Mucho Hexagons

Free motion Quilting Challenge

I have bravely signed up for the free motion quilting challenge I saw on this blog by SewCalGal.  I am hoping it will inspire and assist me in improving my quilting from straight lines and leaves to more adventurous things.  It snowed this weekend so I guess maybe it is part of the nesting instinct.

It may have something to do with the fact that I should be working on my DD's christmas stocking order.

The Hexagons are growing

Enough said.

Citrus Quilt

So my DD finished the quilt we were working on.  It is so beautiful and I found it on ...hee, hee,...the spare bed... the one I get to sleep on when I visit.  How lucky am I??

Bright Colours Bali

Roman Shades

My DD and I are always thinking and she is thinking Roman Shades for her baby room.  My Mr made the wooden bracket that I use for Roman shades and it works really well. A picture tells a thousand words...

Hopefully baby won't have such a boring pattern on his/her shade...

Quilt in Waiting

And here are some pieces for another quilt all cut up and ready to go...
Most of the fabric are bali prints from a bundle of 2 1/2 in strips.  Quick cutting and hopefully quick piecing...

Bright Quilt

Guess what?  I am finished quilting a smallish quilt.  Here's a peek.  It still needs some binding though.

Pincushion Crazy 3

After two BIG pincushion trials - I think I went too small.  But cute.

I remembered some bean bags that I had made for the children years ago and I thought I needed four finished rectangles in a 2/4 ratio.  So I thought I would like the finished size to be 1 1/2 in by 3 in so I cut out a total of four rectangles (two of each colour)that were 2in x 3 1/2 inches

Laying the four rectangles our alternating colours in a cross, begin sewing turning corners as you go.  I found it was easiest to sew on the side with the 90 degree corner on top so I did quite a bit of backstitching on the other side and then flipping it over.  It got a bit tricky but in the end just keep trying to close it all in like a quasi box (but not).

I put in a bit of brown rice for weight and then polyester stuffing to plump it up.  It ended up really small...Maybe I should have cut the rectangles 2 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches.  Maybe next time.

Now I have lots of pincushions.  I am really pleased they look great.  Maybe I will just display them in a group...

Pincushion Crazy 2

Undaunted I tried again.  This time I thought I would go with something I know.  I went to bhg.com to find the pattern for Anna Maria Horner's Flower Pincushion.  I made three of these a few years ago and ended up giving them all away.  I thought they would be smaller and perhaps a better size.  Remembering how they flew out of my sewing room with their admirers I thought a multiple would be a good idea.

OKay five might be more than I need but they are all sooo cute... and easy to make.  But sadly still a bit big...

Pincushion Crazy

I decided I needed a pincushion to sit beside my sewing machine to hold the extraneous pins as they come out my carefully pinned corner matches.  After cruising the blogs I follow I found a tutorial on Penny's Hands and made her Hexie Caddy.  That was easy.

Mine turned out like this...

I was trying to go for the fish bowl look.  Well, it's nearly as big as a fishbowl.  I like it.  But there is not really room on my sewing machine table for it...

Wedded Love

' Years ago,and side by side,
      We two were at the alter kneeling;
  And whilst on earth the knot was tied,
      Angels, in heaven, our vows were sealing.

                                              Anon

Recycled Hand Towels

Good Morning,

I have downsized my linen closet because there are just many more things I could store there besides linen and came up with a pile of mostly gently used bath sized towels.  My DD says she's in need of hand towels in her bathroom... Hmmm... so here goes.

I laid out the bath towels and cut two hand towel sized pieces from them.

To do this I cut a crosswise strip from the towel that was about 15 inches wide.  Then I searched through my left over quilt bindings and found what I deemed suitable pieces and folding over about 1/4 in to the inside I stitched them on.

As you can see I used the walking foot and used a scant 1/4 inch seam.

The binding worked well.  I am kind of known for cutting the binding small so I am using left overs  that are only 1 3/4 inches wide.

 The result would be a bit different if you used 2 or 2 1/2 inch wide binding.  But I am very pleased with the result.  We'll see what my DD thinks about white hand towels.  I'm thinking with her crew she might have been hoping for something darker but c'est la vie.

A Heart for Aunty Alice

I've been busy completing this collaboration with my mom.  She gave me the centre heart block already quilted very beautifully.

Then I added the borders.  And today I mailed it off to Aunty.  It will be a nice addition to her wall to remind her of her family.

Holidays are done

Oh, sigh, the holiday is over and now I have so many things running through my head...

In a good way I assure you.  I am moving my quilt studio (well it will be a studio when it's moved - right now its a sewing room )  Our sons old room is available and I want to fill it.  It actually has a big window unlike my old sewing room that had none.  It is freshly painted and I have already started filling the closet shelves with plastic tubs of projects.  I can hardly wait to sit there in the natural light and sew.

Anyhow while I was away on holiday I did do some sewing with our darling featherweight machine - so portable...

Paper piecing don't you love it?  Well I don't but I sure like the result.

This project was on the cover of Quiltmaker's All-Time Favorites, Spring 2004, magazine. 

Bunny garden

I found this embroidery project on the web at Willowberry Designs.  The instructions are very good and the embroidery worked up pretty quickly.  My favourite block is the bunny garden one.  So sweet.

My Sewing Case

My DD came fro a visit and even brought the Grandbabies.  If that wasn't enough she had sewn up this darling little sewing case.  And she gave it to me as a hostess gift.So it stands to reason that I have to reciprocate.  So after watching Iron Man 2 I am on the home stretch of her citrus blocks.

Although I did hear some rumblings that maybe a few more blocks and we would have a queen size quilt....

