I am still here, quilting away!

I have not blogged for a few weeks as I have been resting my left wrist which has been bothering me for awhile.  Resting has definitely helped and eased the soreness I have been encountering.

I have not been totally away from quilting though and did complete a quilt top from a Camille Roskelley book.

My dog once again photo bombed my picture!

The blocks turned out to be much larger than I envisioned at over 18 inches so I did not follow the pattern exactly.  I believe the pattern is called Sweet Life.   I also close to put a solid white square between the sashing rather than the four patch called for in the pattern.

I did agonize over the sashing fabric for several days.  I found two wonderful fabrics to complement the green in the centre fabric but when I laid them out it just didn't feel right.  I am happy with my polka dot choice and have decided that the binding will be a solid navy.  I went to the store last weekend for backing fabric and came home with more fabric to add to my stash....but no backing fabric.  I am sure that all quilters can appreciate how this happens.  

Tonight I will be working on improving my free motion quilting skills with some swirls on another UFO that has been patiently waiting.

I hope your quilting adventures this week are fun!

It feels like spring may finally be here!

The weather has finally improved and it feels like forever since we have been able to just hang out outside rather than running from house to car and back.  It's been a time of exploring the garden and seeing how things have fared over the winter.  And while I have been enjoying the work outside I did manage to get some quilting done!

This quilt was started last summer and I have become more and more brave with free motion quilting and completed it with stippling.  There are bobbles in my stitching if you look closely but I am pleased with the outcome.  Just one last thing to do and that's put a label on it.  I have decided to call it 'Macey's Dream' which was my Dad's suggestion.  I think Macey approves!

I just finished the binding on this Bonnie Hunter design - I think it's called Majestic Mountains.  I love the colours and again I stipple quilted it.  

And the latest quilt top completed is Cammile Roskelley's Spools!  I love this fabric that I found in a regular fabric store called Fabricland and the soft calming colours.  Looking forward to quilting this one but I have two other tops that are finished that need to be done first.

Macey likes it too!

That's it for me this week.  Hope you have a happy spring week!

Have you ever noticed....

.....that you go into your LQS for one thing and come out with totally different treasures?  Today I went shopping for a border fabric for a project that I had set aside as I was not enjoying it.  I tripped across it again last night when I was tidying and decided to finish what I had started but to change it up a bit and re-cut some of the squares.  I thought that a solid border might help increase my love of the pattern and off I headed.  I was barely in the door of the shop before I spotted these fabrics.

I have been keen to try the swoon quilt pattern and have been following Camille Roskelley and her mother Bonnie.  I have seen these fabrics amongst her finished quilts.  They 'called' to me so I just had to have some of each.

Moving further down the store I saw this collection.  The photo does not do them justice!  I am drawn to these colours and while I have no idea how I am going to use them yet I just had to have them too.  Fortunately two of the fabrics were in the clearance so I didn't feel quite so guilty.

I did not find the fabric I had originally set out to get but that's ok as I did find these other treasures.   I did buy one more fabric in a taupe / beige which will work perfectly for a spools quilt I am planning on making....also a Camille Roskelley pattern.  I know I have fabric in my stash that will work for the thread part of the spools so no need to shop for more.

I think it was a successful shopping trip and I left with a smile on my face and kept glancing over at the fabrics peeking out of the bag as I drove home.  Just like a kid in a candy store!

I am slow to finish hand sewing the binding on two quilts and will have show and tell for them once done.

Enjoy your quilting this week!

I admit it....I'm a book-aholic!

I've had a binge of purchasing quilt books and patterns that I 'just have to have' of late and fall in love with many of the designs in each of the books.  I know there will never be enough time to make them all but I am thinking of putting a personal rule in place for myself that I have make at least one item from each book I purchase before I purchase a new book.  Sounds reasonable, right?  The problem is which book to start with!   I am like a kid in a candy store with fabric and books, but hey quilting is my addiction so I'm ok with that.

Here are some recent purchases -

I am almost finished with the piecing of a quilt from the Seamingly Scrappy book so phew, that's one off the list!!

I am still working on the binding of another quilt which I have been gradually doing in the evenings as I watch TV.  I also pin basted a Bonnie Hunter quilt top I made yesterday with a little help from my best friend.  I hope to start the quilting on it in the next week or so as time allows.

So I have been buying books, piecing and basting this past week.  Very productive if I do say so!

Enjoy your quilting endeavours this week!

A Promise of Spring

I finally finished the binding on my triangle trees wall hanging that I have now decided to name 'A Promise of Spring'.  The colours remind me of the young foliage in the spring so it sounds appropriate to me.  For some reason I had a brain misstep when I was doing the binding and had to rip the corners out even though I knew darn well how it was supposed to be sewn to create nice mitred corners.  They are not perfect now but I shall live with it.  Just a quilt label to go onto it and it's done!

