I started this charity quilt prior to COVID but put it aside when I started getting into online zoom art quilt classes with amazing instructors around the world. 2023 is my year of catching up and finishing outstanding projects. I am happy to say this is my 4th UFO finish
Filed under Charity Quilt, Quilts of Valour
In 2021 I made this art quilt of Lucy and I entered it into the Canadian Quilters Association (CQA) national juried show. I was thrilled to learn that it was juried into the 2021 CQA Show. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, the in-person show was cancelled and replaced with a virtual show so I never got the opportunity to see it hang on the show floor.
This summer I received at email from CQA informing me that they were compiling a selection of juried entries into a “Best of Quilting in Canada”collection and they wanted to include my piece. The quilts would be exhibited in the New England Quilt Museum (NEQM) in Lowell, Massachusetts, from January 17 to May 9, 2023. Needless to say, I was shocked and thrilled.
All of the selected quilts are also featured in the 2023 spring edition of Canadian Quilters Magazine.
Those who know me well know that the 5 years that I was blessed to be able to volunteer at the zoo were very special to me. Of course my favourite was Lucy. She has captured my heart and soul. The only reason I made this piece was so that I could see her face and soulful eyes everyday because COVID brought an abrupt and heartbreaking end to my time at the zoo.
If anyone knows someone who lives near the museum I can’t tell you how special it would be to have a picture of her hanging in the exhibit.
Filed under Art Quilt, Canadian Quilters Association, CQA, Quilt Canada
I’ve completed the first clue from the Unity quilt-a-long. It is the centre medallion for the finished quilt. I can’t believe how many people had the first clue completed within hours of it being released Monday morning. I made mine last a couple of days….now I just have to wait until Monday for the next clue to be released.
Filed under QAL, Quilt-A-Long, Unity QAL
Today is our Grandson’s 3rd birthday. I made him this very special quilt. It has a few thousand pieces in it and it took many, many hours to cut the fabric and piece it together. It was definitely a labour of love. He can either put it on his big boy bed and use it as a blanket or he can put it on the floor and play on it.
To read more about the making of this quilt and see more pictures click here.
Filed under Gift Quilt, Quilting
On a whim, and to push myself out of my comfort zone, I entered one of my quilts into the 2019 Edmonton Festival of Quilts show. I went today to volunteer and was so surprised to see that there was a 2nd place ribbon hanging on it. There were so many amazing and inspiring quilts at the show. I’ve got so many ideas for new projects swirling around in my head.
Filed under Festival of Quilts, FMQ, Quilting
Over a period of 3 months this summer, amongst friends and family, we had 5 beautiful babies born. Although this was the first quilt I made, it was the last one to go to its new home. I made this one for our Niece’s first baby. We didn’t know the gender and Mom wanted a marine/ocean themed gender neutral quilt using blues and greys. I found this pattern (Preppy the Whale by Elizabeth Hartman) and instantly fell in love with it. It is just perfect for a marine themed baby quilt. I didn’t know when I made it that Dad’s favourite colour was orange.
A member of our walking group saw me working on Cleo’s Preppy quilt and asked me to make one just like it for a close friend who was expecting a baby girl.
Filed under Baby Quilt, FMQ, Quilting
In June we added a beautiful new member to our extended family. Baby Edward joins his big sister, 2 year old Ava.
Filed under Baby Quilt, Quilting
For the first time, Klondike Days (our annual summer exhibition) featured a Makers Exhibition to showcase and celebrate local makers, creators, artists and producers. On a whim, I decided to enter my Bridges of Madison County quilt into the Longarm Quilting category. Unfortunately I was so busy that I completely forgot to go and see the exhibit before it closed. I went this week to pick up my quilt and was shocked to see that it had a first place ribbon on it. The judges comments were “Superb. Small pucker on backing but otherwise excellent”.
