Quilting & Learning - What a Combo!: Throwback Thursday!

Showing posts with label Throwback Thursday!. Show all posts

Thursday, December 26, 2019

More quilted gifts, an OMG and a Christmas runner

I can't believe that I've got so many posts this month! I've been busy finishing up my two Christmas gifts. Actually there was supposed to be one, but a squirrel came for a visit!

More quilted gifts

My December One Monthly Goal (OMG) was another free motion quilted (FMQ) fabric basket. I used some incredibly lovely Japanese fabric for the FMQ.

The light was at its best outside on the snow :-)

I took an indoor shot the next day

I also created another journal cover. Unfortunately I misread my notes and didn't cut the fabric big enough to fit the journals I had bought. So I ran out at the last possible second for a smaller journal. It was a little smaller than I would have liked but it did fit 😊

I really love this fabric for the journal cover.

I FMQ the fabric following the outline of the leaves and the flowers. I used a darker brown thread to outline the flowers. I left the leaves empty (and therefore puffy) and then just echoed all of the leaves and around the flowers.

I added an elastic but I really don't like it. It's just too jarring. I'll have to find some finer elastics in other colours, or just leave it out.

Another Throwback Thursday Christmas runner

At my brother and sister-in-law's, home I took a photo of another Throwback Thursday Christmas runner that I've never included in my blog. Sandra and I may not be hosting Throwback Thursday next year, but I'm sure that older quilts will show up occasionally.

A Christmas runner made BBE (before blogging era) 😊

What I learned

I'm glad to report that this basket is the intended size, since I followed the instructions!
I also used a regular cotton batting, so it was a little stiffer.
That's two things that I learned from making that first basket!
The grid that I followed to FMQ was only one inch but it came out fine. I did FMQ a half square triangle that I wasn't supposed to. I thought that it would be underneath the basket. But following the instructions properly meant that it was on one side of the basket. It's not really noticeable, unless you're looking for it.
I was pretty upset about making the journal cover too small. I made the side seams smaller but it just wasn't enough. Finally, I went to the store and bought a smaller journal, but it wasn't as great as it could have been. I'll be re-writing my notes before I make the next one.

Making a few gifts, December 17, 2019
Learning to make a fabric basket, November 26, 2019
The Japanese fabric is from Kallisti Quilts
Free Motion Quilted Gifts on Bluprint (Craftsy)
Quilting the Grid: Structured Free Motion Quilting on BluPrint (Craftsy)
Christina Cameli
Making a journal cover with practice piece, December 14, 2019

Linking parties
I'm linking this post to the December OMG post since my fabric basket got done! It may be unusual, but I will also be linking up to my Free Motion Mavericks link up since it's still open for a week. Finally there are lots of great linky parties around. Let's see what's going on and support these great bloggers! Off the Wall Friday, Finished or Not Finished Friday, Friday Foto Fun, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?, Brag About Your Beauties, Peacock Party, Oh Scrap!,

I've also linked the image of the Star Runner in this post to Sarah Goer's Show Me Something With Stars link-up.

Project details

FMQ neutral fabric basket
Pattern and instructions by Christina Cameli
8" x 5" x 6"
Techniques: FMQ, sewing
Material: lanyard, cotton

Wednesday, December 04, 2019

Christmas at Throwback Thursday

Welcome to the last Throwback Thursday of 2019! We've had some wonderful linkups and walks down memory lane. 😊 I'm also hosting Free Motion Mavericks (week 258), so please link up here.

Throwback Thursday

I made both of these Christmas placemats during a quilting retreat a very long time ago - before FMQ (free motion quilting).

This first one - the mittens placemat, is as simple as it gets. Four pieces of fabric sewn together and a pair of mittens appliquéd to one of them. I used a zigzag stitch for the mittens and then hand quilted some of the obvious lines, such as the tartan, the trees and around the blocks and mittens.

Mittens placemat

Last year, I noticed that both placemats were in need of some loving care. I sewed inside the mittens to stabilize them and then FMQ some snowflakes within the large white block. You can see the details below.

Adding some extra stitches and FMQ snowflakes

I made this doggy placemat for my daughter. I believe that it started with the block on the bottom left. From there I made an easy strip block and a half triangle block. I appliquéd the dog onto the large white block.

