Monday, October 29, 2018

Travelling vicariously and DrEAMi!

Wandering Camera

I did my end-of-the-month post before thinking of the Wandering Camera photo linkup and my DrEAMi!. I don't want to miss it but I don't have much to post, so I've decided to travel vicariously through my daughter who is presently studying Art History in Venice (how cools is that 😊)

She has given me permission to share a few pictures that she's posted on Facebook or Instagram, so here they are!

This is one of the first pictures she took. I think that it's one of my favourites.
Venice - strolling along the canal
The gondolas are for the tourists. Many residents have small boats that they use to get around.
Boats moored along the canal
This image, so evocative of Venice, was taken on her way to the Biennale.
Venice in all its splendor

You may have noticed that the photos I chose were all around water. She has taken some great images of architecture and art - but for me, it's the water that makes Venice so special.

My daughter has given me permission to use her pictures in my art and on my blog. I am planning on making at least one art quilt from these....eventually 😊

While I'm travelling vicariously at this time, I am meeting her in Venice at the beginning of December. I'm sure that I'll have my own photos to post after that trip.

DrEAMi!

When I was younger, I used to love to give cards on special holidays or moments. I've grown out of that, probably because I've ended up throwing out too many of them. This year, as the birthday season in my family approaches (September to November is crazy!), I've decided to make minis to give instead of cards. I just think that they are more useful since they can be used as decoration, rug mugs, etc.

Deciding what to make was a bit of a challenge since I didn't want to make traditional blocks. Finally since I also promised to make a small quilt for the Charitable Campaign auction at work, I thought that a nature theme would be popular since I work for Parks Canada. So I recently bought a few "Made by Marney" foundation paper pieced patterns through Craftsy. There's a bear, fox, moose, mallard duck and loon.

I'm already behind since I got the idea after my second brother's birthday and my niece, sister-in-law and husband's birthdays are coming up quickly. Oh well, hopefully I can catch up soon. I'll post this one along with the finished ones in November some time.

What I learned
  • So many ideas and projects and so little time :-( 
  • I enjoy making these foundation paper piecing blocks but I ended up spending what little time I had this weekend finishing up my Art With Fabric piece. The reveal is November 7th but I needed to have my photo ready by October 31st. For the first time in age, the piece is done, not only on time but ahead of time! Hopefully is will stop raining here long enough to take some outside shots. They're always the best.
Related links

Linking parties
I will be linking this post to Wandering Camera, DrEAMi! at Sandra's mmm! Quilts, as well as many other cool parties. Go check them out :-) Monday Making, Design Wall Monday, Moving It Forward, What I Made Monday, Tuesday Colour Linky Party, Linky Tuesday, Let's Bee Social, Midweek Makers, Silly Mama Quilts WIPsNeedle & Thread Thursday, Friday Foto Fun, Finished or Not Friday, Oh Scrap!, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?,




Monday, October 22, 2018

October updates

October is almost finished and so far I've written very few posts. I did some quilting, lots of planning and listened to many audio books. I'm also totally overwhelmed by the number of comments on my September posts and I hope to answer them....one day, or not. So please know that I really appreciate getting comments, but at one point, I may give up on answering the older ones. Sorry 😔

One Monthly Goal (OMG) accomplished!

My October OMG was to finish a quilt top for a t-shirt and dress quilt for Sonya's daughter. I had very little hope that it would get done, so I am very, very pleased to say that the quilt top is finished and the quilt is about half quilted.

Here are a few of the quilted blocks so far. I'm not sharing the rest of the quilt top yet since I'd like to keep it a surprise 😊 Since I'm planning to make this quilt my November OMG, you'll be able to see it at the end of November, if not earlier.

This first block is a variation of Peas in a pod, designed by Maddie Kertay. You can see my own doodling of it in my FMQ journal. The design is found in 180 Doodle Quilting Designs, page 99. The book is compiled by Karen M. Burns.

Peas in a pod
Variation of Peas in a pod
FMQ design

























You may recognize this next FMQ design from Angela Walter's Free Motion Challenge Quilt Along that I did last spring. This is the Feather Meander and a lot of swirly variations.
Feather Meander and swirly variations

Finally, I quilted around the dolphins and then FMQ a whole bunch of bubbles.
Bubbles around the dolphins
There is a lot more to quilt, especially since I also want to FMQ inside the sashing, which I will keep simple.

Fabric acquisition for a future project

For the October's Throwback Thursday, I posted a Beatles quilt that I made using a walking foot. In the post, I said that although made for my daughter's room that the quilt had never hung there since I had taken too long to finish it and her room decor had moved on.

Well my daughter, who is now studying art history for a semester in Venice (doesn't that sound absolutely amazing?!) commented that she still wanted a Paddington Bear quilt and would love it even if her room changed. (The link to that post is in Related links below.)

Since I know that she loves Paddington Bear and that she's my number one fan, the day after she posted her comment, I went on the internet in search of fabric. I found these on Etsy and I'm sharing the links below since I had excellent service from both shops.

Lovely Paddington Bear fabric


At this time, I'm thinking of making a large Paddington Bear applique in the quilt centre and then using this and other fabric blocks around it for a scrappy look. This will probably be a winter 2019 project.

More hexies

The 100 hexies in 100 days event on Instagram is now in its eleventh week. Here are the hexies and the pictures for weeks 9 to 11. Since I haven't done as much quilting as I would like, I thought that I would try to put a little more effort in my pictures of these hexies.

Week 9 - Floral

Since the floral theme was all about colour (for me), I thought that I would use the Our House quilt to showcase the hexies I made. Here they are!