Filed under Quilting
I am way behind in posting pictures of my completed quilts. I finished the comfort quilt about a month ago. It was given as a group gift to one of our friends in our Sunday morning walking group. It includes inspirational sayings that were picked out by members of our group. I have never been a fan of “scrappy” quilts but there is something about this one that really appeals to me. I just smile when I look at it.
Filed under Comfort QAL, Lap Quilt, QAL, Quilt-A-Long
I did it!!! Only a year late but it is done. We have had such a cold, snowy winter that I had to wait for a milder day to get some pictures. It was definitely a challenge to make some of the 3 inch blocks but I am glad that I did it. Would I do it again….probably not. Now it is just looking for a good home.
I did some custom quilting in the 4 corner blocks and the centre medallion….otherwise I just used a simple e2e design called Deco Vine.
As with all of my quilts, when I sit down in the lazy boy to hand sew on the binding….my cute little fur ball always has to plant herself in the middle of the pile making it more challenging to accomplish my task.
Here are few closeups of some of the blocks:
Filed under 365 Challenge, Quilting
Well I’ve managed to complete several blocks and some of the sashing pieces. I’ve been experimenting with different layouts to try and decide how I want to finish my On Ringo Lake quilt.
Here is my on-point layout as it was designed by the author Bonnie K. Hunter:
Here are the same blocks with them arranged in rows and columns rather than on-point:
Here are some of my own ideas that I have been playing with. I doubled up the sashing to create a secondary design and added blue blocks (on-point and standard layouts). If I pick this design I am going to add a variety of different blue blocks to keep with the scrappy look.
And these two use a four patch instead of the solid squares:
I can’t decide which one I like best. Any and all opinions welcome.
Linking up to the Mystery Monday linkup at Quiltsville’s Quips and Snips
Filed under mystery quilt, On Ringo Lake Mystery, QAL, Quilt-A-Long
We are so thrilled to announce the arrival of our first grand child. We travelled to their home town on July 5th, two days before the official due date. Unfortunately the baby decided that it didn’t want to make an appearance on the scheduled date. As each day went by we got more and more nervous that it wouldn’t be born before our scheduled departure date of July 15th. I guess the baby decided that it was worth meeting us after all. Cameron James was born at 4:45am on Thursday, July 14th. He was 7lbs 12 ounces and 20.5 inches long. Mom, Dad and Cameron are all doing well and adjusting to life as a family.
Here is a picture of Cameron before they even weighed/measured him.
And of course proud Grandma and Grandpa with Cameron:
36 hours old after his first home bath.
And a few pictures of the nursery with the quilt, pillow, window treatment and crib skirt that I made.
Filed under Baby Quilt, Quilting, Two legged family
I apologize for the rash of recent posts. I couldn’t publish my finishes as they were completed because I wanted them to be a surprise for Erin and Paul. Unfortunately I have to have them all public before the July 7th close of the 2nd quarter of the 2016 finish-a-long. My final finish of the 2nd quarter (here is a link to my original list ) is a v-shaped window treatment for the nursery. I love how it turned out. It helps to tie everything together. One side has prairie points like the pillow and it incorporates all the colours from the quilt, bedskirt and pillow. The other side is a more simple verticle green aqua and white stripe.
Linking to:
Design Wall Monday @Patchwork Times
Linky Tuesday @Freemotion by the River
Fabric Tuesday @Quilt Story
WIP Wednesday @The Needle and Thread Network
Lets Bee Social @Sew Fresh Quilts
Needle and Thread Thursday @My Quilt Infatuation
Finish it Up Friday @Crazy Mom Quilts
TGIFF @A Quarter Inch from the Edge
Can I Get A Whoop Whoop @Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Whomp There it is @A Quilted Passion
Show Off Saturday @Sew Can She
Filed under FAL, Finish-A-Long, Quilting
I have my third finish of the 2nd quarter (here is a link to my original list ). It’s a quilt for our first grandchild. I was having trouble trying to decide on a design for the quilt so I decided to go with my two favourites and make it a two sided quilt. Are you noticing a theme here. All of the items that I made for our grand baby are two sided. I wanted to give the parents as many options as possible for their nursery. I was asked to make everything gender neutral using any combination of green aqua, navy, yellow and grey.