Doggy placemat with a pieced block.

I hadn't even hand quilted this placemat because my friend had used decorative stitching around each block. However, that really wasn't enough to keep this piece stable after many years of washing and use. So last year I quilted in the ditch of the block and then added a lot of FMQ in all of the other areas of the placemat.

FMQ more snowflakes in the background

These are very obviously some of my first quilted projects. I love that they have served us well. They come out every Christmas to be used by my daughter and I. The boys said that they didn't need a Christmas placemat - as if it was about need!

I've really enjoyed partnering with Sandra at mmm! quilts on hosting Throwback Thursday. Unfortunately, this is all of the pre-blogging quilts that I have, so I will leave Throwback Thursday's linky party back in Sandra's very capable hands. Thanks Sandra for sharing this fun linkup with me!

Linking parties
I'll be linking up this post to several great link-ups. Why not see what's going on? Monday Making, Colour and Inspiration Tuesday, Midweek Makers, Put your foot down, Needle & Thread Thursday, Off the Wall Friday, Finished or Not Finished Friday, Friday Foto Fun, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?, Peacock Party,

Throwback Thursday (TBT) Link-up for December

Hi! I'm hosting Throwback Thursday (TBT) for Sandra at mmm! quilts this month. Link up your pre-blogging projects below.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Chevy on Free Motion Mavericks

Welcome to week 256 of Free Motion Mavericks. Thanks for dropping by.

Chevy on Free Motion Mavericks

I'm shamelessly using Chevy's picture to attract you to the post 😊 because this week isn't going to be about my free motion quilting (FMQ)!

Chevy, sleeping on two quilts!

It's not that I didn't do any FMQ, but rather that I have nothing new to show you. I did finish quilting the Epic Neutral Bow Tie Quilt on the weekend and was busy sewing on the binding last night. I don't want to share it with you until I've finished hand-sewing the binding and then I've washed and photographed the quilt!

The two quilts that Chevy is sleeping on are the Colourful Scraps Quilt that I posted on Throwback Thursday last May and Bandit's first quilt.

Related links

Throwback Thursday - Colourful Scraps Quilt, May 6, 2018
Remembering Bandit (2002 - 2014), December 12, 2014
FMQ the Epic Neutral Bow Tie Quilt, November 6, 2019

Linking parties
I'll be linking up to many linking parties, just to get the word out about Free Motion Mavericks. I hope that you'll link up your projects below and visit these linky parties. Let the fun begin! Design Wall Monday, What I Made Monday. Colour and Inspiration Tuesday, Midweek Makers, Put your food down, Monday Making, Friday Foto Fun, November's Whims and Fancies,

Free Motion Mavericks

We had 8 wonderful projects posted on Free Motion Mavericks the last time. Remember that you can link up any project you're working on, even if your not FMQ. I think that it's safe to say that we are all addicted to anything made with fabric - so please don't let a little thing like free motion quilting stop you from linking up!

This week's featured quilt is free motion quilted and in Issue 31 of Make Modern magazine. Join me in congratulating Devoted Quilter Leanne on her lovely orange peels quilt. I'd love to make a variation on her quilt....but I'm not committing to anything right now! You can also get the pattern if you buy the digital Make Modern Magazine.

Thursday, October 03, 2019

Hand-quilted pillow on Throwback Thursday

Welcome to Throwback Thursday (TBT) link-up for October. I'm co-hosting for Sandra of mmm! quilts this month. I hope that you can join me in showcasing your pre-blogging era quilts.

Hand-quilted pillow

This pillow was one of my first hand-quilted projects, possibly around 2006. The front has a thin layer of batting and is hand-stitched in the ditch and outlines three butterflies. I made it during a class at our local quilt shop, Quilty Pleasures.

Hand-quilted pillow

It has been well loved by my daughter and it matched the quilt that my mother made for her.

Hand-quilted butterfly motif

The fabric is quite faded but it washed up well. I just noticed that some of the quilting on the butterflies has come off. I'd better fix that!

