the weather has warmed up.  It’s –12’c today so it feels like we are having a heat wave!  

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

Peanuts Christmas Quilt

This is Eileen’s Peanuts Christmas Quilt that she made for her sister and family for Christmas this year.  I just got the okay to blog about it as she gave it to them today so they could enjoy it over the holidays.   She bought this as a kit from Nancy’s Notions and you can find it here.   We decided on Dream Puff for the batting as it will be a cuddle quilt for the couch and I used Popcorn for the panto too keep the quilting design light.  I also thought Popcorn goes well with Peanuts!  ;)

This was a tricky quilt to get good picture of so I zoomed in so you could see the cartoon panels better.

    The border fabric is really cute and it is also the fabric Eileen used for the backing as well.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!