I saw this quilt idea on Pinterest and thought it would be perfect for a baby quilt. Neither too masculine or feminine. I changed the design a little bit. Instead of each row alternating the twist I made them all start and twist in unison. I like it better this way….softer and less distracting. I made 104 of these little blocks and then trimmed them all. Despite hating all the time it takes to trim the blocks, I do get some satisfaction from looking at the big pile of perfectly sized blocks and the colourful pile of cuttings.
I placed all the blocks on my design wall to help me decide what order to place the colours.
Then came the second quilt top for the back. I made 108 half square triangles using numerous prints and solids in each colour group. Once again I used my trusty design wall to lay out the HSTs and came up with this design. I then added white strips to make the top 5″ bigger on all four sides so I could mount it on my longarm.
I wasn’t able to do any intricate free motion quilting because it would look good on the one side but the design would not match up with the quilt layout on the other side. I went with an all over design called Arrowhead.
I used two layers of batting, Hobbes 80/20 and a high loft polyester. It really gives some life to the free motion quilting.
I really wanted to put a label on the quilt for our grand baby. Unfortunately, because it was two sided, there was nowhere to put it where it wouldn’t stand out and take away from the quilt. I found this great post online where a quilter showed how she stitched words into her bindings to replace the traditional label. It was perfect. I used off white thread so that it would just disappear into the binding but you could still find it if you were looking for it. It says “Made with love 2016 Grandma Debbie”
Linking up to:
Design Wall Monday @Patchwork Times
Linky Tuesday @Freemotion by the River
Fabric Tuesday @Quilt Story
WIP Wednesday @The Needle and Thread Network
Lets Bee Social @Sew Fresh Quilts
Needle and Thread Thursday @My Quilt Infatuation
Finish it Up Friday @Crazy Mom Quilts
TGIFF @A Quarter Inch from the Edge
Can I Get A Whoop Whoop @Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Whomp There it is @A Quilted Passion
Show Off Saturday @Sew Can She
Filed under Baby Quilt, FAL, Finish-A-Long, FMQ, Quilting
I have my second finish of the 2nd quarter (here is a link to my original list ). It is a 20 x 20 pillow I made for our grand baby’s nursery. They didn’t want to know the sex of the baby so they went with a gender neutral colour scheme of green aqua walls with accents in navy, yellow and grey. The first side of the pillow has an appliquéd dolphin on it. Erin loves dolphins.
The other side has a cute appliquéd giraffe and bird. I also added some prairie points to give it more interest.
Linking up to:
Design Wall Monday @Patchwork Times
Linky Tuesday @Freemotion by the River
Fabric Tuesday @Quilt Story
WIP Wednesday @The Needle and Thread Network
Lets Bee Social @Sew Fresh Quilts
Needle and Thread Thursday @My Quilt Infatuation
Finish it Up Friday @Crazy Mom Quilts
TGIFF @A Quarter Inch from the Edge
Can I Get A Whoop Whoop @Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Whomp There it is @A Quilted Passion
Show Off Saturday @Sew Can She
Filed under FAL, Finish-A-Long, Pillow
This is my first finish for the 2nd quarter (here is a link to my original list ). Erin knew that I was going to make a quilt for the crib so she asked me if I would also make a co-ordinating adjustable bed skirt. I had no idea that crib skirts were adjustable let alone how to make one. After much online research I figured out that there are a couple of ways to do it depending on how the base of the crib is made. In our case there is grid work so the best option is to have ties on each skirt piece so that the skirt can be raised as the crib is lowered.
The first side is this lovely navy blue fabric with a small white print alternating with white. I think it could easily be masculine or feminine.