October's One Monthly Goal (OMG)
Since this is a short post, I'm including my October OMG, which will be a pillow by the end of the month😊. I don't generally make pillows (these would be my only two) but I'm eager to start free motion quilting my Kingfisher Quilt. I had extra diamonds cut from the background batik, so a pillow will let me try out the motif I have in mind for the project. Hopefully the FMQ will work out - but either way, it should be a pretty pillow.

The front panel of the pillow-to-be

Pillow to match the
Kingfisher quilt

Hopefully the FMQ will work out - but either way, it should be a pretty pillow.

Thursday, August 01, 2019

Quilting with a walking foot on Throwback Thursday

Welcome to Throwback Thursday (TBT) link-up for August. I'm co-hosting for Sandra of mmm! quilts this month. If you're looking for Free Motion Mavericks, click here!

First Sampler Quilt Using a Walking Foot

I believe that this is one of the first sampler quilts that I made to practice using my walking foot. It was supposed to be a cuddle quilt for pre-mature babies, however it turned out incredibly stiff. Even my brother's dog Boots wasn't interested in lying down on it!

Sampler quilt quilted with a walking foot

It was made with flannel and a thin batting. I recognize the star blocks since I made a few Christmas runners using those blocks.

It would make a better mat than a blanket!

This is the back. I got to be pretty handy with the walking foot before I finally got my Jag (my awesome Jenome)

Quilting from the back

It may be too stiff to lie down on but Chevy is always ready for a photo op!

Chevy doesn't lie down on it either!

What I learned

I'm not really sure why the quilt was so stiff, but now if I'm going to use flannel, I usually only use it for either the front or the back. I know that I made another one what turned out fine - but I'm not sure what I did, since it was donated a long time ago.

Linking parties

I will be linking up to several linking parties. It seems to be a little quiet out there...I suspect that the heat this year is slowing everyone down. Let's Bee Social, Midweek Makers, Finished or Not Friday, Needle & Thread Thursday, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?, Friday Foto Fun, Tuesday Colour Linky Party, Monday Making, Main Crush Monday, Moving It Forward,

Throwback Thursday (TBT) Link-up

Wednesday, June 05, 2019

Pretty in Purple for Throwback Thursday

Welcome to Throwback Thursday (TBT) link-up for June. I'm co-hosting for Sandra of mmm! quilts this month. If you're looking for Free Motion Mavericks, click here!

Pretty in Purple Lap Quilt

This was one of my first quilts, made when I was still quilting by hand. Those half-square triangles (HST) were all individually cut and sewn!

It's really incredible how the quilting world has changed 😊

Pretty in Purple

This is a very scrappy quilt, made of fabrics from dresses, my favourite purple curtains, and even my mother's pillow cases since they had the perfect teal for the flower leaves and stems.

The quilt pattern came from an insert in a Fons & Porter magazine. I couldn't find it, but I'm sure that I've kept it....somewhere. I followed the pattern except for the appliqué. I'm not sure what was in there but I substituted the flowers from another pattern.

Pretty in Purple lap quilt

That's a lot of HST!

Quilt Show at the Navan Chursch

All hand quilted

What I learned

I know that I didn't make anything else with HST until I found out that there were easier ways to make them!
I haven't used this quilt much because it's only 42" square. It's also rather fragile - my seams were not always great and some of them have pulled apart.
This quilt was shown at a quilt show in the Navan Church.
I did buy a wooden quilt rack so once I sand it, Pretty in Purple will at least be on display.

Linking parties
I will be linking this post to many fun link-ups. Let's see what else is going on in the quilting world!
Monday Making, Moving It Forward, What I Made Monday, Tuesday Colour Linky Party, Midweek Makers, Let's Bee Social, Needle & Thread Thursday, Off the Wall Friday, Finished or Not Friday, Friday Foto Fun, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?, Oh Scrap!, Slow Sunday Stitching,

Throwback Thursday Link-up

Thursday, April 04, 2019

My first baby quilt on Throwback Thursday

Welcome to Throwback Thursday. I'm co-hosting with Sandra from mmm! quilts. We will take turns hosting on alternate months.

My first baby quilt

My son was looking for something in his closet last weekend and took out his first baby quilt. I made it with my mother in 1991! We picked out a cute dinosaur wallpaper border and made the quilt from the design.

