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!!

Michael Miller Modern Challenge + Modern Metallics Challenge
    A few months ago, our Victoria Modern Quilt Guild arranged for us to get some free fabrics. I couldn't believe my luck! A fantastic new Guild and now, some free fabric! Life is great.
Then the penny drops. I have to cut it. Does anyone else have a problem cutting into a stack of beautiful fabric? Can't we just leave it in lovely piles and just admire it?? I know I can't be the only one....
 I took a deep breath and cut into the Modern Metallics first. And since I don't like sewing for nothing, I made something I needed. A pillow cover. I know, I make a lot of them. But I have two dogs and I'm constantly having to wash them. Yes, my dogs are allowed on the couch. Until I have grandchildren anyway.....
Ok, here's the pillow-

The pattern is The Metro from Pillow Pop. This is the third pillow cover I've made from this book and I'm pretty sure it won't be the last. Ok, so that's one challenge done.
Now I had to really work myself up to cut into the Michael Miller prints. But I finally managed it two nights ago. I  won't tell you what I'm making but I can tell you that it's not a pillow.
Here's a sneak peek...

I'm having problems blogging from my iPad. Any advice would be welcome :)

I've finally finished my Christmas pillow!!! I actually finished it just after Christmas but I didn't have a pillow form to fit it. Now I do!! I used a lovely soft flannette (on sale at Cloth Castle) for the back. I love it! Its hard to see but the holly berries are tiny red buttons. So cute!
This pattern was created by Katherine at Sew Me Something Good . That might be my favorite blog name ever :)
Its available through Craftsy.

Celebration and Creativity

Good morning everyone from Tracy!
It is a crisp frosty morning here in the Canadian northwest. I took the hummingbird feeders in this morning to keep them warm and my little friends where chittering like crazy ( hummingbird-speak) with delight when I brought them out this morning. I will have to find the little quilted covers I made for the feeders last year - or make new ones!
It is feeling very Christmassy and I have been having fun looking at retro felt/sequin Christmas ornaments. Take a look at this sassy little guy from http://thriftstorecrafter.com/2013/10/28/rudolph-the-felt-and-sequin-reindeer/

Now if I could only score some aqua felt . . .
Our group enjoys celebrating birthdays together with a lunch and quilting to follow - here is a photo of birthday girl Gaye having some birthday fun!

After lunch quilting buddy Pam showed us some wonderful she did at a "Zen Doodling" workshop that she attended - very inspiring. Wonderful work Pam!

Looking forward to the Victoria Modern Quilt Guild meeting tonight where Pam will pick up her winning challenge project. We all had to do a small hanging that represented what we felt represented what modern quilting is all about. There were handed in last month and visitors to Satin Moon Quilt Shop (where we meet) voted. Congratulations Pam!
We're linking to Needle and Thread Thursday!

Done to the 'Top' Stage!

Tracy here!
I really do love piecing! From the cutting of the fabric into little bits, to sewing and matching seams, to watching pieces grow into blocks and blocks grow into a quilt. Each stage holds a delightful surprise at the end. And no-risk creativity is involved to a great extent with a scrappy quilt - how it goes together is all good.
This has been a challenging year for my family. I would call it "Annus Horribilus" like Queen Elizabeth did one year, if I only knew how to spell it! But God is good and he has surrounded me with great friends and a hobby to turn to when I had time and energy. So getting this top finished was a cause for celebration for me and I was overjoyed to share my creation with my quilting friends.
It was a beautiful sunny day and they suggested that we display the quilt outside. It took Gaye to help get the lighting right, Kim's inspiration to let it wave in the breeze and Pam's patience in waiting for the breeze to take the picture!

Now I get to enjoy the process of planning the border. I had something fancy-dancy in mind as I like piecing and I didn't want to rush past planning the border just to get it done either.  Now that I see it all put together I have something much simpler in mind - you will have to wait and see!
We are linking to Needle and Thread Thursday!

We Have a Modern Quilt Guild!!!

Kim here!
I'm very happy to tell you that we now have a Modern Quilt Guild on the Island! We had our first meeting last month in one of our quilt shops, Satin Moon. We were jammed in there like sardines but I can tell you, we had fun!! There was a lively discussion about the definition of 'modern' in a quilt. Is it the fabric choices? Is it the pattern? Is it the use of negative space? I don't think we came to any conclusions, but it was fun to hear every-ones ideas. We even had a few notable bloggers, how cool is that? We also were presented with a challenge. If we wanted to participate in it, Satin Moon had little paper bags for sale with a fat quarter of one solid colour inside and a list of the rules. Our challenge project could be 20 inches, no bigger. And it is to be our own interpretation of 'Modern'. We can only use solids, no prints and the quilting could only be straight lines. We could add as many extra solids as we want. This is my first challenge- so exciting!!

Tracy very kindly took some great shots of my project but I can't seem to find them in Picassa :(
So here is another cell phone photo.....the reddish colour was my fat quarter challenge fabric. I'm calling it Positive Space.  Cheeky?
I'm linking up to NTT.

Dresden in Progress

Tracy here! A while ago I posted a tutorial on Perfect Circle Applique and it is time to give you the Big Picture of my project. In June a local quilting shop announced a Dresden Plate challenge and the QT's responded with enthusiasm. I thought I might make a small project but once I got going I got the Dresden Plate bug and wanted to make a quilt - a large quilt. I decided to alternate a Dresden Plate block with an Irish Chain block for a light airy look and got started on the Dresden's first. Here is a look at 2 of 18 completed Dresden Plate blocks - they are all hand-appliqued with silk thread and I learned a lot by doing them.