I finished the stippling on another UFO and learned a lot from that about maneuvering a larger quilt through my DSM.  The stippling is a bit rough in a few spots but I anticipate that the more quilting I do the more I will improve.  And I am really looking forward the the practice and was so thrilled with my accomplishment on the UFO each time I walked by the room and caught a peek of it.  I am currently working on the binding and will have show and tell when it's done.  

Meanwhile I am thinking about my next project.  I have a Bonnie Hunter top finished and purchased the batting for it the other day so there will be more quilting in my future.   I do have a plethora of project choices from the many new books I have so I can't wait to see what I come up with next!

Hoping you are having a great day!

So many choices!

I have been on a book buying spree this week and have so many quilt patterns to choose from now I hardly know where to start.  But then I screech to a halt and remind myself that I need to finish some of the quilt tops that have resided in my cupboard for far too long.  So today I cleared the kitchen floor and got down to basting this one.

I love the colours and was into orange at the time I chose the fabrics.  It will be nice to see it finished.  Now I need to choose a pattern to quilt onto it.  This will be the first larger quit that I will free motion so I am taking a Monet to pan what I would like to do.  I am thinking of stippling it and spent the afternoon drawing to test out the size for the stippling and trying to maintain consistent spacing.  I really would like to do swirls but for some reason I just can't master it yet so I will have to spend more time with pen and paper for that one.  

Wish me luck!  Stay warm and happy quilting!

It's about the journey...

I enjoy reading the quilt blogs each day and find a wealth of ideas which gives me such enthusiasm for this hobby that I love.  I am amazed at how quickly some quilters seem to start and finish each quilt....especially when some of the quilts are quite large.  I feel like I lag behind in my completions.  This week, after a few conversations with myself (I am sure I am not alone in having chats with oneself) I have made a number of realizations.  The first of these is that it's not a race but rather about spending time enjoying what I love to do.

I have finished my triangle trees wall hanging but need to bind it once I scrounge through my stash to see what I have available to use.  I would like to name this wall hanging and put a label on it but don't seem to be able to come up with a suitable name at the moment.   I will share a photo of it once the binding is done.

Meanwhile I visited Sew Sisters quilt shop in Toronto last weekend and bought a Jaybird pattern that I fell in love with.

This is the second Jaybird pattern I have purchased and honestly it's the second one that I have mucked up when cutting the fabric.  I think I am a Jaybird bird brain.  There really is nothing wrong with the directions.   This pattern calls for the pieces to be cut on the right and wrong side of the fabric.  Despite reading the directions first I still managed mess it up and unfortunately I had used up all my background fabric.  I was kicking myself and then sat back and decided to salvage what I had and see how many blocks could be made.  After sewing nine blocks together I wasn't very satisfied with my seams in the centre of the block.  As a perfectionist, I was tempted to rip the seams apart.  

And then it dawned on me.   I don't have to make the pattern exactly as purchased and my seams don't have to be perfect.  This is my interpretation of the pattern and as long as I have enjoyed the process and I am happy with the completed project that's what counts.  A tough realization for this perfectionalist but I do believe I am ok with that.  After all, it's about the journey!

Triangle Trees

On one of my blog reading sessions I came across a photo of a wall hanging that I fell in love with on Grace and Favour blog http://carla-graceandfavour.blogspot.ca/2012/11/a-cherry-christmas-quilt.html.  Something about the colours, the quilting and the tree design spoke to me so I set about creating it for myself.  I have a triangle template and there was definitely no need to purchase fabric (ha, ha) so I cut up a number of 6 inch triangles and laid them out on a bed (my design wall) with the idea of mimicking the layout in the photo.  What I quickly discovered is that I didn't like the size of the triangle and returned to the cutting mat to reduce each by an inch.  I was much more satisfied with the result.

With the top made now the decision on how to quilt it loomed.  I did some doodling and entertained a number of different patterns for both the coloured triangle trees and the background.  In the end it was clear to me that the quilting in the original photo is a good part of what drew me to the wall hanging so I ultimately choose to do a very straight lined quilting on the background off white pieces following the outline of each unit.  I am still in the process of doing the quilting but here is a sneak peek.

One observation I have made about myself in this journey is that regardless of whether or not I do simple straight lined quilting or free motion, I have to take a deep breath before I start.  Am I the only one who feels like this?    I am so afraid of ruining the top but once I start the quilting the anticipation of the completed product moves me forward. 

Now I just need to name this piece....

Happy Sunday!

Whirlygigs finished!