My first baby quilt - made with my mother (1991)

I don't really remember making the quilt but I do remember making the matching skirt and bumper pads for the crib - so it's possible that my mom made most of the quilt - but I did draw the design using the projector that she borrowed. We'll just call it a collaboration 😊

My son in his crib. You can see the dinosaur
wallpaper at the top of the image.

At Grand-maman's house with the quilt

So that cute baby turned into this amazing young man.

My son with his first quilt

Thursday, March 07, 2019

No Such Thing As Too Much Pink

Did you know that there is "no such thing as too much pink"? That's the name of this quilt, and here's the story...

This was many, many years ago and was one of the first quilts I made.

I had gone through the fabric that I had inherited from my mother. There was quite a lot of pink fabric, so I went shopping for more fabric to make the quilt. This was the first time that I realised how many different shades, tints and tones of pink there were. Since my mother's fabric was a few years old, I found it difficult to find fabrics that would play well together.

A lovely pink quilt

It was that evening that I told my friend that I had discovered that there were too many pinks! Very seriously, she said that "there is no such thing as too much pink!" I had no idea that she liked pink! That's when I knew that this quilt was for her 😊

There are many different pink fabrics in this quilt.

This quilt is a disappearing nine patch, and I remember that I loved making it. At that time, all of the quilts I made were hand quilted. I put lots of love into that quilt for my friend.

What I learned

I learned that there is no such thing as too many pinks!
Disappearing 9 patch is a pattern that I should re-visit. It looks more complex than it is.
I'm really impressed with my choices of fabric, even back then 😊.
I love those fabrics and I still have a little bit of many of them.

Linking parties

I've managed to miss a few of Sandra's linky parties at mmm! Quilts, so I'm really glad to link-up this special project on Throwback Thursday! I drafted this post right after I missed the February link-up :-) I will also be linking up to many fun link-ups so let's see what everyone is making.
Needle & Thread Thursday, Midweek Makers, Tuesday Colour Linky Party, Let's Bee Social, Friday Foto Fun, Finished or Not Friday, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? Monday Making, Design Wall Monday, Moving It Forward, What I Made Monday,

Thursday, December 06, 2018

Throwback Thursday - my very first quilt

Welcome to Throwback Thursday!

I'm hosting the linky party this month for Sandra at mmm! Quilts while she's busy with family and a wedding :-) I hope that you will link up with me below for this final Throwback Thursday of the year.

My very first quilt!
My mother started quilting after she retired. She loved to sew and quilt but I was very intimidated by all of the rules involved - if you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a bit of a rebel😊 So while I appreciated my mother's quilting, I didn't really think that quilting was for me.

My very first quilt - totally hand-sewn and hand-quilted.

When I moved to Ottawa, one of my brothers gave me a clipping of an upcoming workshop to make a healing quilt. It was a weekend workshop and very affordable, so I escaped for two days to make a healing quilt. It was an incredible weekend!

The centre star of the Lone Star quilt

The two ladies who ran the workshop were First Nations. One was an elder and both were healers. A Lone Star quilt was to be sewn and quilted by-hand by the group of about 20 women attending. All of the fabric, scissors, thread and needles were provided. We were shown how to cut the diamonds using templates and then how to sew them together.

What made this quilt so special was the healing aspect of it. While we were working, we were encouraged to think positive healing thoughts for the recipient of the quilt. As you can imagine, it was a very powerful weekend. We managed to finish the quilt top and most of us were able to return a few weeks later to quilt it. There was no quilting frame, just the women around the table quilting on our laps or the table.

When I told my mother how we were making this quilt, she couldn't believe it - but it turned out to be lovely. When I got home, I decided that I would make a quilt like this.

It took a lot longer than a couple of weekends to make it, more like a year. My daughter used it for several years. I also filled it with healing and loving thoughts.