She is so clever at reusing all those men's dress shirts for the background squares, and then convincing me to pick out the cool citrus colours from my stash.  And where we were running short especially in the yellows she importuned her grandmother.  Very clever indeed.

A June Evening

'nough said

What's on my quilting frame?

Now for the hand quilting....

Pyramids

I have also squeezed in some time to work with a new ruler.  It's the Fons & Porter pyramid ruler.  I just happened to be watching a taped episode of Fons & Porter working on Kalamkari strippy quilt from the Sept/Oct 2008 magazine.  It turns out I had just purchased the exact ruler they were using on the show a month ago in Red Deer called Kwilted Keepsakes.  How amazing is that?

Anyhow, I just had to try some.

I used the same bali prints for these as for the bow-tie mat ( I bought them in Moose Jaw at The Quilt Patch).  They were a bunch of 2.5" strips.  Now sadly used up.  No tears here though.

Completed Bow-tie Mat

I just realized that I didn't show off my new Bow-Tie Mat made from a tutorial I found on the internet.  Well here it is.

I am very pleased with the result and the quilting itself was sooo fun.

My New Old Rooster Quilt

I dug out these finished blocks last week and started sewing the blocks together.  The pattern is from Quiltmaker's All-Time Favourite series of magazines from Spring 2002.  I seem to have misplaced my copy of the magazine itself, but here are the blocks.

I am kind of crazy for needle-turned applique as you can see but in my usual way I sort of loose interest once the applique is done.  Oh, sigh....

But after quilting the bow-tie mat, I really wanted another project to quilt and this one was elected.

Mr.'s new shirt

This week I was inspired to take this old truck fabric I bought at Fabricland and generate a new shirt for my Mr.  He would really like to own an old truck

but I think an old truck shirt would be better especially given the storage and maintenance schedule of the shirt as opposed to the actual truck.

The Queen's Happy marriage

Happy Birthday Prince Philip.

Binding in the rain...

So in my wanderings on line I came across a gorgeous tutorial for a bowtie block done up as placemats.  It was sooo cute I went straight to my sewing room and whipped up a mat to Lee's specs.  Today I'm binding the mat I made. And it's raining gently on the roof...

Cute little shopping bag

Guess what this is...haha, a new smallish shopping bag to carry in my purse so I will always have a bag for my personal stuff at Shoppers, and I won't have to pay their stupid $.03 any more.  Yeah, me.  Want to see what it looks like unzipped ?

I love it!  It came from Sew Mama Sew It is their featured tutorial.  Very clever.

Sewing a shell for me.

While perusing a rabbit trail on the internet, I saw this shell top.  It showed up as a freebie on Collette Patterns I liked it a lot and I was just lamenting that I had no summer things that were new.  Well I downloaded the pattern that afternoon and did the sewing yesterday although my son called me a troll for staying in my basement studio all morning.  It was worth it.  I am very pleased with the result.

This fabric is 100% cotton and I used the scraps to make the bias binding.   Mr had brought it back from Ankora, Turkey and it just hadn't fit in yet to a quilt...

Now as for the troll thing - aren't they about bridges....

A morning of Hexagons

So I am back at the hexagons.  After a wonderful 2 week visit from the grandbabies (and their parents of course- or maybe I should say thank goodness)  I am back to my hexagons.  They endlessly fascinate me.  It's like a series of small postcards of all the fabrics I've used on other projects.  Using up scraps is a kaleidoscopic soothing activity.  I find myself feeling strangely lonesome after the blur of movement and cacophony of sound that I enjoyed these past weeks.  Now I must return to my usual round of quiet concentration with a background music overlay from Country 105.  Change....

Sometimes I think my life is just one long process of accepting change.

Well, Hexagons don't change too much and the stitching calms the mind and spirit.

Clouds above

Do we ever get tired of looking at the mountains?  I don't think so.  So me and Mister went for a drive with the top down on Easter Monday.  

What a beautiful day we had.  Just a few threatening clouds in the late afternoon but after a few drops they quietly went away.  Looking at the Rockies always clears my head and changes my perspective for the better.

The Queen's Birthday is today

She looks pretty darn good too for 85.  Even if you aren't a monarchist she is an amazing person who holds her chin up and carries on and on and on.  Go Elizabeth, Go.

Book Covers

Soooo, I have been busy, my son asked for a book cover for his girlfriend who likes to read her book on transit but hates having people ask her about it...So that means I need to make more of them.  They are so easy and quick.

But take a look at this SNOW.  Yes it is April...

Fresh Quilting

I just borrowed this book from the library - what a pleasure - yummy pictures to look at and a very freeing attitude about applique and quilting.  Malka Dubrawsky gives simple clear instructions to get you going.

I saw this on Blog Tour at Pink Chalk Studio and had to SEE it in person.

;)

Baby Shower Quilt

So have I been busy.  First I drew up the pictures for my Owlet quilt.  I started this in January - a new year's project.  My son offered much help with the critique and he encouraged me to make every block different.  

So this is the final block in the simple story of the Owlet Quilt.  Finally done.

Yeah, me...

Hope you are having a grand weekend and that the snow is melting where you are :)

Walking

I just discovered Kim Possible and her walking at home strategy.  I like it a lot.  I have tried it a couple of times and am considering getting a DVD too.

It's Been Cold, I've Been...

Ok, it is warmer now but it has been pretty cold here for a couple of weeks and that always inspires me to knit.  I even found this pattern from Canadian Living for this super simple scarf and I just happened to have a couple of balls of Baby Bamboo and some 4.5 mm needles.  Wow, it was definitely a 'God thing' . Take a look...