Playing with Blocks Quilt

This is Hollie's Playing with Blocks quilt and it was a kit she purchased from Keepsake Quilting, you can still find the kit here.  It is made with cute 1930's Reproduction fabrics.  I chose Wave on Wave for the panto as the piecing was simple and this quilting design has a lot of smaller scale swirls and feathers.  So Fine white thread on top, off white Bottom Line on the back and Quilters Dream Blend batting. 

Its a cold one tonight, -27'c with a -37'c windchill.

Low Volume Plus Sew Along

My friend Laila, who blogs at Litamora's Quilt & Design, has invited her blog readers to join in a fun Sew Along, no rules!  You can visit her blog post to find out more about it here.  I chose to make my blocks using 2 1/2" strips and there is a great tutorial on how to make this Plus block on Kviltstina's blog here. She gave us permission to use her pattern image.  She also has a tutorial on how to make mini version here. I'm not sure how I'll lay mine out yet, I'll see how many I end up making first!  If you want to join in Laila has created a hashtag so we can see what you're making too if you are on Instagram.  #plusquiltsewalong2016

I had cut a box full of 2 1/2" strips of batik fabrics so just started grabbing from that box and from a green batik bundle I had.  I think mine will be all blues and greens so quite different from the other participants.

First Snow Dyeing of 2016

It has been awhile since I played with some Snow Dyeing so I fixed that last night!  If your new to my blog Snow Dyeing is a dyeing technique and you can read about it in my tutorial here.   For this 1 metre piece of fabric I used the liquid dye method and two colours of dyes.   I mixed 1 tsp of Slate Blue in 1 cup of water and 1 tsp of Soft Brown in 1 cup of water and poured/drizzles it over the snow. I left it over night in my basement and by morning all the snow had melted and I washed up the fabric to reveal this!

I'm always so excited to see the final piece of fabric with all the wonderful textures in it.  The reds in the brown dye really come forward.

Lug Nuts #4

This is Sheri's Lug Nuts quilt that she was working on at our Swan River Retreat.  You can find this pattern in our Highway 10 Designs Etsy shop here.  I love the soft corals, beige and browns she used, very pretty.

Its hard to see the quilting design in these pictures as the sun has not been out for the last few days but I used the panto Allium.   Quilters Dream Blend batting and a coral So Fine thread on top and a beige Bottom Line on the back.  I had a Stonehenge backing that match her quilt top perfectly!

I had a fun encounter this morning with a very friendly fox. I was sitting at my kitchen table when it walked by on our deck so I grabbed my camera and even had time to add the zoom lens and went outside to get a few pictures.  It was startled at my presents at first as it was just resting under our bird feeder but just ran around the house and came back.  Then it started chasing squirrels in our yard and I cheered it on!   He walked right up to me, within 2 metres, which was too close for me so I stepped back a few steps to keep a comfortable distance.

He is a very healthy looking fox with a fluffly red coat.   

This last picture is my favorite.

My client Sheri who made this Lug Nuts quilt will probably get a kick out of these fox pictures as her maiden name is Fox!  How appropriate to get great pictures of this creature on the day I was posting her quilt pictures.

Comfort Quilts

I wanted to finished a few of our guilds Comfort Quilts before I started back to work in January.  I finished these two and am now ready to go back to work tomorrow.  

This first one is a Snowball block quilt with a piano key border and it is wonderful to see a simple block turn into a beautiful quilt!  I used the Fascination panto and Hobbs 80/20 batting.

This second quilt is made from a block that I think is called Garlic Knot, it have been two years since we made these blocks!  I used the Popcorn panto and Hobbs 80/20 batting.

Northern Lights on New Years Eve

We were treated to a beautiful display of Northern Lights tonight.  My husband and I got bundled up and took our cameras out onto the lake to get some pictures.  It was a mild evening with the temperatures being -7'c so that was great!  I didn't freeze my hands taking pictures.

This one is looking across our bay at our neighbors house and you can see the clouds starting to roll in.  And the next one is also of another neighbors house that turned out great.

We walked further out into the lake behind an island to block the light from the houses and got this next shot as well as the first picture in this post.

My husband took a picture of me taking pictures of the lights!

This was one of the best aurora events I have seen this year so was a great way to end the year!

Looking Back at 2015

Well another year is coming to a close and this is when I like to look back and remind myself that I did make time for my own personal projects.  Since starting my longarm business I knew it would be important for me to make time for my own quilting and I am happy to see I'm still maintaining that balance.    I quilted 92 client quilts this year which is a number I am very happy with as I schedule 10 a month for the 9 months that I work.  

So here are the projects I was able to finish in 2015. 

January - Simple batik place mats for my table.

April - Lug Nuts table runner that is now displayed at Kick Ass Quilt Shop.

June - Lori and I released a new Highway 10 Designs pattern called Detour.  It is a table runner and four place mats.

June - I made a fun quilt using Stonehenge Oh Canada fabric using our Highway 10 Designs Quarter Sections pattern.

July - Used a Bali Pop called River Rock to make a Popsicle Sticks quilt.

August - Star quilt using bright batiks.  I really wanted to make this quilt but had no plans for it. Then in September my cousin was diagnosed with breast cancer so I knew right away it was meant for her and sent it to her for a surprise.

November - Lori and I published another Highway 10 Designs pattern this year and this one is called City Slicker.

December -  Needed a quick project to work on at our guild retreat (remember I don't have any UFO's) so made a baby Quarter Sections quilt.

December - This is my favorite quilt of the year, my Butterflies quilt by Laundry Basket Designs.

I found the perfect spot to hang it, right over my bed.

December - Then the last quilt of the year was my Fair Isle Quilt by Freshly Pieced.  Since finishing it on Christmas day it now has a permanent spot on my couch for the winter.

So 10 finished projects is not too bad for the year.   I have a few projects in the works but the one thing that I'm looking forward to the most in the new year is teaching longarm quilting!  A new year and a new adventure!!

Happy New Year and thanks for visiting my blog!  I wish you all the best in 2016!

Freezing Bubbles

Since I live in a very cold climate it is good to find ways to amuse yourself when it gets down to -30c.  Today, with the help of my husband, we capture soap bubbles freezing.   I was fun to watching the ice crystals form and grow.  It happens quite quickly in these temperatures so was happy to get a few pictures. 

Now this was not my first attempt.  I tried earlier in the day with regular bubble soap, the kind you buy for blowing bubbles with kids, and that didn't work.  So I found a recipe online that worked great.   200ml of warm water, 30ml of white sugar, 35ml of corn syrup and 35ml of dish soap.

I was also able to capture one freezing on video so you can see just how fast this happens.  

Yes I am easily amused!!