Category Archives: Quilting

Itty Bitty Sampler

Itty Bitty Sampler - 1
Finished: 21″ x 17.5″

This was an online quilt-along from Quiltmaker; we were given a new block every month in what was to be a row-by-row quilt. I always had this slated as a miniature quilt so only did one of each block.

IB Sampler - 2Since I didn’t need to do as many blocks as other participants, I decided to hand-piece the blocks. It was easier than I expected, I enjoyed the handwork, and each month I had a new block to show at the Mini Meez meeting. Since I’d never hand-quilted (successfully) I decided that this would be my “been there, done that, never need to do it again” project.

I was happy with the way this turned out, although I wish I had the same background colour in the log cabin block.

 

Sticks and Stones Table Topper

March 19, 2016

I purchased my first jelly roll last fall in anticipation of a Guild demo and workshop. I didn’t have the pattern when I made my purchase and what I bought was totally unsuitable for the quilt pattern. I split the roll in half using the dark ones for a chair cover. There were enough left to make this table topper.

March 19 - 4March 19 - 3I outlined the white squares and intended to do something fancy on the centre but none of the templates I had were the right size. I really didn’t fancy another paper template so I did some rectangular straight lines in the centre. I used a diagonal line in the corners but none of the stitching shows up much. It is quite a busy piece so I think that is okay.

March 19 - 2I’ll donate this to the Guild’s Hands Across the Water event this fall.

It’s a Mystery

March 16, 2016
New Year's Day Mystery 2013 (Sheryl Till)
New Year’s Day Mystery 2013 (Sheryl Till)

Late in 2012 I noticed a posting online about a Mystery Quilt-Along with clues posted every hour on New Year’s Day, 2013. I had never done a mystery quilt before or a quilt-along but after I picked my fabrics I didn’t pay much attention to any of the subsequent posts. When I looked for my first clue on New Year’s Day I noticed that we were supposed to have already made 40 quarter square triangle units. Needless to say by the end of the day I was still working on those 40 units and the remaining ten clues hadn’t even been read.

I put the project away for a long time and when I was preparing for the quilting retreat in the fall of 2015 I once again dug it out. It helped that this was one of the projects I had added to my Guild Challenge list for the 2015-2016 season. I finished the top at the retreat, with the exception of the final border. The project (and cut borders) hung on a rack in my studio for several more months and, while clearing space in my sewing studios, I put it in a bin with several other projects that were needing only borders or quilting. I promised myself that whenever I had a stretch of time at home I would tackle the quilting.

Leap Frog Template
Leap Frog Template

The quilting took almost a week of my time. I knew from the start I would outline the pinwheels and do some stippling in the background of those blocks. I purchased some templates when Lainey closed her shop and the Leap Frog was the perfect size for the alternate blocks. Because of all the colour changes in the block none of my markers showed up enough so I had to use a paper template for the free motion quilting.

Pat has asked to have this one hung on one wall of the bedroom. I added a sleeve in case I want to put the quilt in the next show, but we’ll purchase a curtain rod with hooks when it is hung at home.

The quilt finished at approximately 56″ x 68″.

Happy Valentine’s Day

IMG_7775
Finished: 20″ x 20″

At the January meeting of the Mini-Meez we were challenged to do a Valentine-themed miniature for the next meeting. The timing was perfect because I had just seen a pattern on a blog that I thought would be perfect.

Before I started work on that “perfect” pattern, a link to this pattern by Janet Wickell showed up in one of my blogs. I made a Sunbonnet Sue pattern at Christmas and I absolutely love the theme. In fact, I’ve been collecting a few patterns from old quilting magazines folks at the Guild have been giving away.

This Sun Bonnet Sue pattern included Overall Sam as well so how could I resist.