Category Archives: Quilting

Good Night Moon

Good Night MoonI don’t think I’ve ever read the book “Good Night Moon”, but the name seems appropriate.

The pattern for the moon came from a Guild library book but once I made one block I thought it would work with a “Give and Take” technique. I didn’t bother to look up my notes from the class I took; if I had I would have realized it didn’t really suit the method.

When it was done I thought I might be able to use it for a card, but I wasn’t satisfied with it. I’ve added it to the miniature collection in my hallway. When I look at it I can’t help wondering why I didn’t alternate the light and dark background squares.

Maybe next time I can do blocks to represent the phases of the moon. Stay tuned for that!

My Crazy Life – The Past, The Present, and The Future

This project started as a Guild challenge but turned into so much more. Each block finished at 15″ square and I’ve used a couple of them for several mementos from my family and myself. This triptych hung at at 2015 Quilt Show and now resides in my stairwell.

All of the photos can be enlarged to full size by clicking on them.

The Past

My Crazy Life1

 

 

 

Mum’s quilts were called Crazy Quilts but they weren’t entirely what the Guild member who initiated the challenge had in mind. I proceeded with my own idea and used one of Mum’s crazy quilt squares as a starting point. I added a few embroidery stitches but quickly switched to using the fancy stitches on my machine.

 

 

 

 

My Crazy Life_01
The pin at the top was Mum’s. The symbols represent Faith, Hope and Charity. The earrings at the bottom were probably a gift from Dad to Mum – they are embossed with RCAF symbols.
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This was Mum’s birthstone represented in a pin. I have one like it for September.
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These Eastern Star and Masonic pins were Grandpa Erickson’s.
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These Eastern Star pins were from Mum, Aunt Jean and Aunt Ethel.
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I think this pin was Grandma McKnight’s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Crazy Life_04
The necklace was Mum’s and I associate the road runner pin with Aunt Ethel.
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I associate this pin with Grandma Erickson. I have a box made from similar shells that I know was hers.
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These were some of Dad’s Red Cross pins; he was a donor for most of his life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Present

My Crazy Life2

I decided another block would be a good spot for some of my own mementos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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My baby bracelet. I guess they ran out of K’s.
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These represent my time in the North.
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My own birthstone pin.
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Graduating class of ’68.
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High school pins (French Club and Newspaper) and my Port Coquitlam pin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Stacia gave me this sewing pin.
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This sheaf reminds me of my Saskatchewan and farm roots
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My Timberlane Quilters’ Guild pin.
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Diane has the other half of this Best Friend necklace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Future

 

My Crazy Life3

 

 

Once the Past and the Present were covered it seemed like a natural progression to look at the future. This is meant to be a blank slate but I added a few fancy stitches and some fun buttons.

 

 

I Get By With A Little Help from My Friends

2015 Quilt Show_2In 2012 two Guild members led a workshop using the One Block Wonder technique. The fabric I chose was all wrong, but it was on the sale table and I was determined to make it work.

The following year, at the Guild’s UFO weekend, another Guild member assisted me with the block placement. We eliminated many of the blocks that didn’t work and she persuaded me to add some cubes. The fabrics I used for the cubes was all wrong so another friend helped me pick out colours that would work better.

The piece hung in the 2015 Quilt Show and now has a home on a wall in my laundry room.

UPDATE: This went to Kathryn

Elizabeth’s House

IMG_7151Elizabeth gave me a gift certificate to Traditional Pastimes, one of the quilt shops in Calgary. Pat, Elizabeth and I went shopping and we came home with this Block of the Month kit from Leanne Beasley; all the blocks were included as well as the fabric.

I made the first block (minus the embroidery) at Panorama when I went quilting with Stacia and Deloise in the spring of 2014. It wasn’t until the Texada Retreat in the spring of 2015 that I got down to business and got going on the remaining blocks.

It took most of the summer to finish the embroidery but I enjoyed every minute of it.

I was able to take the quilt to Elizabeth in September on my way back from a week in Panorama.

There are over 250 Lazy Daisy stitches, and almost 300 French Knots in this 49″ square project. When I was quilting the piece I realized that the quilting I planned wouldn’t cover the 4″ maximum called for by the batting I was using. It was Stacia’s idea to use the buttons to hold things in place.

By clicking on any of the photos below you can get a full-sized view.

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