It's taken me a lot longer than anticipated to finish the quilting on this whirlygig table runner.  The Aurafil thread broke constantly.  I called the place I purchased my Janome from and he suggested changing the needle, which I had already done, and using the single hole needle plate but still I continued to have problems.  It was the upper thread that shredded and broke each time but before each break the bobbin would start making a noise so I think the problem comes from the bobbin.  I am considering trying a different upper and bobbin thread the next time to see if that makes a difference.

By the time I had dealt with all the thread issues I was sure I was going to hate how this table runner turned out but I am quite pleased with it.  I did tight swirls (not very round or as successful as I had hoped) and then a looser quilting around the outside.  I rather like the effect of dark and light that this has created.  It's all a learning process!

I have spent far too much time again scouring the quilt blogs looking for inspiration and did see a triangle quilt that has peaked my interest.  It's similar to the Christmas tree runner that I made in style but not colour.  I have two other table runners to quilt yet but hey, a girl can always start another project in the meantime!

Happy quilting!

Swirls!

We have been enduring the extreme cold and never ending snow of late so dealing with the elements has taken up much of my free time.  It seems like barely a day has gone by in January that I didn't have to shovel snow, today being no different.

I completed a red and beige whirlygig table runner top and have started to do the quilting on it.  I quilted echoed tear drops again in the whirligigs and decided to try my hand at swirls which are similar but it took me a few attempts to get the pattern right on paper.  So while I have been slow to quilt this table runner, I have actually spent a fair bit of time drawing practice swirls which is always a good thing.

I love Amy's free motion Quilting Adventures blog found here http://freemotionquiltingadventures.blogspot.ca. Amy loads free motion videos which I have been carefully watching to understand the movement from one section of a design to the next.  One of the issues for me is the free motion foot I was using for my Janome is a clear plastic one and I found it was distorting my view of where I'd been and where I was going.  I made a trip to my LQS and discussed the options and was pleased to discover I already had the metal open toed foot with my machine so I didn't have to purchase anything. Woo hoo!  I do believe this will work better for me.  I worked on quilting some swirls yesterday and the change of foot is great but it's a good thing the thread is the same colour as the fabric so my wonky swirls don't show up as clearly.  What's the old saying....practice makes perfect!

A new found confidence!

I finished quilting and binding my first table runner and am quite pleased with it.  I know the quilting is far from perfect but it has given me the confidence to keep trying and improve my skills.  I have so many tops completed but I don't want to bite off a huge challenge yet so I have decided to make a few more table runners.  This will give me some more much needed practice and allow me to try different designs.

I am a huge blog reader and have listened to the suggestion of many to draw designs over and over for practice.  I have to admit that they are right.  As much as I have a picture of what I want in my head it somehow just doesn't translate onto the paper.  So I shall continue to practice.  I have seen some beautiful swirl designs done by Angela Walters and Judi Madsen whose work I admire so much.

So here is the latest table runner top that I have completed.  Unfortunately I don't have the grey coloured thread that I want to use and won't be able to start quilting until I make a trip to the LQS for the thread.  I am thinking a swirl design will take the edge off the sharp design of this top so that my current plan for how I will finish this....until I change my mind that is!

Wishing becomes a reality!

I intended to blog before now but dealing with ice storms and deep freezes of late has taken a lot of time from quilting.  But I finally got the nerve up to start quilting my table runner and am quite pleased with the results.  I decided to do an echoed teardrop and spent some time drawing the design and working my way in and out of spaces until I was comfortable enough to head to the sewing machine.  This is a pattern I found on Art Gallery Fabrics blog called Sprouts of Joy

I learned a lot through this process - how to get in and out of corners, filling small spaces, the need to keep my movements consistent and to relax.   I see a number of issues with the quilting but everyone has to start somewhere!




For the centre I used an Aurifil matching thread.  My theory was that if I did a horrible job on the quilting it wouldn't be as noticeable.  One of the things I learned through this process is that while it may not be as noticeable, it is harder to see the thread when you are doing the actual quilting. .  My teardrops were not large which gave me the opportunity to do more of them and therefore get more practice.

Then I moved to the red/green fabric and used a Sulky blendables  thread for it with a slightly larger teardrop design.  I have to say that this thread broke several times.  I am not sure what the reason was but I am happy with the results.

All I have to do now is bind it and it's ready for use.  I must say I am quite chuffed with my efforts.

I have another table runner that I will quilt next I think.  My plan is to tackle small projects and gain the experience before I move to larger tops to be quilted.

Let's try the photo again....

I haven't correctly added the photo to the last post so hopefully it will work this time....  Here is a  photo taken this morning while the light was rather grey.