Aloha!

I was lucky enough to basking in the tropical sun and snorkeling the incredible coral reefs in Maui last week. We came upon a beautiful art gallery in Upcountry Maui in the cowboy town of Makawao. The gallery owner saw my interest in the fabric art and she pulled these beauties out of the cabinet for me to take a look at. The majority of the work is hand-dyed silk with a few batiks that are machine-appliqued. Having seen the turtles and the blue water myself - this quilter has really captured the feeling of that special underwater world.

 See how the light seems to play in the water in the background?

Here are some other lovely pieces! I was so busy ogling that I didn't think to take pictures but thankfully my husband Barry did. More inspiration for applique and batik collecting. Now I just need a Maui condo to be the perfect setting to hang my work in! Sigh . . .

Block Lotto Time! by Tracy Scott

Excited with her win of the block lotto a few months ago Kim has decided to build on her won blocks by making a bunch more. She has a special someone in mind for this quilt. I found some brick red fat quarters to flesh out her colour palette and she started sewing her very neatly organized blocks this afternoon. I just had to capture the moment as her block sets looked so cute festooned with their pastel coloured clips! Kim has a gift for making everyday things fun and pretty!

Here is an example of the "cute and pretty" comment. I didn't know I was going to make this blog entry but just happend to take a cheery picture of Kim's sweet tea cozy. It inspired me!

Our Victoria Modern Quilt guild wants us to learn new techniques in our block lotto. This one is all about free-form curves - something that Kim and I have shied away from. What do you think of this one? Kim says she is going to sew her block lotto quilt FIRST - which I think is very responsible!

New Studio

Watch this space :)

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More Pouch Swapping!

This past Thursday was our pouch swap night with the Fraser Valley Modern Guild. Honestly, it was like Christmas for us all, so fun!!!
Here's the pouch I made-


It's the Open Wide pouch. Tracy was much braver than I was, making a new pattern and learning new techniques to do it. I love her pouch with that super cute bow- so pretty!!
I decided to play it safe and make a bag I've made many times before. I added in a little scissor pouch, a pin cushion, some 'no melt' pins, a seam ripper and some special treats from Victoria- Silk Road tea and some Rogers chocolates.
I actually missed the deadline for joining this swap but decided to make an 'angel' pouch, in case someone else wasn't able to do the swap. I had so much fun doing this project and choosing what to put in it. It turned out that we didn't need my 'extra' pouch. I should have been disappointed but honestly, I had so much fun making this pouch that I felt ok about it. Our Guild president, Nicole, came to tell me in person that there was nobody for me to swap with and I'm pretty sure she was more upset than I was.
But there's a happy ending after all. It turned out that another lady in our guild made an 'angel' pouch too. So we swapped with each other!!!!!
Here's what she made-



I am so in love with this pouch!!!! Thank you Thea W. for swapping with me!
It makes me happy just looking at this. I don't know where Thea got the notebook from but I just love it. And how cute is that little snail measuring tape? And she also included an adorable flashlight (I actually had to use it that night to look for something in my car), and this sweet stack of fabrics from one of our local quilt shops, Satin Moon. I love the shape of this pouch, I know that circles are tricky but Thea nailed it. It's perfect.
This was my first swap. So. Much. Fun. :)

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Pouch Swap P.S.!

Here is a selection of the goodies that I included - I will see what else I can stuff in. As it is
I can't close the zipper!

Pouch Swap!

Hi there!
Our Victoria Modern Quilt guild is very excited to do a pouch swap with the Fraser Valley guild. We have had fun picking out styles of pouches and choosing fabric. I chose a Bow Clutch pouch - my girlfriend Barbara from Abbotsford made me one when I went ga-ga over hers. Here are a couple of photos of the process (notice the end tabs on the zippers!) as well as the goodies. I made a scissor holder as part of the goodie bag! We can't wait until July to trade!

Here is the lining of the bag with the zipper tabs . .

Here is the outside of the bag with quilting done - ready to sew on the strap.

Here is the finished bag!

Good Morning!!!

I'm a bit behind on a couple of baby quilts but thankfully they're small so I should be able to finish in a week or two, right?

Here is one of them- it's Mosaic Tiles by Sukie Newbold. You can find it in Modern Bee- 13 quilts to make with friends. The quilts are all written with instructions for making and sharing blocks with other faraway quilters! How fun! They even include advice on dealing with the tardy quilter. That might be me, lol! A good book, I can recommend it.






I'm altering this quilt to be a baby size. And a bit more pink.
Here's my progress- it uses 5 inch squares so you can use a charm pack :)



Here it is so far on the design wall. It will be bigger, but this is all that will fit on my wall :D


A big, big thanks to Brian from The Cloth Castle for helping me choose the right solid to go with these beautiful prints. If you're lucky enough to live nearby, you might get to meet Brian. He is SO MUCH FUN!! And he always knows exactly what I need for my project :)
Ok- enough blogging. Time to get sewing!!