I can't take a photo of a quilt without Chevy wanting in!
Must be all the love in the quilt :-)

What I learned

I learned that there was another way to quilt and that following the rules was optional.
It turns out that hand quilting without a frame still gives good results. I sometimes do the same with my embroidery.
For a first quilt, it was pretty good but not very square. However, a lot of the quilts that I've made, using rulers and a sewing machine, are still not all that square or even!
I used scraps to make the Lone Star quilt, and some of it obviously had polyester in it. I quickly learned the difference between sewing and quilting by hand using 100% cotton and cotton-polyester blends. Let's just say that sewing with cotton is like cutting into butter while polyester is more like cardboard.
I've only quilted a handful of quilts by hand. It's very relaxing, meditative and a great opportunity to fill the quilt with healing or loving thoughts. It's just too bad that it's so darn slow 😊.
I still infuse my quilts with love and positive energy, but it's not the same when I use a machine to quilt it.
I love Lone Star quilts but now that I know what I'm doing, I find them way too intimidating to make!

Linking parties

I'll be linking this post to many linking parties as well as the link-up here - so check out what everyone is doing! Tuesday Colour Linky Party, Let's Bee Social, Midweek Maker, Needle & Thread Thursday, Finished or Not Friday, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop ?, Friday Foto Fun, Slow Sunday Stitching, Monday Making, What I Made Monday, Linky Tuesday, Moving it Forward, Design Wall Monday,

Great News! The Lone Star quilt was featured on the Tuesday Colour Linky Party - Thanks Dione 😊.
I'm also linking up this post to Sarah Goer's Show Me Something With Stars linking party.

Throwback Thursday Link-up for December

An InLinkz Link-up

Sunday, November 04, 2018

November Madness

I don't think that I have more going on than usual, I just seem to feel more scattered 😕 Not sure what's happening there, maybe a little grounding is called for, anyway, I have a whole bunch of things to catch up on in this post, so let's get started!

Throwback Thursday

I don't have many quilts that I haven't blogged about yet. There are quite a few that were made PBE (pre-blogging era 😊) but I've slowly been including them in my posts when I can. I have a great PBE quilt for next month, when I host Throwback Thursday for Sandra, but you'll have to wait for that one!

Woven cotton runner

This month's project is a hand-woven runner. It was made in Timmins, Ontario, where I lived for a few years in the late 1980's and early 1990's.

Details of the trees on the edges

I learned to weave by taking night classes from Sylvia Martin at the Porcupine Campus of Northern College of Applied Arts and Technology. She was a wonderful teacher who encouraged me to use colour - if you can believe that!

This would have been one of the last things that I wove in Timmins. It was woven on the school's 8 shaft table loom, which took me a while to get the confidence to use. I wove mostly with cotton since I'm allergic to wool - nothing serious but it's hard to handle when it makes you itchy!

I gave this runner to my mother as a Christmas gift (since the trees look like Christmas trees). I know that she used all of the woven things I made for her. She also took great care of them, which is why I now have most of them.

I love this little corner of my dining room - it's the only area not covered in arts, school and computer supplies :-) This area is full of art. Along with the runner, two of the planters were hand-made by my grandmother. You may also recognize the painting that was the inspiration for my first art quilt. If you don't recognize it, the link to the art quilt is below in Related links.

An area full of art in the dining room

FMQ bubbles for the dolphins

November's One Monthly Goal (OMG)

My October OMG was to create the quilt top for Charlotte's T-shirt and dress quilt. I got the quilt top finished and partly quilted, but haven't touched it since. There is still a lot of quilting to be done, but I'm going to try to finish it by the end of the month. I know that Charlotte would be thrilled to get the quilt sooner rather than later.

FMQ on one of Charlotte's dresses

Art with Fabric Blog Hop - Fall 2018

The Art with Fabric Blog Hop begins tomorrow. This time the theme is colour.

As I mentioned in a previous post, "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."

Sneak peak at A White History of Art

Please come back on Wednesday, and in the mean time, go over to Alida's blog (see Related links) to see everyone's art work. It's always amazing!

What I learned

I loved weaving. It was my first fibre love 💖. At the time, I didn't think that I would find anything that I would ever love to do more that weaving. Once I left Timmins and the Porcupine Hand-weaving Guild, weaving just wasn't the same. I did continue to weave for a while in Ottawa but as the children were growing up, it felt that there wasn't time for weaving. It's only after I had my burnout that I realised how important creating with textiles was to my sanity and well-being. I've also come to realise that if I don't quilt or do some textile work during the week, that I'm a basket case by the weekend. It's a lesson that I forget from time to time to my detriment.