The other side is a solid green aqua (the nursery wall colour) with a small white print.
Filed under Baby Quilt, FAL, Finish-A-Long
It’s time to list all the items that I plan to finish in the next 3 months. This is an easy one. We are going to be grandparents in a few months so this quarter is dedicated to baby stuff. We don’t know the sex of the baby and they want a gender neutral nursery. We’ve been given this colour swatch…..green aqua.
The nursery will be painted this colour, the furniture will be all white and they want navy, grey and yellow accents.
I am making a crib quilt, and adjustable crib skirt, a pillow and a surprise. I can’t share any pictures of the fabric I have chosen because I want it to be a surprise….hopefully a good one.
Filed under Baby Quilt, FAL, Finish-A-Long, Quilting
Back in the fall of 2014 I was very lucky and won a fat quarter bundle from Sew Sister’s Blogathon Canada. It was Northcott’s Stonehenge OH CANADA line. Last year I made this quilt and donated it to Quilts of Valour Canada.
I used the leftover fabric to make another quilt to donate in 2016. This also gives me my second FAL finish for the first quarter (here is a link to my original FAL post)
I used a poppy motif in the centre of the squares and in the border. I also did quite a bit of ruler work in the light border and between the squares. The front is so busy that it is hard to see the quilting. I like the design that it makes on the back.
I altered my label to add the Quilts of Valour logo.
Linking up to:
Design Wall Monday @Patchwork Times
Linky Tuesday @Freemotion by the River
WIP Wednesday @The Needle and Thread Network
Let’s Bee Social @Sew Fresh Quilts
Needle and Thread Thursday @My Quilt Infatuation
Whomp There it Is @A Quilted Passion
Finish It Up Friday @Crazy Mom Quilts
Free motion Mavericks @Lizzy Lenard Vintage Sewing
TGIFF @Celtic Thistle Stitches
Can I Get A Whoop Whoop @Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Show Off Saturday @Sew Can She
Filed under Charity Quilt, FAL, Finish-A-Long, FMQ, Quilting, Quilts of Valour, Scrap Quilt
This morning I received these wonderful pictures of the lovely Ava Nicole with her quilt. What a cutie pie! She is almost 6 weeks old now. We live very far away from our family so it is so nice to be able to see pictures of her, especially with her quilt. Hopefully we will be able to meet her in person some time soon.
Filed under Baby Quilt, Quilting
We are having a bit of a baby explosion in our extended family. On February 9th we welcomed Ava Nicole. I thought they were due in March so I had some time to spare. I was so sure that they were having a boy that I had started on a masculine quilt. When we got the call that Ava Nicole was born, I had to switch to baby girl mode. I just love this fabric from Bonnie and Camille called “Vintage Modern” and thought it was perfect. I’ve never played with a drunkards path block so that was my inspiration.
I had some fun free motion quilting it to enhance the shapes.
Linking up to:
Design Wall Monday @Patchwork Times
Fabric Tuesday @Quilt Story
Linky Tuesday @Freemotion by the River
WIP Wednesday @The Needle and Thread Network
Needle and Thread Thursday @My Quilt Infatuation
Let’s Bee Social @Sew Fresh Quilts
WHOOMP There it is @A Quilted Passion
TGIFF @A Quarter Inch from the Edge
Finish It Up Friday @Crazy Mom Quilts
Can I Get a Whoop Whoop @Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Free motion Mavericks @Lizzie Lenard Vintage Sewing
Show Off Saturday @Sew Can She
Filed under Baby Quilt, FMQ, Quilting
I have managed to keep up with the 365 quilt challenge. I’ve got my first 21 blocks of the year done:
My Quilts of Valour WIP is on the longarm getting ditched while I decide how I want to quilt it.
And finally, I have all the blocks pieced on my baby quilt so I am in the process of sewing the blocks together. I haven’t decided if I am going to add any borders.