The next thing to do was to design the Irish Chain block - with a clear picture in my mind but a weakness in the drafting department the QT's helped me with my dimensions. I completed a test block and loved how it will set the Dresden Plates 'on point'.

But the large size of the center block didn't give me the delicate look I wanted so I did a test with a nice-patch as the center block and loved the results. Check it out! What do you think?

I made 18 of the cute little 9 patches and next step was to cut 216 - 2 1/2" blocks for the chains. To ensure a balanced but scrappy effect I made 18 piles of 12 - 2 1/2" squares and distributed my colours somewhat evenly. The first fabric 'layer' in each stack might have all the same yellow fabric but the next layer might have 3 different shades of green.

Now I am busy with my piecing assembly line. It is a lot of cutting and piecing but I really enjoy this part and am having a ball.

I'm linking up to Needle and Thread Thursday!
Needle and Thread Thursday.

A Bit Of Bragging

Last weekend we went to the local fair. It's the Saanichton Fair and it's the longest continually running fair in Canada.
Our friend Gaye (from our Monday afternoon quilting group) entered 4 items and took home a ribbon for each one of them!!! Here they are in no particular order.

This is The 12 Days of Christmas wallhanging.  Gaye has included the story of this quilt, you can see it at the bottom rolled up like a scroll and tied with ribbons. So clever!

Here is Gaye on the left with her lovely assistant Tracy, helping her hold it up for the photos.
This quilt won 1st prize.

This adorable Dresden Plate pillow also won 1st prize. My photos aren't very good quality (sorry) but there is a lot of detail put into this project and it's difficult to see, but trust me- it's beautiful. The buttons were a fun touch too!

This was in the Work In Progress category. Don't you just love that category, lol! If you could win for sheer volume, I would have been a contender but I think you're meant to have a bit of a story along with your project. This one is Gaye's Stack n Whack fans project and Gaye was unsure if the lace she added would be able to stand up to use and washing. So it has been living in the box for a little while. Until we can convince her that the lace is sturdy enough :)
I believe this one got a 2nd prize. 

This one is my favorite.
One year, Karen (another member of our quilt group) suggested a challenge for our us. We all had to bring a fat quarter for each of us plus one for ourselves and use them all in any project we wanted. There was no colour theme at all so we ended up with a very odd assortment of prints. Very Odd. We were allowed to add in 5 extra prints of our own if we wanted. This challenge was a LOT of fun!!! Gaye decided to make a little quilt celebrating our QT Quilters group. 

Top right is a sewing machine with a project on the go. This is the sewing machine Gaye received as a young girl, a child's Singer. And she still has it! I love the crazy goose chase. Pam showed us how to make those. Did I get that name right Pam...crazy goose chase?

My Quilt Infatuation

This part is to remind us how we love to drink tea while quilting. Gaye included 5 tea mugs, one for each of us and 5 spools of thread, all connected and all the tread spills in to the patchwork bowl. The host of each quilt day will put a bowl in the center of the table so we have somewhere to put all our trimmings. And she has included a photo of the 5 of us with our finished challenge projects! You can see why this one is my favorite- it tells the story of us as a group.
Beautiful!!! 

On the back, Gaye included a very detailed story of this project. You can see the row of challenge fabrics we were all given and who gave what, plus the extra she added. Gaye is VERY good at documenting all of her projects. A good example for all us quilters!

Our Challenge projects complete. Except for my quilt. :P
Top row from left- Gaye, Pam & Kim
Bottom row left- Karen & Tracy

                                                        Coins on the sidewalk copycat.

I have to give credit to Kelly from My Quilt Infatuation for all the excellent advice on making this quilt. I saw her quilt Coins on the Sidewalk and I knew I had to make it. Kelly was so very kind with her time and help and she did all the hard math for me. Thanks Kelly!!!!
 I love how this top turned out!!
I used Kona Raisin along with my scraps on this one and I really like it. I will be finishing this one by October to put in a raffle benefiting  Dog Bless. They are a local dog rescue group that pulls dogs from high kill shelters and bring them here to adopt out. Hop over and check out their website, you can read all the happy ending stories.
This quilt measures about 57x57 before quilting.
I'm joining up with Needle and Thread Thursday.

We heart quilts

                                     

A few months ago my youngest son asked me if I could make a quilt for his friend. His wife is expecting their first baby. They don't know if it's a boy or a girl. More and more parents are opting to not learn (or share) the sex of their baby. I think it's fun, and a nice surprise to not know. It can be a bit tricky to make a quilt 'gender neutral' but I like the challenge. I would love to hear from other quilters, how they tackle a project like this. I have found that if I add too much purple the quilt can lean to the girly side. No pink. Some blue is fine but not too much. I sometimes sneak a few floral prints in. Maybe I'm pushing it to the girly side with the florals. Gotta be careful with the florals. And the purple. Are these universal rules or am I on my own here?
  I started with a jungle print and orange borders on this quilt and I think it turned out ok. Ben said his friend loved it. Makes me want to make another one!
I'm linking up to Needle and Thread Thursday

Pinmoors

I love making quilted pillows. They're like mini quilts. And who doesn't LOVE a quick finish! A friend of mine is moving to a new home and I thought I'd make her a couple of pillows. I've had Jaybird's Hex n More ruler for a while now, and her pillow pattern, Candy Dish to use it with. Perfect! It's been a lot of fun putting this project together, a bit like a puzzle. The pattern directions are very good too. Don't cut off those little 'ears', they help line up the pieces :)
For basting small projects, I've been using Pinmoors. They're like little rubber plugs you stab your pins into. I like to use long pins, it seems to lie flatter that way. And they're easier on my poor fingers than safety pins! These little things get 2 thumbs up from me!