Floral hexies at Our House

A close-up of the floral hexies with "the two cats in the yard".
More floral hexies in the yard
Week 10 - Favourite Colours

It's pretty difficult to make me choose ONE favourite colour. Instead, I gathered up some of my favourite colours and made a display with my muse and my Kimono silk thread collection.

What a lot of colours - how can I choose just one?
The quilt under the hexies is a wheel chair quilt that I made for my grandmother. It's the perfect backdrop for wonderful colours.
More lovely colours and incredible silk thread!!!
Week 11 - I Spy

This week's selection is objects that are used in an I Spy quilt. It took me a while to find fabric that I mostly hadn't use on previous hexies. Thank goodness I've purchased a few fabrics recently :-)

I Spy hexies on fireman fabric

My absolute favourite is that priceless pink squirrel!

Paddington Bear makes his first appearance.
Art with Fabric, Fall 2018 Coming Soon!

The Art with Fabric blog hop, hosted by Alida, will be held between Monday, November 5 to Friday, November 9, 2018.  My post will be featured on Wednesday, November 7th.


The theme of the blog hop is our favourite colour. I am doing my art piece on the colour white - which is not my favourite, although technically white includes all colours, so technically it could be my favourite :-)

My piece is based on a BBC documentary series called A History of Art in Three Colours. While the first two films were interesting, it's the third one that caught my attention. My piece will feature white and its role in the evolution of art history, particularly in contemporary art.

What I learned
  • I tend to practice a lot of FMQ designs on scrap pieces of paper or photocopy paper. When I get one that works well on paper and ink, I'll usually try it on the sewing machine. Generally I know that if I can draw it, then I can quilt it. I then either re-copy these in my FMQ journal or just cut and paste them in the journal. If I didn't keep track of the designs I use or can do, I would never remember what FMQ designs to us! 
  • The 100 hexies in 100 days event on Instagram has influenced my fabric purchases! I now look for some fabrics that have interesting characters. This is not normally the type of fabric I buy, but they can be very handy to have when making art quilts.
  • I've been working very hard on my Art with Fabric Blog Hop piece. It's a fairly complex piece that has been both fun and challenging to make. I'll have a lot more to say on November 7th, so I hope you'll join me.

Related links
Linking parties

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Diamond Mini

I love trying out new patterns, especially when they come from a fellow blogger. I often don't have the time to try them out, but this weekend I wanted to make a special little something for my sister-in-law who was visiting from Vancouver.

Diamond Mini 

When she was here last Thanksgiving, she mentioned that she loved the colour combination of bright green and pink. I had promptly picked up some Kona fat quarters but never did get around to making anything. So finally, a year later, here it is. 😊

Diamond Mini
This foundation paper pieced diamond block is one of 9 diamonds that make up the Hodge Podge Diamond in the Rough mini quilt. It was created by Sherry of Powered by Quilting.

Here is Sherry's pattern. Isn't it lovely?
Hodge Podge Diamond in the Rough mini quilt
What I learned
  • I meant to use a very light pink for the middle triangle of the diamond but forgot about it. I think that it's fine. Sherry's mini is really cute and uses printed commercial fabric that looks really nice. In a quilt with 9 diamonds, it's really effective.
  • I wasn't too sure how to quilt it but Sherry had used some echo lines that were very effective. I couldn't do quite the same thing since I only made one block, so my quilting is much simpler.
  • I do like the two smaller diamonds that I added at the bottom (which turn out to be symbolic at this time in her life)
  • I'm not thrilled with my choice of variegated thread, at least for the echoing on the green. It does look better in person.

Related links
Linking parties

Great News! Dione of Clever Chameleon Quilting has featured this Diamond Mini. Thanks Dione!

Project details


Diamond Mini
size
Technique: foundation paper piecing, free motion quilting
Materials: Kona cottons and King Tut variegated thread by Superior Threads.




Wednesday, October 03, 2018

Throwback Thursday for October

Welcome to Throwback Thursday. I'm hosting this month's link-up for Sandra of mmm! Quilts.

I hope that you've got some great projects to share this month. It's so fun to see older projects that were created before you started your blog.

Beatles Wall Hanging

I made this wall hanging for my daughter many moons ago - I'm afraid that I really don't know when. I know that it was before I started free motion quilting, so before I got my jag (that's my sewing machine - the only jag I'm likely to own!).
Beatles wall hanging
She fell in love with the panel and then I bought the orange and the purple fabric to go with it.

The original panel
It was all done by walking foot using a variegated KingTut quilting thread from Superior Threads.

The back of the quilt
The quilting comes out well in the back.

The quilt never did hang in my daughter's room but it's been the the basement guest room for years now. It was good to take it down and give it a good airing for this photo shoot!

What I learned
  • I believe that this was the only quilt that I ever made with my walking foot. 
  • I remember that it was fairly tricky to quilt since there were many curves and such, but I took it slowly and it worked out. 
  • I mostly followed the outlines of the images in the panel and then added some gentle curves in each of the borders.
  • If I take too long to make something for my daughter, odds are she'll have moved on to something else or will have changed the style of her bedroom 😊
Related links
Linking parties
Please add your link to the link-up below. Throwback Thursday is usually help at Sandra's mmm! Quilts. She'll be hosting the next one in November. I will also be linking up to some great linking parties around the quilting world. Let's go see what everyone is up to! Monday Making, Design Wall Monday, Main Crush Monday, Moving it Forward, What I Made Monday, Linky Tuesday, Tuesday Colour Linky Party, Midweek Makers, Let's Bee Social,

I've also linked up to Sarah Goer's Show Me Something Orange linking party.

Project details


Beatles wall hanging
45" X 53"
Materials: panel and cotton fabric
Techniques: quilted using a walking foot







Throwback Thursday Link-Up