Linking up to:
Design Wall Monday @Patchwork Times
Fabric Tuesday @Quilt Story
WIP Wednesday @Freshly Pieced
WIP Wednesday @The Needle and Thread Network
Needle and Thread Thursday @My Quilt Infatuation
Filed under 365 Challenge, FAL, Finish-A-Long, Quilts of Valour, Uncategorized, WIP, Work-in-progress
I’m participating in the #365quiltchallenge2016 this year. It is a block a day challenge that will result in a 90×90 ultimate sampler quilt. I’m making mine a pseudo scrappy version using blue and brown fabrics from my stash plus a few extras. So far I am up-to-date on my blocks. Let’s hope I can keep it up.
Filed under 365 Challenge, Quilt-A-Long, Quilting
I volunteered to do the free motion quilting for members of my quilt guild who made a quilt top for Our Lady of Grace. Ioleen pieced this quilt from blocks that were donated by guild members. She gave me the freedom to quilt it however I wanted to. As usual, once I get going on the longarm I can’t stop myself. Hopefully she will like it.
Filed under Charity Quilt, Quilting, Volunteering
It is time to compile my list of works-in-progress that I hope to finish in the final quarter of the 2015 Finish-a-long hosted by Adrianne at On The Windy Side. I’ve got 3 projects:
I’ve got a HST quilt in progress. It is a surprise so I can’t show too much of it.
These are some of the blocks that I have made for my series of Leftover’s Quilts. This will be the 6th one.
I’ve got a few dozen left over 5″ squares and a handful of HSTs from the first WIP on my list that I plan to piece into a new quilt.
Filed under FAL, Finish-A-Long, HST
It is that time again. My October goal for the “A Lovely Year of Finishes” hosted by Sew Bitter Sweet Designs is a work-in-progress that I need to finish by the end of this month. I’ve cut lots of 5 inch squares from yardage in my stash that I am making into half square triangles. I can’t show too many pictures of it because it is a surprise.
Filed under A Lovely Year of Finishes, ALYOF, Baby Quilt, Quilting
I was great at keeping up to date with Quiltessentials BOM (block of the month) program until June and then I lost the handle. We are a week away from picking up August’s fabric bundle so I got my act together today and completed June and July.
2015 July BOM
2015 June BOM
Little black dress lap quilt is almost done…I am just hand sewing on the binding.
My scrumptious lap quilt has been quilted and trimmed. I just have to attach the binding and then hand sew it on the back.
I’ve made no progress on Leftovers V.
Linking up to:
Design Wall Monday @Patchwork Times
Filed under Block of the Month, BOM, WIP, Work-in-progress
Well my little black dress quilt didn’t get finished in May so it is now my June goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes. It needs to be quilted and bound.
Filed under A Lovely Year of Finishes, ALYOF, Lap Quilt, Quilting
It is time to set my finish goal for March. I have the perfect UFO. Leftover’s IV has been on my FAL list two or three times already but has continued to be neglected. I took it off my frame twice to work on other quilts. I just have to finish the free motion quilting and bind it.
Filed under A Lovely Year of Finishes, ALYOF, Quilting
After a two year hiatus I have decided to participate in QuiltEssential Co’s 2015 Block of the Month (BOM) program again. Their theme this year is novels and I picked “Bridges of Madison County” which features this pretty combination of tangerine/mango and grey prints. The blocks finishes at 10.5 inches so that will make a nice sized quilt once all 12 are done.
Here is January’s block all finished with 10 days to spare.
Filed under Block of the Month, Quilting
This year I’ve decided to participate in ‘A Lovely Year of Finishes’ (#ALYoF) hosted by Bitter Sweet Designs. At the beginning of each month you have to blog about one WIP that you want to finish that month. Hopefully by the end of the month you will have attained your goal.
My goal for January is to finish this baby quilt made with Zen Chic Barcelona.
Filed under A Lovely Year of Finishes, ALYOF, Quilting
Life In The Dog House 